ACH 8

ACH

Chapter 8.

Even worse, this “clay doll” wasn’t alone. Through the half-open back door, I could see a crowd of similar ones huddled together.

The moment our eyes met, the little creatures fidgeted nervously and gathered around the one that Lor had bitten and spat out. A rough count made it clear—there were easily more than ten.

Each one had its own quirks: one wore a hat, another had pointy eyes, and yet another sported an odd hairstyle.

Their one shared trait? They all looked small and utterly shabby.

At a glance, they seemed weak and harmless.

“Who… are you guys?”

The one Lor had spat out stepped forward, seemingly the leader.

“We are golems. We have lived in the earth behind this house for a long time.”

Wait—Golems? These things?

Golems were magical constructs that high-level crafting-class hunters could make. You’d mold them out of soil or stone, insert a mana stone, and use them for digging or breaking rocks inside Gates.

Like magical excavators or cranes, basically.

But golems were usually huge—many times larger than humans. Were these mini-golems even a thing?

“We are failures. We were meant to become mighty golems, but… the mixture of soil was wrong. So we ended up as these ultra-mini golems.”

The leader explained gloomily.

A hunter had apparently tried to create a colossal golem but botched the soil mix. The result: thirteen pocket-sized failures.

The hunter, finding them useless, decided to get rid of them.

“He said disposing of us was troublesome and abandoned us in the hills.”
“What? Aren’t you a bad person, you punk!”
“Seriously. Should’ve been fined for illegal dumping.”

Properly disposing of magical golems was a hassle—you had to file a report with the Gate Management Agency, get a disposal permit, and drop them off in a secure containment unit.

But still—dumping these adorable little things? That hunter must’ve been a real jerk.

Anyway, it turned out the place where the golems were abandoned was a nearby hill. With nowhere else to go, they had gathered in my garden to live.

But one thing didn’t add up.

Golems needed a constant mana supply to stay active. Once their mana ran dry, they’d crumble back into dirt.

So how were these guys still moving?

“That’s thanks to a being of the higher dimension. This land is blessed with abundant mana because of their presence.”

A being of the higher dimension?

“What?”

Lor tilted her head at me.

Wait… were they talking about her?

Right—she was a mythical-class dimensional dragon.

So the mana leaking from Lor’s body was keeping the golems alive.

Still, their tiny cute forms didn’t quite match their deep, resonant voices—like gruff middle-aged actors from Korean movies.

The leader golem bowed deeply toward Lor.

“O exalted being of the higher dimension, we humble creatures have a request.”

“Huh? Me?”

Lor blinked. She already seemed bored of them and just wanted breakfast.

“Ask my caretaker! I don’t know such things, guardian!”

Then she flopped over and rolled in the yard.

“The exalted being has a caretaker! How rude of us!”

The entire group bowed toward me.

Uh… all I did was pick her up in my yard, and now I was being treated like some divine steward. Awkward.

“So, what’s your request?”

I expected something simple, like wanting to stay here. I wouldn’t have minded granting that much.

But what came out of the leader’s mouth was unexpected.

“We wish to work.”
“Work?”
“Yes. We were made to work. We need tasks to fulfill.”

[※ Sudden Childcare Quest ※]

Asphelor has gained loyal servants — thirteen “Ultra-Mini Golems.”
But now, they have no work to do. ╥﹏╥
“Let those who wish to work, work!”
Give the golems appropriate jobs ♬

“Childcare quest”? There’s hardly anything childcare-related about this.

Still, I wanted to help them. But what could these tiny, frail golems even do?

As I hesitated, they stared up at me with desperate little eyes. Some even raised their fists and chanted, “Work! Work!”

Well… if they were that eager.

“How about helping with farming? I planted some seeds yesterday.”

It was just a passing thought, but the leader’s face brightened instantly.

“Soil work is our specialty. Leave it to us.”

Reliable words, coming from such tiny mouths.

“With the aid of the exalted being, we may even hasten the crops’ growth.”
“Huhh? Is that a good thing?”
“Uh… you’ll just get to eat tasty food sooner, I guess?”

I had planted seeds yesterday—it’d normally take a month to harvest anything. Faster would definitely be nice.

I’d been wanting to cook using my own crops anyway.

“Tasty food! I like that! Yummy!”

The moment she heard “tasty,” Lor jumped up and dashed to the garden.

Following the golem’s direction, she placed her paw on the soil. Her horn began to glow softly.

“Whoa…”

Before my eyes, tiny sprouts began shooting up—fast enough to see.

[‘Asphelor’ designates this land as the territory of a Mythical-Class Dimensional Dragon.]
[Mythical Dragon’s Blessing: “Blessing of Agriculture” has been applied to the garden.]

Uh, wait. What now?

While I gawked, the sprouts grew taller and taller until they became fully-grown lettuce leaves.

“H-hey, wait a sec!”

That wasn’t just “slightly faster” growth—it was instant farming!

“Stop! Lor, stop!”

“What? Why?”

“You can stop now—it’s done growing!”

I barely managed to pull her away from the plot. But by then, it was too late.

“…Oh my god.”

In mere moments, the entire garden had turned green.

So much for “a little growth boost.”

It looked like I’d used a paid item in a farming mobile game. I couldn’t help but laugh helplessly.

“Guys, does this look like slightly accelerated growth to you?”
“Apologies. The exalted being’s mana… was far stronger than I expected.”
“We’re sorry!”

The smaller golems lined up beside their leader and bowed deeply.