Chapter 114: The Persistent Inventor

After a jumbled mess of explanations, Vilyric finally managed to comprehend the strange doll girl named Iriush, who proudly claimed to be the second-in-command of the Puppeteer Clan.

She was an inventor.

Perhaps it was because she was a miraculous being born from ingenuity, or maybe it was the influence of their creator, that 【Father】 who shaped their upbringing; members of the Puppeteer Clan had a deep passion and obsession for 【creation】 and generally preferred not to run around aimlessly.

To put it in simpler terms, they could be described as 【tech nerds】.

Just like the clan leader or Iriush’s so-called “second-in-command” Iwen, who enjoyed making wooden sculptures, Iriush preferred crafting more practical tools, with her repeatedly failed yet never-giving-up invention of 【artificial wings】 being her favorite.

The Puppeteer Clan did not originally design for flight when they were created, and after some time, 【Father】 left them, no longer overseeing or interfering in the lives of the puppets.

Thus, when Iriush suddenly came up with the idea of “allowing everyone to soar freely like birds in the sky,” all she could do was try to design flight wings that could be equipped on the dolls herself.

But the term 【free soaring】 sounds simple; in reality, getting a creature that inherently lacks flying capability to do so is far more complicated than just slapping some wings on.

Especially since Iriush’s goals included not using magic or magical powers to operate them, for that would be pointless, and achieving not just simple gliding but the ability to perform difficult maneuvers and maintain stable flight for a long time—such stringent conditions meant she had already failed over a thousand times.

After thousands of failures, Iriush concluded that the main reason she wasn’t succeeding was due to a lack of 【wings models that perfectly fit human anatomy and fluid dynamics】.

In this world, no matter whether it’s the Winged People or magical beasts that naturally possess wings and can transform into humanoid figures, they all share one critical commonality: the action of “flying” isn’t solely accomplished by the wings.

Some require magical power to assist, others rely on innate abilities, and even beings like the Son of Leviathan, who clearly lack wings, can maintain levitation by simulating physics; that’s why Iriush failed continuously when designing artificial wings based on them without relying on magic.

After all, even dragons, the rulers of the skies, reportedly need special abilities and magical support to maintain their incredibly agile flight.

Yet, for some unknown reason, the special wings granted by Vilyric’s 【Feather of the God】 skill brought new inspiration to Miss Iriush.

So…

“Stop right there!!”

After hearing the doll girl ramble on for far too long, the Priestess couldn’t help but feel a headache. Although she had already guessed what Iriush was like when she saw Iwen pull out that smoke bomb disguised as a doll, the former’s unrestrained thoughts—jumping around like a wild horse—still overwhelmed Vilyric a bit.

Is this really the time to discuss your creations? Come on, the most pressing matter is to figure out the origins of that unknown virus and get a thorough check-up, right?!

“Ahem… we can discuss this later. For now, let’s return to the spring and regroup with Iwen and the others; they’re probably getting anxious over there.”

“Alright… but honestly, this isn’t that urgent; what’s crucial is my 【Artificial Wings No. 1786】…”

“Okay, let’s get moving!”

Vilyric abruptly cut off Iriush as she attempted to continue. Resisting the urge to grab her pretty face and shake it around like a normal girl, she turned and led the way.

Why do all these Puppeteer Clan members look similar yet have such different personalities? Was it because of their factory settings, or did they change due to their environment over time?

Or could it be that the mental states of the dolls really do change with time?

With Iriush joining them, they couldn’t just fly directly back like they did before. While finding a way back isn’t impossible, Vilyric felt that doing so would excite Iriush again, causing a whole lot of trouble.

So it’s better to run back; besides, the Puppeteer Forest isn’t that big, and while Iriush seems to have legendary stamina, she wouldn’t be slow.

Although Vilyric was a bit surprised to learn of Iriush’s legendary abilities, considering the special origins of these puppets, it made sense.

After some time, upon returning to the spring area, they happened to bump into Iwen and Vilyric’s companions, who were anxiously waiting there. Aside from Iwen, a few more dolls who looked strikingly similar to the Puppeteer Clan girls had also joined them.

Perhaps Iwen wasn’t completely at ease, so she sent the former to gather some more backup, just in case.

That made sense; Vilyric didn’t think much of it.

In fact, it was quite rational for this clan leader to trust a bunch of strangers she met for the first time and make some compromises.

“Iriush! What the heck have you been up to?! You just disappeared without a word. Do you even know how worried everyone was?!”

Seeing the short-haired doll girl trailing behind Vilyric and the others, Iwen initially showed a smile but quickly reacted, stepping forward and skipping the pleasantries to give Iriush a good scolding.

It was clear that the bonds between these puppets were strong, as the other clan members, including Iwen, quickly crowded around Iriush, showering her with questions and concern that nearly overflowed.

Iriush did not seem upset by Iwen’s stern tone; instead, she embarrassingly rubbed her head, laughing nervously.

“Oh, haha… it’s a long story. I don’t completely understand it either, but hey, I’m back, and everything’s fine, right?”

After scolding her scatterbrained clan member a bit more, Iwen didn’t immediately inquire for details but rather turned to express her heartfelt thanks to the now-rejoined Vilyric and her companions.

“Miss Vilyric, we can’t thank you enough for your help this time; otherwise, that idiot wouldn’t know what might have happened. Please stay for a few days so we can properly host you.”

“It’s no problem; it was just a small favor. I’m just glad the suspicion was cleared up; I’d hate to be ambushed here out of nowhere~”

“?”

Such a chilling joke would undoubtedly escape Miss Iwen’s understanding, but the Priestess didn’t dwell on it either.

“Ha ha, just a jest. But we still have a journey to continue, so we can’t linger here for too long… an overnight stay shouldn’t be an issue though. By the way, I do have some things I’d like to consult with you Puppeteer Clan about.”

“That’s a bit unfortunate… well, if there’s anything you want to know, we can discuss it in detail later.”

Iwen glanced at the quiet and polite Iriush beside her and then looked up at the sky, smiling.

“It’s getting late; I need to take Iriush to check her health and find out what’s going on, so I’ll excuse myself for now.”

“Even though the Puppeteer Clan doesn’t need to eat, we do have clan members who research and create delicious food. Why don’t you all have dinner first and wait a bit? If you don’t mind, we could also let you try our spring in the evening; since we’re all girls here, I doubt there’s anything to hide~ Let’s meet again later?”

   

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