I tied my hair in a pony-tail, and put on the plain spectacles. This alone greatly changed the impressions I gave to others.

My clothes was changed from the white dress to a white tunic and black trousers, with the usual crimson cloak added on top of them. But unlike how I used to wear it to cover my entire body, the cloak was merely hung over my shoulders.

Finally, Dina added the bandages to hide my black wings. The unthinkable happened. My wings vanished from sight, thus I wouldn"t be recognized as a flügel.

This was the camouflage ribbon created for me by Megrez. It was enchanted with stealth magic, causing the affected body parts to blend into the surroundings and disappear. After saying that it must be difficult for me to move in my previous state, he generously gave me the entire costume set.

"How is it? Megrez, does it suit me?"

"It will suit you, no matter what you wear."

Thanks to Megrez, I was finally free from self-bondage. Honestly, I didn"t expect him to go so far for me. For his past enemy to be suddenly revived, it would be natural for him to be hostile. Despite this, he still supported me. It was hard to not suspect that it might be a trap.

"Ruphas…"

"Hm?"

"You…Do you hate us? Back then, you nearly reached your ideals and achieved the future of your dreams. It was our treachery that ruined it…Do you not have feelings of hate?"

I pondered Megrez"s words for a while. I didn"t hate him, and I wouldn"t seek revenge. The fight was just a game to me. It was not what I personally experienced. Instead of answering the question directly, I decided to respond in my own way.

"If the people rebelled, it implied that I did not have the qualifications of a king. If you guys resisted out of malcontent, then I was simply lacking. I have no reason to hate you guys."

I checked my appearance in the mirror, and made poses from various angles.

Hm. Not bad.

There was nothing better than wearing something that was easy to move in. Although I would be conspicuous due to my looks, it was still ten times better than being a suspicious person completely covered in a red cloak.

Although I said this myself, this face was exceptional even without make-up…This was like what was seen in the idol photos after being enhanced by Photoshop.

"So stop blaming yourself. Honestly, you are so pathetic right now."

Ruphas was the invader. He was the hero who defeated her. This was all that mattered two hundred years ago, and it was fine. History was written by the victors. As the loser, I could not complain about it, and I had no desire to do so. However, it was unacceptable for the victor to be miserable instead.

"You are a hero to the people of this nation. Stand dignified before me, as you did two hundred years ago."

"I"m much obliged to heed your advice…Thank you."

A faint smile returned to Megrez"s face.

This guy was overly serious. He would probably still be troubled after this, but at least he should be better than before. Actually, we should be the ones to apologize. That androgynous sheep in the corner should be apologizing to Megrez, but…

Aries simply refused to apologize to the people who betrayed his master.

"Well then, I should be leaving. Would there be a problem with Levia after being weakened by Aries?"

"Thank you. As I am right now, I cannot recover the lost maximum HP."

Aries" attack reduced Levia"s maximum HP, but it was possible to recover it as long as there was water to use as base material. However, the current Megrez no longer had the ability to do so, therefore I would do it instead.

How convenient it was to be able to recover as long as there was water. Anyway, as long as Levia was here, there should not be any problem.

"Ruphas."

"Yes?"

"…Have a pleasant trip."

"That goes without saying."

I smiled unintentionally, as I received Megrez"s encouragement. I waved my hand and left Megrez"s home, pa.s.sing through the n.o.ble"s district for the commercial district.

Along the way, I noticed Gants" signature bald head and decided to bid him farewell.

"Gants!"

"Hm? Oh! What a beauty! Mi—Miss, what can I do for you?"

"Hey, there"s no need for this manner of speech. I"m Sahpur. You a.s.sisted me when I first arrived here."

"…Huh? Eh—?"

Gants exclaimed in a tongue-tied manner after hearing my words. I supposed Gants never saw my real face. This was a mistake, but I would be leaving Svalinn soon anyway.

"That suspicious, red-cloaked Sa—Saphur!? To think you are such a beauty!"

"Hahaha. Your praises are excessive. I wanted to greet you since I"ll be leaving this country."

"We are indebted to you, Mister Gants. We will return when we are done with our trip."

I laughed at Mister Gants, who was shocked, as Dina said her farewell.

Aries…Was there something wrong? He just hid his face behind my back. This guy was becoming like a small animal.

"Oh, is it? Leaving huh. You two…and that cute young lady there, take care."

"He is a guy."

"Really!?"

"Haha. Well, Gants. We"ll meet again."

"Oh, ah…Saphur…no, never mind. Be lively! And take care!"

After bidding Gants farewell, we departed from Svalinn to begin our journey.

At the end, Gants seemed to have something to say, but he did not voice it aloud. He probably wanted to ask me about sending Aries flying with a kick during that battle, yet he still did not ask anything. Did he guess at our complicated situation?

Or maybe he was somewhat aware of my true ident.i.ty. Even so, he seemed like a pleasant man. I wished he had a long life ahead of him.

"Dina. The destination is five hundred kilometers from here. How should we travel? I don"t mind going on foot."

"I have a proposal! How about creating a golem that can move us around?"

"You don"t like walking?"

"I hate it! It"s tiring!"

After leaving Svalinn, it was a gra.s.sland as far as the eyes could see. Although there were roads being made, it would normally be depressing to keep walking on like this. The current me wouldn"t be tired no matter how far I walked, so I could still enjoy myself.

Was there anything more romantic than traveling this distance on foot?

But Dina hated it and requested making a transport golem.

As evident in this world, golems were not stupid and inflexible like those in a game. For example, golems in a game would repeatedly attack an enemy in the same way. But here, Levia could understand Megrez"s directions and take actions intelligently.

In addition, there was no restriction on its shape. For example, I could create a car-shaped golem and used it as an automobile. Therefore, it was easy to fulfill Dina"s request.

"Hm. Why don"t you try making it?"

"Let"s include beds and bathroom in it so we won"t have to camp out."

The plan was upgraded as Dina requested. I originally intended to make a convertible, but now it became a camping car instead.

Aries looked at me with expectations, despite not being a.s.sertive. It was as if he was looking forward to what I would do next.

"Well, let"s try."

Firstly, most of the vehicle was made of iron, using the ores found in the rocks as a material. The furniture could be left for later.

For the bathroom, a goemonburo bath should be fine. The bath of this world was normally goemonburo style. There was no convenient, contemporary bath, and I could not make it as I did not know the details of how it worked.

For the beds, it was possible to shape the frame out of wood. The problem was the mattress and the bed cover. There were only trees and rocks here, so I could only produce concrete and iron materials.

But if there were cotton or feathers…

"…Ah."

"? What"s wrong, Lady Ruphas? Is there something on my face?"

There was cotton nearby.

Well then, we could shave Aries in his sheep form.

There was enough materials for the bare minimum requirements. If I did this, it would be ready.

"Trans.m.u.te!"

First, the iron ores in the rocks were refined.

Extraction and refinement of materials were among the basic skills of an alchemist. However, cla.s.s level determined the type of materials that could be trans.m.u.ted. At that start, an alchemist could not trans.m.u.te one material into another material. A Level 200 alchemist like Mizar could perform frightening feats, like trans.m.u.ting rocks into legendary metals. I only advanced to Level 100, so I could not do so.

Then, the freshly refined iron was reshaped into a camping car. I did not know the inner workings of a car, so I merely made an outer sh.e.l.l. Movement would be achieved via the golem"s own mobility, therefore no driver"s seat was needed.

Next, the sand was trans.m.u.ted into gla.s.s, and attached to the windows. There were several rooms inside, one of which contained a goemonburo bath tub. There was also a traditional kitchen, matching the civilization level of this world.

"Next…Aries, change into your sheep form."

"Eh?"

"I need your wool."

Considering the size of Aries" sheep form, only a little of his wool was needed to make the beds. And it would grow back eventually anyway.

I jumped onto Aries" back and, using my hand as a knife, cut some of his wool. The wool were then made into mattresses. By this world"s standards, they would be considered surprisingly luxurious and fluffy. I also created some wooden chairs set with cushions made from Aries" wool.

"Okay. This is it for the time being."

Whatever else was missing could be bought from the cities in future. For now, it was good enough that it could move.

I should check the status of the camping car that I put in so much effort to create.

Oh, I must name it first before its status could be shown.

Golems could be named at the time of their creation. In the game, there were golems everywhere with familiar-sounding names. For example, [email protected] or Gett3r.

So what should I name this one?

Nothing too pretentious or easily forgotten…

…What a ha.s.sle. Tanaka, it is.

Tanaka

Level: 200

Race: Artificial Life-form

HP: 12,000

SP: 0

STR (Strength) 555

DEX (Dexterity) 120

VIT (Vitality) 658

INT (Intelligence) 9

AGI (Agility) 1020

MND (Mind) 75

LUK (Luck) 100

It seemed the attributes were adjusted according to its shape. This did not exist in the game. Its speed is exceptionally high because it was shaped like a vehicle.

However, this AGI attribute represented its agility and action speed during combat, instead of mere movement speed. A high AGI value did not necessarily mean fast movement speed.

Even so, I was confident that I would win in a race with this vehicle.

"As expected of Lady Ruphas! It would be more convenient now that we have this."

Pragmatic as she was, Dina praised me as if she wasn"t complaining earlier. Aries also nodded, but since his praise was sincere and straightforward, I would accept it.

But you should transform back first. At this size, merely nodding your head causes a gust of wind.

We got in the vehicle, and I issued a command to travel north. The vehicle started to move out as though it understood the order. With this, we could proceed comfortably until we reached our destination.

"Oh, right. I will acquire some necessary furniture. I will teleport to buy it, so please wait."

After saying this, Dina vanished before I could reply.

This teleportation magic was really convenient. I was envious.

Still, why didn"t I fly over to Svalinn instead of going on a carriage?

Dina could just teleport herself there anyway.

Well, it was too late now. Since Aries was here, we could not that anymore.

Eh, why didn"t I think of it back then?

I couldn"t understand.

Well, whatever. In the meantime, I should rearrange the interior furnishing.

♈

"Ha…ha…"

At the foot of Gale Volcano.

A youth dragged his injured body, crawling as he bled along the way.

It was just one blow—one casual blow as if it was made against an annoying insect.

Even so, he could not even stand right now. He crawled on like an insect, desperately trying to escape from the opponent who was no longer there.

"Ru—Ruphas Mafahl…The only devil that we feared is back…This is a nightmare…suc—such a thing…"

Fortunately, he was at Level 300. Since he was not a worthy opponent, Ruphas did not deal with him seriously and he somehow survived.

It was a humiliation to be overlooked, but this luck also allowed him to survive until now.

However, his good fortune would last forever…

"—Oh. You"re still alive."

He heard a cold, condescending voice.

Mars struggled to turn his unmoving body in the direction of that voice. A blue-haired maiden standing there.

Her face could not be seen due to back-lighting, but the white plain clothes seemed like a fine dress when worn by her.

Was this elegance?

Or perhaps it should be called presence?

In any case, no word could express the mystique possessed by this girl.

That face—no, that mouth was distorted in an arc like a half-moon and was filled with joy.

"No, no. An actor who finished his role must exit gracefully. n.o.body would benefit from a defeated chess piece reappearing at a later stage for extra credits. After finishing your role, you should leave. That"s the rule of the game."

"You…You are…"

The maiden laughed at the poor clown who completed his role.

She did not answer his question.

As for letting him have his last words, she did not feel like providing such a service.

Just promptly and beautifully…

She ended his life as if pulling out some weeds.

The maiden had only such a spirit of cruelty.

"Farewell, Mars. Pathetic NPC."

—Several seconds later, the youth vanished.

As if he never existed to begin with, there was no trace of him, not even a strand of hair.

Also, the maiden responsible for all this was nowhere to be seen.

※ Author’s Notes

※ Foot Notes

Goemonburo (五右衛門風呂) is a type of furo (j.a.panese bath), often a.s.sociated with Ishakawa Goemon.

[email protected] (ガン○ム) probably refers to Gundam (ガンダム), an anime series featuring giant robots of the same name.

Gett3r (ゲッ○ー) probably refers to Getter Robo (ゲッターロボ), another mecha anime series.

Tanaka (田中) probably refers to Tanaka Hisashige (田中久重), who was known for making autonomous dolls powered by springs, pneumatics, and hydraulics…that, or maybe "camping car" just slightly sounds like (and rhymes with) ta-na-ka.

A WILD LAST BOSS APPEARED!

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