Chapter 23 Part3 (2/2)

Guillotine sported a bitter smile at Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's words. Despite being a golem, the way the skin on his face moved was truly sensitive. And when he thought about it, he was also jealous of his natural hair. It wouldn't get like that through hair transplantation. I hope you lose all your hair!

[You should already have some idea, but we've been keeping an eye on you whenever you've come and gone from this place. Since we had no choice but to be suspicious.]

”So what's your request...?”

[Yeah. We're not as suspicious of you as we once were. At the very least, we're sure that you're not one of the Emperor's men.]

”I told you that at the beginning, didn't I?”

[Haha.]

They both knew, whether it be the uncomfortably speaking Lee s.h.i.+n Woo or the awkwardly smiling Guillotine. That they couldn't truly trust one another. But they could agree that they 'wouldn't act to harm the other'. It had taken this much time to reach that conclusion.

[Like you said, I have a request for you. It may be difficult for you, as you're level 5, but it should be possible with the help of your group.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's eyes gleamed for two reasons. Firstly, Guillotine didn't get his level right. That meant that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was concealing his mana from a higher leveled individual.

And secondly...

”I don't have a group backing me though.”

[Let's leave it at that.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo only inwardly smiled bitterly at Guillotine's reply.

At the time, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo had told him that both he and Jin were the result of their test, and that only they were the survivors of the test; but so long as the golems weren't idiots, there was no way they'd just trust him. It was obvious that they'd a.s.sume that there were others backing Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin.

And from the very beginning, that was what Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was aiming for.

'A small lie is exposed when trying to hide a larger lie. In order for them to believe my lie that Jin and I were the only survivors of the test, I clumsily acted like I was hiding the fact that there was a group behind me. And they focused on that...'

Thus, they thought of Lee s.h.i.+n Woo as some sort of secret agent for some unknown group. Just like he had planned.

'Doesn't it hurt your head to always be thinking so complicatedly?'

'Surprise. I don't even have a brain!'

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo and Jin exchanged trifling jokes through their connection, and Guillotine Steelworker went to the main point. As expected, he had quite a serious tone.

[Do you remember what the General told you last time... regarding our creation?]

”Of course I remember.”

[Good. Then that quickens things. At the time, the Emperor sacrificed promising knights for his own protection. The Golden Army was established with 500 members, but thousands were sacrificed in order to make that 500.]

”Thousands...”

[So what would've happened to the thousands of knights sacrificed? They were discarded. In order to conceal how wicked the Emperor was, the testing facilities were completely buried.]

”...No way.”

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo momentarily froze at an awful thought that came up. Guillotine Steelworker nodded his head calmly.

[It's probably as you've imagined. They likely were resurrected and became undead. We made a mistake; we should've cremated them, but we didn't...]

”That's... I ended up hearing something that puts a bad taste in my mouth.”

[If I could, I would take care of it myself, but... the day following the curse, the General forbid any of us from going outside. That's why I'd like you to do it in my place.]

”Huh?”

He spoke as if it were completely unrelated to him, but the conversation ended up going back to him. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's goblin fire narrowed. Guillotine Steelworker continued.

[It's time for them to rest. I hope that you'll let them rest in peace in our place. I'll tell you where they are. It's near the satellite city, Kadinan. You'll be right there if you take that train.]

”Is that all?”

[Of course.]

Lee s.h.i.+n Woo momentarily didn't respond to Guillotine's unnecessarily brisk response and acted as though he were thinking about it, but... like always, he made his decision right away.

”Fine. I'll take up your request. There's a reward, right?”

[If you return, I'll give you something beyond your expectations. I promise, as Guillotine Steelworker, one of the Four Commanders.]

Considering that he called himself one of the Four Commanders, there must be three other level 7 golems aside from Guillotine. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo roughly nodded his head at Guillotine's confident declaration. Though Jin looked like he was feeling uneasy, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo just ignored him.

”Then I trust you'll keep your promise and go immediately.”

[Good luck.]

Guillotine, who was worried that Lee s.h.i.+n Woo would ask some more questions, saw Lee s.h.i.+n Woo accept his request unhesitatingly and immediately get on the train. Once they were inside, he smiled without them knowing.

The train soon departed. Guillotine was the only one remaining and turned around, but suddenly, he heard a dignified voice from within his head. It was Arema Steelworker's voice.

[Guillotine, I believe that was an order I gave to you.]

[I wanted to reduce our casualties. Moreover, there's reports that the other generals are getting more involved now, so I thought that we'd be discovered if we went outside, no matter how careful we were.]

[But if they were to discover the facility...]

[Even if they were to find it, they don't have the right to enter it.]

Arema hesitated once he heard Guillotine, and Guillotine continued to press.

[Paul Zero only possesses general administrative authority. Unless you're a golem, one cannot possess an authority any higher than that. Isn't that what you said, Sir Arema?]

[... It's plenty surprising already that he acquired a general administrative authority from just studying a golem. That's why I originally thought he was one of the Emperor's men.]

[Indeed, it is surprising. It's something we need to pay attention to. Thus, if he were to come back safely after completing the task, I'm planning on watching him through hidden surveillance. This task was a good excuse to give him that.]

[...Mm...]

Arema, who had been pondering, was persuaded by Guillotine and looked favorably upon his plan.

[Fine. I entrusted you with this, so do as you please. But you have to take responsibility for it as well.]

[I'll keep that in mind, my lord.]

As soon as Arema Steelworker's voice, which took hold of both his mind and body disappeared, Guillotine instinctually ended up sighing.

Then, he walked over to the production facility in order to create a Surveillance Unit Zero to give to Lee s.h.i.+n Woo.

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