The Water Magician

In the back streets of Closed City East, there is a bakery called "Colomban."

It is a popular bakery known for its carefully crafted bread, such as fresh cream bread and jam bread.

In its basement, there was Corn.

"Corn, report."

The man in front of him seemed to be beyond middle age and approaching old age; he was thought to be the owner by the regular customers of the shop.

However, he had recently been unwell, so the second son, Corn, had been helping in his stead.

With that context, Corn began his report.

"As planned, I successfully infiltrated the 'Fifth Area.' I saw what appeared to be the actual 'new weapon' inside... but..."

At that point, Corn hesitated.

"What is it? Speak clearly. The fate of the nation depends on your report."

Though he did not raise his voice, there was an unexplainable pressure in the owner's voice, likely stemming from his long-standing confidence built from years of continuing this mission without breaking down emotionally and reporting to the nation.

"I understand, but... it is a 'new' weapon after all. It is essentially something I have never seen before, right?"

"Hmm, I understand what you want to say."

The owner nodded slightly at Corn's excuse-like words.

"However, from what I've heard and from my experience... the Federation's new weapon is a golem."

Even when Corn paused his words, the owner did not speak.

After a while of silence, it was Corn who lost patience.

"Hey, are you listening?"

At that, the owner jumped up.

"Ah, sorry. You said golem, right?"

"Yes, a golem. It is two and a half meters tall, about the size of an ogre, with four legs. The upper body had a human-like torso with two arms and a head."

At Corn's report, the owner murmured in thought.

No country in the Central Nations had succeeded in manufacturing artificial golems.

Still, there were "wild" golems.

They were rarely encountered and came in various forms.

Once, while returning from the Forest of Rondo, Ryo and Abel had encountered a golem that looked just like a rock.

In that way, wild golems did exist, and among them, there were exceedingly rare golems that resembled living creatures.

Furthermore, although there were no known cases of artificial golem manufacturing in the Central Nations, the Western Nations had a legion known as the "golem legion."

This tale had been widely spread by bards and Corn was aware of it.

The one this time, although it had four legs, had a human-like upper body, closely resembling the artificial golems Corn had imagined.

Thus, he reported that "the new weapon is a golem."

"So, what about the materials and number of those golems?"

"The materials are unknown. From a distance, the surface appeared to be metallic. The number is about twenty. However, that's just what I saw at that moment; there may be more."

"At least twenty metal golems..."

The owner's voice gradually faded away to a whisper.

According to hearsay, a golem from the Western Nations was said to be equivalent to the combat strength of five b-rank adventurers.

If that is the case, then twenty golems would be equivalent to one hundred b-rank adventurers...

"Which superpower does this belong to..."

It was a scene he did not want to imagine, but at the very least, he had to inform the homeland.

However, the creation of artificial golems had been impossible for any of the countries in the Central Nations... Achieving this was not something a mediocre alchemist could manage.

Considering that the level of alchemy in the Federation was definitely not high...

"Who is the central alchemist? You must have seen that too, right?"

"Yes, I saw it. I am certain because I have seen it before. It is the genius alchemist Frank de Verde from the Naitorei Kingdom."

"Nonsense..."

The name that Corn revealed was indeed shocking.

Frank de Verde was a representative alchemist of the current generation, and normally alchemists of that caliber were prohibited from leaving the country for life.

Their talent was a treasure of the nation.

Even if deemed inhumane... even in the kingdom, which was said to be considerably lenient compared to the Empire.