Chapter 6
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Reuniting with Ddol Ddoli
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All RPG games have their own stories, and naturally, Chronicle Terradium was no exception.
Ian wasn't the type to immerse himself deeply in the lore, so he didn't know every little detail like the hardcore veterans did. Still, he was familiar with the major plot points.
'Something about the Demon King invading, right?'
There was a lot in between, but anyway.
Among the groups that followed that Demon King, one was a secret organization called Pandemonium.
It was a cabal of black mages who didn't show up until the mid-game.
'So why the hell are they here?'
No matter how he thought about it, he couldn't make sense of it. They shouldn't even appear at this point in the timeline. So how?
'Ddol Ddoli couldn't have known their hideout and gone after them. Did it just stumble into them by chance?'
No matter how he racked his brain, that was the only answer that made sense.
'But how did it take them down? Pandemonium's black mages should be pretty tough.'
Ian set aside his questions for now and set out to find Ddol Ddoli.
The method was simple. He maintained his focus and searched for a flow of mana that resembled his own.
Mana—or magical power—existed everywhere in this world. Among all that mana, he sensed the one that felt similar to his own with his magical perception and followed its direction.
It was possible because the mana Ddol Ddoli possessed had attributes almost identical to his own.
To put it really simply, it was like a DNA test showing near-perfect match between parent and child.
This had always been an easy method for Ian, but it became even simpler thanks to the enhanced mana sensitivity from completing the "Soul Understanding" research project last time.
'Direction is southeast. Not too far away.'
He thought it wasn't far, but on foot at a normal person's pace, it was quite a distance. He had to trek through the forest for over half a day before spotting Ddol Ddoli.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A massive rock giant strode forward, each step shaking the earth. Birds fluttered away in panic, and squirrels scurried off with rustling sounds.
And around it, countless monster corpses.
Scattered among them were human bodies here and there.
'Well, figures.'
It was Ddol Ddoli, just as he'd expected from the start.
"Ddol Ddoli!"
At Ian's call, the Stone Golem that had been thudding along paused and turned its head.
-M-Master?
For a moment—maybe it was his imagination—the gemstone eyes of Ddol Ddoli seemed filled with surprise.
-It's the master.
The creature whipped its body toward Ian. Then it came thudding closer. No, it was running.
'Ugh, don't run. My stomach's rumbling.'
Exaggerating a bit, it felt like an earthquake with every bound.
'Hang on, why is it so big?'
As far as Ian remembered, Ddol Ddoli's height was definitely four meters.
But the one before him now looked at least five meters tall.
And somehow, its bulk seemed greater too.
'Did this thing... grow?'
Ian chuckled.
It was ridiculous even to his own ears.
How could an artificially created golem grow?
'Maybe it leveled up a ton?'
That was absurd too, but far more plausible.
-Master, you're here? To see Ddol Ddoli?
"Uh? Y-Yeah. Right. Came to see Ddol Ddoli."
-Ddol Ddoli missed you, master. But now you're here. Ddol Ddoli happy.
Ian's mood was complicated. He'd planned to scold it sternly for not staying in the Valpuram Mountains. But hearing that made his resolve waver.
'Happy, huh. Since when could it express emotions like that?'
He'd thought it was just a thing that followed orders.
"Ddol Ddoli, why are you here? I told you to stay in the Valpuram Mountains."
-No more enemies there. No enemies means Ddol Ddoli can't get stronger. So Ddol Ddoli moved. Move if no enemies, stay if enemies.
Ian nodded outwardly but was baffled inside. It moved because there were no enemies?
In other words, it wandered around hunting for things to fight. What kind of wandering swordsman was it imitating?
'Maybe it interpreted "survive and grow strong" that way.'
If so, he had nothing to say. From the golem's perspective, it was just faithfully carrying out its master's command.
"Hold on. So the goblins in the Valpuram Mountains..."
-Little monsters, Ddol Ddoli killed them all. No little monsters left there.
Ian let out a hollow laugh.
'So it wiped out the goblin tribe? For real?'
People had said the goblin packs that appeared daily around Malrag had suddenly stopped coming.
And it was this guy's doing.
"Did you kill all these?"
-Yes. Ddol Ddoli eliminated enemies.
Ian examined the fallen human bodies while Ddol Ddoli proudly thumped its chest in response.
They were beaten to a pulp, faces unrecognizable, but their clothes were less damaged.
There were tons of corpses dressed like that. Easily over twenty just in sight.
'Black robes with the distinctive horned demon emblem. Definitely Pandemonium.'
Ian scratched his head. Pandemonium was no mere extra villains. You encountered them multiple times pushing the story.
And it obliterated one of their branches? Seriously?
"Any more of them around?"
-More. Ddol Ddoli knows.
"Take me there."
-This way.
Ddol Ddoli lumbered along for about two minutes before stopping.
It was a depression in the forest like a basin, with several buildings that looked like they'd been bombed to ruins.
Who did it was obvious.
'Ddol Ddoli smashed them all. Tsk tsk.'
He could picture it without looking: the massive rock monster charging straight into the hideout, pulverizing everything in sight.
"Uh, um. Ddol Ddoli?"
Hmm, it did good, so praise was in order.
"Good job. You drove off the bad guys. Such a good golem."
Ian patted its leg.
He'd wanted to pat its head, but it was too big now.
-Ddol Ddoli good?
"Yeah. See this emblem? The horned picture? People wearing clothes with this are all bad guys. And our Ddol Ddoli beat them all, so you did great."
-Ddol Ddoli good. Did good...
Ddol Ddoli repeated it like reciting a mantra.
-Ddol Ddoli happy. Got praise. Ddol Ddoli will kill more enemies! Get even stronger!
Boom boom boom!
Excited, it stomped wildly and beat its chest like a gorilla.
'Ddol Ddoli. Could you not do that?'
My skull's vibrating, dad.
"But Ddol Ddoli. There's something you need to watch out for."
-Watch out?
"Yeah. When you kill enemies, pick your targets carefully."
-Pick targets. Ddol Ddoli doesn't know that.
Ian tilted his head at that.
'Doesn't know targets but somehow didn't kill any innocents?'
He asked out of curiosity, but it couldn't give a proper answer.
Just vague responses like it didn't know.
'Maybe it can detect demonic energy?'
Ian thought the odds were high.
Golems were inherently sensitive to mana by design.
And he'd greedily inscribed countless magic circles on it.
That must have given it extreme mana sensitivity.
'Monsters have trace demonic energy too. If it tracks that, it explains how it slaughtered so many without issue.'
And not just that.
It also explained how it found Pandemonium's secret branch.
Someone who could detect trace demonic energy in monsters would easily sense the thick aura from black mages.
'Of course it would.'
But it probably didn't think of them as black mages.
To Ddol Ddoli, they were just strong enemies to hunt.
As it turned out, they were Pandemonium black mages.
'If that's the case, lucky break.'
But it was just a hunch, so he needed to confirm.
"Ddol Ddoli. There are good guys and bad guys in the world. It'd be bad if you killed a good guy by mistake, right?"
Ddol Ddoli cocked its head, looking confused. Ian realized explaining good and evil to a golem was tricky.
'Better to frame it like this...'
"I like good guys more than bad ones. If our Ddol Ddoli killed good guys, I'd be really sad."
'If you go around doing bad things, it'd put me, your creator, in a tough spot.'
-Master sad?
"Yeah. So let's try to only pick bad guys from now on, okay?"
'Please restrain yourself for my peaceful civil service life. Got it?'
-Ddol Ddoli doesn't like master sad. Ddol Ddoli kills only bad guys.
Ian let out a small sigh of relief.
At least it seemed to get it.
'Crisis averted.'
It went better than expected.
'Time to head back.'
But before returning, there was a lot to do.
Educate Ddol Ddoli more.
Organize the report.
And gather evidence to attach.
In truth, Ian had planned to just give Ddol Ddoli a light warning and part ways.
That's why he'd glossed over it.
"Anyway, Ddol Ddoli. It's not time yet. You need to get much stronger. Then we can meet again. Got it?"
But Ian's mind quickly changed.
-Got it. Ddol Ddoli gets stronger! Sees master!
It was because of how earnestly Ddol Ddoli nodded, placing such pure trust in him.
How could its master think of abandoning it like that!
'Have I been too irresponsible?'
It wasn't just guilt.
He realized this monstrous Stone Golem wasn't some wild animal he could just release.
'It kills trolls in one second. Letting it loose in the wild? Who knows what it'd do.'
Even now, it'd drawn human attention.
No guarantee it wouldn't be spotted by more people later.
'Or worse, humans might mess with Ddol Ddoli.'
Hunt it as a dangerous monster.
Or claim it as an ownerless golem.
Either way, Ian hated it.
So he made up his mind.
'I have to take responsibility after all.'
Just because it was a one-night fling didn't erase parental duty.
Time to own up.
Of course, he couldn't take it home right now.
'No way I can care for it yet.'
So they had to part again, regrettably.
Couldn't lock that giant in his lab either.
Luckily, few things in this world could kill it.
'Research first. Once I unlock higher tech, I'll figure something out.'
A way to properly handle that massive golem.
"Ddol Ddoli. I'll call you back someday, so survive until then. Okay?"
-Got it! Ddol Ddoli gets strong! Never dies!
"Wait a sec. Let me inscribe a few more magic circles."
Ian added some functional spells, including tracking magic, then bid farewell to Ddol Ddoli for the future.
After wrapping up the scene, he returned to the capital and reported the mission's success to Deputy Director Bren.
But he didn't reveal everything.
How could he say the unidentified monster was his own golem?
He didn't want to, and couldn't anyway. So Ian fibbed that it was a golem created by some unknown alchemist.
And that it had killed the black mages.
"So it was a golem?"
"Yes. Not an enemy, thankfully. It surprisingly didn't attack humans."
"Hmm, I see. Makes sense now. Come to think of it, that unidentified monster did look golem-like."
Ian inwardly sighed in relief as Bren stroked his chin.
'Dodged that. He buys it.'
Thanks to building goodwill beforehand.
Ian had a knack for schmoozing, but he'd nailed this mission spectacularly.
"What about the alchemist?"
"Pardon?"
"If there's a golem, common sense says an alchemist controlling it is nearby. You know that, right?"
"Ah, of course."
Ian panicked after answering. He had no such info.
'Damn. What's that supposed to mean? Golem moves, so what? Alchemist makes it and done.'
Ian was an expert in magic but knew little about alchemy. It wasn't his profession.
He was fundamentally a mage character.
'Blacksmith forges swords, doesn't control them. Same for alchemists, right?'
Ridiculous, but he couldn't ask.
'What do I do? Mine moves fine from afar.'
"Good. You must've seen them. What were they like? Did you talk?"
"Ah, yes. Of course I did!"
"What kind of person?"
"Uh, well. You see..."
'Shit. Wasn't prepared for this.'
Still, Ian frantically invented a "mysterious alchemist who controlled a golem to defeat black mages."
"Wrapped in a robe, so I couldn't see the face, but they seemed really cool. Dignified, very formal."
"I see. Probably a noble. Alchemy requires money, after all. And?"
"W-Well, I didn't talk long."
"Pity. In your opinion, would that alchemist be an enemy to the Empire?"
Bren's eyes sharpened. If Ian said yes, he'd hunt them down immediately. Ian shook his head at once.
"No, absolutely not. Seemed fond of the Empire, actually. Praised His Majesty as the eternal light of the Empire. Probably an imperial citizen."
"Hmm. Good then."
The sharpness in Bren's eyes faded.
'Whew.'
One wrong word and I'd be a short-lived civil servant.
Who wants to live scared?
"Intriguing. A grand alchemist crafting such a huge golem boasting red-grade mana reserves... We should bring that talent to His Majesty right away."
Interest lit Bren's eyes. Ian grew uneasy.
"I'd love to send them straight to His Majesty. Where did the alchemist go?"
"I don't really..."
'Just drop it already.'
"Anyway, good work. We'll look into that Pandemonium black mage group you mentioned in more detail. Rest up."
"Yes, sir."
On the way out after the report, Ian's face wasn't bright.
'Oh no. Big trouble. That guy's hooked now.'
Bren was generous but tenacious. Once intrigued, he rarely let go.
'Whatever. Report done. Time for research binge.'
The next day, Ian felt his uneasy premonition had come true to some extent.
The tale of the "rumored alchemist who commands a golem" had spread like wildfire through the entire Magic Management Division in just one day.
No, beyond that—to the palace.
To the whole capital.