Volume 9 Chapter 4 (2/2)

Teary-eyed, Kuina protested so.

”It's that strong, huh.”

”Aghh, you too, Oto-san?”

This time, Kuina was also puffing her face.

A bomb that had enough power to heavily injure even Kuina certainly was reliable. It was enough to kill most average A rank monsters and even Demon Lords. If it detonated in the center of an enemy formation, the damage to them would truly be major.

”When did you make such a thing?”

”Quite a while ago. It was in preparation for the possibility that our enemies would target your [Monsters of the Covenant]. As such, I have also made dolls resembling Kuina and Aura.”

”Interesting. Mind showing them to me?”

”Mhm, alright. It's in my workshop, so please follow me.”

At any rate, Rorono was safe.

And apparently, it was greatly thanks to a Dwarf Smith. That same Dwarf Smith was about to explain in more detail what happened.

She had noticed that the attacking force was too small if their true intention was to kidnap Rorono. So much so that if they ever succeeded, it would all come down to miraculous luck.

And so, she theorized that the attacking force was most likely an expendable force sent to assess how we were going to protect Rorono.

So, in order to not only suppress the damage to Avalon as much as possible but also to not expose our hand, the decision to give the enemy a fake was made.

It would be most welcome if we could identify the Demon Lord behind the attack. If that happens, we would immediately go to [War] and eliminate them.

If we couldn't formally go to [War], we could always simply dive into their dungeon and break their crystal.

As I currently was, I believed that to be more than possible.

They had dispatched monsters to Avalon as well as stolen property from us in the form of the Rorono's doll.

In other words, the other side raised their hand first and we were only exacting what we were due.

”Master, you seem lost in thought…?”

”Oh, yeah… I'm just thinking how amazing my monsters are.”

The reason we did a great this time was because the Dwarf Smith thought of this strategy and also because Rorono made the doll that fooled the enemy monsters.

”…Oto-san, Kuina's very sorry. Kuina misread the situation and thought Rorono-chan's been kidnapped. Plus, Kuina wasted the valuable mobile Transfer array thingy.”

Teary-eyed once again, Kuina apologized like that.

”No, it's fine. You were just doing your role. You wanted me to know that Rorono was in danger as soon as possible, right? I can't fault you for something like, now can I?”

I replied like that and then patted her head.

Even though we won this time, it was unlikely the enemy Demon Lord would give up just like that.

Of course, it would be ideal if that Demon Lord was somehow caught up in the explosion Rorono's moving doll was going to cause, but that might be asking for too much.

What could their next move be? Well, whatever it is, we'll smash it too.

”Dwarf Smith, has the corpse of the adventurer who released those monsters been preserved?”

”Yes. The Ocean Singers have used their magic to freeze and preserve the corpse. There should be no trouble for Duke-sama to resurrect the adventurer later and interrogate him.”

It was possible we wouldn't get any information at all, but it was worth the shot.

◇

After that, we headed toward Rorono's workshop.

We were currently looking at the dolls that resembled Kuina and Aura.

”Woah, it looks exactly like Kuina. …Amazing, this feels just like Aura-chan's chest.”

For some reason, Kuina grabbed the doll Aura's chest and began moving her hand.

But still, the dolls were surreal.

”You've made them so well. Can you make a doll of anyone?”

”If I tried, I could. Obviously, there's one of master too.”

”Could you show it to us as well?”

”……no. Not right now.”

Before Rorono turned her head, I saw that it grew bright red.

Could the reason she can't show it be because it's broken? I have a feeling asking more would be like stepping into a landmine. I better just keep quiet.

Nevertheless, the dolls for Kuina and Aura were so convincing, even I had trouble telling them apart. No wonder the enemy monsters couldn't either.

Moreover, if the dolls were this exquisitely made, they could serve purposes other than just being a decoy.

But it's better to drop the issue because that'll mostly be just a waste of Rorono's efforts.

”Master, the signal transmission from the doll has ceased. It's still within the maximum range, so it's more likely that it had entered a different dimension.”

Rorono then took out her tablet and opened a map.

A certain point in the map was glowing red.

”Great job. I'll go consult Marcho about it tomorrow. She should know whether there's a dungeon there. If there is, she might also the Demon Lord it belongs to… Once we've confirmed those, we'll go crush them.”

Though it was an unsuccessful attempt, the fact of the matter was that they aimed for my important daughter.

For that crime, I'm going to make them pay. That is unless they've already been blown up by the Rorono doll.