Chương 200: Fun-Sized

"People skilled in mechanistry?"

"Ind–deed, I am an un–unusual kind of sapient gol–lem. I bear a close co–connect–ion to machines, and therefore–re, I seek to upgrade myself through the mean–eans of a machine""Mmh… I see… It might be a bit complicated to find people for this.

As far as I am aware, apart from Leton Nebulo, no one is anywhere near skilled enough to be called a master of this craftsmanship discipline, but I am sure that there are a few I can get my hands on""If they are anything like the typical craftsmen of rare professions, they'll be pouncing on any opportunity to make some money, and I suppose that we could advertise you as a 'special' kind of automaton, or something?

That should rouse some interest" Leou leaned forward on her desk, her palms smudging up against her fluffy cheek as her tail playfully wiggled.

"So, how did it go exactly with Vilador? I personally felt that it was a bit much to ask of you as a second assassination job. This guy isn't often talked about because of how vulnerable he is to direct attacks, but some of his better creations once slaughtered countless during conflicts–It's hard to tell at a glance due to how… Eccentric and possibly slightly insane he is, but Vilador is a rather old elf""He's been around for a lot of events, and he used to have a good reputation from what I heard.

The reason he ended up mostly working with us before defecting to the former Beelmartian king is because he strongly fell out of favour with pretty much the entire continent after he successfully created a golem and spirit using the remnants of what was left after the brief opening of an abyssal rift""It was a nice achievement, but not only does no one like people who can mess with such forces, but before he could fuse the two together into something even stronger and more dangerous, he–Predictably–Lost control over them, causing the worst Abyss-related incident in what I was told was several thousands of years…

So you can imagine that people weren't exactly pleased with him""Abyss infestation is no joke, and this madman didn't even try to apologise and instead said that he would do the same thing but with the True Void instead next time… The organisation agreed to work with him because his creations were simply too good to pass on, but we've always made sure to keep an eye on him. It's probably why he defected, he didn't like being muzzled about his 'creativity'..."

"... Aherm, sorry, I asked you a question and kept talking…"

"It's fi–fine. I like hearing you sp–speak" You're just doing it on purpose now. There is no way this isn't flagrant flirting! Relax, Nara. I am just complimenting her… Women compliment each other all the time, even when we really believe the opposite. Besides, Leou clearly knows a lot about many things. She didn't elaborate on what exactly she does inside her organisation, but I think it's pretty obvious with her very public actions and such that she's an information gatherer.

The kind who operates in daylight rather than moonlight. Intel is good stuff, and the more she likes to ramble to me, the better it is, no? Also, she does have a nice voice to listen to. Did you listen to her? I love it when it sounds like she's purring when pronouncing certain words. All in all, she's a fluffy, knowledgeable girl with a relaxing-sounding voice.

I know you would really like for your big sister to have a love life, but I assure you that there is nothing of the sort going on here–You might have a slight bit of a point with Mari, but I did that when I was basically another version of myself, which doesn't count. Also, I am a half Steel Bound Curse, half Vengeful Spirit, machine of murder right now. I'm afraid that I lack the bodily capacities to want 'interactions' of that kind at the moment. I'm afraid you'll have to wait until I get thrown into another A.

R. DL against my will. … Surely there is a form somewhere that can help with this…

"Ahah… Thanks…"

"To ans–swer your question, it went very well. I did no–not–ot face him head-on. When I struck, he died instant–tantly without a chance to fi–fight back""Impressive! You were able to fool his mana sense? That's actually quite the skill you've got""F–Fooling him was only possible under a particular–ar scenario. He died–ied because he let him–self be distracted" I didn't want Leou to think that I could just casually evade a mage's senses with ease.

The only reason it had worked was because I had been in my state of dormancy the entire time, inactive, as I had set things up to only be awoken under precise circumstances, one of which was if lightning were to course through me. In short, I had set things up to look like a deactivated automaton. As I had figured out, although not anywhere near as good as my 'Plush Form' in terms of stealth, entering the state of dormancy while in my 'Base Form' seemed to basically siphon away all signs of life from me.

It was basically like my mind, soul, and whatever else were taken to another plane, truly making me look like an empty husk made of steel and nothing else. Of course, to make things work, I had torn off all flesh growing upon me and removed most of my visible upgrades and wires. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Otherwise, even inactive, a fool would be able to tell that something was very clearly off with me.

Considering how specific the circumstances had been, with the main crux being that Vilador held a sharp interest in mechanistry, I definitely couldn't pull a similar trick on just any random mage.

"I see… Well, I'll go report your success to my contacts, and hopefully, you'll be voted in for good this time around! You already have my support and that of my friend from last time. So with this mission completed. There should be no problem with allowing you to come with me to our meetings!"

"The best part is that as an official part of the organisation, I'll be able to leverage some more payment for you. We have a huge treasury filled with mostly useless stuff at our place. I'm sure there will be things that will interest you in there""I'll inform you when I get word back!" After this exchange, and getting to scratch the top of Leou's head, I headed back to my business.

The answer seemed to take a while to come back, and in the meantime, I got my hands on tungsten wires, adding them to my body alongside the rest–It was really a good thing that I could control all of these wires precisely to wrap closely to my body, otherwise, I would be getting stuck in literally every doorway with just how many of those things there were growing from me now. Five out of seven types of wires…

Although there were differences between each kind of wire, with the 'Silver Wires' being the best at conducting lightning, they overall served the same purpose, so it was unclear why they were each being treated as completely different upgrades. Nonetheless, adding one more type of wire was a step closer toward acquiring the 'Wire Mess Form'. It left only two more kinds of wires to add–Aluminum and nickel.

I did receive them directly after finishing up with the tungsten wires, but it was also when Leou informed me that I had been accepted and was now being considered as a bodyguard or a close confidant of Leou. Meaning that I was allowed to be in the room when they had their shady meetings, which I assume took place in the dark, only illuminated by candlelight. The snow leopard wanted to take me as soon as possible so that I could see how it was, and I didn't refuse…

So, she had me dress up in my usual attire, only a version that she had picked that featured the colours of the few guards she employed. She wanted me to be her bodyguard in public places as well, and not just when she was with the organisation, so it made sense that I had to fit in with her, and frankly, the white, frost-bluish attire didn't look bad at all on me. Leou had good taste when it came to colours. I almost feared that she would make me wear something with snow leopard spots on it, but…

"My old man used to make his guards dress in false snow leopard fur and all… I always found that it was way too much and more tacky than anything. It might work if we were actually in the snow and all, but this isn't the snowy mountains. It doesn't make sense to make other people wear our natural camouflage" … She was actually of sound mind and understood that it would only look good in the right environment. I really lucked out when I went to talk to her inside that guild.

Leou is the perfect person for me to work with. In any case, the meeting she took me to actually involved going behind a secret wall hidden in her office and using a method of transportation that strongly reminded me of the way I warped when transforming using a plush far away from me. Teleportation arrays were convenient but too expensive, and tended to leave noticeable spatial trails or something of the sort when used.

So instead, Leou and her collaborators had opted for something else, which basically did the same thing, but it warped people rather than teleporting them, which was basically just as convenient, but less expensive and easier to make in a way that using it left little to no traces. Now, it wasn't as safe as teleportation. Someone with knowledge of spatial movements could catch or tear you apart if they figured out the 'path' the warp used, and also…

"Ooh… I'll never get used to it…" It made people who used it sick nearly a hundred per cent of the time. The snow leopard had to recover from the trip for several minutes before feeling like she could take a step forward without puking all over her surroundings.

"Does it not do anything to you, Maya?"

"I do not ha–have the capacity to vo–vomit or fe–feel sick""Well… Good for you… Gods, I wish they would figure out a way to stabilise this thing even a little bit more…" I let her lean on me as I accompanied her through a series of hallways and doors. It was apparently so that if an unauthorised person or group of people got in through the path of one of the members, they would have to waste time before actually getting anywhere that mattered.

The place was rigged with a whole bunch of magical devices, Leou told me so, and Nara confirmed it. Soon, however, I pulled a large double door open and was greeted by the sight of a round table where a few of the seats were already occupied.

Most of the people already present had one or two of their own bodyguards standing behind their chairs, and unlike what I had assumed, the room was brightly illuminated and decorated in a very flamboyant manner, with paintings I was sure were worth more than their weight in gold… The greetings were minimal for the most part. Everyone seemed to still be reeling from the warping. Only the person sitting directly to Leou's left was interested in conversation.

"Leou. Is this the one you've been talking about?"

"Yes, This is Maya""Ah, then I must thank you for getting rid of that fool Hulil Boorizar! This bastard had been annoying me for so long!"

"I merely–ly com–completed a job given to me""No need to be so humble" The woman talking to me was perhaps the smallest grown woman I had ever seen in my life. I was an expert in cute girls, so I could tell at a glance that she was an adult, but as far as I could tell, she was about a meter and forty centimeters tall, while being frail and pale as though sickly, despite her rather energetic movements as she stood up on her chair. Hulil was courting her? She doesn't seem to be his type at all…