Chapter 530 – The Hound's Vessel

October 11, around 1:10 AM – Regarding the contents of “510 Land and Sea Destinations”

I’ve revised it so that Queen Eldorene will stop by Theodore’s residence first before returning to the castle.

The overall flow of the story remains unchanged.

–And so, I escorted Queen Eldorene and her group to my home.

“Welcome home, Master.”

“We’re relieved to see you safe and sound.”

“Welcome back, Theodore.”

It seemed Cecilia, Mihaela, Floria, and Harvesta had been waiting for my return at the entrance.

“I’m home,” I replied before introducing Queen Eldorene’s group to Cecilia’s group and vice versa. Queen Eldorene’s group… from the very start, they seemed wide-eyed at being greeted by tree spirits and floating Noble Leaves.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

After everyone finished introducing themselves, I asked Cecilia’s group, “Was there anything unusual while I was away?”

“Everything was normal here.”

“The rice seedlings are growing well too.”

Floria gently patted the floating Harvesta’s head.

“Mhm. Thanks for watching the place.”

“You honor us with your words.”

I then showed them inside. When we entered the entrance hall, Queen Eldorene and her companions looked around with impressed expressions.

“Hmm. Just as I heard, it must be Magic Construction… Mhm. Fascinating.”

“That lighting is beautiful.”

“Truly, it has a different beauty from luminous coral.”

There must be various differences compared to underwater architectural styles. The three of them looked delighted as they gazed at the chandelier hanging from the entrance hall ceiling.

Though called a chandelier, it wasn’t the type for holding candles but rather a proper Magic Tool that incorporated Magic Stones to produce light.

It would glow when you set it with Magic Stones replenished with Magical Power, so while the shape was complex, it didn’t require much maintenance. Glass beads were decorated around it to diffuse the light, making it look relatively luxurious, but since they were Synthesized from silica sand, they hardly cost anything.

While they examined other fine decorations, I gave them a brief tour of the house before guiding them to the Game Room.

“Welcome back, Theo.”

“I’m home.”

It seemed Grace and the others had been waiting in the Game Room too. Sheila and the others must have already returned as well.

“Ohh… A Game Room. We had one on Moonlight Island too, but having a room like this is nice for making things lively.”

Queen Eldorene nodded slightly as she observed the room’s atmosphere.

I also introduced Queen Eldorene’s group to the servants on break and the Carbuncles.

“Pleased to meet you all.”

“Will you be staying here, Your Majesty?” Cecilia asked.

“No. I shall return to the Royal Castle. I had business at the Labyrinth entrance, so I asked for guidance, and ended up getting a tour of Theodore-dono’s residence as well. I have a carriage waiting.”

“When you depart, please let us know, and we’ll have Caduceus accompany you as Escort.”

“That would be helpful. May I come visit again sometime?”

“Of course. Please feel free anytime.”

When I answered, Queen Eldorene broke into a broad smile.

Queen Eldorene then left for the Royal Castle a short while later, taking Caduceus with her.

They seemed to have noticed that there were Mermaids and Sirens among the servants, and when I explained they were descendants of those Claudia had protected by creating a village deep in the Labyrinth long ago, they appeared quite astonished.

Well… that would mean they branched off before the founding of Grantios.

Historical circumstances aside, the servants seemed to have gotten along well with Rovisa and Marion too.

The dinner table featured ingredients characteristic of Termwills, particularly those from the Labyrinth. The sautéed Whisper Mushrooms still had their excellent flavor as always. They were satisfying to eat with good texture.

“So, you’ll be heading to the workshop first thing tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. I’ve kept Cerberus waiting in a certain place.”

During the meal, conversation about tomorrow’s plans came up.

When I explained to Cecilia, she nodded quietly.

–And then the next day. After breakfast, I headed to the workshop as scheduled.

My physical condition was perfect. Since I expected Magic control would require considerable concentration, I wanted to be fully focused.

“Good morning, Theo-kun. I’m glad to see you returned safely.”

“Good morning, Al. Well, as you can see.”

Alfred had come to the workshop early in the morning. He greeted me with a smile, so I returned the greeting.

“Ah, this is a souvenir. I made it on the island.”

I handed Alfred a complete chess set too.

Alfred picked up the pieces, glanced through the rules written on paper, and nodded with an impressed expression.

“Hmm, a game where you move pieces and capture each other? This looks interesting. The piece decorations are elaborate, so if I took this to the guild, I feel like even the Dwarves would get fired up.”

“For a budget version, I think they don’t need to be that elaborate though.”

“I see. If we want to popularize it, that might be the way.”

Alfred nodded at my words.

Well, I’ll tell Miriam about chess later – for now, let’s proceed with today’s business.

“This way, Professor.”

In the large room Charlotte guided us to, a Magic Array was drawn in the center, with piles of Materials stacked at the edges.

“You mentioned applying the Black Golem from Silvatoria?” Alfred asked.

“Yeah. I’ll use mithril for the skeleton. Then I’ll create muscles to cover it… but I plan to adapt the Materials used in the Black Golem for that part.”

Of the two Golems we fought in Silvatoria, the Magical Power conversion armor used on the white one is currently being used as the Sirius’s hull.

As for the Black Golem’s characteristics – they were beyond common sense in terms of elasticity and contractility… but I plan to use that to create something similar to muscle tissue.

By making it into thread-like strands, bundling them, and combining them, I’ll make it capable of moving the body. Once completed, it should become a body with considerable strength and flexibility.

Grace broke through the Black Golem by absorbing its Magical Power, but to prevent it from being defeated the same way, I’m thinking of covering the body surface with a different Material, then equipping armor to reinforce the Defense of the body surface Material too.

“That Black Golem was quite a large mass,” Grace said, recalling the Black Golem.

“True. But this time, unlike with the Sirius, it’ll become an assembly of fine components, I suppose. Since muscles function through contraction and extension… that characteristic of the Black Golem fits quite well for use as muscles.”

“Well… normally, such detailed Synthesis wouldn’t be possible though.”

Old Sigmund made an expression as if gazing into the distance with closed eyes.

After that… it comes down to proceeding with Synthesis while referencing useful examples.

“Lavigne, could you come here for a moment?”

I called out to Lavigne. Lavigne nodded and came to my side. I touched her body and used Circulating Ki to carefully examine the flow of her skeleton and muscles, the junctions of tendons, and so on.

The plan is to create the Vessel of Cerberus using Lavigne and Alpha as references.

To supply this vessel with Magical Power, control it, and make it move – as expected, it will require a Magic Stone beyond common sense. Without Cerberus’s Magic Stone that houses its soul, it probably couldn’t serve as a power source.

“Hmm… Well, first… the mithril skeleton, I suppose.”

Cerberus’s Magic Stone will be stored deep within the sternum. I’ll first create that area as a three-dimensional model or as a regular Golem, optimize it, then finalize it as the mithril skeleton.

“What about the neck area?” Rosemary asked.

Ah, right. Cerberus has three heads. I’ll need to recreate that part too.

“I’ll reference books borrowed from the academy and the bodies of multi-headed Monsters brought up from the Labyrinth. Beyond that, I’ll experiment by transforming Caduceus or creating skeleton-only Golems to find the optimal Form.”

“I see.”

Rosemary nodded quietly.

The academy books included some with illustrations showing the skeletons of multi-headed Monsters and such… those should be sufficiently useful as reference materials.

“That’s quite amazing that you’re doing all that while still calling it a Golem. It seems like it could pass as Homunculus technology too…”

Forset showed a thoughtful appearance, resting his chin on his hand.

If Homunculi are more like cultivating life forms, then this might feel more like creating cyborg limbs.

“I prepared sound and fire Magic Stones too. Will you incorporate these as well?” Valentina tilted her head.

“Yeah. Those are for reproducing the Techniques Cerberus used.”

The Resonance Bullet roar and the fiery heat ray. I’ll incorporate them as supplementary roles – to enable firing them, or to enhance their power.

“…That’s the plan, but what do you think?”

When Claudia asked this, the Magic Stone floating beside her responded to her words by slowly pulsating with light.