Out of the corner of her eyes, Lucienne saw movement and when she turned her head, she caught a man whose face was covered with a cloth pulling a dagger from inside his clothes, though he quickly hid it when he spotted her looking.
How does she warn these slum residents off? Anything she says will probably just register as weakness in these peoples’ eyes.
As far as these hoodlums know, these people casually walking through the slums was a noblewoman, her servant, and their female guard. As for why the servant was carrying a big bag, no one knew but it probably didn’t matter. Even the guard was no big deal since they had the numbers advantage.
That was completely wrong, though, since these two “ladies” were knight-class undead at minimum. Who knew what these undeads might do if attacked? Would they rampage?
Just as Lucienne was about to unsheathe her sword as a warning with substance to the gathering hoodlums, she heard Camilla’s voice for the first time since they came.
“This place hasn’t changed at all,” she said in her thin voice, sighing as she looked around. “Kagriss, don’t come to places like this in the future.”
Kagriss nodded obediently. “Okay.”
Although the sudden speaking startled the slum residents, the sound of Kagriss’s sultry voice seemed to stir them up. Some of the hoodlums were even circling around and blocking the way that Lucienne came from.
However, Lucienne was too shocked to even pay attention to them. She was still focused on Camilla’s words. The zombie’s words suggested that she had been here before, which wasn’t impossible, but the implications were chilling.
Suddenly, the familiarity with which Camilla traveled the city made sense. While it didn’t entirely explain how Camilla was able to know about how the Cloud Knights work, Lucienne thought she might know why.
It wasn’t a stretch to think that during Camilla’s time in the city, for what might have been years, she’d have made some friends among the templars using her appearance. Since the knowledge that she knew wasn’t classified information, a few well placed questions might have told her what she needed to know.
This revelation refreshed Lucienne’s entire view on Camilla, as well as the infiltration ability of undead in general. Camilla was a much bigger threat than she had initially anticipated.
However, at the same time, she felt a bit better, since someone like Camilla probably won’t lose control and recklessly cause havoc in the slums, even if someone attacked. By the looks of it, the calm looking Kagriss might actually be the loose cannon in this situation.
Laughing lecherously, some of the hoodlums began to close in with their knives and staves fashioned from long poles that looked like they might have been used to pitch street stands.
“There’s no ‘in the future’ for you, since you’re going back out!”
A man pushed out from the ranks of hoodlums, looking better dressed and fed than the others. His rough hair was actually styled, swept back to display a tattoo on his forehead.
Lucienne drew her sword. “I’m a templar,” she growled, pulling a badge from her pants pocket. “Stay back.”
The leader frowned. “What’s a templar doing in a place like this? Cutting off support from us, and now you’re coming in thinking you can do what you want in the territory of the people you’ve abandoned?”
Although the sight of her badge made the hoodlums hesitate, the man stared at them until he managed to steady the encirclement.
“I wasn’t the one who made the decision to withdraw support, nor was I the one to come here. I’m merely accompanying these two here.”
“So since you have no business here, why not leave these two women?” the man said with a smile. “After all, your identity as a templar puts you under certain restrictions, don’t you? You’re not allowed to kill anyone except in self defense. I’m saying this now, but I don’t have a bone to pick with you.”
Lucienne growled. She hadn’t expected her identity as a templar to not work in driving the hoodlums away. She looked over at Camilla and Kagriss, trying to figure out what they thought about this situation.
She didn’t get much.
Kagriss had a disgusted look on her face as she looked at the people around her, while Camilla’s expression was much more muted. However, Lucienne saw the disdain that Camilla had for the hoodlums.
Seeing the women’s expressions, the leader of the hoodlums spat on the ground. “Let’s see how long you can keep looking high and mighty when you’re in our hands,” he said. “Templar, leave. This is not your fight. We’re not scared of you, and we have way more people than this.”
He raised his hand, and yet more people slowly crept out of the alleys, forming ranks many men deep in these narrow alleys. Against so many people, even Lucienne wouldn’t be able to defeat so many while holding back enough to not kill anyone.
So that was where this hoodlum got his confidence from.
Lucienne shook her head. “You don’t understand. The main threat isn’t from me. You don’t want to make these two angry. Please, just go.”
“Save your words, templar. I know what we’re dealing with.”
“No, you don’t!”
“It’s just a few nobles! Once we capture her,” the hoodlum said, pointing at Kagriss, “her father or whatever can’t do anything to us! After we get the money, we just disappear and they can’t catch us! We’ll be fed for weeks, so stay out of it, templar!”
Looking away from Lucienne, the hoodlum locked eyes with Kagriss, the smile fading from his face for once, turning into a face of sincerity and solemness. “If you give up without a fight, we won’t hurt you. We only want your ransom. But if you struggle, I can’t promise that nothing will happen.”
Kagriss said nothing, only looking at Camilla. Lucienne knew she was asking for instructions with her gaze, but the hoodlum didn’t think that way.
He stamped on the ground. “Do not ignore me! I’m off—”
Whatever words he was trying to say was lost as Lucienne suddenly sensed undead mana, a grim aura spreading over the whole place, chilling the hearts of everyone present. The hoodlum’s face turned pale, and some of the men under his command stepped back.
Lucienne’s heart pounded, afraid that she might have to fight two knight-class undead to stop them from slaughtering this group of foolish hooligans.
But instead of going on a rampage, Camilla simply half knelt on the ground and reached her hand into the rough flagstones. With barely a struggle, she pried a stone out of the ground and crushed the rock into tiny chunks before the hoodlums’ shocked face.
“Leave. I am not a templar,” she growled.
The hoodlum leader shivered, and without hesitation, he called for a retreat. “Go go, do as she says!” Like rats fleeing a flood, the people that had surrounded them fled, leaving the narrow streets and alleys nearby empty of people.
The speed at which Camilla resolved the situation without spilling a drop of blood shocked Lucienne.
So…it had been a mistake to use her identity as a templar? All it took was a display of strength to clear the scene? She was still too inexperienced.
It was kind of embarrassing to know less about this than an undead, even though she was the human. Still, she was glad that this situation didn’t take a bloodier turn.
Lucienne peeked over at Camilla, trying to gauge the undead’s judgement after all that. The zombie girl’s expression was sour, pretty much as Lucienne expected. Anyone would be annoyed after what happened just now, but considering that the hoodlums weren’t much of a threat to her and Kagriss’s wellbeing, Lucienne couldn’t help but think that Camilla might be overblowing the situation.
Even Kagriss, who seemed more bothered by the hoodlums when they were here, had returned to normal, marking Camilla as the odd one out. Although Lucienne was a bit curious on what was upsetting Camilla so much, she kept her questions to herself.
Like before, the rest of the trip was silent, and after that whole spectacle, even awkward. Although Camilla has been here before, Lucienne couldn’t help but feel partially responsible for allowing such a thing to happen under her watch. It was a mark against Moltrost…
But what was Camilla doing in the slums anyways? Perhaps she had something hidden in there from the last time she was in Moltrost.
Lucienne was equal parts anticipation and apprehension. Whatever it was, she was sure to find something interesting. By now, she was no longer as on guard against Camilla as she was before, since Camilla probably won’t do something as reckless as kill her in Moltrost.
After one last turn into an alley no different from any other, Camilla suddenly turned and began to push against the brick walls. While Lucienne looked on in confusion.
Before long, she got her answer as a portion of the wall that Camilla pushed against sank in almost silently.
Lucienne’s eyes widened in surprise. There was a secret entrance here!
Camilla pushed in the wall all the way and then slid it to the side before ducking in, with Kagriss following right after. After a moment of hesitation, Lucienne entered as well.
“Shut the door behind you.”
Lucienne jumped, almost hitting her head on the low entrance. Scowling, she pulled the segment of the wall back behind her. The wall was lubricated surprisingly well, sliding without much effort.
She couldn’t figure out what place this was for. The entrance was so well made it seemed impossible that this place was in the middle of the slums. Was it okay for her, a templar, to be here?
This wasn’t an undead gathering place, was it?
The tunnel that the secret entrance led to sloped down slightly, finally opening up to a small underground chamber with a single table that stretched across almost the entire width of the room. A closed door was embedded in the wall behind the table.
However, there was no one manning the table.
As if expecting something like this, Camilla simply walked up to the desk and grabbed a rope that disappeared into the back wall.
She pulled it a few times, and after a moment, the door slowly opened and a little man came out.
Thanks for the chapter.
So, Camilla seems to be intimately familiar with the criminal underbelly or at least some of the shady stuff that goes on in the slums. Maybe a vampire gathering spot introduced by her mother? Though I don't think she'll bring Lucienne along if that's the case.
Camilla seems troubled by something. I guess the only difference between the past and present is that a big buff dude wouldn't get accosted by a bunch of hooligans.
It's not exactly criminal. Just kind of out-of-ways
if Carmen had been by himself in the slums back when he was human, it's still possible for the thugs to ambush or try to mug him since they might think a lone man could be overwhelmed. I think it might be that Camilla used to know someone/some people who may have kept things more under control in the past and they have since either lost influence or someone new and more violent has popped up
Tbh im really enjoying this story, seeing camilla and kagriss’ relationship grow. Going to be sad when you spend less time on this story but i would say write which one you want to write the most? But i guess you maybe cant decide and thats what the vote is for :)
Yeah, they all sound good to me
If it helps, the Traveller one was my second pick. My preference was number four. The top two ideas, well only one held any interest, and the possible Xianxia setting is a turn off. If I was going to rank them it would be 4,3,1,2. With 2 coming in last place for me.
I'm not really comfortable with Xianxia since I haven't done one yet, tbh
Thanks for your work, precious yuri provider.
I actually wanted the traveler.
I want unique ones like it, its not often you dont see a average girl being a 3rd party in the fanstasy world, same for a master-servant relationship when the protagonist is the servant, you never know whats gonna happen.
The traveler will need a different style of writing for the story to be compelling since many of the characters aren't going to stick around for more than a few chapters. Or an arc. Yet, they can't simply be one dimensional stereotypes (like Villager A or Evil Lord B). Each has their own story to tell and competing interests could lead to conflicts with no good solutions.
And there might also be an overarching plot going on behind the scenes. One where the seemingly unrelated events slowly provide clues that paint a bigger story. All the while, the MC grows from the experience, learning new things.
I mean, about the 3rd option. It isn't that it's bad or I personally would have read it but it's much less unique and inherently interesting to my eyes.
You've proven yourself with VT that you can write good stuff and if given the choice I'd rather you wrote another good story that was also fairly unique. At the end of the day I'd read any of the four if you did decide to write them.
“There’s no ‘in the future’ for you, since you’re going back out!” -> should this be "since you're not going back out!"?
This seems like something from Camilla's templar days, given how she was from an orphanage I wonder if she knows some people that ended up in the slums, either from being destitute or to hide away from prying eyes.
These hooligans have ever heard that "The most dangerous type of person is a dangerous person who does not seem dangerous."?
Among the residents of the slums, are there those who are desperate enough to escape hunger to give up their humanity?
Would they accept becoming impure undeads if someone offered them the chance? And of course he explained to them that they could keep their souls, memories and free will.
Thanks for the chapter
Now that I've stopped to think about it. If a zombie was created from a malnourished body, it would still look malnourished, even after evolving into the knight, lord and king class, right? I hope I'm wrong.
About the poll, I don't know about the others, but I chose to vote for 1 and 2 for the following reasons:
Option 1 was because it reminded me of Reiko from "Magi Craft Meister" and I was hoping to see a yuri dollmaker x automata.
Option 2, on the other hand, was because it seemed very likely that when the MC beast spirit cultivated enough to become human, she would obtain a loli form. Since she was a little girl in her past life.
And before I get asked, I admit that I thought that if my daily dose of yuri with loli from this novel was going to be reduced, I wanted another novel with this to fill the place.
> Magi Craft Meister
Yep, that's what I thought about when I've voted solely on №1. And a bit of "Doll Dungeon", as there won't be any major travelling.
@Xobotun Is there anything about magi craft meister and doll dungeon you really liked that you think I should pay attention to?
I never read it and I don't think I will, for (ahem) obvious reasons.
@TypeAxiom That's a difficult question. I've read them long ago, so there's little I remember, but they were not that good as they could be, in my opinion.
The Doll Dungeon had a cute progression in MC doll quality, at first they were really simple, but then they began to have subtle personality. In the end, there were several kinds of automatas, such as maids, butlers, assassin-maids and other, but the story covered mostly only heads of the divisions, the very first dolls made. All other characters were very backgroundish, but even they emitted the atmosphere of loyalty towards their master and creator, even when some of them were mischevious or cute.
I'd say the best point of the story was the gradual increase of the dungeon master's dolls quality and his influence on thr outside world: from a couple of adventurers to the nearby villages, towns and then kindoms. It was a rather cute and sloppy slice-of-life story, and it had ~60 chapters in it.
As for MagiCraft Meister, or whatever it is called, the most thing I dislike was the way how the power to create unparalleled artifacts was given. If I recall, correctly, he was basically kidnapped from some other world and then given all the knowledge and skills by some millenia-old spirit, who was the genius in her life. So, there were basically no struggle in gaining the power, and no visible progression, at least to me.
Still, it had rather interesting depictions of how do refrigeration and stove runical machines were working, and gratefulness of some villagers when he installed a water pump. But there were too much travelling and it was too random. Or, at least, that's what I remember.
In my opinion, having a story of growing in skills and renown, while periodically hanging out with friends would be great. At least, that's what I imagine. And a lot of yuri, of course! A moderate lot.
And I believe even if you are going to write something else, it'll come out great under your quill!
@TypeAxiom If you're curious, but don't have time to read a web novel, Magi Craft Meister also has a manga with about 28 translated chapters. It is much faster to read than 28 WN chapters.
https://mangadex.org/title/22139/magi-craft-meister
@Xobotun Ah, Magicraft Meister doesn't seem very interesting then. In contrast, doll dungeon looks like the type of story I wanted to write about. To be honest, my main inspiration for the doll maker is actually Alice Margatroid of Touhou!
I'm a huge fan of Touhou, and if you're not familiar with Touhou or Alice, here's one fan art of her (official art isn't that good. ZUN's art is a meme). https://static.zerochan.net/Alice.Margatroid.full.298090.jpg
@TypeAxiom Okay, but I will warn you that in Doll Dungeon the MC never created a doll by himself. It was the dungeon system that summoned them ready and made them evolve.
In Magi Craft Meister, the MC created almost everyone with his own hands. So I recommend it mainly to use as a reference for minerals and alloys, both modern and fantasy. ...magic stones, magic crystals, etc... Not to mention that, despite being soft hearted, the MC is like a sleeping dragon, once he realizes that someone tried harm his friends or children (dolls), he spares no effort to save them, destroy the bases and the army of the responsible.
And yes I know Alice, I may never have been able to finish one of the games, but I read some manga with Alice. Thanks for the beautiful image.
@TypeAxiom Another interesting thing about Magi Craft Meister, is how the MC uses his modern knowledge to use craft spells that should be impractical in combat, in a strategic and offensive way.
@TypeAxiom There is also a very cute automata loli and OP in Magi Craft Meister. I'm going to put some images for you to see.
https://daike1234.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img_0001.jpg
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/4561863
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/4561843
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/4561352
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/4561349
https://kotebrasil.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/004.png
https://kotebrasil.files.wordpress.com/2017/06/041.png?w=748
https://daike1234.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img_0296.jpg
https://daike1234.files.wordpress.com/2015/04/img_0296.jpg
https://chan.sankakucomplex.com/post/show/21618835
Even if you don't have time to read the WN I recommend trying to at least read the manga. I'm sure this will give you some ideas.
@Gin0001 Now you've made me want to reread Magi Craft Meister to see if I've missed anything or just have been reading it upside down.
@TypeAxiom I've always wanted to play any of the Touhou games, but the only thing I've done so far is listened to [Bad Apple] and [Night of Nights] on Youtube.
Oh, and I'll play immensely superb [Bad Apple] in Beat Saber once I manage to get my hands on a VR helmet...
Best viewed on a PC with subtitles on. They are their own piece of art: https://youtu.be/sgtpr5vFacw
@Xobotun I read the start of the manga and if it was that unappealing, I don't want to read the novel.
Although, I might download the whole translated portion of the novel and word-replace all the he's with she's and see if that makes it any better LUL
@Xobotun 1. I had no idea you could get fancy youtube subtitles.
2. Kirito in Touhou
@Xobotun What part of what I said rekindled your interest in Magi Craft Meister?
@TypeAxiom Be careful while replacing "he" to "she". You may end up with "sshe", "shello" and "shelp"!
@Xobotun some word processors give you the option to do whole words only!
@TypeAxiom What exactly did you dislike about the Magi Craft Meister manga?
@Gin0001 Well, you promoted it quite effectively and it's been four or so years since I've last heard of it, so I decided to give it a second chance. Maybe it'll be more to my liking this time, who knows.
Making old-world things with new-world magic always was a soft spot for me, and you have mentioned it, maybe that's why.
EDIT: on the second thought, I've skimmed through a bunch of reviews on novelupdates — well, I guess I now remember why did it end up in my "dropped" reading list. I guess, it'll have to wait a couple more years. Or decades.
@Gin0001 The first chapter was okay, but I dropped on chapter 2 since it immediately abandoned the automaton and went to a village to introduce a water pump of all things. I like happy-go-lucky series, but not *that* boring.
@TypeAxiom For a start, Jin didn't know that the reception warp gate was destroyed until he tried to use it, so he didn't even know he couldn't go back to Automata. But I understand that since the first time I read it, I also wanted Automata to reappear as soon as possible. Fortunately it doesn't take long for her to return.
The automaton wakes up in chapter 5 and starts looking for him around the world using the warp gates she sets up after her first flawed teleport. Until finally finding him in chapter 8, it is after that that the story starts to get good. So I recommend that you leave it to judge after chapter 10 or 11. She also takes the opportunity to hunt and collect the materials of any magical beast that is hostile to her during the search.