episode_0048

Magic Puppet

A magical tool akin to a remote-controlled robot, capable of housing spirits, souls, or being controlled through a mental link.

Normally, it’s used for reconnaissance.

But.

It can also be utilized in other ways.

‘For example…’

You could create a doll of your favorite anime character,

imbue it with a spirit or soul, and then enjoy all sorts of play in bed—

“Ahem…”

Anyway.

The important thing is this:

If you pour in money, time, and manpower,

you can create a puppet so intricate that it’s indistinguishable from a real person.

And so, I made one!

A white puppy doll so lifelike you couldn’t tell it apart from a real dog!

…Or so I said.

Serena glared slightly as she spoke.

“Why a puppy?”

“Just because.”

To be precise, I got it from a random draw in the Holy Grail of Sacrifice, and since I was inspired, I modified it into a magic puppet.

…The moment I admitted that honestly, Serena bit my wrist.

“Ow!”

“You even made the teeth hurt like a real dog?!”

“Give me a humanoid one!”

“Not a puppy—a human body!!”

“Once we defeat the Demon King, you can have a real body!”

“Just hold on a little longer!”

“Even so, a dog is too much!”

“It’s still better than a sword!”

“The puppy feels so realistic, it’s like a real dog!”

“Oh…”

“Guess I made it better than I thought.”

I had tossed a few magic puppets and the dog doll into the Holy Grail of Sacrifice and combined them,

but it turned out more functional than expected.

To think it even replicated the feel of a real dog.

As expected of the Holy Grail of Sacrifice.

…I marveled at it while patting Serena’s head.

“I’m not a dog, you know?”

“Just hear me out for a sec.”

“There are times when being a puppy is better.”

“When would that ever be the case?”

“Look at them.”

“?”

Lia, Alice, and Sophia were staring at Serena, now in puppy form, with sparkling eyes.

When she was a sword, they regarded her with the reverence of gazing upon a goddess,

but now, their feelings had shifted into something else.

“Want to hug her?”

“Yes!”

“Me too! Me too!”

“As the Saintess, I shall personally attend to Lady Serena here.”

All three of them had their arms outstretched, eager to hold her.

Lia wanted to hug her like a mother,

Alice wanted to cuddle an adorable puppy,

and Sophia wanted to feel the Goddess of Light, Serena, up close.

So, I told them to take turns.

“Hwaaaah.”

“Mom’s body is so soft and warm.”

Lia hugged Serena with a bright smile.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Lady Serena is too cute!”

Alice, completely forgetting Serena was a goddess, was utterly smitten by the cute puppy.

“Lady Serena.”

“If you need anything, you need only ask me.”

Sophia radiated determination, as if she would take full responsibility for Serena in this form.

Serena seemed dissatisfied with such treatment—

Wag wag.

…Or not.

Serena’s tail was wagging faster than ever before.

“Our daughter~”

“Hug~”

“Moooom!”

She was overjoyed at being able to embrace her daughter.

“If… if you think I’m cute, you can pet me too!”

“Kyaaaah!”

She happily accepted Alice’s affectionate strokes.

“Lady Serena.”

“An offering for you.”

“Om nom nom.”

“This is delicious!”

She munched on the fries Sophia gave her, basking in happiness.

‘Being a puppy isn’t so bad after all?’

A life where others dote on you,

where you’re held in their arms and fed delicious food.

Not bad at all.

“Better than you thought, right?”

“Well…”

“It’s alright.”

Serena’s voice was flat,

but her tail was wagging furiously.

‘This is goooood…’

As a goddess, she was worshipped by all,

but as a human, she was shunned.

A lonely life where she never received anyone’s love.

But.

Now was different.

Just for being cute, she was monopolizing everyone’s affection.

This feeling was too good.

At first, she had hated it,

but now, she seemed to enjoy her puppy body.

Not bad.

So.

Time to show her some additional equipment.

“Serena.”

“What?”

“I’ll introduce you to some extra gear you can equip while using that puppet body.”

“Extra gear?”

“Yeah.”

I pulled out the first item: .

“This is?”

“Attach it to your back, and you can fly at ultra-high speeds.”

“Why would I need this?”

“It’s good for you to have some survival skills.”

Human Serena had zero survival skills.

No combat ability,

no means of escape—

she was basically Civilian A.

And so, she was killed.

…Thinking about it,

some survival skills are a must.

The Hero’s party would usually protect her,

but not always.

“So you prepared this?”

“Yeah.”

“With just this, you can handle most problems.”

Ultra-high-speed mobility.

With this alone, she wouldn’t die easily.

If things got dangerous, she could just flee.

…As I explained,

Click!

I attached the .

“Wanna try flying?”

“Sure.”

“Just pour divine energy into the fuel tank and activate it.”

“Pour divine energy… activate…”

Whoooosh!

The moment she activated it, she shot out the window.

“Wow.”

Even with my reflexes—

and even Alice’s reflexes—her speed was so fast we lost track of her.

Pshhh… Pshoo…

The made a strange noise before shutting down.

“Ah…”

“Since it was the first charge… the fuel…”

If it had been the Saintess’s charge with the , fuel wouldn’t have been an issue,

but it was just a normal charge.

It wasn’t filled enough for ultra-high-speed flight.

As a result,

Serena experienced a crash landing—

…Or not.

Thanks to the parachute attached to the , she survived—

Caw!

“?”

Serena, slowly descending with the parachute, was snatched by a crow.

“Well, crap.”

To cut to the chase, the rescue mission was a success.

“Phew…”

“Almost lost the body.”

Since her divine energy was depleted, even the puppy puppet had shut down.

Losing it would’ve been a disaster.

Not just the Holy Sword of Sealing,

but even the human body Serena was supposed to use—all gone.

But.

We got her back, so it’s fine.

“Cain, you…”

“Sorry…”

“Sigh…”

“Since we’re friends, I’ll let it slide this once.”

“Thanks.”

Anyway.

This incident ended without further issues.

So now,

time to recharge.

…Thinking that, I pulled out the .

“Sophia.”

“Here.”

“I just need to absorb this, right?”

“You remember the precautions?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve reviewed all the warnings in the guidebook.”

“Good.”

“Then it should be fine.”

Normally, absorbing the raw could cause life energy to run wild and make the body explode,

but Sophia could regulate life energy.

She could partially seal the and adjust output from 0% to 100%.

Keep it sealed at 0% when unused,

then raise output to 1%, 3%, 5%, 10%… as needed.

…Or so I thought.

“This… is the power of the Blood Stone?…”

Sophia went straight into 100% Blood Stone Mode.

No longer a child,

she transformed into a voluptuous, big-breasted older sister.

In the game, her appearance changed based on how much of the was unsealed.

0% – Child form.

10% – Elementary schooler.

20% – Middle schooler.

And so on—each increase in unsealing made her taller, curvier, and more mature.

Now, Sophia was a bombshell.

Her chest surpassed G-cup,

her height increased significantly,

and her face matured to the point of looking like an older sister.

Her hair grew longer too,

and as she converted excess life energy into divine power, she radiated an overwhelming aura.

“So… Sophia?…”

“Can you handle that?…”

“This much is…”

Sophia, who had been smiling, suddenly darkened.

At first, she was confident,

but the life energy was too much—she couldn’t control it.

If left unchecked, her body would explode.

“Sophia!”

“Quick, waste divine energy and seal the !”

“Yes!”

Sophia poured all her divine energy into the puppy puppet, trying to seal the .

But.

It wasn’t as easy as she thought.

Suppressing the overflowing life energy alone was exhausting—she couldn’t even manage the seal.

“Ugh… ugh…”

“Sophia!”

“My… body…”

“Damn it!…”

“You read the guidebook, right?! It said not to unseal 100%!”

“I… did read it…”

“But… I was curious what 100% would look like…”

“……”

“I’m sorry…”

“But… I didn’t unseal it thoughtlessly… so it’s fine…”

“?”

“Lady Lia…”

“Please…”

“Okay.”

Lia slowly raised her wooden sword.

Ggang!

She smacked the Saintess on the head.

Instantly,

a crisp, clear sound rang out, and the Saintess’s HP dropped to 1.

“Haaah…”

“I think I’ll live now…”

“Ah…”

“If the problem was overflowing HP… Lia’s power to induce solved it?…”

“Yes.”

“I trusted in that and took the risk.”

The Saintess giggled while squeezing her now-larger chest.

“My lord.”

“How do you like my current form? Is it to your taste?”

“Uh…”

“It is, but…”

“Then let’s stay like this… ugh… just one more…”

Ggang!

With two lumps now on her head, Sophia spoke.

“My lord.”

“Wouldn’t you like to… ugh… get passionate with a mature me…”

Ggang!

With three lumps, she continued.

“My lord.”

“Enough. Seal the first.”

“But… ugh… my body…”

Ggang!

Four lumps now.

Ggang! Ggang! Ggang!

Sophia, realizing it wasn’t the time, obediently shrank back down.

(AI-generated image of Saintess Sophia at 100%.)