Stop, Friendly Fire!

Once Lee Shin Woo and Jin had parted ways with Guillotine, they wordlessly took the golem train and returned to the level 2 danger zone. The facility was close to the area where the past city, Kehebe had been.

But there was something cheerfully chatting by their side while they were being silent...

[Please take care me, Sir Lee Shin Woo. Henceforth, I am in charge of supporting you in battle and scouting. Please give me a name.]

[Please give me a name. I will explain my abilities again. I possess high agility and strength, but my health is incredibly low, so please handle me with care. I have some magic as well.]

[Please give me a name. My most effective ability is the subspace. With the latest techniques that were created through high rank magic engineering, I can hold a maximum of 4,000 zeta...]

Lee Shin Woo finally raised his head. He had almost arrived at his destination... the Kerr Century Winery. Before then, he needed to fix this guy.

"Is it a relief that they're misunderstanding us?"

"Misunderstanding?"

"Yeah."

They held the unyielding belief that the Steelworker seal could only be obtained by a Steelworker. That pride. That was Guillotine's sole mistake, and also his worst. Because of that, Lee Shin Woo was able to clear out the entire facility without garnering any suspicion, and even now...

"I'll give you name, so come over here."

[I underst...]

Lee Shin Woo's hand came closer and tightly grabbed onto the Observer Golem. He could tell that this guy was sent to spy on him, even without seeing its name.

But he didn't know who exactly ordered it to spy on him, or whether he should either extract information from it, dispose of it, or try to find some other use for it; to find that out, he had been observing it, so he hadn't acted immediately.

'If this guy's orders could only be changed through the use of Arema Steelworker's seal, then I would've had to give up and just dispose of it.'

However, that wasn't the case. This guy's maker, as well as administrator were Guillotine. Maybe Arema Steelworker trusts Guillotine a lot?

He couldn't say that this entire quest was due to Guillotine's decision, but Lee Shin Woo was sure that Guillotine possessed quite a bit of authority. And...

'If it's at this level, then I can change it as much as I want with my own authority.'

Lee Shin Woo no longer had a pure Steelworker seal. After countless improvements, he had successfully acquired an independent authority, and it was simple for him to erase Guillotine's order as if it weren't there and add in his own.

'And here...'

He hadn't had the Observer Golem for very long, but right now, he had plenty of time to experiment. Lee Shin Woo made that decision, activated his administrator seal whilst simultaneously infusing in a completely different mana.

[N...Name...]

That radiating, gentle gray energy was none other than his high rank darkness element! Because darkness was the element that controlled contracts, he thought that he would be able to ignore the preexisting command authority and create a new relationship with it; that's why he had tried it, but the effect was truly outstanding.

[...Recognizing highest command authority.]

When the administrator seal accepted the darkness element and radiated an even more intense light, a black light spread throughout the Observer Golem's body. It sounded like it was breaking, and at that moment, something seemingly burst out of a part of its body. Then, it spoke in a much more calm voice than before.

[Pausing record. Deactivating surveillance function. Deactivating information transmission function.]

"Information transmission... So when were you going to send a report to Guillotine Steelworker?"

[In a week.]

"I'd like to make up a report so that they don't get suspicious, but can you input that kind of information?

[Of course.]

More energy surged from Lee Shin Woo's hand and permeated the golem. The golem only processed the information that would be ok for Steelworker to see and which could be transmitted to him, and obviously, it was incredibly difficult work, but... Fortunately, Lee Shin Woo had a book he could reference!

"Let's see... Wait just a second, Jin."

"..."

In one hand, he carried an opened, worn-out book, and in the other, he held the small golem. Lee Shin Woo, who was constantly emitting black energy, looked like he was from some kind of evil cult at best.

As always, Jin didn't really know what Lee Shin Woo was doing, but he decided to do as he was told and watch his surroundings. Lee Shin Woo closed the book after several minutes.

"Alright. I can... Mm, is this much ok?"

[Any deficient areas can be fixed at a later time.]

"Nice. I'll make some more adjustments after I've studied some more and when the time is right.]

[I understand.]

However, Lee Shin Woo didn't let go of the golem. He thought that at this rate, when or if Arema Steelworker intervenes, his authority could get taken away. And the only way to create a firm relationship which cannot be disturbed by anyone is...!

"Let's change the programming a bit, shall we? I'll program it with the absolute concept that 'ownership' is higher than 'command authority.'"

[...It's possible. In order to prevent a few minor bugs from doing so, I will prioritize removing Steelworker's ability to intervene.]

"Go ahead."

Jin couldn't understand their conversation at all, and after they spoke a few more times, he saw mana coming out of the golem's body finely, while Lee Shin Woo's mana filled the vacancy. Lee Shin Woo meticulously examined the entire golem once more, and then laughed with certainty.

The power of the darkness mana, both absolute and able to transcend logic, altered the golem's very structure. And at the moment of his success...

[The mode is complete, Master.]

From the outside, the small golem looked like a living, breathing hawk. Its eyeballs, made of gems, focused on Lee Shin Woo and shined whilst speaking the word 'master'. This was proof that the absolute authority had been safely created; something which hadn't existed before.

What would Guillotine Steelworker think if he knew that Lee Shin Woo had completely remodeled the surveillance unit and made it devote itself to him? Of course, he would never know.

"Nice. From now on your name is Rem." [1]

"Your naming sense is really too much!"

With the combination of his golem knowledge and his darkness magic, he had created his first 'child', so he gave it a proper name. Hearing that, Jin was shocked. As Lee Shin Woo's orders were absolute and it had become completely loyal to him, the observer golem could not, unfortunately, even voice its complaints, as it didn't even have that function.

[I understand, Master.]

Lee Shin Woo gave it a name, and right at the moment when it accepted its name... a large quantity of mana was released from Lee Shin Woo's body, and automatically changed into the darkness element. He felt that deeply, and suddenly realized just how important a name was in a master servant contract.

No, maybe his mana had responded like that because he thought the name was important.

[The Observer Golem, Rem, has been completely subordinated! Because of your achievement, you have caused a huge change in Rem.]

"Huh?"

A message similar to when he had established a master and servant relationship with the Pauls or the Chi Pauls appeared, and at the same time, Rem's body was engulfed in darkness mana. Lee Shin Woo heard a crackingsound from within the mana, and gritted his teeth at Rem's changing appearance.

"If I knew this was going to happen, I would've name it Rem Paul!"

"Yeah, yeah."

The transformation process wasn't very long. Rem's now exposed form was truly shocking. What had originally looked like a living hawk from the outside had changed into bone!

Though its body was made up of bones, they weren't thin bones. On top of its tough, bony frame was another layer of bone, covering it like skin. It resembled a hawk and its lovely ivory, curved bone looked like it was chiseled by a sculptor, making it look extremely refined and beautiful. It looked as though it weren't even a golem or an undead; it gave off the feeling that it was a living being made up of bone.

"I'd be happy if I got to look like that."

"It's definitely pretty, but... when Guillotine asks for it, how are you going to show it to him?"

Lee Shin Woo was both in awe and concerned as he looked at the transformed Rem. However, a message appeared in front of him that he hadn't expected in the least.

[Through your ability and mana, this golem has been bestowed with a karma. By acting as though it were an ally, it will approach other golems, implant your darkness into them, and ultimately cause them to change and be reborn. It has awoken this ability called "Mana Parasite".]

[You have created a Joker's pet, a cuckoo. The cuckoo will share a portion of your innate skills, and based on its role, its abilities will become even greater. Perhaps an even more dramatic evolution awaits it in the future.]

[Lv6 Cuckoo Golem - Rem]

"I thought it was a bit small. It wasn't a hawk, but a cuckoo...!?"

"Why? Did you make something weird again?"

"Yeah, and it's really strange this time."

The skill that Rem had awakened was much too amazing for him to dismiss it as weird. It seemed as though him using both the administrator seal and his darkness mana, as well as acquiring the ownership authority had had a considerable effect on Rem.

To be honest, Lee Shin Woo himself didn't really know how this kind of change had occurred.

"It probably wouldn't work on the Steelworkers, though..."

"Mmmm?"

"No, it's nothing."

From now on, Lee Shin Woo thought he would use the same process that he'd used on Rem on any high rank golems he encountered (level 6 golems or greater that were under Steelworker's direct control), but with this, things got a lot easier.

He was especially pleased by the fact that Rem could share a portion of the Joker's innate skills (Acting, Disguise, Instigate). It meant that, at the very least, it wouldn't be discovered by Steelworker. Moreover, based on this guy's growth, it may be able to do something more amazing in the future.

[Please call me Rem from now on. Master, please take care of me.]

"Alright, Rem. Take care of me too."

He didn't know if Rem was aware that it had done a 180 and gone in a completely opposite direction from its original mission, as it naively perched upon Lee Shin Woo's shoulder. That looked a lot better.

It had gotten a lot stronger in various aspects when it transformed into a Cuckoo Golem, so he could actually use it in battle, and it also possessed a subspace, so it would help in various ways.

Above all, the best part was that it had gotten smaller, so it was easier to carry around. The reason he had refused the Pauls, the golems, and the Chi Pauls from accompanying him was not only because they wanted to change the Empire, but because they were way too big, so they would get in the way of his work!

"Wait a sec. If this guy has a subspace and can move quickly, then... Can't this guy collect loot!?"

[It is possible to change the location of my subspace, as well as automatically send anything inside to that location.]

"Oooooooooooooh!"

They marveled at Rem's subspace ability, the newest addition of their party, and hurried towards the winery. Rem's Mana Parasite ability, which came from Lee Shin Woo's karma... unfortunately, Lee Shin Woo didn't know just how amazing that ability would be in the future.

[1] E/N: The 렘 character here is the same Rem as the one used for Rem in Re:Zero… seems like a loose reference due to being a servant.