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Chapter 15
“…Pardon?”
Did I hear that wrong?
“Ugh, my hearing hasn’t been great lately.”
I dug hard into my ear with my pinky and asked again.
“What did you say?”
“I said to build a wall.”
“Me?”
“You.”
“All of that?”
“All of it.”
“I don’t really understand what you suddenly mean by that…”
“Didn’t you tell me we should build a wall? To build one, we’d need to set a budget, recruit manpower, transport stones, carve them, and then actually build it—it would take several months at the very least.”
Up to that point, Caius spoke calmly, then deliberately let his eyebrows droop, putting on a regretful expression.
“According to what you said, we don’t know when a landslide might strike the outskirts of the territory.”
“Well, no…”
“You’re right. The last landslide was ninety-two years ago, so we can’t just relax completely.”
“That’s not what I—”
“So, as the territory’s exclusive mage, I’d like you to take responsibility for this section of the wall and build it.”
I was dumbfounded.
So this bastard dragged me here with this plan from the start. No wonder he’d agreed so readily with what I said.
“I’ll give you ten days.”
“Are you, by any chance, a thug?”
“Five days.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Aren’t you a genius who mastered black magic at fifteen without a teacher? Surely you can build a single wall in ten days.”
Caius bent deeply at the waist and lowered himself to my eye level.
“I’m going to try trusting you completely, starting now.”
A lazy smile spread beneath his long, sharp eyes.
“You’re not thinking of backing out now, saying it wasn’t actually that urgent, that it can wait for later, are you?”
He even blocked my escape route.
“If you did, I’d be so saddened that I might have to reconsider your position as my exclusive mage.”
Now he’s outright threatening me?
Watching him casually dump all the work on me like a snake slipping over a wall, I completely lost my words.
“Any objections?”
From the way he asked again, I could feel it—Caius was determined to squeeze me dry to the bone under the name of ‘exclusive mage.’
How did this man even survive without a mage until now?
Isn’t he enjoying this a bit too much?
“Well?”
“…Ghh.”
“I can’t hear you. What did you say?”
“I’ll do it. I’ll do it, okay?”
Caius straightened up and smiled brightly.
“That’s my capable mage.”
There’s a limit to repaying kindness with hostility.
I even spoiled the original story to give him a taste of the author buff, and what I get back is manual labor—tearing down and rebuilding walls.
With a heavy heart, I looked out over the vast grasslands and mountain ranges before me.
It’s not like I can’t do it, but my path of suffering is way too obvious.
Suddenly, the memory of collapsing in the orchard a few days ago flashed through my mind, sending chills down my spine.
I don’t want to faint.
I really don’t want to faint from hunger.
As I trembled, a flash of inspiration crossed my mind.
“…So all I have to do is have the wall built within ten days, right?”
“What are you plotting now?”
“I’m thinking about efficiency.”
If I shut myself in here and suffer through it alone, I could finish in three days—but I don’t want that.
And just nearby, there happen to be some very capable specialists for wall construction.
Caius stared straight at me.
Now I can tell just by his expression.
He’s trying to gauge what kind of scheme I’m cooking up.
“Do you remember Clause 3 of the contract?”
“Why bring that up?”
“In carrying out orders, Party B may freely use magic, and Party A may not punish or dismiss Party B for that reason.”
Caius frowned.
I grinned.
“No changing your tune later.”
The next day.
Fully equipped, I headed to the marshlands beyond the snowy mountains. Long-leafed trees tangled overhead like a net, blocking out the light.
“Ugh, the smell of moss.”
Is it because the sun doesn’t reach here?
It’s damp, like being inside a fish tank.
I covered my nose with my sleeve and walked carefully, surveying my surroundings. Every step, sagging vines smacked against my shoulders.
“It should be around here somewhere.”
After crossing the marsh for quite a while, my gaze was suddenly drawn to one spot. In the middle of the sinking wetlands lay several large and small mounds made of piled stones.
“Found it.”
I hopped closer. Though it was clearly a stone mound, thick moss covered it, making the surface damp and slippery.
“Perfect.”
I took out the wooden brush I’d brought and poured lye water over the stone, scrubbing hard. As the sticky moss peeled away, dark gray stone began to appear.
About ten minutes passed.
Rumble.
Suddenly, the rock beneath my feet began to vibrate heavily.
Oh, it woke up faster than I expected.
I quickly jumped back and steadied myself.
With a thunderous sound, the vibrating rock rose up. Soon, it took the shape of a gigantic humanoid with arms and legs.
[Who… are you.]
“Hi.”
Holding up the wooden brush and bucket in both hands, I spoke to it.
“You were dirty, so I was cleaning you.”
A golem.
A magical beast made entirely of stone.
They were gentle by nature, highly cohesive, lived in groups, and usually stayed motionless in one place, sleeping for long periods.
Once, rumors spread that a golem’s core could enhance magical power, driving them to the brink of extinction. Now, however, they were humanity’s number one most-avoided species.
The reason was simple.
[Human? Kill.]
“Hey, hey, wait!”
Bam!
With a single punch from the golem, the spot where I’d been standing caved into a deep crater.
“Whoa…”
Ridiculously strong.
Look at that ferocity—trying to kill me without a word the moment it confirmed I was human.
Who would ever think these things are the gentlest magical beasts?
Though, to be fair, humans dug their own graves first.
[Core, not give. Die, human.]
Rumble.
Rrrrrumble.
At that moment, the other mounds—large and small—rose up all at once, surrounding me.
Faced with the overwhelming procession of massive stones towering overhead, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
I did come prepared for this.
But isn’t this a bit too many?
And they’re bigger than I expected.
No, why are they this big?
[Attack. Human. Kill.]
[Core, not give.]
Crash!
Bam!
“Aaah! Wait a second!”
The golems launched a simultaneous assault. Boulders rained down indiscriminately from above.
If I stayed on the ground, I’d be crushed without fail, so I urgently activated magic and leapt into the air.
When a golem lifted the fist it had slammed into the ground, the wooden brush I hadn’t managed to retrieve was reduced to powder, scattering into dust.
“Insane…”
If I’d been a split second slower, that would’ve been me.
[Human, tricks. Mage?]
[Bad mage, enemy.]
[Our enemy. Kill.]
Crap.
They hate mages even more.
Seeing me floating in the air, the golems’ eyes glowed crimson.
“Wait! I came to make a deal!”
[…Deal?]
That’s it.
At least hear me out.
[Deal, unnecessary.]
[Do not trust, mage.]
You’ve got to be kidding.
Rumble—the ground shook again as the golems’ bodies began to merge.
In the blink of an eye, an enormous golem took shape.
It swung its arm toward me again, and without time to think, I hurriedly pulled out what I’d prepared.
“Hey! Aren’t you going to want this back?”
The massive stone arm flying toward me stopped midair.
