chapter 136

Frey knew he would not be able to say anything as Hector had already swept him up in his pace.

So he looked away from Hector and instead observed the silver-haired Golem.

The Golem’s appearance was no different from that of a human. Its skin didn’t look hard at all, appearing soft and supple just like a female’s skin. In fact, there was a high chance that it actually was.

The most impressive part, however, was its waist-length, silver hair. It was a bit darker than Riki’s hair, but it had a soft glow, like a star in the night sky.

He couldn’t tell what color the eyes were as they were shut tight.

All in all, the Golem’s appearance was that of a 16 year old girl. But considering the fact that all the other Golems looked like girls this age, it was clear that Hector’s tastes were quite heavy.

In any case, this golem was hundreds of light years away from what Frey expected to see.

He imagined a Demigod slaying machine 10 meters in height with a body of Orichalcum that looked like it could bring down a wall with a single punch, but what he saw was a thin, beautiful girl who looked like a tree branch one could snap with barely any effort.

…Of course, Frey knew that the Golem’s appearance was meaningless, he only wondered if it would be able to handle an output of 1 million ME with such a fragile body.

‘I’m sure Hector wouldn’t treat this lightly.’

But he wasn’t able to completely suppress his doubts.

Thinking this, Frey turned to look at Cairo, but Cairo’s eyes were alight as he observed the Golem.

“Hoh. Its appearance leaves a bit to be desired, but this is incredible.”

“Did you notice?”

“Did you use ‘Dignite’ for the skeleton?”

“It’s a special product I made myself. The nervous system was made out of Mithril.”

“It looks like an alloy…’

“Of course it is. The efficiency of pure isn’t high enough, especially since it’s rare and expensive.”

“It couldn’t have been easy. You’re amazing.”

Honestly, Frey didn’t really understand what they were talking about.

He’d also heard of the metal called ‘Dignite’ for the first time. And blending another metal with Mithril?

Even Frey, who didn’t know much about metals understood that that was a very dangerous and demanding process.

“As you said, the exterior is perfect. As long as the interior is finished, it’ll be able to operate immediately. Together with Diablo and myself, we’d be able to finish it in a month.”

“Haha. With your help, it wouldn’t even take a month.”

Hector said these words with a happy expression.

Afterwards, they began discussing and sharing their thoughts on the art of Golem creation. Seeing this, Frey decided to show them Anastasia’s Golem core, hoping that they could get a better understanding of it.

“Oh, oh…!!!”

“Th-, this is…”

It wasn’t just Hector, even Cairo’s eyes widened considerably.

They looked at the core and made strange gestures but they didn’t dare touch it. It was clear to see how shocked and ecstatic they were with just a glance.

“You can touch it.”

“Re-, really?”

“Wouldn’t you be able to make a better Golem if you understood the core properly?”

“You’re right!”

Hector shouted in excitement but he gently reached out to pick up the Golem core.

“I can’t believe I’m seeing this with my own two eyes. It’s amazing. The legacy of the Age of Light… do you know who made this?”

“Schweiser Strow.”

“The Great Sage Schweiser Strow! N-, no wonder.”

Hector muttered in a low voice.

“History called him the greatest alchemist of all time. At first, I didn’t believe it, but now I feel like that title is still not good enough. It’s clear that he is an unparalleled genius who has left his mark on the history of alchemy.”

It made Frey slightly proud when he heard his best friend being praised. Especially by Hector, who was a Dragon with a vast amount of knowledge.

“Hmm? But what are these letters engraved on it?”

“Anastasia. I think it might be the Golem’s name.”

“Hmmm…?”

Cairo had a strange expression on his face.

This worried Frey slightly, so he couldn’t help but ask.

“Is something wrong?”

After thinking for a moment, Cairo shook his head.

“…no. It’s fine. It’s just a Golem anyway.”

* * *

After a while, Diablo came back.

As soon as he entered the room, he sighed heavily.

[These past three days have been more tiring than the past 100 years.]

“You’ve worked hard, Diablo. What about the barriers?”

[All gone. We can leave at any time.]

“It’s finally time to leave this stuffy place.”

Hector smiled and got up from his seat.

“Is there anything you need to pack?”

“Just bring all of my lovely Golems.”

It wasn’t just one or two of them, Hector had almost 100 Golems.

In addition, a normal Warp spell would not be able to carry the potions and metals from the workshop.

“I’ll have to use a large scale Warp spell.”

Frey agreed with him. Cairo then looked around and said.

“I’ll use this room as the scope. Hector, bring everything you want to take here.”

“Give me a second.”

Hector had his Golems bring the items he wanted to take.

After a dozen or so minutes, he wiped sweat from his forehead that never appeared, and said.

“Whoo! That’s everything.”

“…then we’ll leave immediately.”

Cairo unleashed his mana.

“Warp.”

Shuk.

They reappeared in the Paragon hideout in an instant. Frey observed the reverberation of mana from the Warp.

It was only then that he was able to roughly guess where this space was located.

“So this place is underground. Hundreds of meters from the surface.”

“That’s correct.”

That was all he was able to gather.

However, it was certainly true that the Demigods wouldn’t be able to find this place easily. This was because even Frey, who had been in the Warp spell, still hadn’t been able to learn more than the fact that it was underground.

Cairo then looked at Hector and said.

“This place is larger than you might think. How about taking a break today and resuming production tomorrow?”

“Sure.”

Hector didn’t care if they started immediately, but he understood that Diablo had to take time to recover.

Then Cairo turned his gaze to Frey.

“What are you going to do now? As you heard, it’ll take about a month for the Golem to be finished.”

“There’s a place I need to go to.”

“Where?”

“The Great Reynols Forest.”

Cairo tilted his head at those words.

“Isn’t that the land of the Elves?”

“Right.”

“I heard that it’s a closed place that rejects outsiders. Why are you going to a place like that?”

“The High Elf Queen, Snow, is Riki’s Apostle. I need to tell her about Riki’s death.”

“Hmm…”

Cairo furrowed his brow at the unexpected fact.

Looking away from him, Frey thought about Snow. She was probably already aware of Riki’s death without him having to inform her. After all, the Apostles and Demigods shared a very close connection.

But she still had the right to know just how Riki died.

“Anyway, you’ll need the coordinates to return to this place. I’ll teach you.”

“I’m not a member of Paragon yet.”

Despite Frey’s firm tone, the smile didn’t leave Cairo’s face.

“The fact that we’re on the same boat remains unchanged. It’s fine to learn it now.”

Frey then memorised the coordinates of the Paragon hideout that Cairo gave him. Although he’d said what he said, he was still inwardly pleased by Cairo’s trust.

After all, Cairo was right.

They were in the same boat.

* * *

Frey used Warp to enter the Great Reynols Forest. He chose a location a little away from Lilund rather than directly entering the High Elf village.

Then he sat on a nearby boulder.

The entire forest was connected to Hruhiral, so his intrusion should’ve already been noticed. Being noticed by Hruhiral meant that sooner or later, Snow would learn of his presence as well.

Just as he expected, Snow appeared a short while later.

She was wearing ‘Jenki’s Mask’ which hid her appearance. Therefore, her mysterious, white hair was dyed black, and she no longer exuded that distinctive, noble aura.

“Snow.”

“I knew you’d come.”

As she said that, Snow took off the mask, causing her hair to become white once more.

Her face was just as beautiful as he remembered. However, it was filled with strange emotions.

It was only then that Frey realised Snow’s voice was much heavier than usual.

“Is Riki dead?”

Snow brought up the main topic immediately.

Frey nodded quietly.

“Yes.”

“Who killed him?”

“Lord.”

Silence fell as Snow closed her eyes.

Frey realised that her eyelids were trembling slightly, so he stayed quiet and gave her time to calm down.

After a while, Snow slowly reopened her eyes.

Then she sat on the rock beside Frey and opened her mouth.

“Did I ever tell you where I was from?”

“Didn’t you say you were from the Frozen Lands in the north?”

“Right. All Ice Elves lived there. However, my entire family was annihilated by a Demigod. I heard from Riki later that it was a Demigod named Leyrin.”

He’d heard before that the Ice Elves had been destroyed by a Demigod, but this was his first time hearing that it was Leyrin’s handiwork.

“It was Riki who saved me from almost certain death. Huhu. I still remember it vividly. As I lay, slowly dying in a pool of my own blood surrounded by the never ending snowstorms, Riki appeared to me like an Angel of God.” (TL: Snow refers to herself as ‘this queen’ and I find it cute every time)

Snow closed her eyes again.

Then, as if to release the feelings pent up within her, she sighed heavily.

“…I owe him my life. If it wasn’t Riki, I’d be dead right now. And I can’t even get revenge, like a bug that lost its nest to a human.”

“…”

“Can you give me a second?”

When Frey nodded, Snow slowly got up from her seat. Then she walked back in the direction from whence she came.

Frey waited without asking anything. Perhaps she just needed time to organise her thoughts.

About an hour later, Snow returned.

Her expression was much lighter, and the heaviness from before was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she looked quite refreshed.

“Huhu! I’ve stepped down from my position as queen.”

“What?”

“Ah. I should’ve done this sooner. It’s really refreshing.”

What did she mean stepped down from her position as queen?

Frey looked at her with a confused expression.

“I don’t think it’s that easy to step down…”

“Well. That’s why it took an hour. I didn’t see an end to the Elders’ nagging, so I simply ran away.”

“…”

“Don’t worry! I didn’t really step down, just think of it as a temporary retirement. I’ve set a proxy to do my duties until I’m finished with what I have to do, so there’s no problem.”

He was certain there would be a lot of troubles, but Frey kept these thoughts to himself as he asked.

“Then what will you do now?”

“Right, Frey.”

Snow smiled and pointed at him.

“From today onward, I’ll do my best to take on the Demigods. So please take care of me.”

“Why would you ask me…”

“Because I feel like I’ll be able to accomplish my goal much faster if I’m with you!”

Her confidence made it hard for him to say anything, so Frey shut his mouth instead of rejecting her instinctively.

‘…she’s a bit of a handle, but…’

Snow’s combat power was astonishing.

She was at least as strong as Ivan, but it was possible that she was much stronger. After all, even when they had faced off against the Bone Dragon, Snow hadn’t used her full power.

Although she was a handful, it was a small price to pay for someone so strong.

After he finished calculating in his head, Frey stretched his hand out to her.

“Then I look forward to our cooperation.”

“Huhu. I won’t let you down.”

First, he had to get her to change that tone.

Frey briefly shook hands with snow before thinking about his next destination.

‘The Trowman Rings.’

He intended to check how the circle was doing at that moment.