“…Just to confirm, you’re not planning to simply step aside, are you?”
“If you hand over the basket in your hands, I might reconsider. If not, well, there’s no other choice but to take it by force. Make a wise decision, Automaton girl. If you try anything foolish, that cute little face of yours might end up unrecognizable.”
As expected, they had no intention of stepping aside, let alone letting me pass.
It was clear these beastkin were intent on robbing me of the food supplies I was carrying.
At that moment, a memory surfaced—the words of the wolf man from the general store I had visited last.
He had sighed, lamenting about the recent surge of thieves running rampant in the commercial district.
I couldn’t be certain if these individuals were the same thieves who had robbed his store, but judging by their behavior, they seemed to be part of the same wave of criminals.
In Trasion, a significant proportion of criminals were beastkin.
While demons had low crime rates due to their unique pride, honor, and strict early education, most beastkin came from outside the kingdom and tended to rely more on violence than laws and regulations.
Aside from exceptions like Automatons, who were designed to serve demons, and humans, who were too few and lacked power, beastkin naturally dominated crime statistics.
Of course, there were also many beastkin, like the wolf man, who worked honestly to earn a living.
However, these individuals before me seemed far removed from such an honest lifestyle.
“This one’s frozen in fear! Guess she’s scared stiff.”
“You idiot, Automatons don’t feel emotions. She’s probably just calculating her next move.”
Wrong.
Unlike other Automatons, humanoid mechanical dolls were designed to feel emotions.
Joy, fear, sadness—all the emotions a living being could experience were within their capability.
This was another brilliant achievement of magical engineering, intended to enhance communication with their masters and reduce feelings of alienation.
It was also the most misunderstood aspect of Automatons by those who knew little about them.
Still, there was no need for me to deliberate or calculate my next move.
I had already decided on a course of action.
Handing over the basket might let me pass unscathed, but my master was waiting for me at the palace.
For her, for myself, and for Mark, there was only one option from the start.
I set the basket aside and prepared myself, my expression turning cold.
Startled by my unexpected reaction, the beastkin hesitated for a moment before bursting into louder laughter.
To them, it must have seemed ridiculous—a fragile maid Automaton, barely half their size, daring to resolve the situation through force.
However, their laughter didn’t last long.
Despite their mocking, I maintained an eerie stillness and a sharp gaze, exuding an aura that unsettled them.
As their uneasy laughter faded, the largest among them, seemingly the leader, stepped forward, closing the distance.
“It looks like what you’re carrying is very important to you. Or maybe you’re just exceptionally loyal to your master? Your determination is commendable. But you’re just a machine. No matter what you do, you won’t be able to harm us, living beings.
You haven’t forgotten the First Law of Automatons, have you?”
The leader spread his arms arrogantly, stepping right up to me while showing off his shallow knowledge to his lackeys.
He wasn’t wrong.
Every Automaton in the kingdom was bound by three unbreakable laws engraved into their core, the Iron Heart, from their creation:
The First Law: Automatons shall not harm living beings.
The Second Law: Automatons shall obey their master’s orders, provided they do not conflict with the First Law.
The Third Law: Automatons shall protect themselves, provided they do not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
These laws were established to prevent Automatons from going rogue and to maintain societal stability.
I knew these rules better than anyone.
Even so, I stepped forward confidently, standing face-to-face with living beings.
This wasn’t desperation or a meaningless struggle.
I didn’t want to admit it, but I belonged to the rare exceptions, unbound by such restrictions.
“Even if you’re free from those restrictions, you’re still just a weak little doll. Blame your foolish master for sending you out alone,” the beastkin leader sneered, uttering an insult against Yuria, my beloved master.
That was the final straw.
The beastkin’s massive hand reached for my face, his intent clear—he aimed to crush my head and destroy the Automaton that dared defy him.
But his hand never reached me.
At the very last moment, I vanished from his sight like a mirage.
The beastkin froze, blinking in confusion.
Before he could react, the consequences of his arrogance struck him.
Thud!
“Argh…!”
The sound of impact echoed through the narrow alley as the leader was sent flying, crashing pathetically near the entrance.
The other two beastkin stood stunned, unable to process what had just happened.
As for me, I remained silent, my golden eyes fixed on them, unwavering.
“Boss, snap out of it!”
“What the hell is this? Isn’t she just a regular maid Automaton?!”
“You idiots! Stop standing there and kill her already!”
Despite his humiliation, the leader quickly recovered, barking orders at his lackeys.
Although shaken, the other two beastkin complied, now radiating sharp hostility instead of their earlier smugness.
Taking out the deadly weapon hidden in their belongings, the beastkin flaunted their primal combat instincts as they charged at me.
The coordinated attack of two beastkin, fully armed, was no trivial threat.
Their ferocity could overwhelm even a robust demon.
They were closing in from both sides, reducing my options to escape, and thrusting their weapons with deadly intent.
However, their efforts proved futile.
Their carefully aimed strikes didn’t even graze my clothing.
Instead, I calmly gathered energy in my hand, forming a massive black scythe, and began countering their attacks.
With agility far surpassing their physical abilities, I effortlessly dodged and deflected their coordinated strikes.
Wielding the scythe as if it were a broom sweeping the corridor, I used it to batter them systematically, striking every part of their bodies.
Despite their best efforts, they failed to land even a single blow, while I relentlessly countered.
The frustration was evident on their faces as they began to realize the overwhelming gap in our abilities.
At first, they managed to endure, but as the relentless strikes continued, their bodies started to falter.
Fear crept onto their faces, along with the dawning realization of my superior strength.
Finally, as their strength gave out and they collapsed to their knees, the beastkin leader, who had been silently approaching from my blind spot, seized the moment to launch a powerful punch.
***
BOOM!
The sound was more like an explosion than a punch.
Anyone nearby would surely have heard the tremendous impact.
The punch carried enough force to shatter the body of an ordinary Automaton.
The beastkin leader, confident in his strength, smirked as his fist connected.
Victory was within his grasp—or so he thought.
What he saw next shattered his expectations.
“!!!… How… how is this possible?”
I stood completely still, unscathed, precisely where I had been.
His supposedly devastating punch had been caught effortlessly by my opposite hand, the one not holding the scythe.
My calm expression further mocked his failed attack.
The leader’s eyes widened in despair as his last-ditch effort ended in complete failure.
For the three beastkin who had lost all will to fight, what awaited them was a brutal punishment.
The strikes from my scythe were relentless, precise, and thorough, ensuring they could neither resist nor escape.
This was punishment for all the crimes they had committed so far!
Perhaps, it was also punishment for robbing the wolf man’s general store!
But most of all, this was punishment for daring to insult Lady Yuria with their filthy words!
With every strike, I delivered justice, and only after venting all my anger did I release the scythe.
Breathing deeply, I glanced down at their unconscious, battered bodies and muttered, “If only you had just stepped aside peacefully.”
I picked up my basket and quickly left the alley.
Considering the noise caused during the fight, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone had heard it.
I needed to leave the area before anyone arrived.
I cursed my misfortune.
I was already late, and now I had wasted even more time dealing with this pointless skirmish.
‘I should have just subdued them lightly and left,’ I thought, chastising myself for letting my anger get the better of me.
***
Just as I resolved to put the incident behind me, a faint voice stopped me in my tracks.
“Heh… heh… So that’s how it is. I knew something was off, but now it all makes sense.”
I turned slightly to glance at the leader, who was propped against a wall, his body battered and broken.
Although I was annoyed, I dismissed him as nothing more than a fool spouting nonsense.
I intended to ignore his words and leave, but his next statement made me freeze in place.
“I’ve heard rumors from my time in the military… about a top-secret project kept hidden from the public eye.”
The beastkin leader continued, his voice growing weaker but filled with conviction.
“A project to drastically enhance combat forces. Soldiers capable of overwhelming ordinary troops by dozens, even hundreds. These soldiers were said to possess unmatched durability, incredible combat instincts, and the ability to conjure weapons instantaneously. Most terrifying of all, they were unrestricted by the First Law of Automatons—they could harm any living being except demons.”
He chuckled darkly, staring at me with a mixture of fear and revelation.
“I never thought I’d encounter one of them here. You… you’re a military-grade Automaton, aren’t you?”
Special Rules for Military-Grade Automatons:
1. The Automaton must obey the commands of its superior officer unconditionally.
2. The Automaton is permitted to harm all living beings except demons. This rule may be modified at the discretion of the commanding officer.
3. The Automaton must willingly sacrifice itself for the welfare and prosperity of the Demon Kingdom.