________Guard’s View________

After hearing the voice’s declaration, I don’t think much about it, but in the short amount of time that passes, I realize something seems off about what he said, and how he said it. The man in the darkness had no light with him, though I could see his male figure from our campfire. That meant they wouldn’t even be able to see where he was walking.

The next thing that was off about him was his voice, while it sounded decidedly male, it didn’t sound “human” per se, it sounded off, I couldn’t place how though. With all this information I and David knew enough to get to the conclusion to be on my toes.

Finally, with heavy metallic footsteps, we fully see the voice emerge from the darkness. I expected something human to appear, but what came at us was a humanoid figure made entirely out of metal, it looked expertly crafted, I wasn’t a blacksmith but even I could tell that every piece he was made to serve some sort of purpose.

I was so preoccupied with the new entity that appeared before me I didn’t even reach for my weapon, I finally realized so and pulled out my trusty short sword, but when I looked back to the creature, I saw it flash an adventurer guild card at us, which had a blue glow to it, meaning it was authentic.

“I know you’re scared of me, everyone always is, but I am not evil. I simply need to find my way to the capital, to reunite with my creator, one of the court magicians working directly for the empress.”

________Andy’s View________

I walk up to the two men keeping watch and they jerk back in fear for a second, both having readied their swords are looking at me a bit flabbergasted at just what the hell I am. I know robots are kind of special, but c’mon! Has nobody ever heard of golems in this world?

Both of them lower their swords slowly until they’re just holding them, they keep exchanging glances with each other like they’re trying to make sure that what they’re seeing is real. Finally, one of them opens his mouth and stutters out an answer, “T-The capital s-should come into sight if you keep following this road…”

“Thank you very much,” I give the man a small bow which makes him jolt in his seat for a second until I notice something. Wait, won’t they just think I’m a monster again? Ughh… I raise my arm to scratch my chin symbolically and both of the guards jolt once again, “With how both of you are reacting I probably won’t be let into the city, would I?”

They both give me firm nods while keeping their eyes fixed on me, I think for a second only to realize something. Wait, why don’t I just disguise myself? I look around the area for a second, finding just what I need. “I’ve got an idea, give me that large piece of cloth you’re wearing, and I’ll pay you for it.” The man looks at me a bit surprised and points a finger at himself, “You mean this ragged, old coat?” I reach around in my Bag and pull out a silver coin.

When he reaches out and sees what I’m handing him his eyes go wide, “W-What?! You’re giving me one silver for this ragged old thing?!” “I don’t have much less on me sorry…” I simply take the long coat or cape combo off of the man.

“Thank you again. For not panicking and attacking me and letting me buy your coat off you. I’ll make my way to the capital now.” I bow both men a simple bow and one of them stutters out some words, “D-Don’t worry…”

I walk away from the caravan guards in style with my new coat and cape combo, it’s a gigantic piece of cloth that reaches down to my ankles and even has a giant hood for me to throw over my head. I feel like such a weirdo just walking up to people on the street and buying things from them! Who does that?! Keep walking forward with my new giant cape, most of my wide view is cut off by the giant hood hanging around my head, so for the first time I can see just how much better my view is in comparison to humans.

This is the first time I wore proper clothing in my new life, isn’t it? Wait…Have I been nude this whole time?! A bit embarrassed by my apparent robotic nudity up until just now, I would be turning red if any blood could rush to my face. …But there isn’t even anything to see…Is it still bad? I mean, robots never needed clothes, did they? Wait, we sold high-end models with clothes, didn’t we? This isn’t going anywhere, I should stop thinking about it…

The dirt walkway going straight through the forest carries on through the night, no lights to illuminate me, I even turned off my face before so as not alert wildlife to me. Silent whirrs of my hydraulics and motors and the stomping of my metal feet resound through the night, the clear night sky is extremely clear, but I can’t recognize any of the star formations. Chirping crickets sound through the night, but they don’t sound like any variety I’ve ever heard.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

My metal frame keeps advancing, and without fatigue, hunger, or thirst to care for I simply keep walking. I know I’ve got it easier than any human, but won’t my fusion reactor ever run out? What happens then? Wouldn’t that be like, really bad? I know nuclear fusion is very fuel efficient, but for how fast I’m going through battery charges I’ve got to be low on whatever they run on. I wasn’t in the department that made the fusion reactor to power the robots Motus built, so I have no idea how they work except for the fact that they use deuterium and helium-3.

There is no way I can get my hands on them in this world… Maybe some alchemist knows about the elements, but I don’t even know anything about how they’re obtained or what they’re called in this world! Guess I’ll just have to evolve some more in the future, maybe find some evolution that doesn’t use fusion. With some plans set vaguely set into the future I keep advancing, By the time I make it to the sun rising again I can already see light bleeding into the skyline and after some more walking I see the city gates slowly appear before me.

The outside of the capital is lined by gigantic fields to feed it and is sparsely populated with homes. The fields seem to be well-kept and I can even see farmers working their fields in some places. In the distance, I can see some luxurious-looking cobbled roads leading to large mansions with large metal fences and gigantic lawns. Seems like some rich people even live outside of the capital.

I make my way to the gates and by now it’s morning, the lights of the city have been extinguished and a large line of traders and lining up by the wall to be let through. A small door exists to let groups of people through and a bigger door is set up to let carriages pass after an inspection. I check myself once over again and make sure all my robotic parts are hidden and then bury myself deep into my hood and begin standing in line.

Please don’t think I’m a monster! Please don’t think I’m a monster! Pleeease… I begin to beg to myself in my head while slowly advancing in the queue. When I finally get to the end the guard absentmindedly asks me to hand over my piece of identification and when I show him my blue glowing adventurer badge, I simply get let through into the city. I didn’t even have to talk! What?! And I was freaking myself out so much just for me to be let through like that?!

Slightly stomping my feet while walking at the terrible security given by the guards I walk through the city. It’s a beautiful city, houses that are 2 to 3 stories tall line every single street, stands line the edges of the street where I’m walking and almost every single one is selling either delicious food or trinkets of some sort.

For a few hours, I simply wander the busy city streets, almost every part of the city is packed full of houses, and every street is made of cobblestone or other comfortable stone, while they might’ve been around a few years ago it seems that the daily use of the streets has worn the stones flat. Carriages ride past me at steady intervals bringing all sorts of things out of and into the city.

The houses are mostly built out of wood with stone foundations though the closer I get to the middle of the city the richer everything seems, buildings seem to be built better or made out of more expensive materials, yet everything is so closely built together that I am unsure if there even are any houses with front or back lawns.

Let’s look at the castle, maybe I can explain my situation to the guards and they’ll help me find my way back to Emma and Seline. When I make my way further into the city I fall upon another checkpoint, I give the guard the silent treatment again and get let through easily. Seriously, isn’t this too easy?!

The scenery up here changes drastically, instead of seeing more cramped 2 to 3-story homes I find a lot of greenery intact and large plots of land with fences and homes built onto them individually. The cobbled streets from before are now built out of straight-up cut stones and look like something you’d see in an old European city center. Well, I guess this is what a city would have looked like around 4 to 6 centuries ago though…

I make my way close to the castle in the middle of the city, with more space now given to the streets I can freely see the castle. It looks amazing, much better than any castle I’ve seen in the real world, but it doesn’t give off an air of fantasy. Once I get closer to the castle, I see a gigantic bridge that goes over a gigantic moat that looks more akin to a river.

The closer I get the richer everything looks! But I guess that’s true for every city. The entire castle is adorned with beautiful stone carvings. I wonder for a second how much money was spent on this, but it feels useless to guess, this must’ve cost a fortune.

Once I step onto the bridge and get closer to the guards standing watch in front of the gate, I see the guards looking at each other a bit perplexed, probably due to my appearance. “Greetings, please state your business at the Imperial Castle.” Yet they still know how to treat someone with respect, nice!

I give the guard a small bow and then introduce myself, “Greetings, my name is Andy and I am a golem created by the court mage named Seline, I got split up from her during our journey to the capital so I wish to enquire about her whereabouts. My appearance is usually feared by people, but do not worry, I do not wish to hurt anyone.” How ‘bout that, huh! Even I can sound nice and regal if I want to!

I pull down my hood and turn on my face display while giving the men a simple smile, when the men see me, they reel back for a short second, Yeah, I’ve gotten used to that by now, any second they’re going to come back from their freakout and do something productive… and then they draw their weapons and stab at me!