Ash, age 20. An earth mage and a D-rank adventurer. He can't use large-scale attack magic and gave up on being an elite long ago. But he doesn't mind. Why? Because Ash has his two gorilla-style golems. With their muscular two-meter frames, they deliver double lariats and dropkicks. Whether it's magical beasts or skeletons, they blow them all away without question. The guild's whisper behind his back is 'Gorilla Guy.' Well, they're not exactly wrong.
His daily routine involves hunting deer-like
The Daily Life of a Golem Bastard - The Golem Bastard and Construction Work
The morning comes early at the Valm branch of the Mutual Aid Society.
Even before the sun had fully risen, about ten adventurers had already gathered in front of the bulletin board on the first floor. Some waited for request slips to be posted, some stared intently at freshly pinned parchment, and others conferred with their companions in hushed voices. The stone building was already filled with a fair amount of bustling energy.
Ash stood by the wall, gazing at the bulletin board with sleepy eyes. His dusty-brown hair was, as always, still mussed from bed. His gray eyes were half-closed. The golem summoning mark on his left wrist glowed faintly with an earthen light.
Today, too, several deer extermination requests were posted. Hunting requests on the outskirts of the Perga Forest. Any D-rank adventurer could take them. The reward was eight to twelve silver coins. Same as always.
Same as always—or so it should have been.
"Hey, Ash! I've been looking for you!"
A gruff voice flew at him from behind.
Ash turned to find a familiar merchant standing there. A stocky build, a sun-weathered face. He wore a gaudily colored jacket befitting a merchant, but the cuffs were frayed and stained in places. Merchant Belt—the man Ash occasionally sold deer meat to.
"[surprised] Boss Belt. What brings you here so early?"
"[excited] 'What brings me here'?! I've got a job I want to ask you to do!"
Belt wiped his sweat and launched into a rapid-fire explanation.
"The thing is, I'm building a new warehouse on the outskirts of the west district. I've already bought the land. But the foundation work hasn't been done yet—"
"[gentle] And?"
"With your earth magic, you can solidify the ground, right? And with your golems, you can carry stones. I figured it'd be faster to ask you alone than to hire a bunch of workers."
Ash furrowed his brow.
"[gentle] I'm an adventurer, you know. Construction work isn't my main job."
"I know that! But I absolutely have to get the foundation finished by tomorrow. My worker suddenly fell ill and collapsed."
Belt pulled a parchment from his pocket. A request form. Ash's eyebrow twitched slightly as he looked at the reward column.
Twenty silver coins.
(That's two deer's worth... no, more than that.)
In Ash's mind, the steam from Orca's daily stew special wafted up gently. He could eat three large servings. No, maybe he'd splurge and add a roast today, too.
"[gentle] ...Well, if there's no issue with the regulations, I suppose."
"[excited] Wonderful! That's Ash for you! Then let's head to the guild right away and get the paperwork—"
Belt happily moved to slap Ash on the back. Ash nimbly dodged and started walking toward the reception counter.
At the counter sat Lina. A female staff member in her mid-twenties, wearing thin silver-rimmed glasses. She always handled her work briskly, but today, upon seeing the request form Ash handed her, her hands stopped dead.
"[serious] ...Foundation work, is it?"
"[gentle] That's right."
"[serious] This is... I need to confirm whether this can be accepted as an adventurer's request."
Lina pushed up her glasses with a troubled look.
"[gentle] Does it violate the regulations?"
"[serious] It's not so much a violation as... there's no precedent. Please wait. I'll go confirm with the branch chief."
Lina took the request form and trotted up the stairs.
Ash leaned against the wall and waited. He could feel the other adventurers around him glancing his way now and then.
Before long, heavy footsteps descended the stairs.
The man who appeared was Galdo Metza. Fifty-eight years old, a former B-rank adventurer who had made a name for himself as a wind mage. Now, as the branch chief of the Valm branch, he managed the entire guild. Short hair streaked with white, sharp eyes. His build was so solid it belied his age.
"[serious] Ash, is it? Come with me."
Galdo spoke curtly and walked toward his office.
The second-floor office was as cluttered as ever. Stacks of documents piled on the desk. An old map hanging on the wall. The morning light streaming through the window made the dusty air glow white.
Galdo plopped down into his chair and spread the request form on his desk.
"[serious] Foundation work for a warehouse, reward twenty silver coins. The question is whether this can be accepted as an adventurer's request."
"[gentle] What do the regulations say?"
Ash leaned against the wall and asked listlessly.
"[serious] The regulations state... 'Adventurers shall receive requests through the Mutual Aid Society and carry out duties such as magical beast extermination, dungeon exploration, escort, and other tasks contributing to the safety and livelihood of citizens.' Tasks contributing to livelihood—that's the key phrase here. Does foundation work fall under this?"
Galdo folded his arms and began muttering to himself.
"[serious] If the work involved the threat of magical beasts, there'd be no problem... but wait, the warehouse site is on the outskirts of the west district. It's close to the Perga Forest. It's not impossible that magical beasts could appear. Right, from a safety standpoint, it might actually be better to have an adventurer on site. I see. The logic holds."
Ash listened in silence.
"[serious] ...Very well. There's no issue with the regulations. However, since there was no precedent, consider this a one-time thing."
"[gentle] Yeah, yeah."
As Galdo signed the documents, his eyes suddenly took on a distant look.
"[sad] In my active days, there were no requests like this. You defeated magical beasts, conquered dungeons, and that was it. Now adventurers are building warehouse foundations. Times change, I suppose."
"[gentle] Isn't it a good thing? Peaceful times."
"[sarcastic] Peaceful... well, I guess you're right."
Galdo chuckled quietly and handed the documents to Ash.
As Ash left the office, two young adventurers were whispering near the stairs.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Seems the Golem Bastard's switching careers to construction."
"No way. A mage, and he's gonna pick up a shovel?"
"What a joke."
Ash heard them but paid no mind. That sort of thing wasn't going to change how his stew tasted.
—The construction site.
The land designated on the outskirts of the west district was an empty lot overgrown with weeds. About ten meters square. The ground was uneven, with stones scattered everywhere.
Ash was already on site. In his hand was his usual metal staff. He was clad in light leather gear, with a cloth wrapped around his neck to wipe away sweat.
"[gentle] Alright, let's get to it."
He struck the ground twice with his staff. *Bang. Bang.*
The earth rose up, and two golems materialized. Gorilla-shaped masses of earth standing over two meters tall. One was slightly broader, the other slightly leaner with longer arms.
"Right one, gather stones. Left one, dig up the ground."
At Ash's short command, the two golems began moving silently. The right golem lifted a large boulder lying at the edge of the lot. A stone as tall as a person, handled as lightly as a leaf. The left golem plunged its hands into the ground and began tearing up the earth, weeds and all.
Ash himself planted his staff into the ground and deployed his earth magic.
Mana flowed from the staff into the earth. The ground trembled faintly, and the uneven surface slowly began to level out. Pebbles in the soil were crushed by magic, and the clay-like earth compacted tightly.
"[gentle] Good, looking nice."
At first, passersby only glanced briefly.
But around the time the right golem began casually stacking massive stones, more and more people stopped in their tracks.
"Hey, look at that."
"A golem... I've never seen one before."
"Stones that heavy... all by itself?"
A small crowd of onlookers began to gather. Before he knew it, there were more than ten.
Then, a child's voice rang out.
"A golem! It's the golem mister!"
Ash turned to see a boy of about five running toward him, eyes sparkling. Behind him, three, then four more children came rushing over. They seemed to be from the neighborhood.
"Awesome! He's holding a rock!"
"How does it move!?"
"Can I touch it?"
In the blink of an eye, the construction site was surrounded by children. Every time the right golem carried a stone, cheers of "Whoa!" erupted. Every time the left golem tore up the ground, applause of "Wow!" broke out.
Ash pressed his fingers to his temple.
"[gentle] Hey, don't get too close. It's dangerous."
"Shake my hand!"
"I wanna see it move!"
"What's this golem's name?"
Bombarded by the children's questions, Ash was forced to stop his work entirely. The crowd of onlookers had swelled to nearly twenty. Some adults were even watching and laughing.
"[laughing] This is amazing. So the rumored golem user really does exist."
"Are you going to start a handshake event or something?"
Ash let out a sigh.
"[cold] ...Fine. Fine, I get it. Just be quiet."
He struck the ground with his staff. The left golem stopped moving and sat down heavily on the spot. Ash fixed the golem's arm in place like a workbench and turned to face the children.
"[gentle] Listen up. Line up here. One at a time, in order, you can hold the golem's hand. Once you've touched it, let go immediately. Got it?"
"Okaaay!"
The children obediently began forming a line. And a perfectly straight one at that. It was an orderly queue, as if the earlier chaos had been a lie.
The boy at the very front timidly grasped the golem's hand.
"[excited] It's cold!"
"[gentle] Well, it is made of stone."
"[excited] But it's amazing! So cool!"
The boy squeezed the golem's finger tightly with both hands. He happily touched the rugged hand made of earth.
"[gentle] You like it even though it's cold?"
"[excited] Yeah! I like it even if it's cold! Golems are cool!"
An indescribable expression crossed Ash's face. It looked complicated, but the corners of his mouth seemed to relax just a little.
The next child held the golem's hand. The child after that tried to hug the golem's arm.
"[cold] Hey, no climbing."
"Ehehe~"
The line kept growing longer. Before he knew it, adult onlookers had started lining up too.
"Mind if I shake its hand too?"
"I'd like to touch it as well."
Before he knew it, the scene had turned into something of a small festival. While keeping the right golem working, Ash fixed the left golem exclusively for handshakes and was completely swamped dealing with the crowd.
(How did it come to this...)
Even as he grumbled inwardly, Ash looked down at the children with an expression that wasn't entirely displeased.
By evening, the construction was safely completed.
The ground was neatly leveled, and the stone foundation was solidly fixed in place. The earth had been hardened by Ash's earth magic, and it wouldn't budge from a little rain.
Belt rushed to the site and inspected the finished work.
"[excited] This is incredible! This will last ten years! No, maybe even twenty!"
"[gentle] Glad to hear it."
Belt, looking deeply moved, stomped on the ground repeatedly.
"[excited] Thank you so much, Ash! I was right to ask you! Here's the reward, twenty silver coins. Please take it."
Ash accepted the offered leather pouch. It was satisfyingly heavy.
"[gentle] ...Thanks."
Uncharacteristically, an honest word slipped out.
Having finished the job, Ash walked through the town at dusk. The western sky was dyed a deep crimson. On the cobblestone streets, people who had finished their day's work were heading home. The smell of dinner drifted from somewhere.
Ash's feet naturally carried him toward the usual alleyway.
With a creak, he opened the wooden door.
"[excited] Hey, you made it! I've heard the rumors!"
Orca's energetic voice flew at him from behind the counter.
"[gentle] What rumors?"
Ash settled into his usual spot, the very end of the counter. He leaned his staff against the wall and took off his worn-out cloak.
"[laughing] A golem handshake e
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