Chapter 1: The Street Urchin and the Illegal Golem
Chapter 1: The Street Urchin and the Illegal Golem
Day 1
Chest Island’s Street Urchin, Clifford Evans
Chest Island
ISLANDS of the Golem Tamers—that’s what people called the glimmering pair of islands surrounded by the deep blue sea.
Only one true power—the Torah Church—reigned on St. Rollins Archipelago, but the islands prospered through its primary industry revolving around the production and manufacturing of Golems. Each island, with an outer circumference of over twenty kilometers, was equipped with everything needed for Golem production: mines where the required materials for Golems were excavated, Golem Workshops where those raw resources were smelted and refined into Golems, specialty shops for Golems, and even a port designated specifically for Golem trade.
Chest Island, the bigger of the two islands, had a poor and deprived region known as Shoulder Coast. With an unemployment rate of over fifty percent, people all over the island referred to this poverty-stricken district as the island’s garbage dump.
Hovels stood wall-to-wall, supporting each other from falling over in the sea breeze’s fury. Vagabonds stared with lifeless eyes at empty space. Smells of emergency rations filled the stale air, accompanied by raucous noises and angry shouts as people brushed shoulders on their solitary trips, their heads down, backs hunched.
For all of them knew of a single truth. The residents of this district were cursed, for they could neither create nor use Golems—they were the outcasts, the dregs of society with no hope for a better tomorrow.
Outdated horse-drawn carriages served as the primary means of transportation. They had a functioning subway not too long ago, but it was recently abandoned for a steam train that passed by their station without stopping. The decision to forgo the subway had further crushed any trace of hope for improvement in the lives of Chest Island’s residents.
Nevertheless, there were people who had put that neglected underground station to good use. One such boy’s voice could be heard from inside the now largely abandoned subway that ran along the coastline.
“Listen up, guys! I’ve finally finished my Golem!”
Inside the gloomy underground station was a blond street urchin wearing a soot-stained hoodie and cargo pants. He was quite baby-faced even for a thirteen-year-old.
The station had become a hideout for children without parents like him. Other street urchins flocked to the boy from their respective corners of the station, curious about what he had in store for them today.
Facing the growing crowd, he continued his announcement as if he were a professor before his class, “Okay, everybody listening? You can create a Golem by imitating God through molding an inanimate object into a human shape, engraving an incantation by which it’ll operate, and then naming it to bring it to life.”
A gigantic statue slept behind the boy whose eyes sparkled brightly as he spoke. The human-shaped giant stood over two meters tall and was crafted from joined metal fragments. It gleamed dully under the yellow lamplight with the unrefined yet impressive presence of a suit of armor belonging to a knight from the Middle Ages.
Incantations the boy had meticulously engraved into its metal covered it from head to toe. But without a name, it had yet to move.
Noting its inactivity, one of the other street children asked the blond boy, “So, Cliff, how’re ya gonna give that statue life?”
“Good question. For that, you need to use this power here.” Cliff smiled and held up his right index finger suffused with a faint light.
Direct Engrave Incantation was a mysterious art used when the Golem Artificer magically inscribed the Golem’s operating principles right into its body to grant the Golem life. Cliff acquired the technique after years of brutal practice and training. He stroked the Golem’s chest with his glowing finger, and black incantation letters engraved the metal beneath his touch.
“…Aside from inscribing the Engrave Incantation throughout its frame, you need a Restrictor to move a Golem as well. You can grant an inanimate object life only by engraving an absolute rule that restricts the Golem’s actions,” Cliff clarified as he finished marking a Restrictor on its chest. He touched the head next. “Lastly, you need to inscribe the most important of all Engrave Incantations. You have to engrave the forehead with the letters spelling emeth.”
Emeth meant truth in the ancient language. Cliff proceeded to engrave the five letters onto the giant’s forehead that granted a Golem life.
“And once you finish inscribing all the Engrave Incantations and give it a name…the inanimate object will gain life and move!”
The street children swallowed hard as they watched him.
Cliff locked his eyes upon the giant, solemnly raised his voice, and began to chant the naming invocation, “…My name is Clifford Evans. With truth as my witness, I give thee the name Gandolf!” His words, instilled with a deliberate steadiness, echoed throughout the somber station. “Live as one with me and return to dust with me. I order thee to…” His eyes flew wide open, and he shouted his first command, “Stand, Gandolf!”
Cliff’s voice bounced off the cold walls of the underground station.
But the giant didn’t even creak. Cliff, having failed to grant life to his creation, let out a confused, “Huh?” and the street children erupted with laughter.
“Another failure, Cliff?! This is the fifty-fourth time, y’know!”
Cliff scratched his head. Staring at the unmoving giant, he pursed his lips. “That’s strange. I was sure it’d work this time too… I wonder what I did wrong.”
“Don’t’cha think the problem’s with that piecemeal giant of yours?”
With iron arms, a copper head, a lead torso, and brass legs, it was hard to deny the giant’s Prime Body lacked a cohesive design. But this was the frame Cliff spent years fashioning—he didn’t want to admit that was the reason it didn’t work.
“Nah, I’m positive it’s not a problem with the Prime Body. It’s gotta be a mistake somewhere in one of the Engrave Incantations.” Cliff picked up the book he’d left beside the giant and flipped through it.
How to Manufacture Golems was a textbook with detailed information on the construction of Golems. Cliff checked his Engrave Incantations inscribed in the metal frame against what was written in his treasured textbook.
An Engrave Incantation’s accuracy was proportional to the Golem Artificer’s proficiency. Letters different from what Cliff intended to write often slipped into his Engrave Incantation because of his inexperience. Lo and behold, comparing his work directly to the textbook revealed a myriad of mistakes in what he had inscribed on the metal frame.
“Agh! How’d that happen?! Even screwing up a single letter will prevent the Golem from moving…!”
The other street children patted the heartbroken Cliff on the shoulder.
“Looks like ya gotta start from scratch again. Well, don’t let it get to ya.”
“There ain’t too many folks on this island who can make a Golem at yer age.”
“Ya’ve just gotta take it step by step. I’m rootin’ for ya.”
After giving him words of encouragement, they dispersed and returned to their individual sections of the station and continued going about their everyday routines studying at makeshift desks, training their boxing skills, and crafting wares to be sold at street stalls.
The station-dwelling street children weren’t deadweights of society who merely twiddled their thumbs and let their lives pass by in idleness. The understanding that such a slothful life would eventually lead to dying of starvation on the streets had been burned into their flesh, bones, and starving stomachs. So they all trained in whatever ways they could to find some skill that’d help them survive another day.
The station was where these orphans huddled together in order to face down the cruel society that had abandoned them to this life—in other words, it was their base, right on the frontlines of survival. This was exactly why while the children teased Cliff, nobody interfered with his attempts at creating Golems.
While he reveled in gratitude for their support, one of his fellow waifs reminded him, “Hey, Cliff, ain’t it ‘bout time for ya to get to work?”
“Oh yeah! Sorry, guys, I’m heading out!” Cliff snatched up the rye roll he had left beside the giant and raced out of the underground station.
Spring sunlight stung his dark-accustomed eyes when he exited above ground. Taking a bite out of the blackened bread, he scanned his surroundings.
A scrawny young man ran past him with a leather bag stuffed under his arm. “Wait, you petty thief!” a man hollered, chasing after him. Beggars, hoodlums with too much time on their hands, and alcoholics who were always dead-drunk by noon littered the roadside—the usual setting for the slums.
Sheesh. Not that it’s ever any different, but what a sorry buncha bums. Cliff was fed up with the way things were. Glancing at the sea behind him, he spotted the other island about five hundred meters away.
Head Island stretched out on the other side of the sea. Seeing the beautiful townscape across the water disheartened him with how drastically different it was from Chest Island which he lived on.
Cliff let out a sigh then caught sight of a child sitting beside the road. The unfamiliar boy appeared around seven years old.
The boy was likely a new face joining the ranks of street children wandering the area. He looked like he hadn’t eaten in days, and he kept his hollow face cast down.
Cliff’s stomach growled as he stared at the boy. Still in his hand was the blackened roll he hadn’t even had more than a bite of.
Dang it! This is why I hate the slums! Cliff mentally fumed as he walked over to the boy.
Holding the bread out to the child, he said, “Here, eat this.”
“Me…?” The boy lifted his head with a surprised look.
Cliff shoved the blackened rye roll into his hand. “Hurry it up, would ya? It’s hard enough as it is for me! Also, if you don’t got anywhere to sleep, you can head to that station over there.”
A clear clang sounded in the distance when the boy hesitantly reached out to accept the bread. Head Island’s church bell was tolling noon.
“Ah, crap! I’m gonna be late! See ya! Make sure you go to the station!” Cliff said hastily, leaving the boy to take off running toward his workplace. All the while enduring hunger pangs from his empty stomach in exchange for this small gesture of kindness.
***
THE poverty-stricken district had a marketplace too—a market where street stalls and tents crammed the beach running along the seaside. But the goods sold there were different from a normal market.
“Get yourself the right and left arm of Reigle Co’s new model Iron Golem in a set for just 80,000! It’s a bargain!”
“I’ve got the lower-body of that masterpiece Bronze Golem Para Gunner for ya right here! It’s only half working, so get it at the cheap price of 150,000!”
“Step right up! We’ve got farm-fresh Clay Golems that are cheaper and fresher than anywhere else!”
Competing shouts trying to lure in customers drowned each other out from every corner of the open market.
Every stall dealt in Golems, and every stall was less than respectable. They sold junk parts, illegal parts, and mostly stolen parts. Flank Beach Market was the biggest black market where the poor and destitute sold Golems to people who were even worse off.
And Cliff’s workplace was within that very black market. Parts Shop Akizu Company did business out of a barracks on the edge of the marketplace. Cliff knocked on its armored door.
“Good morning, Boss,” he greeted.
A fifty-something-year-old man appeared from within the barracks with sleepy eyes. He was the shop’s owner, Akizu.
“Yer late, Cliff. Let’s get straight to salvaging. Bring the cart ‘round front.”
“Sure thing,” Cliff answered and circled around to the back of the barracks.
He found the cart next to the barracks’ small garage. Beside the garage towered a rusted metal statue so gigantic Cliff had to tilt his neck way back in order to see its head that reached over three and a half meters. Eclipsing the height of the garage’s rooftop, the massive, unmoving giant held a sign that read, “Parts Shop Akizu Company.” The nameless metal giant was the shop’s trademark symbol.
“……”
Cliff stared at it, remembering how he had finished building it with someone just last month. Needless to say, this metal statue had failed to come to life and move, just the same as his Gandolf.
“Hey, Cliff! What’s takin’ ya so long?” Akizu’s voice rose from the front of the shop, interrupting his daydreaming. Cliff snapped back to his senses and pulled the cart around front.
“Sorry for the wait, Boss!”
“Sure ya are. Alrighty, ready to get to work on our usual recycling mission today?”
Cliff nodded and followed Akizu, towing the cart behind him.
They left the black market and headed for the residential district. Training a keen eye on their surroundings, the two kept a lookout for what they were searching for. After a while, Cliff spotted exactly that, stashed away in a narrow space between tightly packed apartment buildings.
“Hey, Boss! Doesn’t that look like it’ll work?” he asked, pointing out his discovery.
Closer inspection revealed a heap of scrap iron. Fragments of what could possibly be mechanical arms and legs were littered among the junk. The metal limbs were the remnants of a wrecked Iron Golem that had broken down and been abandoned to weather the elements. A smile overtook Akizu’s face when he saw it.
“Oh yeah, these are quality goods all right. Pick it up! Pick it all up, Cliff!”
“You’ve got it, Boss!”
They loaded the cart with the Golem’s remains while keeping a mindful lookout for any possible witnesses. Once they finished loading, Cliff tossed a sheet on top of the cart and broke into a run with Akizu.
Salvaging parts from broken and abandoned Golems to sell was Akizu Company’s primary business. The work amounted to a minor crime by the Church’s rules, but Cliff willingly took part in the illegal activities anyway.
After all, there weren’t many businesses that would hire a child like him, not to mention working in the mines was too much strain on a boy with an empty belly. Adults who had gone slightly down the wrong road like Akizu had become a form of foster parents for street children without relatives.
Cliff exhaled with a big sigh once they were finally far away enough from the scene of the crime.
Wiping away his sweat, Akizu remarked, “I still gotta hand it to ya for havin’ the guts to do this part-time job.”
“I wouldn’t be able to make Golems without my pay from this job.”
“Yeah, but why’re ya even trying to make a Golem? If memory serves me well, you’ve been at it since you were seven, yeah? What’s that make it? Six years now?” He sounded like he was truly baffled by Cliff’s actions.
Cliff thought about it for a moment before answering. “Yeah, it’s been that long. If I had to give you the short answer, it’d be…in order to achieve my dreams.”
“Yer dreams, eh? Ultimately, ya want to become like Roche?”
“Yes, that’s my aspiration.”
The name Akizu mentioned gave Cliff nostalgia—even though it had only been a week since he parted ways with the boy he called Master.
“Well, what else is there to say?” Akizu remarked, thinking back on the boy himself. “I was worried about what I’d have to do since Roche disappeared, so it’s a real relief to have ya here. Gimme a hand with this work whenever ya can, okay?”
“S-Sure…”
Though Cliff agreed, he had no intention of continuing the job for long. Of course, he wouldn’t tell Akizu that.
Feeling rotten for deceiving him, Cliff deflected the conversation, “Anyways, Boss, let’s get back to work. We’ve only just got started for the day!” He raised his voice in good cheer, pulling the heavy cart faster behind him.
Akizu made a wry smile and followed Cliff.
***
CLIFF and Akizu ended up walking all over Chest Island until evening. Golem parts filled the cart at long last.
They hit the road back to the shop while casually snacking on bread crust they had bought on the way. But when they returned to Flank Beach Market, they found it was unusually abuzz with commotion.
“Hm? What’s going on?” Cliff squinted at the market. He made out men clad in pure-white vestments with Stone Golems in tow, shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Nobody move! We’re with the Torah Church! On account of violations against the Golem Possession Regulations, we are hereby confiscating and impounding all stolen and illegal goods!”
Cliff and Akizu exchanged alarmed looks.
“Crud! It’s the Church’s Rabbis!” Cliff exclaimed.
“Tch, it’s a Torah Church crackdown! This is bad, Cliff. Let’s sit this one out till they go.”
Cliff and Akizu hid in the shadow of a building a short distance from the market.
Most of Chest Island’s residents reacted in this manner whenever they came across the Rabbis. Cliff despised the high-handed, tyrannical religious leaders just as much as anybody else from the slums.
Torah Church was a religious organization with a myriad of devout believers. With Head Island as their base of operations, they acted as the archipelago’s enforcers of civil obedience by using Golems to crack down on criminal activity.
But their relentless, merciless crackdowns frequently devolved into unwarranted abuse of Chest Island’s residents. Cliff was still haunted by bitter memories of the time they caught him salvaging parts and beat him till his skin turned purple as punishment. Torah Church wasn’t just any religious organization—it was also the reigning power on the entire archipelago.
Rabbis confiscated truckloads of merchandise as they intimidated the marketgoers. Some shopkeepers glared spitefully at the Rabbis, while others tried to make a run for it with what goods they could fit in their pockets. The Rabbis caught the runners and beat them with their staffs before they got far.
Meanwhile, the Rabbis’ Golems loaded huge wagons with the confiscated goods. In all likelihood, they planned on returning to the church with the merchandise to dispose of it there. Cliff watched the events from the safety of his hiding place.
“Dang it all! What a cruel bunch of jerks!” he spat under his breath. “Isn’t it unusual for Head Island’s Rabbis to come to this market?”
“Not exactly. They crack down a lot in the spring compared to the rest of the year. It happens ev’ry year, but I went and let it slip my mind this time like an idiot.”
“Why spring?”
“The Church has got some sorta religious event around this time of year. They tighten their reins whenever it gets close.”
“I wish they’d just leave us be… We can’t get back to the shop if they don’t hurry up and finish their business here,” Cliff complained, glancing at the barracks. Then he sharply inhaled.
Several of the Rabbis had congregated around Akizu Company. They were debating about what to do with the metal giant they surrounded beside the garage. Their loud voices reached Cliff’s hiding spot.
“What’s this statue? Doesn’t look like a Golem’s Prime Body to me.”
“Sure doesn’t. Not even the Rabbi could get this preposterously large hunk of metal to move.”
“Still, the sheer existence of such a huge piece of metal is dangerous. We can’t confiscate it at this size—tear it down.” At that command, the Rabbis’ Golems shambled toward the metal giant.
“DON’T!” Cliff yelled.
The Rabbis turned toward him.
“Don’t be stupid, Cliff!” Akizu pleaded.
Cliff didn’t listen as he dashed over, shouting, “Don’t destroy that statue!”
“Wh-Who in the blazes are you?!”
Cliff tried to ram a Rabbi who spun around in surprise—but it was futile. One of the Golems seized his collar and lifted him clean into the air.
“Wha—LEMME GO!” Cliff flailed and thrashed wildly from where he was suspended.
A Rabbi observed his plight with a snort. “What? You from this shop or something?”
“You’ve got that right, Rabbi Scum! Cut the crap and get this hand off of—” Cliff was interrupted by the Golem, which yanked him higher before relentlessly slamming him into the ground. “GUAH!”
Cliff writhed in pain. A Rabbi with a villainous face glared down at him with contempt. “God be with us all. There’s no end to these Chest Island vermin, no matter how hard we try to clean them out,” he spat. “Not only are you guilty of illegally creating Golems, but you’ve dared to slight us Rabbi.”
Cliff violently shuddered under the Rabbi’s threatening gaze. In that critical moment, Akizu intervened in a booming voice, “HEY, QUIT IT! Stop, please!” He slipped in between Cliff and the Rabbis.
The Rabbi swept his eyes over Akizu in disgust. “Where’d you crawl out of? You the owner of this shop?”
“I sure am. That boy’s just a part-timer.”
“I see. But we had a good look at your garage. It looks like all your wares are salvaged goods.”
“…!”
“You’re guilty of fraudulent appropriation of salvaged articles, direct violation of the Golem Possession Regulations, and the greatest crime of all—leaving this ugly piece of junk in front of your store. What were you planning to do if it actually came to life? HUH?!” The Rabbi kicked the metal giant with the tip of his boot.
Akizu wrung out a reply, his voice thin, “M-My part-timers made that to serve as the shop’s trademark image…!”
“And why should we give a damn about that? In accordance with our duties as the Church’s Rabbis, we hereby claim the right to destroy that monstrosity.”
At the Rabbi’s words, the Golems raised their fists in unison, then brought them crashing down.
“S-STOP IT!” Cliff yelled. But his plea fell on deaf ears. The troop of Golems struck the metal giant, sending metallic clangs reverberating through the market. The statue gave way before his very eyes.
“NO…Nooo…Nooooooooooo…” Cliff could only cry out in horror. The statue he had put his blood, sweat, and tears into creating with Master Roche had its arms ripped off and its head torn down. In no time, they gutted the metal giant and knocked it onto the ground.
“How could you…! How could you do that to something the children put their hearts and souls into making?!” Akizu lashed out. The Rabbis shot him death glares in return.
“You got a problem, buddy? Wanna pick a fight with the Church? All the Golems on this island only move thanks to the Church’s efforts. Which is the only reason why worthless criminals like you can scrape together a living!”
“…!”
“Turn over a new leaf if you get the picture. Go through the proper channels provided by the Church and conduct your business the legal way.”
Leaving those final words in their wake, the Rabbis vacated the market. With them gone, Cliff, Akizu, and the destroyed statue were all that remained.
The sea’s roaring waves thundered through the lingering silence. Eventually, Akizu weakly muttered, “…Sorry, Cliff. I let ‘em destroy this statue of yours.”
“It’s not your fault. But—”
“Ya heard ‘em. With the way things are now, we need to take a break from this job for a spell… It ain’t gonna be pretty if they catch us up to somethin’ again,” Akizu grumbled, dropping his shoulders and disappearing inside the barracks.
Cliff stood stiller than the unmoving, broken statue on the evening beach, simmering with bitter feelings.
The Rabbis told them not to disobey the Church due to an unshakeable truth—every human on this archipelago can only use Golems because of the Rabbis.
Golems that came to life by borrowing God’s power could only move on lands where the Torah Church existed. The Great Bell Tower stood as a symbol of the church for a reason; it was precisely because it tolled the bells of blessing that the archipelago came under God’s divine protection and the land was purified enough to use Golems.
The Rabbis let that borrowed power go to their heads and misused it by imposing ridiculously expensive taxes on the creation of Golems and the permits required to use them. They had essentially created the need for a black market that illegally created, recycled, and sold Golems.
They’re the ones who created the problem in the first place, so why’re we the ones who get treated less than dog crap?! Do the poor and unlucky have no choice but to suffer wretched experiences under the persecution of the Rabbis?!
Cliff couldn’t forgive the Rabbis who used Golems to do nothing but hurt others, when their role was to serve God. Consumed with his fury, he glared in the direction they had departed.
He could see the Rabbis’ Golems and their large wagons down the road. Confiscated Golem parts and Prime Bodies packed the wagons past capacity.
I’ll get it back from them…! I’ll steal back what they took from everybody! Cliff boldly made up his mind and took off to secretly pursue the Rabbis.
He wasn’t taking action because of some pure sense of justice, he acted out of the frustration of being oppressed and belittled day after day.
But regardless of his reasons, Cliff raced through the city lit by the evening sun and headed straight for the Rabbis’ headquarters—the Church on Head Island.
***
NECK Bridge was the long beam bridge that connected Chest Island to Head Island. By the time Cliff arrived at the bridge, the darkness of dusk cloaked his surroundings.
Cliff swam underneath the bridge to the other side to avoid being spotted by the Rabbis. When he lifted his face from the water at the opposite shore, he was confronted with a massive perimeter fence towering in front of where he wanted to go.
The five-meter tall fence surrounded the entire perimeter of the Torah Church grounds. A single gate had been built as the primary entrance through the fence, but it was locked down since it was past visiting hours for worshipers.
Okay, how do I go about stealing back our stuff…?
The Rabbis transporting the confiscated goods had already entered the Church’s premises. In which case, Cliff needed to find a way to break into the Church and slip away with the reclaimed goods. With that as his game plan, he ran up to the fence and pulled a spanner wrench from his chest pocket.
Cliff always walked around with a small tool set so he could work on making a Golem whenever the opportunity arose. His tool set was also equipped with a thick wire used to connect various parts together. He took out the wire and threaded it through the spanner wrench, which he then tossed over the fence.
After countless attempts, the spanner wrench finally caught on something on the opposite side. Cliff tightly gripped the wire and scaled his way up the fence using it like a rope.
I’m not that strong physically, but I have confidence in my agility. This fence is nothin’ to me!
He continued to deftly manipulate the wire, pulling himself higher until he reached the top of the fence where the Church’s grounds spread out below him.
He crouched above the spacious front garden, where flowers in full bloom dotted the sacred landscape with color. He saw stairs at the garden’s edge leading directly to Torah Church Train Station’s underground railway. And, in the middle of the garden, an impressive stone building took center stage.
So that’s Torah Church…!
Cliff had yet to visit the church building despite living on the island adjacent to it. Only the Rabbis and devout believers were allowed to enter the Church’s premises.
But trespassing on the premises was a different story. The main church building stood five-stories tall, with a chapel situated near the entrance and a courtyard at the heart of its complex, where the Great Bell Tower was erected. Despite all that he could see, Cliff still had no idea where the confiscated goods were transported to within the facility.
Looks like I’ve got no choice but to search wherever I can. Luckily for me, the Rabbis don’t seem to be around.
Cliff slid his way down the wire, landing on the opposite side of the fence. Stillness hung over the nighttime Church grounds. The Rabbis were nowhere in sight. Considering the grand size and scale of the Church, it was unnaturally devoid of people.
Oh yeah, Boss did mention something ‘bout there being some sorta religious event going on today… Are they all gathered in the chapel? His eyes shifted to the chapel and came to rest on an enormous stained-glass window. The stained glass seemed to depict a Golem Tamer. “Saint Clifford” was inscribed at the bottom of the window.
Stained glass of a saint, huh? …Of all the possibilities, it had to be a saint who shares my name. Though there’s a world of difference between a saint and a thief. Right as Cliff was thinking, a thundering applause rose from inside the chapel. What was that?!
He quickly dove into the bushes beside him. From his hiding place, he stole a peek through the stained-glass window. A hundred or so Rabbis were standing in rows with their attention fixated on six elders clad in particularly extravagant vestments.
One of the elders ran his eyes over the room of Rabbis and greeted them in his hoarse voice, “Thank you for gathering here tonight, brethren. Let’s commence the Rites for the Remembrance 0f the Treacherous One.”
Just as Cliff had guessed, they were in the middle of a religious event. The other elders began to speak in order, as if continuing each other’s words.
“March 21st—this is a day that must never be forgotten.”
“On this day, eight years ago, a deplorable traitor appeared within our ranks.”
“Brothers and sisters, you must never forget. Never relinquish the memory of our gravest mistake.”
The Rabbis faithfully listened to the elders. An uncanny tension permeated the chapel.
“A debauched man betrayed us, running away with the Torah Church’s most invaluable asset.”
“The odious traitor repelled us with the asset’s unspeakable power.”
“In the 150 years of Torah Church history, he was the most intrepid Rabbi, and subsequently, the human being most worthy of our hatred…”
The elders went on uttering curses against the supposed traitor ad-infinitum. Cliff continued listening to them without the faintest idea what they were blabbing on about.
This is a religious rite…? What the heck are these Rabbis doing?! Maybe I’ve shown up at a real bad time. Cliff heard an abrupt noise from the main gate the moment he came to that conclusion.
“…?!” Startled, he jerked his head around to look behind him. For a split second, he thought it was a Rabbi—but it wasn’t. An unfamiliar girl with red hair was standing on top of the gate.
Her black cape and skirt fluttered in the salty sea breeze. She wore the same uniform worn at Head Island’s prestigious St. Rollins Academy, which the Torah Church operated.
What kinda business does a rich young lady from such a fancy school got with the Church at this hour? Actually, what I really don’t get is…why in the world’s she standin’ on top of the gate? Did she actually clamber her way up it, in that skirt?
Wholly unaware of Cliff’s thoughts and very presence, the girl nimbly hopped down into the front garden and strode toward the chapel. The elders still droned on with their speech inside.
“The unforgettable day of our gravest blunder. We must perform these rites to regain our dignity as Rabbi.”
“Curse the traitor! Seek the way of a true, faithful Rabbi!”
“His unholy name should feel like fire on your tongue,” an elder enunciated sonorously, “The unspeakable name of our traitor is Arusrad Grinzam…”
The redhead flung the chapel door open.
The elders stopped, struck speechless by her appearance. The Rabbis turned around in formation.
“Is Torah Lord Arusrad Grinzam here?!” the girl asked in a clear voice that rang through the chapel building.
Her question froze the room.
“Wha—”
The elders’ eyes bulged; the Rabbis restlessly stirred.
The female student persisted, “Please listen to me! I have something I really need to tell Torah Lord Grinzam right now!”
Her voice had a boyish ring that was incongruous with her prim and proper attire. Cliff examined the profile of her figure from the bushes. She was a tall girl who appeared around four years older than him, and her shoulder-length red hair gave off a cheerful, upbeat impression.
A woman stepped out of the throng of disconcerted Rabbis before long. She was a Rabba with short hair, wearing red vestments and glasses. “Young lady, the church is currently in the middle of an important rite. Please come back another day.” Though the Rabba’s tone was gentle, it held a peremptory edge.
But the girl refused to back down. “Sorry, but now’s not the time to postpone things! We’re in a race against time!”
“If you have urgent business, I can bring it to the present Torah Lord, Spinoza, for you.”
“Present Torah Lord? …Wait, what happened to Torah Lord Grinzam?”
“That disgrace is gone,” she said curtly.
Suspicion colored the girl’s features, but she acquiesced. “Fine, you’ll do too. You have to listen to me…you’re all being targeted.”
“Targeted? By whom? For what purpose?”
“By a man with a grudge against the Torah Church. He’s trying to wipe out the entire church.”
The Rabba laughed dismissively at the girl’s warning. “We appreciate your worries on our behalf. However, our Torah Church doubles as the Civil Obedience Order, consisting of the top Golem Tamers in the world. Attacks by mere insurgents aren’t—”
“Are you okay with Sephiroth being stolen?”
The Rabba’s laughter lodged in her throat. Her eyes gleamed sharply from behind her glasses, narrowing on the girl. “…Young lady, what did you just say?”
“Sephiroth. You guys have it, don’t you?”
“Why do you know the name of that Golem?! How do you know of our most important, highly classified secret?!” The Rabba’s tone took a jarring 180-degree turn from kind to harsh.
Unfazed, the girl answered, “A certain man told me. From what I know, he’s trying to bring Sephiroth to life.”
“Impossible. There’s no way he can move it—”
“It can be moved—as long as you have this!” The girl procured an item from her pocket. “That man said that as long as you have this, you can use Sephiroth. So I came here thinking I should hand this over to Torah Lord Grinzam.” She thrust the item toward the Rabba.
Cliff couldn’t make out what it was from his position in the bushes, but when the Rabba saw it, her face went rigid.
Is it something valuable? Cliff wondered.
His question went unanswered, however, as the Rabba replied in a low, threatening tone. “…What you have in your possession right now is a vital item that was stolen from this church four years ago.”
“Come again?”
“Why do you have it?” the Rabba hissed, demanding an explanation.
Flustered, the girl jumbled her words, “Because…like I said…I stole it from that man. It’s not like I know much about him, but I really did take it away from him. What’re you glaring at me for? I’m telling the truth.”
“…No matter how hard I try, I just can’t comprehend what in the world you are trying to say.” The Rabba turned to the elders, who quietly observed the course of events, for guidance. “How do you wish to handle this female student?”
“She dared utter the name of the traitor, and there are far too many suspicious elements about her—arrest her,” one of the elders bluntly decreed.
“Seriously?!” The girl’s eyes widened like saucers.
The Rabbis moved as one unit to carry out the elder’s command.
“Y-You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she shouted.
Cliff was just as confused by the conversation. Yeah! This has gotta be some sorta bad joke! Why have things gone off the rails in such a crazy way?!
Though he still didn’t comprehend what was going on, he had a feeling that he’d get dragged into the fiasco if things continued this way. And, if it came to that, stealing back the confiscated goods would be the least of his worries.
There weren’t any Rabbis near the front gate. If he was going to make a run for it, now was the time. With that in mind, he was about to sprint for the gate—when the girl bolted out of the chapel with the army of Rabbis hot on her tail.
“OOPH!”
The girl nearly crashed into Cliff, while both she and the Rabbis stopped in their tracks to stare at him. One of the Rabbi with a particularly villainous face gave Cliff a dubious look.
“You…you’re that brat from earlier!”
“Tch!” Cliff clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.
This was the same Rabbi who ordered his Golem to beat up Cliff at Flank Beach Market earlier that day. His face contorted with bafflement at Cliff’s sudden appearance.
“What’s one of Chest Island’s street rats doing here? Where’d you crawl in from?”
“Wh-Who knows?” Cliff lied. “I wandered in by accident during my walk. Maybe you should patch some of the cracks in your foundation to prevent your rat problem?”
“Fat chance, street rat!” the Rabbi yelled angrily. “Lemme guess, you’re here to steal the wares we confiscated!” He broke into a furious run for Cliff.
Cliff tried to dart away, but the Rabbi caught him by the scruff of the neck and slammed a fist into his stomach.
“Guah!” Cliff reflexively keeled over from being sucker punched.
“Don’t worry about this pest, I’ve got him under control,” the evil-looking Rabbi addressed the other Rabbis. “Arrest that girl. Quit dragging your feet! GET TO IT!”
The Rabbis resumed their pursuit. Cliff glanced at the girl as he gasped for air on his knees. Their eyes met. Hesitation flickered across her face. He nearly asked her for help despite himself, but a different entreaty escaped his mouth instead.
“RUN!”
Cliff was shocked by what he said, but he thought it was better than asking for help. He didn’t have to know her circumstances to know there was no need for them both to be caught. It was enough for him to be beaten up, he concluded.
Determination flared in the girl’s eyes instead of running away. She slipped past the Rabbis closing in on her and charged in Cliff’s direction.
“Huh?” Taken aback, the man who had punched Cliff braced himself right as she unleashed a flying kick with the full momentum of her fierce sprint. “NNGH!” The wicked Rabbi took her kick straight to the chin and flew backward.
The girl held her hand out to Cliff, who stared at her wide-eyed. “Can you stand?!” she asked desperately.
“Y-Yeah!” Cliff instinctively took her hand and got to his feet. They exchanged looks and broke into a run at the same time.
“He’s with the girl?! Arrest them both!”
“Lock down the premises! They’ll be trapped like rats!”
The Rabbis’ voices boomed behind them.
“We’re in deep! How do we escape?!” the girl beside Cliff asked through quick and short gasps for air as they fled.
The Rabbis had already created a secure perimeter around the main gate. Cliff rapidly scanned the area and his eyes stopped on a specific spot—the sole exit out of the Church’s grounds aside from the main gate—the staircase leading underground built right into the fence.
“There’s our escape!” Tugging on the girl’s hand, Cliff bolted toward Torah Church’s Underground Railway Station.
He dove through the entrance, hurtling himself down the stairs. Silence hung over the station ahead of them; nobody was around.
Dang it! The trains are done for the night!
Rabbis’ footsteps pounded down the stairs above, drawing ever closer. After taking a brief second to think, Cliff jumped from the platform down onto the railway track.
“Let’s go. We can escape to Chest Island this way!”
The girl nodded and hopped down with him. And just like that, the two children hotfooted down the pitch-black tracks.
A thick darkness instantly enveloped them. Their own footsteps echoed off the walls of the underground track and bounced back, sounding like dozens of feet instead of just their two pairs.
A feeling of helplessness washed over Cliff in the dark, when he heard her voice. “Hey, you there?” she asked urgently.
“I-I’m here,” he answered. A hand reached out in the dark and held fast on to his. The warmth from her hand anchored his consciousness in the heavy gloom that rendered even his sense of direction unreliable.
They slowed their run to a brisk walk, leaning on each other for mental and physical support. As they fumbled their way along, Cliff asked, “…Why did you save me?”
“I didn’t do much. My body just moved on the spur of the moment… I could ask you the same thing though. Why’d you tell me to run away?”
“The same reason. I just said that on the spur of the moment.”
“Haha! Looks like we’re both softies. We’d better escape this together then!”
“Yeah,” Cliff agreed.
They entered the track from Torah Church Train Station, which happened to be the last train stop to the north. The railway track traveled from that station underneath Neck Bridge, continuing on to Chest Island and ending at Shoulder Coast Station—Cliff’s hideout.
We should be safe if we can leave the station and lose them in the slums, Cliff thought as he walked. They eventually reached a point in the tracks where they could see lamplight illuminating the path ahead.
“We’re almost there! That’s the exit!”
“Great!”
They sprinted the rest of the distance to his home station. One of the street children squeaked in surprise at their abrupt arrival. “Whoa! Geez, Cliff! Why’re ya comin’ from a place like that?!”
“I’m on the run from the Rabbis!” Cliff explained. “Everybody, run for it! I don’t want you gettin’ caught up in this!”
Cliff’s warning startled the street children. After briefly exchanging wary looks, they gave a quick, “Sorry!” before fleeing the station in droves.
Their reaction to hearing that the Rabbis were coming was entirely normal for people who led more or less questionable lives in the slums. Once everyone had dispersed, Cliff and the girl pulled themselves up on the platform and heaved heavy sighs.
“Phew… Looks like we weren’t followed,” Cliff commented, straining his eyes toward the empty dark tracks.
“We’re safe for the moment then. You saved me. Thanks,” the girl said, smiling bashfully. Then she held her hand out to Cliff. “I missed my chance to introduce myself. I’m Lovel Sinclair! And you are?”
“Clifford Evans. Just call me Cliff.” Cliff shook hands with her and asked, “By the way, Lovel, why were the Rabbis after you?”
“I don’t get it either. They suddenly turned on me when I showed them this…” Lovel pulled an item from her skirt pocket.
It was a small red cube that looked like dice. Ancient letters and the word emeth were engraved on all sides of the three-centimeter-tall cube.
“What is this? Does it got somethin’ to do with Golems?” Cliff asked.
With a thoughtful expression, Lovel answered, “I dunno the details either, but from what I heard, it’s the key to move the Golem Sephiroth that the Church built four odd years ago.”
“Sephiroth? Never heard of it. What kinda Golem is it?”
“Seems like it’s a Silver Golem. Made completely out of silver.”
“Did you just say it’s a Silver Golem?! Now that’s really something I’ve never seen or heard of before!” Despite being known as Golem Maniac Cliff, he had never heard of anything like the Golem she described.
Lovel kept her face straight, undeterred by the wonder in his voice. “That Rabba said it’s their ‘most important, highly classified secret,’ didn’t she? Maybe it’s a Golem they hide from the world at large.”
“Classified secret, huh…? Anyways, it’s a bad idea to talk here. We’ve gotta hightail it before the Rabbis show up.”
“Wait, Cliff. Is there anything we can use as a weapon before we just start running again?”
Cliff surveyed the station, but he didn’t see anything useful. Lovel scanned the area too. Her eyes fixed on something placed near one of the walls.
“What about that?” She was looking at the giant statue Cliff had made. Picking up the How to Manufacture Golems textbook he’d left beside it, she whispered, “Is this a Golem by any chance? Who made it?”
“I did. But it won’t move. Looks like the Engrave Incantations are incomplete.”
“I see…that’s too bad.”
“Can you get it to move? A student of that fancy school might be able to…”
“Sorry,” Lovel apologetically responded. “I don’t know much about Golems. Never made one myself.”
She lowered her eyes and paged through the textbook. An air of loneliness permeated her profile, making him hesitant to ask anything else.
“…Okay, we have no reason to stick around then. We should make a quick exit while we can.” Cliff took Lovel’s hand and gave it a small tug.
But she didn’t move, choosing to toss him another question instead. “Say, Cliff, will this Golem move if we do this Engrave Incantation thing as it’s written in the textbook?”
“Yeah? It will, but we don’t got the time to engrave the incantation letter by letter right now.”
Cliff’s answer didn’t seem to matter to Lovel. With her eyes on the book, she extended her right hand to the statue.
“No…I’ll try it,” she muttered, her hand instantly taking on a faint glow. The same light that always enshrouded his finger when he performed the Direct Engrave Incantation exuded from her entire palm.
Ignoring Cliff’s bewilderment, Lovel read the textbook passage aloud. “‘Engrave Incantation: ancient magical letters used to restrict a Golem’s actions. However, it is near impossible to accurately engrave the letters.’ Interesting… As I am now…” She lifted her face from the book and said simply, “I’ve got the feeling I can do it too.”
The light imbuing her hand glowed brighter. The giant statue’s entire frame shined as if synchronizing with her.
She’s doing it without touching it?! It can’t be! This is—
Cliff’s thoughts were interrupted by the spectacle before him—the letters he had engraved into the frame were being overwritten in succession.
“Remote Engrave Incantation!” he exclaimed in surprise.
It was an extremely advanced technique where the Golem Artificer performed numerous Engrave Incantations simultaneously without touching the Prime Body. An exceedingly small number of people were capable of pulling it off, and Cliff only knew of one person with the ability—his Master.
An Engrave Incantation immensely more complicated than what he had tried to put together before inscribed itself into the frame. It was a decisively advanced Engrave Incantation anyone could tell was complex with just a glance.
Who is this girl?!
Cliff stared in blank amazement at Lovel. In a mere few seconds, the Engrave Incantation had inscribed the metal frame, leaving only the chest and head untouched.
Lovel exhaled in relief and asked, “So, Cliff, what should I do next? Is this all?”
“N-No, it’s not done yet. You need to decide on your Restrictor next, then engrave the letters in the forehead—”
Heavy footsteps plodded down the top of the staircase, interrupting Cliff’s explanation. Cliff and Lovel warily spun around and braced themselves. Something was descending the stairs, with dragging legs that landed on each step with a resounding thud. Then a bluish-green giant appeared in the visible part of the staircase.
“It’s a Golem!” Cliff shouted despite himself. Standing at two meters and thirty centimeters tall was a giant made of bronze—a type of Golem known as a Bronze Golem.
“We sent men to secure the other stations too, but I was certain you would show up here.” The Rabba appeared behind the Golem as it finished descending the stairs. She was the same woman who pressed Lovel for answers as if carrying out an interrogation at the chapel.
“You’re a persistent old shrew,” Lovel bitterly snipped. “What’s your problem? Who the heck are you?”
“Torah Church Civil Obedience Order’s Torah Chief Kiriko Strife. Your mischief has gone too far, children. I’ll be taking you both into custody now,” Kiriko announced. Her tone was thoroughly uncompromising.
“That’s your fault for suddenly trying to arrest innocent people without just cause!” Lovel snapped back before Cliff could say anything. “I went out of my way to come to the Church to warn you because I was worried!”
“Well, you can try to defend your actions during questioning later. We won’t treat you poorly. You are both still children—AH!” Kiriko unnaturally broke off midsentence.
Disconcerted, Lovel asked, “Wh-What’s wrong? Why’d you go quiet all of a sudden?”
But Kiriko’s eyes weren’t turned on Lovel or Cliff. She was staring in horror at the metal giant beside them. “What…is that…monstrosity…?!” she wrung out in a hoarse voice.
“What? This Golem? It’s the Prime Body I made…” Cliff answered, his tone innocent.
Kiriko tore her gaze away and grew quiet the instant she heard his reply. Then she began to tremble with violent shakes. “…Criminal Trespassing, Obstruction of Torah Official Duties, Crime of Inflicting Bodily Damage—you have been charged with such crimes for what you have done thus far…but all of those things are of little concern. There’s just one thing I can’t let you off for…”
Her head jerked up with bloodshot eyes. “Illegal Golems!” she ranted rabidly at the baffled children. “The most unforgivable crime of all is Illegal Golem Manufacturing! This is the one crime I personally can’t forgive, no matter what the reason!”
Crud! She’s flipped her lid. I don’t know why, but she’s lost it!
“Hey, hang on, calm down—” Cliff said, trying to placate her.
Kiriko barked at the Bronze Golem beside her without lending an ear to what he had to say, “NO. 9! SMASH THAT ILLEGAL GOLEM TO DUST!”
At that command, Bronze Golem No.9 lunged to seize the unmoving statue.
“Whoaaaa!”
Cliff and Lovel scampered in different directions to escape No.9’s ruthless line of fire. No. 9 took hold of the metal statue’s torso and easily lifted it off the ground.
“PULVERIZE IT! LEAVE NO PIECE INTACT!” Kiriko shouted relentlessly.
Hefting the statue by the torso, No. 9 hurled it with every ounce of its strength. The metal frame soared through the air and smashed against the wall with a deafening boom, shaking the ground.
It was a terrifying sight, but it was Kiriko, rather than the Golem, that chilled Cliff to the bone. An average Golem Tamer could only tame a Golem around two meters tall. Any attempt at a larger Golem required special talent to succeed.
And yet, here she is, controlling this gigantic Golem like it’s a piece of cake…! Cliff developed a newfound fear of the Rabbis’ strength.
Lovel was clearly frightened to some degree too, but it didn’t stop her from yelling at the Rabba with the glaring resolve of a born fighter. “Now you’ve gone and done it, you old shrew!”
Kicking off into a furious sprint, she unleashed a hook kick on Kiriko. But it didn’t land because No. 9 snatched her foot from the air and hoisted her upside down.
“AARGH! Lemme down!”
Kiriko ignored her and turned her menacing glare on Cliff. “Don’t you move from that spot either, boy! Wait your turn until I’ve taught this little girl a lesson.” Cliff instinctively shrunk back, and she turned her attention back to Lovel, homing in on her prey. “Now then, pray do tell me the rest of the information I failed to squeeze out of you in the chapel. Why do you have that cube on you?”
“I told you then, and I’ll tell you same thing now: I stole it from an evil man you people don’t even know about.”
Veins twitched in Kiriko’s temples. No. 9’s hand tightened its grip on Lovel’s ankle.
“Agh…!” Agonized moans tore from Lovel’s lips. Kiriko watched her squirm in pain with apathy.
Clamminess covered Cliff’s body and sent his stomach roiling. Wh-What should I do?!
The girl who saved him from the Rabbis had been caught right before his eyes. Yet his body trembled with such intensity that he couldn’t even will himself to move in a bid to rescue her.
But then something caught his eye. Collapsed against the wall was the metal giant No. 9 had chucked and the Prime Body Cliff had made and Lovel inscribed with the Engrave Incantation.
Assessing Lovel’s defiance, Kiriko sighed. “You’re a stubborn one… I’ve had enough of this farce. No. 9, take this girl and—”
Right then, a quivering voice echoed through the station, cutting her command short.
“…M-My name is Clifford Evans!”
Kiriko spun around, fiercely shifting her attention to Cliff—Cliff, who was naming the still giant.
“With truth as my witness, I give thee the name Gandolf!”
Kiriko laid into him with a stern scowl. “B-Boy, what are you doing—”
But Cliff continued to focus only on the incantation. “Live as one with me and return to dust with me!”
He finished engraving the letters of emeth, and they shined bright-blue on the statue’s forehead. The Engrave Incantations written across its entire body flickered once and vanished, leaving only the ancient letters on its forehead and the Restrictor on its chest. Something sharp shot through Cliff’s brain.
“…!”
The sensation served as proof that their souls had linked, that the metal body had connected with his heart. It reverberated throughout his very being and felt unlike anything he had ever experienced. He knew this sensation was telling him that the naming had been a success!
Following his intuition, Cliff raised his voice to a sonorous chant, “I order thee to—defeat that Bronze Golem!”
The metal giant instantly quavered. Arms and legs of metal belonging to an inanimate body suddenly came to life and moved on their own. What had been nothing more than inorganic matter seconds ago was now slowly rising to its feet.
“What in God’s name are you doing?!” Kiriko yelled, signaling No. 9 to toss Lovel aside.
Lovel smacked the ground headfirst and let out a small yelp before she lay still, unconscious. The metal giant steadily ambled toward No. 9, which assumed a fighting stance.
The giant was no longer just a statue made of metal. Being granted a name brought him into animate existence. He possessed life that moved in accordance with his Tamer’s order as the Alloy Golem Gandolf!
“Go get ‘em…GANDOLF!” Cliff commanded in a strong voice.
Obeying Cliff’s order, Gandolf closed the gap with No. 9. When the two Golems came within touching distance, No. 9 clenched his fists and threw a punch at Gandolf.
“HEY!” Cliff yelled.
The bronze fist slammed right into Gandolf’s face. Gandolf tried to draw his own fist back, but No. 9 grabbed his wrist.
“Throw him, No. 9!” Kiriko shouted. In a fraction of a second, No. 9 turned, took a step in the other direction, heaved Gandolf over his shoulder, and flung the metal body in a hard throw. The alloy giant rolled once, crashing into the ground again.
Gandolf’s body caved against the ground with a shuddering clatter. Kiriko stared down at him contemptuously and scoffed, “Did you think you could win? Against a Rabbi’s Golem?”
“Damn it!” Cliff cursed.
“All right, No. 9, punch his forehead until the letters come off!” Kiriko cruelly demanded. No. 9 straddled Gandolf and brought his fists down.
“Crap!” Chills shot down Cliff’s spine.
NO! Not the forehead! She’s gonna destroy him just when I finally got him to move! In the flash of Cliff’s desperation, his Master’s lesson crossed his mind.
“This part is important, Cliff. You need to train your heart and mind.”
His master taught him that lesson first around the time they met.
“The Golem and Golem Tamer are connected mentally. The Golem won’t move the way you want it to if your mind is a frantic mess.”
The memories of that lesson encased his weakening will, providing a protecting layer of support. That’s right! Cliff realized, Gandolf hasn’t lost yet! What good does it do to mentally throw the fight when we can still win?!
“BLOCK IT, GANDOLF!”
Scraping metal and sparks flew a split second after his shout.
It was the sound of bronze clashing with iron. Gandolf had blocked No. 9’s incoming pummel with his left hand.
“How?!” Kiriko shrieked. Taking advantage of her momentary attention lapse, Gandolf clenched his right fist.
“Gandolf, punch back!”
Obeying the order, he hit No. 9 with enough force as to send him flying.
KABOOM! What sounded like an earsplitting blast—more like an explosion—rung throughout the station. It was the sound of Gandolf landing a hit straight to No. 9’s chest; the sound of a single punch sending No. 9 flying off Gandolf.
Even Cliff, the person who gave the command, stared in wide-eyed disbelief. No. 9 had been utterly blown back and crashed hard on the ground, his chest plate sunken.
“Wh-What in God’s name…?!” Kiriko quickly pulled herself together from her shock, and No. 9 lifted himself off the ground the same time Gandolf lumbered to his feet.
“Go get ‘im, Gandolf!”
“Fight back, No. 9!”
The two heavyweight-class Golems engaged in a superhuman fistfight with the Tamers’ voices as the starting signal
No. 9 dodged Gandolf’s left hook, returning the blow with a spinning backfist strike. Gandolf thrust his elbow out to intercept it and executed a powerful knee strike. Cliff’s astonishment only grew as he watched how Gandolf fought.
Practicing with the Golem was normally required before the Tamer could freely control it, since the Golem Tamer essentially had to control an entirely separate body through willpower alone. This was why Golem Tamers shouted their commands aloud to clearly define what they wanted the Golem to do under their control.
But Cliff was still very young and had yet to mature mentally. In every other case, it should’ve been impossible for him to control a Golem so freely that it could act merely based on the images he envisioned.
There was only one explanation: Lovel’s Remote Engrave Incantation must’ve enhanced Gandolf’s performance to an impossibly high level. She pulled off the unbelievable with an Engrave Incantation she formed in the few seconds she had studied the textbook.
Who in the world is she?!
Gandolf locked the enemy in his grip while Cliff contemplated the question. Squeezing No. 9’s throat in his left hand, he immobilized the Golem.
“Good work, Gandolf! Use your other hand to take out his forehead’s—”
“That’s far enough, boy!”
Cliff turned around and inhaled sharply. Kiriko had her gun aimed at him.
“I didn’t want to resort to these methods, but that Golem’s ability is abnormal. So I’m afraid I have to default to my last resort to tidy up the situation.”
“A g-gun?! That’s your answer?! Is it right for a Rabbi to shoot somebody with a freakin’ gun?!”
“For your information, it’s a tranquilizer gun. But don’t underestimate what it’s capable of. One shot and you’ll be put in suspended animation, a temporary state of apparent death. You won’t awaken from slumber for at least a year, if not longer.”
“A wh-whole freakin’ year…?!”
“Tranquilizing you will cut your link to that preposterous Golem so we can contain you in our underground cemetery until you regain consciousness. You’ve earned the Torah Church’s prison sentence, boy.”
Cliff was speechless. He had heard rumors of the Rabbis using such a ludicrous gun on rogue Golem Tamers before, but he never imagined even for a second that he would be shot with such an unbelievable weapon.
“Quietly surrender if you don’t want that to happen to you…! You aren’t prepared to make an enemy of the Church, are you?!” Kiriko threatened. Her cutting words caused Cliff to waver.
Torah Church—the rulers of the archipelago. Cliff thoroughly understood the grave implications associated with making an enemy of them.
His memories of being oppressed and tormented by the Rabbis were still raw however. The craving to fight overwhelmed his fear, solidifying his determination and inciting his rage.
“I’m…prepared!” The words surged from deep within him. “Don’t you keep on thinking that we’ll quietly obey you forever!”
“You’ve got that right, Cliff!” Lovel’s voice rang out a second after Cliff’s declaration.
Startled, Kiriko looked toward the voice. Lovel had sprung to her feet in another mad dash for Kiriko.
“You little brat!” Kiriko reflexively turned her gun on Lovel, but Lovel’s acute rush of adrenaline had her delivering a wheel kick to Kiriko faster than she could fire the tranquilizer.
“…Guh!” Taking the full brunt of the kick to the head, Kiriko collapsed on the spot.
Lovel landed behind her and glared down at the fallen Rabba. “…If you guys won’t believe me, I’ll fight you all,” she declared. For some reason, she looked rather refreshed. Now smiling, she spun to Cliff and said merrily, “C’mon, Cliff! Now’s the time to pummel that Golem!”
“Yeah!”
Gandolf obeyed Cliff’s voice and clenched his right fist. Then he threw a punch right at No. 9’s forehead. His fist struck the letters spelling emeth on No.9’s forehead with deadly precision. One of the letters dented beyond recognition, forming cracks in the bronze head.
The cracks surprised Lovel. “It cracked?! What did you do?!”
“It doesn’t matter how strong and impenetrable the Golem, the letters on its forehead is every Golem’s weakness. Erasing the e from emeth changes it from truth to death. If you succeed in doing that, the Golem will…”
Cracks spread throughout No. 9’s body during Cliff’s explanation. Deep fissures covered his body in less than a few seconds.
“…fall apart like this.”
As if on cue, No. 9’s body shattered like glass.
Lovel cheered and ran over to Cliff to throw her arms around him. “You rock, Cliff! I love how ready you are to take action!”
“H-Half of our success is thanks to you, Lovel…! A-Anyway, we should get outta here before more Rabbis show up.” His eyes still spinning from her embrace, Cliff shifted his gaze to Gandolf. Registering his intent, Gandolf promptly picked Cliff and Lovel up in his hand and kicked off into a powerful run.
Gandolf dashed up the stairs and hurtled onto the platform aboveground. Slums, embraced by the night, unfolded below their eyes. Yet, from this height, the scenery appeared completely different from what Cliff was used to. Passersby gaped up at them.
“By the way, Cliff, what did you make the Restrictor?” Lovel asked out of the blue, sitting on the hand beside him.
“You know what that is?”
“Even I know that much. Don’t Golems need Restrictors to move?”
Cliff suddenly cracked a smile at her question and answered, “I made the Restrictor, ‘don’t hurt humans.’ I’m not like those rotten Rabbis.”
“Good one! That’s a great Restrictor!” Lovel returned his smile with a broad grin. Butterflies flittered ecstatically inside his chest when he saw her beautiful smile.
He really was in a ridiculous situation. He’d made an enemy of the Church, and he still didn’t know who Lovel truly was. The situation had changed in an unimaginable way; stealing back confiscated goods wasn’t an option, much less a concern. He wasn’t even sure what the future had in store for them.
But deep down, Cliff understood a part of him had always been waiting for a day like this to come.
“All right, ready to pick a fight with the Church, Lovel? Since I’ve come this far, I’ll see this through to the end with you!”
“Where should we start?”
“Wanna start by searching for that Silver Golem Sephiroth? I’m curious ‘bout what it’s like too.”
“Okay! It’s decided then! I just know we can track it down!”
With those two shouting children on board, Gandolf raced through Chest Island in the cloak of the night, accompanied only by the sound of bells tolling in the distance.