Heroes from Another World
I was still holding the golem's left arm, venting my frustration about the whole thing, but Seri's expression—if I could even see it—didn't change. She shook her head and took the arm from me.
"Hand it over for now. I'll try attaching it."
"For real. It really didn't move much."
"I told you. It's old, so it could break easily. Even Lea's slightest strength could snap it."
"...For real though."
I denied it, but Seri flatly denied my denial and pressed the arm against the golem. The staff in her right hand glowed, and the golem started jerking around. Then—
Crack?
Thud!
The half-attached left arm fell off again. Seri picked up the golem's arm from where it had uselessly hit the ground and looked at me.
"This isn't gonna work."
"It won't?"
"It's too old. Even if I force it on, it'll just fall off right away. This thing's a masterpiece with the former Magic Tower Lord's advanced design baked in."
"Hmm..."
"I could slap on other materials to force it, but that'd just mess up the balance."
"I see."
"Better to just use it as is."
A one-armed golem, huh. It was already only at 10% of its original performance, and now without the left arm, it looked even more shoddy. Sure, it could still crush apprentice heroes easily, but I felt kinda bad somehow? I watched Seri store the golem's spare arm in her subspace and asked,
"What if we slap on a completely different arm?"
"You got one?"
"Got a few. Dig around in the treasure vault, and something'll turn up."
"That'd ruin the balance even more."
"Still, a one-armed golem feels off. Gotta give it something cool."
Demon or wyvern arms might be a bit much... but an ogre arm would be just right. That'd make it way stronger than the original two-armed version. The one-armed golem would love that too. Not that golems had any self-awareness, of course.
"But why're you taking that?"
"Not as payment... When I have time, I'll head to the Magic Kingdom and look into it. See how it was made."
"Oh? You won't do favors for me."
"It's fine. No big deal."
I can handle it on my own. Seri smiled brightly. I still couldn't see her face, but I pictured it in my mind: a girl with burn scars but still beaming innocently. Sure, she probably looked way older than me right now, but to me, she was just a tiny little girl.
"Don't overdo it."
"Don't worry. I'm not the me from back then."
"That's why I'm telling you."
"Hehe. Want me to tell you something more interesting?"
"?"
Seri turned her head with a swish.
Huff! Huff! Run! Just run no matter what! Damn, get this stick outta the way... 500 laps... breakthrough! I'm... gonna... break it! I swear!!
While Seri and I were dealing with the golem fiasco, the apprentice heroes were still diligently running their laps. At first, when they swarmed my nest and caused chaos, I'd seriously considered blasting them with breath. But seeing them like this, I felt a bit proud. Where'd these guys even come from?
"Those guys."
"Yeah. Noisy bunch."
"Very. Did you know they've only been around for about half a year?"
"Yeah, something like that."
The mass debut of hundreds of apprentice heroes was just half a year ago. I'd overheard bits from fairies or Haring, but I didn't know the details. Their origins didn't really interest me anyway.
Sometimes they say stuff that feels weirdly familiar, though.
"They're not actually from another continent. They came from somewhere way farther."
"...? Then where?"
"Dunno. Even I don't know that much."
Seri shrugged and twirled her staff. A deep blue magic circle spread under her feet, and her body started fading away bit by bit.
Her skills have shot up big time. At this rate, she could challenge for next Magic Tower Lord.
"Gonna be Magic Tower Lord?"
"Nah, not that good. If you're curious, why not ask them directly? Looks like plenty of heroes to answer."
"Huh. Maybe."
Should I?
＊
"Everyone, assemble!"
At my call, the heroes who'd been running hard gathered in a heap. Some panting for breath, some collapsed flat on the ground, some chugging what looked like drinks, some with legs shaking— a whole variety of human drama, all heroes. Exactly 12 in total. Excluding Yongba who'd been practicing archery, the other 11 were the new trainees.
Nine guys, three girls.
More guys, but heroes traditionally favored men anyway, so nothing weird. Not because men are physically superior—nope. Even if born weak, once they receive the goddess's power and their body changes, physical limits are no big deal.
Guys are just more to the goddess's taste.
That old hag would pick maybe one girl out of every 10 guy heroes. Hell, people even said you had to be a guy to be a hero. This time, with hundreds selected, they got a decent number of girls, though.
Anyway, the heroes looked up at me like baby chicks. I was standing on a high rock, after all.
"What’s up?"
"No way...! Did I finally clear the quest?!"
"She's so cute..."
"Does Flame Dragon have a name?"
"Haha... haha..."
"Quiet down."
So chatty. I'd made them run all day—where'd they get the energy? They were gasping like they were about to die just a minute ago.
"This doable?"
"No..."
"We're dying! Give us something else!"
"Just one pic!"
"No sparring?"
"FlameDragon-chan so cute..."
Ugh. One word from me, and ten come back. Well, with 10 talking, duh. But it was exhausting. I'd ask casually and send 'em running again.
"You guys."
"Yes!"
"Can we get just one photo?"
"Treasure event?! Giving us weapons...?"
"Where you from? Doesn't seem like another continent."
"...Huh."
"?"
Suddenly, the mood got weird. The ones who'd been dying to talk to me just seconds ago started glancing at each other nervously. Just like Haring when she was weirded out by hero origins.
"What?"
"W-well, y'see."
"Hey! You can't say that!"
"I haven't said anything yet? Forums say it's fine..."
"We're from ano—like, another continen—"
"Not gonna tell?"
"It's just—!"
"We're from another world."
From the confused pack stepped a guy hero who looked super intellectual. Pushing up his glasses with one hand— for some reason, it reminded me of my past life. The others gawked at him in horror, but he seemed to be enjoying it, voice getting louder.
"Another world?"
"We're heroes chosen by the great goddess. But there can't be hundreds or thousands of talented people like that on this land, right?"
"...True."
Even the old hag couldn't just gacha randoms into heroes. They needed at least minimal 'compatibility' to handle her power. But these heroes started with compatible bodies, so I figured she'd found some workaround.
"Making compatible heroes one by one takes too long, so she grabbed 'em from another world?"
"...? Y-yeah. To make hundreds or thousands of this world's people into heroes would take astronomical time."
"Hmm..."
Heroes from another world, huh. That explained a lot of the mysteries. Why hundreds instead of the usual under 10?
Just import 'em from elsewhere!
If the goddess is the ocean, heroes are empty cups holding a bit of it. She's been handcrafting those cups till now, but if there's a 'cup factory' in another world, why bother? Just order from the factory.
Sure, factory cups are lower quality than handmade, but quantity over quality—push with numbers.
Old hag... Thought you were senile, but you're actually smart?
I was seriously impressed by the old hag—no, the goddess of this world's—thinking. The Demon King slumbering up north would probably rage in my past life's terms: this game's so rigged.
"Impressive."
"Hehe, now you get how important we—"
"Then I didn't need to worry about you guys."
"Pardon?"
Thought they were handmade heroes, but they're mass-produced. I'd almost felt bad after 3000 laps, but now? Let 'em be. Might even be more fun that way.
"I'll make you custom heroes."
"Huh?"
"Look forward to it."
Perfect timing—the golem's ready too.