Compared to ordinary carriages, these ghost carriages had obvious advantages. They didn't need to replenish their food or water, nor did they need to be picky about flat roads. As long as they had enough mana, they could even temporarily float in the air and surpass the limitations of space and terrain. The especially strengthened ghost carriages even had the ability to move in a fixed direction.
Winlair was obviously someone who knew how to enjoy life. His reinforced living space was far more spacious and comfortable than it seemed on the outside. No matter how steep the mountain path was, there wasn't even a single bump on the inside of the carriage. The carriage was divided into three compartments with all the same equipment. However, only Catalina, Harloys, Winlair, and a few other "female" companions were currently sitting in one of the compartments.
This wasn't because I had chosen this specifically. It was just a common practice for adventurers on long-distance journeys. In such a long-distance journey, in order to maintain sufficient stamina and combat strength, only these "weak women" would have the privilege of riding on any form of transportation in order to maintain sufficient stamina and combat strength … Fine then, I should admit that these weak women were the strongest fighters out of all of us. But, compared to a crude man, it would still be better to have beautiful women by my side.
Winlair was our greatest support on this trip, and Harloys hadn't changed her name. As my magical pet, she still had Legend-rank abilities. Her actual combat strength was more than enough to defeat a low-level Legend. She would even be able to fight against a Saint rank. As for Catalina … she was actually the greatest reward of this trip.
"An artificial intelligence with such a rich and complete emotional system. She's no different from a normal person. The Haletdam generation was truly terrifying back in the day."
There was a magic book on the table, but I was thinking about something. On the other side, under my control, the gargoyles were patrolling back and forth. Within a three-kilometer radius, not even a field mouse would be able to escape from their specially strengthened sapphire eyes. The four gargoyles formed a surveillance net, and they were doing their job as "watchers" extremely well, so there was no need to worry at all.
You got what you paid for. The upper limit of a construction creature's abilities was only related to the creator's skills and the quality of the materials used. Although many precious materials were used in ways that were impossible to evaluate, since they had the money to paint the gargoyles with mithril and move their joints, they would have invested quite a bit in basic abilities as well. Even the most useless direct combat ability would be no problem for a gargoyle to solo a Silver-ranked individual.
"Um, Karo …"
Perhaps my direct gaze was too rude, but Catalina, who was sitting in front of me, lowered her head with a bright red face.
"Oh, sorry. I was thinking about something. "
As an expert on the soul, undead, living, and elemental souls were no secrets to me. Back when I first met Catalina, I had been astonished by the artificial soul in her artificial body.
Low-level artificial souls weren't that difficult to deal with. The gargoyles all had simple judgment abilities. Tower spirits, metal golems, and other such existences also had their own intelligence. Just looking at their calculation abilities, they were probably above Catalina's. Still, her appearance was still a rather special sign.
"An ordinary artificial soul is no different from Catalina? There's probably no difference in the short term, but the foundational difference is quite obvious. Low-level artificial creatures already have their abilities and usages determined from the moment they were created. Meanwhile, Catalina has the ability to learn, have a sense of self, and have emotions. Her growth rate is no different from a human's. Not to mention that her body is made of metal, so she has limitless potential. "
If this was an ordinary physical world, pure logical calculations wouldn't be that different from artificial souls. However, Aichy's will could transform into power. Only a soul with emotions, a sense of self, and a sense of self would be able to become a truly powerful individual. No matter how powerful one's inflexible logic was, it would only be a tool. Only a soul with emotions, anger, sorrow, and joy would be an independent "person".
The strength of a soul and how it would develop would directly affect a person's future potential. I could sense that if an ordinary person's soul was an unpolished ore, then Catalina's soul would be like a sun surrounded by ore. Even if there was a layer of obstruction on the outside, the brilliance of the core would be impossible to cover up.
"Her soul's strength is just like the reincarnation of a legendary hero or a God's Child. If even such existences can be mass-produced … then it's only natural that the Haletdam generation was wiped out by the Gods back in the day."
I tried having Catalina interact with martial arts and magic, but I didn't see any specialties in her. However, she definitely had something special about her. After all, it was impossible for the Haletdam generation to expend so many resources to create such a top-level artificial soul, only to use her as a common job like a bar waitress.
I was unable to recreate the process of creating artificial souls, but I understood what high quality meant. In order to create such a naturally powerful soul, a sufficient price would have to be paid. Just a slight estimate told me that the price far surpassed the value of a floating city.
There was nothing more attractive than an unknown yet powerful artificial soul to soul experts. If it wasn't for the fact that Catalina was a mechanical lifeform and not an ordinary life form, and that I wasn't skilled in engineering, I wouldn't have been confident in being able to successfully dismantle and recreate her soul. It was likely that Catalina would have already been reduced to spare parts.
And if it wasn't for the fact that Catalina attracted so much of my attention, I probably wouldn't have stayed here, nor would I have discovered Dragon Knight General Barton … I wasn't gay, so why would I memorize a man's name for no reason? I only discovered Catalina's family as a bonus.
"Just a single creation already has such profound secrets. There must be astonishing secrets in those ruins. I absolutely can't lose them!"
If it wasn't for the fact that researching Catalina and training up Little Barton had taken up so much of my energy, I would have gone to those ruins long ago to dig up treasures. Now that it was highly likely that someone else would beat me to it, I wanted to obtain all the secrets and benefits from those ruins. That was my main goal for coming here!
And in order to completely squeeze out all the value from those ruins, I didn't even mind exposing myself and invited the great engineer Timlad!
What? An Undead Portal? Well, since I met them, I might as well take care of them. If I couldn't take care of them, then so be it. There were so many battlefields in this world, so what could I possibly do about it?
[Aren't you afraid of going overboard and having an Aichy version of a war between humans and machines? Perhaps the woman before you is the future Skynet, and the ancient ruins you're really going to excavate might actually be a dormant killing machine factory.]
"The Terminator? Don't try to scare me. Theoretically speaking, I don't believe that creating a completely humanoid soul like Catalina is a technology that can be mass-produced. And even if it can be mass-produced, and even if dangerous artificial souls are created, this isn't Earth. What's there to be afraid of? "
That's right, this wasn't a modern city filled with electrical and electronic devices. Not only was most of this world still in the Middle Ages, even magical engineering was only similar to purely manual machines. There was no room for artificial souls to interfere. Even if I wanted to have a war between Skynet and magic, there wouldn't be a place for Skynet to grow strong.
What? My technology would mature after several thousand years? A war between humans and machines would occur at that time? At that time, who knows where my ashes would go? What does that have to do with me?
"Um, Karo, you have a strange expression on your face. Are you feeling unwell?"
There were far too many thoughts going through her mind. Karo's constant changing expression made Catalina feel uneasy. She carefully asked Karo this question.
"He's thinking about how to strip off your clothes."
Harloys's words were filled with malice. However, this caused Catalina to suddenly take half a step back and lean against her chair. Karo's expression was one of desire to skin her alive. She had long since been suspicious of Karo.
Far too many things had happened in the past few days, to the point where she, a barmaid who hadn't received much education, was unable to think straight. Karo's originally trustworthy good friend suddenly became a high and mighty mage. Karo was now looking at her as if he could see through her very soul, which made her feel uneasy.
No matter how much she thought about it, there had to be some other reason for a venerated mage to pretend to be a gambling addict in a bar for half a year. He even got along well with a barmaid of lowly birth.
And now, this golden-haired little girl seemed to give a reasonable answer.
"You … Karo, tell me that you're not such a person! Why aren't you saying anything? We're good friends. I treat you as a brother, as an older brother. Could it be that you really just want … to bed me! "
The barmaid who hadn't gone to school had interacted with uncouth adventurers since she was young. Her words were so direct and bold. For a moment, forget about me, even Harloys, who was filled with malice just a moment ago, was stunned.
"Big sister, he's a bastard. He's an irresponsible playboy. He's already made countless girls cry. Even I'm one of his victims. And what he wants to do the most right now is to strip off everything from you. Look at how he's grinding his teeth. He's going to beat me up again. Save me, big sister. "
The darned cat pounced into Catalina's embrace. Tears were already flowing out from the corners of her eyes. She seemed to have suffered greatly.
"You think …"
"You can ask him! He placed a curse on himself. He can't lie, but he's very good at using flowery words to get away with it. You can ask him if what I said just now was true! Does he want to strip you? Did he make many good girls cry!? "
"I …"
"Yes, yes, yes, no? Flowery words. There's no doubt that we don't need any other answers! "
"F * ck! Harloys! "
I wanted to go berserk, but I didn't know how it felt to be tied down by the truth and lies that I was so skilled at. However, I didn't know how to start. And, in other people's eyes, my anger was probably due to the humiliation of having a bad habit exposed.
In Katerina's eyes, my silence was a form of tacit agreement. This was a tremendous blow to her, as if she had been struck by lightning. Her face instantly paled as she stumbled down the carriage and hid behind her adopted father's back …
"Silly cat!"
"Ha, Eliza, Amelia, you actually have the mood to get involved in a new relationship? I'm the one who ruined your plans. Don't thank me. "
Just as I was about to take revenge, those two familiar names caused me to instantly cool down. At the same time, under the watchful eyes of the gargoyles, I received some trouble that I had no choice but to deal with.
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