THE poverty-stricken district had a marketplace too—a market where street stalls and tents crammed the beach running along the seaside. But the goods sold there were different from a normal market.
“Get yourself the right and left arm of Reigle Co’s new model Iron Golem in a set for just 80,000! It’s a bargain!”
“I’ve got the lower-body of that masterpiece Bronze Golem Para Gunner for ya right here! It’s only half working, so get it at the cheap price of 150,000!”
“Step right up! We’ve got farm-fresh Clay Golems that are cheaper and fresher than anywhere else!”
Competing shouts trying to lure in customers drowned each other out from every corner of the open market.
Every stall dealt in Golems, and every stall was less than respectable. They sold junk parts, illegal parts, and mostly stolen parts. Flank Beach Market was the biggest black market where the poor and destitute sold Golems to people who were even worse off.
And Cliff’s workplace was within that very black market. Parts Shop Akizu Company did business out of a barracks on the edge of the marketplace. Cliff knocked on its armored door.
“Good morning, Boss,” he greeted.
A fifty-something-year-old man appeared from within the barracks with sleepy eyes. He was the shop’s owner, Akizu.
“Yer late, Cliff. Let’s get straight to salvaging. Bring the cart ‘round front.”
“Sure thing,” Cliff answered and circled around to the back of the barracks.
He found the cart next to the barracks’ small garage. Beside the garage towered a rusted metal statue so gigantic Cliff had to tilt his neck way back in order to see its head that reached over three and a half meters. Eclipsing the height of the garage’s rooftop, the massive, unmoving giant held a sign that read, “Parts Shop Akizu Company.” The nameless metal giant was the shop’s trademark symbol.
“……”
Cliff stared at it, remembering how he had finished building it with someone just last month. Needless to say, this metal statue had failed to come to life and move, just the same as his Gandolf.
“Hey, Cliff! What’s takin’ ya so long?” Akizu’s voice rose from the front of the shop, interrupting his daydreaming. Cliff snapped back to his senses and pulled the cart around front.
“Sorry for the wait, Boss!”
“Sure ya are. Alrighty, ready to get to work on our usual recycling mission today?”
Cliff nodded and followed Akizu, towing the cart behind him.
They left the black market and headed for the residential district. Training a keen eye on their surroundings, the two kept a lookout for what they were searching for. After a while, Cliff spotted exactly that, stashed away in a narrow space between tightly packed apartment buildings.
“Hey, Boss! Doesn’t that look like it’ll work?” he asked, pointing out his discovery.
Closer inspection revealed a heap of scrap iron. Fragments of what could possibly be mechanical arms and legs were littered among the junk. The metal limbs were the remnants of a wrecked Iron Golem that had broken down and been abandoned to weather the elements. A smile overtook Akizu’s face when he saw it.
“Oh yeah, these are quality goods all right. Pick it up! Pick it all up, Cliff!”
“You’ve got it, Boss!”
They loaded the cart with the Golem’s remains while keeping a mindful lookout for any possible witnesses. Once they finished loading, Cliff tossed a sheet on top of the cart and broke into a run with Akizu.
Salvaging parts from broken and abandoned Golems to sell was Akizu Company’s primary business. The work amounted to a minor crime by the Church’s rules, but Cliff willingly took part in the illegal activities anyway.
After all, there weren’t many businesses that would hire a child like him, not to mention working in the mines was too much strain on a boy with an empty belly. Adults who had gone slightly down the wrong road like Akizu had become a form of foster parents for street children without relatives.
Cliff exhaled with a big sigh once they were finally far away enough from the scene of the crime.
Wiping away his sweat, Akizu remarked, “I still gotta hand it to ya for havin’ the guts to do this part-time job.”
“I wouldn’t be able to make Golems without my pay from this job.”
“Yeah, but why’re ya even trying to make a Golem? If memory serves me well, you’ve been at it since you were seven, yeah? What’s that make it? Six years now?” He sounded like he was truly baffled by Cliff’s actions.
Cliff thought about it for a moment before answering. “Yeah, it’s been that long. If I had to give you the short answer, it’d be…in order to achieve my dreams.”
“Yer dreams, eh? Ultimately, ya want to become like Roche?”
“Yes, that’s my aspiration.”
The name Akizu mentioned gave Cliff nostalgia—even though it had only been a week since he parted ways with the boy he called Master.
“Well, what else is there to say?” Akizu remarked, thinking back on the boy himself. “I was worried about what I’d have to do since Roche disappeared, so it’s a real relief to have ya here. Gimme a hand with this work whenever ya can, okay?”
“S-Sure…”
Though Cliff agreed, he had no intention of continuing the job for long. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Akizu that.
Feeling rotten for deceiving him, Cliff deflected the conversation, “Anyways, Boss, let’s get back to work. We’ve only just got started for the day!” He raised his voice in good cheer, pulling the heavy cart faster behind him.
Akizu made a wry smile and followed Cliff.