—
Just like that, Gustave began instructing his maids to draw their RDBM designs. Not only were they to sketch the device they wanted, but they also had to consider its feasibility—whether it would be comfortable to wear, along with the many other factors they needed to take into account.
How much weight could the structure endure? Did the measurements of the bolts and springs conflict with one another? Could it withstand environmental hazards such as winter frost or swamp dampness? All those sorts of considerations.
And while guiding them through their designs, Gustave occasionally slipped bits of modern scientific knowledge into their minds. Not formulas or calculations too difficult for ordinary folk like them, but simple understandings of physics and how it interacts with the world.
He explained concepts such as the elastic potential energy of a spring moving back and forth, the torque and speed of rotating gears depending on the ratio of their teeth, the physics of force and tension when launching a projectile according to Newton's three laws, and many more principles relevant to the RDBM models they wished to create.
Learning to calculate formulas could come later, when they were ready and had the proper tools to assist them. For now, forcing mathematical knowledge onto his maids just to compute things that were not yet their concern would only be a waste of time.
After a couple of hours—and with the ship already sailing out of Dillingen—Gustave finally had four completed designs before him, five including his own. Each represented the creator's ideal RDBM model. Not only that, but he also told them that these designs would one day serve as the framework for something far more advanced, such as a full-body mechanical armor.
However, because creating such armor was far too early—and would require a full team dedicated to industrial-scale production—Gustave narrowed their efforts to a single-function RDBM for now, rather than armor with multiple function-focused purposes.
For example, Rosemary said she wanted to fly. Because of that, the late-game design—originally meant to be a Sky-Armor capable of soaring through the air—was gradually reduced to an omni-directional mobility exoskeleton that could launch someone from tree to tree, and finally reduced even further to the most basic form: a simple grappling-hook RDBM.
Delilah, on the other hand, said she wanted to be like Yennefer in Dandelion's ballad.
Because of that, her late-game design was a slim Psyker-Armor capable of drawing Power from Chaos to turn her into a sorceress; the mid-tier design became enchanted grimoire-gloves able to store any kind of spell and release it; and the most basic version was an RDBM that could produce only a single jet of elemental magic.
Brenna said she only wanted to be a healer. Because of that, her late-game design was a Bio-Armor capable of researching pathogens, bacteria, viruses, and other dangerous contaminants on the fly, complete with built-in, highly focused healing spells.
Her mid-tier design was a mechanical exoskeleton backpack that acted as a portable alchemical station for creating cures, while the basic version was an RDBM equipped with earbuds capable of relaying a library of medical knowledge.
As for Mira, because she wanted to command birds to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, her late-game design was the Raven-Armor—a suit capable of directing and receiving information from Gustave's mechanical bird army or any other creations used as sentries.
It was a massive undertaking, since he essentially intended Mira's armor to function as a portable server: processing the vast data gathered by countless mechanical "cameras" and performing machine-learning-like analysis to extract [Knowledge] from distant parts of the Continent.
But because that was still a long-term project, he decided Mira's mid-tier design would simply be antenna-gloves, allowing her to command a small number of mechanical birds within a limited range. Her basic design, meanwhile, would be an RDBM connected to goggles and earbuds to enhance her senses.
As for himself, he still didn't know what he wanted for a long-term project. But one thing he did know was that, for now, he wanted to create an RDBM focused solely on defense—particularly to protect the area of his right ring finger.
Because when he looked at the ring Regis had given him, Gustave understood that his sanity was more important than anything else. Without it, every dream he had and every project he wished to pursue would become nothing more than a smokeless expectation if he ever fell into madness again.
As for defending his mind against telepaths, Gustave—thanks to Regis—no longer needed to worry.
He had learned a form of Occlumency—a kind of mental "mind palace"—from his vampire benefactor when Regis flew him to Redenia, specifically by secretly studying the technique used by the only spy capable of sitting at the same table as the ruthless manipulator Philippa Eilhart.
Although most major kingdoms possess their own version of this telepathy-blocking technique—except for the newly formed Lyria and Rivia—Sigismund Dijkstra's version is the most advanced, as it can also block mid-level mind control.
Coupled with the fact that using the Sanguinite ring had essentially restored his mind to a stable, normal state, Gustave knew he could still find ways to counter telepathy—such as further developing the secret technique or, more precisely, refining its ritual-like routines so that his own version could eventually resist even high-level mind control.
As for why he didn't simply use the Harry Potter version of Occlumency or the "mind palace" techniques from his original world, they were completely useless here—except as conceptual references.
This was because the magic in Harry Potter and the magic in the Witcher world were fundamentally different. Not merely in the mystical effects they produced, but in the very foundations upon which their systems of magic were built.
As for the scientific "mind palace" of his home Earth, the problem was similar.
Although the fundamentals of memory and cognition were the same, science in this world was tightly intertwined with spirituality and magic—unlike his Earth, where neither spirituality nor magic held any real, tangible influence.
For example, on the Continent, silver and salt could repel supernatural creatures. On his Earth, silver and salt were simply silver and salt—nothing more.
Because of differences like this, even if the underlying concepts were similar, telepathy in this world could not be countered using techniques from another world unless he found proper substitutes or bridging tools to make them function.
Much like how the Glyph of Reinforcement could create properties similar to Vibranium, without the ritual-like routines Dijkstra created as bridging tools, Gustave would have been unable to incorporate his own understanding from different series into those routines and make them truly work in this world.
So he told his maids to prepare a bucket of water for him, intending to perform the routines once again—even though he had already done them in Regis's winter home. Because while he had already developed a modified version of Occlumency within his own mind, his maids had not.
And considering they were going to a place full of sorcerers, even if they were only First- and Second-Degree mages, and even though they were all members of the House of Raven, Gustave still didn't want to risk exposing his surface-level secrets.
Because of that, he decided to teach his maids his own version of Dijkstra's mind-palace ritual. With a bucket of water, candles, and a copper coin prepared, he asked them once more:
"Ready?"
Seeing all of them nod, Gustave said, "I will demonstrate it first. After that, follow my lead."
Stepping toward the bucket of water, he scooped it up and slowly poured it over his temples. As the water ran down his face, he emptied his mind and murmured the mantra:
"By the stillness of the reservoir that flows and remembers all paths taken."
Then he picked up the burning candle and pressed the flame lightly against his palm for a couple of seconds. With controlled emotional fury, he snuffed out the fire and said:
"By the hunger of the scorching firestorm that heeds my command!"
Releasing all his pent-up emotion in a single breath, he relaxed into a steady rhythm—inhale, exhale—and spoke with a calm smile:
"By the breath of the world that fills all living things, wandering to carry every whispered truth."
Taking the copper coin into his hands, he thought carefully about the atomic composition of the metal and said:
"By the stone beneath my feet that anchors my spirit into solid ground."
With his state of mind complete, he began reconstructing his version of Occlumency and finished with:
"Let intruding wills falter on the threshold.
Let foreign minds find only emptiness.
What is mine, stays mine.
What is not, cannot enter.
I sharpen my focus.
I anchor my reason.
I bind my mind to itself, and none other.
I, Gustave, hereby declare this mind sacred.
I, Gustave, seal these thoughts in silence.
Let no gaze pierce them, no will bend them, no voice command them."
Hrrmm… Hrrmm… Hrrmm…
Much like stepping into Sovngarde in Skyrim, though with a different concordance of states and a unique melody carrying through the air, Gustave gazed upon a sky filled with auroras clashing and weaving across the heavens—one side a golden rainbow of Asgard defending, the other a hellish twisting roots solar eclipse attacking.
In one of those clashes, he heard the clucking of a chicken—immediately followed by thunder, storms, and rivers of lava, as though Ragnarök itself had erupted around him—before his mind was pulled back into his own territory.
Knowing he had only a brief moment to reinforce his spirit and mind, Gustave looked upon the industrial city of London within his mental landscape and quickly reshaped it into a steampunk metropolis. Not only that, he adorned his mental city with constant clockwork orchestral music echoing through the air for aesthetic effect, just before being pulled back into the real world.
Turning to his maids, who had only seen him lost in thought for a moment, Gustave asked, "So, do you remember my ritual speeches?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Nodding, he instructed them, "Okay, then let's rehearse it."
—
A/N: Short chapter. Have a headache.