CHAPTER 55: 55. A GIRL DOLL

When Mira expressed her thoughts, Greg found it difficult to disagree with her logic, particularly because the hammock was so comfortable and the night air was pleasant. Greg let himself drift off, half-asleep, while Mira kept trying to feed him every cake on the plate.

The sounds of the workshop came through the open windows, and they were familiar and soothing. Bork’s hammering was muffled, Seraphine would sometimes shout out in surprise, and Elwen would hum softly as she worked.

The feeling felt like a nostalgic thing for him now because the atmosphere was exactly what he had hoped for when he first got to Ferndale all those months ago. A calm life, making things that were useful, and being around people who cared about him. No wars, no weapons, and no legendary legacy of destruction that follows him around.

Then he heard it. A sound that broke his peaceful moment like a hammer through glass.

"SENSEI! SENSEI, I NEED YOUR HELP!"

"IT’S AN EMERGENCY!"

Greg’s eyes flew open when he saw Felix running across the workshop yard with his messy brown hair looking even worse than usual. But that wasn’t what made Greg sit up so fast that he almost flipped the hammock over.

Felix had something on his hands. It was a thing that’s called a life-sized statue that looked too real to be true.

"Oh no," Greg said in a weak voice.

"Oh fuck no... what the fuck have you done?!"

"Felix, what did you do this time!?"

Felix skidded to a stop in front of the hammock, breathing hard and holding what looked like a perfectly shaped woman in his arms. She was beautiful in a way that was strange, with delicate features, long hair that flowed, and a calm look on her face.

But there was something fundamentally wrong with her, it’s like she was still, even when she wasn’t sleeping. "The first chaos I see after coming back from a long break that felt like hell is something weird that I don’t even know what to say next except shout, ’WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?!’"

"I can explain!" Felix said, which Greg knew meant that there was usually no good reason for what was going on.

"Please fucking do it because you’re starting to make my peaceful life break and crumble!" Greg said as he got up and swung his legs out of the hammock.

Mira stood nearby, her golden eyes wide with surprise. "Why are you carrying around a statue that looks like a real person?"

Wait... forget that. How did you get a statue that looks like a real person?"

"I made her, in a way!" Felix said something, and for a moment, Greg felt like his soul had left his body. "Well, I ordered parts from different craftsmen and put her together myself."

"The sculptor in the market made the face, the dollmaker on the east side made the body, the wig merchant gave me the hair, and I painted everything myself to make it look as real as possible!

"Why?" Greg asked, even though he was scared and he already knew the answer. "Just fucking why did you even do that shit in the first place...?"

"Because I’m all alone!" Felix yelled, and all of a sudden, the crazy energy left him, leaving behind something raw and painfully honest.

"Hey, I know I make many jokes, talk about light novels, and act like everything is a fun isekai adventure."

"But Sensei, I’m already 18. I used to spend every day in front of a computer screen. I didn’t have any friends, a girlfriend, or a life outside of games and anime."

"After that, I died and came back to life."

"I thought, ’This is my chance!’. This is my chance to really live, to find love, and to have the romance arc that every main character gets!"

He looked down at the person in his arms, and his voice broke a little. "But it’s been months, and I’m still by myself."

"Everyone else has someone or at least some people who are interested in them. There are four women who clearly care a lot about you. Because you are skilled at making things, the girls in the village are already paying attention to Bork."

"The other day, Elwen even said that an elf merchant keeps coming by to see him. But what about me?"

"I’m just here to make you laugh."

"I’m just the side character who brings house cats to life and makes things blow up!"

Felix said all of that like a rapper, and even Greg can’t even process a single thing except that he’s desperate for a girl or a woman that can love him the way others do to him. And also Greg was surprised that some village girls were looking at Bork.

But without a reason, Greg’s chest felt tight. He had been so focused on his problems, like not making weapons and fighting with his ideas, that he hadn’t really paid attention to how Felix was feeling. It was easy to forget that the kid was going through his own reincarnation trauma because he was always so happy and full of energy.

"Felix," Greg began, but the young man wasn’t done.

"So I thought, maybe I could make something like someone."

"Maybe I could make someone who loves me back if you can make Mira by accident out of love for Lylia."

"Someone who would see me as more than just the person who messes things up and makes them funny." Felix’s eyes were now suspiciously bright. "I used up all my money to pay for the parts."

"I learned about enchantment theory from Seraphine’s books, and I’ve tried to put everything I had into putting her together, starting from my loneliness, hope, and desire to connect."

He looked at Greg with eyes full of need. "But nothing happened. She’s just a toy."

"A doll that costs a lot of money and has a lot of detail, but it’s still just a thing. I don’t have your gift, Sensei."

"I can’t make life, and I can’t even make connections like you do."

The yard was very quiet. Greg saw that the others had come to the windows and door because Felix was yelling. Lylia looked like she cared, Seraphine looked like she was thinking, Elwen looked like she was sad, and Bork had taken off his headphones to listen.

With her golden eyes, Mira floated closer to Felix and looked at the doll-woman. The spirit said softly, "She’s beautiful."

"You cared for her so much. Every little thing is perfect."

"But she’s not real," Felix said with a sad look on his face. "And I don’t know how to make her real."

"That’s why I came to you, Sensei."

"You might be the only one who can help."

"You made Mira. Could you make someone for me too?"