"Build a golem? J-Jin-dono, is such a thing even possible!?"
Paerova expressed his shock far more openly than Jin had anticipated.
Jin had assumed that since he could repair them, it was only natural that he could build them, but that wasn't how most people saw it. To put it in perspective, it was like the difference between someone who can fix a household appliance and someone who can manufacture one from scratch.
At any rate, the revelation that Jin could construct a golem was nothing short of a marvel to Paerova Sondvik. His mind was racing.
(Not just repair them... He can actually build them? This is another happy miscalculation. However, I have no idea what the quality of his work will be. I should grant him permission and see how it turns out.)
"Very well. You may build an assistant golem. However, see to it that you do not use too many materials, understood?"
Jin felt a wave of relief at the permission. "Yes. I understand."
"Good. Then I shall leave you to your repairs." Leaving those words behind, Paerova returned to his duties, as he was in the middle of his own work.
This was quite convenient for Jin.
"Alright, let's get to work."
For the first time in a while, Jin felt his spirits lift. He finally felt like he was taking a real step forward.
"...Jin-san?"
Kachea watched him with a touch of surprise. It was the first time she had seen such a lively, spirited expression on his face.
(He can actually look like that...)
She would soon be even more astonished by Jin's skill once he truly applied himself.
"For the size... I'll make it about the same as me. As for the build... androgynous should be fine."
Once he had settled on the concept, Jin quickly began sorting through the materials. They were all parts salvaged from the three disassembled units.
"Forming! Forming! Separation! Forming!"
"Wha—!?"
Kachea was seeing firsthand just how much Jin had been holding back until now. It had moved beyond simple surprise into sheer bewilderment. Her mouth hung open in shock.
Having completed the skeletal frame in just two minutes, Jin moved on to attaching the muscles.
"Since I've scaled it down, I'll have mithril to spare. I can strengthen the build by adding that... Alloying! Toughening!"
Jin applied Toughening as well, reinforcing the artificial muscles.
"The real challenge is the control core... Well, I'll just have to make do."
Jin pulled two degraded control cores from the salvaged pile.
"Fusion! Purification! Crystallization!"
He merged the two into one. By performing Crystallization, he reset all the information etched within. It was far more thorough than a simple Erase; it was the magi-craft equivalent of formatting a memory card. This allowed him to produce a control core with excellent processing capacity.
At the very least, Jin wanted to ensure that the core was of a quality he could be satisfied with.
"Next... these."
Jin produced two magi-crystals: an ether converter and a mana driver. For this build, he decided against creating a full magi-reactor.
"That should do it. Now for the eyes, ears, and mouth."
It was then that he noticed a problem.
"Wait, the remaining magi-crystals all have different attributes... and the ones for the ears are too small to be used for anything else."
Only one head remained. Since he had used the magi-crystals in the best condition for the previous repairs, the remaining stock was as follows:
One eye: light-attribute Ears: wind-attribute (two units) Mouth (vocalization): water-attribute Ether converter: thunder-attribute (cracked) Mana driver: fire-attribute (chipped)
"Hmm..." Jin fell into thought. "I can fix the cracks, so that's fine. I'd like to use the ears and mouth as they are... which means I'll have to use the thunder-attribute for the other eye to match the magical frequency."
The golem would end up with heterochromia—eyes of different colors—but Jin accepted it as a necessary compromise.
(I'll have one fire-attribute left over. I should save that to make a Protect Ring later.)
He decided he would wait until Kachea wasn't looking to craft the ring, just in case. For now, he focused on the golem.
"Fusion! Purification! Crystallization!"
He fused the cracks and then set about improving the quality of each magi-crystal. He repeated the process until all the necessary components were prepared.
"Alright, setting them in place and writing the magi-formula... Write In!"
Magic circles emitting a faint glow flickered in and out of existence. The intervals were so impossibly short that Kachea, who was watching, had completely lost her voice.
"Okay, the main body is finished. Now for the exterior."
Again, because of the smaller scale, he had more than enough material.
"Forming! Forming! Forming!...Toughening! Hardening!...There."
The design of the exterior followed the standards of Hourai Island. It wasn't built to look like a suit of armor, but rather like a human being.
"J-Jin-san, is that... also a golem?" Kachea finally managed to speak.
From her perspective, golems were either the bulky heavy-labor models Lorenz owned or the light-armored general-purpose units she had seen earlier. Seeing a golem with body lines so closely resembling a human's left her understandably stunned.
"That's right. This is the kind of golem I build."
Jin moved to the final touches.
"Trans Info!"
He transferred basic knowledge into the core. While it wasn't on the level of the Butlers or Smiths back on Hourai Island, it was enough for the unit to act as a proper assistant in daily life.
It was only then that Jin remembered Kachea was standing right there.
"Kachea, would it be alright if I transferred some of your common sense into this golem?"
"...Pardon?" Kachea tilted her head, not understanding the request.
"I mean, I want to teach this golem some of the things you know about the world... using magic. Does that make sense?"
"Oh... I see..."
"There's no danger involved."
"U-Uh... okay... that's fine, I suppose..."
Without fully grasping the mechanics, Kachea gave her consent.
"Thank you....Trans Info Level 3, Mild."
By using the Mild option, the transfer took a little longer, but it eliminated any burden on the subject.
"Thank you, Kachea....Trans Info!"
Since one cannot perform Trans Info directly from a third party into a completed control core, Jin first transferred the necessary information into the spare fire-attribute magi-crystal, then transferred it from there into the golem's control core.
Incidentally, the reason he had been able to transfer directly from Lianna when he created Lotte back in the Kingdom of Egerea was because the control core had not yet been finalized.
The deciding factor was whether or not the command for End of Writing had been inscribed. If a core is not closed with an End of Writing command, information can be added freely, but it also remains dangerously sensitive to stray mana, which could scramble the data. By taking the extra effort to close the core with End of Writing after every session, Jin ensured the golem's systems were far more reliable.
"That's it....Now for a quick check."
Normally, Reiko or Laojun would handle this part, but now he had to do it all himself. The silence reminded Jin once again of how much he missed his usual companions.
"...Alright, everything is okay....Start!"
"Yes, Master."
"Whoa..." Kachea's heart hammered in her chest as she watched the golem he had just built begin to move.
"...How is your condition?" Jin asked.
"I am functioning perfectly. There are no issues to report."
"Good....Your name is Hope."
"I am Hope. It is a pleasure to be of service."
Thus, Hope was born—a golem for Jin alone, possessing no force generator or specialized weaponry, but built with the hands of a master.