I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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Reina ascended the platform, her appearance unchanged from when she was alive.

Of course, her current state was physically impossible.

She had died 40 years ago, and her corpse had been so severely damaged that it was barely recognizable.

“I suffered quite a bit.”

But thanks to everyone’s combined efforts, we succeeded in restoring Reina’s form.

Through various spells cast by Elena, we pieced together the mutilated remains of Reina, and using Isabella’s “Negative Consumption,” we inscribed pure thoughts free of hate and resentment into her body.

“You scoundrels have disgraced the sacrifices of the noble border guards and driven their families, whom they wished to protect with their lives, into the abyss. Because of your vile survival instincts that betrayed the spirit of knighthood, countless people have met humiliating deaths in the cold fields of snow.”

As a result, instead of being possessed by angered evil spirits, she could stand before them in her original form.

Everyone’s combined strength had resurrected the deceased.

“It’s not perfect, but.”

Of course, she had not fully come back to life.

The moment she took vengeance on the Trio of Crotto, her essence would scatter and fade away, and the body Elena had restored would return to its original state once the spell’s effect ended.

In other words, her current appearance was merely a transient illusion, alive only for this moment.

“But that is enough.”

Even if it was just for a moment, it was sufficient.

If it could beautifully conclude her tragic end as someone who died mad, that would be enough.

Rather than tearing apart the Trio of Crotto out of mere spite, if she could punish him on behalf of the wronged victims who had died unjustly based on legitimate grounds and reasoning…

“It can change.”

The dwarves could finally be freed from the nightmares of 40 years past.

The human knight, who had desperately loved a dwarf, could become their eternal muse, allowing humans and dwarves to rekindle their relationship.

And the bond between the two nations would become a significant variable in preventing the calamity that would someday come.

“Shit… how does a woman who died long ago… end up here…?”

At that moment, one of the Trio of Crotto, Argie, spoke up.

He looked around at the dwarves glaring at him and shouted as if in a frenzy.

“I was a noble knight who protected your kingdom! I was respected by the Empire─!”

─Whoosh!

In an instant, Reina’s blade traced a path through the air.

“Gah!?”

With a splattering of red blood, Argie’s tongue shot into the air.

“GAAAAAAAH!!”

Eventually, Argie clamped his mouth shut and screamed.

However, Reina glared at him with an indifferent gaze and said, “That tongue of yours plunged my husband’s homeland into darkness.”

“Gah! Guhhhh!”

“And—”

Scratch!

“GAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

“That filthy arm severed the comrades of my husband who bore sacred duties.”

Reina said this while shaking the blood off her sword.

It was to splatter the blood that had stained it.

“Moreover—”

But this was not a sign of her stopping her execution.

Rather, it was a preparatory posture for serious retribution.

—Scratch!

“Gah— Ughhhhh…”

“The legs that should have firmly rooted themselves in the defensive lines fled only for your sake, leaving space for the weak.”

Thud!

“Huhhh! Ahhh… Guhuhhh…”

“And those cowardly eyes merely stood by while my husband’s neighbors and friends met a miserable end.”

In the blink of an eye, Argie had lost his tongue, arms, and legs, and had become blind.

At this, Crotto and Egwa began to wet themselves.

Those who had been respected knights of the Empire were now performing such a disgraceful act.

“It’s time for me to make my move.”

But at this point, I had to step in.

If I left it to go on like this, Reina would finish everything before the main event even started.

“Lady Reina. I have some news to share with everyone.”

So, I stepped onto the stage, extending my magic orb as I spoke.

At that, Reina nodded once and positioned her sword so that the tip was pointing to the ground.

Thus, I activated the spell inscribed on the magic orb, projecting an image onto a large screen.

The face of the princess appeared.

“Greetings, Your Highness the Princess.”

And our party, as if on cue, knelt and acknowledged the princess on the screen.

Only the dwarves and the Trio of Crotto stood frozen in place, staring in shock at the suddenly appearing princess.

[So, Edgar Fix. Has all of the secret orders given by this princess been completed?]

At that moment, the princess with a stoic expression asked while her red eyes glowed.

I remained knelt, lifting my head slightly to respond to her question.

“Yes. After capturing the criminals Crotto, Egwa, and Argie, I have finished preparing to carry out their sentences.”

[…Well done. Then it means the King of the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom is also present there.]

“Yes.”

I said this and stood up.

Then, I held up the magic orb to ensure the Dwarf King’s face was visible.

At this, the princess gracefully bowed her knee and head to pay respects to the Dwarf King.

[It is an honor to meet you. I am Sephilia Yuliseus Kandel von Orserk, the princess of the Orserk Empire.]

The Emperor’s only daughter and the strongest bloodline, inheriting the powers of the red eyes, Sephilia.

As she introduced herself through the screen, the expression of the Dwarf King, who had been frozen in shock, returned to normal.

He had grasped the general situation.

“It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess Sephilia. I am Magrian Azaghal, the King of the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom.”

Magrian introduced himself and demanded an explanation for the situation.

Then the princess smiled gently and began to explain the circumstances.

[In fact, all of this was because Edgar Fix one month ago…]

To summarize, this was the sequence of events.

About three weeks ago, I uncovered the secret of the magic sword and informed the princess of this through Elena.

The princess used the royal ‘Shadow’ unit to uncover the misdeeds of the three Counts, securing all their charges and evidence in advance.

This was to thoroughly punish those who had ruined the diplomatic relations between the Empire and the Dwarf Kingdom.

[Thus, this princess confiscated a total of 17 secret ledgers and unjust assets amounting to 27.5 billion Orden…]

And the wrongdoings and fraud they committed were immense.

Evidence was also found that their offspring had committed numerous wrongdoings just like their parents.

From the start, they were closer to crooks than knights, possessing remarkable talents for deceiving and tricking others to amass immense wealth through all sorts of schemes.

[Thus the royal family decided to strip all titles and properties from the criminals. All of the illegally amassed wealth will be delivered to the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom as compensation, and the Empire will also express strong regret for this incident and will work on additional compensation measures.]

After revealing this, the princess elaborated on what punishments the descendants of the Counts would face.

For the greatest offenders, there were plans to conduct torture for a month, completely sealing their magic, and demoting them to the status of slaves.

Of course, the punishments would vary slightly depending on the nature of their crimes, but since they inherited titles from fraudulent parents, being sentenced to slavery was a common fate.

[It seems I took a lot of time that was crucial. I will send the results of the punishment in a letter later. Now, I shall take my leave.]

The princess concluded her remarks, cutting off the transmission.

Listening attentively to her words, the dwarves now looked at the Trio of Crotto with subdued eyes.

As everything they had built over their lifetimes lay in ruins, their anger had somewhat diminished.

“UAAAAAH… AAAAH… AAAAAAAAAHHHH…”

And the Trio of Crotto was wailing and pounding their chests.

Just as Reina wept over the loss of her beloved husband 40 years ago, they too cried out with faces soaked in tears.

“…That is the sin you have committed against me and against the neighbors and friends of my husband. Your vile actions have torn the hearts of thousands.”

“AAAHHH… This can’t be reality… AAAAAHHH…”

In that somber atmosphere, Reina stood before Crotto and Egwa.

Argie, now blind and only alive because Elena had treated him just enough to keep him alive, had lost his arms, legs, and tongue.

“P-please… just my son… my son, please… he…”

“It was I! I was wrong! Please, just once! Just once forgive me…”

They clutched Reina’s steel boots desperately, begging on their knees.

Reina chuckled softly and replied.

“Isn’t it hopeless? To witness someone you love dying and being powerless to do anything.”

“Ughhhh… AAAAAAHHH…”

“You too shall feel the same. Murmuring the name of the ones you couldn’t protect, perish in despair.”

And with that, Reina severed the arms of Crotto and Egwa, who were holding onto her steel boots.

She followed up by decapitating their legs, completely dismembering them.

“Feel the dying agony.”

Then, she hung them, left only with their torsos, on a wooden plank.

Fixing that wooden plank over a high-temperature preservation spell to let them burn away.

“GAAAAAAAHHHH!!! HAHHHHHH!!!”

Their painful screams continued for a while.

Yet even amidst that, their children’s torture scenes replayed on the magic orb right in front of them.

They were facing retribution for the wrongs inherited from their parents.

“Guhhh… Guhhhh…”

Thus, the Trio of Crotto met a miserable end.

All the dwarves, including Reina, watched this entire process with heavy eyes.

It was the moment when the long-standing resentment built over 40 years finally melted away.

-Thud!

But at that moment, Reina faltered and knelt.

Having fulfilled the purpose of “revenge,” the meaning of her existence began to fade as her memories and emotions scattered.

“Reina.”

At this, Magrian, the current King of the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom and brother of Dagran, approached Reina and supported her.

Reina looked at him with half-closed eyes and said,

“I’m… sorry… I couldn’t… protect Dagran…”

Gripping her breath as if it would end soon, Reina struggled to continue speaking.

Magrian looked at her with teary eyes.

He shook his head and said,

“No. You did your best. Your heart has reached us.”

“…”

Reina nodded softly.

With great effort, she lifted her head and said the next words.

“Then… please bury me next to my husband… it was too… cold… in a world apart from him…”

A tear flowed from Magrian’s eye.

He nodded as a promise to do so.

Reina smiled brightly and murmured her final words.

“Dagran… I have finally… come to you…”

And with that, she crumbled away.

The essence that had fulfilled its purpose scattered into the air.

-Swish.

Dagran lifted the fallen Reina.

He turned his body to face the dwarves watching him and declared,

“I shall conduct the state funeral. Dagran… wants to see his wife quickly…”

***

Afterward, a state funeral of national scale took place.

Countless dwarves poured into the streets to pay their respects to Reina’s coffin.

Finally, they could mourn her with an official gesture, despite the label of a madman who had slaughtered her own kind.

But the dwarves were not merely mourning.

Instead, they wiped away all their past grievances and regained their pride and convictions.

No longer the cowardly Dagran, but the noble Dagran.

No longer the mad Reina, but Reina, the owner of the holy sword.

Because the couple they loved most had finally regained their original meaning.

“…I suddenly find myself curious. Who is the one who orchestrated all of this for us to reclaim our pride? Is it perhaps the princess?”

After Reina was buried beside Dagran.

Magrian looked at Reina’s gravestone and asked.

Standing next to him, Elena, also gazing at the gravestone, replied.

“…It was Edgar Fix. Transforming the magic sword into a holy sword, restoring Reina to her former self, and completely eradicating the criminal’s family—all of this originated in his mind.”

“…”

Upon hearing the answer, Magrian nodded solemnly.

Then, contemplating something, he lifted his head and said.

“About this exhibition.”

“…?”

“In fact, the ‘Restored Honor’ submitted by Edgar Fix does not meet the evaluation criteria. After all, that holy sword is a weapon created by my younger brother, Dagran.”

Why was he suddenly bringing up the exhibition?

Elena felt a bit flustered by the King of the Dwarves’ intentions but calmly nodded and replied.

“…Yes. I understand. After all, it wasn’t submitted with the intention of receiving an award. Is it disqualified then?”

“It is.”

“…”

Elena raised her eyebrows slightly, looking somewhat disappointed as she smacked her lips.

When she vaguely nodded and turned her attention back to the gravestone, the King opened his mouth again.

“But…”

“…?”

“All of the dramas and narratives that Edgar Fix presented on stage… can be regarded as an entire work, can they not?”

“…”

“Thus, I wish to bestow a special award and title upon him by my authority. Just like the surname that follows his name, the stage he showed us has healed our broken hearts.”

The Dwarf King said this while looking at Elena.

Seeing the infinite goodwill in his eyes, Elena smiled gently and nodded.

Then the Dwarf King revealed the title he would give to Edgar.

“Redeemer. The work he submitted does not value the superiority of objects; thus, I will grant him the title of redeemer, for he has salvaged our hearts.”

“The Redeemer Blacksmith… That suits him well. It’s a fitting title for Edgar.”

“Is that so? I’m glad to hear that.”

Saying this, the Dwarf King smiled faintly.

However, what he intended to give to Edgar was not merely a title.

“However, every title is accompanied by corresponding respect and benefits. As the title of Redeemer is being granted for the first time, I wish to provide Edgar Fix with these benefits.”

The Dwarf King began to enumerate the benefits Edgar would receive.

And with each benefit he listed, Elena’s eyes grew wider in surprise.

If these benefits were indeed real, Edgar would practically receive treatment equivalent to that of a ‘state guest.’