I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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Black Sword.

Once a family heirloom of the Zigmunds, this magic sword currently held its original form, intended for its creation.

It took the form of a “Guide of Emotions,” capable of transforming human emotions into power.

However, the dwarves decided to transfer this holy sword, which had come to symbolize Dagran, to the Empire Academy for three years.

Because the only person who could reforge the discarded magic sword into a holy sword was none other than Edgar Fix, and the master blacksmith of salvation wanted to inform the Academy about the history tied to this holy sword.

Moreover, since it had been used as an heirloom of the Zigmunds until it transformed into a holy sword, there were still many arguments to be made regarding the ownership of this sword.

Just considering the years, Reina had used this sword for nine years, while the Zigmunds had owned it for a whopping 27 years.

“Let’s make a new one!”

Thus, the dwarves decided to forge a new sword.

It should resemble the nature of the Black Sword as much as possible but be an improved sword that wouldn’t harm the user.

“Is that how it turned out?”

And upon hearing this news, Count Zigmund nodded quietly.

Now that his son had committed a grave crime, he had no choice but to accept whatever decision was made.

“A new sword…”

Moreover, since they would try to retain as much of the Black Sword’s nature as possible, it wasn’t such a bad condition after all.

With this sword, they could dream of the Zigmund family’s revival someday.

“That useless brat…”

However, for the Zigmund family to rise again, Max had to stand up.

The eldest son of the Zigmunds, who had it all perfect, lost his life in the great war seven years ago, leaving Max as the only child to entrust the future of the family.

“…”

But Max was completely broken.

After being defeated by Edgar and expelled from the Academy, he had become a recluse, cooped up in his room all day long.

“Sigh…”

Thus, Count Zigmund let out a deep sigh.

Was his method of discipline wrong?

But then again, it could be said that his son was a born fool.

He had to correct that brat, even if it meant using a somewhat coercive method.

“Why can’t you learn from pain…?”

Moreover, Cairo believed that only by experiencing pain could one truly grow, so he deliberately treated his son harshly.

He himself had no ability and was such a pathetic father, and hadn’t he grown his anger by facing all sorts of disdain and mockery from his peers because of that?

Cairo despised the fact that his family was looked down upon.

He absolutely loathed his father’s attitude of always bowing and groveling to others for scraps.

Thus, he was able to rise by using his hatred for his father as a driving force.

There was no stronger motive in this world than hate and anger.

“I miss you, Hans…”

But Max was not born with such qualities.

He was just a fool too busy using his inner anger and hatred to satisfy his own vanity.

If Hans, who had been perfect in everything, had been here, he could have believed in rising up stronger after this humiliating defeat.

“……”

Cairo’s anguish deepened even today.

***

A dark room, devoid of even a flicker of light.

Max was lying under the blankets, biting his nails to the quick.

There were marks all over his nails where the skin had been chewed off, and some spots were showing the dried remnants of blood.

His current state was far from normal.

“Hehe… hehehe… hehehe…”

Max laughed, sounding as if he was sobbing.

Since getting expelled from the Academy, he had been living in a cycle of self-hatred, inflicting abuse on himself every day.

Because he not only fell short of his father’s expectations but also brought great shame to the family by breaking their heirloom.

Now all that remained for Max was endless rage and curses.

Rage for not being born with the talent for the sword and thus failing to meet his father’s expectations.

And rage towards his brother, who had the natural talent that monopolized their father’s interest and affection.

And rage for not possessing Enya, who could execute such beautiful swordsmanship that even reminded him of his brother’s talents.

But most of all, it was the rage towards Edgar Fix, who so easily captured that icy-heart Enya’s feelings.

…In the end, everything became the object of his rage.

He hated the world, detested the family he belonged to, and especially wanted to kill Edgar Fix.

He wanted to skewer Edgar Fix’s severed head on a stick and wave it before Enya.

Then perhaps the pent-up feelings inside him would loosen up a bit.

“Hehe… hehehe… hehehe…”

Lost in that sweet moment, Max chuckled to himself.

Though it was merely a delusion, he felt a bit better just imagining that he could do such a thing.

【I can make it happen.】

But the next moment.

Suddenly, a bizarre voice echoed in his head, and Max’s expression stiffened.

Perhaps due to not sleeping well lately, he found himself suffering from these hallucinations now and then.

【Seek me out. Your wish will be granted.】

But the voice continued.

A mysterious voice that sent a chill down his spine and made his whole body tremble, shaking his dazed mind.

【I exist. Not an illusion or a lie, but waiting for you in a place not far from here. You are a special person who can receive my power.】

But then suddenly, a thought crossed his mind.

What if this voice wasn’t a hallucination?

What if this voice was that of a god, and he was a special person chosen by a god?

“Hehe… hehehe…”

He felt elated.

If he were to gain the power of a god, no one would be able to disregard him.

He could wear Edgar Fix’s head on a stick and carry it around.

-Swish.

Thus, Max stood up.

After all, he had nothing to lose, so he decided to follow the trace of the voice.

Now he had nothing left to lean on except for this mere hope.

***

In the laboratory.

I inhaled the air of the laboratory, which brought calmness to my heart.

It felt like coming home.

Even though there was a mountain of work piled up, coming up with new ideas and implementing them was always an enjoyable task.

Looking at the thoughts of getting into more work once again.

“Well, it’s a necessary process anyway.”

The current work I was about to embark on.

That was the manufacture of ‘chemical weapons.’

This time, while extracting collagen or making bio-ink, I realized the incredible power of chemical reactions and decided to utilize them actively.

Thus, the very first chemical weapon that popped into my mind was CS gas.

The only chemical weapon I had personally experienced when I was conscripted into the military.

How intense it had been during the chemical warfare training.

An experience that painfully made me appreciate the value of the air I never wanted to care about.

‘This should be suitable for experiments.’

However, CS gas causes terrible pain, but it has almost no lethality.

That’s why it was selected for chemical warfare training and is also suitable for my experiments.

“Then shall I start?”

Eventually, I began devising ideas to create CS gas.

What should I start with to make CS gas?

First, I needed to understand the characteristics of CS gas.

CS gas is a substance that causes strong irritation to mucous membranes, and once it makes contact with the skin or mucous membranes, our body’s defense system recognizes it as a hazardous material.

As such, excessive tears, mucus, and saliva are secreted during the elimination process, leading to the corresponding pain.

“Sounds like Alpendere.”

Thus, I recalled ‘Alpendere.’

‘Alpendere’ is a flower blooming in the ‘Forest of Death,’ classified as a high-risk area, which emits strong toxicity when another entity, not one it acknowledges, approaches it to protect itself.

The stem of Alpendere is filled with condensed mana liquid.

“If I neutralize the toxicity of Alpendere…”

And the toxicity of Alpendere can inflict strong inflammation on the bronchial tubes and eyes.

If filtered well, I could create a toxic substance similar to CS gas.

“Fix, I’ll be back shortly.”

“Weeeooong~!”

Thus, I headed outside to fetch Alpendere.

Since only the stems with neutralized toxicity of Alpendere were sold in shops, I needed to go directly into the Forest of Death to collect them.

-Screech—

And so, I fully armed myself in a suit and swept through the forest, quickly discovering Alpendere.

When I tried to pluck it, it immediately released its toxic substance, but it was useless against me since I was fully suited.

After all, the suit I was wearing had a purification function added.

-Slash!

After collecting dozens of Alpendere stems, I moved back to the Academy.

Using three-dimensional maneuvering and propulsion systems, I arrived at the teleport exchange point in no time.

“Waaah!!! It’s a mon-monster!!”

However, my appearance startled a guard, causing him to scream.

Only then did I realize how I must look right now.

“……”

So, I promptly pressed the button attached to the mask portion.

Then the helmet that covered my face began to disassemble, and each part converged towards the mask.

Eventually, when all the parts were retrieved and my face was revealed, the guard’s expression on the floor was now more about fear than horror.

“Who, who…?”

“I’m a student from the Empire Academy. Here’s my ID.”

Saying so, I took out the ID stored in my inventory and showed it.

As the ID appeared with a crack in the air, the guard recoiled again, but soon, after checking the ID, he looked at me with a startled expression.

“E-Edgar Fix…?”

The guard cautiously examined my face while reconfirming the name inscribed on the ID.

Then, he jumped up with a rigid posture and saluted me.

“It is an honor to meet you, Lord Fix!” He said, mentioning that he had heard well of me and was thankful for providing a cool summer.

‘So even a guard in this remote area knows about me now.’

However, I felt a bit bewildered.

Just not too long ago, I was merely one of the ordinary students in the Academy, but now even guards in remote areas recognized me.

In any case, I expressed my thanks for his support and allowed him to shake my hand.

I could feel from his grip how much he admired me.

“Then good luck.”

“Yes!”

The bizarre and strange sensation of someone recognizing me first.

I held onto that feeling and moved to the teleportation magic circle of the exchange point to travel to the heart of the Empire.

To the capital’s exchange point.

Now that I thought about it, while they might not proactively acknowledge me, the exchange staff working in the capital likely recognized me too.

The way they stole glances at me said it all.

“It was an honor to serve you. Please use our services again next time.”

Without me doing anything specific, they naturally expressed their kindness.

I nodded vaguely at the exchange staff who greeted me with a bright smile and then returned to the laboratory.

As soon as I settled in, the dazed and uplifted feelings began to calm down.

“Hmm. I guess I’m a natural researcher.”

Being popular is good, but I prefer quietly focusing on my research.

My somewhat sociable side is merely a result of repeated interactions, but I am, above all, a researcher and engineer.

I must hurry and create the CS gas.

“Fix, let’s show those demons the agonies of chemical warfare.”

“Weeeooong~!”

Thus, I withdrew all the Alpendere I had saved in my inventory.

From here on, it was experiments, experiments, and more experiments.

Mixing various solutions to induce chemical reactions, I attempted to create the CS gas I wanted.

“Hmm. This isn’t it?”

However, chemistry wasn’t my specialty, so I could only taste successive failures.

Only failed data was piling up thickly over my record log.

“This time it should work.”

However, I have the absurd skill called ‘engineering thought.’

Eventually, I was able to derive a successful chemical formula, and the flask was now filled with substance presumed to be modern-day CS gas.

Could this time be a success?

“What can I say.”

I would know when I tried it.

I simply broke the flask.

Then thick, dark green gas began to spread out, and the moment it touched my respiratory system…

“Cough!”

I instinctively realized my experiment had succeeded.

The excruciating sensation I felt in the military surged vividly through the sensations all over my body.

***

Patter… patter…

Weak footsteps echoed through the hallway.

Amidst heavy rain like a spear, thunder crashed, and the dark hallway flickered for an instant.

It was Charlotte.

This was her, trudging along in this dreary weather.

At present, she was nearly at a breaking point.

Despite countless efforts, no flowers had sold, and all her hard work had come to nothing.

‘In the end…’

Was she destined never to be the protagonist?

She wanted to be a dazzling person like Enya or Isabella, but in the end, it was all like this.

Unable to bear the pressure of upcoming tuition fees, she was headed to ask Edgar for help.

“…”

Thus, Charlotte stood in front of Edgar’s laboratory.

How should she bring up the words asking him to hire her?

Would she have to remain just a person who only receives help from Edgar?

“UGGH… A-ACK…”

“……?”

While she was lost in these sorrowful thoughts, she heard a strange sound.

It sounded like someone was sobbing.

And it hit her that the door to the laboratory was half open.

It had been opened by Edgar for ventilation, but Charlotte, unaware of this, cautiously opened the door and peeked in.

To her astonishment, Edgar was sitting on the floor, weeping uncontrollably.

“!!!!!”