Chapter 110
A few days later.
“Now, this side is what I made for the ones going out to the battlefield, and this side is what I prepared for my assistants!”
“Ooooh..!”
Even the entry gate I had bought for a staggering sum of over 10 billion still needed golems, but if I wanted to make a whole lot of golems, I absolutely needed golems to help Grandpa Galahad.
Grandpa Galahad works incredibly fast, sure, but eventually he'll need to be even faster than that. Besides, Minyum and Suri used to help him, but those two are inside the gate right now.
I'm going to make golems that can help so Grandpa won't be lonely working by himself.
“But... is this really okay?”
“Of course! This size is just right!”
“Hee.”
Ten sets total: 8 kg of low-grade rare metal and 40 grams of high-grade magic stone per set. All told, that's just 80 kg of rare metal and 400 grams of high-grade magic stone.
At this rate, I'm making assistants for way less than it cost to make Ophelia. The rare metal is a fair amount, but it's lower quality than the synthetic rare metal from Nova used for Ophelia, and Ophelia used 600 grams of ultra-premium magic stone—something you couldn't even get with money.
“Think it through carefully! I trust the princess!”
ㅡclack!
“Uuuum..! Okay!”
I stepped up to the golem materials, neatly lined up into ten sets according to the proper amounts, and thought about it for a moment. Still, if they're going to help as assistants in a forge, wouldn't a human shape be better than an animal shape? They'd need hands to be able to help properly, after all.
ㅡbeep?
“Huh? No, no.”
If you imagine having ten dogs... you'd go crazy in an instant. They'd tear open every bag of dog food in the world.
“Then maybe a tiny human shape... something fairy-like? Or round and chubby?”
It probably doesn't need five fingers. If I picture the early Minium, that seems like a good fit. Three fingers, human-like but small. Still made of metal, so it can work well...
“Okay! I've decided!”
“Ooh! I'm looking forward to it!”
“I believe in the princess's choice.”
“Yes!”
What came to mind was the Minium from back then. Of course, it would be much bigger than the Minium from that time, right? Back then, Minium was made out of a hair dryer with a plastic outer shell and a few aluminum cans.
“R-respond to the princess's summons! Ten assistants to help Grandpa Galahad!”
ㅡflaaash..!
The mana being drawn in was less than I expected. Exactly as pre-set, the 8 kg of rare metal and 40 grams of magic stone began sticking together.
Before long, little golems popped into existence in a bright blue flash.
ㅡMuu!
ㅡMuuuu!!
“It worked!”
They were a little stubbier than I expected, but they still had arms and legs, and even three fingers. This was more than enough of a body to work as a forge assistant.
“Kahaha! Very nice!”
“Grandpa! Do you like them?! What do you think!!”
“They're the best, Princess!!”
Their size was just about up to my waist? If I crouched down, our eye levels seemed to be almost the same.
“Kahaha! You lot, come over here!”
ㅡMuu..?”
“Uh, uh-huh. Right.”
Come to think of it, maybe these guys still didn't know what they were made to do. Grandpa Galahad told them to come here, but they were looking at me and not moving, so it seemed they were still only following my orders.
“Kids, all you have to do is work hard and help Grandpa Galahad with his job. Got it?”
ㅡMuu!
ㅡMuuuuuu!!
“Go on, off you go!”
Kind of like house sprites? The tiny ones nodded when Grandpa showed them an ingot and told them to bring “this much, this much,” and then they started running all over the place.
“Hmm. Why aren't they working and just running around?”
“They seem to be trying to figure out the internal structure. Since they still don't have any information on what's inside.”
“Ah..!”
Just as Ophelia said, the little guys moved around the factory in their own areas, found where the ingots were, and kept busily carrying them one on each shoulder.
ㅡMuuuu!
“Good job!! Amazing!!”
ㅡMuu!
After finishing the job, they suddenly came over to me, so it seems the command was wrong somehow.
“N-no, no! You have to keep helping Grandpa!”
ㅡMuu....
“Ah, um... so...? W-well done! You all are the best! That was a test just now, and you passed it! I'll grant you the honor of working here as Grandpa's assistants, okay!?”
ㅡM-muu..!
“R-right! It's an incredibly difficult job! Do you think you can do it?!”
ㅡMuu!!
ㅡMuuuu!!
“Really?! Then I'll watch! Now go and follow Grandpa Galahad's orders!”
They kept clanking around, but anyway, it was resolved. Our little house-sprite golems are now going to become full-time forge-sprite golems and work as Grandpa Galahad's assistants. Probably....
“Excellent work, Princess.”
“I-I guess it worked out... maybe....”
Anyway, making Grandpa's assistants was a success. If ten forge sprites diligently help Grandpa Galahad, then we'll probably be able to get ready to make the other golems faster too.
ㅡchak-chak-chak
The battle golem materials piled up in front of me in an instant. The forge-sprite golems had brought them over.
“30 kg of mid-grade rare metal and 120 grams of mid-grade magic stone each.... Can a golem made with this much actually fight..?”
Since what I'm making this time is a soldier golem, of course it needs enough specs to fight. But somehow it looks a little flimsy...? If I make them this weak and they get smashed inside the gate, wouldn't that be even more of a loss?
30 kg of mid-grade rare metal and 120 grams of mid-grade magic stone per unit. With five sets total, that's 150 kg of rare metal and 600 grams of magic stone.
“Princess, these materials are about five times what was used when Suri was first made.”
“Ah, strong.”
Back when Suri was first made? I thought it was practically S-rank. Come to think of it, that seems right—the 6 kg of rare metal and even the tiny little magic stone embedded in the sword Dohee gave me.
“Then these soldier golems can be placed under Minium's command.”
“Ooh..! Minium, did you hear that?! You're getting subordinates!”
ㅡclack!!
“Hehe, you like it?!”
Of course, they couldn't compare to Minium's level, but that's something I have to take into account. Minium is in super-ultimate enhanced state right now, and it even has a jet engine installed, you know?
And where is there a soldier stronger than the boss? Then that one should be the boss.
“Phew, I won't be short on mana, right?!”
“The small golems you just made won't have any impact on your abilities, Princess.”
“Th, that's not the case...?”
Anyway, I have enough mana to make soldier golems. To be honest, I didn't even feel a thing while making them. I feel like I could make 500 house-sprite golems.
“Phew.... G-golem creation! Answer the princess's call!”
Just like before, a little mana was siphoned away, and right on the preset amount, the 8 kg of rare metal and 40 grams of magic stone began sticking together. Before long, they hummed as they melted and clumped into round shapes, then pop-pop. After the flash of light, I heard footsteps.
“O, ooo..!”
ㅡclack!
“I-it's cool..!”
The five soldier golems were sitting in front of me, kneeling on one knee at perfectly even intervals. From the outside, if I just did something about the joints, they'd almost look human. Maybe around 180 cm tall? Definitely taller than Ophelia, but clearly smaller than Minium, who was almost 2.3 meters tall.
“S-soldiers! Stand up!”
ㅡclack!
“O-oh.... They're incredibly well-disciplined...”
The five soldier golems sprang up in textbook attention stance. I beckoned Minium over from beside me, brought it over, and introduced it to the soldier golems.
“This is Minium! It'll be your boss!”
ㅡclack..!
“No, Minium, a thumbs-up doesn't look cool. Something a little more stylish.”
ㅡswish swish
“...And not moonwalking either. It's cool, but that's not the kind of thing a boss should do.”
For now, I dragged Minium, who was moonwalking away, back to my side and continued the explanation.
“U-um... you soldiers...? You're going to follow Captain Minium and tear through monsters like crazy, okay? And your job is to bring back the monsters' magic stones.”
ㅡnod nod
“Is there anyone who doesn't want to go under Minium? N-no... golem?”
The five soldier golems stood there blankly for a moment, then the one in the middle raised its hand.
“Mm! Step forward.”
ㅡclack....
The soldier golem that had raised its hand came over in front of me and knelt on one knee.
“Mm, so... what should I do?”
ㅡclack?
“Then... d-do you want to spar with Minium?”
Minium and the five soldier golems. All the golems in the factory came outside together and stood in an open dirt clearing nearby.
“Then... a showdown between the soldier golem and Minium! Whoever wins becomes the boss and gets to issue commands during battle. Got it?!”
ㅡclack!
“Okay, then start!”
The soldier golem drew a long two-handed sword from its fingertips, then charged at Minium much faster than I expected.
Come to think of it, if you count it as five times the specs of Suri back then, it's top-tier even among B-ranks. It could probably almost make it to A-rank.
“Hwaeek.”
The soldier golem's two-handed sword thrust came pounding down hard enough to leave the ground caved in. But Minium simply stood there, extended its left hand, caught the tip of the blade between its fingers, and swung the sword in its right hand.
ㅡKWAANG!!
“Huh...!”
The sword stopped just before touching the soldier golem's neck. The difference in power was overwhelming. Minium has S-rank-level combat power in one-on-one bruiser combat, so it can't be helped.
“M-Minium wins! Soldier golems, you saw that, right?!”
ㅡclack..!
I was worried they might hate Minium's victory, but the soldier golems all threw both arms up and bounced around excitedly.
And they even bounced over to Minium too. I'm glad they seem to like it more than I expected.
“I-is this okay..?”
“Seems like it is.”
“Kahaha! Nice, Minium! That worked out well!”
ㅡclack!
* * * * *
Minium and Minium's subordinate soldiers—squad?—went into a gate in a mountain area with poor access. Suri had originally been in there too, but now that there are five soldiers, it's fine.
I need to receive a report on the situation every day, and I need to praise them myself too. But the gate is in a place that's even harder to reach than I expected. It's hard for me to go there myself, and it'd be a tremendous loss for them to come here.
Of course, once a month we'll all gather and I'll praise them properly, but every single day is honestly impossible.
“H-hello, guys..?”
So this is the temporary measure Ophelia put together.
“A-are you doing well...? No, can you even see this..?”
-minium : holy
-minium : goddamn cute
“G-goddamn cute..?”
A stream that can broadcast my face to a whole bunch of golems at the same time.
It's a temporary measure too, and since it's a secret room, no one else can come in.