Volume 5 Chapter 14 Pandora’s Box
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Schulz and I are quietly making clay statues side by side. The dragon Schulz, who loves women, has transformed into a boy’s form, but he’s still incredibly strong, effortlessly kneading the hard clay.
Schulz, who took a liking to my work, seems to have awakened to art and asked me to teach him. It’s a bit different from what I planned, but deepening our friendship through a teacher-student relationship isn’t bad. With the remaining plaster running low, I’m making female statues using clay gathered near Toyata Village for pottery. Surprisingly, this clay has turned out to be an excellent training material.
Even Schulz, who lacks crafting skills, can easily handle the clay. The best part is that if we fail, we can redo it as many times as we want. Oil clay might have been easier, but earth clay isn’t bad either. I can fine-tune the hardness with water. Schulz, however, relies on his strength to knead it, even if it’s a bit hard, and that’s fine too—his strength shows in the work.
I greedily gathered all the clay from the bottom of a small pond, so there’s plenty of it. There’s a place in the wetlands north of Toyata Village where good clay can be dug up. It’s a whitish clay with high glass content, and when fired at high temperatures, it produces a porcelain-like, ivory-colored ware.
Old Toyata Village apparently burned tiles and ceramics often. It was the village of the dead that we previously honored. Now, pottery techniques haven’t been passed down in Toyata Village. Unfortunately, the skills seem to have been lost.
I can dig up as much turf charcoal as I want for fuel, so I’ve wanted to try large-scale pottery or modern cheat-like techniques. I never imagined the gathered clay would be so loved by a dragon.
I was trying to make an anime-style beautiful girl figure, but somehow it turned into an abstract work. I extracted only the moe elements from realistic female shapes and pursued simplicity, ending up with something reminiscent of Showa-era vanguard art. It feels like art is about to explode, but it’s quite different from what I initially wanted to create.
But as I looked at it, I started to like it. It could make a nice objet d’art in a mansion’s garden.
Schulz seemed to grasp something from my example. He began creating African-inspired mysterious statues with wild, rough, and strong vitality. Technically, they’re immature, but that’s what makes them directly appealing. This is undoubtedly a wonderful piece of art. He seems to know it and works on it wholeheartedly.
How much time has passed since he started making statues? Schulz has a mountain of works. He had the passion of a dragon, collecting countless women and pouring immeasurable emotion into it. Now, that emotion has found an outlet in his creative activities. This must be what they call sublimation.
After duplicating some of Schulz’s finished works, the plaster ran out. Drying and firing the clay prototypes directly is possible, but they might shrink or crack in the fire.
”Teacher, can we melt this gold to make materials?”
Schulz asked. The treasure vault Schulz led me to was piled high with gold items and coins. Dragons really do love gold.
For Mr. Zenom, this would be easy. I can do it too. I’ve even helped mass-produce crossbows before. Of course, the larger the size, the higher the difficulty.
The gold items in the vault seem to tell a history. It feels wasteful to melt these down. There are coins with divine script, which would make Professor ecstatic. Their value as ancient history research is priceless.
”It feels wrong to melt such wonderful treasures.”
”It doesn’t matter. Compared to our art, everything else is garbage.”
Schulz replied. This guy is definitely a little dangerous. His field of view is narrow, and his thinking is extreme. He’s probably pure and innocent, in a way. But because he has incredible strength, I’m scared.
”Since it’s highly valuable as an antique, it sells for a high price at the royal capital auction. If you buy gold bars with that money, you can cast more golden statues.”
I suggested. Older coins are popular among wealthy noble collectors, and many summoned heroes collect coins too. I picked up a handful of the scattered coins at my feet. They’re mixed types, but all look very old. The scratches are few, and the condition is good. One of these could be worth enough to buy a mansion in the royal capital. The gold coins are piled up carelessly, almost like geological layers.
I understand Schulz loves gold, but making gold-plated hollow bronze statues might be easier. Over time, the gold might peel off, but that would add character. It’s just my personal preference, but I think a bronze statue with about ten percent remaining gold plating looks cool.
Metal plating with mercury is common here, but in the royal capital, they can electroplate too.
”Gold plating on bronze, huh? As expected of a master. It’s like a dream. I want to make many shining gold statues and line them up quickly.”
Schulz said excitedly. Imagine Schulz’s statues shining with gold in the hallways. It would definitely look like some ancient mysterious ruins. It’s much more appealing than lined-up half-naked living dolls.
”If that’s the case, those guys are in the way. It’s pointless to keep them fixed in place, so let’s get rid of them.”
Schulz added. Schulz, who treasured his collections of beautiful women, now plans to burn them away. He’s lost interest and doesn’t hesitate.
No, wait. That’s too cruel.
”You don’t even have to burn them… Just release them normally, right?”
I suggested.
”There are quite a few old ones, after all. They have nowhere left to go, so burning them quickly is the way of love.”
Schulz might think he’s being responsible, but I can’t accept it. Still, leaving them fixed forever would be cruel too.
”At least the two of them have a place to return to.”
I said, referring to Mr. Shirakaba and Duke’s princess. Mr. Shirakaba has companions who worry about him. Duke’s princess was discarded by her family and offered as a sacrifice, wasn’t she? Well, Mr. Shirakaba risked his life to save her, so why not go to her lover’s place? Ah, it’s not good for women to be together in this world, right?
”I can lend you my magic bag if you like. My magic bag won’t get in the way.”
It’s common sense that you can’t store living things in a magic bag, but Schulz says mine is a special edition, so it’s okay. It’s more like I made it with my editing skill, imitating a real magic bag. I couldn’t imitate the fine details, so it has different specifications.
Being able to put living things inside is conveniently useful, isn’t it? It might be more divine than the real thing. Schulz noticed that just by looking at it—he must be a cheat, the type who can see through magic at a glance. He’s an opponent you definitely can’t make an enemy of.
Somehow, I ended up with Mr. Shirakaba and Duke’s daughter. It was too easy to successfully rescue them.
”Ah, take all the other women too. You can fit them in my magic bag, right? I’ll burn them if they’re in the way.”
Schulz said.
”They’ll fit, they’ll fit, they’ll fit just fine.”
There’s a size limit for what can be put inside, but you can put them in separately multiple times. That means my magic bag can secure infinite storage space if there’s enough mana.
Therefore, I can easily accommodate however many women Schulz has collected. It’s too much responsibility to have so many women’s lives entrusted to me, but well, if I just put them in the magic bag, their time won’t pass at all, so I can put off the problem. It’s still better than burning them.
After deciding, we were guided to the corridor where Schulz’s collection is displayed.
”This building is a relic of the city of the divine beings. It’s in quite good condition, isn’t it?”
Schulz remarked. The divine beings used godly script, from a time long, long ago. Schulz is even older than Uno, I recall.
In the past, dragons lived for tens of thousands of years, but most were hunted by humans. Dragons are a dying race, but they can have offspring with multiple species, which is a cheat-like ability. Now, many humans have dragon blood in them.
Schulz has classified and displayed his collection of women according to his own criteria. Collectors seem to enjoy that kind of organization—by era, race, or favorites, in a somewhat fuzzy manner.
”The newer ones are over here. They’re about a hundred years old.”
Schulz said. Normally, they would have become old women by now, but the preservation magic keeps them young.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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