Ch.217Ancestor of Resurrection

The Dwarven Magical Craftsman, Minaret Belghand.

She is currently dissecting the head of a massive black horse in front of a small brick house built on a green hill.

And before her, hundreds of identical horses stood in line stretching far beyond the distant hills.

All of them were horses waiting to have their heads dissected by Mina.

“BOOM!”

“Aaah!?”

Mina, who had been dissecting the horse’s head with delicate tools, tumbles backward in her chair due to the small explosion that occurred right in front of her.

Rubbing the back of her head that hit the ground hard, Mina slowly gets up.

She stares at the horse whose head has exploded with a dejected expression, then adjusts her goggles, sits back down, and waves her hand dismissively.

The headless horse vanishes like dust, and a new horse that had been standing right behind it sits down in front of her, lowering its head.

“Ah~ this isn’t easy. That’s the 43rd one already.”

With skilled hands, Mina cuts the horse’s scalp vertically, incises the gleaming metal skull, and extracts about half of a disc-shaped object embedded deep between the eyes.

A silver disc-shaped object with intricate and complex magical circuits etched on it, as delicate as if carved with a needle.

This was the magical circuit that served as the brain of the automaton “Ancestor.”

“If you completely pull the circuit out of the head—explosion. If you peel off even one line of the multi-layered magical circuit incorrectly—explosion. If the magic power supply is interrupted for even a moment—explosion… Seriously, what kind of pervert designed this thing?”

While grumbling, Mina carefully compares the magical circuit before her with the spell analysis notes drawn on the makeshift table beside her.

The large sheets of paper, spanning several pages, recorded all the trial and error she had gone through while analyzing the Ancestor’s magical circuit.

“Only 6 percent done so far… Aaah~ I want a drink so badly~”

The analysis of the magical circuit was progressing microscopically, like water drops slowly boring a hole through rock.

After this work is completed, an enormous task remains: memorizing the entire completed spell structure and then reproducing it in reality.

It’s impossible not to feel mentally overwhelmed just thinking about it.

“BOOM!”

“Hyaah!!”

Ancestor, 44th explosion.

By this point, she’s starting to think it might be better to give up and improve the steam engine instead, but she shakes off such thoughts with her pride as a magical craftsman and dwarven tenacity.

And for good reason—this place was truly a paradise for researchers like Mina.

‘I hear that craftsmen like you always claim they can accomplish anything given enough time and budget. So, I’ve arranged for that “enough time and budget” in my own way.’

Saying that, Anastasia had sent Mina’s consciousness into a dream where time flowed ten times slower than reality.

The “Ancestor” samples Mina needed to analyze were infinitely replenished by Anastasia’s power, and any tools required for the work appeared in her hands just by wishing for them.

An environment where she felt no hunger, needed no rest, and could devote all her time solely to research.

In such a dreamlike environment—literally a dream—giving up without results was not an option.

“Pattern 4-12-3 failed. Next is 4-12-4…”

Mina, burning with determination, brought her magical cutting tool toward the 45th Ancestor.

~ ~ ~ The Great Sage’s Villa, Living Room ~ ~ ~

After approximately 40 hours in real time—a staggering 400 hours in dream time—Mina finally completed the analysis of the magical circuit and awoke from her sleep.

With eyes as hollow as a corpse’s, Mina immediately grabbed her crafting tablet and rushed out to the yard, where she began repairing the Ancestor while reciting what she had memorized in her dream.

It was a fantastic sight: a mythril disc densely engraved with minute magical formulas was created, countless tiny components of unknown purpose were produced and simultaneously assembled.

The scene unfolding before their eyes was like watching someone create a giant robot with supernatural powers.

“Phew~ Somehow completed the first phase.”

Mina collapsed to the ground as soon as she finished the repair work that took about two hours.

What she meant by “first phase” was immediately apparent from the Ancestor’s condition.

The upper neck portion of the Ancestor restored by Mina was exposed without any leather covering.

In other words, it looked like a skeletal horse.

“Wow… this visual is… hmm.”

“It might not be bad for instilling fear in enemies…”

“I know what you’re trying to say, but just wait a few days. Once the Ancestor is reactivated, the missing leather parts will gradually self-repair.”

“Oh? Did the Ancestor have such an ability?”

“It didn’t originally. I adapted a spell formula from the servant doll.”

As Mina said this, she showed us the disassembled parts of a doll.

They were unmistakably parts from one of the servant dolls we had acquired with the dollhouse—specifically, the technician doll wearing work clothes.

“To be honest, I perfectly recreated most of the Ancestor’s magical circuit, but I couldn’t reproduce the part responsible for higher intelligence with my skills alone. I could analyze it, but whenever I tried to record or memorize it, it would vanish from my mind.”

“That’s mental magic causing memory interference. I’ve heard it’s also applied to the forbidden books kept at the Academy.”

“Yes. So I’m planning to compensate for that part by transplanting the doll’s magical circuit as an auxiliary processor. Since it’s an artifact based on an automaton with higher intelligence, I could use it as is.”

The dollhouse servant dolls were equipped with various magical functions, and what Mina focused on was their ability to automatically repair damaged clothing.

By transplanting this into the Ancestor, she planned to have the horse’s hide recognized as the automaton’s “clothing,” making it a target for the automatic repair function.

“However, there’s a secondary function that emerged from transplanting the doll’s magical circuit.”

“What kind of function?”

“Rather than explaining, it’s better to see it directly. Just supply power to the Ancestor and it will revive.”

“That sounds a bit concerning… but alright.”

When I agreed, Mina went to the carriage, retrieved the artifact stored in the mana supply, and returned with it in the Black Label.

Ah… so inserting that will bring the Ancestor back to life.

What a visually… peculiar trigger for resurrection.

“Here we go! Black Label, power supply activation begin!”

‘Whirrrr~’

A sound like a computer powering up emanated from the Ancestor’s body as it lay prone on the ground. Then its thin metal eyelids lifted as the Ancestor opened its eyes.

The Ancestor’s head, with its exposed metal skeleton and components, resembled a futuristic assassin robot.

As we cautiously observed this alien sight, the Ancestor rose powerfully to its feet, raised its front legs, and let out a loud neigh.

‘Neeeigh~~~!’

‘Click’

“Huh?”

Was it a momentary illusion?

I thought I saw seam lines like scabbard joints appear all over the Ancestor’s body.

But the bizarre phenomenon that followed proved this feeling was no illusion.

‘Click-click-click’

“Whooaaa!?”

“Kyaah!?”

For a moment, I thought the Ancestor’s repair had failed.

The seam lines that had appeared across the Ancestor’s entire body began to open, and parts of its body started bending in grotesque directions.

As its entire body seemed to twist and transform into a monster, Jessica and Phyllis backed away with pale faces, while Seti stood in front of them, pointing her spear at the Ancestor.

“Will, Mina, get behind me. It’s dangerous.”

“Wait, Seti. This might be…”

Despite Seti’s warning, my gaze remained fixed on the Ancestor.

The Ancestor, which had raised its front legs like in Napoleon’s portrait, had now straightened its back and was standing on two legs like a human.

“Could this be… a transformation!?”

“Heh~ As expected, you recognized it, Will? Did you have something like this in your homeland?”

Mina’s voice was playful yet full of confidence.

As the clicking sounds subsided, what stood tall before us was no longer the black horse that had shared our trials and tribulations.

Instead, there was a giant, at least 3 meters tall, looking down at me, wearing armor reminiscent of ancient Rome and a helmet shaped like a horse’s head.

“Well, do you like it?”

This Mina, she turned the Ancestor into a transforming robot!