At this time, Mr. Chotos walked to the back of the shop. He returned carrying a tray of drinks, and a cup of steaming coffee was placed before me. “How about a cup?”
“Oh, thanks.” How tasteful for this man. Since I’d been eating sweet cookies with a young girl, I was craving a bitter drink.
Teru, meanwhile, got a cup of warm milk. Smart thinking, mister. I totally understand your concern about the effects of caffeine on a youth of her age.
Even though Teru was five years old, she was small enough to look three. I also wanted her to drink plenty of milk to grow big and strong.
As I mulled over this child’s future, I tried the coffee. However, halfway to my lips, my hand stopped. Was this strange drink from another world really coffee? What I actually held was a ceramic cup of unknown, steaming black liquid. Appearance-wise, it was completely coffee. However…
Although I remained vigilant, I sniffed it and cautiously took a sip.
“Oh…?”
Ah, now that was just fine. It really was like coffee, although its taste was slightly different. It was somewhat rustic compared to the drink I knew from my original world, but if I thought of it as this world’s version of coffee, it just worked. Not bad at all.
I drank more of this world’s coffee with a cheerful smile.
On the other side of the table, Mr. Chotos relaxed with his own cup. Then he opened his mouth suddenly as if he had just remembered something. “Ah, right, right. Another interesting thing about sorcery cores. They allow golems to have an ‘artificial personality’ of sorts.”
“Artificial personality?”
“In layman’s terms, the sorcery core functions as the golem’s brain.”
Ah, so it was like artificial intelligence in computers, right? Since this world didn’t seem to have any sophisticated electronic machines, maybe similar effects could be reproduced with spells. Perhaps I could liken the difference between my beginner golems and Gol to the difference between a toy with voice recognition and a super high-tech android.
“I see. That’s why she’s so much cleverer than a training golem…” I muttered. But had I really put such a core in Gol? Hmm…
“Yup, you’ve got it,” Mr. Chotos said and gave an exaggerated nod to my muttering. “Also, a golem’s base can be repaired, but once damaged or destroyed, a sorcery core can’t be fixed. You must take good care of Goretaru’s sorcery core.”
“O-oh. I see… Thanks.”
Mr. Chotos looked slightly dissatisfied with my vague and hesitant response. “Listen, Nemaki, a golem’s artificial personality is formed from their accumulation of individual memories and experiences. It’s completely unique. In short, you could say it’s almost like the golem’s heart as well.”
He tilted his chin to my side to bring my attention to Gol. She was presently occupied with delicately wiping cookie crumbs from my mouth with a handkerchief.
“Your Goretaru is incredibly clever even in this baseline autonomous state. I’m sure your ancestors put a great deal of time and care into it throughout the years.”
“I-I see.”
Is that so? Th-thank you, my ancestors… As I expressed my gratitude to some unknown ancestors, I frowned at Gol’s chest, where she supposedly contained a sorcery core.
Yeah, her chest is as elegant and graceful as usual. As I studied the refined twin hills of my partner, another thought occurred. Even though she was categorized as a shrine golem, for some reason, she lacked the bombastic bosom those other golems possessed. If she really wanted to manifest some eye candy for me, I would’ve preferred a magnificent bust over elf ears—
Ah! No, that’s wrong. I refuse to judge anyone by the size of their chest!
In any case, a lot of Mr. Chotos’s explanation made sense.
During the fight with the shrine golems, I had noticed that if a golem’s head was destroyed or they were decapitated, they ceased to function. At the same time, I had become suspicious that something like a fatal weak point was housed in their chests. Even though the shrine golems’ vulnerable heads had ultimately sealed their fates, they had left their skulls completely exposed. However, they all wore additional armor of a special stone material over their chests. Furthermore, even in the middle of combat, none of the busty golems ever aimed for Gol’s chest.
It was as if this chest avoidance was an unspoken rule of honorable combat.
However, given the way Gol always killed monkeys, it seemed her default instinct was to crush heads. Ah, that might have been the prime motivating factor on her end…
I suddenly came up with a new theory. Maybe the voluptuous bodies of the shrine golems weren’t a matter of dubious creator taste, but a safety feature for the sorcery core inside their chests.
Huh, if so, that might also explain the long hair that trailed down the shrine golems’ backs. That stony hairstyle protected the span of their necks to the weak point in their chests from surprise attacks.
“Golem design is surprisingly complex…”
However, if this was the case, was it accurate to call my modestly busted Gol a shrine golem? I wouldn’t get scolded by the fans of true shrine golems, right?
Deep in thought, my eyes fixed on Gol’s chest. When I finally raised my eyes, Gol returned my earnest gaze with a passionate stare. Her crimson eyes shone as if filled with joyful expectation, and her long ears fluttered. What was she so happy about…?
You know what? It didn’t matter whether Gol had some accidental foreign element mixed inside of her. And it didn’t matter if I had to face an army of shrine golem fanatics hurling abuse at me about the size of her chest. I’d risk my life to refute them. My partner, Gol, was the very best, and she could puff out her slim chest as proudly as she liked. No matter her measurements, she’d always be number one to me.
Having reached this magnificent conclusion, I returned to Mr. Chotos. “You know, mister, I think you’re actually quite knowledgeable about golems.”
In fact, I’d go so far as to say he had knowledge in abundance. At least, it easily exceeded the explanation written in my introductory book. Although Mr. Chotos wasn’t on the level of that great scholar—the talented, cultured Master Speria—he did pretty well for an evil, powerless merchant.
“Well, I need to be able to handle sorcery cores in my line of work,” Mr. Chotos replied as if he were speaking to a clueless toddler. “I at least have to know about those. It seems to me more like you’re the one who should be embarrassed for being such an ignorant spellcaster.”
“Wha…?”
Hey! Stop looking at me with those pitying eyes!