Does using human materials increase a golem's performance?
Roger, asked the question, fell into deep thought.
Using humans as golem materials was likely something he had never even considered before.
Roger had an extreme personality, but even he adhered to a basic moral code.
...Though arranging for his own bodyguards to attack Seto in the middle of town to obtain Seto's materials upon seeing him for the first time apparently hadn't crossed that moral line.
In any case, Roger thought deeply. Deeply, deeply, and deeply some more.
Rei and Lindy, both novices when it came to golems, fell silent, careful not to disturb Roger's thoughts with any conversation.
Rei still had much he didn't understand about the situation, and was turning that over in his mind.
Lindy was thinking about what Rei had told her—the possibility that Golias might have been used as golem material.
She wanted it to be some kind of mistake.
She wanted the bandits' disappearance and Golias's disappearance to be the same incident. If that were the case, she figured Rei, who was already pursuing the bandits' disappearance, would naturally end up investigating that matter as well.
But after hearing what had just been said, she could no longer bring herself to believe that.
After all, if Rei's prediction was correct, it was all too easy to imagine what had happened to Golias.
Of course, it was also possible that Lindy was overthinking things.
Specifically, even if there was a high probability that humans were being used as materials, the parts taken might not be irrecoverable.
What Lindy was imagining was a scene of missing limbs, internal organs, or eyeballs.
This was largely because she was an adventurer with considerable experience harvesting materials from monster corpses.
As the two remained silent... eventually Roger spoke.
"I've gathered my thoughts."
"Then please explain. If human materials are used, does the golem's performance increase? More specifically, does it achieve performance on par with the golems manufactured by the Dolan Workshop?"
At Rei's words, Lindy turned a pleading gaze toward Roger.
Please, deny Rei's words.
Roger, receiving that gaze loaded with such hopes, opened his mouth even as he felt the weight of her stare.
"I'm not copying Rei's words, but this is merely a hypothesis built upon a hypothesis. Please understand that this is based solely on the golem knowledge I possess."
Saying so, and after seeing Rei and Lindy nod, Roger began his explanation.
"First of all, with the techniques I know at the very least, using human materials cannot strengthen a golem. No, to be precise, it might be slightly more efficient at operating a golem compared to normal materials, but that is only marginal. It is not something worth taking a risk where you'd have no excuse if discovered, such as using humans as materials."
Lindy breathed a sigh of relief at Roger's words.
Golias, after all, had nothing to do with the bandits' disappearance.
No, even if he was connected to the bandits' disappearance, he hadn't been captured and turned into golem material.
That was likely what she thought.
However, as if to shatter Lindy's expectations, Roger continued.
"But if the Dolan Workshop possesses techniques I am unaware of, and uses them, then it is entirely possible that human materials could increase a golem's performance."
At those words, the relieved Lindy's expression immediately changed.
If Roger's words were correct, then there was a possibility that Golias had been used as golem material.
Golias in particular was an outstanding individual, even as an adventurer.
Lindy had no idea what Roger's unknown techniques specifically entailed.
However, if asked which was superior—the body of a bandit or Golias's body—Lindy would naturally say Golias's body.
Of course, speaking of bandits in general, some among them may have defeated adventurers numerous times.
But Lindy believed that Golias would be stronger than such opponents.
"Unknown techniques that even Roger doesn't know. Does something like that really exist?"
"Of course. It is precisely because such techniques exist that the Dolan Workshop can create higher-performance golems than I can."
Roger, stating this, looked frustrated... and at the same time revealed his irritation.
For Roger, the fact that they had techniques to create higher-performance golems than his own, yet resorted to such heretical acts as using humans as materials, was apparently intolerable.
...In reality, as Rei had said, the claim that the Dolan Workshop used humans as materials was still hypothetical.
"Then it comes down to the fact that asking you about this was useless after all."
"I won't let that slide!"
Whether dissatisfied with Rei's words or not, Roger shouted.
The guards reacted for a moment upon hearing Roger's shout, but since the only ones currently inside the building were Rei and his companions, they didn't move.
That was how loudly Roger's shout had echoed throughout the house.
"Don't get mad. I'm not insulting you. In the first place, if such techniques truly existed, the alchemists would have analyzed them by now, right? The golem industry is large in Egginis. Given that, alchemists would naturally be looking to improve their own techniques even a little."
"I won't deny that. Though, in practice, very few have actually managed to obtain a Dolan Workshop golem."
"...I figured."
Rei had no choice but to agree with Roger's words.
After all, people were gathering from all across the Kingdom of Mireana... no, depending on the circumstances, even from neighboring countries, to purchase Dolan Workshop golems.
It would be difficult for Egginis's alchemists to purchase one, and the Dolan Workshop was likely checking for exactly that sort of thing.
Another method would be to buy from someone who was fortunate enough to purchase a Dolan Workshop golem, but those who had come all the way to Egginis to buy one were mostly nobles and wealthy merchants.
Given that, purchasing a golem from such individuals would not be easy, and even if one could, it would cost an astronomical amount.
Perhaps some alchemists might consider exchanging a golem manufactured at their own workshop... but the highest-performance golem in Egginis in the first place was the Dolan Workshop's.
For someone who had purchased that golem, it was only natural to wonder why they should bother exchanging it for a lower-performance one.
Roger explained those circumstances, and then added, "However..."
"There are still various ways to obtain one."
Rei didn't know specifically what those methods of acquisition were.
He didn't know, but the fact that Roger didn't state the specific method meant it was likely not entirely black... but still a gray-area method.
Rei wasn't particularly interested in that sort of thing.
Well, if someone he knew was harmed and it was something he couldn't overlook, that would be a different story.
For now, what he wanted was information about the Dolan Workshop's golems.
"So? Even so, you still haven't been able to analyze their techniques, right? The fact that you've obtained a golem was a bit surprising, but..."
"Gnuu."
Roger groaned at Rei's words.
Judging by that reaction, it was certain that Roger's own workshop had also obtained a Dolan Workshop golem.
However, from the looks of it, they hadn't made any progress in analyzing the techniques after all.
But... Roger opened his mouth toward Rei.
"It is true that we have not yet been able to analyze the Dolan Workshop's golem techniques. But if we analyze it under the premise that humans are being used as materials, that should also progress. ...Though that is only if humans are truly being used as materials."
Roger looked full of confidence.
It was probably difficult to investigate what kind of special techniques were being used from nothing, but if one knew what kind of technique it was, then analyzing it wouldn't be difficult.
Is that how it works? Rei wondered.
If there was something suspicious, couldn't they just investigate that part? He thought that as well, but unfortunately he wasn't that knowledgeable about golems.
Since they were using human materials to make golems, wouldn't that be discovered during maintenance or repairs? He'd had that thought as well, and he thought Roger had agreed.
But if he was told that was simply how golems were, he had no choice but to accept it.
"Hey, wait. Just a moment."
Lindy cut into Rei and Roger's conversation.
In her eyes was a mixture of great dissatisfaction and anxiety.
"Somehow this is turning into a discussion about analyzing golems, but what about Golias? If he might be imprisoned at the Dolan Workshop, we need to do something about that first, don't we?"
For Lindy, that went without saying.
In the first place, her greatest purpose in cooperating with Rei was to find the missing Golias.
Even though there was a lead that might connect to Golias, not investigating it was something she could not tolerate.
"I'd also like to assault the Dolan Workshop right now if I could, but with only a single contract as evidence, there's really nothing I can do."
There was the contract instructing Blood Blade to kill Rei, but even that could ultimately be dismissed as a forgery if they made a fuss about it.
Above all, even if they assaulted the Dolan Workshop, the fact that evidence of using humans as materials wouldn't be found so easily was a major factor.
If there were missing persons like bandits or Golias in the golem manufacturing area, then it would be easy to make a case.
But surely they weren't doing anything that obvious.
If they stormed the Dolan Workshop and found some kind of clue there, that would be fine.
But if they failed to find any, Rei's position would become the worst possible.
In particular, Egginis currently had many nobles and merchants gathered to purchase Dolan Workshop golems.
If he assaulted the Dolan Workshop and failed to find any evidence, Rei would completely make enemies of all those people.
No, not just Rei—it could cause trouble for Elena and his other companions in Gilm, Daskar who had publicly hinted at Rei being his trusted aide, and various others as well.
If this were solely Rei's problem, then at worst he could leave the Kingdom of Mireana and go to some other country.
But the current Rei couldn't do such a thing.
"Calm down. The Dolan Workshop's involvement in the bandits' disappearance... and their use of human materials to make golems is merely conjecture, the result of piling hypothesis upon hypothesis. Given that, you understand that we can't just assault the Dolan Workshop, right? ...If we had some kind of evidence, that would be a different story."
"That contract is the best evidence there is."
"I understand what you're trying to say, but there's no denying it's weak as evidence. If only we had more solid proof of some kind..."
"Then are you saying we just stay silent and let it go!?"
Lindy's anguished cry echoed through the room.
To Lindy, the Dolan Workshop was already an unquestionably guilty entity in her mind.
That was why she thought there would be no problem with heading to the Dolan Workshop right now, even launching an all-out assault.
Rei understood how she felt. If Elena and his companions were in the same situation for him, regardless of whether he would actually act on it, it wouldn't be strange for him to feel the same way Lindy did.
But even so... even knowing that the orphanage Rei had visited relied on the Dolan Workshop as its benefactor, in his current situation, charging headlong into the workshop was something he absolutely could not do.