"...... I'm hungry."

* * *

Jin inherited the knowledge and skills of Magecraft Meister Adriana Barbora Zetsi, but there was no magic to create food from nothing.

He could barely create water by water magic, so he did not die of thirst, but the lack of food was fatal.

I made my own clothes. It was not a feat that I had honed my sewing skills. He used fabrics that he found on the shelves.

For the time being, Jin looked around the institute. He knew some things, but it was somewhat different from his living memory, as if he was looking at a reference book or a dictionary.

It is the same with magic, once I have used it once, I can use it like breathing after that, but it seems to take some time to search in my brain for the magic I have never used before.

So, coming back to the subject, it seems that there is no stockpile of food in this institute. Or, even if there were, I don't want to eat food that is 1000 years old. No, I would not be able to eat it.

"Hmm, like this..."

What is he doing? He is repairing, or rather, rebuilding the automata.

The dismembered dolls that have served their purpose are a source of pity. Jin used to make dolls for orphaned children, and when he saw a broken tool or machine, he wanted to fix it if he could.

He said, "My predecessors are amazing. They have almost the same skeletal structure as human beings.

This automata has an internal skeleton just like a human, muscles made of magical fiber, and a magically synthesized magical skin.

Instead of internal organs, they had ether converters and mana drivers, and their thoughts were controlled by an elaborate control core.

"The skeleton is already in pieces and there is no way to fix it. ...... It would be faster to build a new one."

So, we rebuild the skeleton using light metal from the basement warehouse. It's easy to make it, because it's magically processed, and the dimensions are the same as the original.

Later, I learned that they used rare light silver, but I did not understand its value since there was a mountain of it. If it were true, one kilo of light silver would be enough to build a mansion, but I use it casually simply because it is compatible with magic.

"It would be more efficient to use an ether converter like this ......, and the mana driver can be made smaller if we do this."

We can make improvements and rebuild them in the same way as we make models. The magical tools are inscribed with powerful words, or "words and spirits" in MagiLanguage, but for some reason, I noticed that using Japanese, and Kanji in particular, boosted efficiency, so I decided to rewrite the whole thing in Japanese.

I wondered if it would be better if I simply renewed the specifications for the magical fiber and the magical skin of the muscles as they are.　No, there is room for improvement for the magical fiber. ....... Magical skin...it looks different if we change it. Oh, but I'll put a permanent reinforcement on it.

Jin is so absorbed in his work that he is unaware that the specifications, which were already abnormal when his predecessor built it, have become even more abnormal.

"Finally, the control core. It's deteriorating and it's going to break at any moment. ...... I don't remember this one being in the warehouse."

There is a tunnel in the basement of the institute and many magical dolls classified as golems have been digging out useful resources slowly but steadily. That is, for a thousand years. The amount is unimaginable, but Jin does not know that. He has nothing to compare it with. Incidentally, the golem's simple structure allows it to continue to operate without deterioration as long as it has magic power.

There it is, there it is, there are so many of them. Then let's use this beautiful one.

The magi crystals used in the original control core were red, but the one Jin took out shone in rainbow colors like an opal.

"Move the information from the old control core," he said. Yes, it worked. This one's bigger, so it looks like there's still plenty of room. Let's try to copy my knowledge too.

It seems to be the nature of maniacs to forget their hunger and get absorbed in their work.

"......Knowledge transcription (transinfo)......Wow, that's pretty tough on the brain. I guess I can't have all the knowledge, but that's about all I can do.

As it would take time to transcribe all of Jin's knowledge, I will mainly transcribe knowledge related to language. Specifically, Japanese language, Kanji, kana, alphabets, and so on.

And so it was that Jin spent the whole day reassembling the automata.

"Now I just need some clothes.

The clothes he was wearing turned to dust and scattered as soon as the magic power ran out, so now the automaton was naked, and in many ways it was very painful to look at.

"Now that we've come this far, let's take care of it until the end."

I had made my own clothes, so there were no more fabrics left that I could find.

I have no choice but to search the warehouse. There was a large amount of threads from the ground spider, so I used them to make fabrics. The previous generation had also made a loom.

The cloth woven with fine threads is used for underwear, and the cloth woven with thick threads is used for jackets. The weaving of even lace is the work of the great predecessors.

"If we make the same structure as the original clothes, how should we dye it for color?

I searched and found the right dye. He chooses a transparent blue. This was actually a magical dye that repels demons.

The shoes are dark brown leather from the warehouse. They are actually dragon leather, but Jin doesn't care.

After all this, I ended up with an outfit that was more appropriate for Alice than a maid's uniform. It's the same design as the doll clothes I made for the girls at the orphanage, so it's only natural.

"Yes, well, I have a child's body, so this is fine.

Jin is satisfied with the finished product.

"Well, let's finish it up.

He pours in the magic power to activate the mana driver, but the automata lying in front of him does not move.

"What is it?　Did I do something wrong?"

You examine it, but there is nothing wrong with the magic circuit.

"Well, I don't know."

At that moment, I felt a rumbling in my stomach as if I had just remembered something.

And so, back to the opening line.

Oh, ah!

"Oh, oh, I'm so hungry. ......"

Jin slumps down.

"If I stay here in this laboratory, I'll starve to death. ......

So he decides to go outside for the time being.

"Well, if I remember correctly, it's easy to move around by using the warp gate, isn't it?

The inherited knowledge tells us that such technology exists.

I remember that the warp gate to the outside was on the first floor.

Searching my memory, or rather my knowledge, I arrived between the warp gates, which are the gates to the outside world. There are several warp gates in a row.

"Well, I don't care which one, but I'll take the fifth one.

According to our knowledge, this is the warp gate that opens near the big town.

You take about five gems from the warehouse to exchange for money. Small rubies (gems that look like rubies). He decides that if they are too big, it will be difficult to exchange them for money.

"Okay. Let's go."

He gets on the magic circle of the warp gate and puts his magic power into it. Immediately the magic circle is activated and ......

"...... something is wrong..."

There is something Jin forgot to do. The warp gate was installed more than 1000 years ago. A hundred years is a period of time when a town can be destroyed and the topography of the land can be changed.

The Warp Gate that corresponded to the one used by Jin no longer existed.

"Ma,sa,ka,bo,so,so?"

The magic circle flickered violently. The amount of magic power required for the transition is great. It lost its way and began to run amok.

"It...won't... go... down..."

Unable to get down, Jin's figure disappears from the institute, leaving the runaway magic circle behind him.

* * * *

"......Otou, sir?"

The automata opened its eyes. It seems to have sensed Jin's danger, perhaps because it was in the room directly under the runaway magic circle.

The reason for the delay in activation was that the body's magical capacity had become tremendous, and it was taking time to convert the free magical element (ether) in the air into the amount of active magical element (mana) necessary for movement after the mana driver had been activated.

"Father is missing ......."

The disappearance of one's creator is a big deal for an automata.

"I have to find my father ......."

The automaton goes in search of Jin, the raison d'etre of its existence. He prepares a new warp gate for his return and says, "I'm going,

"I'm going."

This also disappeared from the institute.

All that remained were the golems who were digging for resources.