Chapter 282
After entrusting the Undead Puppets to Jigoro, I resumed my work. Iris and Shiitake would probably return to their respective workshops as well. All right. While Jigoro trains the Undead Puppets, I think I'll make some new ones!
"Oh, right. We obtained a whole lot of Golem cores during the event, didn't we? I was thinking we could turn those into a fighting force as well."
"Oh, that's reassuring. Just like the Undead Puppets, having them destroyed would only hurt our wallets, so it would be even better if we could send them into the thick of things without hesitation."
The Golems would serve as walls for us, just like the Undead Puppets. It was interesting that products of entirely different technologies could be used for the same purpose.
"Ah! Then why not ask the Metallica people for help? If we could apply their tactical shells to the Golems..."
"I'm going! I'm going right now! Lead the way, Iris!"
"Huh!? Wait!? Hold on—ah!"
Shiitake grabbed Iris's tentacle in a firm grip and tried to leave the hall, dragging her along. However, her feeble strength was not enough to move Iris. In fact, perhaps because she had put too much force into it, she fell forward onto her face.
That looked painful. She went down face-first. Her health had even dropped, and although she could not feel pain, it was still a worrying fall. Was she all right...?
"Grrr, I should curse this body's pathetic strength...! More importantly, let's go quickly! Let's go right now!"
"Calm down, Shiitake."
She was fine. She did not look bothered in the slightest. It seemed that the only way to stop Shiitake from acting on her curiosity was through force.
With a sigh, I restrained her while telling her to stop, extending my tail and wrapping it around her before lifting her into the air. Shiitake thrashed around with her short arms and legs, but after a while, she realized that resisting was pointless and settled down.
"If you want to go, just follow Jigoro. His destination is also the cave reached through Mepe. He's probably still in the lounge, isn't he?"
"Oh! Great idea!"
"Also, I think they would be happy if you brought various ores and soil as gifts. I hear those are food for them."
The Metallica went so far as to dig tunnels just to secure passages for obtaining soil from the surface. If we prepared a wide variety of ores for them, they would certainly be delighted. I could just imagine those small, smooth bodies hopping up and down.
"Like a gift basket? Okay!"
"Iris, are you going too?"
"No, I'm planning to make mass-produced equipment while leveling up my Skills. Towa is helping me with the preparations, too, so I'll visit Mepe another time."
"Ehh? Seriously?"
Iris seemed to be staying behind because she had things she wanted to do. When Shiitake learned that Iris would not be coming with her, her shoulders slumped. After confirming that she had calmed down and her strength had left her, I lowered her to the floor.
"Tch, can't be helped! Then I'd better hurry so I don't get left behind! Hey, wait up!"
Shiitake switched moods in an instant and dashed off after Jigoro. She was probably excited at the chance to visit Mepe, a city she had wanted to go to for quite some time. Her boundless cheerfulness was undoubtedly one of her defining traits.
"She's the very embodiment of initiative."
"Absolutely. I don't think I could imitate that vitality even if I tried."
Iris and I watched Shiitake run off and laughed together. With so many truly distinctive members, we would never be bored. Just as before, let's continue our preparations while enjoying ourselves!
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"So this is the place, huh? The underground passage they were talking about?"
While Izam and the others were back at work, Jigoro had reached the vicinity of the entrance to the underground passage leading to 'Mepe,' the city where the Metallica lived. The players accompanying him were Shiitake, Toji, and Eiji, while Kal and five Undead Puppets followed behind them.
They had reached their destination, but Toji, who was serving as their guide, was tilting her head in confusion. The place looked different from how it had before.
"It should be here, but... there's a door I don't recognize."
"Grrrrr?"
When Izam and the others had come to this entrance, there had only been a gap too narrow for anyone but a Metallica, with its flexible body, to pass through. That was why Izam had used his 【Space-Time Magic】 to return them.
She remembered that clearly, yet when they finally reached their destination, they found a sturdy-looking metal door. It was large enough for even Kal, whom Jigoro had brought along, to pass through easily, and they might have believed it if someone called it a grand castle gate.
In reality, however, it was a double door fitted into a section carved out of a massive boulder. It was no wonder that Toji was bewildered.
"Could it be a trap? The Metallica are good at setting traps, aren't they?"
"No, no, Eiji-chan. If they were masters of traps, wouldn't they set one in a more natural-looking way?"
The Metallica's technical skill was extremely advanced, as was clear from the numerous traps that had made it difficult for Izam and the others to get through the cave. There was no way they would set such an obvious trap. For that reason, Shiitake rejected Eiji's opinion.
Eiji accepted that she might be right. Even so, no one had an answer to the question of what this door was supposed to be.
"Standing around here getting nowhere won't accomplish anything. I'll try opening it for now."
As soon as he said that, Jigoro placed both hands on the door and tried to push it open. Before the door could move, however, a section around his knees opened like a small window, and something resembling metallic Slime oozed out through it.
The Slime-like thing transformed at Jigoro's feet, taking the shape of a cartoonish Human child. Its smooth, featureless body stared up at Jigoro.
"Well now, what's this?"
"Outsider, can you understand our language?"
"Huh? Yeah, I do. You're the Metallica my siblings told me about, huh?"
When Jigoro realized that it was a Metallica, the Metallica hopped up and down on the spot to express its joy. Because of their appearance, it was impossible to tell whether an individual was male or female, or even whether they were an adult or a child. However, they expressed their emotions with their entire bodies, making it easy to understand what they were thinking.
"Outsiders who understand our language. Guests. Opening now."
The Metallica went back inside through the small window it had emerged from. Immediately afterward, the double doors opened vertically.
"Ahahahaha! What's this? That's hilarious!"
"...So this is a door that absolutely cannot be opened by brute force."
The thing that looked like a double door was actually a disguise; in reality, it was a door that opened vertically. Shiitake burst out laughing when she saw it, while Toji spoke in exasperation. The former simply found the idea amusing, while the latter thought that with this level of technology, they could have just reinforced the entrance's defenses.
However, Eiji's expression had tightened. Eiji sensed a determination to absolutely prevent anyone who could not understand their language or who attacked without warning from getting through. Perhaps, hidden beneath their small appearance and carefree behavior, was a desire to completely isolate themselves from anyone hostile. It seemed best to watch their words and actions.
"Pardon us."
"Gwooon."
Jigoro and Kal boldly entered through the open door. The squad of Undead Puppets followed close behind. The Undead Puppets had no will of their own, and Izam had set them to obey Jigoro's orders. Their movements were perfectly coordinated by the 【Coordination】 Skill, making them look like veteran soldiers... even though they had yet to experience a single real battle.
They had expected to proceed through the passage in a large group, but on the other side of the door, they found a moving platform already in place. A large disk was floating near the door, and once they boarded it, it carried them straight to 'Mepe' at a comfortable speed.
Jigoro was delighted by how comfortable the moving platform was, while Kal looked fascinated and tapped it with his tail. Shiitake nearly fell off as she examined every inch of the platform, trying to figure out how it worked.
"The construction was far too fast, no matter how you look at it. What on earth are the Metallica thinking?"
"Who knows? I have no idea."
While the others enjoyed themselves, Toji remained on guard. Only a few days had passed since Izam and the others first visited, yet she could not help being astonished by the Metallica's ability to prepare such extensive facilities. She did not understand why they had poured that technology into a passage they had only paved a short while ago.
Eiji shared the same concern. However, without any information to base a deduction on, it would be nothing more than speculation. Thus, the two avoided stating anything outright and merely kept their ominous imaginings to themselves.
Meanwhile, the platform arrived at 'Mepe.' The partition that had previously stood on this side was gone, and in its place was something resembling a station for the moving platforms.
The station was luxurious, decorated with elaborate ornamentation, and it was obvious that the Metallica were doing everything they could to welcome their visitors. That was right—the reason they had improved the passage so quickly was out of consideration for their guests, so that they could reach the city in as much comfort as possible.
The Metallica were delighted by the novelty of interacting with people from outside the city who could understand their language. The entire city, and indeed the Metallica as a whole, was excited by this new stimulation. They had all worked together to improve the passage so that their visitors would want to come again and again.
Regardless, even though they still did not understand the Metallica's circumstances, everyone could feel that they were being welcomed. Toji and Eiji looked at each other, shrugged, and admitted that they had been mistaken before stepping down from the platform.