The Dwarf Spirit
Now that I had acquired the axe known as the Fire Dragon"s Tail, I quickly returned to the castle in order to start with the preparations.
I would put this and Gottlieb"s beard into the Klein bottle for Soul Summoning.
According to Eve, we had a thirty percent chance of being able to summon Gottlieb.
"I do not care if it is thirty or ten percent. If there is a possibility, I will do it."
I wanted to have a drink with that dwarf again.
And so I put the ingredients into the Klein bottle.
The beard and axe.
At the same time, I sent magical energy into it.
Up until now, I had wished for soldiers or engineers as they were needed, but this time, I had a clear image of Gottlieb"s face as I filled it with magic.
What happened next was much the same as when I had summoned Hijikata.
A mystical aura enveloped the Klein bottle and smoke began to rise.
And then the smoke slowly started to take shape. I saw an old, fat man.
He was a dwarf.
I had succeeded.
But then I realized something.
Yes, the person who had come was Gottlieb.
He was just as fat and had a great beard.
However, something was wrong. And then I realized that it was because of something below the waist.
This revived Gottlieb had no legs.
"What does this mean?"
I asked him. But he looked just as troubled as me.
"I cannot answer that. I am just surprised that I am even here."
Gottlieb likely didn"t have any memories past the explosion in the mines.
He didn"t know that he was being summoned.
"Hmm."
As we stood there wondering, Eve explained it to us.
"Master. This chief of the dwarves has no legs. And his outline is faded. Is it not possible that he is a ghost?"
"A ghost? Are you?"
"I told you, I do not know."
I tried touching him. My hand did not go through his body.
"But perhaps it is only because of your power? Master. I shall call for Hijikata then."
When Eve returned with him, I ordered him to touch Gottlieb.
Tos.h.i.+zou looked very annoyed as he stretched out his hand. It went right through Gottlieb.
Tos.h.i.+zou was surprised now.
"Well, well. That is very strange."
And with that, I and Gottlieb finally understood it.
That the resurrected Gottlieb was a ghost.
"What does this mean?"
I asked Eve. But she too was confused.
"…If I had to say, it must mean that the soul summoning was half a failure. Gottlieb is a Hero, but perhaps not quite heroic enough."
"I can accept that explanation, young lady. I am no Hero."
"Does that mean he was not summoned as a Hero, but an ordinary monster?"
"I believe so."
And so to test this theory, I cast "Disclosure."
With that, Gottlieb"s status appeared before me.
Name: Gottlieb
Rarity: Legend Rare ☆☆☆☆☆
Race: Dwarf Wraith, the ghost of a dwarf
Job: Chief, Engineer
Combat Ability: 0
Skills: Architect, Blacksmith, Mine Explorer, Axe User, Commander, City Planning, Weapon Designer
As soon as I saw his status, I felt a mixture of both joy and disappointment.
I was disappointed that he wasn"t a Hero.
The fact that I could see his status was proof of it.
But I was happy because he was a Legend Rare.
As he was a ghost, his combat abilities were nonexistent, but that hardly mattered.
What I wanted was his ability as an administrator.
I had wanted his help as an architect to begin with.
He seemed to be quite sad that he could no longer fight, but I knew that his knowledge and experience would be useful.
But more than anything, I was simply happy to reunite with a friend, even if he was a ghost. And so I was overjoyed to be with him again.
Gottlieb felt the same, and though he was only here as a spirit, he was happy to be of use to me.
Besides, he would not be able to witness the path that his people would go.
He was already very anxious about their living conditions.
I remembered this issue myself, and so we went about solving it.
"I will now gather together the dwarf architects. They can construct buildings, but are not good at planning cities."
"Yes, I was always responsible for all of that. Ah, well. It is my own fault for not training a successor."
"However, it is not too late."
"Indeed. I can hammer the knowledge into them now. Yes, bring the dwarves to me."
I turned to Eve and she gave me a smile.
"I have already called for them."
She said.
A brilliant maid for sure.
She was like Gottlieb, in that I would not trade her for anyone else.
She then brought drinks for everyone and tea for me. Which we drank while Gottlieb began to talk about his plans for the city.
As I listened, I saw that his ideas aligned perfectly with my own ideals.
What I wanted was not a city with great defenses, but a city of business.
Instead of concentrating on defensive walls, I wanted it to be a city where foreign merchants could travel to freely and the citizens could live in comfort economically. The taxes would be used to strengthen my army and I would cooperate with other Demon Lords.
For this reason, Gottlieb argued that the new districts should be grid-shaped.
In any case, it seemed like it would turn out into the kind of city I had originally described.
However, the finer details required a professional, and so efficient sewage systems and public water systems were all under Gottlieb"s domain.
If his concept and my ideal were the same, then I did not care about the details.
I would leave the rest to Gottlieb and the dwarf architects.
I knew that they would build the best possible city.
That is what I thought, and I was not wrong.
Because they completed the plans in just one night, and the city was built in three months.