In the mansion in the mining town of Alvis, Ganis, the magic engineer, widened his big eyes. His frog-like face turned blue with anger and agitation, and he was covered in thick sweat.
“M-my golem…… it was destroyed……?”
His skill, 『Puppet Master』 has the ability, 【Golem Master】. Even if the golem is at a distance, he is still able to grasp its status and command it.
Though accuracy decreases with distance, the new type of golem that Ganis had unleashed into the dungeon was stronger than ever before. As a result, it was possible to grasp its general status even from outside the dungeon.
Not until now, where the signal was suddenly cut off.
“I-impossible! No, it should be a mistake.”
Ganis used his abilities many times. However, there was no response from the new golem in the dungeon.
“It’s a joke right……!? My years of hardship…. my money……!”
It wasn’t even noon yet, and the sun was only just rising. Even so, Ganis felt as if the temperature in the room had suddenly dropped.
“Kuu! I’ve finally been able to create a golem core, now it’s……!”
Ganis felt dizzy.
Golem cores are rare items found in dungeons. With adjustments from a magic engineer like Ganis, they can be activated again and used as a golem.
“Golem cores are, so to speak, lost technology that can only be found in dungeons! In the 1000-year history of the Asgard Kingdom, there has never been a successful example of its manufacture! If I had been successful with that new type of golem, I would have proven myself to be a genius that appears once in a millennium…!!”
Ganis considers what slavers call “ashes” to be a new kind of magic stone.
He solidified this new kind of magic stone to create a golem nucleus –of course, this was only possible with Ganis’ skill, Puppet Master, but the idea was simple. The prototype produced a successful golem. However, it was too aggressive, so it became necessary to procure some additional slaves.
“.…All that’s left is a practical battle test. ….I should have shown them that the monsters in the dungeon were no match to the golem!!”
Ganis bared his teeth in frustration. What he wanted now was more information.
“Get the carriage out!”
He ordered angrily.
He traveled in a horse-drawn carriage for about 10 minutes. Then the entrance to the dungeon came into view. It is still crowded with people, but the atmosphere is a little different from usual. The closest it was like this was when there was a collapse in the mine directly connected to it.
However, Ganis’ only concern was the golem.
“Get out of the way, commoners!”
With saliva flying, he shoves the workers away.
Oh, how satisfying it would be to throw a golem into this place and kill them all. Ganis thought so in his head.
“Defeated? Was its performance insufficient? Sure, I knew that the reaction disappeared suddenly, but I didn’t really expect it to be defeated……!”
Still groaning, Ganis finally found the adventurer he was looking for. He is a middle-aged man with conspicuous stubble and leaden eyes. Adventurers who do unscrupulous work with money had roughly the same eyes.
“Greetings, Ganis-sama.”
He was the man who was buying and selling golems as a side job. He was used to boss the adventurers around.
When questioned, the middle-aged adventurer grimaced.
“Anyways…. There was a thunderous roar from the middle level. The guild came to ban entry to the dungeon…… Well, I guess they panicked. There was a general message about ‘the end’ after all.”
“……They must have had a few people sneak in to report on the experiments. What did they say?”
As Ganis goes into a frenzy, the adventurer’s eyes narrowed.
“Oh right. It was a while after the roaring stopped. There seems to be adventurers that came up from the middle to the shallow level. It seemed that they survived a fierce battle… Among them was a young boy.”
Ganis snorted.
“So what? There are plenty of young adventurers out there, aren’t there?”
“But it’s rare to see someone like that challenging the middle level. He was wearing a hood, so I couldn’t see his face…”
Finally, Ganis remembered what the slave traders had been talking about.
――A brown-haired adventurer carrying a gold coin.
――He possesses great strength beyond what one would expect from a young boy.
He had been warned to be careful if such a person showed up. If he remembered right, he was called “Alarm Boy” or “Horn Boy.” Slave traders are secretive. But the fact that they had gone out of his way to warn him about such adventurer had stuck in Ganis’ memory.
“Where is that boy now?”
The adventurer shrugged.
“That’s all I know. Maybe they are still in the dungeon.”
The new golem may have dealt a considerable blow to the party. Ganis thought so.
If they were going back to the upper level to rest, then defeating the golem and going back to the lower level would make sense. It’s all the more suspicious that they stay in the dungeon after all this commotion.
Are they going to go even further?
Ganis analyzed.
“……T-that’s bad.”
If that adventurer was really the Boy with the Horn, the slave traders would check the dungeon. Now Ganis’ worries increased. The new type of golem was an experiment Ganis had carried out on his own initiative.
“I have to hide it somehow……”
The slave trader forbade anyone from using the “ashes” for experiments without permission. He was able to make mithril golems. But any further experiments were clearly forbidden. Still, he continued his research because of his ambition. If he can not only control golems, but also create them, Puppet Master becomes synonymous with infinite troops.
“Also….”
A middle-aged adventurer whispered.
“Is there more?”
“Yes. I’ve also got a message for you, Ganis-sama. That.…. uhm, the “Business Expert” is waiting for you.”
“Say that quickly!”
Ganis turned pale and he quickly ran out of the dungeon. That guy is one of the leaders of the slave traders.
He quickly made the horse-drawn carriage descend the hill to the riverside. Then they traveled up the river in a boat using golem technology and reached the back of the mine.
No one goes near the forest managed by the lord. In fact, the forest behind the mountain where the dungeon is located is a place that even hermits shy away from, perhaps because it brings to mind images of monsters.
In the forest at the foot of the mountain, there is a hidden passage that leads down to a secret tunnel.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
In the middle of the tunnel, a man was standing.
“……Ra-Rata-dono.”
“Hello. I’m Rata, a business expert.”
The man who introduced himself as Rata bowed. He was a little over 20 years old. He had a friendly, gentle smile, short, trimmed chestnut hair, and fine clothing. He looked like a first-class merchant. Well technically, he was actually in business ―but his goods were “people”.
“I’m here to check on you.”
“Business Expert” was a kind of code, and true to his name, he seems to be in charge of all the practical aspects of the slave trade. The fact that the secret tunnel of Ganis does not come to light is largely due to this person.
At the appearance of a higher up, Ganis struggled to paste a smile on his face.
“C-check on me?”
“Yes.”
Rata smiled and looked at the rocks in the middle of the tunnel. That is the huge boulder that Ganis always feels like it resembled a “human face”.
“It’s time huh……”
“Ah?”
“Nothing, please excuse me. I just came to say hello. I heard the ashes are being mined smoothly, and the golems are being put to good use—”
After dragging him out with a bit of small talk, Rata pointed out the main point.
“I’m just a little bit interested in the side business you’re doing with our ashes.”
“……-uh?”
“You’ve made a deal with Lord Valis, haven’t you?”
Ganis’ heart began to beat wildly. He certainly did send golems and made deals in secret.
Now that he thought of it, he wondered what happened to the golem core he sent to Kalmar.
“The Lord of Valis also had some problems, and, well… he was ‘disposed of’. At that time, your deal with him came to light.”
Rata continued with a smile on his face.
“Well, that’s all fine. Rata knew, and we were interested to see how you would use the skills we gave you. That’s if only to a certain extent… but you see, you are a little flashy today, so I can’t protect you.”
He is smiling. It was an elegant smile, like he was attending an evening party, but Ganis’ face was covered in sweat.
“Here’s some unfortunate news.”
“W-what……?”
“Actually, my name, Rata, is from Ratatoskr. I’ve always had a tendency to, uhm… love telling tales~”
With a blush on his cheeks, Rata said what Ganis feared most.
“I took this opportunity to tell Jabone-san all about your past side jobs♪”
Ganis had the illusion that a large hole had opened up beneath his feet and he is going to into the abyss.
“W-Wha-…! P-Please, at least not with that woman, at least not with Jor-dono. P_please intercede for me, please forgive me!”
“Fufufu, she’s probably rushing over here right about now. She has bottomless stamina, and could travel the world in one go you see.”
Rata is grinning from ear to ear.
With Ganis cornered, at the very least, a way out occurred to him.
“……The potential slave with a rare skill that you are chasing. Don’t you want information about that boy?”
Rata’s smile faded.
“…………Hoh~?”
“No, I’m not sure. But it seems that the adventurer who defeated my new golem had similar characteristics! No, no, no, it must be him! There’s no way my masterpiece can be beaten by an ordinary adventurer!”
Rata stroked his jaw. Eventually, he smiled.
“Interesting….. Then if you could use a golem to capture the boy, or at the very least hold him back in the dungeon, I’d be happy to mediate for you. However…..”
The ground shook. Ganis groaned and looked up.
His jaw dropped from what he saw.
“W-What’s this……!”
A huge face made of rock rested on top of Alvis’ secret mine. Its eyes were open. The mouth, which had seemed closed, was now slightly open, spewing out fiercely hot breath.
――Gods, gods.
Ganis heard such voice.
Voice? A voice……? From a rock that is supposed to be nothing more than a mineral ore?
“It’s time after all….. He is the source of the ashes that melt the ice that sealed the place. If that’s the case, then he would be the first to break the seal that was imposed on him, no matter how powerful it is.”
What is this man talking about? W-What was I mining?
“But since this is a place with so many ‘titan ashes’, maybe Jor-san can also transform as the World Serpent… It’ll be perfect for a showdown with the gods.”
Rata grabbed the slumped Ganis by the collar. Though he’s supposed to be a gentle man, he easily lifted Ganis’ obese body.
“Y-you are not human……?”
“I’m a slave trader, that makes me ‘inhuman’, you see.”
Rata chuckled before letting go of Ganis.
“You’d better hurry if you want to achieve results. There’s no time left, for you or for the town of Alvis!”
Adventurer driven by money. Experimental golem core brought into the dungeon.
Possible options began to pop into Ganis’ mind. The magic engineer desperately searched for a way to save himself.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.
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