Ch.321Half-Baked (15)

There was no time to take a detour.

I hurried back home with Sonia as quickly as possible.

It didn’t take long to discover that the master bedroom had collapsed.

“What is this?”

“That foreign god, Renatus or whatever, caused havoc before leaving. Fortunately, we subdued it early, so the damage was limited to this.”

“…What about Cartesia? What about Cartesia?”

My footsteps quickened.

Cartesia was lying on a bed in a guest room far from the master bedroom. Her form had shrunk to the size of a small child and had become semi-transparent like tracing paper.

Cartesia looked at me and smiled bitterly.

“Kid, give me some coins.”

[— You have donated 5000 coins and 5000 prons to the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’.]

Only then did her appearance become somewhat clearer.

Unfortunately, this is the last of it.

“You’ve used up all your coins? Your lifeline?”

“Cartesia tried to protect us. She determined that without a powerful strike to subdue Renatus, we wouldn’t stand a chance. This is the result.”

Zernya sighed.

“To think we’d end up owing our lives to a foreign god…”

I received a detailed report from Zernya.

Renatus still wasn’t dead. Once Powehi regrouped, they might attack again. The war wasn’t over yet. No, it was just beginning.

First, we needed to save Cartesia.

For that, I needed one person.

“Sister, where is Sister Ireh?”

“If you’re looking for her, she went back to the laboratory first.”

I quickly headed to Stellarium Academy.

The campus was large, but it was obvious where she had gone.

“So you were here, Sister.”

“…Del?”

Foreign God Neural Network Laboratory.

Ireh was handling equipment that simulated the thought patterns of foreign gods.

“I went home. I knew you would be researching here. For Cartesia, right?”

“D-don’t come closer!”

“I’m sorry, but this is urgent.”

Ireh’s expression changed by the second.

First red, then pale. Then her cheeks ripened like a persimmon again.

I approached within 1 meter.

In the blink of an eye, Ireh clung to me. Bewildered eyes, trembling breath, shaking legs. Yet she didn’t stop.

“I-I told you not to come closer! No, that’s not it! I’m sorry, my body is moving on its own…!”

“It’s alright.”

Ireh pressed her face against my chest and breathed in. My solar plexus grew hot.

I accepted her with a sage’s mind. After all, without Ireh, we couldn’t save Cartesia in time.

“Sister, you know this too. Please help me.”

“But if I’m with you, I’ll keep doing this…”

“It doesn’t matter.”

I looked back.

Sonia was sighing deeply with her hand on her forehead.

“Sonia, will you be okay with this?”

“Are you really asking me that?”

“You’re my companion too.”

“…Yes, my lord.”

Sonia smiled.

“I’ve actually known about Miss Ireh’s fox-like behavior for a while. I just pretended not to notice.”

“Wait, what are you saying?”

“Ah, was it not time for this conversation yet? Anyway, never mind. I’ll tell you when this is all over.”

Her cryptic words only made my head more complicated, but I tried to forget about it.

At least I got an OK sign from one person.

Two more to go.

I had Sonia bring all the research materials from the lab to our home. Then I returned to the main house with Ireh and informed Rustila and Zernya about what we needed to do.

“So, there might be some unfortunate incidents during this process. To prepare for that…”

Smooch.

Ireh planted a kiss on my cheek.

My two wives’ expressions turned blank.

“S-sorry! My body moved on its own, ugh!”

“Sister, what did you just do?”

The light disappeared from Rustila and Zernya’s eyes.

The time has come.

I prepared myself to be slapped.

However, the situation began to unfold differently than expected.

Thud.

Zernya collapsed to the floor.

“I-I trusted you. I believed Sister Ireh wouldn’t do something like this…!”

It seemed she felt betrayed by Ireh, not me.

Rustila also covered her mouth with a bewildered look.

[— The effect of ‘Great Triangle’ is decreasing.]

The trust built among the three women was beginning to shake.

“I’m sorry, both of you, I’m really sorry… I don’t want to do this, but my body keeps moving on its own… *sob*.”

Ireh confessed while shedding tears. That proud and expressionless Ireh Hazlen. This was probably the first time she had cried in front of Rustila and Zernya.

My two dazed wives shook their heads.

“N-no, Sister! I understand it’s because of the foreign god’s curse!”

“Th-that’s right. We can’t blame a patient. The cause is the foreign god, right? Our Sister Ireh wouldn’t do this in her right mind.”

It seems years of friendship don’t just disappear. That was fortunate amid the misfortune.

“Don’t worry and don’t feel guilty. You said the curse was placed by that foreign god, Powehi or whatever? We just need to defeat that foreign god.”

“Or we could heal that foreign god groaning in the room. Since it’s from the Descartes lineage, it could probably cure you with a single gesture. Of course it could.”

I was most surprised by Zernya’s attitude.

That Zernya.

The same Zernya who, even after becoming my wife, had always shown tremendous jealousy and possessiveness, was now showing tolerance toward another woman for the first time.

In fact, not just Zernya, but Rustila too.

Since becoming mothers, the atmosphere around both of them seemed quite different.

Rather, their gentleness made me feel so guilty I could hardly lift my head.

And so, Ireh and I (with occasional spontaneous kisses) began our research to save Cartesia.

“It’s because of the curse! It’s all because of the curse!”

The guilt was no joke.

***

Week 1.

We analyzed Cartesia’s crystal. We thoroughly uncovered its structure and how it differed from Darwin’s crystals.

We then examined the feasibility of moving to the next stage.

The results of the examination.

We discovered that with this crystal, we could stabilize Cartesia’s physical form.

Week 2.

We worked to find a suitable body for Cartesia.

The most promising candidates were Sonia and Ireh. Sonia was Cartesia’s avatar, and Ireh had a constitution that easily accepted foreign gods, making them both worthy candidates.

However, one troubling result emerged during the crystal analysis.

If we directly transferred the neural network using the crystal, the original body’s personality would disappear. In simple terms, it would be “overwritten.”

Above all, both Sonia and Ireh opposed being used as experimental subjects. I had no intention of doing such a thing either. It would be nothing short of human experimentation.

So we brought in Dummy Sonia.

Dummy Sonia was a fake Sonia created to deceive the federal government, which had suspected Sonia of being an avatar. It had the same structure as Sonia but was merely an android without any software installation.

I was skeptical about whether possession of a machine would work, but with Sonia as a precedent, there was no reason it couldn’t. At least, it was the perfect candidate for a new body.

From this point, we accelerated our research.

Week 3.

I’ve been sleeping one day out of every five. It’s starting to feel like death. Even Ireh seems to prioritize sleep over sexual desire, as she doesn’t react much when I poke her cheeks.

Cute.

No, that’s not the point.

We began the process of connecting Cartesia’s crystal to Dummy Sonia’s CPU. The difficulty was high, and since neither Ireh nor I specialized in this field, we would have struggled if we had started without any knowledge.

So we decided to get help from the College of Engineering.

We hired Welton and Mathers. As it happened, they were experts in this area. We promised them high compensation and worked together.

Mathers asked what we were doing, and I vaguely replied that it was new research. Meanwhile, Welton teased me, asking if I was creating a mistress. I was too tired to respond.

Week 4.

We succeeded. We managed to connect Cartesia’s crystal with the artificial intelligence’s neural network. It was the result of consulting with engineering professors and leveraging connections to mobilize engineering students.

Of course, it was still just an empty shell with no consciousness.

To test if it worked properly, we brought in Mezulen, who was majoring in foreign god biology. She wasn’t released from my lab until the following week.

Mezulen made an interesting assessment of Cartesia’s crystal. She said the crystal was emitting radiation patterns similar to those observed when observing constellations.

Week 5.

After a couple of adjustments, we achieved satisfactory results. Now only the final task remained.

I transported Dummy Sonia to our home. Even as my consciousness kept blurring due to overwork, I moved my body with the sole determination to save Cartesia.

“Cartesia!”

When I opened the door, I saw Cartesia, who had become more than 80% transparent. She was dying.

“…Kid, you came again today.”

A weak voice, barely audible.

“Coins… you don’t need to give me any more.”

“Stop talking nonsense and take them.”

[— You have donated 5000 coins and 5000 prons to the ‘God of Wisdom and Curiosity’.]

“Kid, this is like pouring water into a bottomless jar.”

“Cartesia.”

“Since that day when I used up strength I didn’t even have, I haven’t been able to move a finger. I paid more than the necessary price. Unless I receive an enormous sum, I can’t be of any help. And you don’t have that much now, do you?”

Cartesia’s body was slowly disappearing. The blanket covering her sank down. A whitish mist scattered like dispersing fog.

Once that mist disappeared, I would have to bid farewell to Cartesia forever.

Cartesia, perhaps for the first time, gave a sorrowful smile.

“Goodbye, Eidel. It was a short time, but I was happy to meet you at the end.”

“Hey.”

“Thank you… for giving comfort to me, who was abandoned even by my own kind.”

“Stop being dramatic and accept my gift.”

“…What?”

Using the resonance equipment I had brought, I absorbed Cartesia and poured her directly into Dummy Sonia’s crystal.

The fading mist gathered into a single point and condensed into the crystal.

Finally.

Dummy Sonia’s eyes opened.