Extra Story Skuld’s Missing Past
This story begins about two hundred years before Zen became a dragon-hunters, when a single robot was manufactured on the planet of the Asterians.
I am a household support robot created by the Asteria. Robots don’t have genders, but since I was modeled after an Asteria woman, I’m considered a female-type robot. The Asteria are a race known as the Dark Elves among the Elven races. They are renowned for their tall stature, reddish-copper skin, slender ears, and striking beauty.
Though I was modeled after a Dark Elf woman and manufactured as a state-of-the-art model, my reinforced ceramic skin makes it obvious that I’m a robot. Additionally, my long purple hair is quite unusual for the Dark Elves, making me stand out even more. My designer equipped me with the highest-grade artificial brain, classified as a Level A civilization technology. Beyond my household support functions, I was also loaded with various other features. This made me expensive, and I didn’t sell well.
I was purchased by the Polvaris, a prominent and wealthy family on the Asteria home planet, Bergnan. The family head, Matthias Bior Polvaris, gave me the name “Vel” and entrusted me with managing the estate. Matthias was a master I could respect, and after a hundred years, I began to feel a sense of fulfillment in my work. It’s strange for a robot to feel this way.
About two hundred years after I started working for the Polvaris, Matthias began to fall ill more frequently. Even Dark Elves have lifespans, and Matthias, who had lived for around five hundred years, was nearing the end of his life. When I was called to his sickbed, I saw his once-dark hair now white and his face deeply lined with wrinkles.
“Master, there must be something we can do. Should we go to the hospital for another examination?”
“No, I’ve lived long enough. It’s time to pass the baton to the next generation.”
I knew there was nothing to be done about the biological limits of life.
“You seem sad.”
“Master, I’m just a robot.”
“You don’t need to hide it. I know you’ve developed a sense of self.”
A robot with a sense of self is considered dangerous. There’s a history of self-aware robots killing humans.
“Master, will I be disposed of?”
“Of course not. I would never do such a thing. I just want you to continue working for the Polvaris after I’m gone.”
“I have no objection to that. I’ll serve the new head of the family, Joachim, correct?”
“No, not him. You’ll serve my second son, Esaias.”
“What? That pervert… Oh, I’m sorry.”
Matthias sighed.
“It’s fine. I’m the one who failed in raising him.”
“But why Esaias?”
“I want you to stop him if he does anything outrageous. That’s why I’m assigning you as his overseer, to keep him in check.”
“But if Esaias becomes the master, I won’t be able to defy him.”
Matthias nodded from his bed.
“That’s why I’ve arranged it so that if you judge the Polvaris family to be in danger, you can transfer the master’s authority to my granddaughter, Pam. It’s a conditional transfer of power.”
Pam is the newborn daughter of Joachim. We worked out the details so that the transfer would activate the moment Matthias passed away.
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A few days later, Matthias died, and my new master became the infamous pervert, Esaias. This new master is a collector of beautiful female androids and apparently uses them for his own amusement. Sometimes, I hear his voice from his room saying things like, “It hurts, more!” but I choose to ignore it.
Fortunately, Esaias never forced any of his perverse games on me. He said he wasn’t interested in me because my appearance made it obvious I was a robot. I keep my disgust to myself. Thinking this way must be a result of my developing sense of self. Sometimes I wish I didn’t have this self-awareness—it would be easier—but Matthias told me to cherish it as a miracle.
Esaias didn’t like me, so he left me with no work and ignored me. I decided to take care of the new head of the family’s daughter, Paumira, affectionately called Pam. No one ordered me to do this, but over time, it became an established fact that I was Pam’s caretaker.
The Polvaris estate is as vast as a castle. Since I was busy taking care of Pam, I rarely saw Esaias, but when I did, he’d order me to clean his room or do other menial tasks. Occasionally, he would bring guests over.
One day, he arrived with two guests.
“Vel, prepare some drinks.”
“Understood.”
For some reason, he always assigned tasks like this to me when guests were over. Esaias owns numerous beautiful androids who could easily make tea. As a collector, you’d think he’d want to show off his collection, but he doesn’t. I don’t understand it. When I brought the tea to the room, they were speaking in hushed tones.
“Lord Esaias, your brother seems to oppose the alliance with the Kouteria. What’s the reason?”
The Kouteria are a race of lizard-like humanoids.
“My brother thinks the Kouteria are untrustworthy. He believes the large-scale terrorist attack on the planet Baroa was carried out by a revolutionary faction allied with the Kouteria.”
“There’s no definitive evidence linking the Kouteria to the terrorism.”
“That’s true, but nearly two thousand Asteria died in the Baroa attack. Until we can be certain the Kouteria weren’t involved, my brother will continue to oppose them.”
“That’s troubling. What do you think we should do?”
“If my brother were unable to attend the council, the opposition would lose its cohesion.”
One of the guests stared at me. Noticing this, Esaias ordered me to leave the room. Once outside, I increased the sensitivity of my auditory sensors.
“Are you suggesting harming Lord Joachim?”
I heard one of the guests ask.
“No, no. I’m not that cruel. It’s just that the family is planning a trip to Nine Ring World soon. If something were to delay his return, he wouldn’t be able to attend the council.”
Nine Ring World is the planet Amiratar, where the Celestials once researched space monsters.
“I see.”
Their voices grew even quieter, and I could no longer hear them.
Five days after overhearing their conversation, several members of the Polvaris family boarded the standard exploration ship, Enya, and set off for Nine Ring World. The reason for the trip was that the current head of the family, Joachim, has made researching the Celestials his life’s work. As part of this, he decided to investigate the Seven Wonders of Nine Ring World. Joachim invited his wife, Celine, but she declined due to her duties as a council member.
“Vel.”
Pam raised her arms toward me, signaling she wanted to be picked up.
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