It was evening when I finally left the Underground Arena. Looking at the starlit sky, I felt great relief after finally leaving the claustrophobia inducing tunnels. Unfortunately, I was plagued with the issue of someone yapping non-stop at my side.

{And so, you have to appear in court at noon, two days later, for witness testimony. Right! We are also taking the recording crystal as evidence. And remember, don’t be late to the hearing.}

After a lengthy debrief, the Valexian official finally informed me of my Court appointment before heading off. Ugh, it’s finally over. Surprisingly, from what I can infer from his explanation, this country has a pretty sophisticated court system, truly unexpected of a medieval kingdom.

I turned my attention to the arena staff members who were being escorted off to prison by the Guards. If looks could kill, then I would have died a thousand times over. Their eyes do not contain a single grain of guilt, just pure hatred for me for exposing their underground operations.

Disturbed, I quickly turned my gaze away from them. Unknowingly, a sizable crowd of bystanders had already gathered to observe the situation, and endless discussions could be heard.

{What happened here?}

{I heard that they busted an underground golem fighting ring.}

{Looks like the authorities are finally doing their job.}

{Tsk, there goes my plans for tonight.}

{Bam!}

Seeming to be fueled with rage, a young man suddenly punched the middle-aged man, who had just spoken, across the face. Not contented, the young man grabbed the collar of the middle-aged man and shouted:

{You son of a-}

Noticing the escalating situation, the Guards quickly approached them to defuse the situation. However, they were too late as the middle-aged man suddenly lashed out with his legs, performing a sweeping kick. The surprise attack knocked the young man off his feet and onto his butt.

Seeing this, I couldn’t help but become curious. I knew nothing about close combat, but even I could see that the middle-aged man was skillful.

(Appraisal)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Jim Bogs, Level 7

Age: 21

Species: Human

Description: The second son of a small merchant. No combat experience. Talented at wood carving.

Hp: 196/196

Mp: 0/0

Attack Power: 29

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Name: Eric, Level 26

Age: 56

Species: Human

Description: A veteran soldier of the Valexia Kingdom. Lost everything during the Golem Rebellion. Resigned soon after the rebellion was quelled. Now spends his days downing alcohol and gambling.

Hp: 847/847

Mp: 0/0

Attack Power: 157

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh! While I was distracted by my 《Appraisal》, the Guards chased everyone off from the scene. Seemingly empathetic of my plight, the Guards did not rush us to leave. However, I didn’t want to stay here a second longer and headed off together with Carl. Anyways, I couldn’t help but notice the Golem Rebellion mentioned in my appraisal.

{Sigh…}

I couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Afterall, it’s only my first day in this city, yet I had already gotten myself into so much trouble. Getting myself involved with an underground death arena and attending a court case to incriminate the organisers was not how I thought this trip would go.

Although all I had to do was to say what I had witnessed in the arena in front of the Court, I will still be speaking in front of a large body of audience, and I’m not good with that kind of stuff. Damn! Do I have to memorise a script or something so that I don’t screw up? I was in such deep thoughts that I did not notice Carl calling out to me.

{Hel!}

{Wha- What?}

{I have been calling you for a while, are you alright?}

{Yeah… There’s just a lot of things on my mind right now.}

Unexpectedly, Carl began patting me on my stub wing while speaking in a caring tone:

{I can’t imagine what you have just gone through and it must have hurt a lot, but you did the best you could. In fact, you saved countless more golems from having such a fate! You are a Hero!}

Eh? Ah! Carl must have thought that I was troubled over what had happened in the arena.

{Pfft, I am worrying about the court case, not about what happened in the arena. Those golems don’t aff-}

Somehow, despite not having a throat, I managed to choke up while speaking. All I had to say to complete my sentence was “Affect me.”. However, no matter how hard I tried, when I recalled the scene of the arena, I couldn’t bring myself to say those words.

Why do I feel like this? The devastating sadness from observing the arena full of Golem parts, the emptiness I felt from defeating Venatrix, these aren’t the feelings someone who slaughtered countless monsters should have. 

Is it because I am now similar to a Golem?

And speaking of feeling that I should not have, one thought led to another. I felt like I was piecing a puzzle together, one which I dreaded to complete. 

My hatred for Goblins seems unnecessarily deep too, considering all they did was hit me with sticks the first time we encountered each other. Although I later found out from Carl that they are universally hated by every species due to their aggressive and heartless nature, I couldn’t have known that before I went to town on them.

Perhaps… My emotions are getting manipulated? But who could possibly be manipulating it?!

…

No. I already knew the answer. Who was petty enough to turn me into a helicopter and send me into this world? Who would be capable of manipulating my emotions from the beginning. No matter how hard I racked my brain, there was only one correct answer.

God.

I immediately felt my golden blood run cold. I even began doubting everything I have done so far. Are the actions I have taken so far due to my own will? Do the memories I have even belong to me?

{Hel!}

Hearing Carl’s shout, I realised I had gotten lost in my thoughts once again. He advised me worriedly:

{You should really get some rest! You’ve been through a lot today.}

Ignoring my assurance that I was fine, Carl guided me to the inn he had rented. Compared to the buildings around , it looked pretty high class. If I had to describe it, it combined the aesthetics of both medieval and steampunk themes. And as expected of the Dwarf Kingdom, it included accommodations for both Humans and Golems. Obviously, I was staying in the Golem side of the inn

After a lengthy conversation, Carl reluctantly left the Golem area after I finally convinced him that I was fine. As an Attack Helicopter, it isn’t necessary for me to rest to recover my energy, but doing so would allow me to improve my mental state. Thus, I rested for a while before heading out of the city under the cover of stealth.

To be honest, I had been putting off what I am about to do for too long. And now, I wanted answers. Am I simply a creature that merely resembles an Attack Helicopter? Am I a magical weapon? It’s time to find out what I really am. 

I quickly found an empty grassfield far away from the city, and I began mentally preparing myself. What I was about to do seemed crazy, and maybe it was, but I had to do it in order to find out the truth. 

Extending my hook and chain, I plunged it into my side.