Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 38
Only Noblemtl
Whistle (2)
A shadow loomed beyond the white blinds. Judging by its thin shape, it was clearly an elven empath.
Alan continued to watch the window, and finally met the eyes of the appraiser who had just pulled back the blinds.
When he realized that he had been caught, he opened the blinds and looked down as if he had no intention of hiding it.
‘Did the emotional investigator call the agent? Why?’
There was no one but the emotional agent in the situation. Even the orc agent stopped Dennis when he tried to throw the whistle.
Alan stopped his pointless staring contest with the emotional sergeant and looked at the agent. The orc, dressed in the exact same clothes as Zion, did not look young at first glance.
Dennis glared at the orc, his wrists quite sore from being caught.
“I know who you are, but why did you suddenly come out and do this?”
“Can you give me some time to sort things out before then?”
The orc’s question was more like a notice. As soon as he finished speaking, he looked up and turned his head from side to side.
“There it is.”
The orc’s gaze stopped at a place between buildings, where the pipes were intricately tangled. The sparrow-shaped golem sitting there was his target.
The orc’s eyes glowed blue as he stared at the sparrows. After about 30 seconds, the two sparrows that had been watching the suspects, Alan and Dennis, flew away.
Judging by the direction, the police station is next to the labyrinth gate. So Orc finished talking to the police in that short amount of time.
Dennis seemed overwhelmed by the scene. It was not surprising, seeing a cross-section of the power that existed in Maze City.
Alan patted his arm and pointed to the connoisseur who was now even bringing tea and drinking it.
“What is that···.”
Dennis, who had come to his senses, looked back and forth between the appraiser and the orc, then frowned slightly.
“You really need a whistle? Did you just lie and say you’re in the same group?”
“If that were the case, I would have bought it at a reasonable price. Hmm, I see fear in your eyes.”
“···.”
“You don’t have to be so scared. If that was what you were thinking, I would have handled it more secretly. Well, that’s still the case now.”
Alan felt uncomfortable with those words. The place he was standing was near the Emotion Center. Naturally, it was a building frequented by explorers, so it was normal for quite a few eyes to be looking this way.
‘Nobody is watching us.’
There were no witnesses other than the emotional investigator.
“Is this a perception-blocking spell? It’s incredibly powerful.”
At Alan’s words, the orc patted his chest. It meant that there was a magical tool inside that did that.
“Then why did the emotional investigator contact the agent?”
“That’s straight to the point. And the nickname Agent is nice. First of all, I didn’t lie. The whistle has no powers left, and he only delivered the message as we asked, so I hope you don’t blame him too much.”
The orc said as he pointed to the narrow path between the buildings.
“Can we talk for a moment? My name is François. I know you two, so there’s no need to introduce yourself.”
I couldn’t refuse after hearing such a thing. First of all, the other person was polite, and there was no need to bother showing up if another method was needed.
If he had the same skills as Zion, who could even deflect bullets, then Alan and Dennis could have taken care of him alone.
“great.”
Upon acceptance, the magical barrier, presumed to be a perception-obstructing spell, became thicker.
As I followed François down the narrow road, I saw the building where the aerial vehicle I had ridden with Zion had landed.
After passing Breaker’s headquarters and the park behind it, we stopped at a ten-story building.
Before entering the building, Dennis called out to François.
“I need to talk to you for a moment. I have a message from a colleague…”
François didn’t stop them, and Denis didn’t seem to have any intention of stopping either, as they started talking right away.
“How’s Kakda? Hospitalized? Symptoms… Ah… We’re talking to Breaker’s staff right now. … Okay, I’ll hang up now. … Let’s go.”
The surveillance camera craned its head out to take a closer look at François, then opened the door. Considering the size of the building, there was no one moving around inside.
François took Alan and Dennis to a room in the corner of the first floor. It seemed to serve as a living room, with a transparent refrigerator and various refreshments on one wall.
“Did you think I was going to drag you to a torture chamber? If there’s any food you want, feel free to bring it.”
“I have no appetite···.”
“Just a moment.”
Alan picked up some bread. Having experienced poverty, he knew that rejection was a luxury. Moreover, it was bread made from natural ingredients, not synthetic food.
It wasn’t a cheap food that caught people’s attention with cheap advertisements or something you couldn’t tell what was in it. It was a brand that Alan had never seen before, and it seemed like a company that only served special customers.
As soon as Alan sat down, François got to the point.
“I want to buy a whistle.”
“Why? If it’s an empty can, is there any reason why it’s necessary?”
“Cheating and stealing are not our creed, so please explain. Instead···”
François rummaged under his desk and pulled out two pieces of paper. They were a confidentiality agreement.
Alan and Dennis wrote the necessary parts, leaving only the special material that absorbs magic power as the final touch. They needed to hear an explanation before putting their handprint on it.
François scratched his nose and began to explain.
“Do you know who the collector is?”
“Why is that name mentioned?”
“···.”
Unlike Dennis, Alan just blinked. François saw him and snickered.
“Did you come from a place where everything is impossible?”
“I heard he’s a criminal, but I’m not interested in that.”
Allen wasn’t interested in anything other than magic engineering or excessive magic power. If you type ‘collect’ on Allen’s Samramansang search page, it would automatically complete with ‘How to store collected soulstones’ instead of ‘collector’.
“I guess I need to explain a little bit.”
François continued his explanation, wrinkling his nose.
“The Collector is a notorious black magician. His power is so real that he is employed in wars between nations, or is commissioned by shady tycoons or large corporations.”
“Big companies hire them too?”
“There is no evidence that they did so, but we can only infer that this is the case because there are companies that profit from accidents.”
François answered vaguely, but there was conviction in his voice.
In a world where evidence can be manipulated by all sorts of magical means, sometimes circumstantial evidence can serve as strong evidence. In fact, the suspicions of superhumans are often proven right.
Dennis joined the conversation. He looked noticeably anxious.
“Is corruption important now? From what I’ve heard, it seems like the collector and I are involved…”
“There’s no need to worry too much, since the whistle is just one of the items scattered by the collector. The problem is that we know he entered Maze City, but his whereabouts are unknown. His hiding place must be a labyrinth.”
“Then shouldn’t we let it be known? We should block the explorers from entering.”
“The labyrinth is such a huge trend that the hegemonic Soldos Federation is giving Maze City self-government rights. So you want to stop it? You have to say something reasonable.”
Denis’s mouth was agape at François’s firm answer.
Aside from that, Alan understood what he meant. If the labyrinth exploration stopped, the resource gathering there would stop. The demand for materials, especially magic stones and soul stones, would not be met.
Alan looked at Dennis with an expression of incomprehension.
He has a different opinion because he has experienced the harsh working conditions at Lanka and Novak Clinic. Either way, the result is the same.
Dennis hesitated for a moment and then opened his mouth.
“But the collector···.”
“A very evil black magician. Very dangerous, and very strong, but…”
François, having pride as a warrior, did not belittle the power of the collector.
“You can’t stop the labyrinth by keeping one collector in check. Breaker doesn’t have the power to do that.”
“So the city and big companies know.”
“···.”
François was silent at Alan’s words. It was a silent agreement.
Meanwhile, Alan was racking his brain. Why would Breaker be looking for the collector’s items? It must be because he’s causing similar problems to the incident he’s been through.
“Are you planning to gather the items the Collector has made and use magic or sorcery to find his location? Ultimately, you plan to kill him or drive him out of the labyrinth.”
“Did someone tell you? Earlier you acted like you didn’t even know who the collector was···.”
The orc’s eyes glowed blue. It was the artificial eye working.
“Alan. Probably came across Vega’s border. Origin unknown. Background a bit suspicious…”
His eyes kept shining as he scanned the information. Then he stared at Alan for a while. His stiff expression also relaxed slightly.
“This kid has a good sense. There are more than one or two illegal immigrants, and most of the lower-class workers are of that type, so I don’t really have any intention of raising an issue about it.”
Too many people were fooled by the illusion of a land of opportunity, especially in Maze City, where people were cheaper than automatons.
The pressure disappeared as François shrugged his shoulders.
“Is there any reason why you suddenly changed your mind?”
“If it’s my thought, isn’t it my heart?”
I don’t know why he suddenly did that, but I was curious because I knew it all to myself.
Anyway, the deal went through, and Dennis stepped forward.
“How much do you know about it···.”
“Don’t be greedy. Instead, I will compensate you without making you feel bad, so just accept it and keep your mouth shut.”
“My colleague’s Manaheart is injured and needs a lot of medical expenses….”
François’s tense expression softened at Dennis’s sincere words.
“I thought you were blinded by money, but I was wrong. I apologize for that. I hope you speak more clearly in the future. I almost misunderstood you. Where are you hospitalized?”
“This is Overflowing Love Hospital. The patient’s name is Kakda.”
The so-called ‘Love Hospital’, a general hospital established by religious people who worship the mother of all things, operates the hospital with the most conscientious prices in the Soldos Federation, which boasts murderous hospital fees.
It was forbidden to ignore them because they were relatively cheap. They were natural healers and the hospitals were packed with customers.
They wouldn’t even admit patients unless they had a serious illness. To be exact, there wasn’t enough space to accommodate them.
In the past, the magical power of doctors was called a divine power, a miracle bestowed by God, but it has long been known that they transformed the nature of magical power through their own unique training methods.
Still, it was better to call it a divine power in front of them. There was no need to needlessly scratch the hearts of the medical staff who were working faithfully.
“This time, you have a familiar face.”
“I found out while searching.”
This was something that came to mind naturally while I was looking for a solution to the problem of excessive magic power.
François’ eyes lit up as he looked at Alan wondering what kind of person he was. He didn’t even raise his voice, as if he didn’t want to reveal the contents of the call.
“Kakda, Lizardman. The mana heart is slightly broken. The treatment cost is 150 million. Okay, I’ll pay that much.”
Dennis instinctively knew that the amount François was asking for was the maximum, and he looked at Alan cautiously.
While fellow party members have known each other for a long time and are somewhat compensated for their injuries, Alan and I have only been together for a total of less than a week.
Alan nodded before Dennis could say anything.
“Please do so. I hope Kakda gets better soon.”
“Thank you······. I’ll repay you somehow.”
In the warm atmosphere, Alan turned his head to the warm gaze. François was looking at him strangely.
“Why do you look like that?”
“Because I witnessed a strange scene. There was someone who gave up his share even though he wasn’t even related to me by blood. People are so good.”
“Not to that extent.”
“Or you’re an idiot.”
“···.”
“This is not a joke, but a warning. If you don’t claim your share, you’re usually looked down on or judged as a fool. That’s why it’s hard to find people like you.”
“I’ll take care of that.”
“The podium is nice.”
While Dennis was talking to his colleagues about the hospital issue, Alan brought up the issue of going to the police station.
“Could the Roman Company be involved?”
“It’s too big to be destroyed all at once by a small issue. Since anyone can register as an explorer, there are many customers.”
“It would be nice to have it as a throwaway card.”
François nodded to Allan’s words.
“They must have already started cutting off their tails. Can you send me a picture of them?”
“Because I didn’t get brain expansion surgery….”
“You’re a magic engineer? Can you handle the calculations and control without brain augmentation?”
As Francois’ suspicions were rising in real time, Denis ended the call and relayed information about the enemies.
“So this is what they look like.”
A moment passed, and François’s eyes spread wide in the air. Wanted posters appeared one after another. They were the guys that Alan and Dennis had defeated.
“They’ve already created a wanted poster. The total bounty for them is a little over 15 million coins.”
“You take it.”
“What about the party members?”
“I’ll take care of that. I’m sure they’ll happily accept it.”
François clapped his hands three times with a calm face.
“It’s a win-win. It’s a rare and heartwarming sight, but let’s wrap it up.”
Alan placed his palm on the oath and poured his magic into it. The magic flowed along the path it took, and it remained in a certain area like a spider web.
“The maintenance period is only one month. Is it okay for it to be this short?”
“That’s enough.”
*
Alan rented a warehouse with the money he had saved up. It was just a warehouse, but the inside had been renovated so it could also function as a dormitory. It was truly a studio and a workshop.
I repaired and improved the leopard that was placed under the workbench because it was too heavy. I also tried to improve the performance of the reinforced exoskeleton.
The part I paid the most attention to was the eyes.
Currently, his hacking ability is weak, and he can only temporarily cause malfunctions or stop enemy magicware, but Allen judged that his talent for interfering with soulstones had great potential for use and growth.
Time passed like that, and about two weeks had passed since I met François.
Alan, who had logged onto Samramansang, was able to find an unusual notice on Breaker’s homepage. It was about recruiting applicants who were interested in a large-scale expedition to the caves on levels 11 to 20.
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