Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 2



Only Noblemtl

Children of the poorest countries (2)

As a result, there was nothing wrong with Alan. In fact, he was much more energetic when he was sucked into the mana battery than he was a few days later.

When their son’s words came true, the couple reported the situation to the factory manager, who became angry and asked if they should have said something sooner.

It was natural. All living things possess magical powers, but only a few people can create and store more than the amount of life required.

Even Alan charged the battery just by lightly touching it. It meant that he had an abundance of innate mana.

On her son’s first day at work, Mary brushed off as much dirt and dust as she could from his clothes. She also gave him some words of advice.

“You are the youngest in the factory. So wherever you go and whoever you meet, you must be polite.”

“Yes, I will do that.”

“You have to be more careful at the factory because you never know who you might meet. And manners are a factor that adds extra points to your first impression.”

“yes.”

“Your mother is right. Courtesy in a low position reduces the ill-will of superiors, and courtesy in a high position makes it easy to win the favor of others.”

Upon arriving at the factory, the couple donned vests with mana batteries attached and headed to their seats, where Alan met with the manager.

The stern-looking orc’s glasses glowed.

“You are Alan.”

“hello.”

“Just sit here for now.”

The manager pointed to a chair without a backrest. Alan sat down and put his palm on the back. It was so big that it almost completely covered his back.

“I hate unnecessary words, so I will explain it only once.”

“yes.”

“The operation method I’m going to teach you now is the most basic of the basics. However, it generates magical power faster than natural recovery.”

It was something that Alan also knew from hearing it from his parents. They said that they taught him something that was embarrassing to call a method of operation, and that it allowed him to absorb the magic of nature.

It was an operation method that focused only on recovery, excluding the process of generating mana hearts, which is the beginning and end of magical activity. Of course, even that was worse than a rat’s tail.

“First of all, the operating route is···. Hmm.”

“My back feels a little ticklish.”

“Don’t say anything. The path is···.”

It felt like ants were crawling on his back. But it only lasted a moment. When Alan glanced at the mirror on the wall, he saw the manager looking embarrassed.

“I didn’t sleep well last night… Wait a minute. I’m not feeling so well today.”

The manager, who said he didn’t like unnecessary talk, opened the window, stretched, and then put his hand on his back again.

A much stronger stimulus was delivered than before. The heart, left side, below the navel, right side, liver, and heart became hot in that order. The path was simple enough that even a child could understand it.

“Whew. This is easy.”

The orc in the mirror quickly wiped the sweat from his forehead before Alan turned around. Then, he opened his mouth, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“The operating instructions are written all over the factory, so recite them while you work. Visit three times, once every seven days. They will help you memorize the operating route.”

“Have all the people working here learned how to operate it?”

“No. If there are 100 people, maybe 5? Of course, those 5 won’t have Manahat. So don’t get too hung up on it. Learn the rest of the tricks, rules, and wage calculations from your parents.”

The manager waved his hand. Alan nodded and looked for his father and mother. The two were sitting on the floor, with needles connected to mana batteries inserted into their arms.

“Dad, do you know how to use it too?”

“Yes. Thanks to that, Dad and Mom recharge faster than others, so their daily wages are high. For now, sit here. There’s one thing to be careful of. If you feel dizzy, you must rest that day.”

“why?”

“If you run out of horsepower, the battery will suck your life out as well.”

As Alan nodded and picked up the needle, Mary stopped him.

“Wait a minute. If you can charge it just by touching it, you don’t have to do that.”

Alan took a moment to look around the factory. Everyone had needles stuck in their arms.

“It’s faster if you use a needle. Then you can charge the battery more, so you get paid more.”

“You come before money. So listen to me this time.”

There was something irresistible in Mary’s voice. Enveloped by that softness, Alan gave in to his stubbornness.

“yes.”

That day, Alan started working late, but he recharged the same amount as his parents. Even though his magic power was rapidly draining, instead of having a headache, his body felt lighter.

Allen also failed to create Manaheart. The method of operation was too sloppy, and above all, the wild horse-like magical power refused to be restrained.

But he didn’t regret it. After getting a job at the factory, Alan’s health actually improved and he was able to charge his batteries two to three times more than other people.

Since I became an ace worker at the battery factory, my table was full and I could buy books. Of course, I couldn’t get the books I wanted, but just gaining new knowledge filled me with satisfaction.

Alan still visited the dump whenever he had time. He would sometimes find equipment that looked like trash to a foreigner but was useful to Alan.

There were also times when foreigners visited the factory. The appearance of the people and workers of the Soldos Federation was reminiscent of the sun and fireflies.

They boasted about leading backward countries and serving the poor.

But everyone who knew knew that they were the real rulers of Lanka, and the poor islanders were their slaves, bound in invisible chains.

As the Soldos disappeared, Robinson whispered in Alan’s ear, a voice too small for even his colleagues to hear.

“Do you want to escape from Lanka?”

“What about the no-sail order?”

Not only was sailing forbidden, but even leaving the country was prohibited. Lankan citizens were not allowed to leave the island until they died.

“I asked just in case.”

Robinson focused on the battery again, his lips twitching as if he had something left to say.

After several years had passed, one day news spread that a civil war had broken out.

On the surface, they are raising the banner of bringing corrupt dictators to justice and liberating the suffering people.

“That guy is that guy.”

“Which country is opposing Soldos?”

“They’re just the same bunch of thieves anyway, so why bother caring about them? Damn it. If you’re bored, you can fight on someone else’s land.”

The real reason was that other great powers that coveted Lanka’s natural resources challenged the Soldos Federation.

Alan, who had grown taller, finished his quota for the day and eavesdropped on the conversations of the adults, including the manager.

Now, victims of the civil war were everywhere, like old people in a garbage dump who had died, and it was easy to hear stories of the negative aspects of the war and their experiences.

“We are the advanced personnel who charge the batteries, so shouldn’t it be okay?”

“Yeah. Where else would you find people like us? We weren’t dragged in the last civil war either.”

Everyone agreed with the overly hopeful and unfounded statements. When you are anxious, you tend to lose your reason, and in an attempt to shake it off, you rely on vain hopes.

As the commotion grew louder, the manager dismissed the workers.

“Okay, okay. Stop chitchat and get back to work. If they had a sense of humor, they wouldn’t be taking high-class workers away so carelessly.

The word ‘high-class’ was correct when considering Lanka alone, but it was something that would be laughable to a member of the Soldos Federation.

That night, an unknown armed force moved through the train. The residents of the shacks next to the tracks closed their eyes and covered their ears.

The mercenaries hired by the Soldos Federation were meant to help the government forces drive out the rebels, and the rebels, not to be outdone, also hired war mercenaries through their backers.

The civil war was getting more and more intense, and the entire country was groaning in pain. Unlike the previous civil war, signs of a prolonged war were appearing one by one.

Kuung!

The explosions were heard even in the city where Alan lived. In fact, it was embarrassing to call it a city, but it was full of blood-sucking factories, and its area could be compared to that of a small foreign city.

While people were anxious, the recruiter showed up here too.

“Oh my! Your Majesty, I am missing one eye.”

“As long as you can shoot the gun, that’s fine.”

“I have a disability in my left arm.”

“All you need is perseverance.”

People who were engaged in simple labor, such as carrying heavy loads or picking rocks on farms, were first taken away. In some cases, they were taken away without even verifying their identity.

Everyone trembled at the arbitrary conscription. Rumors were ominous, and even the usually noisy criminal organizations had completely disappeared.

The family gathered under the flickering lights of the stone lanterns, the shacks swaying in the night breeze. Robinson let out a deep sigh.

“It’s the gangsters who are the first to sense danger. They have connections with high-ranking government officials, so they must have heard all sorts of news.”

“That means···.”

“If the punks are hiding, that means they’re going to take away whoever they come across. If we stay here, we’ll all be scattered and we won’t even know if we’re alive or dead. So let’s leave.”

Robinson was not lacking in wisdom, just knowledge. The couple acted quickly. They packed only the essentials in a duffel bag and left the house.

Because so many people had been drafted, the streets were completely deserted, and houses destroyed by blind shells were scattered everywhere.

The family, split up and leaving the city, headed toward the coast near the city. Robinson pointed down the cliff.

“There is a ship in a cleverly hidden cave.”

Considering his parents’ income, he could have escaped the shack, so I wondered why he continued to live there, and it seemed like he had saved up money and was preparing to escape.

“You have to hold on to the rope and go down carefully.”

Alan nodded confidently, but when he looked down at the crashing waves, his head started spinning.

“Wake up. I’ll show you an example first.”

Alan watched his father descend. Then he saw a light coming towards him. It was the Coast Guard.

All fear gone, Alan descended the cliff with strength that he didn’t know where it came from.

“It’s the patrol.”

Alan, who had boarded the small vessel, gave a brief explanation of the situation. From now on, it was a race against time. Robinson jumped into the wheelhouse.

Robinson, who had been groaning for a while, kicked the wheelhouse wall in an unusual manner.

“Fuck. It definitely worked out well last time···.”

The Mana Engine has a trigger device that releases magic power on behalf of those who cannot release magic power, but it seems like it is broken and there is no response.

“I’ll try.”

Unlike his parents, Alan was able to release a small amount of his magical power. When he put his hand on the ignition and pressed the button, this time there was a response.

Vroom.

“Is it okay?”

“You, Alan, be quiet so I can concentrate.”

Robinson grabbed Mary’s shoulder.

Vroom! Boooow!

This time, the sound of the ship’s engine and the patrol vehicle’s engine overlapped. If I was caught, I would be shot. I had to drive the ship and escape from here no matter what.

“please.”

While Robinson and Mary were praying together.

Dudada!

Finally, the ship’s engine roared loudly. An engine that used only horsepower would be much quieter or even noiseless, but such performance could not be expected from a hybrid engine that had been imported to a poor country.

The boat bobbed roughly on the water. Robinson’s back, which was holding the wheel, was soaking wet. He just hoped the boat would withstand the bullets and that his family would be safe.

Bang! Bang!

The patrolman pulled the trigger without hesitation. The water around the ship splashed roughly.

Mary trembled as she covered her son’s back, who was taller than her. Time seemed longer than ever, and her heart felt like it was going to burst.

“Okay!”

Alan, who had been lying face down and squirming, screamed.

Woof.

bang!

Two sounds overlapped at the same time.

One was, of course, the sound of gunfire, and the other was the sound of a blue curtain unfolding. A blue shield surrounded the wheelhouse.

Mary sank to the ground, her legs giving out. Her eyes followed the bullet gliding across the curtain. If it weren’t for the shield, it would have pierced her head.

The shield broke after two bullet hits, but it was no longer needed as it gave enough distance.

The patrol also turned around and moved away from the coast. It was much easier to pretend not to see them than to report missing them and get scolded by their superiors.

After a moment, Mary took her son’s hand in place of Robinson, who was driving.

“What just happened?”

“It’s a shield generator I found at a junkyard, and it’s useful. But now it’s completely broken and unusable.”

“How did you learn it?”

Now my son was saying that he had repaired a magic tool. And such advanced knowledge could not be learned in Lanka.

“It’s nothing. It was just a small broken circuit, and I threw it away. I used a soldering iron I found to repair the part. It was a temporary measure, so it burned out quickly.”

Alan’s eyes began to close slowly. He felt better than before, but he was still weak.

Mary supported her son’s head with a pillow made by wrapping his clothes around himself. She then patted his back as if she were putting a baby to sleep.

“Sleep well.”

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