Chapter 211 – Knight Doll

“…It’s hot.”

Some of it was due to the hot air expelled by the Pile Bunker… but the sunlight was quite strong today. While the morning had been cool, I could clearly feel the temperature rising as the sun climbed higher.

Lavigne seemed to dislike the heat, as she was lounging lazily in a cool, shaded spot. Seraphina was also taking refuge from the heat, leaning against Lavigne’s body. The break group seemed quite relaxed. I hoped they would continue their training at a leisurely pace while staying hydrated with shaved ice and carbonated drinks, since I didn’t want anyone getting heatstroke.

Well. Spring was ending, and it was practically summer already.

So what was I doing under this sunlight? I was developing a weapon that utilized Fire Magic. I’d love to be cooling off in the shade too, but given the nature of this project, I had to conduct experiments in a somewhat open area. Therefore, I continued my experiments while using Wind Magic and Water Magic to lower the surrounding temperature.

“Go.”

A square block of stone sat in the workshop’s courtyard. Upon receiving my command, an Earth Golem charged toward it.

On its arm was a crude gauntlet—. As it stepped forward, it drove in a claw like a body blow. As I timed it, a Magic Circle glowed in my hand, and with a blast, a pile was launched.

With that single shot— it punched a fist-sized hole through the stone block and further cracked it entirely with the impact. Well… the power was acceptable. The problem lay elsewhere.

“So, how is it this time?”

Alfred asked. After checking the Golem’s limbs, I answered.

“Seems fine. The adjustments are working well.”

“Wow, releasing a blast backward to cancel the recoil? That’s interesting.”

Alfred sounded impressed. It was the principle of a so-called recoilless gun. Because of that, firing the Pile Bunker had become quite a spectacle. Also, the heat made it pretty hot.

But well, the destructive power matched its appearance, so it could instill Fear in opponents—killing two birds with one stone.

…No. It had been quite a struggle to get to this point. During the initial experiments, the Golem’s arm that fired it would tear off or crack from the launch impact and recoil.

To reduce the recoil, we refined the gauntlet’s Form and tweaked the Spell Formula to adjust the blast’s spread… After numerous minor adjustments and fixes, we finally reached a point where even an Earth Golem could handle it without issues.

The actual Equipment for the Doll would use stronger Materials, so the power should be even greater.

The remaining issue— was ensuring the backblast didn’t catch allies in the blast.

For now, I was considering deploying a Shield to the rear to divert the blast upward, but that wasn’t finalized yet.

In any case, let’s consider the Pile Bunker itself complete for the time being.

“So, this Form is finalized. Next, we’ll need to fit it to the Doll’s arm.”

“Understood. I’ll take it to Viola.”

“Yeah. I’ll come too. I need to write down the Spell Formula on paper.”

Carrying the Pile Bunker, we moved inside the workshop.

“By the way, how’s the Armor adjustment going?”

We were engraving Spell Formulas into the Doll’s Mithril Armor— the Armor— to increase its strength, but balancing it with the output of the Giant’s Magic Stone required a lot of adjustments.

“Well, the Giant’s Magic Stone is quite impressive. I think we managed to enhance it significantly more than initially planned. Now it’s just a matter of where to prioritize… but I think we’ve reached a good balance.”

Where to prioritize. In other words, balance adjustment.

If we increased the strength too much, Magical Power consumption would become severe.

Should we prioritize thicker Defense even if it meant becoming more easily winded, or reduce strength to preserve stamina longer? We needed to fine-tune that distribution.

From Alfred’s tone, it seemed they were currently aiming for a balanced type. Since the optimal solution wouldn’t be clear without actual use, I thought that was correct.

“Ah, perfect timing.”

In one room of the workshop were Rosemary and Viola, along with the form of a reclining Doll. Noticing us, Rosemary smiled and said that.

“Perfect timing for what?”

When I asked, Rosemary answered while touching the Doll’s chest.

“We’re about to activate it. I’m looking forward to it.”

…Oh ho. In that case, I should call everyone training outside.

The Doll— had the appearance of a Knight clad in full Armor.

Apparently, appearance was important for Magic Dolls. If we wanted it to serve a Vanguard role, it needed to look the part.

Combined with its height of about 2 meters, it emitted considerable intimidation even while lying down.

If we solely sought the Pile Bunker’s power, making it larger would have been fine, but considering delving into Labyrinths and keeping it at home, this was probably the limit.

Besides, at this size, it could just barely pass as a burly Knight. By mixing in movements impossible for humans, it could exploit openings.

“Awaken.”

As everyone watched with bated breath, Rosemary deployed a Magic Circle at her fingertip. She then touched the Knight Puppet’s chest. From there, a ripple spread as the glow of Magical Power propagated throughout the Doll’s entire body.

At first, its movements were clumsy. After standing up, they became smooth. The Knight Puppet respectfully knelt before Rosemary.

“It seems good.”

Rosemary nodded contentedly, hiding her mouth behind a folding fan as she laughed. Somehow, perhaps because she was originally a Princess, she carried herself perfectly while commanding a Knight.

But, a Vanguard, huh. So this would charge into enemy lines alongside Grace and Dullahan?… Imagining it was quite something.

“…Ah, I thought of something.”

“What is it?”

“Nothing. I just thought, since it’s Knight-style anyway, we could use a Mantle for blast countermeasures. We could weave a Mantle from Arachne Thread and Enchant it with Water Magic to draw away heat.”

“That might also work as a countermeasure against the Blazing Fortress.”

“Hopefully. Also, since the Pile Bunker is finalized, I’d like you to adjust its size to fit this Form.”

“Understood.”

As I placed the experimental Pile Bunker on the table, Viola nodded.

“Is the Pile Bunker’s appearance acceptable like this? I tried to match it to the Doll, but due to adjustment considerations, some details have changed slightly.”

Specifically, the shape of the part that vented the blast backward.

“I think it’s fine.”

After comparing the Pile Bunker and the Doll alternately, Rosemary nodded.

“Then… this is mostly settled.”

“What about a name? Calling it ‘the Doll’ forever…”

Grace tilted her head. When I looked at Rosemary upon hearing those words, she made a somewhat subtle expression.

“I’m not good at thinking up names like this. Could I ask you to do it?”

She passed the task to me like that. Hmm. What to do.

“…Hmm. How about Ignis?”

After thinking a bit, I answered. I believe it meant flame.

“Decided. From today, your name is Ignis.”

Rosemary lightly tapped the Doll’s Armor as if knocking. The addressed Doll placed a hand on its hip and bowed.

“Now that we’ve reached a milestone… there’s one thing I’d like to ask.”

Turning around, Rosemary said.

“What is it?”

“I want to apologize to Count Gartner. Because of my scheme, I caused him a great deal of trouble.”

…Ah. To Father. That was probably something best done in person. It wasn’t the kind of thing to handle over a Communication Device.

But, Gartner County, huh. It wasn’t a place I particularly wanted to go… but if it’s around Mother’s house… well, fine.

“Yeah. We’ve been busy with Doll development lately, so maybe a group outing would be nice. Lindwurm would probably be happy too.”

It’s been hot recently, so it could double as a summer retreat. There’s a lake in the forest, so relaxing there wouldn’t be bad either.