Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 10



Only Noblemtl

Exchange (1)

The port city of Aromaia is a very beautiful place. The blue sky sparkles like a sapphire, and the sea responds with jade-colored waves.

The docks were bustling with fishing boats and cargo ships coming and going, and because the distribution industry was so developed, trucks and people were swarming like ants.

Busy workers were all tired, but they also had smiles on their faces. They had hope that if they worked hard, tomorrow would be better than today.

From afar, it looks like a picturesque city, but up close, shadows appear faintly hidden by the light.

In a dark alley near the docks, two men with fierce features grabbed a dwarf by the arms and dragged him out. The dwarf, with sunken eyes and drooling, was thrown away like trash without being able to fight back.

The dwarf, who had fallen head first, waved his hands at the large men as if it didn’t hurt.

“Ugh···.”

“I told you to get out if you don’t have any money. I told you that the money I gave you today is not enough, so come save up more.”

“Please, my body is shaking so much… Just this once. Can you let it go just this once? I’ll pay several times more next time.”

As the dwarf crawled across the floor and showed signs of hanging on to his leg, the balding bulky man pulled out a heavy pistol from his waistband.

“Should we try to see it through to the end?”

“Uh, sorry.”

“I thought you were being generous because of our affection!”

The big man who shouted at the back of the head of the dwarf who was running away in a panic tried to put his gun away, but frowned when he saw the group approaching.

“What now?”

“I came from the Novak Clinic.”

“He looks a bit young. He’s the first one I’ve seen without a proper beard.”

At the same time, the giant’s eyes glowed blue. It was an act of confirming through communication that Alan’s words were correct. People who received brain expansion and artificial eyes at the same time could converse in this way or access the Internet.

“What kid is this? No, if you sent me a picture, you should let me know so I don’t call you back. Okay, hang up.”

The light in the big guy’s eyes faded and his focus turned to Alan and the workers armed with guns. They flinched and gripped the handle tightly, but the big guy just laughed.

“Don’t you know how to pull a trigger? It’s our territory anyway, so why are you carrying such a heavy gun around….”

“There was an attack a while ago, right?”

“······attack?”

“Yes. I heard that our assistants and workers were attacked by robbers from outside.”

“Ah, ah. I remember now. Just follow me.”

The big guy turned around and waved his finger at him to follow him. Alan glanced at his back for a moment and then followed him slowly.

The inside of the alley was cleaner than I thought. There was no sign of standing water, and there were no cigarette butts to be seen.

‘Are they cherishing it as their own den?’

As he thought so, Alan followed the big guy down the stairs. As the big guy glared at the thick iron door like before, the passage opened with a creaking sound.

Perhaps because it was outside of the club’s business hours, the inside was quieter than expected. The only sound could be heard in the hallway, the occasional footsteps of cartel members walking around.

The big man led Alan to a room near the entrance. It was very simple, containing only one square table.

“If you wait here, the ones that need it will come to you. Just kill some time and then go back.”

“Aren’t you going to get it checked?”

“The visit of little kids like you is mostly for the purpose of a checkup, not repairs. Anyway, for proper repairs, you can go to the clinic and get them from the manager.”

“If you can get it fixed here, there’s no need to bother going all the way to the clinic. I think your left elbow might be bothering you…”

“Oh, how did you know?”

“It sounds weird.”

“Right. If you can tell just by hearing that, then you must be confident in your skills.”

The big guy who burst out laughing turned his body that had almost gone out and sat down in front of the table. Then he placed his left arm on top.

“He’s a strange guy. Then try it somewhere.”

“All right.”

“But do they have to be here?”

The big guy glared at the workers. Their eyes were shining as they watched Alan’s repairs closely, but the big guy seemed to be irritated by their actions.

“Or should I just let you go? You’re like our family’s dog waiting for food. One such burdensome gaze is enough.”

It sounded like a recommendation, but it was more like an order. The workers went out, hiding their regretful faces.

Things were going well for Alan. He was already worried about how to send his workers away, but the size of his body gave him an idea. The reason was preparation for freedom.

Alan used the repair tools he had brought to peel off the bulky’s artificial skin and dismantle the prosthetic hand in an instant.

“Wow. That’s fast.”

The speed at which the giant, who was good at dismembering people, could be seen was amazing.

Alan gently scratched the magic circuit with an awl. The circuit was usually made by mixing magic stone powder with copper, and since the base was metal, the lifespan of the runes engraved on the magic tool increased, and the magic stone amplified the effect.

If silver or true silver were used, the magical conductivity would be much better, but there was no way a cartel member, let alone the boss, would use a magical tool made of such expensive materials.

“What are you doing with the awl? Is that okay?”

“As you use it, dust and other contaminants will naturally accumulate. If you maintain it meticulously like this, its lifespan will extend and it will function properly even in urgent situations.”

Alan calmly told lies mixed with truth as he swept the inside of the prosthetic arm with a brush. Dust and circuit dust gradually accumulated on the table.

His expressionless face and calm demeanor strangely gave the giant a sense of trust.

“When I was young, there was an old man who ran a pharmacy in the neighborhood who was just like you. I used to scold him for prescribing things roughly, but when I actually looked into it, he was right on the mark.”

“Thank you for your kind words.”

Alan answered while tightening the screws on the joint. The lifespan of the prosthetic arm would be extremely short since the magical circuits had been scraped away, but it was no problem since he would have left this place by then anyway.

The large man bent and straightened his now clean arm again to check if the repair was done properly.

“I used to hear a grinding sound every time I bent my elbow, but now it’s fine. Thanks to you, I saved time. Thank you.”

“you’re welcome.”

Rather, it was Alan who was thankful. More members of the organization than expected came to the room, perhaps because of the rumors spread by his size, and the more they came, the more powder Alan had to collect.

Back at the clinic, Alan headed to the storage room called the trash can. He filled the cartridge with the powder he had brought and inserted it into the back of a tool that looked like a fountain pen.

It was a tool called a ‘rune pen’. When you held it in your hand and breathed magic into it or pressed a button, the substance contained in the cartridge would melt and flow down the nib of the pen.

Alan carved the runes of [Flame] onto thin iron plates and used the scout golems to spread them throughout the ventilation shafts.

I wanted to carve runes into the power generator and mana battery in the power room, but to do that I had to convince one person.

Vito, that is. As Alan recharged his mana battery, it was still his job to measure the changing flow of magical power within his body.

“what are you doing?”

Vito happened to follow Alan to the warehouse.

“They keep ending up in the trash bin these days. Are you making some fun toys? There used to be a few who tried, but they’ve all disappeared these days. There’s a reason why abandoned magic tools are there.”

“Toys… That’s a good expression.”

“Don’t even think about fooling me.”

Vito whispered, lowering his voice as much as possible.

“If it were other kids, I might let it slide, but not you. You’re definitely up to something.”

“···.”

“Have you forgotten what I said before?”

“All the idiots who tried to take off the necklaces by themselves died.”

“Yeah. You remember it so well, so what on earth are you thinking?”

Vito looked at Alan with an expression of incomprehension. He could not make out anything because of his still dark complexion and unfocused eyes.

“Fucking poker face. Do you know what a smile is?”

“I used to know that. It’s a shame that it doesn’t happen like that these days.”

It wasn’t the expression of a person who was feeling sorry at all. Vito hit his chest as he watched the sight.

“What do you want? There must be a reason why you called me here and made a fuss about it.”

“Please look at this.”

Alan took out a metal plate with [Flame] engraved on it from his pocket. Vito looked at it and shrugged his shoulders.

“Fire? What are you going to do if there’s a fire?”

“It’s okay because it only catches fire when a certain amount of shock is applied.”

“No, wait. Since when did you learn to use runes? When I asked you before, you said you didn’t know. Oh, right. There’s no way you’d tell me that easily.”

“Now I know. I can engrave one on a circuit or tool.”

“You can graduate with just one. No, even the graduates wouldn’t have carved it as perfectly as you did… If I speak nicely to the boss, wouldn’t he take the necklace off?”

Alan responded to Vito’s question with a question, and then turned on the terminal in his arms.

“Do you know why one rune is the criterion for graduation?”

“···?”

As Vito was about to say something again, a terminal was suddenly thrust out in front of him, who had the same expression on his face. The terminal played a video, and Vito’s face, who had been watching with interest, hardened coldly.

The screen depicts a scene where an assistant, known to have left for another area, is turned to dust as he fails to overcome the output of his magical power.

Vito’s eyes grew wide. He turned off the terminal and stammered, demanding an answer from Alan. He also looked around as if he was being chased by a monster.

“This, this is… Is this real? This isn’t a manipulation, is it?”

“···.”

Alan just watched in silence. Vito clutched his head and lowered it.

“Then what about this? The necklace I’m wearing doesn’t have an explosive function. If I’m going to catch and kill it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to keep the function?”

“Even a mouse will bite a cat if you push it too hard. We are much more threatening people than mice.”

“···.”

In fact, Vito also understood it deep down. It was just that the suspicions he had denied until now had taken shape and jumped out of the water.

“Fuck······.”

It was a word and expression that mixed emotions. Vito understood why the standard for graduation was a single rune.

For slaves who dreamed of rising in status, the runes were a ladder to climb up, but for Novak, they meant ripe fruit.

Vito leaned against the wall, his head on his hands. His legs and arms were shaking violently.

“I liked it when you taught me magical training methods to strengthen my eyesight and brain, but it turned out that you were giving me fertilizer instead of mercy.”

“Don’t you think the assistants and workers who were attacked last time are acting strange? Have you heard anything about them?”

Vito raised his head at Alan’s words. They cautiously discussed their escape. It was something he could hear, so it went without saying for Novak.

All of my suspicions were correct. The clinic was a fish farm owned by Nobak, and the owner had no intention of letting the fish run free.

“Then, instead of doing this, we should tell the others too… It’ll be useless. The dead kids probably ended up like that because someone told the truth.”

A secret is no longer a secret once it is known to many. Traitors always come from within.

“What are your plans for the future?”

Alan whispered a question into Vito’s confused ear, and his decision was quick.

“Okay. What should I do?”

“You know how to drive, right?”

“Of course. What else?”

“We’ll also hide some iron plates in the power room. We’ll even carve them directly into the power generator.”

“So that’s why you called me out on purpose.”

Alan nodded. Fortunately, Vito was easily persuaded.

“If possible, please steal some of the equipment from the second basement floor. Anything from circuit fragments to parts will do. And we’ll prepare it this week.”

“You’re waiting until then? Oh, you said there was a party with the locals then. Wait, what about the bomb necklace?”

“I need to get the key from Novak.”

“In what way?”

Vito’s eyebrows and mouth corners furrowed greatly. It was a reaction of incomprehension.

Alan answered calmly.

“Nowak has taken my life as collateral, so I will take his as collateral.”

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