Is That My Alter Ego

15 – Mithril Golem

We walked into the damp, dark mine.

The sound of our footsteps and the droplets of water falling from the ceiling echoed softly.

“I think this is my first time entering a mine.”

“Same here.”

Well, it’s not common for ordinary people to enter mines, is it?

I had never been to a mine on Earth either. Probably the same in this world.

Lanterns were installed at regular intervals on the walls, but several had gone out, indicating they hadn’t been maintained for some time.

Ugh. I don’t particularly like the dark.

“I can’t see well. And ahead… it seems even darker.”

“Hmm…”

As I went deeper inside, it became even darker. Even in the place where I am standing now, only a few meters ahead could be seen faintly, and just as Ceris said, nothing could be seen just a step ahead.

“Just a moment, excuse me.”

“Yes… yes?”

Thump-

“Hu… huk-!”

Immediately, I reached out and held Ceris’s hand with the hand that wasn’t holding the pickaxe.

I could feel Ceris’s pulse through their hand, and a warm sensation was transmitted.

“You might get lost, so please understand. And pay attention to the flow of magic.”

“Hu… huaaack…!”

Of course, I didn’t hold hands with that intention. It could be dangerous to get lost in this darkness.

“I see magic.”

Even in this darkness, if a demon appears, I can discern its flow through magic.

If we can just grasp the flow, we can respond adequately.

Like that, holding hands, we walked for a while. It was hard to get a sense of distance in the darkness.

“Hmm. I guess I can let go now.”

“Ah…”

It wasn’t a world of pitch-black darkness. Thanks to the ores that shine brightly even in the darkness, our visibility improved to some extent.

Just seeing this much is enough.

The sky-blue shining ores embedded in the wall. They were truly magnificent, emitting a brilliant light.

Seeing the blue stars rising in the vast cave, it felt as if we were looking at the universe.

…Thud.

“Captain.”

“I know. Get ready.”

Faint footsteps and a vague flow of magic power could be heard from a distance.

Seris and I tightly gripped our pickaxes in both hands.

Thud… Thud… Thud…

The footsteps grew louder, echoing through the massive cave, and eventually, a gigantic body revealed itself.

“Oh… my.”

“What on earth…!”

-Wooooah…!

A body larger than a three-story building. And it seemed as tough as to not even leave a scratch with any ordinary blade.

And, all over its body, were patches of sky-blue mithril ore.

“A mithril golem.”

It appeared exactly as I had anticipated, matching the form of a golem precisely.

“With that, the workers wouldn’t have been able to handle it.”

“Hmm. It seems likely.”

Just having a massive body doesn’t make every monster strong. What’s important is the total amount of magic power.

The more magic power a monster possesses, regardless of its size, the stronger it is.

And, judging by the total amount of mana in that golem…. It seems to be roughly equivalent to a high-ranking 3-star monster.

“Seris, Vice Commander. Is it possible?”

If she lacked confidence, returning to the mercenary corps and coming back with the other mercenaries would be a good option.

If it was a high-ranking 3-star monster, it would be at a level that the Empire would recognize.

It might seem arrogant to subdue a 3-star monster with just the two of us.

“It is possible, Commander…!”

“Understood.”

As expected. Seris knew this would happen. Seris, with eyes that burned brighter than mithril in the darkness, focused her mana on the golem.

“And I will never back down in a situation like this.”

If it is within the realm of possibility, I will definitely take on the challenge.

If I am to be with Seris, who will become the strongest in the Empire, I must work even harder. Because I can do it.

-Uwoah!!

Thump, thump, thump, thump!

The golem, which had been waiting for a moment of respite, lost its reason and started charging.

With each step of the giant’s footsteps, the entire cave trembled.

Thud!

I evaded the golem’s grasp, and struck its body with a pickaxe.

A clear sound echoed, but not a scratch remained on the golem’s body. Instead, my arm trembled from the recoil.

“Haap-!”

Kkaang-!

Because the golem’s gaze was fixed on me, Seris struck its unprotected legs from behind.

Although her blow was much stronger than mine, it failed to make an effective impact, causing only a slight dent.

Indeed, a golem’s hallmark is its unbelievable hardness. And following that cliché…

‘There must be a weakness in the golem!’

Despite its solid and powerful body, there surely had to be a distinct weakness.

“Captain, perhaps…”

“That’s likely the right assumption.”

Then, both Seris and I could see traces of magic lingering around the golem’s body with our ‘Magic Eye’.

Mithril ore. At each spot where the ore was embedded, a trace of magic remained. That must be the weakness.

-Woaaah-!

Thud thud thud thud-!

Frustrated that its attacks were ineffective, the golem began to rage even more wildly.

As it flailed its sturdy limbs recklessly, the walls and ceiling collided and began to vibrate.

‘This could bring the whole cave down at this rate.’

“Hurry. We’ll go with all our might.”

“Yes! I’ll follow!”

Deciding to draw out our full strength, as wasting more time would risk being buried in the cave along with the golem.

Kwang-!

Kaang- Kang!

Dodging the attacks with both hands, Seris and I split up and began to strike down on the parts embedded with mithril ore.

Rustle… Rumble-!

-aaagh-!

With a strike infused with magic, the mithril ore in the section shattered and fell apart.

Whether it was out of pain, the golem began to scream, the sound echoing throughout the cave.

Boom-! Bang Bang!

An unrelenting barrage of blows followed, but they were ineffective against me, who had already deciphered its movement patterns, and Seris, with her prodigious talent.

Clang-! Clank!

We were simply mining another piece of mithril ore!

-Uuurgh…

Thud-!

Only after extracting the largest ore attached to its back did the golem collapse as if it had exhausted all its energy.

However, its life was not yet extinguished.

‘I can’t let it go without ensuring it doesn’t suffer!’

But how do you ensure a painless end? Given its physical characteristics, pain seems inevitable.

“Let’s finish this, Vice-Captain Seris.”

“Yes! Right away!!”

Huff-!

Clank Clank Clank Clank Clank- Clang-!

-aaah-!

Having climbed atop the fallen golem, we caught our breath for a moment before starting our all-out, magic-infused pickaxe swings.

With a refreshing yet pure sound echoing, the golem’s body crumbled in real-time.

“Now die…!”

Crash-!

As Seris’s final attack, infused with her magic power, exploded on the mithril ore,

-Uwaaah….

The golem lost its magic power and collapsed, leaving only the ore.

“Phew. Is it over?”

“You did well, Deputy Seris.”

“Oh… no, sir!”

We took a deep breath, still holding our pickaxes. As expected of a 3-star demon, it was incredibly tough.

“But still, aren’t we quite amazing?”

Even so, the golem was undoubtedly a 3-star demon, if not more. And yet, the two of us managed to defeat it without a scratch….

Maybe we’ve become a little stronger?

One thing is certain, I’m not sure, but Seris has become much stronger than during the last Nephendes incident.

Now I’ve become so fast that it’s hard to keep up with my movements, and my attacks have become sharper.

I guess I need to reach that level to have the potential of a Swordmaster. I probably won’t be able to achieve it even if I train for a lifetime.

Maybe if I summon clones hundreds of times. But I didn’t want to do that, so I decided not to think about it.

“Let’s gather the ore and get out of here.”

“Yes! Understood!”

And so, we filled our hands with the golem’s core lying on the ground and the mithril ore in a corner of the mine, and headed out of the cave.

“Finally, we’re outside.”

“Yes… The cave isn’t exactly a pleasant place, is it?”

“I agree.”

My whole body feels damp… and I can’t see what’s in front of me very well. And being in such a confined space, it feels suffocating.

“Did… Did you really defeat that monster?!”

As we basked in the bright sunlight, the caretaker, Iron, came running towards us.

Without saying a word, I showed him the golem’s core.

“Ugh…! Is that the monster’s core…! Th-Thank you so much, thank you!!”

“You’ve thanked us enough.”

I stopped Iron, who was sobbing and bowing repeatedly.

Right now, we have something more important than gratitude, don’t we?

“So… what kind of reward will you give us?”

“….Excuse me?”

Iron, who had a bewildered expression, seemed to finally realize the situation and couldn’t contain his excitement.

Reward? Let it go.

***

“Wow! That’s amazing! You really rescued this?! And in just one day!”

I returned to Spin’s workshop with a large amount of mithril ore that I had obtained from Iron for free.

Spin, upon discovering the massive amount of mithril, jumped up and down with joy, her eyes gleaming.

“So, as I mentioned earlier…”

“Yes! Armor, right?! I’ll make the best for you! I’m really grateful!”

Tightly—!

Spin laughed heartily and hugged me tightly.

Well… there’s really no need for this.

“Pr-Prof…it…”

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

“Hmm. It seems like there are mice living in this workshop. I won’t say anything as an outsider, but…”

“Eek! A-Alright…! Then go check…! I’ll contact you…”

Spin, who seemed to have spotted a mouse somewhere, quickly ushered us out of the workshop, wearing a fearful expression. Well, he’ll handle it on his own.

“Things are going smoothly. Don’t you think so, Captain Ceris?”

“I haven’t dared to even think about what my captain would say…”

“Captain Ceris?”

“Yes… Yes?! Oh, yes! That’s correct! hehehe…”

Ceris, who was muttering something, soon smiled and looked at me.

And so, we returned to our haven, and days passed like that.

“W-What is this, Captain…!”

“Insane…! This can’t be true…!”

“Captain, the best! Hooray!”

A few days later, as the mercenaries confirmed the delivered mithril armor at the Scar Mercenary Corps’ headquarters, they rubbed their eyes in disbelief and, even as they denied the situation,

Nodding in acknowledgment of the truth, I began to shout wildly, leaping around haphazardly.

Among the dogs, there were mercenaries who executed three consecutive backflips with ease.

“Yeah… you little brats. Since I’ll be showing you better things in the future, enjoy it a lot!”

Watching the mercenaries, like kids receiving gifts, jumping around happily, I couldn’t help but feel delighted as well.

“….Lick.”

Somewhere, I felt someone’s gaze, and the sound of a disapproving noise reached my ears again. However, despite looking around, I couldn’t see anything.

Lately, I’ve been feeling uneasy due to the continuous suspicious glances. Did something happen…?

I scratched my head and went up to my office.