After finishing lunch, Jin immediately headed back to the golem warehouse.
He had expected Paerova Sondvik to accompany him, but the man had pressing business to attend to. He promised to check in on the progress once he was finished.
"Alright, let's start with these."
Before him were the three units so badly damaged that repair seemed nearly impossible. One was missing its right arm; another was missing both legs from the knee down and both arms from the elbow down. The third was missing its head and right arm.
"Judging by the extent of the damage to the outer casing, they must have seen combat."
From what Jin could see, these weren't specialized combat models, but standard general-purpose golems. Their bronze outer casings were proof of that.
"Well, what happened in the past doesn't matter right now. I need to get them fixed....'Help.'"
As Jin issued the command as their temporary Master, two of the previously repaired golems began to move.
"I really do need a slightly smaller assistant golem after all."
For the sake of helping with delicate, detailed work, it was better for an assistant golem to be compact. In that sense, Reiko had been ideal.
"But there's no sense complaining about what I don't have....Hold that down for me."
Jin worked efficiently, and in no time at all, he had completely disassembled the three broken units.
"Jin-san, good aftern—whoa!"
Kachea, having finished her morning training, arrived just in time to see the pile of dismantled golems and let out a cry of surprise.
"Ah... you startled me..."
Since the golem skeletons were so close in structure to those of humans, her shock was understandable.
"It’s not so bad since the muscles are metallic. It would be much creepier if they were made of biological material," Jin remarked.
Come to think of it, Hanna never seemed bothered by it, Jin remembered fondly.
"Um, are you... fixing these?"
"Not exactly 'fixing' them. I'm salvaging the usable parts to cobble together a single working unit."
Jin put it quite bluntly. Kachea, however, seemed to understand his intent.
"I see... so it's a form of recycling... or rather, making effective use of resources."
"They aren't exactly scrap, but it's close to that."
Even as he spoke, Jin’s eyes were already sorting through the components, separating the viable materials from the waste.
"Alright, help me out."
"Eh? Me...?"
"No, not you."
"Then... Kyah!"
Kachea jumped as the golems began to move.
"You saw them moving yesterday, didn't you?"
"Y-Yesterday they were just walking, but today they're following your instructions perfectly! Do golems really listen to people that easily?"
"Not usually. They have a clear distinction regarding who their commander is. They identify individuals by their magic pattern, so you can't trick them."
"Then why are they listening to you, Jin-san?"
"It's because I registered myself as a 'temporary Master' while I was repairing them."
A temporary Master. In situations like this where the original Master is absent, it is highly inconvenient if a golem cannot be started or stopped for maintenance. Therefore, a few highly skilled magi craftsmen are capable of configuring a control core to accept specific commands from a temporary authority.
In the case of golems Jin created himself, he naturally held absolute command authority as their Creator.
"The original Masters of the golems here passed away a long time ago."
"O-Oh, I see..."
Jin had the repaired golems assist him by gathering the usable parts into one area.
"It’s much more efficient to have them carry these heavy components for me," he explained to Kachea.
"That’s true... they do look quite heavy..."
"Now then."
Jin rearranged the gathered parts and assessed the situation.
"I have plenty of duplicates for most things, but for the missing parts, I'll have to manufacture them."
All three units were missing their right arms from the elbow down.
"I have enough leg parts for two units, so I'll just use those."
Muttering to himself, Jin quickly refashioned the material into a right-arm skeleton. He set aside the leftover metal as an ingot.
"That takes care of the skeleton."
Jin began assembling the frame.
Hmm, it really is Adriana-style through and through...
The internal design was almost identical to the golems Jin usually made. Or rather, the design hadn't changed in centuries.
I suppose the Predecessor's methods were just that complete.
The assembly of the skeleton was finished in minutes.
"Adjusting the play in the joints... and since there's no adamantite, I'll use 'Hardening'..."
Ignoring Kachea, who was watching with wide eyes, Jin moved on to installing the muscular system.
"I'll mix in some of the mithril recovered from one unit's worth of magi-nerve lines to compensate for the deterioration. 'Alloying', 'Forming'."
Next came the assembly.
Because Kachea was observing, Jin made a conscious effort to work at a slower pace. He simultaneously laid the magi-nerve lines, finishing the task in about thirty minutes.
"Alright. Next is the link board."
Since the boards were intact in all three units, he selected the one in the best condition.
"This goes here, and that connects there..."
Muttering to himself, Jin finished wiring the link board.
"Now for the head."
He chose the better of the two available heads.
"That should do it. 'Bonding'."
By this point, the machine looked very much like a functional golem.
"Now for the exterior..."
The outer casing served as both skin and armor.
"What's the design like on these?"
The casing appeared to be modeled after actual armor worn by humans. It wasn't Adriana-style, nor did it resemble any armor Jin was familiar with.
"I’ll just use one of the relatively intact units as a reference and replicate it."
Using the eight already repaired golems as models, Jin repaired the dented or broken plates and fitted them onto the new unit.
"...Done."
About an hour and a half after he had started, a single golem stood assembled from the parts of the three broken ones.
"Oh! Jin-dono, is that the one?"
Right on cue, Paerova Sondvik arrived. He was slightly out of breath, suggesting he had run all the way from his office.
"Yes, I've just finished it....As you can see, the materials from the remaining two units are over there."
He pointed to a pile of what was now undeniably scrap.
"Mmu, it can't be helped," Paerova replied, though his gaze was fixed intently on the newly completed golem.
"That makes nine units! You've done a magnificent job, Jin-dono."
Out of the fifteen units, nine had now been restored. Of the remaining six, two had been cannibalized for parts, leaving four left to fix.
Seeing Paerova in such high spirits, Jin decided it was the perfect time to make his request.
"Lord Paerova, I have a small favor to ask."
"Hmm? What is it, Jin-dono?"
"It’s about the work ahead. I still have four more units to repair, and as I continue with these tasks, I've realized I could really use an assistant golem."
"An assistant golem?"
"Yes. They are incredibly useful for carrying heavy parts or holding things in place during assembly. They have a wide range of applications."
"Hmm, I see....So, are you asking to keep one of the repaired units for yourself?"
Thinking that the conversation was going exactly as he’d hoped, Jin proposed the plan he had already formulated.
"No, I was actually thinking of assembling a new one using the leftover materials."