Wood Golem

After a while of investigating together with Simurg-san, we had learned most of what there was to know about the Wood Golem.

First, I would start with the conclusion.

This golem… as a sentry to protect the village, it was outstanding.

The next morning, I decided to demonstrate the Wood Golem’s power in front of everyone.

They might be frightened, but circumstances had changed.

From now on, this golem would serve as the village’s guard.

It might be hard to accept at first, but I judged it best to let everyone grow used to it sooner rather than later.

“Woody, what are you planning to pull this time?”

“‘Pull’? Don’t make it sound so bad.”

“That’s right, Nadja. Woody-sama would never do anything cruel. It’s alright, Woody-sama— I know everything you do is for the sake of our people.”

“Y-yeah… thanks, Aira. Ahaha… that’s kind of embarrassing.”

Aira’s absolute trust made me feel ticklish in a strange way.

Worried my face was turning red, I lowered my gaze a little.

“(Haa~ how adorable, Woody-sama.) Haa~ how adorable, Woody-sama. There, there.”

“Your inner voice is leaking like crazy, you useless maid! Damn it, that’s dirty— suddenly snuggling up to Woody’s heart like that!”

“I was purposefully a bit cool until now so I could create this dramatic contrast.”

“—Aira, what a schemer you are… terrifying!”

After waiting for the heat in my cheeks to subside, I managed to pull myself together.

Then I looked from the sprawled, dozy Divine Beasts to the would-be villagers, whose eyes were gentle with concern.

“Everyone, I know many of you have been anxious about how we’ll manage at the new village site. The desert is full of dangers. But… don’t worry! I’ll show you why, right now!”

I activated my Tree Planting aptitude and summoned a single Wood Golem.

A monster appeared suddenly within the barrier-protected space.

Naturally, everyone fell into a panic.

“Kyaaaaaa!”

“A monster! A monster has appeared!”

But this was within expectations.

I would rely once again on the dependable fiancée at my side.

“Nadja, please.”

“Ahh, leave it to me— HAA!!”

BZZZZZZT!

Her shout rippled outward as a sonic shockwave.

Because Nadja, a Sword Saint, imbued that shout with sheer fighting spirit, even I—who knew what she was going to do—flinched at the intensity.

The shock in her voice shook the air, raising goosebumps on the noisy crowd.

Those who moments ago looked ready to bolt out of the Tree Barrier fell utterly silent.

As they still reeled, their hearts not yet caught up, I spoke to them.

“Please calm down and listen. That is a tree I created with my aptitude.”

“A tree… that’s a tree?”

“Shh! Idiot Sword Saint, don’t say unnecessary things!”

I didn’t have the leisure to turn around at the muttering behind me from Nadja and the others.

For now, I issued commands to the Wood Golem.

“Jump! Jump! Then turn!”

Obeying my orders, the Wood Golem began to hop and spin.

As I moved it around, I found myself… having fun.

I summoned another golem and had the two hold hands and dance.

The dance itself was awkward, but it was obvious they were under my control.

As everyone watched the clumsy dance, the grumbling died away.

Once they accepted the golem wasn’t an enemy, they waited for me to speak.

“This is a Wood Golem, a wooden soldier I can create with my aptitude. Its combat capability is about on par with a D-rank adventurer party. To put it more clearly, think of it as the strength of a brand-new knight in the ducal order.”

For the record, that strength estimate came from Simurg-san, so it should be quite accurate.

“A wooden soldier…”

“So he can produce soldiers, not just fruit…”

“Hold on. Equal to a rookie knight… isn’t that really strong?”

Apparently it was easier to convey by comparing to knights than to adventurer ranks.

True enough— in their daily lives, they dealt with knights who handled patrols and arrests, not rootless adventurers.

“Woody, by the way, this one also…?”

“Yeah, it costs the same as a fruit tree to produce.”

“…We really could make a fruit-armed nation, couldn’t we?”

“…That’s true.”

This Wood Golem was fairly strong.

A single unit could take down a band of robbers.

And the fact that I could produce such a creature (strictly speaking, a magic tool rather than a monster) for just four Smile Points—

Practically speaking, that was wild.

Right now, I earned at least 200 points per day. If I poured the surplus entirely into production, I could make fifty in a day.

If I focused on Wood Golems for a month, that would be 1,500 units.

It wouldn’t go that smoothly in reality, but still—having a soldier unit I could mass-produce to some extent was huge.

“Because they’re replaceable, I can combine them with Tree Arrangement and use them like this.”

First, I activated Tree Arrangement.

At the same time, I tucked a Fire Marron into the hollow space around the Wood Golem’s chest.

Then I sent the Wood Golem far away and— BOOOOM!!

By detonating it with an Element Fruit, one light point on the map winked out.

Yes— I could have a Wood Golem carry out a self-destruct charge like this.

What’s more, with Tree Arrangement I could track active Wood Golems’ positions, so I could dispatch them as scouts.

If a Wood Golem got destroyed somewhere, I’d know there was an enemy at that location.

And even more: Wood Golems could be chosen as targets for Tree-to-Tree Transference, so I could send one ahead and then teleport to places I’d never been.

Individually, they weren’t that strong—pure combat might be a bit lackluster.

But the cost performance let me win by numbers, and when combined with my aptitude and recently acquired skills, the possibilities were endless.

This was a very good tree.

“By the way, this Wood Golem still has two more transformation stages left—ufufu…”

“W-what did you say!?”

Grinning at the startled Nadja, I created another Wood Golem—