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Chapter 3
Section 1: Golem
“T-This is……..”
My mouth hung open as I stood there in mute amazement. Because of the absence of the thick, green canopy, the sun’s rays illuminated the area without issue. And being illuminated by that light was a monster the size of a small mountain, collapsed on the ground.
“It’s………the golem………”
Toslin muttered aloud to herself while drawing her sword. Rose-san readied her shield and slowly approached the behemoth alongside Toslin. I grabbed on to Carol, trembling while watching the golem that could start moving again at any moment. It looked like the golem was missing an arm. And some parts of its body looked cracked apart.
Toslin reached out with her sword, pricking the golem’s head with the end of her sword.
“It’s all right. It’s dead……….”
It was at that time.
“No it’s not!! Toslin’s a liar!!”
“Shut up, my bad!! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a golem!!”
*GOGO*, *GOGOGO*………a noise reminiscent of a tremor running through the earth sounded as the golem slowly rose up. At that time, a large amount of snow that must have fallen from the tree canopy and landed on the golem was lifted up with it and was absorbed into its body. Then not only did the cracks running through its body heal up, its missing arm regrew as well.
“No way!? It’s alive and regenerating!!”
“That’s sneaky you cheater!!”
“Toslin-san……..”
Rose-san readied her round shield and lifted her mace.
“Yeah yeah, I know. This time……..it looks like we’re going to have to deal with this.”
“Eh, you serious?”
“Completely. We’re Quinn-san’s escorts right now, so we don’t have a choice. If you understand then hurry up and get serious.”
Toslin took a small kick towards Carol’s butt. Carol managed to jump away and avoid it however.
“Wait, it still hurts from when Rose spanked me, so watch it!!”
These two, if the enemy in front of them allowed it, they’d keep playing like this forever.
“B-Both of you………the golem’s moving!!”
“Oops, well then…….Rose and I will deal with it from the front. Carol, circle around behind it and see if you can spot its core.”
“OK”
“I-I will………”
“Absolutely do not move from Goldmund’s side. Quinn-san too, please don’t separate yourself from that dolinp.”
“I-I got it.”
Quinn-san squatted down, hiding behind Goldmund’s massive body. But I pulled out my dagger instead. With the way I am, there’s nothing I can do against a golem. But, if there are more goblins nearby, I’ll have to somehow protect Quinn-san on my own. I made a promise to the villagers. I’ll bring you home no matter what.
“Go!”
Toslin’s shout resounded throughout the Swansea Forest.
“Ggg……Gigaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
The golem raised a rough warcry as well as if to signal the start of the battle. It then lifted up its regenerated right arm and swung it down at Rose-san like a hammer.
“Rose!!”
“I will take it!!”
Immediately after, there was a loud *GAGONG!* as if a large rock had broken apart. Rose-san is…….safe. She parried the golem’s arm with her shield, forcing it to collide only with the ground before lifting her mace and striking the monster’s elbow in turn.
“Haaaaaaaaaaah!!”
This time there was a loud *GAKIIN!* that comes from iron striking iron. My eardrums screamed in pain, and I unconsciously covered my ears.
“A lie, it’s not working!?”
“No, it didn’t break, but it still should’ve taken some damage!! We need to keep on just like this…….”
“G, gigigi……….gg,g……..Gigiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!”
With its right arm buried into the snow, this time the golem tried swinging its arm upwards. But Rose-san predicted the attack and managed to avoid it. She spun away, using the centrifugal force to strike the golem’s open body with her mace.
“Kuu……….”
But Rose-san was the one who ended up groaning.
“Get back Rose!!”
“M-My apologies, the golem’s body is tough. My hand is numb…….”
Toslin rushed forward, taking Rose-san’s place directly in front of the golem.
“Hooooo, raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!! Don’t look down on an elf!!”
Swinging down her arms, she decided to attack with her sword instead of dodging the golem’s next attack. There was a crack in the air and something spun up, flying towards the sun. It was the golem’s right arm. The golem had once again lost its arm and its balance with it, falling to its knees.
“Carol, your turn!!”
“Got it!! Leave it to me!!”
Carol ran forward from behind and jumped onto the golem’s back. She quickly climbed upwards and found herself behind its neck.
“The core!?”
“Where oh where……..um, huhhhhhh!? This, this guy…….just maybe…….rather than a snow golem, I think this guy’s an ice golem!! The core……..it’s completely covered in ice!!”
Most golems are powered by a small gem with a magic word engraved on it–it’s core. So while it’s a bit of a waste, if you destroy the core, you stop the golem from moving.
“Can you break it!?”
“I’m trying, but…….my dagger isn’t……..”
Carol continuously kept stabbing her knife into the core, but the only effect it was having was creating a high-pitched *KIIIN* as the blade bounced off the thick ice.
“Then I will…….”
Rose-san jumped on the golem as well, using all her strength to bring her mace down onto the golem……….
“Kuu……….so hard!!”
I see, the freshly regenerated right arm was relatively fragile because it hadn’t had time to freeze yet, but the rest of its body was frozen solid and hard as a rock.
“Where had the body been cracked in the beginning!?”
I called out while keeping an eye on the golem from Goldmund’s shadow.
“No good, I don’t know!! Everything looks completely frozen to me!!”
There was still a possibility that they could break the golem apart if they were to aim for the parts in its body that shouldn’t have been able to freeze yet like its arm, but they can’t aim for those spots if they can’t tell where those spots are. No, even if I understand that………
“Uwa, the right arm is already regenerating!! It’s moving, jump down Rose!! It’s going to shake us off!!”
The golem started rampaging as it stood back up with the two of them still on its back. Rose-san and Carol both jumped down, backing away to a point where its arms couldn’t reach them.
“Seriously……. If things were going to turn out like this we should’ve just destroyed the thing when we first met it.”
“But was it not most likely made of ice at that time as well?”
“Yeah……..”
The ice protecting the core is too thick, and we can’t reach it with a normal attack. In other words, we can’t beat it. A tool meant to break apart rocks like a pickaxe might be able to do the job, but where are we going to get one of those all the way out here?
“This is impossible. Should we run?”
“Isn’t the village close by? Besides, don’t we have a job to safely escort Quinn-san home?”
“That doesn’t mean anything if we can’t beat this thing!! A snow golem is one thing, but ice is impossible!! Completely impossible!!”
As Toslin and Carol argued between each other, the golem was stomping through the snow. The golem is absorbing even the snow it steps on, causing it to grow in volume with every step it takes. It’s just like a giant, walking snowman………
“Ah……..”
You roll a snowball across the ground to make it bigger, creating the base for a snowman. I’ve made one several times before in the past. My sister and I used to make snow huts together when we were younger. Remembering that time, I started to come up with a plan.
“What’s going on Iris!? Have some goblins appeared as well!?”
“No, it’s something else Toslin!! I had a small idea………but, it might be able to beat that golem………”
“Let’s do it!!”
“Eeh!? But I haven’t explained anything yet…….”
“I also believe in Iris-san.”
“Right now our only choices are die or run away, so we might as well try Iris’s plan here!!”
I haven’t explained anything, yet everyone trusts me this much. I’m a little scared to explain things, but since this is the only way I can help, I shouldn’t hesitate to say it.
“I’m sorry, but since it’s an emergency, can we rely on your help as well!?”
“Of course!! If there’s anything I can do, just say the word!!”
With Quinn-san’s powerful words backing me up, I started explaining my strategy to knock down this snow golem.