Chapter 201: Shops and Sentinels


    The school waspleted only in its shell.


    After that, Papeck-san set foot into the Sanctuary for the first time.


    「<em>Ou</em>, so that is the Spirit Tree. …………how magnificent.」


    And for some reason, he shed a flood of tears.


    Papeck-san had taken several people with him. He said they were people representing thepanies of various countries and the countries’ government officials.


    Actually, opening arge number of stores in the Sanctuary was a no go from the Great Spirits. Apparently, having less ces for the Spirits to monitor is better. And so, Papeck-san and the others decided to open department and supermarket-like stores.


    Today, they came to inspect the site where those would be constructed.


    The new shops that would be built will not only sell their merchandise, but also buy the grains and fruit grown by the residents, the salt and seafood caught by the mermaids, gradually introducing a mary economy.


    「<em>Ooh</em>, so it will be here, close to the residential area and not too distant from the center. No qualms about the space as well.」


    Upon seeing thend intended for the construction that I guided them to, Papeck-san and the other visitors talked about all sorts of things.


    「That’s how it will be. You will have to rely on the Sanctuary Dwarves for the construction of the buildings. The craftsmen from outside are restricted from passing through the barrier, after all.」


    「That’s right. However, we will make arrangements to deliver materials and the furniture to be used in the stores. It would be appreciated if you could collect gathered materials ced directly outside of the barrier.」


    「Understood. Thank you for preparing the building materials.」


    Then, after confirming several things in advance, Papeck-san and the others left and went back to the town east of the Sanctuary.


    It was then that Undine located me and came.


    「Takumi, so business will now be possible in the Sanctuary.」


    「Ha, ahh, it’s you Undine. That’s right. They can’t always just barter is what I was thinking.」


    「We are of the same opinion.」


    Since I got the OK from Undine, maybe I should go all out in promoting the industry.


    「Also, I feel a disturbance slightly to the middle of the continent. The barrier of the Sanctuary will be fine as long as it isn’t too much, but perhaps you should give some thought as to what it could be.」


    「Should Ipensate it with sentinel golems, like those protecting my mansion in Volton?」


    「I’ll leave that matter to you.」


    Once she said all that, Undine went back. I tried asking Sophia if she thinks we need golems to protect the Sanctuary.


    「Do you think it would be a good idea if I made golems as insurance?」


    「Yes, Undine-sama had stated that it would be best to have it prepared as a contingency. Moreover, while the Sanctuary is protected by the barrier, creating golems would also have significance as support for the town to the east of the Sanctuary, so it wouldn’t be futile now would it?」


    「I see, it could be used as reinforcement for that town.」


    Taking that into consideration, maybe I should try steering my thoughts to creating arger number of fast-travelling golems.


    Since I’m making golems for the first time in a long while, I’ll try making various types of golems in addition to security golems simr to the ones in my mansion in Volton.


    Cooping myself up in the workshop, I drew up designs. From time to time, Kaede would peek in. She call out to me delightedly during one of her visits.


    「Waa! Master! Are you making Kaede’s golem subordinates?」


    「Eh!? Ah, yeah, subordinates. That’s right.」


    It wasn’t designed to be Kaede’s subordinates, but I can’t say that now. Well, Kaede always does her best, so if I think of it as a reward, I can gift her a subordinate golem army.


    Yeah, I’ll just think of it like that.


    The design she saw in my hand illustrated a golem with the upper half of a knight and the lower half of a spider. It wouldn’t be able to attack like Kaede’s threads could, but I’ll equip it with a Wire Attack and a long distance needle shooting attack apparatus.


    The reason its lower half will be a spider’s is so it would be able to run stably even when confronted with bad roads. Actually, at first, I nned for it to be a Centaur-type golem, with its lower half being a horse’s. The concept I have for it is a fast moving golem, after all. But rather than 4 legs, 8 legs would be more stable.


    「For the time being, I’ll make a centaur-type horse too.」


    Whether its lower half is that of a spider or a horse, I want the man-type knight upper body to be equipped with a simple spear and shield. Using its speed for Lance Charge and its Shield Charge to capitalize on its metal body’s weight, I want those to be its weapons.


    Aside from the fast moving golem, I’ll also design a heavy armor golem specialized in defense.


    Having learned of the turbulent presence in the middle of the continent from Undine, I for some reason thought of the attacker that the the dark guild sent even though it should bepletely unrted. That drug which makes it possible for the user to move beyond their limits with their sense of pain numbed and their fear of self destruction lost. Imagining that drug falling into the hands of the zealots in the middle of the continent, my back suddenly felt cold and I shuddered.


    「I suddenly feel somewhat anxious.」


    「Takumi-sama, Laeva had reflected a little as well.」


    「Hmm?」


    「High powered golems are valuable. However, even if the performance of a golem is equal to that of a stray, if their numbers arerge enough then they would still be useful. There is power in numbers.」


    「Oh, ohhh, can’t deny that.」


    「Fortunately, the mine of this Sanctuary has plenty of iron ore that can be collected. I will make plenty of Stone Golems and Iron Golems.」


    「Ah, yeah, mhmm, I’ll leave it to you.」


    Laeva, who was in the same workshop, drafted her own special way to defend this area, so I decided to leave it to her. To a soldier, even the abilities of a stray golem could be a sufficient threat.


    As such, the golems I make will conversely be few but extravagant. For the body, I had intended on using chromium molybdenum steel and tungsten alloy, but when I considered the magic resistance on its exterior, I decided to mix in just a little bit of mithril and made it a type of mithril alloy. On top of which, if I te it with more mithril, its magic resistance would increase considerably.


    Despite the familiar materials being plentiful because of the expansion done by the three countries which focused on the outskirts of the Sanctuary and their subsequent joint exploitation of the savagends, something urged me to hasten the development of the golems.


    ***