The Mud Figurine crouched down, shriveling into a tiny little heap, then shuffled away step by step.
Shen Le felt a little softhearted watching it, but he still did not call it back. Instead, he firmly turned his head away:
Find a model?
Or buy a plastic mannequin?
If everything had been restored, or even if he had managed a rough reconstruction, he could invite Bearded Guest over and try it on his shoulders. With his broad shoulders and thick waist, he should be a good fit. They could even use the armor model he had restored.
But with only a few fragments in hand, it was probably better not to?
Shen Le weighed the reshaped, rescanned, and newly 3D-printed replica pieces, fitting them together and taking them apart as he agonized endlessly. A faint breeze stirred beside him. A silk skirt drifted over and stopped in front of him:
Shrugging, shrugging, shrugging—
"Could you... move aside too?" Shen Le was much more polite to the silk skirt than he had been to the Mud Figurine. He even raised a hand in a gesture of invitation:
"Your shoulders are too narrow, and they slope too much. They aren't suited to bearing armor! No, puffing them up won't work either, and making them bigger won't work! This isn't a matter of size! Please move aside!"
The silk skirt drooped, stirring up a fragrant breeze as it spun and danced away. Shen Le had only just breathed a sigh of relief when several Mud Figurines came pattering over and lined up beside him:
From short to tall, from thin to fat, with everything from cloth robes to leather armor to chainmail on their shoulders, they stood in a neat row.
Behind them stood a solemn line of armored figurines, their helmets bright