Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 89
Only Noblemtl
The flash of light that Allen fired, or rather the heat ray that he shot through his mechanical arm, silenced the owner of the graveyard in an instant. As his charred body fell backwards and shattered into pieces, the heated air also cooled down.
Taylor kicked the skull of the feline beast that had collapsed in front of him once with his foot and looked at Alan with curious eyes.
“You’re becoming more and more like a wizard?”
“If I were a real wizard, the battle would have ended much sooner.”
“Wow···, confidence···.”
“I wasn’t trying to brag. It’s just the truth.”
Taylor, whose tone was calm and devoid of any hint of teasing, fired a flash and pointed to the sagging mechanical arm.
“Broken? How are you going to get down the cliff? Should I carry you?”
“I increased the output of the goalkeeper’s eyeball, and it overloaded. Don’t worry, it will wake up once it cools down and stabilizes.”
Taylor nodded and walked towards the sarcophagus. With each kick of his foot against the bones blocking his path, they turned to dust.
“I guess I can’t take it like this. You called me a grave robber and all, but you’re more interested in it yourself.”
Shiva was looking for something with his upper body pressed against the stone coffin. He bent down enough to cover his stomach, and his two legs floated and flapped.
“Did you find any useful accessories?”
“There are a few, but I don’t know what they are.”
“Show me where.”
Shiva, still lying face down inside the sarcophagus, raised only his left arm. In his hand was a transparent crystal.
“It looks like a child’s toy.”
Next was a fountain pen, but the body and barrel were cracked. This time, Alan answered.
“Based on the metal remaining in the cartridge, it is presumed to be an early rune pen. Most magical tools are modeled after those in the labyrinth, so this is not surprising.”
Since then, there have been many works of art, including paper that has been completely erased and unrecognizable, hollow magic stones, and metal crafts modeled after natural objects such as creatures from the primeval forest or the sun.
The paper that Taylor was carefully supporting with both hands crumbled.
“Why are there only these items? I thought they were of noble status since they were buried alone, but they were poor…”
“Brother, I have income.”
There was a gold ring or chain hanging from Shiva’s beard. As a dwarf who instinctively preferred metal, it suited Alan very well.
“You look like a gold shop owner.”
“I planned to do that later when I retired.”
“Do monks have a retirement age?”
“Brother Taylor, tell us about your impressions of working in the same workplace for decades. Was it always fun and exciting?”
“It got boring after a while.”
“That’s right. Instead of scolding you, your mother will pat you on the back for your hard work.”
“In a dream?”
“It’s a traditional conversation window.”
“No, it’s not that. If you think about it all the time, it’ll appear in your dreams.”
“So that’s why I see my mom often. Hahaha.”
Alan left the two, disappointed at the lack of noticeable gains, and examined the sarcophagus and the master’s body.
First of all, the sarcophagus had a relief carved on its surface. It was carved with people bowing down and worshipping towards the empty sky.
While Alan was thinking about the contents, the mechanical arm that had been intact slowly destroyed the charcoal that was its owner, and the mechanical arm that had finished cooling down brought the cane he had been using.
‘With the firepower used earlier, only large bones should remain, but since he’s an underground being, his skin has turned to charcoal.’
It collapsed right away when I touched it. The robotic arm rummaged through the corpse that had turned into dust, but it didn’t yield any results.
‘The staff was engulfed in fire and was still intact. It felt like wood but had the feel of metal.’
When compared to the item he originally used, the length and thickness were similar. If he had special abilities, he could switch and use it.
‘It’ll be clear if you visit a psychiatrist.’
When Alan finished his thoughts, he turned his head and saw Taylor approaching Zion. He was holding several objects in his hands.
“Zion.”
“···.”
“No, but could you please take a look at this? There’s a lot of junk and trash-looking stuff here, so I should be able to find something. Can you help me figure out what to get from here? Any hints?”
“joy···.”
Zion crossed his arms and turned his head away, expressing his anger with his whole body.
I came all the way here, but someone got there first and just sucked their thumb. Now, when they ask me to feel it, I can’t help but be shocked.
Taylor didn’t back down. He spoke again, his face awash with the brazenness of years past.
“Look over there.”
“···?”
“Your junior is waiting with sparkling eyes. Is he looking so curious that he’s going crazy? Are you going to leave him like that forever?”
Of course, Alan had never made the same face as Taylor. Still, it helped, so he stayed still. Trying to mimic Taylor’s words as best as he could.
Of course, it had no effect. Zion simply activated Holoskin to cover his face and remained silent.
“Is this what it’s going to be like?”
“···.”
“Okay. Let’s go, let’s go.”
Taylor, tired of the echoes that wouldn’t return, declared surrender first and moved away, and unlike Shiva, he began to investigate the right wall of the common.
Alan checked Zion’s reaction while touching the piled up belongings with his own hands.
I prepared it with improved security and magic resistance compared to the previous Holoskin, but since Alan had also grown, I looked inside it again. Zion’s true form hidden inside the featureless woman’s face was shining brightly.
Her eyes were moving around. When Taylor or Shiva found a new item, they would open wide, and when they were done checking, they would return to normal.
Alan pretended not to see inside. He took it out of the sarcophagus and touched the metalwork while observing Zion’s reaction.
“Senior, how about this?”
“I don’t know···.”
Unlike Taylor, who had consistently ignored me, I felt like I liked the word senior and answered. Looking at his calm eyes, I could tell that it wasn’t a valuable item.
The other accessories were the same. They looked at him indifferently, whether it was the result of mental training or because the items Allen had taken out were just decorations.
Allen, who was pondering, saw Zion’s eyes move slightly. At the end of his gaze was a cane held by a mechanical arm.
As he pretended to examine another object and slightly shook the robotic arm, Zion’s gaze followed suit.
‘Is this such an obvious result?’
Taylor and Shiva were still searching for the treasure, but the most valuable item must have been in the owner’s possession. Moreover, this staff was engulfed in flames without a single soot.
Alan deliberately let his voice out.
“Is it just an ordinary cane?”
The corners of Zion’s mouth slightly went up.
“I guess I should take it anyway.”
This time, his anxious expression was evident.
“It’s a hassle to carry it, should I just throw it away and go?”
Zion’s face relaxed, then he realized that he was being teased and turned away. When Alan moved slightly to look at his face, he covered it with both hands.
‘Something is missing.’
The staff looked useful, but I wondered if it was worth sending her all the way to Zion. Her skills were more than enough to be deployed on much more important missions.
Two thoughts immediately came to Alan’s mind.
‘Either the senior volunteered because he was bored, or he had a cane or something important.’
Breaker was also a company, so there was no way it could waste its manpower. Naturally, the latter was given more weight.
‘Or is there something on the 23rd floor that requires force? A corporate dispute, or a maggot hunt, maybe?’
Since there was no confirmed fact, his thoughts kept going round and round. Alan, who intuitively felt that there was no end in sight, tapped his forehead.
At the same time, Taylor put a hand on his shoulder.
“It would be easier if you told me, but you kept your mouth shut···.”
“That’s because I teased you earlier.”
“Are you kidding?”
Even if I hadn’t teased him, Zion wouldn’t have told the truth.
As Alan sat still, Taylor wrote something on the note.
[How about a compass? Write it down too. Zion, he’ll overhear no matter how quietly you speak.]
As he said, Alan took out the compass and checked it. The needle had lost all the gold dust attached to it and had become ordinary. Of course, it was an O-Parts, so it would still be usable when searching for doors.
[Come to think of it, I guess you’ll need a different key to get here, senior.]
[This means that there is another key besides the compass that the collector has been working on. And it can be opened multiple times.]
[The key to the breaker must be real.]
The compass was similar to a hammer forcing open a lock. Perhaps Zion’s calmness was also based on that fact. The belief that she had a key that could open the door at any time, and that the other party had entered by chance.
[Then the graveyard is a facility that regenerates over a set period of time, like a magic stone mine. The staff is a consumable item used somewhere.]
[There’s a sudden leap in logic… Anyway, if that’s what you’re saying, then that’s what it must be.]
Taylor jumped up from his seat and rubbed the dirt with his feet. The traces of the secret meeting disappeared in an instant.
Seeing Zion’s eyes, which had turned towards me without me noticing, continue to follow the staff, it became almost certain what he was aiming for.
“ah···.”
When his eyes met with Allen’s, Zion let out a regretful voice. Perhaps because he had been caught anyway, he didn’t even turn his head this time.
“cane···.”
“I will use it well.”
“······.”
Now that I had found everything I needed to find, I headed back to the passage I came in from with Zion, my shoulders hunched.
“How many times have you been here?”
“huh···.”
“There were no obstacles on this side, so why did you go through the passage with the trap?”
“It’s funny. I didn’t even think there was someone there···.”
Upon reaching the first room, he saw the entrance to a winding passageway pointing upward. Zion entered without hesitation.
Alan took advantage of the gap and wrote on the floor.
[Come up slowly.]
Taylor rubbed the floor to confirm.
“Brothers, now···.”
“Oh my god, I’m dying!”
While Taylor covered her lips with her index finger, Alan climbed up the passage with the help of his robotic arm and runes.
As I went up a little, I saw Zion standing still.
“What’s going on?”
“Because the old man said he was having a hard time.”
“Stop taking advantage of old people!”
Taylor, down there, made a sound as if he was adding some flair. Zion nodded in agreement.
“That’s right, Grandpa.”
Taylor’s moaning voice broke off for a moment as he heard the sound.
Finally, they climbed the cliff, and the strong wind pushed away Allen’s sweat. Zion, who was standing precariously on the edge, watched Shiva climb up and then threw himself down.
“It was bad. Bye.”
“See you next time.”
Alan’s voice was carried away by the strong wind, but Zion must have heard it. She unfolded her wingsuit and dived down quickly like a flying squirrel.
As Alan walked to the railing, he had already passed halfway through the forest surrounding the peak. The flying creature, which had approached without noticing its opponent, crashed in half with a flash of light.
Zion became smaller and smaller, until it became a dot, and finally it disappeared from sight.
As soon as Alan saw that, he turned his head. There was only Shiva above, and Taylor was still holding on in the passage. The passage was not completely closed because there was a person inside, as Alan had guessed.
“How long do I have to go on like this?”
“Let’s go back down.”
“also?”
“I have something to check.”
Taylor and Shiva grumbled, but followed Alan’s advice. The situation was not suitable for doing anything because of Zion.
Alan, who had returned to the common, took out the sun from among the metal artifacts and approached the sarcophagus.
“Please give me a lamp to light up the darkness.”
“Brother, what does that mean?”
“It’s the phrase that was written when I found the compass. And when the compass pointed to the sun, the door here opened.”
“There are clouds, a lake, the moon, pieces of mountains, and among them there is the sun.”
“Yes, I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
Alan stuck the sun into the empty sky that people worship. The sun stuck to a spot that was smooth without any grooves.
“Nothing is wrong.”
“wait a minute.”
Alan examined the prostrate figures. If you drew lines on their heads, you would get a grid like graph paper. Alan pressed his fingers against their heads like asterisks.
“Please give me a light to illuminate the darkness…”
Press the last head.
Yeah, yeah!
The sarcophagus was pushed away, revealing a staircase leading down.
End