Sharing the Blood Debt

From a practical standpoint, the Alchemical Golem was Salomon's finest creation in recent years.

Unlike the Artificial Human, also an Alchemical Product, the Alchemical Golem housed an avatar of Salomon's personality. Compared to the Artificial Human's exorbitant cost and rare materials, the Alchemical Golem was far cheaper, made from nothing more than ordinary ice and snow. The only expensive part was the mechanical framework he installed inside it, but that could be recycled and removed after the Alchemical Golem melted. On days when he did not need to train with the rowing or fencing teams, or work in the laboratory, the Alchemical Golem would take his place, helping him deal with his overloaded course schedule—it attended classes with papers he had written and brought knowledge back from Oxford. In the end, that Alchemical Golem would lie in a freezer, melting back into raw material, waiting to be cleaned and made into the next one. Of course, some Oxford students occasionally saw two Salomons on campus. After all, Alchemical Golems were only meant to handle trivial matters; real learning still required his personal attendance.

If some spellcaster with too much time on their hands ever started a television station, Salomon could even make an episode called "How to Make an Alchemical Golem with Your Home Refrigerator." If he ever went on television, he believed that its approachable, affordable style would make the program immensely popular with magical housewives. After all, childcare and housework were just as annoying in the magical world. An Alchemical Golem could solve most problems, and it even knew how to show restraint when disciplining children.

Unfortunately, the trouble he faced was not something an Alchemical Golem could solve.

Athena and the Witches could spot a golem glowing with magical radiance at a glance, so he could not