Does the mechanical girl dream of the Messiah?

Lunicia seemed not to notice the strange syllable.

"The stench of corpses - I see. Then I can understand it. Sweet smell? How can I explain it? It is something that is difficult to understand for magic, theology and mechanical science. It is the same for individual Asheselin. It will probably be even more difficult to explain for Ella and Luna."

Whether it was Ella or Lunicia, they could only show a puzzled expression in response to this sentence.

"Just like rum is sweetened by the presence of molasses, and the red liquid of 'mutual love' exudes the fragrance of grapes, ah, no, just pretend that this machine didn't say anything, it's not a very important thing. Sweetness is very common, on Miss Ella and Miss Luna. Even if they are tired, exhausted, covered with wounds, stained with filth, and splashed with not only the enemy's but also their own blood, they can't suppress that sweet taste after all-"

Whether it was Ella or Lunicia, their expressions looked more and more confused as Ashatherine explained.

Although one could tell that what she said was not serious, coupled with her beautiful face with almost no expression changes, the whole thing seemed to carry an indescribable magic.

"Ah, no, just pretend this unit never said anything."

"You just said that."

"Really? Well, that's it. Let's get straight to the point."

"Ashe, you really like to play tricks on me..."

"Isn't it a simple question? Since this machine is a corpse, it will naturally emit a corpse smell. The principle is quite easy to understand."

"Eh?"

Unlike Lunicia who expressed doubt, Ella just frowned slightly.

"Perhaps, probably? But it's not a very important thing, is it? The decorative patterns on the hilt are nothing compared to the sharpness of the blade. Details are insignificant, that's why they are called details."

She spoke very quickly, but very clearly, like the mysterious skills used by a magician to chant a spell, fascinating and full of mysterious charm, just like her existence itself, immersed in the dark night, beautiful, lonely and dazzling, making people want to reach out to her.

She is Ashtherin, the charming machine that recites incomprehensible poetry.

"The thing sewn together with the black iron block is the girl's body. This machine is not a life destined by heaven like you, full of vitality. It is merely a fake thing that imitates an existing existence and fabricates a life form. No matter how soft, warm, eats food, breathes, fingers entangle, and eyes intertwine, these things will not change."

She smiled calmly, without any change in expression or sound. She looked the same as always, but people could understand her at once and applaud her. Ah, how could she do that? The nightmares from the night, the nightmares under the bed and in the corners, did not require any expression or sound, but could make people's hearts emerge with that smile without any emotion.

Only at this time did she feel so close to the existence on the other side of reality.

A lady holding an umbrella, whose face cannot be seen.

"Hey you--"

"Okay, okay, that's good."

Her expressionless face tilted back slightly, as if looking down, but her voice was extremely gentle, without any ups and downs or human flavor, but she tried to use those modifiers without specific meanings to ease the temperature in her tone. It was as if she was deliberately giving up the title of the Ice Flower, thinking that this word could only belong to her friends.

"For oral cleaning, the toothbrush and mouthwash cup are ready. Do you want to use salt or toothpaste?"

"Ashe...it's still incredible."

“This unit is just the same as always.”

"You can say such cruel things, but you can look so relaxed at the same time. Is this about Ashe?"

"Because I made fun of Luna's indecent posture when she got up at the beginning, this is just a gift in return."

"Hey, did you just say 'teasing' and 'indecent' or something?"

"Ella heard it wrong. It's okay. This machine doesn't remember anything."

Like magic, the toiletries that Lunicia often used appeared in Kurogane's hands. Were they still in the travel bag just now? Lunicia could no longer remember such trivial things.

“Without memories, no matter how bad they are, they are nothing more than daydreams.”

Chapter 10: Dawn in the Far North (Part 2)

The land of the end of the north is synonymous with taboo for anyone living in the south.

The lack of access to nature is one of the reasons, and the remains of that unknown war naturally need to be taken into account. No one knows what will happen in this land. But these are all minor details. For our three ladies, the first thing to consider is certainly not such a great and macro thing that actually threatens life safety.

"Ah, the towel is frozen."

"…I'm very sorry, Lady Luna. It seems that I have lived in the south for too long and have forgotten to consider such things."

"Fortunately, this armor won't stick to my hands..."

“It would be terrible if it came to that.”

"This machine will heat itself up, so it won't stick to Luna. Don't worry."

"You've always been sticking with Lady Luna, okay? So Lady Luna, do you want to use magic to cleanse?"

"We should think of other ways to deal with such trivial matters. We can't just leave everything to magic."

"Technology is meant to be used, but if you think so, Luna-sama..."

"Only cold water will flow out of the endless water bottle - ah, it's frozen."

"It turned into an ice waterfall..."

"Even if you're just pouring water, you can be so poetic. You two are so adorable."

"Then, let's boil some water! The hot water won't freeze all of a sudden!"

It's complete chaos.

Perhaps the extremely low temperature in the Far North - an extremely low temperature that seems to have little presence in this fully enclosed basement due to the lack of wind - has limited impact on people like Lunicia and Ella, who have been trained as adventurers for a long time and have magic and the light of divine grace flowing in their bodies. But flowing clear water does not care about so much and will always freeze when it is supposed to.

Life is naturally full of troubles because of this, isn't it?

There is no causal relationship between trouble and fun. For Lunicia, it can increase the topics of conversation with her companions. For Ella, it is an opportunity to serve the savior she is loyal to. And for Ashatherine, it is purely an interesting drama. It seems that anyone can find their own interest in these boring things.

Maybe this is the joy of adventure.

"Ah, the water is ready."

"Steam is everywhere - Lady Luna - where are you -"

"I'm right here, uh, it's so white that I can't see anything at all - wait, the water vapor has frozen! Has it turned into ice mist?!"

"You two always bring surprises to people. Correction, there is a loophole in this sentence. After all, this machine cannot be considered a human being."

"Stop saying these weird things! Come and help!"

"Order received—"

"Don't use such a high power to pump air, idiot! The oxygen is being sucked away - stop! Stop now! The air beads are being sucked away!"

"Ashe?!"

"This is absolutely not the responsibility of this machine—"

"The air beads fell into the pot! Stop it!"

puff----

"Lady Luna, please step back!"

"exploded?!"

"The water that was spilled has frozen... Ashlee! I think you've made up your mind!"

"This machine has no such concept in mind. If any unexpected situation occurs during use, please contact the manufacturer directly for communication. Of course, after-sales service cannot be guaranteed. After all, this machine does not have their contact information."

"Stop! Don't run!"

"Ugh - there's water everywhere -"

...That's what happens. From this perspective, adventure is just like camping, isn't it? Camping is about the purpose, while adventure is about the process, but both can always get some fun out of it.

Magicians have developed many interesting props to improve the travel experience, and adventurers are always good at using their own power to adjust the situation, or in other words, to change the relationship between themselves and the world and reduce the friction between the two.

"This is considered as... being handled..."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lady Luna."

"This machine obviously didn't do anything, why was it tied up?"

"Be honest, you guy, don't act stupid."

"Ahaha, it's not Ashe's fault, but I'm glad the lining didn't get wet."

"Look, cute little Moon, Luna thinks this machine really doesn't need to take responsibility."

"Shut up, or you won't have breakfast today."

“Eh——”

Why are you making such a noise at this time? After all, aren't you allowed to eat breakfast? It doesn't matter if you don't eat it, right?

Although it was breakfast, how different was it from yesterday's dinner? Last night it was white bread from the Food Making Technique, canned corn kernels, and Muirland's ham slices, while today's breakfast was - the same boring white bread, canned pea soup, fried eggs, and canned fruit.

Keeping food fresh has always been a big problem for people in the world. Whether it is for adventurers, frontline soldiers, or refugees in disaster areas, eating is always a headache.

In order to solve this problem, people have worked tirelessly to develop many products that are famous for their long storage life and providing necessary nutrition - classical smoked meat, pickled meat, candied products, dried fruits, and even more bizarre, condensed blocks of divine grace that cannot be called food except for sustaining life, industrial-style dehydrated vegetables, canned meat with large amounts of starch, compressed biscuits. If divine arts and magic from the fifth calendar period are included, it also includes things such as meal making and divine berry arts that are difficult to describe in words. But no matter what, one thing has not changed from beginning to end.

That is, these things are basically unpalatable.

In places where there is a chance to replenish food, such as in the woods, wilderness, or near water bodies, people will always try their best to avoid these things from their sight, find ways to remove the toxins in the food, and then use salt, pepper, and spices to process it, which can be considered a diet with natural flavor. But on the other hand, if it is in a dungeon, cave, ruins, or even other more outrageous places, where it is impossible to obtain nutrition from the environment, people can only unpack those things whose names, appearance, and smell are enough to make people uneasy.

Of course, of course, it doesn't mean that the industry has not made any progress since its inception. In fact, modern canned food has been greatly improved compared to the past. Even if we only consider the cheapest products, it is not the fast food invented at the end of the Fifth Calendar, such as those mixed starch blocks that are said to "taste like dried carrots, taste like rotten spices, mixed with questionable vegetables and meats, will break teeth if eaten dry, and are disgusting in every way after being cooked."

It is said that some soldiers on the front line had to eat starch bricks for three months in a row when they were trapped. A well-known young man had become a complete psychopath when he was rescued by friendly forces. You can imagine what kind of torture that was.

What? You're asking me why the world developed for thousands of years from the fifth calendar to the sixth calendar, but only recently developed reliable canned food?

That’s a great question.

"So, can you give me an answer?"

"This question—did you mean it?"

"As you can see, this machine is asking questions honestly and sincerely."

"Ashe has lived much longer than all of us, right? Normally, Ella and I should be the ones asking Ashe this kind of question."

"It seems to be true, however, there is an unpleasant logical loophole. This machine does not need to eat--"

"Then don't be so concerned about the issue of food! Well, anyway, for the Fifth Calendar, which is glorious and as brilliant as the mythical era, people basically have no demand in this regard, so naturally there will be no development."

"——Things like this are almost non-existent in my mind, so I can't give you an answer."

"The fifth calendar?"

"Basically, completely forgotten. A lot of redundant data is periodically purged to keep this flawed but permanently functional mind functioning properly."

"It was not until the late fifth calendar that the influence of the gods faded and darkness spread, and people finally began to panic and look for ways to face the world that had become strange and dangerous in their eyes. Before that, whether it was the paradise of the gods or the Eden of the magic network, it seemed that as long as they were willing, there was nothing they couldn't do."

"Ella's statement is like a bystander's account, which is the same and similar to my position."

"Don't compare me to you. Besides, this is the truth. I don't think the life of people thousands of years ago has anything to do with me. All I need is the Savior."

“There are still so many unknown things in the world, but do you feel satisfied?”

The Southern Antarctic is still a land full of unknowns. The continent now called the "Lost World" was only set foot and developed four hundred years ago. Needless to say, the deep sea and the starry sky are nothing more than symbols of disaster, mystery and terror in the eyes of today's people.

Although there are so many unknowns, we think we are omnipotent and anchor our prosperity in satisfaction.

In Lunicia's eyes, this was too arrogant.

"...I'm not very clear about this either. Sorry, Lady Luna."

"Eh? No, there's no need to apologize."

"The inhabitants of this world in the Fifth Calendar and even earlier are very different from the environment we live in now. Didn't the scholars in the south also say that we are a 'declining age', a 'relic civilization' - that is, a civilization built on the excavation of past relics, so we cannot fully understand the thoughts of the people in the past."

"If it was Ash, maybe I could understand it."

"This machine doesn't understand at all."

"It's useless to ask her such questions, Luna-sama. It will turn out like this."

"Rather, it is completely incomprehensible to humans today. Children who define this machine as a 'family of darkness' or 'subordinates of darkness' are innocent and happy."

Enough of the heavy topics.

There were only a few crumbs left of the white bread, and none of the canned fruit and pea soup. As for the remaining metal cans, Lunisia and her group had no intention of recycling them at all - this was a luxury only for adventurers. For disaster victims and soldiers, these cans certainly had other uses, such as containers or recycling. Ella was responsible for cleaning the small pan for frying eggs today. Of course, she was not like Lunisia, who would wash it with water even in a temperature of minus 50 degrees Celsius. She just cleaned it with magic and left it at that.

The reason why canned foods and various modified fast foods are so popular is not because they are more delicious or more portable. In fact, these two points are at the bottom among similar products. Apart from being cheap, what else makes these products so popular among the world?

The huge production once overwhelmed the huge demand, and the low cost made it difficult for the selling price to cross a certain limit. This was the situation in the core areas of civilization. As for those lands on the verge of destruction, accompanied by death and disaster, this kind of despised thing can almost be regarded as a currency that cannot depreciate. Owning canned food means having a more solid right to live than others. For adventurers outside the wilderness who can never predict what they will encounter, portable food always takes up a lot of space in their bags. The specialists in charge of logistics always have a lot of similar things on them. It is common to fill the storage bags based on small demiplanes with aluminum cans. Cheap, large and easy-to-use canned food is always their top choice.

Under the temptation of getting rich overnight or the necessity of making a living, countless people took canned food and embarked on the road of no return to the ruins. Perhaps it is for this reason that scholars and historians call the contemporary world a "relic civilization", a civilization that can only be maintained by the relics of the past.

So, such wonderful situations always occur.

A skeletonized corpse was found in the ruins. It was estimated that he had been dead for more than 30 years. There was no salvageable equipment left on his body, and even his only sword was rusted. However, the canned luncheon meat in his bag was edible as long as it was opened, which made people admire the amazing technical capabilities of the cannery.