I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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“If it’s Gregory, he must have gone for a reconnaissance about an hour ago.”

In response to the commander’s question about Gregory’s whereabouts, a young man replied like this.

The commander nodded and muttered to himself.

“…Hmm. Then Gregory won’t be able to participate in the ritual.”

“Yes. There are still 2 hours left… Should I just call for him?”

“No, that’s fine. We must always maintain our vigilance.”

With that, the commander made his way to his quarters.

His lodging was an ordinary wooden house, no different from those of other members.

However, on his table laid several extraordinary items that were not seen among regular members.

From unique weapons stolen from nobles to communication magic tools, magic scrolls, and various potions.

It was filled with expensive and valuable items necessary for combat.

-Swish.

Yet, he picked up the most insignificant object among them.

A worn-out metal necklace.

But this necklace was the most precious item to him.

It was his late wife’s final keepsake.

-Crunch…

The commander tightly gripped the necklace, shuddering.

Whenever he thought of the moment he lost his wife, his body was overcome with rage.

Damn those nobles.

They were the root of all evil.

Due to the absurd exploitation of Count Arjie, his livelihood worsened, and eventually, unable to afford treatment for his sick wife, he lost her in vain.

However, the commander did not sit idle until his wife passed away.

He went to the authorities and tearfully recounted his story, even going into debt to acquire the so-called precious regeneration potions to feed her.

But the authorities had long lost their functionality, and the regeneration potions were of no use in curing her illness.

In the end, he tried to block Count Arjie’s carriage, repeatedly banging his head on the ground, pleading for just one chance to save his wife, but all he received was a brutal beating.

All because a lowly commoner dared to block the way of a count.

‘They must all be swept away…’

That’s how the commander lost his wife.

And when his beloved daughter fell ill with the same disease as his wife, he made a decision.

He would protect his daughter by any means necessary.

【I can grant this.】

The voice that echoed in his ear was the beginning of all of this.

A mysterious voice claiming to bestow the power to protect his daughter.

At first, he thought it was just a hallucination.

He believed he was slowly going mad as a man burdened by debt after losing his wife.

【I exist. Not a fantasy or a lie, I am waiting for you somewhere not too far away. You are a special person who can receive my power.】

But as time passed, the commander began to realize.

That the owner of this voice whispering to him indeed existed somewhere.

Moreover, this voice was all he had to rely on.

What could he, who could not even wield mana, possibly do?

Eventually, the commander followed the voice’s calling, wandering aimlessly.

To wherever it led… to mountains, forests, caves, and places shrouded in darkness, he continued walking.

-Fwhaaaaat!

As a result, he gained this power.

A powerful mana radiating from his entire body.

“Hehehe…”

The commander looked upon his darkened form with a satisfied smile.

Thanks to this power, he could obtain the strength to take revenge on the nobles and gather the territory folks who had fallen into despair to organize a band of outlaws.

Now, his mission was to spread this power widely.

So that he could overturn the damn noble society.

To share strength so that all commoners could reclaim their rightful rights.

‘I was not wrong.’

Thus, he became a ‘Priest’ rank cleric.

He was granted the authority to share mana with others.

“Ugh…”

At that moment.

He heard the sound of his daughter stirring in bed with a painful moan.

His long-sick daughter was suffering in distress.

“S-Sophie…!”

The commander hurried to his daughter’s side to check on her condition.

Seeing the bluish tinge rising on her face, it seemed he had missed the moment to give her a superior stamina potion.

In a rush, the commander took out the superior stamina potion he had robbed from the noble and fed it to her.

Her condition began to improve, and her complexion started to return to normal.

“…Phew.”

Letting out a sigh of relief, the commander checked his daughter’s condition once more.

He meticulously confirmed whether her breathing was steady, if there was any fever, and if the bluish tinge was spreading.

As a result, nothing seemed amiss.

“…Somehow, I need to find a solution.”

However, he couldn’t leave her in this state forever.

The superior stamina potion would only prevent her condition from deteriorating.

It could not fundamentally cure her.

“If only you could… accept this power…”

Ultimately, the only way to save her was by bringing his daughter into the fold of the ‘Demon Church’.

To imbue her with mana, granting her powerful regenerative abilities.

-Swish.

Thus, the commander etched the devil’s symbol on his daughter and opened a scroll to prepare for the ritual.

Then, with a ‘complete transformation’, he maximized the mana before attempting to inject it into her.

“…Cough!”

But it still did not work.

The mana that others easily accepted was uniquely not received by his daughter.

What could possibly be the reason?

“Should I take her to the bishop…?”

In the end, the only remaining method was to bring his daughter to the bishop.

That esteemed ‘Bishop’ rank individual might come up with some clever idea to inject mana into her.

“…”

However, the commander had postponed this issue several times.

The bishop, who only appeared once every fifteen days for the rituals, always sacrificed a virgin to reclaim her virginity.

‘No matter how much of a bishop he is… that ritual…’

Moreover, that ritual was nothing short of bizarre.

While it would be somewhat understandable if it involved embracing a living person, the method involved stabbing a gemstone into the solar plexus to kill a woman and then embracing her corpse.

No matter how he thought about it, raping a corpse was beyond the pale.

He couldn’t dare bring up that topic with the bishop lest it resulted in his still-virgin daughter suffering the same fate.

-Knock knock.

At that moment, someone knocked on the commander’s door.

Then a voice called from outside, “It’s time.”

It was already time for the ritual to take place.

“Alright, I’ll be there soon.”

The commander said that while taking a look at his daughter.

On her body that was twisting, the devil’s symbols were gradually fading away.

“Sophie, I’ll definitely save you.”

Declaring that, the commander made preparations for the ritual.

As an alternative method to save his daughter, he too could become a ‘Bishop’.

***

“Everyone is gathered. Let’s move to the ritual cave.”

The commander looked around at the low-ranking clerics assembled for the ritual and said so.

To increase the success rate of the ritual, they needed to gather as many mana-wielding individuals as possible to pray, so it was necessary to bring all the warriors along.

“Hmm?”

As he led about 60 warriors towards the cave, one warrior suddenly stopped and gazed up at the sky.

He pointed at something in the sky and spoke.

“What’s that over there…?”

The sunrise had just begun to break.

A black figure was flying against the backdrop of the rising sun.

One of the comrades squinted at it and said, “Is it a monster…? Isn’t that a harpy? It seems to be coming this way?”

A harpy, a bird-like monster.

As the warriors heading towards the ritual cave saw the word ‘harpy’, they raised their heads with tense expressions.

After all, harpies were cruel monsters that often abducted women or children to drop them to their deaths.

While they posed little threat to those who could wield mana, they still needed to drive the harpy away for the sake of protecting the townspeople.

“But is that… really a harpy?”

However, as the suspected monster drew closer, they couldn’t help but tilt their heads in confusion.

It was too gigantic to be a harpy… and its wings resembled those of bats, which was strange.

“W-What is that…?”

Moreover, as it approached closely enough to be observed with the naked eye, they could conclude definitively that it was not a harpy.

They had never heard of a harpy scattering such brilliant red and blue luminescence.

“It’s coming this way!”

The unidentified entity was rapidly closing in.

The commander and everyone else immediately took battle positions, beginning to draw upon their mana.

-Whoosh!

As they gathered their mana, the unidentified creature rapidly descended, landing on the ground.

The impact caused a sizable cloud of dust to rise, but all warriors, including the commander, knelt on one knee, steadying themselves with one arm while keeping their eyes on its movements.

-Crunch!

At that moment, a sound of metal fitting together rang out, and the creature’s wings started to retract.

The commander and his party stared blankly as the 6-meter wings folded and retracted automatically.

Seeing the precision of futuristic technology for the first time, they felt overwhelmed simply by that spectacle.

-Swish…

As they swallowed hard, watching the black entity, it finally rose to its full height.

A blue light emanating from its chest.

Eyes with glimmering red pupils.

A hard exoskeleton that looked impenetrable at first glance.

‘W-What the hell is this?’

The commander and his party could instinctively tell just by looking at its exterior.

That none of them would be able to defeat this unidentified entity, no matter how they charged at it.

And that this thing was not merely a monster, but a transcendent being that defied the common sense of this world.

【Pleasure to meet you】

“!!!!”

However, the transcendental being before them appeared to possess intellect as well.

Despite its structure allowing for no discernible mouth, the entity clearly spoke to them in human language.

“Who, who are you? Please reveal your true identity.”

The commander asked, his heart racing with unease as he inquired about the identity of the transcendental being.

The more he looked, the thought that this might be the ‘Lord of Hell’ from the scriptures surged into his mind.

Finally, the being spoke.

【Can’t you tell just by looking at me? I am your savior. The rightful master of this land whom you must usher in.】