"You may fire when ready."
Hana did not waste time, and with my brand new crossbow, they hit a bullseye for the spectator's amusement. There was some applause, but we barely got started. They recocked the weapon, those enormous muscles working overtime, and in a few seconds, they were ready for the next shot. This effortlessly hit the mark too, earning another small cheer.
"All right, Mabel, it's your turn next," I announced. She emerged from the crowd with a wide grin, but people seemed skeptical. This weapon was only built this morning, using the finetuned blueprints and some help from the blacksmith and Omerta. It was freshly waxed, glistening in the sun, the first of many in the series. Mabel took a position at the range.
I handed her the winch, and she reloaded the crossbow alone. She aimed the heavy weapon like a toy, managing to score easily. This time, the onlookers went wild and cheered loudly. The log we used as a practice could not take any more punishment and shattered from the orc girl's shot. She bowed to the crowd.
"As you can see, this is a devastating weapon, but it doesn't require specific training or excessive strength," I claimed, walking over to pick up the bolts. They were all intact. "Even a child can use it."
This was met with another round of applause. Things went well so far.
"Okay, okay, but just how strong is that thing?" Omerta asked, playing the heckler. We agreed on this in advance, but now that I had to play in front of all these people, I got a little stage fright. She helped dry the Hickory wood of the new stock and finetune the prod until perfection.
"Why don't we put it to the test?" I asked, trying to look confident.
"I will cast a defensive barrier on the next log, let's see if it can penetrate it." The witch offered and went ahead with the spell. The barrier glowed orange as I reloaded the crossbow. The people had some doubts about the legitimacy of this test though.
"How do we know if it's a proper barrier?" A goblin merchant asked. He arrived this morning, apparently to check out my other invention, but stuck around for this demonstration too. If he was to be believed, he met Dioneras somewhere south of our village and heard about our tribe.
"Feel free to try and attack it." Omerta shrugged, stepping aside. The goblin was eager to poke his dagger into the magic barrier but couldn't penetrate it. A beastmen also attempted to break it with a hammer.
"All right, I guess it's my turn now. I'm Nati, the inventor of the crossbow." I announced once they seemed satisfied. I tried my best not to miss it. While I practiced a lot yesterday, that was with my older model. I was nervously sweating but didn't have to worry.
After staring down the notch on the prod, I easily hit the target. It went through Omerta's barrier like it was nothing, getting stuck into the log behind it, almost an inch deep. This impressed the crowd.
"I'll buy five, no, ten!" Fenna yelled immediately. Similar offers came, proposing gold or different commodities in return. The prices kept increasing, even before I could say a single word.
"Sorry, it is not for sale. Not yet, at least." Charlotte firmly ended the commotion, standing in front of me. "It shall serve as a warning that the people of Nateaser are perfectly capable of defending themselves."
"This village is under the protection of the Goddess of Luck." I heard a voice coming from above. Of course, Alex had to make a theatrical entry. Floating above the crowd, she also warned the spectators. "Nati is my friend and her inventions are not to be trifled with."
"Once we arm our guard and hunters with enough crossbows, we will sell them in limited numbers." The chieftain added, breaking the sudden silence. People did not expect the Goddess. "But only for tribes that entered a mutual protection pact with us."
"We already have such an alliance, put me on top of that list," Fenna demanded, squeezing her small body through the crowd. "And in return, I'll bring more workers from my village."
"Which you need for your building projects..." Charlotte raised an eyebrow. While beastmen and orcs worked well together, the two chieftains spent the entire day arguing about priorities. "If you want more people, sort that out yourself. Don't act like you're doing me a favor. We are fine without your fancy embassy as well."
"Come on now... All new buildings will increase the prestige of the tribe." I tried to reconcile them while the crowd slowly dissolved. I wanted to see that bathhouse and sauna next. Plus Fenna promised a room in the new embassy, with proper bedding. "We also have more and more people coming to the village with nowhere to stay..."
"And we have to feed them first, house them later," Charlotte claimed firmly. "Not to mention, food is our largest export after your ball games. If we can't hunt enough, we can't expand the village. The hunters keep the area safe too. I can't hand them over to do construction work."
"And I can't use the goblin immigrants for the heavy lifting," Fenna complained. "They are better in agriculture or setting up traps. Maybe to gather fruits or do some simple handiwork."
"They did just fine in the dwarven mines, where they came from. I'm sure they can handle bricks as well." The orc chieftain refused to yield any ground. The crowd was already gone, and my helpers left too. Alex on the other hand curiously approached us. "Your Grace, what is your opinion?"
"Are you short-handed that badly?" She asked, pondering. "Why not use golems for construction work? If you shape them from clay they will follow simple instructions. Anything more than that, and I'd have to reprogram their core though. How many do you need?"
"Oh, you are too kind, Goddess." The fox-girl got surprisingly humble all of a sudden. "I can't possibly waste your valuable time with this."
"Wish I could make a golem too..." Omerta interjected, sticking around for the argument. She seemed to enjoy touchy situations. "Or even better, a gargoyle. Like what that Church woman used against Hank."
"Gargoyles are just glorified golems." Alex shrugged, with a sense of superiority in her voice. "Let's go to the swamp, I'll make you ten to help with the embassy. And a homunculus to command them in my absence."
"You tried to make that when I got here." I vaguely remembered. She failed that time, and the resulting abomination freaked me out. Not to mention, that was the reason why the Inquisitorias found us.
"Right, I already forgot." She giggled, making my heart skip a beat.
"I... I couldn't possibly... But if you would." Fenna played reluctant. Her fluffy fox tail betrayed her performance and wouldn't stop swishing left and right. At times like these, I hoped my body would not do the same to me... I was embarrassed in her stead.
"It's no problem. Got to show off for Nati anyway." She winked, and I had no doubts about it, my tail swept around too. We headed to the marsh, and she taught me about golems. "There are multiple types of magical servants. The entry-level ones only require a simple vessel, and you pre-program them for a certain behavior, which they will blindly follow."
I appreciated her analogy using examples from my world. I have been curious about what she did at the Technical University, and I felt closer to the answer, but most of the things she talked about went over my head, and I just kept nodding.
"Technically, a simple zombie or a skeleton-type undead is the same as a golem in a different vessel. But the Cranta Church freaks out from them because they treat necromancy as the greatest taboo." She explained as we went along. "A gargoyle is only distinct in that it has wings, and they formed somewhat naturally, soaking up all the magical energy from the temples they decorated."
"The Crantans were so lucky," Omerta interjected. She followed us along, with Fenna in tow. Charlotte had things to attend to, and Mabel ran away with my crossbow. "They couldn't make decent golems, but their temples teemed with magicules, so it worked out for them."
"You mean their statues came to life all of a sudden?" I asked surprised. "That was that thing smashing into Hana the other day?"
"Yes, that woman retreated on a gargoyle," The witch confirmed.
"You say that they couldn't make golems, but I saw Lambert making one just a while back, and you can't." Alex claimed, and I felt she just teased the orc on purpose. "How's the race going between the two of you? I heard he also doubled the brick production without shattering a single one. What have you been doing?"
"I helped with Nati's crossbow," Omerta fumed.
"Haha, I'm just messing with you." The Goddess stated the obvious before turning to face Fenna. "So will clay golems do, or do you need something more robust? Mind you, the larger and stronger they get, the more clumsy they'll become. It's best not to overdo it..."
"Oh, I'll leave everything in your hands, Goddess." She bowed. "I'm sure you are much wiser in these questions than I am."
"Right, I'm going to make them orc-sized." Alex decided. "They should be able to deal with construction work, and I'll make a homunculus similar to beastmen so someone capable can lead the golems."
Omerta snorted at her joke, making me realize, that the three of us beastfolk remained alone with a single orc. I kept forgetting about my cat-girlness.
"So what is the difference between a homunculus and a golem?" I asked as the Goddess did her preparations. She paused for a moment.
"Hmm... Golems are lifeless vessels using magic to move and follow orders." She started, adding. "A homunculus is a living-breathing being, created by magic, but not magical. I can have it cast spells though. It has its metabolism and needs to eat to survive, but it has obvious advantages. It thinks for itself, like some sort of artificial intelligence."
"And they are waaay more complicated to make," The orc witch noted.
"Then what are you?" I asked Alexandra confused.
"I'm a Goddess, silly." She giggled, making me blush. "I simply detached my soul from my original body so I can travel between worlds. And now you live in it rent-free, where I can keep you in check..."