I would have preferred the Maestro as an underwater golem. He's a misanthrope and a bigot, so he's gone off the beaten path. I wonder where he is now.

　The guest, the 'Professor' stroked his white beard and made a difficult sound.
　This is not 'Babylon', but rather the doctor's exclusive workshop on the ground, at the far end of the castle. Why is it at the very end?　It's because it could explode.

"It's not difficult to make Frame Gear capable of fighting underwater. But compared to the ones made specifically for underwater use, they are inferior in terms of performance. And the Ark is probably the latter. I think it's going to be a stopgap measure.

　The doctor placed a plastic model of the frame gear with a screw-on school bag, multiple torpedo pods and hand anchors on the desk with a ton of thumps.
　Hmmm, it's a piece of equipment that makes it look like it's ready to fight underwater. No, that's right, though.

So we'll have to build it from scratch.... How long will it take?
'It's a dedicated machine with no basic design. In its own way. But if we're going to build it, we might as well do an overgear rather than a frame gear.

　Overgeared?　Is this a beast demon type frame gear with the 'crown' of Noir and the other Golems at its core?　Why again?

Of course, the humanoid shape is not suitable for swimming. It's more convenient to have a form that resembles an aquatic creature.

　Engineer Elka answered my question. I'm sure that's what he meant. In extreme cases, a streamlined mass would be able to move through the water faster than a human-shaped one.

And you can put frame gear on it. Doctor, if you're going to build it, it's going to be in the shape of a fish?

　Kuhn, who had been listening to our conversation with great interest, couldn't resist interrupting us. He crossed his arms and twisted his neck in response.

'Hmmm, I guess it's common. It would be interesting to have a turtle shape like a coral reef. The frame gear seems to be easy to ride.
What are you talking about? What are you saying? This is a shark-shaped room, after all. With all its ferocity and coolness.
Sharks are a bad idea. A dolphin shape is much cuter and better looking. Definitely a dolphin shape!

　The four of us were discussing the concept of the new model of aircraft. In this situation, I have no choice but to be a bystander. I can't keep up with them.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make it, but which 'crown' will be the core of it?

　Noir has a lion-shaped "Leonowar", Rouge has a tiger-shaped "Tigalouge", and Blau has a deer-shaped "Deerbrow". Will someone else be assigned another plane?
　The Elka Technician answers my questions in a matter-of-fact way.

'You've got your 'white' albs, Yumina,'
"Arbus and Yumina are under contract as temporary "sub" masters, right?　Can you move the overgear?

　The price of Albus' crowning ability 'Reset' is the contractor's memory. That's why I didn't let Yumina have this contract with Albus. I can't let her do such a dangerous thing.

''Even if he's a 'sub' master, there's no problem as far as moving him. It's not like I'm going to use my crown ability, and if I don't have a main master, I won't lose control of it.

　That's right. You should let Yumina handle the underwater overgear, then. I don't know what she can do with it, though.

I'll also look into underwater frame gear. If we make it into a mermaid form, the upper half of the body could be built the same way as before. But since we can't use the Valkyria, it will have to be a mass production model.

　 It's not a waste of time to develop them, since there have been maritime accidents and such.

''So, Fuyao-kun, let's take a whack at the development costs...''

　Heh heh, the doctor grins as he rubs his hands together.
　Nuh. I know it's necessary, but these guys really use it like hot water.
　Coon tugs at the hem of my clothes with a difficult look on his face.

The best way to do this is to have a look at a few of the things you've done.

　A teary-eyed coon looks up at me. Nuh-uh!　Dude, don't be fooled!　This is a trap by Kongming!　Look, there are three development idiots smirking and laughing over at the Coon!

Try to keep your expenses to a minimum...?
Thank you, Father!

　I jump and hug Kuhn, who hugs me. Dr. Babylon, Engineer Elka, and Professor 《Professor》 are giving a good smile and a thumbs up. You have to use my daughter first.

"Once that's decided, let's go over the concept right away. I'll take care of the overgear, but who will be in charge of the production model?
'Yes!　Let me do something for you!

　Coon leaves me in a flash and runs to the three of us. It's a bit lonely, father.
　I guess I have to collect money for now. So far I've been handing over the gold-ranked jobs to Ende, but let's get some of that to go here too. Ende is a newlywed, and I think he can take some time off. I'm talking about family service.
　Well, I can't say I've been able to do that either...


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


''Sir, if you're going to the Adventurer's Guild, I'd love to join you.

　The next morning, Yae and Hilda approached me as I was about to go to the Adventurer's Guild and run for gold.
　They told me that they were almost ready to reach the gold rank. They are the fourth or fifth person in the world to reach the gold rank. At this rate, more than half of the Gold-ranked adventurers will be my family....
　Hilda in particular seems to be fired up since she has a Gold-ranked adventurer as her grandfather.
　Furthermore, the fact that their two daughters, Yakumo and Frey, are gold-ranked in the future world is another reason.
　As a parent, I guess I have my thoughts on this. I'm sure there's a bit of vanity to it, though.
　Silver-ranked requests don't come easily to Brulin Build. But there are plenty of requests for gold and silver ranks in adventurer's guilds around the world. The point is that it's a matter of location.
　Me and Ende had transfer magic, so we could handle a number of them, so we were able to rank up quickly. Probably, the high ranks of the children were also due to Yakumo and Yoshino's transfer magic.
　A normal silver-ranked adventurer would spend days traveling to the scene of the crime and return after completing requests there. That would take a lot of time to rank up.
　If the magic train was more developed, though, those kinds of hardships would be reduced.
　Yae and Hilda are also probably thinking that if they have any requests, they will ask me to transfer to them. It's a request from your daughter-in-law, of course I'll take care of it, but you could also ask Yakumo or someone else to do it, couldn't you?

Well, as expected, it's a little awkward to ask my daughter to help me move up in the ranks, that I do.

　Yae replies with a bitter smile. It's a parental vain attempt, isn't it? I understand the feeling too.

'Well, how about Else?　As I recall, Else was aiming for the gold rank too, right?

　Since Ende, Else's sibling, is gold-ranked, I should have been staking my claim to be one, too.
　Hilda answered my question.

'Today, Else-san went shopping with Erna. She's going to Zanak-san's shop to look at clothes. She's totally obsessed with dressing her daughter up.'

　It was returned with a bitter smile too. Oh, I see.
　I think each of my daughters have a deep affection for their mother, but the two that are noticeably more adorable are Else and Linse.
　Yakumo, Frey, and Kuhn are the oldest of the group, and they are somewhat more mature. Well, they're still kids, but they seem to be beyond the age of being goofy with their parents.
　Yoshino and Sakura aren't too much of an interferer with each other either, and when it comes to Arthia and Roo, they're rather taut with each other.
　Erna and Rinne are the youngest of the kids who are here now, so they seem to be cuter than the others.
　Else, in particular, was sticky with Erna. Elna doesn't really like to fight, so she doesn't train in combat with Else, but otherwise, she is often with Else.
　It seems that Else also can't help but be cute with her daughter, dressing her in cute things this and that, and often going out with her.

'I didn't expect Else to be the dumbest parent I've ever seen. Sure, Elna is the cutest, but...''
Dumbass #2 is here, that it is.
Frey's pretty, too, isn't he?

　Of course Frey is cute too. Yakumo and the other girls are all nice and I'm a lucky guy.

It's going to be hard to give her out to your wife if you're such an old fool, that it is...
Ugh!

　Yae's words sting with glee. I'm trying not to think about that.
　That's true, I'm sure it will happen at some point... no, can't I somehow keep her from being a wife...?　Every single man who comes near us....

Come on, let's get out of here and stop thinking nonsense.
I can't imagine what's in store for us, that I can.
"Ggghhh...

　Pulled by Hilda and Yae, we headed to the Adventurer's Guild.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


'The silver rank requests are here and here. So far, no one has received it yet. What do you think?

　In the Adventurer's Guild's reception room, Guild Master Relisha-san handed a piece of paper with two requests written on it to Hilda and Yae.

''Hmm. Defeating the thunder dragon in the Paloof Kingdom, that is.''
This is the Kingdom of Elfrau, where we will take on the Frost Giant.

　The Thunder Dragon and the Frost Giant, huh? A normal silver-ranked adventurer would manage to win, but with two of them against you, they're opponents that you won't have a hard time defeating.
　However, you must not be careless. I want you to be careful enough.

It's not a problem. It's not just the Morohara Aneue that trains you every day.

　I wonder. What makes me feel a tremendous sense of relief and a certain amount of pity in that line.
　Still, just in case something happens, I decided to put Ruri on Yae and Beniyama on Hilda.
　Ruri can talk to the thunder dragon, so maybe we can talk it over, and Benidama's can protect us from the cold in the snow country.
　I'll open the [Gate] and send each of you to the scene. When you're done, call me or the summoner's telekinesis and I'll come get you.
　After sending the two of them off from the reception room with [Gate], I turn to Relisha-san, saying that it's my turn now.

''So, my request to Your Majesty...''
Okay.
Well, I don't have anything for you at the moment.
What?

　No request?　No gold-ranked requests?　What, on a global scale?

'Mr. Ende put away the stuff he had accumulated because he wanted to take a break for a while, so...'
Unnu...!

　No, I know, right?　This is a recrimination. Ende only put it away first because he wanted to take it easy after marriage and there is nothing wrong with him. In fact, it's a compliment. You.

"Do you have any money-worthy requests...?
''When the king of a country spouts such words, we as a people get worried. That's right......... There are signs of a mass stampede at Lord Mare...

　Relisha-san made a difficult face and opened her mouth while flipping through a stack of papers. A mass stampede 《stampede》? If left unchecked, the village and the town could be in danger. This is something that should be dealt with as soon as possible. But..........

''Isn't that the kind of thing where you're going to guess which Lordmare adventurer you're going to defeat?
Yes, sir.
So no...

　If I go out there and take care of it, the problem will be solved. But that would mean taking the job away from the adventurers at Lordmare. This is a difficult part. We're different in rank, but we're all adventurers in the same boat.
　In the case of the Stampede, they can't take their time gathering materials, so the monsters they killed are usually left alone. The Adventurer's Guild would later collect them and give them back to the adventurers as their reward.
　Of course, there will be a difference between the adventurers who did well and those who did nothing. There are guild guards among the adventurers, and they will be carefully checked.

''But it's another mass stampede [Stampede]? It really is happening a lot, isn't it?
'Yes. Are you up to something, or is there another reason...

　There are various reasons for the Stampede, and the most common reason is the invasion of foreign enemies.
　Because a powerful monster beast came from somewhere, the weaker monsters that were chased out of their homes started to flee as a group, and before long, the pattern turned into a stampede.
　 In that case, the demonic beasts were startled by the appearance of Zaratan and went out of control, resulting in a mass stampede.
　At that time, Zaratan, which was sleeping underground, awoke and went into a stampede. And now, there are many stampede occurrences around the world. Was this a coincidence?
　Zaratan is a cowardly man, despite his huge frame. Did Zaratan also sense that he had to escape?　
　Since the worlds were fused together, the magnesium pools increased, and as a result, the probability of a giant beast appearing increased.
　If these giant beasts were to start moving actively, it would not be surprising to see a mass stampede, but how could this happen at the same time?

If you find any signs of a giant beast in the vicinity of the Stampede's mass exodus, let me know. I'll bring out my frame gear.
'Yes. I'll take care of it then, please.

　It's not going to be easy for the adventurers to deal with the giant beast by themselves. Better safe than sorry.
　Anyway, that's true, but we're running out of money. It's time to move on.
　The evil of peace?　No, it's a good thing!
　I left the Adventurers Guild and wandered around town. Now what to do?

"I could sell something or start a business, but...

　Hmm, the clothing business is covered by Zanuck from "Fashion King Zanuck", the food and beverage business is covered by Mika from "Silvermoon" and Ael from the coffee shop "Parente", and the miscellaneous goods, magic tools and aether vehicles business is covered by Orba from Strand Trading Company....
　Zanak-san and Orba-san even receive a portion of the sales. There's no point in interrupting them there.
　I've already completely given away the reading cafe "Moon Reading"........
　I'd prefer instant money if I could, but if I can get money in for the long term and continuously, I might as well start something........
　Rather than money, the problem is the materials used for the underwater molds........ Iron, mithril, orichalcon.........
　Shall we go looking for them directly now?　No, it's really tough to collect them all... Isn't there a place where we can get all the ore-related items? Mmm, I wish we had some mines at home...
　Ah.

There are mines, aren't there? There's a country that relies on mines.

　Gandiris is a steel country. It is said that most of the golems made at the Factory in the western continent are made of Gandiris material.
　I'll ask the king there, who I met before, if he'll sell it to me at a discount.
　If we buy in bulk, he might give us some discount.

All right, well, we'll need to ask the doctors what we need.

　I used 【Gate】 to transfer to the doctor's laboratory in the castle.


　　　　　　　　　　◇ ◇ ◇


'You guys......... Did you continue to stay awake since yesterday?
Hmm?　Yes, but?

　What's the problem?　The doctor nods his head as if to say.
　This guy is still good. It's not a body of flesh and blood.
　But I don't think the ELCA technician and the old "professor" can stay up all night. It's bad for your health and beauty!
　My daughter, who was standing beside them, also looked at me.

Oh, I'm asleep!　Because your mother came and forced me to go to my bedroom!

　That's Leanne. You read your daughter's behavior. And I heard you were here early today.
　I wonder if you can do something about that energy........ 'Huh,' he sighs.

"I'm on my way to Gandiris to buy some materials, and I just wanted to see what you need.
'You're going to Gandiris to buy?　Father, then I want to go too!

　What, Coon is in Gandiris too?　

'Oh, that's good. I don't think Fuyao-kun would know if the steel is good or bad. And in case they make you grab something strange, it would be a problem. You can go with me.

　Ugh. It's true that I don't know if the metal is good or bad....... Even so, I can use [Analyze], so I can tell if there are impurities in it, right?

Father, the absence of impurities isn't always a good thing.　Iron, for example, can have completely different properties depending on the amount of carbon it contains. High-purity iron has an extremely high degree of plasticity, which is...
Oh, all right, all right. I'll take you, I'll take you.

　So stop with that incantation. What is "plasticity"?

Hey, little girl, let me know if you find anything you missed.
I don't care if the price is a little high. You can ask Fuyao-kun for a favor. It's probably going to fall off.

　Hey, you two Golem idiots!　Don't spill your guts to my kid!
　This is not good. It's not a good idea to go to Gandiris to buy something cheaper, but it's not a good idea to be made to buy something even more expensive. And the fact that I can't disobey him is another shameful story. I'm confident that I would never be able to withstand being begged with tears in my eyes.
　I'll need reinforcements for this one........ And a strong reinforcement.
　I turned my back on the excited development team and secretly sent a text message from my phone.



''Why is your mother here!　I thought you and your son were not together!
Oh, that's a horrible thing to say. I'm a parent too, I'm sure that's why I'm not the only one.

　Leanne answers her daughter impatiently. She looks at her daughter, who looks like she's bitten down on a bitter worm, with a smile on her face. It looks like she's enjoying herself........

''Kuu......... I was going to get your father to buy a couple of golems too.......!
Darling. How do you think you're being licked?

　Leanne gives her daughter and I a dumbfounded look. But, well........I did understand that part of it somehow.
　A father's nature is to want to fulfill his daughter's request. But even so, two or three Golems is a bit much.
　Well, as Kuhn says, we're going to head to Gandiris without the mother and child.