Dr. Gynoid, Volume 1, Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7

“Excellent work, Artillery!” I walk up to my successful golemite and pick him up.

The small stone creation waves his arms around, a sense of satisfaction clearly radiating from him.

“It seems our options are expanding now that we have a way to craft more complex items. And with this successful test run, it's only confirmed my expectations that our growth has borne fruit.”

Rather than putting Artillery down alongside the other golemites, I place him on my shoulder. He holds onto my jacket somehow, despite not having hands. How he manages it, only the Goddess knows.

“That's great, Master,” Miss Secretary says. “But aren't you forgetting about something important?”

“Hmm?” I look around until my eyes fall on a particular person. “Ah, right. We did just rescue her, didn't we?”

“Please try to remember the details of the operation and not just how your creations perform.”

“Excellent advice. As expected from one of my masterpieces. Now, let's get out of here.”

“Eh!?” The new girl lets out a surprised noise. “You're forgetting about me again already!?”

Finding a man in bizarre attire with that small construct riding on his shoulder is likely the strangest thing the young woman would see for a very long time.

“Oh, right.” I motion to the golemites to begin pushing the mangonel back toward the hideout. “You can follow me, if you want.”

“Why would I want to follow some strange man I just met!? I am Princess Ryza von Lindervale, daughter of King Empel! We must contact my father quickly and let him know that the capital city has been taken over by bandits!”

“Oh? That's great.” I take out a notepad and jot down some information as we begin the trek back to the hideout.

“How is any of that great!? This is a dire emergency that could lead to the collapse of our entire kingdom.”

“Collapse of the kingdom, you say? That would be most unfortunate.”

“Exactly so either help me or civilization will be torn to shreds!”

“To shreds you say…?”

“Yes! There will be a terrible ruination that spreads far and wide!”

“Terrible ruination, you say…?”

“Hey! Are you even listening!?”

I lower my notebook and look at the young woman. “I have cataloged each and every word you've said.”

“I express doubt,” Miss Secretary says.

My only response is to show her the notebook wordlessly.

“...I was right, he was sketching a weapon design.”

“Hey where did she come from?!” The rescued girl shrieks, feeling a headache coming on.

“I've been here the entire time.”

“Oh, really? You are kind of small, so I guess I just didn't see you.”

“I'm efficient. There's no need to waste energy on unnecessary body parts.”

“I see. I think…”

With our mission completed and the girl rescued, we quickly make our escape from the hilltop before anyone can spot us and send scouts.

The mangonel is quite heavy. Even with wheels, pushing it would be difficult for me, especially through soft dirt. Yet the small swarm of golemites manage it without a problem, ensuring our trip back to the cave is a quick one.

Of course, Artillery gets the honor of riding on my shoulder the entire time. It'd be rude to make him work after such a successful completion of his mission.

Eventually, the darkness of the cave tunnel surrounds us. I wasn't too thrilled with ending up in this damp place when I arrived in this world, but that quickly changed when my operations began to bear fruit.

“I don't think we'll need the mangonel again, so scrap it for parts.”

The golemites salute with their handless arms, then push the contraption into one of the buildings.

“As for me, I need to do some more exploration. New materials and cores are a must if I want to expand my base any further.”

“The scouting golemites have brought information.” Miss Secretary supplies while a walking telescope salutes me.

“Excellent. What did you find down there?”

The little stone telescope begins waving its arms around like the golemites often do. How and why a telescope golemite has arms is a question best left unasked.

“I see, I see.” My head nods alongside my words. “So the monsters become more formidable when descending further into the depths. But according to the Manual of Handholding, dangerous monsters drop better cores. I'll need to conquer them and take their cores if I want to create even more powerful golemites.”

I turn toward the smithery. “If I'm going deeper, I'll need a more capable weapon. And with our current production capabilities, I know just what to make.”

“Um.” A girl's voice interrupts my thoughts. “What about the kingdom…?”

“Ah.” I look to the girl we rescued on our mission. “So you followed me after all.”

“You only just now noticed!?”

“You didn't seem too keen on coming, so I assumed you'd wander off.”

“I have nowhere else to go…”

“Unfortunate. If you're here–wait, I never asked for your name.”

“I already told you! It's Ryza! Princess Ryza von Lindervale!”

“Ah, I'll catalog that information in detail. Well Ryza, you may as well accompany me to the smithery. There's not much else for you to do here when I've only just begun constructing my base.”

She looks around. “What is this place? Why are you building all of this in an underground cave system?”

“Happenstance brought me here, and I decided it was the perfect location to begin constructing my domain.”

“Eh? What for, exactly?”

“For my research, of course. I have so much to learn now that I'm in this world, and I can't afford to waste any time on unnecessary tasks like roaming the countryside for a more suitable location.”

“I see?”

“Good.”

“Hey, didn't you catch the lack of understanding from the tone of my answer!?”

“Hmm? You still don't get it?”

She sighs. “Nevermind…”

Since the conversation seems to be finished, I lead her to the smithery, where Miss Smith constructed the mangonel for the recent operation.

It smells of oil, metal, and sawdust. A most pleasant aroma, if there ever was one.

“Miss Smith, I've got another task for you.”

“What do you want crafted this time?”

“It's a simplified version of a weapon I've used many times before coming to this world. Even with our limited smithing capabilities, it's possible to make it.”

I pick up a piece of metal. “Turn this into a tube with these inside and outside diameters.”

I bring my notebook back out and tear out a page. Miss Smith checks the information on it, confirming the materials and basic construction.

“Yes, this is possible to craft. I’ll get some wood from the salvaged mangonel and some flint from the stockpile. The rest is already here.”

“Excellent! With this creation, my power will grow exponentially!”

“Um.” Ryza peeks at the rough blueprint I drew up. “What is that going to be?”

“A weapon with supreme short-range anti-personnel capabilities. Perfect for the confined spaces within this cave system.”

“I don't really get it, but okay.”

“There's nothing else to do right now, so just watch as she puts it together. It won't take long.”

After gathering all the material, Miss Smith gets right to it.

Smelting the metal and forming it into a tube would normally be a somewhat complicated process. But Miss Smith isn't a normal human girl. She's one of my masterpieces, and that means she has abilities beyond that of a mere mortal.

Within minutes, the metal is shaped, the wood is cut, and the flint is shaved to an appropriate size. With preparations complete, she quickly assembles them using her unparalleled crafting skills.

“Your boomstick is done.” She hands it to me, along with some shells.

“Now this is a weapon.” I twist and turn it in my hands, examining the device that will allow me to delve deeper into the caves. “Let's not waste time standing around. I want to give it a test.”

Leading the others out, I go to a still empty section of the base, where the rocks have yet to be cleared.

After loading a shell, I put the wooden stock against my shoulder. There's no sighting mechanism, but it's not really needed with a weapon like this.

“Plug your ears.”

“Eh?” Ryza looks to the weapon. “Why would I need to–”

Kaboom!

An absurdly loud explosion booms out after I pull the trigger. It's enough to make my ears ring, which isn't surprising considering the weapon is right next to my head.

“Going to need some earplugs for this.”

“What?” Ryza rubs her ears.

“I said–no, nevermind.” I motion to the rock. “Nothing but bits and pieces now. This weapon is even stronger than I expected.”

Even if she's still having a hard time hearing, Ryza can at least follow my finger with her eyes. When she sees that the rock has been blown into pebbles, her face is covered in shock.

“What is that weapon!? It's loud and powerful! Is it some kind of special magic!?”

“No, it's not magic. It's technology.”

“Technology? What's that?”

“It's man's never-ending trek toward bending the rules of the universe to his will.”

“Um, okay. I still don't really get it. But it's amazing! With more weapons like that, maybe we can take back the capitol!”

“You like it, huh? If you're going to stay in my domain, you'll need a weapon to defend yourself. And like I said, nothing is more effective here than a shotgun.” I hold the shotgun up for her to admire.

“Yeah! I want one! I want it to go ‘boom’!”

“Then Miss Smith, if you will.”

“Certainly.” Miss Smith takes Ryza by the hand and leads her to the smithery.

While they're working on that, how about I go gather some high-quality cores.

I step toward a dark tunnel, where the telescope golemites found a path deeper into the cave system.