SWNOVELXO Chapter 174
Clang!
“What are you?!”
“Protecting the target from intruders.”
Edric was momentarily startled by the behavior of the mysterious woman who thrust her arm against the sword he wielded.
‘What the heck is happening?’
He had struck with full force, not letting his guard down against an intruder sneaking into Somerset, so he believed her arm would surely be sliced off.
But instead of being cut, his sword bounced back in an unbelievable twist of fate.
Swish!
“Kugh!”
Edric was struck with admiration for an opponent who handled his fierce attack as if it were nothing.
“Indeed, your skill is remarkable.”
“The intruder’s combat power is strong. I strongly advise you to retreat.”
Edric realized that the level of mana the mechanical doll was dealing meant it could not handle her power, and was now shifting into defense mode instead of attack to block her completely.
Both recognized each other as intruders, and before the brief moment of catching their breath was over, Edric unleashed his swordsmanship technique, Marionette, to restrict her movements.
But soon, Edric had to withdraw his sword and prepare to defend.
‘What’s going on? I don’t feel anything at all.’
Marionette was originally a sword technique that used the opponent’s physical reaction to limit their movements, but the mechanical doll he faced now exhibited no reactions, rendering it unusable.
Clang!
Of course, even without Marionette, Edric’s strikes contained enough power that even a skilled sword expert would become incapacitated if struck.
Yet, this opponent effortlessly absorbed those attacks, and even though she did not retaliate for some reason, it made creating openings all the more difficult.
‘How can she block my sword with her bare body?’
It was common sense that a sword infused with mana could only be blocked by another weapon also infused with mana.
Even steel could be cleaved by an experienced mana user.
Unless the opponent’s body were made of mythical metals like Mithril or Orichalcum, it was impossible to withstand Edric’s attacks with just her body.
“I can’t hold back anymore.”
“Intruder’s combat power ranked at the highest level. Weapon restrictions lifted.”
Edric had been controlling his power to subdue her, but realizing that this was no longer an option, he prepared a serious attack.
The mechanical doll recognized that the intruder’s combat power represented the highest tier as estimated by Jenia, and within her own systems, the previously restricted weapons were now authorized for use.
The tension reached a point where their determination to end the fight clashed, as if sparks were flying in the air.
Crash!
As they temporarily paused to glare at each other, just when they were about to charge at one another…
“What are you doing?!”
Aida suddenly jumped between them.
“Aida! What are you doing?!”
“Identifying the protection target!”
With Aida suddenly interjecting, Edric hastily twisted his movement to reduce the force behind his strike.
The mechanical doll also halted the weapon she was pulling out to avoid injuring the target under her protection, Aida.
And then…
“Somerset Whirlwind Kick!”
Aida leaped in, executing the kick technique named ‘Whirlwind’ from the Somerset Style that she learned from Alain.
Her kick, sharp enough to be unbelievable for a child’s, struck directly at Edric’s sword, and a follow-up roundhouse slammed into the ankle of the mechanical doll.
Thunk.
With the impact from Aida’s kick, Edric’s forehead collided with the sword blade, causing him to lose consciousness, while the doll fell over, its power shut down due to the strike.
“I did it!”
Having dispatched both opponents in an instant, Aida raised her arms in a victorious pose but suddenly exclaimed, “Wait! I have to get the church uncle!!!”
Recalling Rupert’s lesson that when someone collapses, you should call a doctor or a priest instead of posing victoriously, she hurriedly hopped on Rach and rushed toward the church.
***
“You don’t need to worry, Marquis Bradley.”
“Please forgive me, Your Highness!”
At Somerset Mansion, within the marquis’s bedroom, Marquis Bradley was kneeling and pleading towards Edric, who was lying there.
Even though Edric attempted to reassure him that it was fine, the marquis’s face remained pale as a ghost.
“It’s my fault!”
Beside them, Aida was cheerfully lifting her hands and shouting, making the contrast with the distressed marquis all the more pitiful.
“Marquis, if you keep this up, I won’t have face to meet my master.”
“But…”
“Can’t we just say I slipped and fell?”
Finally, after Edric’s repeated insistence, the marquis’s complexion started to return to normal.
‘Sigh… I feel like I’ve lost ten years off my life.’
The marquis recalled the thunderous news he had received while handling territory affairs in the office.
‘Wait! Why did the Crown Prince collapse?!’
When the priest, Mikhail, suddenly appeared at the mansion, he had rushed out, confused to see the scene that would likely haunt him for life.
‘That’s… Aida jumped in when they were fighting!’
Inside the secret workshop of Kroon, where the marquis had never entered, lay Edric and the mysterious woman.
‘Wait, should I even call her a woman?’
The fact that Edric had fainted after being struck by the sword she kicked was enough to keep him preoccupied, but it was clear that this was no ‘person’ at all.
However, because of his youngest daughter’s unintended act of assaulting a member of the royal family, an incident that could very well bring ruin to their family, he had no time to concern himself with that fact.
At least there were no further issues because Edric referred to his son Rupert as his master, but what if it were another member of the royal family…?
‘Wait, it could be fine even if it were any other member of the royal family, right?’
Marquis Bradley recalled Crown Prince Alex, who had been frequently visiting Aida, and also the Second Crown Prince William from time to time.
It had become well-known in the imperial social circles just how much Alex cared for Aida.
Rumors even circulated that he was her illegitimate child from an accident during his childhood.
Moreover, Second Crown Prince William also took a liking to Aida, often stopping by to play card games and shower her with gifts.
Lastly, Princess Ioleen had an unofficial engagement with Rupert.
‘Hmm…’
Though the marquis felt something was off, he concluded that if Aida had knocked Edric out, perhaps it wouldn’t be a major issue after all.
Rustle.
“Your Highness, you shouldn’t move yet…”
“I’m fine. In fact, I feel sorry for having called the priest.”
The marquis, lost in thought, was startled and urged Edric not to rise from the bed.
Edric, however, stood up as if it were nothing.
“Aida, what was that earlier?”
“That? That was nothing! Aida’s minion!”
“Minion?”
“Yep!”
Edric was momentarily confused because Aida had grown accustomed to referring to friends as minions, but he quickly retraced his memory before losing consciousness.
‘That was not a person.’
At that moment, he had been so consumed by the thought of protecting Aida from someone sneaking into Somerset that he hadn’t noticed.
It was unmistakably not a human but something else entirely.
“Can you show me that minion?”
“Yep! But…”
As Aida answered readily when Edric asked to see what it was that fought against him, her expression became peculiar as she scratched her head and avoided the topic.
“What’s wrong?”
“Kroon is mad…”
She hesitated because she realized that Kroon was angry that Aida had secretly been playing in his workshop.
“I guess I should go see Kroon myself.”
With that, Edric left the marquis’s bedroom and headed for Kroon’s workshop.
***
“So this was something made in utmost secrecy…”
“Understood. I won’t tell the master under any circumstances.”
“Thanks for understanding.”
After Edric’s response, Kroon finally relaxed and sighed in relief, only to start grumbling right afterwards.
“How did Aida sneak in here!? There are so many delicate things around here!”
Kroon, visibly irritated that his highly secure Dwarf-made locks had been breached by Aida, began to vent his frustration.
However,
‘Incredible. Is this a new golem?’
Edric was too busy observing the new golem, which was powered down and laying like a doll, to pay attention to Kroon’s complaints.
“This feels similar to regular human skin, yet how does it possess the strength to withstand my strikes?”
“Oh. That’s a bit complicated, but to explain it, there’s a special type of slime whose mucus has the property to bond with other substances.”
Kroon described how the material had been created using the properties of those special slimes, synthesizing rare and expensive materials in specific ratios.
‘Wow. It transforms into a strength that makes steel seem trivial when shocked, but under normal conditions, it feels just like human skin.’
Edric could not help but marvel at the quality of the new golem, which he had initially mistaken for a person.
“I spent quite a time replicating the eyes and internal organs of a human.”
Kroon seemed eager to boast about his masterpiece, describing even details that weren’t asked.
“But I remember this new golem could speak; how is that…?”
“That part wasn’t my doing; it was taken care of by Miss Jenia. I don’t know much, but they say it was designed to learn like a human, isn’t that amazing?”
“Learning?”
As Kroon spoke, a sudden thought crossed Edric’s mind.
He began examining the new golem carefully once more.
It might be modeling a specific woman, as it looked eerily like a perfect imitation of a human.