The Mithril Golem
The Mithril Golem stepped into the damp, dark mine. Our footsteps and the sound of water droplets falling from the ceiling echoed faintly through the space.
"This is my first time entering a mine in my entire life," Cerise said.
"Same here," I replied.
Well, of course. Most ordinary people would never have a reason to set foot in a mine. Even back on Earth, I had never been to one. It was probably the same in this world.
Lanterns had been installed along the walls at regular intervals, but it looked like they hadn't been maintained in quite some time—several of them had already gone out. Ugh. I really don't like the dark.
"It's hard to see anything. And up ahead... it seems even darker."
"Hmm..."
The deeper we went inside, the darker it became. Even where we were standing now, only a few meters ahead were visible in a hazy blur, and just as Cerise had said, beyond that it was pitch black—you couldn't see even an inch in front of you.
"Excuse me for a moment."
"Y-yes?"
Grab—
"H-hic—!"
I immediately took Cerise's hand with the one not holding the pickaxe. Through her palm, I could feel her pulse, and a warm heat transferred to me.
"We might get lost otherwise. Please understand. Also, pay close attention to the flow of mana."
"H-heeeek...!"
Of course, that wasn't the only reason I took her hand. In this kind of darkness, getting lost could be dangerous.
'Observe the mana.'
Even in this darkness, if a monster appeared, we could detect it through the flow of mana. At our level, simply grasping the flow would be enough to respond appropriately.
We walked like that for some time, hands clasped together. It was hard to tell exactly how far because of the darkness, but eventually—
"Hm. I think it's fine to let go now."
"Ah..."
It was no longer a world of pure blackness. Thanks to the ore that glowed brightly even in the dark, we had secured some degree of visibility. This much was more than enough.
By the way, is this mithril? All of that over there?
Sky-blue ore embedded in the walls, emitting a truly ethereal and brilliant light. Seeing what looked like blue stars floating inside the massive cavern almost made me feel like I was staring into the universe.
...Thud.
"Commander."
"I know. Get ready."
A faint sound of footsteps coming from far away, along with the subtle flow of mana I could sense. Cerise and I gripped our pickaxes tightly with both hands.
Thud... thud... thud.
The footsteps grew louder, reverberating through the enormous cavern, until finally a massive body revealed itself.
"Oh... I see."
"What in the world is that...!"
-Uwoooor...!
A body larger than a three-story building. It looked so solid that even decent blades wouldn't leave a scratch. And all over its form, sky-blue mithril ore was crudely embedded everywhere.
'Mithril Golem.'
It matched exactly the form of the golem I had imagined.
"No wonder the workers couldn't handle something like this."
"Indeed. It's more than enough reason."
Just having a massive body doesn't make every monster strong. What matters is the total amount of mana. The more mana a monster holds, the stronger it is regardless of its size. And judging by the total mana this golem possessed... it seemed to be in the upper-middle range of 3-star monsters.
"Vice-Commander Cerise. Can you handle it?"
If she lacked confidence, it would have been a good idea to return to the mercenary group and come back with the other members. A 3-star monster in the upper-middle ranks was a level that even the Empire would acknowledge. It might seem arrogant for just two people to attempt subjugating a 3-star monster.
"I can do it, Commander...!"
"Understood."
As expected. I knew Cerise would say that.
Cerise glared at the golem with eyes that burned brighter than mithril even in the darkness, raising her mana.
And I absolutely refuse to sit this one out.
It wasn't completely impossible, and if it was within the realm of possibility, I would challenge it without hesitation. Especially since I was doing this alongside Cerise, who would one day become the Empire's strongest. It was something I had to do. Because we could succeed.
-Uwoooor!!
Thud thud thud thud!
The golem, which had seemed to be giving us a brief reprieve, suddenly lost its reason and charged forward. Each step of the giant shook the entire cavern as if it were vibrating.
Clang—!
I dodged the golem's hand as it tried to grab me and struck its body with my pickaxe. A clear ringing sound echoed out, but not a single scratch remained on the golem's body. Instead, my own arm trembled from the recoil.
"Haaap—!"
Kaaang—!
Since the golem's attention was focused on me, Cerise struck its defenseless leg from behind. It was a blow far stronger than mine, yet it only left a slight dent. As expected, the golem's defining trait was its absurd toughness.
And if we're following that cliché, then...
'There must be a weak point on the golem!'
Though its entire body was hard and powerful, there was definitely a clear weakness.
"Commander. Perhaps..."
"I think you're right."
Using Mana Eyes, Cerise and I could confirm traces of mana lingering in various spots across the golem's body. The mithril ore. In every area where those stones were embedded, a faint trace of mana remained. That must be the weak point.
-Uwooooaaak—!
Thud thud thud thud—!
When its attacks failed to connect, the enraged golem began rampaging even more wildly. Its solid body slammed haphazardly into the walls and ceiling, causing the entire space to shake.
At this rate, the whole cave might collapse.
"Let's hurry. We'll go all out."
"Yes! I'll follow right behind you!"
If we wasted any more time, it would only be a matter of time before we were buried in the cave along with the golem. So I decided to draw out our full power.
Kwaaang—!
Kaaang— Clang!
Dodging the attacks coming from both hands, Cerise and I split to either side and began hammering at the spots where mithril ore was embedded.
Crack... Rumble—!
-Uwaaaaak—!
With each mana-infused strike, the mithril ore sections shattered and fell away. As if in pain, the golem let out a roar that shook the entire cavern.
Kwaaang—!
Bang bang!
The golem's indiscriminate, merciless barrage continued, but it was useless against me—now that I had grasped its attack patterns—and Cerise, with her genius talent.
Kaaang—!
Clang!
We simply kept mining out yet another mithril ore!
-Uwooooo... Thud—!
Only after we pried out the largest ore chunk attached to its back did the golem finally collapse, as if it had exhausted all its strength. However, we hadn't yet delivered the finishing blow.
I won't let you go painlessly...!
Killing it was the same either way, but how could I possibly send it off without pain? And given the nature of its body, pain was inevitable.
"Let's finish this, Vice-Commander Cerise."
"Yes! Right away!!"
Huuup—!
Clang clang clang clang clang clang— Kaaang—!
-Uwoooooooooooor—!
We climbed onto the fallen golem's body, caught our breath for a moment, then began striking with all our might, channeling our mana into every swing of the pickaxe. A refreshing, clear sound rang out as we felt the golem's body crumbling away in real time.
"Now die...!"
Kaaang—!
When Cerise's final mana-infused strike slammed into the mithril ore—
-Uwoooor....
The golem lost its mana and crumbled apart, scattering only its ores.
"Whew. Is it over..."
"Good work, Vice-Commander Cerise."
"N-no, not at all, Commander!"
We set down our pickaxes and took deep breaths. As expected of a 3-star monster, it was incredibly tough.
Still, aren't we pretty amazing?
No matter how you looked at it, the golem was definitely a 3-star monster, and quite a strong one at that. The fact that the two of us had taken it down without so much as a scratch... Maybe we had grown a bit stronger?
What was certain was that, while I wasn't entirely sure about myself, Cerise had become far stronger than she was during the previous encounter with the Nepenthes. She was now so fast that it was difficult for me to keep up with her movements, and her attacks had grown even sharper. Was this the level required to show potential as a Swordmaster?
I probably wouldn't reach it no matter how much I trained in this lifetime. Unless I pulled the clone lottery a few hundred times, but I had no desire to do that, so I put the thought out of my mind.
"Let's gather the ores and head out."
"Yes! Understood!"
And so we collected the golem's core that lay abandoned on the floor, stuffed the mithril ores into a cloth bundle that had been left in one corner of the mine, and stepped out of the cavern.
"Finally, we're outside."
"Yes... I don't think caves are a place I particularly enjoy."
"I feel the same."
Our whole bodies had gotten damp... and we could barely see anything in front of us. Besides, being in such a closed-off space felt somehow suffocating.
"D-did you two really defeat that monster?!"
As we squinted against the bright sunlight, the caretaker Iron came running over in a panic. Without a word, I showed him the golem's core.
"Huk...! So that's the core of that monster...! T-thank you, thank you so much!!"
"There's no need for thanks."
I stopped Iron, who was bowing his head repeatedly with tears welling in his eyes. Right now, we had something far more important than gratitude.
"So... what kind of compensation will you provide?"
"....Pardon?"
Iron, who had been wearing a bewildered expression, finally seemed to grasp the situation and began fidgeting anxiously as if he were in big trouble.
Compensation? Hand it over.
The mine's caretaker, Iron, has been forced to surrender a large quantity of mithril ore as compensation.
"Whoa—! This is incredible! You really brought it back?! And in just one day!"
We returned to Spin’s workshop with the massive amount of mithril ore we had squeezed out of Iron for free. Upon discovering the enormous quantity of mithril, Spin jumped around excitedly, eyes sparkling with delight.
"So. Like I mentioned earlier..."
"Yep! Armor, right?! I'll make you the absolute highest quality! Thank you so much!"
Squeeze—!
Spin hugged me tightly with a bright, beaming smile. Um... there really wasn't any need for this.
"E-eek...!"
Grind grind grind—
"Hm. It seems there are rats living in this workshop. I'm not one to comment on someone else's place, but..."
"Hic! I-I understand...! Then I'll see you later...! I'll contact you when it's done.."
Spin, who had been looking somewhere with a terrified expression, hurriedly ushered us out of the workshop. She must have spotted a rat. Well, she'll handle it somehow.
"Things are going smoothly. Don't you think so, Vice-Commander Cerise?"
"MycommanderhuggedmebutInevergottodoittomycommander....."
"Vice-Commander Cerise?"
"Y-yes?! Ah, yes! That's right! Hehe..."
Cerise, who had been muttering something under her breath, suddenly looked at me with a bright "hehe" laugh. And so we returned to our home base, and several days passed like that.
"W-what is this, Commander...!"
"No way...! Is this really...!"
"Commander is the best!! Kiyaaahooo!"
A few days later, when the mithril armor was delivered to the Ska Mercenary Group's base, the members rubbed their eyes in disbelief, denying what they were seeing. But once I nodded and confirmed it was real, they began screaming and rampaging wildly. One of them even did three consecutive backflips in a row.
Yeah... you guys. I'll show you even better things in the future, so enjoy it while you can!
Watching the mercenaries jumping around like children who had just received presents filled me with joy as well.
"....Lick."
I felt a gaze from somewhere and heard the sound of someone licking their lips, but when I looked around, there was nothing to be seen. Lately, I've been feeling these disturbingly lewd gazes more and more often. Have I become too sensitive...?
I scratched my head and headed up to my office.