The Demon Lord's Bride (BL)
Chapter 421: I didn’t know inventors are contradictory beings

Chapter 421: I didn’t know inventors are contradictory beings

"We’re back!"

[We’re baaack!]

We shouted as soon as we appeared on the other side of the portal, since for some reason, Angwi was always there to greet us despite we never said when we would come. Perhaps she reacted to the mana activation of the portal?

But this time, there was no one there. I stood there and stared at Jade in surprise. "Huh? That’s rare. Is it because it’s night already?"

[Oh, Papa--there’s something there!]

Jade suddenly flew toward something on the balustrade leading to the stairs. It was...a bird? I hurried to follow Jade and see the thing closer and...

It was a bird? But not? It was a figurine shaped like a bird--just a bit smaller than Jade--with a round belly and mechanical-looking wings. Jade landed next to it and poked the bird with its wing, and suddenly, the bird moved--the wings extended with a clicking sound.

Jade gasped and jumped back in a start, falling off the railing. I caught the little--real--bird and watched in fascination as the mechanical bird took off and hovered in front of us. Even Ignis, who was about to scurry off to its beloved cave initially, stopped and took a double look.

I blinked twice, and the mechanical bird suddenly flew, backward, with its gem-studded belly pointing at us, down the stairs.

Jade gasped and flapped its wings. [Papa, let’s run after it!]

Jade flew--not run--after the retreating bird and I followed them with Ignis back on my shoulder. The mechanical bird went through the stairs, past my bedroom, and down, down to the drawing room of the guest floor which had the door opened wide. When I entered the room, I was greeted by a familiar tackle.

"Welcome hooome!" Zia wrapped her arms around my shoulder tightly, laughing as I caught her as usual. Behind her, I could see Angwi standing beside a trolley of refreshments, while Izzi was grinning on the couch. The mechanical bird hovered above me for a bit before landing on Neel’s hand.

Jade came back to my side, and we looked at each other with widened eyes, in a mix of surprise and confusion. My brain whirred as it tried to figure out what exactly was that mechanical bird, and once it did, I gasped.

"Is that...the recorder?!" I exclaimed, letting go of Zia and rushing toward the inventors.

"Still a prototype, but I say it looks pretty solid," Izzi said with a nonchalant tone but a huge grin on his face.

"H-how...how do we see the recording?" I almost stuttered from excitement, looking at the mechanical bird with expectation.

Neel touched the gem-like thing in the middle of the mechanical bird’s belly. "This is to record," she said shortly, and now I realized there was a complicated magic formation carved on the gem. Her fingers moved to the bird’s eyes then, which looked like a pair of onyxes. "And these are projectors."

She turned and lifted her palm, directing the bird’s eyes to the wall. In his hand, Izzi pressed a thin plaque, and voila--I could see myself on the wall.

To be exact, the scene of me stepping out of the portal and shouting--although there was no sound that could be heard. It came out through a rectangular screen projected by the bird’s ’eyes’.

Jade chirped loudly and jumped as the colorful little bird on the wall came closer and closer. [Papa, that’s Jade! Why Jade on the wall?!]

"It’s us a moment ago, Jade," Ignis explained to the little bird with a fascination in its voice. "This strange bird captured a vision and saved it, and then showed it back to us."

[Oh! Ooh!] the little bird jumped up, now getting even more excited after understanding it a little bit more. [Oh, Papa coming closer too! Oh, Papa is so pretty!]

Oh, stop it, Jade! I gripped the little bird and covered its beak as we saw the vision getting elevated and further away from us. Ah--so that was why it flew backward earlier, so the ’camera’ could capture us. It kept recording us running after it up to the drawing-room, and it ended after Zia tackled me with a hug.

"We still haven’t figured out the sound, but for now, the motion-capturing part is complete," Izzi finished their little presentation. "What do you think, Boss?"

I looked at the elf and the half-naga, but the only thing I could do at this point was raise my hands to clap profusely. "It’s so brilliant...you guys are such geniuses!"

Zia laughed and clapped her hands too, and even Angwi joined the clap. Jade filled the room with its melodious chirping and amidst the ensemble, Izzi coughed awkwardly while scratching his cheek in embarrassment. Neel, meanwhile, simply made a slight curtsy like a professional employee finishing her presentation to a client.

The client being me.

Of course, it would be perfect if there was a sound, but ah--ah! This was already good! Brilliant! Perhaps because it was magic, there was no discrepancy between the real thing and the captured motion; the color, texture, clarity--everything stayed the same.

And suddenly, I imagine watching the recording of my wedding in the future--with the storm of rainbow and all the spring flowers. Even without a sound, I imagined it would be marvelous either way.

"Isn’t it so cute to make it into a bird shape?" Zia said while poking the mechanical bird. "They won’t look too out of place during your wedding."

Oh, that is so true! I sighed in an increasing feeling of awe.

"Well, that’s the whole idea," Izzi shrugged. "We can try and make it look more realistic, and then..."

"It will be perfect for spying," Neel finished the sentence with a deep smile. "Your husband will like it even more, won’t he?"

"Oh, look at you," I poked Neel’s arm and smirked. "Eager for some money, aren’t you?"

And she only replied with two words. "Pension fund."

We laughed and they proceeded to tell me about how it worked, which could be done remotely from the little plaque in Izzi’s hand.

"Aside from the sound, we also still have to figure out how we can see the recording without the eye projector--you know, so it could feel like a proper video camera," Izzi said. "That will help in controlling the movement. For now, it still relies on precise remote controlling."

"Huh? But it moved so fluently earlier?"

Izzi sighed at that. "You don’t know how many times I practice the route," he glanced at the grinning succubus beside him. "It’s all because someone wanted to play it as a surprise."

"But it worked, didn’t it?" Zia puffed her cheek.

"Right, it worked," I laughed while scooping the mechanical bird in my hand. "Hmm...this is indeed cute. Kind of looks like Jade."

[Papa?!]

The little bird chirped dramatically, so I had to pat the green head to calm it down. "Why, Jade? Don’t tell me you’re jealous of this bird? It’s not even real, not like Jade. Look," I pointed at the window--more precisely, at the fountain. "Just like that statuary, isn’t it?"

[Oh...] Jade let out a breath of relief and slumped on my lap. What a dramatic child.

"Well, we did end up thinking about Jade while making it," Izzi nodded. "Can’t be helped since it’s a sight that is always around us while living in the same space with you."

"Izzi thought it would be boring if we made it like a normal camera, so I told him about the drones," Neel added. Ah, right. Izzi probably died before the drone’s commercialization era. "After going through a lot of design talks, we decided on a bird--the first thing that comes to our mind when we think about flying."

Hmm...made sense. I wondered if they could develop it into a smaller size in the future, and then the design would change accordingly--like a dragonfly, or bees, or perhaps something running on the ground instead of flying. Ooh--Natha would love that. All the possibilities of surveillance...

"It would be better if we could develop an AI and make it a bit sentient," Neel mumbled. "Well, not sentient, but so it can move by itself. If only I could get deeper into golem manufacturing..."

Oh-ho! Look at this girl--she finally seemed to get fired up, huh? Well, made sense though, since this was originally her project, not Izzi’s. Hmm...should I ask D’Ara if she could teach Neel about the golem for a bit? Would that be too impudent? Should I stock on some more cookies?

"You should talk with Aina sometimes," I said. "Maybe you can work on a smartphone or something."

Neel shook her head, however. "That kind of thing would need a bigger team than just two inventors," she said seriously. "It’s not enough to just make the device; we need a mass communication system and public integration, and that requires government-level involvement," she pursed her lips, before adding in a low tone. "I don’t like working with the government."

"You’re so realistic," I laughed.

"A scientist should be realistic," she said dryly.

"But invention built upon dreams!"

"Dreams should stay realistic."

That’s...not how dreams work?

"Anyway, this one is a pass, right?" Izzi stopped our argument and returned the attention back to the mechanical bird.

"Yup," I nodded. "Have you shown this to Natha?"

"No," the two inventors shook their heads, and Izzi added. "You’re the main client, so you should be the one who knows about it first. Well, you’re our direct boss anyway."

"Aww..." I laughed when Izzi rolled his eyes. "Do you think you can do something about the sound before the wedding?"

Izzi glanced at Neel, who merely nodded without hesitation. "Well...if I stay here, we’ll probably manage to do something by next week."

"Oh, that’s perfect!" I clapped my hands excitedly. "There will be another surprise when I get back.."

"It’s not a surprise if you already know, but...get back? Get back from where?" Izzi tilted his head.

"Oh, have I not told you? I’m going to the realm of nature the day after tomorrow."

Zia splurted the tea she just sipped, eliciting a disapproving look from Angwi. "Y-you’re going again?!"