“But I’m also still not—” Suimei started to protest.
“There’s no need to be so humble, Suimei-sama,” Annaliese cut in. “You’re an extraordinary magician who rid the world of a red dragon. You are far from inexperienced.”
“But that’s not really something I did on my own...”
It was true that Suimei hadn’t defeated the dragon alone. It was a victory only made possible with the hard work of several magicians who risked their lives to accomplish it. Suimei had contributed, certainly, but he didn’t think that made him qualified to instruct anyone else in the ways of magicka. Even as a high grand class magician, taking on a disciple required remarkable leadership and experience. And Suimei, who’d only been a magician for ten years all told, believed he was far too green for the job.
“Suimei, you’ll be working on being able to take a proper disciple. Understood? You can think of this as a rehearsal until you’re ready to teach a disciple magicka from scratch.”
“Is it really alright for me to be doing this?”
“It’s quite fine. You are Kazamitsu’s son, after all.”
“...”
Suimei scratched the back of his head shyly at that comment. Hearing such praise in his father’s name made him feel somewhat bashful.
“Also, about the girl you’ll be taking in... She’s unique among her sisters,” Edgar continued.
“How so?” Suimei asked.
“She was born from a flask,” Annaliese answered.
That phrase struck a chord with Suimei.
“You mean she’s a homunculus?” he asked.
“My wife came up with the theory before she died. And now that my techniques have finally caught up, I was blessed with the opportunity to create that girl.”
“I see... But for your techniques to ‘finally catch up’? That’s rather...”
Edgar’s story was outright astonishing. For the fabled Doll Master to chase a theory... It must have been some theory. Just how well-made was this daughter of his? Suimei couldn’t even begin to guess.
“I’m still just a puppeteer. I had fairly extensive knowledge of alchemy, but my wife was the best of her time.”
“Meaning someone has surpassed her now?”
“Lord Nicolas is probably the only one. But even he was overtaken by her in her day.”
Edgar’s expression remained stiff as he spoke fondly of his wife. It was rather frightening to think anyone had ever overtaken the monster professor. But putting that aside, Edgar turned to Annaliese.
“Well then, Ann...”
“Yes. Suimei-sama, right this way, please.”
Annaliese, who was standing at Edgar’s side, walked over to the door and bowed to Suimei. It seemed she was going to guide him the rest of the way too. After giving Edgar a light bow, Suimei followed after her once more.
★
When meeting someone for the first time in their own home, it was customary to meet in a reception room of some sort. Yet even though Suimei was completely new to the Alzbayne family and residence, he was being shown immediately to Edgar’s youngest daughter’s bedroom. Edgar was Suimei’s senior by both age and rank, but this was still a somewhat improper way to treat a magician who’d come as an envoy of Nettesheim. Nevertheless, Suimei obliged as these were extraordinary circumstances.
“Homunculus.” The term was generally used to identify the artificial lifeforms created with alchemy to prove the theory behind the product of the Lapis Philosophorum. They were capable of human speech the moment they were born and naturally possessed vast knowledge. However, on the other hand, their small bodies were said to be so fragile that they couldn’t survive outside the flasks they were created in.
In all likelihood, that was the very reason she hadn’t revealed herself yet and why Suimei was now being escorted to her personal chambers. He and Annaliese eventually arrived at a room in the corner of the second floor and, unlike at Edgar’s office, Annaliese stood to the side of the door and curtsied as if bidding Suimei to open it himself.
“This room belongs to our youngest sister, Hydemary. She’s expecting you, Suimei-sama.”
Suimei complied and put his hand on the doorknob, but he was curious as to why Annaliese was just standing there. He’d assumed she’d be coming with him like she had before, yet she showed no sign of doing so.
“Annaliese, are you not coming in?”
“My apologies, but we would like you to enter this room alone, Suimei-sama.”
“That’s fine... But can you tell me why?”
“You could say it’s a selfish request of Hydemary’s. If you would like to know more, you’re welcome to ask her once you meet her.”
Meaning this should all make sense once I’m inside?
“Understood.”
There had to be some sort of reason behind this roundabout meeting. But, urged on by Annaliese, Suimei opened the door and entered the room alone. The moment he did, a gentle fragrance tickled his nose like rosewood incense was burning somewhere. The aroma calmed his heart, but at the same time, it had a strange, impure effect like the ylang-ylang oils and Laoshan sandalwood incense witches often used as aphrodisiacs.
The room, however, was packed with classy, white furniture that appeared to have been imported from France. And sitting atop it—bed, chairs, and all— were bisque dolls. The room was otherwise decorated with floral patterns and white accents, giving it the impression it belonged to a princess or some other noble lady. But nowhere among all the high-class decor and furnishings could Suimei spot anything that even resembled a homunculus’s flask. He looked down at the floor and let out a sigh through his teeth as he tried to get a grasp of the situation.
“What’s going on?” he muttered to himself.
He then turned around and reached for the door, intent to ask Annaliese about all this. But...
“Huh?” he uttered in disbelief.
For when he twisted the doorknob, the door wouldn’t budge an inch.
“Hey! The door’s locked! What’s the meaning of this?!”
Even as he struck the door, no answer came from the other side. As his distraught voice echoed through the room, however, his trained magician eyes realized that a barrier was being deployed. The doorknob sank into the door, and the distinction between the door and the wall gradually vanished.
I’m trapped.
The moment he realized that, mana suddenly began building up behind him. There didn’t seem to be anyone in the room, but Suimei considered the welling mana enough to be a threat. Just where was the owner of this room hiding? Or was this mana something else entirely? Suimei narrowed his gaze and carefully scrutinized his surroundings.
From what he could see, the dolls decorating the pretentious room were what really stood out. He’d learned just earlier that almost all the dolls of the house were Edgar’s personal creations, and after witnessing Annaliese, he could only assume they were the source of the mana. Yet in spite of that, he couldn’t actually detect any mana coming from them.
It was a puzzle for sure, but Suimei didn’t have much time to think it out. Because all of a sudden...
“Los geht’s.”
[Here we go.]
“!”
A woman’s flat voice resounded through the room. At her signal, magicka circles took shape around several of the dolls like belts, and they began moving like awkward marionettes. It was like they were unused to being alive. They curiously moved their arms and their legs, then twisted their bodies about. But when they seemed to have adjusted, they suddenly all leaped towards Suimei at once.
“Ugh!”
Suimei artlessly swung his arm and mowed down the dolls with his mana. The dolls were successfully repelled, but the recoil sent Suimei back into the wall. Without giving him a moment’s rest, the same flat voice spoke up once more.
“Jetzt kommen, mein niedlicher Teddybär.”
[Now come, my cute teddy bear.]
The woman’s strange, unaffected tone had a mystical air to it. What she said was far too ridiculous to be a chant, but there was no mistaking that’s exactly what it was. As proof, a teddy bear appeared midair the moment the words left her mouth. It was a rather cute stuffed animal that didn’t appear to pose any sort of threat, but the magicka that had created it was another story. It didn’t appear to belong to any known system, leading Suimei to believe it was origin magicka. As such, Suimei thrust out his left hand to repel it with strike magicka, but...