Chapter 12: Roriksten

"They tried to do what!?" Jess exclaimed in fury, attempting to walk out of the room in a hurry. Vulcan restrained her, finding it challenging to hold her down even with his strength and using a steel sentry body.

"I had taken out their reinforcements and promised the leader he would be let go if he cooperated with me. Obviously, that was a lie, and I even snuck into the village at night without them noticing. That's how I managed to save the women from their fate," Vulcan explained as he finally got her to calm down.

Jess, still feeling guilty for leaving the village defenseless, looked up at Vulcan. "Thank you for saving them. I just wished I could have done more for them. If only I had the strength I have now, those cowards wouldn't have tried what they did." She began crying a little bit. Vulcan didn't know how to comfort her, so he just stood there, waiting for her to finish.

"You mentioned before that the lord who governed over the village didn't assist you in your time of need. I was wondering if you would hear me out on my idea," Vulcan said.

Jess wiped the tears and looked at him with curiosity. "Yeah, what do you have in mind?" she asked as she started listening.

"I was planning on exploring some of the human world, maybe as an adventurer like you called it. I wish to know some more things and maybe be able to get some materials that I'm not able to get here, and you would be my guide. In exchange, I would give the village my protection from any threats. How does that sound?" Vulcan finished with his plan, hoping Jess would go along with it. He didn't want to find anyone else. He had thought of Jason, but after seeing him be tricked by the mercenaries like that, he thought Jess was a better fit.

"Alright, I mean, that's a pretty good offer, and the village has become like another family to me. So having you protect them would be even better than those drunkard idiots. I could feel at peace knowing they will be well taken care of. But I need to see them first before I head back into society. It's been a few years since I've done adventuring work, but I'm excited now that I've become a little bit stronger," Jess finished, seeming happier than he expected.

Vulcan agreed with her demands. He first stopped by the room where he crafts the gear he disguised the sentries with. He had gotten better at making the clothes and even made leather armor, boots, and other things. Vulcan showed Jess a set of leather armor with a dark cloak that fit her size. She tried it on since her clothing was gone from the explosion. Jess almost questioned how he got her exact size but didn't bother, realizing a golem couldn't possibly be attracted by the figure of a human woman.

They passed by the courtyard of the fortress, and Jess saw a stone elevator with dozens of sentries lined up rise from somewhere below. "Where are they coming from?" she asked Vulcan. "Don't worry about that; we need to concentrate on getting to the village. Your friend Jason is still wondering if I am there to hurt him and his village," Vulcan replied.

With that said, they left with an entourage of several steel sentries following them. After a few hours of running, they arrived at the village. Jess saw the pile of mercenary bodies being burned in a pile. She noticed the villagers were doing their regular activities but were giving the disguised sentries looks of wonder and admiration. They did save them from a horrible fate, so they were thankful.

Vulcan led Jess to the village chief's home. She entered and could hear Jason asking more questions. "You still haven't told me who this mutual friend of ours is, please...Jess!? Omg, you're alive!" Jason ran towards Jess and gave her a hug. He had thought she died to the goblins in the forest somehow. He stopped and turned to look at Vulcan, "Is this the mutual friend you were talking about?" he asked as he turned to Jess, "What happened to you? And who exactly are these people?" he bombarded her with more questions.

Jess just led him to sit down, "Jason, these are my friends I met in the forest. They were the ones who were hunting the goblin horde in the forest. I helped them with eliminating the goblin horde, and they decided to help me out with the mercenaries after I finished helping them," said Jess, waiting for Jason to process the information.

Jason had a bewildered expression, "Wait, so the goblins aren't a problem anymore?" he asked.

"They've been taken care of, but listen, I've made a deal with them." She said but Jason didn't let her continue. "What do you mean you made a deal? You didn't sign a binding contract, did you!?" He stood up in alarm, only for Jess to make him sit back down. "It's nothing like that. I'm leaving with them for a while, in return, they will provide protection for the village instead of me." Her words left him speechless.

"You're not being forced to do something you're not, right? Please, we can still change this deal if you have—" His words were cut off with Vulcan cutting into the conversation for the first time, "She has agreed to do some adventuring work together. We don't intend to harm her, and she will return to the village within a certain amount of time. I can give you my word that your village will not suffer the same actions like the previous people did. If I break my word, you will have a great deal of compensation for any trouble.

Vulcan left no room for Jason to argue; either he agreed or not. Feeling pressured, Jason finally acquiesced. "Good, tomorrow morning we leave to the town of Roriksten," Vulcan said, and left the room with the rest of his sentries.

Once outside the gate of the village, Vulcan took a moment to reflect on the recent events. It had been hectic for a while. He checked his system again after the fight. He had passed level 20 and received the blueprints for the self-destruct modification he could add to his sentries, along with the blueprint for grenade explosives. Despite destroying the goblin horde, he had barely reached level 31. Leveling up was becoming increasingly challenging. He decided to open his store to see the new toy he had obtained after reaching level 30: the blueprints for a hover bike.

Name: Vulcan

Level:31

Race: Automaton

Body material: Rank 2/Steel

Energy points: 145,112

[Facilities]

-Spacial storage

-Automaton production factory

-Store

He had already expended a large portion of his EP to purchase the blueprint and had begun production of some hover bikes for tomorrow's use. He was interrupted when a few children, followed by some adults in the distance, walked up to Vulcan and handed him a bouquet of flowers. He hesitated to accept them but leaned down and took them. "Thank you, they are beautiful." The children giggled and ran away, waving goodbye with their hands.

The following night, nothing happened as the villagers saw the strange men patrolling with discipline. They felt more at ease once Jess showed up and told them what had happened while she was away. The villagers held more respect once they heard that the goblins wouldn't be a problem anymore.

The next morning, Jess, along with Jason and the villagers who came to say their goodbyes, gathered by the village gate. "Make sure to write often. I need to know that you're safe at least," said Jason as he walked with Jess. Once they arrived at the open road, Jason turned to Vulcan, "Are you guys really going to walk? It's about a month's journey on horseback," he asked in confusion.

"We will be alright, don't worry," Vulcan assured him as he began walking with a group of ten other sentries. Jess bid her farewells and caught up with the rest of the group.

After they had walked a certain distance and couldn't see the village anymore, Vulcan stopped. Jess, confused, turned around. "Is everything alright?" she asked, just as ten fast-approaching vehicles showed up. They were hovering and making almost no noise. Jess was left awestruck and was even more surprised to see several other sentries on them. They stopped a few feet away from them, and the sentries driving them hopped off and allowed the sentries that would accompany Vulcan to Roriksten to take over.

"Hop on," said Vulcan as he motioned for her to get on. Jess awkwardly got on the back and then held onto his waist as they sped off. She was amazed at the speed of the strange vehicle. After an hour of speeding across miles of terrain, a town wall could be seen in the distance. Jess was amazed that a trip like this was covered in just an hour. Vulcan found an area with enough cover and told her to hop off. He then activated something on the vehicle, and it disappeared before her eyes.

"Where did it go!?" Jess exclaimed.

Vulcan made a scoffing noise, "Don't worry, they're there. Nobody will be able to see them. We will walk the rest of the way. We don't want to start attracting any unwanted attention yet." And with that said, they walked towards the large walled town.