Water Magician

Editor: Tseirp

"Welcome, Duke Rondo."

"I'm terribly sorry for the sudden visit, Princess. Today, we've moved in next door, so I'm here to offer our housewarming greetings."

"Housewarming greetings?"

Ryo said with a smile, but Princess Shio Fen didn't quite understand.

Perhaps in Bosuntar, there was no custom of giving congratulatory gifts to neighbors when moving in.

Nevertheless, with the help of the White Flame Army, the housewarming gift— baked sweets from a popular pastry shop in Hanlin, the imperial capital— was delivered.

Forty boxes, each containing fifty cookies.

A total of two thousand.

"Thank you for your thoughtfulness."

Princess Shio Fen said with a smile, bowing her head.

By distributing them under the Princess's name, her reputation among the workers would improve.

Of course, the Princess was the second-highest authority in the residence, after the Prince.

But at the same time, she was a foreigner.

To be honest, the workers were watching closely:

"Is this person worthy of serving?" "How will they treat us?"…

So, give them this—was Ryo's intention.

If it were simply the Princess giving out cookies… it might make her seem frivolous.

Flattering the servants too much could invite criticism regarding her dignity and authority.

But if the cookies were gifts from the Duke of Rondo and distributed under the Princess's discretion, the impression would be different.

Yes—leading people is a tricky and troublesome business…

Act too proud, and you're shunned.

Act too humble, and you're looked down upon.

The balance is truly delicate.

"Please, come inside."

"Oh no, today is just a quick greeting for the move."

"Please don't say that. If I let you leave now, I'll be scolded by Ryun-sama."

The Princess insisted more strongly than usual.

Ryo tilted his head slightly, but in the end…

"Well then, just for tea."

Ryo, Abel, Princess Shio Fen, Captain Bizis, and the maid Mifa.

The five shared tea and light conversation. Then Princess Shio Fen brought up a topic:

"Ryo-sama, Abel-sensei—I have something I'd like to confirm."

"Hm?"

"Me too?"

Princess Shio Fen smiled as she spoke.

Ryo and Abel tilted their heads.

"It's about Abel-sensei's true identity…or rather, his status."

"Ah."

Ryo gave a wry smile and nodded at the Princess's words.

Indeed, the three here knew that Abel was not 'Albert' but 'Abel'.

With how well-known the 'Ballad of the Kingdom of Knightley' had become, even Ryo understood that it was only a matter of time before someone figured out who Abel really was.

And of course, Abel himself knew it too.

"I'm an adventurer and a swordsman. And I'm Mifa's swordmaster. At least for now, that's all I am—nothing more, nothing less. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes, understood."

That was the entirety of the exchange between Abel and Princess Shio Fen.

But with that, it was confirmed—Abel was indeed Abel the First.

However, for now, he would act as an adventurer.

Also, he was Duke Rondo's guard 'Albert', and wanted to be treated as such.

One day, he might reveal his identity as Abel I, but that day was not today.

"However… I would like to inform Prince Ryun alone…"

"Ah, well…"

Ryo glanced at Abel, who gave a small nod.

"He says that's fine."

"Thank you very much."

And lastly…

"Ryo-sama, the mansion next door must be quite large for just the two of you. Shall I arrange for attendants or maids? I can send some from my household."

"Oh, I completely forgot! No need, Princess. We'll manage somehow."

"Somehow?"

"Well then, we'll be going. Abel, let's return. Princess, Captain, Mifa—thank you for the hospitality. We'll visit again properly another day."

With that, Ryo and Abel hurried back to their mansion.

Upon returning, Ryo said one thing and shut himself in his room:

"I'm about to concentrate on a project. Please do not disturb me except for snacks and meals. Also, please refrain from using the big bath today. That is all."

His expression was so full of determination that Abel could only nod.

Not that it was a problem for Abel—

He had planned to practice flying around the new garden with the flight ring anyway…

Abel called for Ryo only once, at dinnertime, as instructed.

Dinner had actually been delivered in a layered box—like a bento—from the neighboring residence of the Prince and Princess.

Ryo came out of his room to eat, but he was clearly distracted.

Still, he ate properly… then shut himself in again.

Abel was never told what he was working on.

He found out the next morning.

The next morning, Abel woke at six.

As a rule, Abel always rose at six. His body remembered the time.

When he first became king, he rose even earlier but realized his early rising forced everyone else to wake up even earlier too… so he settled on six.

Apparently, even a king can't just wake up whenever he wants.

He stepped out to swing his sword.

Just as he planned to do in their new base of operations—when something caught his eye.

It wasn't an enemy.

Something was opening windows and doors.

In Darwei, houses didn't have glass windows.

They were either open or shut.

This mansion had forty rooms.

Naturally, the number of windows was vast…

Something was opening them all.

What was it?

"A golem…?"

Abel muttered.

It was a humanoid figure, about 1.5 meters tall, light blue, and bipedal.

"So that's what he was working on yesterday in his room? Impressive…"

Abel was genuinely impressed.

"No need for attendants or maids", Ryo had said—and this was what he meant.

Abel was a king.

He knew that the Royal Alchemy Workshop of the Kingdom of Knightley had been researching combat golems.

Led by the genius alchemist Viscount Kenneth Hayward, even he struggled with the project.

Creating simple moving puppets was doable.

Like the quadrupedal golems used by the Union.

But bipedal movement was so difficult that the research had been suspended.

Especially when those golems had to function in battle—it added layers of complexity.

"Huh? This golem walks on two legs…"

Abel noticed the golem at work was, indeed, bipedal.

The Royal Alchemy Workshop had frozen biped research due to time and labor constraints.

Yet here was a functioning, stable bipedal golem.

"Did the Royal Workshop secretly commission Ryo, who dabbles in alchemy as a hobby…?"

A highly unlikely possibility, he thought.

The Royal Workshop handled sensitive information and technologies, and access was heavily restricted.

Any collaboration with external researchers requires high-level approval.

Moreover, since Abel's ascension to the throne, the Royal Alchemy Workshop had been placed directly under the king's jurisdiction again.

It used to be managed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but after Abel became king, he reinstated the 'Royal' aspect by placing it under direct royal control.

As such, most related paperwork came through Abel himself—but he had no recollection of any documents regarding the resumption of bipedal golem research or any external commissions related to it.

Of course, if the person in question was Ryo, it wouldn't be entirely impossible.

After all, Ryo was the Kingdom's premier duke.

He had access to confidential information—referred to in the kingdom as 'viewing privileges'—and his access was unrestricted.

That was something Abel had set by royal authority.

He was virtually the only noble with unrestricted access to the Royal Alchemy Workshop…

"Well, whatever."

With that one phrase, Abel dismissed the things he didn't understand.

He could just ask Ryo when he woke up.

That was the most efficient and reliable way to solve the problem.

A skill he had surely developed through his time as king.

"Still, to think he managed to create a golem in just one night…"

The moment Abel said that, he caught a glimpse of something blue.

Not the golem in front of him—something else.

He moved a little and looked off into the distance.

"A second golem…"

That's right—there wasn't just one.

"No way…"

Abel ran through the mansion.

As a result, he discovered that ten golems were working.

It was as if the mansion had been taken over by golems…

At that moment, Ryo finally woke up.

"Good morning, Abel. You're up early."

He said sleepily.

"Did you spend yesterday making those golems?"

"Oh, you saw them? Yeah, it was tough. But I figured it'd be even harder for the two of us to go around opening all the windows, so I gave it my all."

Ryo puffed out his chest slightly, showing off his hard work.

"Yeah, I think it's amazing. As expected of you."

"Aha, it's not that big a deal."

Ryo said, blushing a little at Abel's honest praise.

"But to build them overnight… aren't you better than Kenneth?"

"Oh, no, not at all. These golems just reuse the specs for the paddy-field maintenance golems."

"Paddy-field maintenance— you're talking about the rice fields in the Rondo Forest, right?"

"Yes, but the way you say it makes it sound so odd."

Ryo replied with a wry smile.

"I reused the bodies as-is and rewrote the job functions. They can now open and close windows and doors, clean inside and outside the mansion…oh, and they also turn the corridor lights on and off."

There were lights under the eaves and along the connecting corridors, but each had to be switched on manually.

"Each one had a little magic stone embedded in it."

"That's pretty amazing too. Turning them on one by one would be a hassle…well, in a normal mansion with lots of staff, it wouldn't be an issue."

"Exactly. But with just the two of us, it's a real chore. Some are way up high, and… Do we bring a chair or ladder every time?"

"Probably."

Abel nodded in response to Ryo's question.

"They should've just made a centralized system where you press one button and all the lights turn on…"

Ryo said, shaking his head slightly. Abel gave a silent, wry smile.

"Oh, and these housekeeper golems can also carry luggage if you ask them to."

"Seriously…? That's awesome. Really convenient."

Abel praised the golems enthusiastically.

But Ryo was frowning.

He seemed dissatisfied.

"But they can't talk, they can't think for themselves. And they can't fight either, so they can't guard the mansion."

"Ah…I see. That does sound like a problem."

"But it's fine. This isn't their final form! Once the base is made, I can keep updating them. We live in the age of DLC—downloadable content!"

"Yeah, I have no idea what that means."

Abel shook his head slightly.

"And I haven't linked them in a golem network, either. The golems of the Theocracy in the Western countries, Holy Knights, I believe they're called. They could communicate and choose optimal combat strategies. The ones from QC Duchy didn't do that, and even when I disassembled them, I didn't find anything similar… I guess that's why the Theocracy's golems are considered the best in the West—not just because of power, but because of that part."

"Sounds like a lot of impressive stuff."

Abel was already out of his depth, so his responses were vague and automatic.

"I got to examine a damaged Holy Knight golem with Neil-san, and from what I learned… oh, but if I use water-attribute magic, the theory's not that complicated. I just need to transmit the data via atmospheric moisture… information exchange basically works through variations in wave strength, right? Thinking about it that way, it might be fairly easy to implement."

At the end, Ryo looked directly at Abel.

Was he seeking agreement?

"Y-Yeah. Do your best. I'm cheering you on."

"…Abel, don't just say something random."

"That's the vibe I got, so I went with it…"

Ryo shook his head with a sigh. Abel had tried to give an answer despite not being sure, and of course, it hadn't landed.

"Still, it took six months to make the paddy-field golems, but these took only a day. Reusing existing data really is the key to shortening production time."

"I don't really get it, but you mean starting with something pre-existing and improving it properly? Yeah, that's common in a lot of fields."

"Humans are amazing."

"Yeah, I won't argue with that."

Ryo nodded grandly, and Abel nodded in agreement without protest.

"Alright then, Abel. Now that we've got the housekeeper golems ready, let's go explore the nearby restaurants today."

"Oh, sounds good."

The area around this mansion had many unoccupied mansions, except for the prince's residence.

But it wasn't tucked away on the outskirts of the capital—instead, it was a strangely empty pocket in an otherwise bustling part of the imperial city.

Just a short walk away led to lively streets full of shops.

"Come to think of it, these golems can't cook, huh?"

"Right. I noticed that back in Rondo Forest too… for some reason, golems are terrible at cooking."

"Really?"

Ryo tilted his head, and Abel followed suit, surprised.

"Cooking is just processing ingredients in a set way… measured amounts, fixed steps. It sounds simple."

"Exactly. But the food still turns out bad. Sure, golems can't taste-test, but if you follow exact measurements, that shouldn't matter. But it doesn't work."

"That's strange."

"It is, right? I think it's because every ingredient is a little different, and human cooks subconsciously make adjustments. These guys can't do that."

"Huh… makes sense."

"It's like the failure of expert systems in early AI. But I can't say for sure."

Ryo shrugged.

Then he added something important:

"Finding a good cook is a very important matter."

"No doubt about that."

TLN: Please read my translations at tseirptranslations.com, I did not give permission to any site to host my translations.

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