The Golem Stands on the Earth!

I am working to clear the earth and debris that have buried the mountain-pass highway. The princess who came with us from the royal capital is here too.

The female mage who challenged me to a fight is here too. Talk about strange bedfellows.

I even bought a new tool, the wheel loader, and the debris removal had been proceeding smoothly.

――But right in front of us, a huge rock was buried along with a massive amount of debris.

Its top had been poking out of the debris for a while, so I had already had a bad feeling about it.

According to the laser rangefinder I took from my Item Box, it was about fifteen meters tall.

Something this large would not fit in my Item Box, and even Melissa's golem probably could not budge it.

Even the giant boulder I had removed with my Item Box had been barely manageable...

"Wow, that's huge!" "It sure is, nya!"

The beastfolk shaded their eyes with their hands and looked up at the top of the rock.

"Kenichi, what are you going to do?"

"Hmm... What should we do? Dig underneath it and roll it away?"

No, if we dug underneath a rock this enormous, we would have to collapse the entire highway.

If that happened, I had no idea whether we could restore it in a world without concrete.

"Restoring such a huge hole would take quite a lot of time and effort, you know?"

"Would it be better to leave the rock where it is and dig our way around it?"

No, that would take an absurdly long time too.

"Your iron summoned beast could probably do that, but..."

"In that case――we will leave this giant rock alone. Shall we walk across the debris and continue working from the other side――"

When faced with a difficult problem, you set it aside and work on another one instead. That was a standard test-taking strategy.

"Are you going over there by yourselves?"

"Lilith-sama would not be able to cross this debris. And if anything happened to you, it would be a disaster. We will leave the house and provisions here for you..."

"No! I don't want to! I don't want to part with you! Find some way to deal with it here!"

"Even if you say something so selfish..."

"No!"

"Princess――Kenichi is making a reasonable point."

Even when the maids tried to persuade her, the princess folded her arms and turned away.

Ah, this was a problem. Of course, if all the mages went to the other side, the princess would be left without any guards.

Maybe that was what she was worried about. I understood, but... what did she expect us to do?

"For now, I suppose we could try blasting it..."

I removed as much of the debris around the giant rock as possible, then took out tubular scaffolding from my Item Box.

I placed a generator and hammer drill on the scaffolding and began drilling blasting holes near the middle of the giant rock.

I would pour ANFO explosives into them, so I drilled them at a slight angle――four holes in total.

I poured the pink ANFO explosives into the holes. I had mixed them with Gonigoni, so they were in a thick, liquid form.

Once I finished the work, I stored the scaffolding.

"I am going to use Explosion now, so Lilith-sama, please hide behind the house. Melissa, please use Protection to defend us."

We had cleared a considerable amount of debris since setting up the house. The base and the giant rock were about forty or fifty meters apart.

"I understand――but Explosion won't bring down a rock like that... And what is that strange-colored substance?"

Normally, the magic would explode on the surface of the rock. That would not do any damage inside it.

Explosion magic was less a spell that destroyed its target through an explosion than one that swept away a wide area of enemies with the shock wave it created.

I had everyone move back, and only Anemone and I went to the front of the giant rock. I took a transparent polycarbonate shield from my Item Box and laid it on the ground.

We had blasted rhodonite out of the cliff many times before, so there should not have been any problems with the blasting itself.

Anemone looked through the binoculars and used Explosion on the pink ANFO explosives, igniting them.

"Hey! Here we go!"

I waved my hand to let everyone know. Even if they did not know what the explosives were, they knew what Explosion was.

Anemone was looking through the binoculars at the ignition points.

"Anemone, are you all right?"

"I've done this lots of times, so I'm fine."

"Good. Then go ahead."

"Mmm—Explosion (Small)! Explosion (Small)! Explosion (Small)! Explosion (Small)!"

She cast the spell four times in succession. Four explosions accompanied by white dust erupted from the rock face, and the resulting blasts scattered fragments all around.

White dust billowed up and hid the rock, but it gradually began to clear.

At the places where the explosions had occurred were four cone-shaped holes, each about a meter deep and three meters across.

The holes were separated from one another, so they were not connected. Connecting them would require another three or four blasts.

"We could probably split the rock using this, but it would take more than ten days..."

As I pondered the situation, Melissa came running over.

"What was that just now?!"

"As I expected, this is how it turned out――If only I had a larger hammer drill that could make holes deeper inside..."

"Hey! What was that just now?! Answer me!"

"It was Explosion. You saw it, didn't you?"

"There's no way you can use it four times in succession, let alone fire four blasts!"

"There is a way to use it like that. It's a secret ultimate technique!"

"――Maybe the secret is that strange-colored water!"

"It's a top-secret ultimate technique. I can't tell you."

Melissa kept demanding that I tell her, but there was no way I could explain it, and even if I did, she would not understand. There was no way she could make the same thing, either.

More importantly, was there a better way? If I could not think of one, we would have no choice but to keep blasting.

If even Melissa's golem could not move it――should I make another core and have Anemone operate it?

If we had two giant golems, they might be able to move the rock.

Before that, though, I had to find out whether Anemone could control such a huge golem...

――No, could we make an even larger golem?

I could make the core myself. If I made one larger than Melissa's core, it should produce a much larger golem.

If Melissa's golem was B○toms-class, then this one would be G○ndam-class.

If I had Melissa operate it, it might be able to move that rock.

All right, it was worth a try. I would give it a shot――I was curious myself whether I could make a giant golem.

I took the thickest log from my Item Box. I had wondered what use I could possibly have for a log, but I never expected to end up using it like this...

"Kenichi, what are you planning to do?"

"Just as Lilith-sama said, I am going to find some way to deal with it."

"With that log?"

"I was thinking that I could make a much larger core from this and create a much bigger golem."

"What?!"

"What did you say?"

The princess and Melissa were astonished, but apparently even this highly skilled mage had never tried it.

"Well, there's only one way to find out."

The log was still ten meters long, just as it had been when I cut it before. I would cut it down to eight meters, then split it in half to make the torso and arms.

I would shape those pieces and join them in a cross, creating the form of a core.

Of course, I would process them properly to match the shape of a core. Basically, I just had to enlarge the shape I had made for Anemone and copy it.

That would give me something twice the size of the two-meter core Melissa had.

If a two-meter core could make a ten-meter golem, then a four-meter core should be able to create a twenty-meter giant.

That was only a guess, of course. But I would never know unless I tried.

First, I cut the log down to four meters. I took a chainsaw from my Item Box.

The princess was shouting something at the tool cutting the log, but the tremendous racket made it impossible to hear her.

"What in the world is that?!"

That was probably what she was saying. The chainsaw was so loud that I could barely hear her.

It was so loud that prolonged use could make you lose your hearing.

"Kenichi, what is that?!"

As I let the chainsaw idle, the princess came over to me.

"It's a magical tool for cutting wood."

"W-with that, you could clear land at an astonishing speed, could you not?!"

"Unfortunately, it is a magical tool made with Unique Magic, so only I can use it."

"What?"

I ignored the princess and stripped the bark from the log. I could use the attachment I had bought for the chainsaw before.

The attachment could shave wood like a plane, so it should also be useful for finishing the log.

Once I had stripped the bark, I had the beastfolk help me lay it diagonally against an unused log and shape the top into a rounded form.

I rough-cut it with the chainsaw, then used the attachment to smooth and round it like I was planing wood.

I had originally been an artist, after all. I was good at this sort of thing. I had even made figures from scratch.

The torso narrowed toward the legs and finally split into two small forks――it turned out nicely.

Next came the hands and arms. Those were easy――they only needed to taper toward both ends.

I made the rough cuts with the chainsaw, then attached the tool and finished them.

Then I cut concave notches into the torso and arms and joined them in a cross.

The beastfolk had trouble lifting it even with all their strength, so I used K○tsu-san to hoist it up and join the pieces.

Finally, I drilled holes with the hammer drill and secured it with four bolts running all the way through.

I had already confirmed that mixing metal into the material would not prevent it from being used as a core.

"All right, Melissa, give it a shot!"

"T-there's no way I can do something like this!"

"How can you say it's impossible when you haven't even tried?"

"Even if you say that..."

She folded her arms, lifting her large breasts, and seemed bewildered by the size of the core. She had probably never seen anything this large before.

"Then I'll try it!"

Anemone volunteered.

"Anemone, are you sure you can move something this large?"

"It only has to move that rock, right?"

"That's right. If it can move the rock, we don't need it to last long."

Anemone said she would begin the process of initializing the core.

"Wait! It's dangerous! Don't force a child to do this!"

"I'm not a child!"

Anemone bristled at Melissa's attempt to stop her and seemed to take it personally.

She insisted she would do it, so after confirming once more, we continued.

I used K○tsu-san to drag the core over and set it beside the debris.

The larger the core, the more magical power it seemed to require, but Anemone could use the High Protection spell, so I assumed she had enough magic.

But was it really all right to use a child like Anemone for an experiment like this?

My guilt had completely lost to my curiosity about making a giant golem move.

"Here I go!"

Blue light gathered around her, glowing as a sphere of light between the palms she held out in front of her chest.

Some kind of power swelled up, whipping her black hair and blue skirt around.

'O great one connected to all things, grant this rubble a temporary life――'

Debris began clinging to the core one piece after another, gradually forming an enormous mass.

First came the torso and head. Then the arms stretched out, and finally the legs extended, lifting the torso up――

A giant made of earth and rocks, apparently twenty meters tall, truly rose to its feet.

"Ohhh!"

"What an enormous golem!" "I have never seen anything like that, even in the royal capital!" "Unbelievable!"

"Is that child controlling it?"

The merchants, who had been watching from quite a distance, began making a commotion.

"Miss Ane is amazing!" "Anemone is amazing, nya!"

"What in the world is this?!" "Wait a minute—this isn't a dream, is it?"

The female beastfolk also shouted as they looked up at the giant golem.

"Good heavens! I cannot believe it is actually possible to make a golem this enormous! Unbelievable!"

"T-this is absurd. I cannot believe something like this is really possible..."

The princess's words were pure astonishment, but Melissa's mutter seemed to contain a hint of jealousy that Anemone had so easily succeeded at something she had declared impossible.

The golem approached its target slowly, shaking the earth with every step, and climbed onto the top of the giant rock.

The golem's movements looked incredibly slow, but if it swung its limbs at a human pace, its extremities would move at tremendous speed, causing the material making up its body to scatter.

The blades of a huge wind turbine may look as though they are turning slowly, but their tips approach the speed of sound.

The same thing was happening here.

If this golem swung its arm and launched a Rocket Punch, it might exceed the speed of sound.

However, the golem toppled the giant rock, and as the ground shook, the golem itself collapsed with a clatter.

Anemone, who had been controlling the giant robot right in front of me, also collapsed.

"Anemone!"

I hurried over to her and lifted her into my arms.

She was bleeding from the nose. The feedback from controlling the giant golem had probably struck her small body.

My heart filled with regret. Should I really have let her push herself this far...?

"Anemone, are you all right?!"

"...I'm fine."

"Your nose is bleeding! Are you really all right?!"

"Sniff! I'm fine."

I stopped her from sniffling the blood back in and took wet tissues from my Item Box.

When I wiped around her nose, the tissue turned orange.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have made a child do something like this!"

"...I'm not a child!"

Oops. I probably should not use that word.

"Does your head hurt? Is there anywhere else on your body that hurts?"

"I'm fine!"

Anemone raised her voice at my persistent questioning.

"Sorry. But let's stop working for today, all right?"

"............Okay..."

Everyone came running over to where Anemone and I were.

"Miss Ane, are you all right?" "Are you okay, nya?" "Anemone, are you all right?"

"I'm fine."

After everyone asked her all at once whether she was all right, Anemone looked a little annoyed.

"Good heavens――I was quite surprised myself, but it seems your body was placed under a considerable strain."

"If you suddenly make something like that move, of course the backlash will affect the caster."

To a magic expert like Melissa, what we had done must have looked extremely dangerous.

Of course it did. We were all amateurs. Besides, Anemone's aptitude and talent were incredible, so I had ended up relying on her abilities.

Things had worked out despite our self-taught methods, so we had just kept pushing forward. We should have taken more steps along the way.

"I'm sorry, Anemone, for making you do this..."

"It's not your fault, Kenichi! I said I would do all of it myself!"

"But..."

"Hmmph!"

"Hahahaha..."

The princess suddenly burst out laughing, clutching her stomach.

"Lilith-sama――"

"Looking at you, you resemble my father, the king. He is thoroughly tiresome, so you should stop acting like him."

"..."

I looked steadily at Anemone's face.

"Just as the princess said."

"All right――but let's stop working for today."

"...Okay."

I carried Anemone to the tent in my arms and laid her on top of a sleeping bag.

"Sorry, Melissa. If you can, please cast Heal on Anemone. I will pay you."

"Don't be ridiculous. If I made a child work and then charged her for it, the name of 'Graceful Melissa' would be disgraced."

"I'm not a child!"

As Anemone sulked at being treated like a child, Melissa cast Heal on her. Anemone was small, after all... No wonder everyone saw her that way.

But from what I could tell, Anemone's body did not seem to have suffered much damage.

I pointed to the magical tool and asked the beastfolk inside the tent for a favor.

"We are stopping work for today――but please keep producing oil, if you don't mind."

While I was at it, I bought more oil from Shangri-La.

"We understand, boss. We can never have too much of this oil, right?" "That summoned beast really is a glutton, nya."

"I'm counting on you."

When someone is sick or recovering, you give them canned peaches――that had to be the answer. I bought canned peaches from Shangri-La.

"Anemone, let's eat this."

"I don't want any."

Damn! Was Anemone entering her rebellious phase?

Well, I had experienced it myself, but forcing someone to eat at a time like this would only backfire...

The arrival of a rebellious phase meant she was beginning to become independent. After mastering a great spell like that, overcoming hardships, and gaining experience, it was only natural for her to become more confident.

Anemone, who had once been a thin, battered, silent child...

Bell had come over without me noticing and placed a forepaw on my shoulder.

"Meow."

"Oh! Mom agrees?"

If I was Anemone's father, then Bell was her mother.

"All right! Today is a day to celebrate. I usually don't drink, but today I will!"

I took red wine and a cup from my Item Box and poured a small amount.

I bought some cat jerky for Bell from Shangri-La.

"Here, Bell. Have some."

"Meow."

I ate canned peaches and washed them down with wine.

But Nyamena and the others, who had been watching from behind me, began making a commotion.

"Boss! If you're drinking, give me some too!" "I wanna eat whatever that Forest Cat is eating, nya!"

"It's jerky, you know?"

When I confirmed that they wanted jerky too, I bought them regular jerky.

I gave Nyamena some wine to go with it.

"Nyaa! This jerky is delicious!"

"Jerky is usually just tough or salty, but this is delicious! It's perfect with alcohol!"

The three female beastfolk from the merchant caravan came over to where Nyamena and Myaree were eating the jerky.

"Hey, Tiger! What are you eating? That looks delicious!" "Give us some too!" "I want to try it."

"Of course not. Only women who've become the boss's women can eat this." "That's right, nya."

"Then the princess and the mage are the boss's women too?"

Hearing that, I choked on a peach.

"Pff! Hey, don't say something so outrageous! You'll give people the wrong idea!"

"What the hell, you tiger bastard?! So that's not true?! Feed us some too!"

"Hahaha, but I refuse!" "Nya-nya, I refuse, nya!"

The beastfolk began making a commotion behind the delighted Myaree and Nyamena.

"This is bullshit! You two are the only ones eating delicious food!"

But perhaps they realized there was no point asking Nyamena and the others, because the beastfolk came directly to me.

"Please, boss! I'm begging you, spare us just a little. Watching you eat it so happily is more than we can bear!"

"We'll let you do whatever you want with us!"

"We're a little scruffy, but if you pet us, boss, we'll shine just like those two!"

The beastfolk clung to me, and I sniffed their fur. Hmm... their scents really did seem to have individual qualities.

With the beastfolk's highly sensitive noses, they could probably tell the difference much more clearly.

But when the beastfolk rubbed against me, Myaree and Nyamena bristled, their fur standing on end.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?!"

"You never learn!"

"Now, now. Today's a day to celebrate, so I'll treat you too."

I gave the beastfolk from the merchant caravan wine and jerky as well.

"Wow! What delicious jerky!" "This is great!" "It's really delicious!"

Primula had been watching the beastfolk and seemed interested in the jerky.

"May I have some?"

"Sure."

She took a bite and was surprised.

"This really is delicious jerky! The flavor is so rich, and the longer you chew, the more savory flavor fills your mouth."

"I simmer the meat in a seasoned sauce before drying it."

But I had completely forgotten about the princess.

"Lilith-sama, would you prefer jerky or fruit?"

"I think I would prefer something sweet..."

Melissa said she wanted canned peaches too, so I served them in a deep dish. I gave the princess an entire can.

"Why is everyone eating something so delicious?!"

Since everyone was having such a good time, Anemone had become sullen.

"Because today is the day Anemone became independent and grew up."

"I've been an adult all along!"

"There, there. I understand, you're an adult. When you find a man you like, introduce him to Dad and Mom Bell, okay?"

Hearing that, Nyamena and the others stood up.

"What?! Miss Ane has a man?! Great, let us meet him! I'll see whether he's good enough for Miss Ane!"

"Meow! I'll check him too!"

"Oh, I will have to test whether he can support a woman adequately, financially speaking..."

"Hahaha! The man who marries Anemone will have a difficult time, won't he?"

As everyone laughed, Anemone shouted.

"Nobody said anything like that! Even though Kenichi is here!"

"Since it seemed you'd started disliking me, I figured you must have found some man you liked."

"That's not true!"

"Then... do you want some canned peaches?"

"I don't want any!"

Anemone turned away again.

"What? They're so delicious, though... Munch, munch."

She was staring intently at me.

"...If Kenichi kisses me, I'll eat it."

"Really? Then here! A kiss on the forehead! A kiss on the cheek!"

I pulled Anemone close and kissed her forehead and cheek.

"What about on the lips?!"

"That will have to wait until you're a little older."

"Geez!"

Anemone picked up the deep dish of canned peaches and began eating with gusto.

Using magic consumed calories, so she must have been hungry.

In any case, I was glad she did not seem to have suffered any physical damage.

Evening came, and we ate the meal Primula had prepared.

Anemone ate normally too, so she did not seem to have any problems.

However, perhaps because she was tired, Anemone went to sleep early once it grew dark.

I was sleeping with Anemone in a two-person sleeping bag in the tent, but I was not tired, so I used my tablet to read a book I had copied from the castle library.

It was a valuable book that could not be bought at Shangri-La.

As I was looking at the tablet, someone came over.

When I looked toward the entrance of the tent――it was the princess, wearing a white nightgown.

"Is it all right for Her Highness to come visiting me at night?"

"I feel bad for involving you in my selfishness."

"Are you talking about our plan to go to the other side of the highway? Well――I understand that you are worried about all the mages leaving your side. Perhaps I should have brought the knights after all..."

"If the number of people increased, would that not place an even greater burden on you?"

"Before that, would the knights really accept being supported by me――ha-ha."

"Of course, that too."

The princess seemed to want to say something, but if someone saw us here, there was no telling what they might say.

I took her hand and tried to lead her toward the house, but she resisted, so I pulled her close and lifted her up.

I passed by the three beastfolk women from the merchant caravan sleeping in front of the house and knocked on the front door.

"Maids! Sorry to bother you!"

"...!"

After a commotion inside the house, the door opened.

The one who appeared was the head maid. Her hair was disheveled, and her glasses were crooked.

Maybe the maids had been sleeping too.

"I found the princess wandering outside, so I brought her back. I doubt there is anything out there, but it is dangerous."

"Princess! I am terribly sorry for dozing off! Please come inside!"

Once I confirmed that the princess had entered the house, I returned to the tent. I slipped my legs into the sleeping bag and stroked Anemone's head as she slept beside me, when I heard voices from behind me.

"Boss, sending a woman who came for a night visit straight back..." "That's right, nya."

"Sorry for waking you."

The beastfolk woke up at even the slightest noise.

Their senses were more sensitive than those of a cheap sensor.

"What are you talking about? I can't lay a hand on royalty. I'd lose my head."

I turned the tablet back on and began reading again.