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 Wind Mage and the Failure of a Senior
The morning at the Mutual Aid Association's Valm branch was wrapped in an unusual heat, a complete change from the day before.
Over a dozen adventurers crowded in front of the first-floor bulletin board. Unfamiliar merchants and men who looked like craftsmen thronged the reception counter.
"So I'm telling you, I need the drainage in my backyard fixed!"
"There's a crack in my warehouse wall. An earth mage can fix that, right?"
"The foundation of my barn has sunk, you see—"
Ash stood by the wall, watching the commotion as if it had nothing to do with him.
(*Well, no wonder Gald's stomach can't take it.*)
Yesterday's construction work had apparently sparked unexpected rumors. The word that you could submit civil engineering requests to the guild must have spread overnight, judging by this morning's chaos.
"Hey, move it! Our business comes first!"
"What are you talking about? We've been in talks since three days ago!"
The merchants started arguing in front of the counter. Lina at reception had gone pale, fumbling with her name tag as she tried to handle them.
"[serious]This is all your fault, you know."
A low voice from behind. He turned to find Gald standing there with a demonic expression. His graying head looked more tired than usual.
"[gentle]You're the one who said there was no problem with the regulations."
Ash shrugged languidly.
"That's... well, yes, but..."
Gald faltered, rubbing his brow.
"[angry]Anyway, don't cause any more trouble. My stomach's at its limit."
"[gentle]I'll do what I can."
His reply was glib, at least.
As Gald was about to retreat to his office, Ash's eyes caught the stack of papers on the desk.
A mountain of Mutual Aid Association request forms. Amid the usual demon beast exterminations and herb gathering, one piece of parchment stood out conspicuously.
An escort request. Skeleton extermination at an abandoned village before the Necro Vault. Pay was forty percent above market rate.
Ash casually pulled the request form free.
On the back, a small note.
*'Includes rookie party instruction. Negotiable.'*
(*I see. The premium rate includes the instruction fee.*)
"[gentle]I'll take this one."
Gald turned back.
"[surprised]Huh? Wait a minute. You still haven't explained yourself about yesterday's civil engineering matter—"
"[gentle]You just said a moment ago that there's no problem with the regulations."
"That was about the civil engineering—"
"[gentle]The request form is right here. The note on the back is also unproblematic. What reason does the guild have to refuse acceptance under the rules?"
Gald's face twisted as if he'd bitten into a bitter bug.
"[sad]...Do as you like. But don't start any more strange rumors."
"[gentle]I'll make an effort."
Gald heaved a deep sigh and shut his office door as if fleeing.
Ash tucked the request form into his pocket and descended the stairs with a cool expression.
—
A short while later, as he stepped out the front entrance of the Mutual Aid Association, three figures stood in the cobblestone square.
The sunlight stretched the building's shadows long. While the morning's clamor echoed in the distance, the three were frozen stiff, as if they were lumps of tension.
"[serious]Um, excuse me... are you Ash?"
The first to speak was a young man with black hair.
A one-handed sword hung at his waist. He was tall, with good posture. His deep brown eyes were gentle, but a hint of nervousness showed in them.
"[gentle]That's me."
"[excited]Great! I'm Kyle. I'm the leader of the party 'Dawn Arrow'!"
Kyle bowed deeply, his expression earnest.
"[serious]It's a pleasure to meet you, Ash! Thank you so much for today."
Ash couldn't help but grimace.
(*...This feels weird.*)
Polite speech after so long. Receiving such a serious greeting made his back itch for some reason.
"[gentle]...Well, likewise."
He gave a half-hearted reply and turned his eyes to the other two.
Behind Kyle stood a large man.
Shaven head, stubble growing on his chin. An old scar on his left cheek. His body was huge, with an intimidating presence like a wall. But—.
Baldo gave a small, silent nod. That was all.
"[gentle]...And you are?"
"[serious]Baldo."
Short, and nothing more.
(*Weird guy.*)
Ash muttered inwardly.
And then—the last one.
"[scared]Um, um...!"
Her voice cracked.
Light greenish-blonde hair down to her shoulders. Pale blue eyes wavering with anxiety. Her small frame was curled up tightly, as if she wanted to run away at any moment.
"Um, I-I... I'm Lily... a wind mage... and, um, I look forward to working with you today...!"
Lily said this and bowed her head vigorously. The hand gripping her staff was trembling.
"[gentle]...Yeah, likewise."
When Ash replied curtly, Lily's face turned bright red for some reason, and she hung her head.
Kyle gave a wry smile.
"[gentle]Lily's a bit shy. She's been nervous since yesterday."
"[scared]K-Kyle! Don't say things like that!"
Lily flusteredly smacked Kyle's arm.
Ash let out a small sigh.
"[gentle]Well, let's get going for now."
—
The highway toward the Necro Vault was veiled in morning mist and a little chilly.
They passed through Valm's north gate and climbed gently along the foothills of the Morgan Hills. Thickets of scrub spread on both sides of the road, and birdsong could be heard in the distance.
Ash walked at the head of the group, lightly swinging his metal staff in his right hand. The golem summoning mark on his left wrist glowed faintly with an earthen light.
"[serious]Ash. Um, can I ask you a bit about golem manipulation?"
Kyle said, coming up alongside him.
"[gentle]I don't mind."
"[serious]I heard you can move two golems at the same time. What's the mechanism for giving them orders? Do you issue separate commands to each one?"
Ash glanced at Kyle.
(*This guy's pretty sharp.*)
"[gentle]Simply put, I split their roles between right and left. One handles offense, the other defense. The commands are rough. Giving detailed orders actually slows them down."
"[serious]So they move autonomously based on broad instructions?"
"[gentle]More or less. A golem uses the caster's mana as its core, so our senses are linked. It reacts to the direction where I sense danger."
"[surprised]I see... So the caster's own combat sense affects the golem's performance."
Kyle's eyes sparkled as he nodded repeatedly.
Ash inwardly revised his assessment upward.
(*This one might be more decent than I thought.*)
Meanwhile—.
Lily had been walking at the back the whole time. She opened her mouth several times as if to speak to Ash, but in the end, no voice came out, and she just fidgeted.
"[whispers](...What should I do? He's a senior mage. I have to ask something—but what?)"
"You have something you want to ask, don't you?"
Kyle spoke to her gently.
"[excited]No! Nothing!"
Lily overreacted, shaking her head with a bright red face.
The force nearly made her staff slip from her hand, and she scrambled to clutch it again.
Kyle and Ash's eyes met for a moment.
(*Awkward.*)
Neither said it aloud, but the atmosphere conveyed it.
Only Baldo, silent, made a motion as if to pick up the dropped staff, then continued walking as if nothing had happened.
—
They arrived at the abandoned village when the sun was high.
Crumbled stone walls, decayed wooden houses. Grass grew thick, and old gravestones could be seen here and there.
The entrance to the Necro Vault—a crumbling stone gate—was still another half-watch further ahead. The abandoned village served as a buffer zone before it.
"[serious]Around here. This is where the skeletons appear."
He thrust his staff into the ground.
Mana flowed in, and the earth at his feet swelled up lumpily. Soil and stone were kneaded into humanoid shapes, and two golems took form.
Gorilla-like silhouettes. Nearly two meters tall. Right and left—inside Ash's mind, their respective roles were set.
Lily gasped.
"[surprised]Amazing... I've never seen... golems with such clear shapes before."
"[gentle]They're coming soon. Get ready."
At that moment—.
A clattering, the sound of bones scraping, echoed.
From beyond the crumbled stone wall, three skeletons. Then five, ten—.
"[serious]Here they come! Front line, ready!"
Kyle drew his sword and stepped forward. Baldo silently raised his greatshield, covering Kyle's blind spot.
"[serious]Lily, take the three on the left first!"
"R-Right!"
Lily raised her staff and began her incantation.
Wind swirled, mana gathering at the tip of her staff. But—.
"T-Too fast..."
Ash noticed. The wind flow was turbulent. Too much mana was being forced in.
"[angry]Wait, control it—"
"Here I go!!"
—The staff exploded.
To be precise, the released wind magic went out of control and dispersed as a shockwave.
BOOOOM!!
Three skeletons were blown to pieces in an instant. Bone fragments scattered, and the ground was gouged out.
But the blast also reached her allies.
"Whoa!!"
Kyle's hat spun through the air—.
And landed with a soft plop on top of one skeleton's skull.
"[sad]...My hat."
Kyle muttered in a daze.
Baldo silently went to retrieve the hat from the skeleton. Heading straight toward the clattering, moving skeleton—.
Meanwhile, the remaining skeletons were closing in.
"[angry]Eyes forward! We're in combat!"
Ash advanced 'Right.' The golem's fist smashed a skeleton. Bone shards flew.
"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!"
Lily, half in tears, readied her staff again.
"[scared]This time for sure... This time I'll definitely...!"
She rushed her incantation. Forced her mana in. In her panic, her words faltered, her spell wavered.
—Pop.
Only a single pebble flew from the tip of her staff.
It hit a skeleton's shinbone and bounced off with a clatter.
"[sad]...Ah."
The color drained from Lily's face.
(*I messed up again...*)
Ash held his head in his hands internally.
"[cold]...'Left,' switch to defense."
The second golem moved forward. While manipulating both golems, Ash pushed back the horde of skeletons.
Kyle moved in to support, and Baldo protected Lily with his shield.
The battle itself was somehow brought under control, thanks to Ash's golems solidifying the front line.
—But.
After the battle ended and the smoke cleared, a heavy silence remained in the abandoned village.
Lily stood rooted to the spot.
The hand gripping her staff was trembling. Her breathing was shallow, her shoulders heaving.
(*Everyone else is fighting, and I'm the only one...*)
"[serious]Lily, are you okay?"
Kyle called out.
"[crying]I-I... I..."
Lily, still looking down, broke into a run.
Heading straight for the outskirts of the abandoned village.
"Lily! Wait!"
"...Wait."
Ash held Kyle back.
"[gentle]Leave her alone for a bit. Nothing we say will get through right now."
Kyle nodded with a bitter face.
—
After finishing the post-battle cleanup, Ash headed toward the edge of the abandoned village.
It wasn't that he had any particular business.
(*That staff model earlier... I thought I'd seen it somewhere before.*)
That was all that bothered him.
Beyond a crumbling stone wall, at the base of an old tree, there was a small figure.
Lily was crouching, hugging her knees.
In her hands, her staff. She clutched it tightly to her chest, gripping it as if leaning on it.
The moment he saw that staff, Ash's memory flashed back.
(*Is that—me at sixteen?*)
The same model of staff. A design that amplified the output of wind magic. A thick-shafted staff that prioritized maximum output over stability of power.
The staff Ash had used when he was sixteen, trying to increase the output of wide-area magic.
(*I couldn't keep up with the control and gave up on magic entirely. That staff—it's the same model.*)
Lily hadn't noticed him. She kept her head down, stifling her voice.
Ash deliberately made his footsteps audible as he approached.
"[crying]A-Ash..."
Lily looked up in a fluster. The rims of her eyes were red.
"[gentle]Tha
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