"Master, please hold me too."
After dinner, Ren, who was savoring the lingering taste of the delicious meal, almost made a strange noise at the sudden plea. Furi and Iris, who were in the middle of cleaning up, also froze with wide eyes. The one who spoke, Mei, the silver-haired maid golem, had her usual neutral expression.
"What's with the sudden request?"
"It's not fair that everyone else gets a turn. It's not good to leave someone out."
"...Ah."
At night, Ren usually goes to bed with someone. Furi is the most frequent, followed by Iris, and occasionally Mariabelle. Mei is not included in this group. As a golem, Mei doesn't sleep in the same way humans do, and what Ren provides is "life force for procreation," not sexual intimacy. Ren had thought it was fine because Mei herself seemed to prefer watching other people's romantic dramas to her own.
After thinking for a moment, Ren stood up and gently took the girl's arm. He pulled her closer and put his arms around her in a hug. She was hard, but with a strange texture that was somehow softer than ceramic or iron. Her skin was cool to the touch.
"How's this?"
"You don't sound very happy about it, do you?"
Her lens-like eyes stared intently.
"My bust size has increased since we first met. Considering my height, I should be considered quite busty. Does it not appeal to your personal preferences?"
"I'd be in trouble if you seriously pursued my preferences, but if I answer seriously, you lack softness and warmth."
"Muu."
The girl let out a small groan and moved away. Since she looked somewhat pleased about the hug, she probably just disliked being left out and didn't necessarily want to be "held in an erotic way."
"So that's the issue. I consider that unnecessary cost from a functional perspective."
"Is it difficult to make yourself warm and soft, Mei-chan?"
"The former is an energy problem. If I divert magical power to body heat, my combat ability will decrease proportionally. It is not impossible to solve with materials, but that would involve increased effort in procurement and higher maintenance costs."
In summary, "soft, warm material is expensive."
"Your mother, the golem, is very similar to a human, right?"
"Yes. However, my mother won't tell me the composition of her body, no matter how many times I ask. If I just knew the recipe, I could reduce the cost... Guh-nuh-nuh."
"Do you actually say 'guh-nuh-nuh' out loud?"
Smiling wryly, Ren casually touched Mei's body. The girl looked back, fixing her gaze on Ren's fingers. Her flat expression seemed to ask, "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"I think this is fine as it is. It feels good to touch."
"But you still have no desire to hold me, do you?"
"Why are you so insistent on that?"
"It's lonely being the only one left out."
Even so, Ren didn't feel like he could sleep while holding Mei in bed. The coolness would make him colder, not warmer.
"Well, I'd welcome it in the summer. I'd actually want you to sleep with me on those uncomfortable nights."
"Oh, that's a great idea! That would feel wonderful."
"Conversely, in the blazing sun during summer, you'd probably reach an incredible temperature..."
Iris had a point. Mei would likely absorb so much heat, like a car's exterior, that she would become incredibly hot. They wondered if Mei could cook food on her body in the summer.
Then, Mei said "I see," as if something had occurred to her.
"Sunlight. That might be an efficient way to heat my body. If I can establish a structure that takes heat into the body and conversely prevents it from escaping as much as possible..."
"Are you trying to make solar power?"
"It's more like a heat storage material, isn't it?"
Starting the next day, Mei began modifying her body to test her idea. Since the issues were mostly internal, her appearance remained mostly unchanged. She used the materials she had accumulated so far. Since the amount of material required for maintenance wasn't large as long as she didn't sustain damage, the collected materials had been piling up. They were now being used for this modification.
In parallel with the modification, she began an activity:
"Basking in the sun, huh. That looks relaxing, Mae."
"I am charging. No, not electricity. I suppose I should say 'warming up'."
The act of sitting still by the window during the sunny hours. She performed tasks that didn't require movement, like reading, in parallel, but she continued to absorb as much sunlight as possible.
Naturally, household chores like cleaning fell behind, but when Ren reached for the broom and dustpan, thinking it was okay to take a day off...
"Master. That is my job."
"No, Mei, just bask in the sun. I'm helping the maid who always works hard."
"Absolutely not. I will balance my work with this."
For some reason, Ren was scolded severely. Mei took the cleaning tools from Ren, then suddenly moved closer, puffing out her chest as if to say, Go on, touch me. Since she insisted, Ren reached out and touched her.
"Oh, it's warm."
Her body, having absorbed the spring warmth, was indeed radiating heat. Since she was a golem, not a robot, there was no risk of internal machinery being damaged by the heat. It was like a reusable hand warmer—or a hot stone compress.
"The next problem is how long this heat will last."
The conclusion was that the heat completely dissipated during the night.
"Muu. I need to increase the heat accumulation and insulation efficiency. For now, I suppose I should increase my exposed skin area."
"Wait, Mei-chan. Absolutely no nudity or just underwear, okay? You're by the window, even if we're inside the house."
"It's inefficient, but I suppose there's no choice. Then, Master. Could you lend me one of your revealing outfits with a large opening at the back?"
"Of course I'll lend it to you, but you need to tell me later what you really think of my clothes."
By letting sunlight directly hit her skin and improving her insulation through modification, the warmth lasted significantly longer, but still not for a full day.
"It seems I must grant a new function to my core."
"Is that difficult?"
"A completely new function would be quite difficult, but this is an application of the function that circulates magical power throughout my body—I can circulate heat using the same principle—so it shouldn't be too much trouble."
After this modification, Mei's insulation ability significantly improved, and the warmth could be maintained with just about an hour of sunbathing a day.
"The next problem is that if I overheat, the heat becomes too trapped."
"Can't you just release the heat in moderation?"
"If I release the heat, I will be troubled when it rains or remains cloudy for several days."
"I see. That sounds complicated."
This trial and error eventually led back to the principle of the hot stone compress. She created an internal part that accumulated the heat absorbed by her body and circulated the resulting warmth in moderation, achieving a partial solution. To solve it completely, she would need to install a more advanced temperature regulation function in her core itself.
"With this, I can warm your bed, Master."
"Thank you, Mae. But it's almost summer now, so being cool is fine, too."
"Master, you are quite selfish."
But since she made the effort, Ren slept with her before summer arrived. It was a different feeling from the warmth of human skin, but the pleasant, gentle heat was quite comforting. When Ren told Furi and the others the next morning, they approved, saying it sounded "fun," and it soon became a trend within the party for members who were sleeping alone to cuddle Mae.
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