After meeting Milim again for the first time in a long while, I spent some time sparring with the priests who served her. Afterward, I thought about heading over to the House Where Spirits Live, where Ramiris resided. I briefly considered paying a visit to the White Ice Palace where Guy lived, but it was far away—and more importantly, our "conversations" always tended to be purely physical—so I decided against it.
When I mentioned this to Milim, she insisted on coming along, and Gaia let out a loud cry as if in agreement.
Once the sun had climbed high in the sky and some time had passed, we finally set off for Ramiris's home. Her residence was tucked deep within a lush, dense forest, the entrance marked by a massive gate standing beneath an enormous, ancient tree.
Creeeeak...
As if welcoming us, the gate swung open on its own before we even touched it, and we stepped inside.
Compared to the ancient ruins of Amrita I had visited previously, it wasn't particularly spacious. However, it was riddled with traps designed to scramble one's sense of direction, and the lighting was manipulated so that the path behind us was swallowed by shadows. Anyone entering without guidance would end up wandering in circles, trapped in a perpetual maze.
But for me, who could sense everything within my range—terrain, traps, and all—such tricks were useless.
When we reached the end of the long corridor, a warm light enveloped us, and we were greeted by Ramiris and the fairies who served her.
The fairies were tiny enough to fit in the palm of my hand, and because their bodies emitted a soft glow like fireflies, people called them by various names: the forest's guides, the light of spirits, and so on.
Among them, one fairy stood out. With striking blond hair streaked with green and black as if partially dyed, she wore a flared dress in colors that matched her hair, adorned with glittering frills. This was the fairy who held the titles of both spirit queen and demon lord: Ramiris of Labyrinth.
Ramiris of Labyrinth... that actually fits perfectly.
"It's been a while! Ver, Milim! Gaia's gotten so big too, hasn't he?"
Seeing her wave with such a bright smile, it was hard to reconcile her with the image of a spirit queen or a demon lord, but in this world, appearances are rarely everything. Besides, Ramiris was currently in her growth period.
She was a being who cycled through rebirth and growth; according to her attendant fairies, her current form was merely a transitional stage, and her true form was said to be beautiful and majestic. As for me... I honestly couldn't tell.
The three of us gathered around a table laden with tea and snacks to catch up. While I had been living in Ingrasia as a doctor under a hidden identity, Milim had spent her time frolicking in her territory, sparring with Midoray for fun, or occasionally splitting a few mountains in half just for the thrill of it. Ramiris, however, let out a deep, dramatic sigh.
Is she a grandmother...? No, despite her looks, her age is similar to Milim's, so maybe she is. A fairy grandmother.
I pushed the thought aside and focused on what Ramiris was saying.
"I'm so bored! Why did I build the House Where Spirits Live in a place like this? No people ever come here—it's just grass and trees!"
Like Milim, she was a seeker of entertainment, and she had plenty of complaints about these dull days where not even a single ant wandered by. Suddenly, as if remembering something, she used magic to retrieve an object from the inner chambers. At first glance, it looked like a pile of junk, but...
"Are those golem remains?"
Though the structure was slightly different from what I expected, they were indeed the remains of a golem. When I asked where she had found them, Ramiris explained that she had simply scavenged them from a research institute in the Dwarf Kingdom after they had been discarded.
"The Dwarf Kingdom..."
While commonly called the Dwarf Kingdom because it is ruled by a dwarf, its official name is the Armed Nation of Dwargon. Its leader, Hero King Gazel Dwargo, is a living legend who has maintained the nation for nearly a thousand years. The city, built within a massive underground cavern, serves to protect the people from invasion, though I knew the true purpose was to guard against attacks from angels. As a neutral state, it was a place where even monsters could enter, provided they didn't cause trouble.
I had drifted off topic, but returning to the matter at hand, Ramiris proposed that we rebuild the broken golem together. Her enthusiasm was similar to someone wanting to build a Gundam model, and since I had nothing better to do, I readily agreed.
We began by stripping away the unnecessary parts. Ramiris noted that the original project had failed during the design phase, making it impossible to complete. She added that even if the design had been perfect, the body would have been unable to withstand the spirit magic core that served as the heart.
Thanks to her immense longevity, her accumulated knowledge was vast. She displayed astonishing expertise in magic engineering, spirit engineering, and physical engineering. She was, for all intents and purposes, a demon lord with the soul of a gearhead.
Apparently, the Dwarf Kingdom's original goal had been to create a robot—a golem equipped with a power source and controlled by a human pilot.
Following Ramiris's guidance, we designed the framework. We forged the skeleton from a magic steel alloy of diamond and mithril and carefully constructed each joint. We then utilized water spirits to ensure the joints moved with human-like fluidity, and for the exterior, we used orichalcum, a legendary metal created by the Creator God.
As the process continued, my own personal tastes began to bleed into the design. The project drifted further and further away from a standard golem; by the time I snapped out of it, I had created a humanoid golem painted entirely in gold.
Huh... it looks a lot like something I know. I thought, but I kept that to myself.
Finally, we reached the most critical stage: Ramiris implanted the spirit magic core into the chest.
Fire spirits were used to control the power source, water spirits to maintain flexibility in the joints, earth spirits to manipulate gravity, and wind spirits to cool the spirit magic core.
Once the heart was transplanted, we configured the magic circuits to set Ramiris as the master and added several fine-tuned settings.
"All right, Ramiris. It responds to your voice, so give it a try."
"Move!!"
Ziiing.
The golem's eyes flared to life, and its massive frame began to shift as it activated.
[System activated. Please issue your command, Lady Ramiris.]
Since the voice module had been salvaged from a golem in Amrita, the tone was somewhat mechanical, but overall, it was a resounding success. Ramiris looked absolutely thrilled, clearly satisfied with the fruit of our hard labor.
"Are you going to give it a name?"
"A name?... Hmm... why don't you decide?"
"Me? Hmm."
One name immediately came to mind—a name that suited this golem perfectly. I felt a slight twinge of guilt, as if I were plagiarizing, but this was a different world. There were no copyrights here. Probably...
"How about Ericsiller?"
It was a play on "Elixir," the alchemical potion, and the name of a monster from a certain card game. Not only did the appearance match, but since it was powered by the four elemental spirits, the name was fitting.
Ramiris loved the name, so I left it at that.
After parting ways with Ramiris, Milim, and Gaia, I headed toward a destination that was neither Ingrasia nor the White Ice Palace.
I traveled to an island on a desolate continent far to the west, a place where no one lived. It was the island where I had once lived with Gaia back when he was still nameless. The climate there was volatile; storms would rage, lightning would pour down like rain, and searing heat or biting cold would strike without warning.
It was a place where phenomena that defied physical laws were a part of daily life.
And on this island lay the place where I had once reigned as king. However, that was so long ago that I assumed no one would remember me anymore...
Yet, upon arriving, I discovered a village that hadn't been there before. Monsters were living there, working and socializing just like humans.
...What is this?
Just then, one of the monsters spotted me and spread its arms wide in a welcoming gesture.
"If it isn't our Lord! Welcome back!!"
The monsters of this island were still serving me.