Vessel
Holding back my pounding heartbeat, I firmly tapped the [Materialize] button displayed on the window with my index finger.
—BZZT!
Instead of the triumphant fanfare I expected, a dull error sound echoed through my head.
Huh?
As I widened my eyes, a red warning window popped up in front of me.
[Error: No vessel selected]“………… Ah.”
I couldn’t help but gape.
A vessel.
Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure that was written in the earlier description. “Fix the soul into a vessel prepared by the caster.”
So having just the soul isn’t enough, you need a “body” to put it into?
“Alice Ojousama? Is something the matter? You suddenly froze.”
A voice suddenly spoke right next to my ear.
“... Hya!?”
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest, and I almost dropped the toast I was holding.
When I hurriedly turned around, Sera was peering into my face with concern.
Th-this is bad!
Right now, my status screen and subordinate list are fully open in front of me!
In this world, everyone has a status.
So opening a window itself isn’t strange.
But, the contents written there are a different story.
“Blessing of the Murderer,” “Nagaku,” “Dogorgon”, a parade of dangerous words. If she sees this, she’ll interrogate me like, “Ojousama, what is this list? Is this a death note?”, and my life will be over…!
Turning pale, I quickly spread both my hands to hide the window.
D-don’t lookkk!!
I desperately erased the window while leaning forward to block Sera’s line of sight.
“Alice Ojousama…?”
Sera blinked in confusion and tilted her head.
“Could it be… were you looking at your own status?”
“Y-Yeah! That’s right!”
Sweating bullets, I nodded vigorously.
“I… I wanted to be helpful to Otousama and Okaasama, so before bed I’ve been secretly doing mental training for mana control… and, umm, I was checking if my Blessing of the Mage level had gone up…”
“…………!!”
Was that too desperate of an excuse?
But Sera clutched her chest and writhed.
“Hau! Wh-what… what earnest and adorable effort…!”
Her eyes shimmered as she gazed at me in admiration.
“Please rest assured, Alice Ojousama! You already possess such talent that you are called a ‘prodigy,’ and yet you continue to put in effort behind the scenes…! Ah, that drive for self-improvement, that pure heart… it’s too precious for me to even look at directly…!”
Phew… thank goodness she’s easy.
Grateful for Sera’s deep devotion, I let out a sigh of relief.
That was close.
If materialization had succeeded and Uncle Nagaku had suddenly appeared in the middle of the dining hall like, “Greetings, I am your subordinate,” this wouldn’t be something I could talk my way out of.
Honestly, the error might’ve saved me.
I’d better be more careful next time.
Still… a “vessel,” huh…
While finishing the rest of my soup, I started thinking it through.
◆◇◆
After breakfast, I returned to my room, patting my stomach.
“By the way, Sera, what about my embroidery teacher today?”
Normally, I’d have a lesson around this time.
But there was no sign of the teacher in the room.
“My apologies. Due to certain circumstances, today’s lesson has been canceled.”
Sera answered, slightly vague.
Circumstances, huh.
More like the mansion’s decision than the teacher’s schedule.
Nine times out of ten, it’s because of that “Third Prince’s mysterious death incident.” Since the culprit hasn’t been caught, they’re probably avoiding letting outsiders into the estate.
“I see… that’s too bad…”
I puffed out my cheeks and acted disappointed, but inside, I was fist-pumping.
Yes! Free time acquired!
Now I can focus on advancing my “Strongest Army Plan” without worry.
“Oh right, Sera. Do we have a newspaper?”
“A newspaper?”
She blinked in slight surprise.
Well, yeah. I only recently adorably gave up on it, saying “there are too many words, I can’t read it.”
But I nodded and deliberately made a serious expression, furrowing my brows.
“Yeah! It was too hard before so I gave up… but I don’t want to give up after all! To become a great noble like Otousama, Alice will try again!”
“……!!”
Sera’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with both hands.
“I-I am deeply impressed…! To challenge a wall you once failed at again so soon…! Rather than giving up because you cannot do it, you steel yourself and try again, such an indomitable spirit…! As expected of Alice Ojousama!”
Trembling with emotion, Sera took the morning paper from a cart and respectfully handed it to me.
“Here you are! Please do your best!”
“Ehehe, thank you, Sera.”
I accepted the newspaper and spread it out on the bed.
Hmm, hmm, making a serious face, I checked the front page.
… It’s not there.
Well, it happened late last night. There’s no way it would make it into this morning’s edition.
I was looking forward to seeing how my “great achievement” would be reported, but I’ll save that for tomorrow.
Once Sera left the room, I sat cross-legged on the bed, arms folded, and groaned.
“Alright then… the problem is the ‘vessel,’ isn’t it?”
I stared at the status screen again, but there were no detailed explanations. What an unfriendly UI.
Do I need a corpse after all?
Like fixing a soul into a fresh corpse to make a zombie, or into bones to make a skeleton…
“… Hmm, am I stuck?”
I looked up at the ceiling.
Because I left all the bodies back at the warehouse yesterday.
Go back there now and retrieve them?
Yeah right, no way.
There are probably guards swarming the place by now, and I can’t exactly say, “I came to pick up something I forgot,” while carrying corpses home.
“Isn’t there some easier kind of vessel…?”
I glanced around the room.
Desk, chair, vase, closet.
No way those could be vessels…
Something humanoid, fairly big, and something that wouldn’t look suspicious even if it moved…
At that moment.
Something entered the edge of my vision.
In the corner of the room, an antique-style rocking chair.
And sitting on it, a large shape.
“… Ah.”
It was the oversized stuffed animal Okaasama gave me for my fifth birthday.
A brown, fluffy bear with adorable fur.
About the same size as me, with cute round eyes.
“………… N-no way, right?”
I got off the bed and stood in front of the bear.
Staring at it intently.
Fluffy body. Cute appearance. And it does have limbs, at least.
My gamer instincts started tingling.
You know, in anime, it’s a classic for this kind of stuffed toy to gain consciousness and start moving.
Maybe there’s a chance it could work as a vessel…
“I-it doesn’t cost anything to try, right?”
If it actually started moving, it would definitely be cute. There’s no partner more fitting for adorable Alice-chan than that.
Still, there’s no way this works… thinking that, without much expectation, I opened the window and displayed the soul stock list.
And without thinking too deeply, I tapped.
—Ding♪
[Nagaku Einbel (Lv.64)’s vessel has been approved]“………… Huh?”
I blinked several times in disbelief.
It… got approved?
No way, seriously!? Nagaku-san was such a muscular, intimidating guy, he can fit into such a fancy body!?
“W-w-wait a second! Is this really going to work!?”
Along with the shock of success, a wave of intense regret crashed over me.
“I messed up…! If it was going to work this easily, I should’ve tested it with someone else instead of Nagakuuu!”
Because Nagaku’s soul is the only SSR-class ultra-rare material I have.
Level 64. The strongest warrior.
And I stuffed him into a toy bear for fun!?
If the compatibility is terrible and he can’t show his true strength, that’d be the worst!
But…
With an unforgiving system sound, the screen changed.
[Beginning fixation process] [Waiting for target player ‘Nagaku Einbel’ to log in…]—Spinning, spinning.
No canceling.
The loading screen started turning.
“No way… my strongest piece… is really going to become a teddy bear…”
I held my head.
I really did it. This is like using an elixir during the tutorial.
But there’s no going back now.
The screen shows “Waiting.”
Well, yeah. The contents are still a player.
Nagaku-san is probably rushing into his dive pod in the real world and logging in right about now.
“… This might take a while.”
I sat in front of the bear in a knees-hugging position and waited quietly.
Five minutes. Ten minutes.
The clock ticked on.
And after fifteen minutes passed…
—Ding!
[Preparation complete: Link established]It’s here!
I jerked my head up.
The [Execute Resurrection] button displayed on the window was glowing gold.
“… Alright. Whatever happens, happens!”
I steeled myself and slammed the button.
—DOOOOOOOOM!!
At that moment…
The teddy bear in front of me burst into a blinding flash of light.
“Whoa… it’s too bright!?”
At the same time, it felt like something was being pulled out from just below my navel.
Mana.
The mana inside my body was being poured into the glowing teddy bear.
“Ghk…! It’s taking quite a bit…!”
I gritted my teeth and endured.
I see… so that’s how it works.
Why did the supposedly physical-specialized Blessing of the Murderer even have a mana stat?
Because it uses mana to manifest subordinates like this!
The light began to converge.
The torrent of mana filling the room settled inside the stuffed body.
Eventually, the light faded—
Silence…
The room returned to stillness.
In front of me sat the same brown teddy bear as before, unchanged.
“… Huh? Did it fail?”
As I cautiously leaned closer…
Clack.
The teddy bear’s head… began to move with a creaking sound…
What do you think about this chapter?
