The State of Grahferde
“Leaving? Pity,” the priest remarks dryly as you turn to leave, though he makes no move to stop you from doing so. You leave him behind together with Wisteria’s corpse: whatever is to be done with her, it is out of your hands.
The moment you leave the temple grounds your strength returns, together with the voice of a complaining Barbatos going on about ‘cowardly runes’. Swiftly, quietly, you make your way back into the inn just as the presence of guards on the streets begins to increase. It looks like the storm that the priest mentioned is about to hit. Escaping the city through its gates unseen will be too tedious. Thankfully, you had prepared a contingency for this sort of event. When you slip back into your inn room, you find that Rin had gathered everyone, even Lucy, as according to your plan. The single-use summoning circle is complete. It is a shame about the wagon you used to travel here, but luckily Runde had liquidated most of the assets you were carting about – two small sacks of coin hung heavily from his back – so there was not too much of a loss there.
Upon seeing you enter, Rin nods sheepishly. “I suppose you won’t let me stay and kill all of the people coming after us?” she asks hopefully.
Your frown tells her all she needs to know. The last thing you need right now is to have the streets of Yuiria run red with blood. “F-Fine! If you have any complaints, leave it for after we get back!” Rin exclaims.
“That’s right. Take them back. I’ll destroy the circle before following you.”
Muttering Rin concentrates, channeling her magic into the circle. With a flash of light, the summoning circle ignites and sends them back to the goblin village. You sigh, grab a brush, and get to work scrubbing.
***
Grahferde appears to have changed little in your absence. You suppose that is something to be thankful for: you had half expected to return to an alien wasteland after setting Zayan free on the place with little supervision. While the twins and Runde are greeted by the goblins, and Rin sneaks off, apparently thinking that this will save her from a lecture or two, Zayan comes up to you in a hurry, her hood slipping to reveal her unkempt hair.
“You’re back. Good, and not a moment too soon. I need your help to make a more efficient batch of workers than these goblins. They’re hard-working and obedient, but honestly they just don’t have the stamina to keep up.”
Leading you into the underground space – which seems to have expanded significantly, regardless of the unchanging surface – she shows you three featureless mud dolls, each as tall as a human. “I call these golems,” says Zayan proudly. “Their construction is based off the mechano-biology of the secretive dwarves, but as I cannot emulate their method of reproduction, I have instead embedded in each of them a single shard of magnatite as a power source…” She goes on to explain how they will work tirelessly to assist her, and how you are the only person around with sufficient magical power to start what she calls the ‘magnatite micro-reactor’ within each of the golems. A long and laborious exposition later, Zayan ends her speech with, “Have you any specific requests for these babies? You are my patron, after all. I have time to tweak them still, though more extensive customizations would have to wait until I refine subsequent versions.”
***
The golems look rather aesthetically dull as they are.
A. You ask for them to be made in a male form.
B. You ask for them to be made in a female form.
C. You leave them as they are. They are only to be used for work anyway.
***
Regarding their tasks, you can choose to specialize their function.
A. You have all the golems focused towards combat. They will be more agile and deadly in battle at the expense of the ability to perform too much heavy lifting.
B. You have all the golems focused towards construction. They will be stronger and sturdier, able to construct larger and more extensive structures, but will not be as effective in combat as they could be.
C. You have all the golems built for a balanced mode, able to perform moderately well in all tasks.
D. There are three golems after all, and these are just prototypes – you decide to have a combat-focused one, a construction-focused one, and a balanced one.
***
Continuing on, Zayan tells you about the other projects she plans to pursue once the golems are active. All of these require magnatite, and from the initial chunk you obtained from Ontoglia, Zayan estimates that there is perhaps ninety percent left, having used some of it to construct the golems. All of her proposals would use up the magnatite you have left, though of course you could always get more. There are quite a few projects, but as it is more efficient with your current manpower to pursue one to completion first, you recommend that she focuses on:
A. An early-warning network of magical wards and runes that will blanket Grahferde and the surrounding forest, with built-in defenses that can injure or kill trespassers.
B. Production of several portable summoning circles, allowing easier and more convenient mass teleportation.
C. Building a regeneration pod, which amplifies healing magic and allows for mass regeneration of living tissue. It seems that it can also be used to grow food in a pinch.
D. A magical shield generator that creates a protective force field around the village when activated.
E. An improved spellarm – the weapon you saw the Barzamite commander use to block your Lightning Spear back in Erise. It allows you to store spells and cast them later without use of mana.
***
Weary from the day’s exertions – from a walk around the city, to a dip in its river, you had not had much time to rest – you retire to your chambers as soon as dusk falls. Everything is quiet. You toss and turn about the hard bed, shifting your cumbersome wing out of the way.
The door creaks open. Someone walks in, making no effort to hide their presence. “Are you asleep?”
You raise your head, suddenly alert. It’s Zayan. Her long brown hair is loose, framing her face fetchingly. Dressed only in skimpy nightwear with a sheerness that is almost transparent in the pale moonlight, showing off every bit of her curves. To your surprise, despite her everyday frumpy robes, there are some rather enticing curves on display at the moment that you had not been able to notice before. There is a frightening glint in her eyes, and her cat-like grin that tells you she is enjoying this and will not be easily deterred. If for some insane reason you would want to deter her, that is.
Zayan’s pointed ears twitch, and she says, “Ah, you are awake. If that is the case, I would need your cooperation.”
“For…?” Despite your interest, you find yourself slightly wary. This is Zayan, after all. She might have something else in mind.
She comes closer to the bed, her hips swaying seductively. “Sample extraction. I have read that dressing like this is the best way to get a male to cooperate. And of course I have memorized all of the theoretical protocols required to bring the act to completion.” She flashes her teeth. “Now, drop those pants so that I may obtain a sample of your semen.”
If you had any doubts as to her intentions, they are quashed pretty thoroughly with her blunt words. “What would you even do with it?” you ask.
“Impregnation. You are a particularly interesting species, Erdrick. Perhaps unique, even amongst your kind. Perhaps even endangered,” replies Zayan in a low voice as she leans towards you. Raising a hand to the laced ribbon at the front of her nightgown, she loosens it. “Quite likely endangered, actually. Testing your reproductive capability is essential for the future prosperity of your race. Now, I am not the sort of inventor that is unwilling to get her hands dirty, and as such I am conducting this experiment myself. The human child is too young, the goblins are too scrawny, and the demon girl..." She laughs derisively, a bit madly. "Well, despite her physiological suitability and high compatibility with you, she would probably faint at the suggestion. There is no other option. How would the child of an half-elf and an apparent angel turn out? This question has been gnawing away at my brilliant mind for a while now, and I need to start working on the answer. It would be an interesting activity to explore, don't you think?”
This close, you can smell the sweet scent of her skin, feel her hot breath warming your cheeks, and see a single bead of sweat roll down her collarbone and slip deep within...
You gulp. “I…”
***
A. YES.
B. NO.