“This is Shuten-doji, the strongest Karakuri soldier!”
It’s a Karakuri doll resembling an ogre. It appears to have been created as a weapon, as it wields a giant sword in its right hand and a cannon on its left arm.
“Gagaga… Battle, preparations, complete…”
Suddenly, the sword in its right hand begins to spin at high speed.
Vrrrrrrrrrrrr!
To be precise, the wrist of the arm holding the sword was spinning rapidly in circles.
“Is… that really how you’re supposed to use a sword?”
“This way is stronger than just swinging it normally! Plus, it works as a shield too!”
With a loud clank, clank, the mechanical soldier charged toward me.
“Thunderbolt!”
A fierce bolt of lightning struck the Karakuri soldier. Naturally, his sword couldn’t block it, and the metal on its surface melted and scorched, instantly ceasing to function.
“Giga-gagaga…Malfunction…Malfunction…Malfunction…Malfunction-MalfunctionMalfuncti――Beeeeep!”
“You said electricity was its power source, so I wondered what would happen if I hit it with a big surge all at once. Turns out… this is what happens.”
It had probably shorted out because the surge exceeded its capacity and damaged the circuits.
“Maybe electricity is a weak point for karakuri. Metal conducts electricity easily, so if you’re going to use them as weapons, you’ll need countermeasures. Like covering them with materials that don’t conduct well.”
Genko drooped her head as her prized creation was taken down so easily. But after hearing my advice, she suddenly looked up.
“That’s it! And seriously, you’re one insanely advanced artificial intelligence… We’re researching AI ourselves, but we’re nowhere close—right now, all we can manage is letting it pick and choose from pre-input data.”
Creating intelligence from nothing was, of course, something magic alone could never pull off.
“I really want to know how you work… won’t you let me take you apart…?”
“I already told you, NO. But I will be taking this karakuri soldier with me.”
“Wha—why!?”
“You took us in on the shogun’s direct orders, right? Attacking guests like that… imagine what kind of punishment you’d get if the shogun found out.”
“Ugh…”
“Think of it as the price for my silence.”
After being safely released, I reunited with Fana and the others.
“Master, how was it?”
“That was some very interesting research!”
I was very satisfied to have managed to obtain a Karakuri Soldier. I plan to disassemble it later and carefully examine its mechanism.
After leaving the facility, we headed for Karen’s hometown using the magical airship. Perhaps having received information that the monsters had been defeated, the villagers had already returned to help with the reconstruction.
“It’s all thanks to you guys. I want to thank you again.”
“I was ready to die back then, but I ended up surviving. Now that I’ve even been given these convenient prosthetics, I’ll just enjoy my remaining years to the fullest.”
The old man said he would go back to his carefree rural life.
Karen, on the other hand, had no intention of staying in the village.
“Master, I intend to continue my warrior’s journey for a while longer. This whole incident has made me keenly aware of my own shortcomings. I’ll train both my sword and my heart, and come back much stronger.”
“Hmph, it seems my stupid disciple has grown up a bit. It’s past the stage where I have nothing else to teach you. Do as you wish.”
“…Yes, thank you Master.”
“But let me just say one thing… Make sure you keep your sarashi on.”
Oi, old man, what the hell are you talking about?!
And so, we parted ways with the old man and headed back to Edo City. During our flight, Karen suddenly bowed to me.
“I would love to accompany you on your journey.”
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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