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 - My partner's name, and the empty seat
The morning in Valm begins with the sound of the Mutual Aid Society's bell.
A three-story stone building facing the central plaza—the Breizol Adventurers' Mutual Aid Society, Valm Branch. As always, a dozen or so adventurers loitered in front of the request board on the first floor.
Their gazes were fixed on a single piece of parchment posted just this morning.
*"Necro Vault Investigation Request. Miasma concentration measurement, Layer 2. Confirmation of Layer 3 seal integrity. Recommended Rank: C. Rank D permitted. Reward: 40 silver coins."*
"[sarcastic] Rank D permitted, it says. Who's gonna take this one?"
"[laughing] Like hell anyone would. The Necro Vault? C-rank monsters roam Layer 2. A D-rank goes in, not even bones come out."
Laughter spread through the crowd.
Listening to that laughter at his back, Ash approached the board. Messy brown hair with bedhead, half-lidded gray eyes, a slight slouch. His usual listless air. In his left hand, a 160-centimeter metal staff.
He stared at the parchment.
(*An investigation request, huh.*)
Memories from last night surfaced in his mind.
The abandoned mine. The moment the miasma detector's needle had swung to its limit.
That concentration was abnormal. The abandoned mine was less than ten kilometers from the Necro Vault in a straight line. If the underground miasma veins were connected—and if the miasma anomaly was spreading across the entire Valm region...
"[gentle] Well, whatever."
Ash peeled the parchment off the board.
The surrounding adventurers buzzed all at once.
"[surprised] Hey, that guy... is he seriously going?"
"[laughing] The Golem Bastard? No way, no way. It's like walking to his death."
He could hear them. But he didn't care.
With his back to the board, Ash started walking toward the reception desk.
---
The receptionist, Lina, was a twenty-four-year-old female staff member. Neatly tied chestnut hair, silver-rimmed glasses. Known for adhering to the Mutual Aid Society's regulations more strictly than anyone else.
She took the request form and looked up.
"[serious] Ash-san. This is an investigation request for the Necro Vault."
"[gentle] I know."
"[serious] It involves measuring miasma concentration in Layer 2 and confirming the seal integrity of Layer 3."
"[gentle] I know."
"[serious] While regulations do permit D-rank acceptance, the Society's recommendation is a C-rank party."
"[gentle] I know."
Lina's brow furrowed slightly. She placed the request form on the counter and tapped it with her fingertip.
"[serious] Ash-san, listen. I'll say it again. The recommendation is a C-rank party."
"[gentle] Got it."
"[serious] The enhanced zombies in Layer 2 are difficult for a D-rank to handle."
"[gentle] Got it."
"[serious] And furthermore, if the Layer 3 seal has been compromised—"
"[gentle] Got it."
That was the third time.
Lina opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.
Ash had already half-turned away from the reception desk. His staff resting on his shoulder, he waved the request form fluttering in his right hand as he headed for the door.
"[gentle] I'll bring a proper charm with me."
He said that over his shoulder.
"[serious] That's not the issue..."
By the time Lina murmured that, Ash's figure had already vanished beyond the door.
She let out a deep sigh, then wrote in the reception ledger: *Necro Vault Investigation Request — Accepted by: Ash (D-rank Earth Mage).*
---
The Necro Vault was twelve kilometers northeast of Valm.
About a three-hour walk. At the foot of the Morgan Hills stood a crumbling stone gate, solitary and forlorn. It was a mass grave where thousands of victims who perished in the great plague epidemic roughly three hundred years ago—called the "Season of Ash"—had been interred. That site had come into contact with underground miasma veins, and now it had become a nest of undead-type monsters.
At the entrance, two guards were stationed permanently by the Guild.
Seeing Ash arrive alone, they looked openly surprised.
"[surprised] Hey, you... you're D-rank, right?"
"[gentle] Seems that way."
Ash showed them the request form.
"[serious] ...Be careful. Lately, even Layer 1's miasma has been getting thicker."
Ash raised a hand lightly in acknowledgment and passed through the stone gate.
---
Underground Necropolis, Layer 1.
Thirty meters from ground level. A burial corridor lined with stone coffins. The passage was about three meters wide, the ceiling two and a half meters high. Lanterns hung at regular intervals along the walls, casting a dim orange glow.
Ash flicked his left wrist lightly.
On his wrist, an earth-colored geometric pattern—a golem summoning mark—rose to the surface. As it glowed faintly, the earth and stone of the floor swelled up, rapidly shaping itself into a humanoid form.
Right.
Left.
Two golems. Both nearly two meters tall, with stocky stone bodies. Right was slightly broader, Left a bit more slender. Ash didn't name them, but for operational purposes, he distinguished them as Right and Left.
"[gentle] Let's go."
At his short command, the two began walking in silence.
*Clatter clatter clatter—*
From ahead, the sound of scraping bone.
Skeletons. Three of them. No, four. More were spawning from further in.
Ash didn't stop walking.
The golems moved. Right took the vanguard, Left the flank. A pincer movement—the basic formation he'd taught when instructing a trio of rookies three months ago. Though, golems were faster than humans.
*Thud.*
Right's fist pulverized a skeleton's skull. Bone fragments scattered.
*Crunch.*
From the side, Left slammed a second one against the wall. A bundle of bones collapsed.
Ash glanced down at the miasma measuring device in his left hand—a palm-sized magical tool that quantified miasma concentration.
The needle was rising, slowly but steadily.
(*It really is getting thicker.*)
Not as bad as the abandoned mine. But clearly higher than normal for Layer 1.
While walking, he pulled a charcoal stick and paper from his hip pouch and jotted down the reading.
— *Miasma concentration: 1.8. Roughly 1.5 times normal.*
Three more skeletons. Right swept them aside, Left delivered the finishing blows.
The combat continued methodically. It wasn't that there was no tension. But Ash's expression remained unchanged.
Layer 1 was no problem.
---
Layer 2. Thirty to eighty meters deep.
The miasma thickened. The air felt heavy. The lantern light seemed to blur and bleed.
Ash checked the measuring device.
— *Miasma concentration: 3.2. Roughly twice normal.*
"[gentle] This is bad."
The mutter escaped his lips.
That was when it happened.
From the hall ahead, multiple footsteps.
*Thud, thud, thud—*
Three enhanced zombies appeared. Larger than normal zombies by a size, their decayed muscles abnormally developed. Their eyes were festered, yet they accurately tracked their prey's position.
Ash readied his staff and issued commands to Right and Left.
Right stepped forward. Left moved to the rear, as if to protect Ash.
*BOOM.*
Right's fist punched through the torso of the first one. Rotten flesh scattered. But the zombie didn't fall. Staggering, it swung its arm in a counterattack.
*Crunch—*
The second one bit into Left.
The zombie's fangs sank into Left's arm—the slender one. Cracks ran across the stone surface, fragments flaking off.
"[angry] Tch..."
Along with a wave of discomfort, a backlash of magical energy surged through Ash's left wrist. Damage to a golem fed back to its caster.
Right moved swiftly, punching the second one away. Left caught the third, pinning it against the wall to seal its movements.
*Thud, thud, thud—*
Right's follow-up attacks drove all three against the wall, crushing them together.
The battle was over.
But—
Ash looked at Left's arm.
The part where the zombie had bitten was gouged out, a large chunk missing.
"[gentle] ...What a pain."
He planted his staff on the floor. The summoning mark on his left wrist glowed, and the stone flooring began to crumble away. He worked the material into Left's arm—repairs via earth magic.
After a while, the repairs were done.
Left's arm was... good as new.
"Used too much magic on repairs, huh? ...Well, I'll manage."
Saying that, he pressed on.
Left, walking ahead, punched away a fourth zombie that appeared in front of them—*WHAM*. The zombie crashed into the wall.
"Did we get it?"
Ash's voice was oddly calm.
Had he burned through too much energy in Layers 1 and 2?
He calculated in a corner of his mind. He could still go on. But—he had to consider when to pull back.
---
The deepest part of Layer 2.
Miasma concentration: 4.5. Roughly three times normal.
Finishing the measurement, Ash looked ahead.
At the far end stood an iron-barred door.
The entrance to Layer 3. A place that should have been sealed ever since a large-scale miasma eruption incident roughly forty years ago.
But—
The iron bars were half-open.
The sealing magic pattern carved into its surface glowed faintly. A light that should have shone in seven layers now held only three. Degradation was advancing.
Through the gap, the stench of rot leaked out.
A cloying, sweet smell of death.
For just one second, Ash thought.
Turn back. Or go forward.
(*Coming all this way just to measure numbers and leave—that would be a failure to fulfill the request.*)
That was his only reason.
Fitting for someone who operated on cost and benefit more than anything else.
"[gentle] ...Well, whatever."
Ash slipped through the gap and entered.
---
Layer 3.
It was a vast hall. Over twenty meters in diameter. The ceiling was too dark to see. Countless stone coffins were stacked along the walls, bones protruding here and there.
And—
From the ceiling, corpses were suspended.
Three. Four. Five—no, more. Not by ropes, but entangled in what looked like black ivy, miasma itself solidified, hanging there.
Eroded by the miasma, they were on the verge of fusing together.
*Squelch.*
A sound.
Something that had been slumped on the floor in the center of the hall slowly rose to its feet.
A giant zombie—three meters in full length. Multiple corpses fused by miasma, forming a grotesque giant. Three arms, two heads, and on its abdomen, countless faces surfaced.
"[whispers] ...This is as far as I go, huh."
Ash's lips twisted slightly.
The giant zombie moved.
---
The battle was a losing one from the start.
The zombie's right arm swept Left aside.
*CRASH.*
Impact ran through Left's torso, slamming it against the wall. But it immediately tried to rise.
Right stepped forward.
*BOOM.*
A full-force blow punched through the zombie's torso. Rotten flesh scattered, the sound of shattering bone echoed—but.
The flesh writhed.
Black miasma oozing from the wound drew in the surrounding rotten flesh, regenerating it before his eyes.
"[angry] Regeneration... huh."
Cold sweat beaded on Ash's forehead.
The measuring device was already stowed in his pouch. Gripping his staff with both hands, he continued issuing commands to the golems.
Right switched to defense. Left attacked—but Left's attacks couldn't reach the core's location. In the first place, he hadn't even found where the miasma core was embedded in this giant body.
The zombie's left arm struck Right.
*CRACK.*
A fissure ran through Right's torso.
"[sad] Guh..."
From his left wrist, discomfort. The golem's damage fed back.
The zombie's regenerated right arm followed up with another attack.
*CRACK CRACK CRACK—*
The fissure in Right's torso spread wider.
(*It can't hold on any longer.*)
As a caster, he knew.
For just a moment, Ash fell silent.
A single second. But that one second felt terribly long.
Right—three months ago, it had performed well even when hunting Dea with the three rookies. When Kyle got nervous and banged his forehead on the desk, when Baldo silently put his body on the line, when Lily exploded her magic—Right had always been there, protecting Ash
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