Chapter 7 - Fitting the suit golem

Jane slowly slipped into the long, cream-colored Armani cashmere coat. Just like when she had bought it, it fitted like a glove and hugged her slim figure.

She reluctantly took a dagger from Rodrik and carefully placed the tip against the fabric. Then she clenched it lightly.

The fabric gave way, but could not be cut. She began to press harder and saw at the sleeve. Then she spontaneously scraped wildly at the sleeve with the blade. A moment later, she tore the dagger away from the expensive fabric again. Horrified by her lack of caution, she looked closely at the expensive fabric. She raised her arm and went to the window, where the light was better. The coat showed not the slightest flaw.

"Rodrik, you are a genius! This golem coat really is indestructible. Is it also bulletproof?"

"The coat does, but since the coat doesn't contain..." he took a magazine about bulletproof vests from the desk and opened a bookmarked page: "...ceramic trauma plates , the impact will probably break your ribs or at least leave a fist-sized bruise. But that's still better than a bullet penetrating or even piercing your body. If the golem notices the attack, it can stiffen up in the appropriate place and distribute the impact energy over a larger area. It can certainly do this with arrows and crossbow bolts, but bullets are normally too fast. It should be able to see the shooter and where he is aiming very clearly. The cloak is also fire and acid resistant."

Suddenly Jane wheeled around, looked around the otherwise small student room and then swept through the empty air in a sweeping motion. Rodrik raised an eyebrow.

"Someone grabbed my butt! If it's one of your fellow students with an invisibility spell, he's in for a treat!"

Rodrik looked intently at the floor. He hadn't bought the high-pile carpet because of its pleasant softness and good footfall sound insulation. Nor because it had been unbeatably cheap in the special offer. It was impossible to remain undetected as an invisible person on the carpet. But he couldn't see a telltale footprint anywhere. When he looked up, he looked straight into Jane's furiously glittering golden eyes. She was hanging her arms straight down, which Rodrik somehow didn't find reassuring. With her fists clenched tightly, it didn't look like a relaxed posture either. Before he could ask anything, Jane glanced down at herself. At the front, hand-shaped indentations were visible in the coat at chest height, extending over her firm, shapely...

"It's not my fault! I don't know why the coat does that! Honestly! It's extremely rare for a golem to take on the characteristic traits of its creator or live out the creator's dreams..."

He fell silent as he realized what he had just said. Inwardly, he slapped himself in the face. Normally, he was a very good liar, but he simply hadn't expected this.

"Rodrik... The coat not only feels me up, it also purrs."

When he concentrated on it, Rodrik could also hear it in the silence that followed the words. A soft, comforting purr. Perhaps a kind of moan. His heart rate picked up a notch as he imagined what Jane's father would do to him if he found out.

"I'll pay you back the money for the coat as soon as I get it. I promise! It might take me a while to get that much together, though."

"Can't I just order him to stop?"

"Yes, of course. Armani, from now on she is your master. Do everything she says."

"Armani?"

"When I had almost finished the spell, I realized that I didn't have a name yet. I couldn't think of anything better off the top of my head."

"Armani, stop moving. Completely! Just stay relaxed."

The two of them waited anxiously while Jane paced back and forth in the room.

"So?"

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"I think that's all right. He won't do any more nonsense. Do I have to expect any more surprises?"

"Magical attacks can break through its protective spell, but any damage will slowly close up on its own. Dirt is practically impossible to stick to, but if it does, you can simply throw the suit in the boil wash. It is crease- and iron-free. I removed the original note with the washing instructions before the enchantment. Before washing, however, you should tell it to stay in the washing machine. Otherwise he might think it's an attack and dismantle the washing machine from the inside. And I have instructed him to bring his carrier to safety as soon as he is unconscious. This means that he will probably crawl across the floor on his elbows. To a place he thinks is safe with his limited mind. You can revoke the order now, of course."

"Anything else?"

"Well... one more thing. As his creator, I can't prevent him from continuing to follow my orders. Even if I give him orders to the contrary, I could revoke them at any time."

"Wait a minute, wasn't that Archeron's project? Shouldn't he have done the enchantment then?"

"That's true. But I still owed him a favor and, without wanting to sound immodest, I'm much better at saying it. He'll probably get a straight A for his exam."

"Hasn't this been observed by a professor?"

"Yes, but that was just Professor Groschen. He was reading graphic novels all the time. Something about a flying superhero in red full plate armor. I don't think much of those things. The stories usually make absolutely no sense and the motivation of those involved is completely unrealistically simple in structure."

*

When Jane walked through the front door at home a little later, she almost tripped over a luggage trolley on which three large black suitcases had already been placed. She went up the stairs to her father's study. Even from a distance, she could hear someone pushing things around upstairs and stacking them together. She simply pulled the door open. Her father was standing at one of the bookshelves, sorting out books and putting them in a box.

"What's going on here?"

"Just a precautionary measure. In case we have to move at short notice."

"Moving? I don't want to move! Why would we move? I thought there were no other places on the entire planet where you could use magic so openly."

"There are signs that this world will become uninhabitable in the near future."

"What?!? Are you crazy? What have you done?"

"I didn't do anything wrong."

"Then just explain to me what's going on!"

"Wouldn't you like to talk to one of my books instead of letting me decide what you should and shouldn't know?"

"Are you coming up with this story again? How many times do I have to apologize?"

"Ask your non-magical friend and the crazy craft mage. And now make a list of the things you want to take with you in an emergency."

"How much longer do we have?"

"Until the sun goes out."

"You mean until it goes down?"

Majere looked at her silently through his sunglasses and then turned back to his bookshelves to take out another volume and place it carefully in the transport box.