Chương 175: Chapter 173 – Puppet Smith.

"Take care, Mr. Edmund. Remember, you need to pay for the permit first and also cover the registration fee for your craftsman friend." A woman with orange cat ears called out from a room as an armored figure stepped through the open doorway.

"Sure..."

"Come back if you have any further questions, Mr. Edmund!"

"I will..." Rusty came out of a room holding a piece of parchment covered in numbers, all related to his new project: establishing a smithy within the city. Although he had secured rights to the decrepit building he was occupying, the situation turned out to be more complicated than he had expected. He had gone to the city hall to handle the last few legal requirements for opening his shop, but the meeting quickly became a tangle of unexpected bureaucracy.

Under his arm was a small stack of papers he still needed to read and sign. While the city had first appeared to operate with little oversight, the reality was far more structured than he had realized. Running a shop involved taxation and multiple permits, some of which made little sense to him. One example was the mandatory hazard insurance fee, which was significantly higher because he lived in the slums, where crime was more prevalent.

"Why do I need to pay this? It's not like they're offering much protection."

"In theory, they'll assign a guard closer to your location to help with any thieves." Alexander replied as he tried to make sense of the policy.

"In theory?" Rusty repeated, unconvinced, and soon even Aburdon jumped in.

"Ha, you humans have strange ways of extorting one another. I bet that guard never shows up, even if we pay the fee."

"Well…" Alexander stopped himself from answering, but the reason was clear. Aburdon was right. The guards in the city followed specific patrol routes and were not eager to put themselves in danger for others. They protected the prominent merchant district, but when it came to the slums, they mostly stayed away.

"So this means I'll have to rely on myself?"

"Not necessarily. You could always hire some adventurers. It would probably cost us less than what the city charges for protection." Alexander responded, and Rusty nodded. The city required a mandatory hazard insurance fee, but there was another option that offered actual protection. Unfortunately, it cost nearly ten times more and was well beyond what Rusty could afford. Hiring a few E-rank adventurers to guard his home would cost about half that amount each month.

He could spend even less by hiring mercenaries instead. There were a few viable options for Rusty's growing business, but he had not yet decided which one to choose.

"(– ⌓ –)""Sorry it took so long, Gleam. The queue was a lot longer than I expected. Why don't we head back to our lair?" Gleam had been waiting outside and had nearly fallen asleep. Once he arrived, she took her usual place on his shoulder, and together they returned home.

"(˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶)""Gleam!" As soon as they arrived, Gleam hopped off to play with the children while Rusty went down into the basement. He spread out all the paperwork and began reading. While he could have asked Aburdon for a summary, he wanted to understand everything himself and learn from the process. Rusty sat in the basement, surrounded by crumpled documents and neatly stacked parchments. He understood the importance of staying organized to avoid confusion later on.

The fees for running the smithy were a concern, but they were manageable. He could earn money by selling monster parts or ingots, just as he had in the other city. If he managed to locate raw resources like iron ore veins, he could easily refine them into ingots using the system he relied on.

"So many fees. No wonder humans struggle to survive in this world." As a monster, Rusty had no need for food or sleep. He required no upkeep and could live in a hole in the ground without being affected by the elements. Although his body would eventually begin to rust, it had become highly resistant over time, and repairs were simple as long as he had access to raw materials. The problem he faced now was unrelated to survival. It had to do with his second alter ego, the one meant to serve as the blacksmith.

"I should probably test it first. The body might need a few adjustments." It was time to try out one of the shell bodies he had built. The one he used in the city was designed to resemble an adventurer, but the one he planned to use in the smithy would need to be entirely different.

"Let's get the parts out first." In the spider-infested forest, he had found his first head, the head of an apprentice blacksmith. Along with it, he had discovered papers that included the man's name: Oswald. The head bore a scar on the cheek and was noticeably rounder than Edmund's, which forced Rusty to adjust the proportions of the human body he was constructing. While Oswald hadn't been a dwarf, Rusty designed the body to be stockier, with a broader frame and a prominent belly.

The armor he crafted would reflect that shape and cover most of the body, incorporating far more leather than usual. Beneath the heavy leather gloves, smithing apron, and thick gambeson-style shirt, a concealed metal shell would lie hidden. It would remain invisible under the layers of cloth, but allow him to move it around through his skills. The result, he hoped, would be a convincing disguise, one that appeared entirely human while concealing the animated armor beneath.

Rusty was a living armor monster who could primarily manipulate metal components. Although it was possible to include leather in the structure, it needed a certain degree of stiffness. Otherwise, it wouldn't hold together well. After observing how blacksmiths in the city dressed, he had a better understanding of what was typical. This led him to create a design that featured softer textiles than he had originally planned. Did you know this text is from a different site?

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"Now then!" With that, he began pulling out the parts and assembling them piece by piece. The components clanked as Rusty laid them out carefully on the table. The forge's glow cast a soft orange light across the workspace, illuminating the individual pieces that would form his second identity: Oswald the blacksmith. At first glance, the frame looked relatively normal. It was not much different from his usual body, only shorter and broader.

Soon, he brought out a few items he had acquired from the city and began fitting them onto the frame to replicate the appearance of an ordinary person. He started with cloth pants and a thick gray shirt, followed by leather boots to cover the metallic greaves. Thick leather gloves went over his hands. To complete the look, he added a large leather apron with holsters on the sides for tools like hammers and tongs.

"Now for the last part." To finish the disguise, he needed a helmet. He had the man's head, but it required the right helmet to hold it in place. He spent some time considering his options, wanting something that would not draw suspicion. Then he found exactly what he needed in the city. Several dwarven craftsmen wore helmets similar in shape to his own face. Some used thick, flat facemasks with narrow eye slits designed to shield them from the heat and sparks that flew up from their work.

These armored helmets protected their beards and faces, making them ideal for concealing the dead man's head inside.

"How does it look?" Rusty asked his guides as Alexander floated out of his helmet to examine the lifeless armor on the table.

"Not sure. Can you make it move?"

"I'll try." It was time to test it. He hadn't placed the blacksmith's head inside yet, but he activated his new skill called 'Puppet Armor.' As the skill took hold, a soft glow spread across the motionless suit. A few seconds later, it began to move. The internal structure was made from plain iron to minimize mana use. Gradually, the magic settled, and the armor responded.

"Now, rise up, my puppet!" Rusty extended his hand as he gave the command. To anyone walking in he would look like a mad necromancer but he didn't care. At first, the armor moved awkwardly, its motions stiff and unnatural. But after a few seconds, it sat up and then climbed down from the table. It stood still, awaiting the next order. Rusty began testing its responses. There was a reason he chose to use 'Puppet Armor' instead of wearing the suit himself.

He needed the construct to appear convincing, but he didn't plan to rely on it often. The blacksmith known as Oswald wasn't meant to leave his lair. His purpose was simple: to make the shop seem legitimate and divert suspicion away from Rusty. The construct needed to operate normally with Rusty nearby, so that no one suspected they were the same person. For that to work, Rusty's possession skill would also need to be pushed further than ever before.

It needed to not only work when possessing one head, but two at a time. It was time for the final test. He retrieved Oswald's head from his spatial storage and carefully placed it onto the built-in support at the neck area of the armor. He had to handle it with care, since exposure to the elements without the possession skill would cause it to decay and start to smell. Once the head was securely fastened in place to prevent it from shifting, he lowered the helmet onto the puppet armor and stepped back.

"How does it look now?" Rusty asked, and Alexander replied.

"Like a dead blacksmith." Aburdon let out a cackling laugh at the sight of the lifeless head inside the armor.

"Maybe you should become a death knight, Rusty. Start controlling undead instead. It would probably be easier than whatever this is."

"A death knight? Aren't those high-level undead? Are they even living armors like me?" Before Rusty could continue questioning, Alexander floated close to his face and started speaking quickly.

"Don't even think about becoming an undead monster, Rusty." From what Rusty knew, some living armors could move by being possessed by evil spirits. Death knights, however, typically evolved from other undead creatures such as skeletons, zombies, or ghouls, or were created when a fallen knight was revived by a necromancer. They were powerful monsters, sometimes reaching rank A.

"If it's an evil monster, won't I have to lean into the darkness element? I see what you're doing, Aburdon!" Rusty shook his metal head.

"Ha, was I caught already?" The black ball of light floated for a moment before settling above Rusty's left shoulder. Soon after, the testing resumed. Rusty's possession skill required him to place his helmet over another body. He was not entirely sure this method would work, since he was using a proxy body while remaining in his main form. Even so, he was a living suit of armor controlling another set of armor, so there was still a chance it could succeed.

To improve the odds, he had raised his possession skill to the maximum level. If his guides were accurate, then something should happen to help him move forward.

"..." He felt mana leaving his body as he activated the possession skill on the head inside the other suit of armor. As expected, it did not work at first, so he had to try again and again. Even after several attempts and nearly draining his mana, there was little improvement, but he was not in a rush. If there was one thing he excelled at, it was repeating a task without growing bored. He continued the process without hesitation. Once his mana ran out, he simply waited or worked around his forge.

When his mana returned, he activated the skill again. Then finally, after several hours, something began to happen. The head inside the other suit of armor started to open, and a message appeared in front of him. Congratulations, Possession has evolved into Advanced Possession"Yes!" The process was a success. Once the skill evolved, the eyes of the head he placed in the armor began to open. It felt strange at first, but he gradually started to get used to it.

Now that the skill was active, he could perceive the world through the head in the other suit of armor. This was not an easy task. He had to control his own body while also keeping track of the puppet, effectively splitting his mind in two. It was becoming increasingly difficult.

"This might take a while..." Rusty concentrated on the growing mental divide between his two forms. He could sense both bodies: his main armored self and the puppet that was now Oswald the Blacksmith. Controlling another body remotely felt exhausting at first, but he slowly gained control over the other head and began speaking through it.

"I... I'm Osss... waaald, a black... smith." The words came out slowly, some of them slurred, much like when he first learned to speak. Still, this was progress. Even though speaking through the puppet took intense focus and the results were far from perfect, it might be enough. As long as he could make it believable that this blacksmith lived and worked here, that would suffice. He also knew that as his possession skill improved, managing two heads at once would become easier. For now, it was nearly impossible.

"Is this my limit for now?" Inside the puppet armor, the head remained under his control. There seemed to be a range limit of about ten meters. If the puppet moved beyond that distance, the head would lose its connection. He gave Oswald a new command: to turn toward the forge and pick up a hammer. The motion was delayed and awkward, but it worked. That alone brought him satisfaction. When the puppet managed to swing the hammer, he felt genuine excitement.

The Oswald puppet brought the hammer down onto an anvil with a loud clang. The movement was rough, but convincing enough to fool anyone who was not paying close attention. The sound echoed through the basement, disturbing a few mice hidden in the cracks between the stones.

"Still stiff. The shoulders aren't syncing with the elbows. Might look strange if someone watches him for too long." Alexander floated near the puppet's head, observing its movements, which seemed unrefined, but Rusty didn't care.

"That doesn't matter. Oswald is a shy smith who only works alone down here in the basement."

"A shy smith, huh?" Rusty responded quickly, already having built an entire backstory for his second identity. Now that the puppet could move, he could shift his focus to other tasks, like earning money to launch his new business and gaining more levels to grow stronger. He was a D-rank monster now, but he had no intention of staying that way for long.