The next day, I headed to the research institute within the Royal Capital.
The Director had contacted me, insisting that I absolutely had to come.
Since she said so, I couldn't very well refuse.
There had surely been some kind of breakthrough related to her research.
Yura was by my side.
This too was at the Director's request—she had asked that Yura be allowed to come along.
When I asked why, she said it concerned Yura as well.
"My Lord Demon Lord! How wonderful of you to visit! How are you feeling today!"
The Director greeted me with her first words delivered at full volume.
I responded in my usual flat manner.
"Same as always. And you?"
"Me? Why, I'm bursting with energy as always! My only worry is that there's too much I want to research and not enough time!"
The Director answered with a smile that lit up her entire face.
In stark contrast to that expression, her complexion was worryingly poor.
She was as pale as a corpse.
Even her eyes behind her glasses seemed slightly unfocused.
She was probably throwing herself into her research with no thought for sleep.
I had told her to rest, but she likely hadn't listened.
In truth, I had secretly received reports from the staff before.
Apparently, no matter how many times they told her, the Director kept working around the clock without rest.
This had led to incidents where she was forcibly put to sleep with magic, but from the looks of her, it hadn't done much good.
(Won't she work herself to death before long...?)
Perhaps the Director should be turned into an undead after all.
She would agree to it in a heartbeat.
The undead know neither fatigue nor the constraints of a lifespan.
The Director would surely be delighted.
Of course, I had no intention of doing it against her will.
I would also need to consider which type of undead to turn her into.
I thought I might discuss it seriously with Luciana.
While I was mulling this over, the Director was staring intently at Yura.
She approached with an almost manic gleam in her eyes.
"Oh my, so this is little Yura...!"
"Threat to life detected—Master, requesting assistance."
Yura flinched.
She grabbed my sleeve and hid behind me.
I raised a hand to stop the Director, who was trying to get around me.
"Don't do anything careless. I told you beforehand what kind of being Yura is."
"A Great Spirit's projection, right! Oh yes, I—I can't even begin to describe how fascinated I am, but I'll hold myself back!"
The Director spoke with barely contained excitement.
I had even directed some intimidation through my mana output, but she wasn't the least bit fazed.
She possessed a remarkably strong will.
In her case, her desire for research probably overrode everything else.
She was on the verge of losing her mind entirely.
She was a genius of a different sort from John Dou.
"Then, right this way. Yura dear, we'll have you registered for magical energy first. If we don't do that, the alarms will go off..."
Leading the way, the Director first registered Yura's magical energy using a mana device.
After that, we passed through the entrance checkpoint without any incidents.
"By the way, thank you so much for the other day. The development documents from the Magitek Kingdom that you provided have been incredibly useful."
"Have they been useful?"
"Oh, they're remarkable! I think they'll lead to all sorts of inventions going forward. No joke—they were truly a treasure trove."
The Director spoke with a slack-jawed grin.
Yura, witnessing this, subtly increased the distance between them.
She had instinctively sensed danger.
That judgment wasn't entirely wrong.
Just as the Director said, I had provided the institute with weapons and documents obtained in the Magitek Kingdom's capital.
There must have been a massive amount of useful material.
Thinking that this was what had worsened the Director's sleepless work habits, I had to admit I had been somewhat rash.
Before long, the Director stopped walking.
We were on the second basement level.
Before us stood a heavily sealed door.
"We're here! Right this way."
The Director unlocked it, and we stepped inside after her.
In the center of a vast, all-white space sat a familiar-looking weapon.
The Director pointed at it with an outstretched arm and declared proudly:
"This is a new golem manufactured based on the captured one. It will serve as the first official prototype in the Demon Lord's domain."
"So this is what you wanted to show me?"
"Yes! Now that it's finally taken shape, I wanted to present it to you first."
I approached the golem.
The one I had seen here before had been manufactured by the Magitek Kingdom.
This one appeared to be the institute's own design.
Its overall form was similar to the ones I already knew.
It was made up of numerous parts, with thick limbs and a squat torso as its defining features.
A box for storing its fuel mana was mounted on its back.
In contrast to the Magitek Kingdom's golem, its exterior was modeled after an armored knight.
From a distance, it might even pass for a stout dwarf.
"Go ahead and activate it if you'd like. I've already embedded a pseudo-life core."
"Understood."
I flowed mana into the golem and established a connection.
I was immediately impressed.
Mana permeated it smoothly, with almost no stagnation.
The Magitek Kingdom's golem had been excellent, but this one was superior even to that.
I had it walk around, and I couldn't detect any real problems.
It moved exactly as intended.
The mechanism appeared to be quite precise.
"We refined the control system so that even non-mages can operate it easily. I had a staff member with no magical aptitude pilot it, and it ran perfectly."
I nodded, understanding the Director's explanation.
Truth be told, Henry had once struggled with operating a golem.
He didn't have magical aptitude, so he was unaccustomed to the sensation of controlling one.
With enough training, he could have mastered it, but it would still have taken some time.
It was ultimately a weapon designed exclusively for mages.
However, this prototype golem had overcome those shortcomings.
Now that she mentioned it, the operational comfort had indeed improved.
Since I had never had difficulty controlling golems myself, it was hard for me to truly appreciate, but someone like Henry would probably notice the difference clearly.
"The standard armament consists of a rifle, a mana sword, and defensive magic. Additional weapons can be equipped depending on the mission."
"How long can it operate?"
"With mana fully charged, it can probably last about half a day. However, that's for pure movement only. Factoring in the drain from combat, it would realistically be about a quarter of that."
The Magitek Kingdom's golem had been limited by its short operational time.
Compared to that, this was a significant improvement.
Impressive, managing to pack in this level of performance.
The prototype golem had thoroughly addressed the Magitek Kingdom golem's weaknesses.
Well done.
I shut down the prototype golem.
After severing the connection, I turned to the Director.
"By the way, what was the reason for calling Yura?"
"Hehehe, well, you see..."
The Director let out a confident grin.
After putting on a dramatic air, she clapped her hands.
At that, the floor beside her split open and something rose up.
What emerged was a tall, humanoid figure made of metal.
It was probably a golem, but clearly different from the prototype standing nearby.
Its form was refined overall, giving the impression that every unnecessary part had been meticulously stripped away.
Its well-defined physique was not much different from a human's.
If anything, one might say it was more proportionate than a human body.
It was almost enough to be called artistic.
(What on earth is this...?)
I looked to the Director.
She puffed out her chest as if this was her moment, then threw both hands up with enthusiasm.
"A golem made exclusively for Yura!"
The Director declared triumphantly.