The Tale of Hero Alice’s Social Death

Chapter 126: I Am Iron Man

Sure enough, it isn't that simple

Inside the library, Alice had successfully found the magic she was looking for. Disguise magic indeed existed in this world. Unfortunately, similar to her expectations, this type of magic was more or less flawed.

Take the Elemental Skin Transformation magic book she was currently holding, for example. While users could rely on this spell to alter their facial appearances, it was also limited to just that. It couldn't be used to modify a person's body. In addition, while using this spell, the user's mana would be put into a state of suspended animation, and they would be prevented from using other spells while Elemental Skin Transformation was active. Otherwise, the spell would lose effect, and the user's facial appearance would revert to its original state.

With such limitations, Elemental Skin Transformation naturally couldn't meet Alice's requirements. Moreover, Elemental Skin Transformation's flaw wasn't unique. Most of the other disguise magic she found faced similar problems. And even if there was a spell capable of altering the user's body, the modifications made would cause irreversible damage. There was no way Alice would be willing to incur such a loss for a mere act.

Alice couldn't help but gnash her teeth in this situation. Just when she needed magic's unscientific properties the most, this same magic had started talking to her about human biology.

"If you are trying to disguise yourself as the muscular Hero, why not consider other methods, Alice?"

As Alice's maid, Luna had naturally followed Alice to the library. Moreover, Alice had already told Luna about her double act, and Luna had unconditionally agreed to it. Meanwhile, seeing that Alice was troubled over how she could disguise herself as a muscular man, Luna decided to offer her suggestion.

"What method?"

Alice turned to Luna curiously. Although she had already started to adapt to this world's society, it was a fact that she had only transmigrated to this world for a little over a month. There would undoubtedly be a difference in thought processes between her and the locals of this world. Thus, Luna might be able to come up with a suggestion that she had never thought of.

"How about having the dwarves construct a suit of power armor that mimics the shape of a muscular man?"

Seeing the look of interest on Alice's face, Luna promptly voiced her idea. The various countries had recently made a breakthrough in magic-powered armor, a.k.a. power armor. Although the finished product looked more like a blocky golem than an actual human, the Gryffin Kingdom's dwarves should be capable of manufacturing a power armor that vividly resembled an actual human.

"...What?" Alice was confused. At this point, Alice had already gotten used to hearing strange names ever since coming to this foreign world. However, when she heard the words "power armor" coming out of Luna's mouth, she couldn't help but wonder if she had transmigrated into the future instead of transmigrating to a different world. "Power armor?"

"It is a new combat weapon developed in recent decades. It was developed sometime after someone proposed manufacturing a suit of armor that possessed combat capabilities. However, research in this field is top secret, so there are no records of it in history books, and information on the topic is incredibly rare even on the internet," Luna said.

After taking a look at their surroundings and making sure that nobody else was present, Luna lowered her voice and continued, "I learned of this research when I was working with the intelligence department. According to recent reports, the latest model has already been tested for combat readiness. So long as we get the dwarves to construct a power armor that has a human appearance, you can resolve the problem with your body."

Alice's body was incredibly petite, and she looked very much like a grade-schooler than a high schooler. Moreover, her limbs had little to no muscle. With her tiny figure, even if a suit of power armor was shrunk down to the size of a normal muscular human, Alice should be able to ride in it without any problems.

"How is the tolerance of thatpower armor you speak of?" Alice asked. She wasn't just trying to disguise herself as a muscular man. She also needed to wear that disguise into battle. Although she would only be putting on a play with Luna, she still needed to dish out a few taboos for show. Otherwise, the fight would look too fake. "Can it withstand taboos?"

"The power armor doesn't hinder its user's mana output, so you should have no problem casting taboos with it," Luna answered. "But I'm afraid taking hits from taboos will be impossible. Although the power armor uses state-of-the-art technology, it is still just an enhanced suit of armor at the end of the day. It will disintegrate if it gets hit by a taboo."

"...I should be able to come up with a solution for withstanding taboos. For example, I can learn defensive-type taboos."

After thinking for a moment, Alice felt that taking hits wasn't a problem.

Spells weren't categorized as taboos simply because they possessed great destructive power. Instead, the main factor when deciding whether a spell was taboo was the spell's complexity, difficulty of use, and practicality. Hence, while taboo spells were powerful, not all taboos were nuclear bombs. There were also taboos focused on utility and defensive purposes.

There was still more than a week before the school trip began. If Alice worked hard, she should have no problem mastering a defensive taboo.

However, the problem now was whether this one week was enough for the dwarves to construct a power armor in the shape of a muscular man. After all, the power armor sounded like incredibly advanced technology, and it didn't seem like it was something that could be modified easily.

"You can rest assured on this point." When Luna heard Alice's concerns, she explained, "Manufacturing the power armor is a simple task with dwarven technology. The only reason the power armor isn't being mass-produced yet is due to the exorbitant material cost, and the dwarves are still looking for replacement materials to lower the manufacturing cost to a reasonable level."

"Is that so?" Alice sighed in relief when she heard Luna's words. Although constructing a personalized power armor would cost a lot of money, money was the least of her worries right now. "Then, can you contact the dwarves and put in an order for me?"

The dwarves did not form a country outside the human realm. Instead, most of them had attached themselves to the various countries, making a living by selling their craft. Meanwhile, the dwarves' mechanical and forging skills were things every country required. Thus, including the Gryffin Kingdom, every human kingdom had a group of dwarves working as an integral part of their weapons development department.

In other words, so long as Alice put in a request with Hatter, she should be able to get the Gryffin Kingdom's dwarves to make her a suit of power armor.

"I can, but I don't think it will be wise to do so through His Majesty," Luna said. "His Majesty is receiving a lot of attention from the public recently because of your matter, Alice. So, if His Majesty suddenly makes such a request of the dwarves, it might end up attracting unwanted attention."

"Hatter sure is pitiful."

Alice couldn't help but express sympathy for Hatter when she heard Luna's explanation. Although Catherine had indeed helped Alice perfectly cover up her identity as the Hero, the price for that was Hatter receiving a lot of trouble. If Alice wasn't the Hero, Hatter would have probably exploded from anger.

But doesn't this mean I can't contact the dwarves through Hatter?

Alice was put in a bind. If she couldn't get Hatter to help her, who could she seek help from?

Frosette? As the March Academy's Academy-Know-It-All and Ellu Shax's daughter, Frosette should have connections to the demon realm's dwarves. However, if she were to wear this power armor to fight the "Demon King," that was no different from announcing that she was the Hero to the demon realm.

Other than Frosette, who else has a lot of connections?

After thinking for a moment, Alice suddenly thought of another person.

Indeed. Who could be more well-connected than a thief when it came to connections? Thieves might not be working on the legal side of the law, but due to the nature of their work, they had to involve themselves with many people from various industries.

Hence, if Alice didn't wish to contact the dwarves through Hatter, her next best bet would be to utilize a thief's connections to do so.

The matter of money wouldn't be a problem, either. The public might be paying close attention to Hatter's political orders, but hardly anybody would take notice if the princess went on a money-spending spree.