Chapter 240: The Dregs (1)
From Noble mtl dot com
“Gulp! Gulp! Gulp! Cough!”
“······.”
He’s been ominous from the start.
It was strange that Kern left Linda in that state.
Kern, who treats her like his own daughter, didn’t try to fix her.
I expected it to some extent.
It’s even more bitter when the answer is correct.
Kern didn’t leave Linda alone.
He ‘couldn’t’ fix it.
“Eugene. Is that you······.”
“I heard you have cataracts. How did you know?”
“Yonsuk······. I’m not blind yet······.”
Kern coughs and gets up.
Next to him, his wife and daughter hold Kern with worried faces.
I couldn’t help but smile at the sight.
I heard he went to take care of his family, whom he had neglected.
It seems that the reunion over the past three years has been successful.
Kern may look like a dying old man now, but he looks happier than ever.
“Did you come to scold me? I’m sorry······. I couldn’t stop my Linda······. I should have left a warning at least······. To be honest, I thought you were dead and forgot about you.”
Kern confesses his heart honestly.
He speaks as if he has no face, but he doesn’t hurt my feelings or make me feel sad.
Well, that’s normal.
Anyone who believes that a man who is obviously dead will be alive and waits for three years with his neck tied is special.
“You seem to have lived quite happily.”
“I did, but······ I’ve never been free from worry and anxiety. I’m an old woman, but my child still has days to live······.”
Kern coughs again, his voice trailing off.
Even though it’s only a part of it, Kern, who has heard of the destruction of the present world, must have had no peace of mind.
But now he can rest assured.
I can see that Kern’s face, which was full of worry and anxiety, is gradually regaining its composure.
“Don’t worry. I’m back. Now you can close your eyes in peace.”
“Cough! Gulp! Cough! Cough! You bastard! I’m suffering from a cold, but what’s this about a dying corpse! Ah! Get out of here if you’re going to do this!”
“······.”
Wasn’t he dying?
Come to think of it, Kern is still in his 60s.
He looks old because of his presbyopia, but it doesn’t seem like he’s close to death yet.
I approached Kern, who was slightly embarrassed and turned his back on me.
“I need a spring machine. A strong, sturdy spring machine.”
“······How much.”
“Enough to withstand a 9th-level magic attack.”
“No, what······. Are you going to make a weapon of mass destruction? I can’t make a machine that can withstand 9th-level magic, but I won’t be able to find a core that can withstand it. If it’s that level of magic stone, then······.”
“I have it. Don’t worry about the magic stone to use as the core. All I need is the spring machine.”
“······.”
Kern opens his mouth and looks at me with pale eyes.
He looked like he wanted to ask how I got the magic stone, but he seemed to be trying to hold back.
Thanks to that, the story didn’t go down the drain.
“I can make such a spring machine, but as you can see, my eyes are like this······. I think I’ll have to leave it to my daughter.”
“But······. Linda had her limbs blown off when I subdued her. She’s in no condition to work.”
Fortunately, Linda, who had been separated from Draken, has now become a completely trustworthy ally.
However, the problem is that all of her limbs have been severed.
Although she has undergone emergency repairs, it seems that it will take quite some time to reattach her limbs with enough precision to allow her to work.
At least a whole day······.
And then Linda will need time to assemble the new spring machine, by which time the present world will have already been destroyed.
“hahahahaha. Linda is definitely my precious daughter, but I’m not talking about her. I’ll give you this guy. Here. Say hello.”
“Oh, hello······.”
“······?”
A small girl comes forward shyly and bows her head.
I was speechless for a moment.
What do you want me to do with this girl?
“What do you want me to do? I have someone to marry.”
“Cough! You bastard! To give my precious daughter to you······! Gulp! Cough! Cough!······! I’m telling you to leave the work to this guy! He may not look good, but his skills are solid. He’s my disciple before I became blind, and he’s one of the few engineers I recognize······.”Kern was so excited that he was yelling at the top of his lungs.
Kern would acknowledge her?
This young girl?
He wouldn’t have given her any special treatment just because she was his daughter.
If that was the case, it meant that she had skills that far surpassed the numerous engineers who had worked under Kern.
If Kern said so, I had no choice but to believe him.
“Then, I’ll leave it to you. The requirements are all written here, so you can start working on it right away. If you need any materials or parts, contact the Union through Linda. Really, don’t hesitate to ask for anything.”
“Yes. When is the deadline······.”
“Tomorrow. There will be no extension. By tomorrow, even if everything else is incomplete, the core must be completed.”
“Hieeek······.”
The girl gasped and looked back at her father.
She seemed to be asking if this was right, but Kern simply nodded calmly.
Yes. If you were a first-class engineer, you should be able to handle this ridiculous task.
.
.
.
Urgent news spread throughout the world.
Eugene, the hero who had defeated the necromancer and disappeared, had returned.
He had annihilated the remnants of the undead army and tamed the great demon.
There was a minor problem with the betrayal of the 1st Fleet in the middle, but it was quickly suppressed.
The world had regained peace.
There was nothing to threaten the present world anymore.
A world where you don’t have to worry about an unknown enemy suddenly appearing and unleashing magic, or an undead army coming in the middle of the night and stabbing you with swords.
A world where everyone can sleep soundly with their legs stretched out.
The Union declared the completion of such a world and began the process of disbandment.
It was over.
The war that had lasted for so long had finally ended.
There were some who doubted if this was really the end, but they were all buried by the people who were filled with hope.
No ominous voices were heard anywhere.
“······Are we being careless?”
“I hope so.”
Eugene muttered, concentrating on the light of the pole that stretched out in all directions.
The light soon covered the entire city, and each of its essences was transmitted to Eugene.
The joy of joy and the thoughts of people enjoying their daily lives flowed in.
However, Eugene’s eyes twisted at the black figure that was sandwiched between them.
Draken’s power had not yet been fully recovered.
Most of it had been recovered and concentrated in Linda, but some of Draken’s power had been left behind for surveillance purposes.
And the same was true of the people within the Union.
Eugene could not reveal everything about the operation except for those who had personally investigated the inner world.
That’s why only the three heroines, Belphegor, and Mijeong share the overall operation.
The rest were not even aware that the operation was underway, and they pretended to disband the Union while ending the war with the unknown enemy.
The operation phases were all scattered around the world.
The clockwork machine was being made by Kern’s daughter.
Teiga was making the final checks on the magic stone that would be attached to the clockwork machine.
The remaining airships were being modified.
None of those who were carrying out the operation knew what they were doing.
They would just think that I was doing something weird as usual.
However, if I put all of these together, the ultimate weapon that would fulfill my greed would be completed.
‘My greed······.’
And my heart is still not at ease.
In the end, it’s all my greed.
Even though there is a way to save the present world for sure.
I’m afraid of being forcibly sent back to the real world, so I can’t choose that.
I’m gambling with the destruction of the present world as collateral.
Do I deserve this?
Such thoughts keep lingering in my mind.
“······It’s stuffy.”
“What is?”
“······Eugene only thinks about others. He never thinks about himself.”
“······.”
Isn’t that a different problem?
Mijeong puffed out her cheeks as if she was a little angry and bit my arm.
-People think of you as a hero, but no matter how I look at it, you don’t seem like one. A hero never loses his conviction that the path he is walking is the right one-
“That’s true. I’m a coward who can’t be sure of anything just by intuition.”
That’s why I’m weak at investing and gambling.
A born petty bourgeois.
I can’t jump in without a clear basis, and I always regret it when it’s too late. I’m just an ordinary petty bourgeois who exists everywhere.”But where’s the harm in that? I’d rather have someone like you, who constantly doubts and agonizes, than those who are sure they’re on the right path when they’re not. And even though you’re so hesitant, you still end up walking the path you believe in. You may hesitate, but you don’t give up. That’s what makes you special. Special even though you’re no hero.”
“······.”
“I want to give you some extra confidence.”
Belphegor, who had slipped out of his scabbard and transformed into a human form, whispered in my ear.
“He has lived in the vast emptiness for an eternity that we cannot even fathom.”
“I know that.”
“Now imagine the emotions that a sentient being would feel when it first discovers the existence of the mortal world. What would it think when it realized that it was not alone in this vast emptiness?”
“······!”
My eyes widened at his words.
I think I understand a little bit about why Draken is coming to the mortal world.
Why he’s running towards it without regard for means or methods.