74 – Clockwork City (1)
“Chief! Over here! There’s a doll-like totem!”
“Damn sorcerers.”
The moment the train arrived at Clockwork City Station.
The dwarf security squad that had been surrounding the platform swarmed in to inspect the train.
Shortly after, the dwarves succeeded in locating the totem.
It was a wooden figurine, carved from a tree.
A small amount of magic was detected inside it.
It was concluded that this totem had cast a wide-ranging spell over the entire train.
The security squad immediately destroyed the totem and collected the fragments.
From then on, all passengers were interrogated.
Of course, neither me nor Mijeong could escape the investigation.
“Excuse me, is this… a vampire?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll need to conduct a saliva test.”
“Understood.”
There was brief confusion in the area, but it soon subsided.
Because vampire test kits are widely distributed worldwide.
It was quickly proven through the test that Mijeong did not have the vampire virus.
If it’s a vampire with removed fangs that pose no infection risk, there’s no problem with keeping them around.
Although if you advertise everywhere that you’re with a vampire, then obviously, it will be a problem due to the inherent fear of vampires.
But since she promised to stay hooded and hidden, the security squad didn’t raise any more fuss about Mijeong.
“You, what’s your occupation?”
“I’m a mercenary.”
“You don’t seem like a mercenary…”
“I also carry a dagger around here.”
“Whoa! A knife came out from the panties!”
However, suspicion about me continued to grow, more questions were asked.
I must’ve looked quite suspicious.
Surrounded by bearded, smelly dwarves, I was desperate to get out of there and press my nose against Cornelia’s crown.
“What are these marks on your arm and neck? There are quite a few.”
“It’s because our little one is still teething strongly.”
“Ah. Oh. You’re raising a puppy.”
“No, it’s him.”
“······?”
After suffering for a while longer, I was finally able to break free.
The guards seemed to have concluded that I was not a witch doctor.
When I got out, I found out that they had failed to catch anyone suspected of being a witch doctor.
The entity the witch doctor snuck onto the train was a spirit clone.
So, the real body was likely outside the train.
Even if it was inside, it would have been good at transformation magic, so it would have probably escaped by turning into a bug and running away.
‘I can’t catch it. Let’s just move on.’
If it was someone I knew, I would try to predict its routes and catch it.
However, I can’t seem to devise a way to catch it as I’ve never encountered this new face in the twelve runs.
I guess the dwarf guards will handle it.
“I haven’t been here in a long time.”
The moment I leave the station…
A majestic view of countless factories lined along the river spewing smoke unravels.
This is the city of Clockwork.
It’s the city with the most natural resources in the north and the largest industrial city in the region.
The amount of resources is so vast that if you dig anywhere with a shovel, oil would spurt out.
Coal springs out, and natural gas leaks; it’s on that level.
They literally earn money by digging into the ground.
They run factories using these abundant resources, and there are quite a few types.
From ironworks to textile mills to building material factories to shipyards······.
Practically, you can consider it a city that self-produces everything except food.
However, the real uniqueness of the Clockwork City appears once you step out of the factory zone and into the bustling city center.
A branch of magic engineering, only developed in Clockwork City.
A street appears, lined with displays of clockwork machinery.
“······Wow.”
Unable to contain herself, Mijeong lets out a gasp.
Each shop is filled with unique machinery.
From winding clocks to machines that automatically write and jukeboxes that emit music.
And that’s not all.
Instead of carriages, the well-maintained pavements feature machines that resemble tractors rolling around.
The shop doors automatically open and close, and under bridges, steam engine boats, bellowing out smoke, pass by.
It’s certainly heartwarming to witness this after a long time, but…
“Wow. It’s really damn noisy.”
“…Yeah, it hurts my ears.”
This city is always way too loud.
No matter how much lubricant is applied, spring machines invariably make a creaky sound.
This is precisely why spring machines can’t be found outside this city.
Of course, in exchange for noise, spring machines have their advantages over other magic techniques.
Spring machines can create more complex and precise devices.
In theory, using spring machines, you could even create a computer.
Although it would probably be so enormous that it wouldn’t be very efficient…
“All the clockwork dolls are really gone.”
Clockwork dolls.
Human-like spring machines that were once a craze.
If you’d come to Clockwork City at the very beginning of the story, you would have seen an amazing sight of streets filled with clockwork dolls.
There were maid clockwork dolls, butler clockwork dolls, and even carriage driver clockwork dolls.
There was even momentum to develop artificial personalities to place within the dolls.
However, that was just a passing trend.
The clockwork dolls became extinct quickly due to their low energy efficiency.
It was too burdensome to use even for noble households – that should explain everything.
But I know they still take bespoke orders at certain places.
There is occasionally demand from human tribes and beastman tribes.
Seems like there’s always a certain number of people with unique tastes in any world.
“Let’s get this over with quickly.”
I don’t plan on staying here for long.
The night here is also as chaotic as madness.
It’s a city where, unless you’re a dwarf who falls asleep snoring just by resting his head on a pillow, drunk from guzzling beer, you can’t live.
“…Water. I’m scared.”
“Close your eyes. Hold my hand and walk. I’ll tell you when we reach the stairs.”
Every time we had to cross a bridge due to Mi-Jung being scared of river, I had to hold her hand tightly.
Passing through the bustling streets of the dizzying clockwork city, there lies a gradual emergence of a rundown neighborhood as we move deeper into the alleyway.
The shop we have arrived at the end.
Its sign is so rusty it looks ready to fall off.
The windows and doors are all boarded up.
It appears as if it’s a workshop that’s shut down.
But, this is where the legendary craftsman,
Keirun resides.
“Hmm…”
Thud, thud, thud.
Even when knocking, there was no response.
By now, Keirun’s dementia symptoms would have worsened significantly.
He is likely not in his right mind.
“No choice then.”
Putting a finger to the keyhole, I cast magic to unlock it.
And then, magic flows into the hole, and with a clack, clatter, there’s a satisfying sound.
Clink.
As the lock opens, the door squeaks and opens.
A glimpse of the dark interior of the house unfolds from within.
“Hold on.”
“….”
Mi-Jung was about to use a fire spell, but I stopped her.
We don’t need it here, just turn the lights on, that’ll do.
As I fumbled for the switch along the wall, the surroundings lit up.
Contrary to the exterior, the interior appears to be a neatly maintained mansion.
The furnishings and the walls are without a speck of dust, well maintained.
“Old man Kern! You’re not dead already, are you?”
Shouting, he walks down the corridor toward the inside.
Kern should be in the master bedroom.
The parquet floor creaks with age beneath his steps, despite its outward charm.
Rounding the corner of the corridor.
[Shock detected]
“Damn. That startled me.”
He had bumped into a woman with a pale face.
Startled for a moment.
He quickly realizes that this isn’t a human being, but a wind-up machine.
[Re-evaluating the route.]
“So, it was Linda.”
Seemingly catching my gaze, the maid robot continues to speak, looking into thin air as it turns slightly.
With her decent front view, one might mistake her for a human, but from the back, you can see the entangled wind-up mechanisms moving in a mess.
Her name is Linda.
From Noble mtl dot com
She’s a wind-up doll who takes care of Kern.
Of course, the term “care” is merely limited to delivering food to his room regularly, cleaning along the programmed routes, and carrying out simple interactions.
[Ringing. It’s cleaning time. Starting to dust.]
Despite the intrusion of two strangers, Linda begins to clean, unfazed.
There’s no setting for her to respond to intruders in the first place.
‘It’s a bit strange.’
Typically, if the exterior has been well-crafted, the software is usually superior too.
But this one’s software performance seems to fall far behind even the wind-up dolls that were popular back in the day.
Even back then, voice recognition and simple dialogue would have been basic skills.
I wonder if there’s a reason for deliberately installing such poor software.
[Shock detected. Re-evaluating the route.]
“Mi-jung, move aside.”
“….Okay.”
An unimportant, past-its-prime luxury.
Ignoring Linda as she moves past me, I reach the master bedroom and turn the doorknob.
Inside, an old dwarf lay on the bed with his eyes wide open.
Kern.
He was once hailed as the best clockwork engineer.
At around 60 years old, he was not considered old for a dwarf.
However, perhaps due to overwork, he ended up contracting dementia one day, out of the blue.
And like this, he now spends his days bedridden.
“Old man, please accept this one request.”
“……”
Even waving a hand in front of his eyes elicits no response.
He’s in a state where not only work is impossible, but he can’t even communicate verbally.
What request could one possibly entrust to a dementia-ridden elder?
There’s a way.
It’s a privilege only a narrative author has.
I know of a certain easter egg.
‘There’s a ghost in the machine.’
Recite this sentence, and Kern returns to his senses.
Until the easter egg is known, Kern is merely a faded glory of the past.
But enter the command, and he becomes a living legend.
And what does ‘a ghost in the machine’ mean?
Even I don’t know.
It’s just the way it’s set, I say.
I gently lean towards Kern’s ear, pressing my hands together and whisper the command.
“There’s a ghost in the machine.”
“……”
Flinch.
Kern’s body shivers slightly.
Then, his iris, which had been affixed to the ceiling, moves to look directly at me.
The dying old man is nowhere to be found.
Instead, a dwarf brimming with passion, burns with a gaze filled with vitality.
And then, Kern……
“Screeeam! A ghost in the machine! A ghost in the machine!”
He screams wildly, eyes nearly flipping inside out.
Huh. His symptoms seem to have worsened.
Roused from the bed, Kern runs towards the window, flings it open and yells,
“People of the town!!! There’s a ghost in the machine! Call for an exorcist! Call for an exorcist!!!”
He started shouting at the top of his lungs at the outside.
“Screech! Kya! Kya! Kya!”
“Ugh, the nerve of him.”
It was quite a task to drag Kern away from the window.
The crafty dwarf’s real-world physical strength is no joke.
Finally, having removed him from the window and shut it, he falls onto the bed, emitting a dolorous sigh.
“Hoo, ghosts are scary.”
“He’s losing it…”
Something’s wrong.
Originally, the moment he received commands, Kern spouted nonsense such as, ‘So what’s the task?’
That worked in the previous episode.
But, why are his dementia symptoms are worse in this one?
What variable caused this?
It’s giving me a headache.
“Grandpa…You’ve broken down.”
“He’s not broken. We can fix him.”
Of course, there is a way to fix him.
Dementia isn’t incurable in this world.
There’s a spell that can alleviate the symptoms of dementia.
But how can we find a spellcaster in this clockwork city?
Where spellcasters are often treated as fraudsters and charlatans.
Ah. Will a spellcaster miraculously appear from somewhere?
“Hey ya!”
“Huh?”
Just as he thought that…
The door opens roughly and a resounding voice can be heard.
Somehow, it’s a familiar voice.
Then, appearing from behind the door, is a girl dressed in a familiar-looking nun’s habit.
“You said you were looking for an exorcist! Am I, recognized by the church, the exorcist you’re looking for? No! I’m an exorcist nun! The basic fee starts at 1000 gold…. uh…..?”
Upon recognizing my face, the nun’s face goes deathly pale.
It’s certain.
She’s the one who caused the curse terror on the train.
She looks younger than then, but it’s common for the projection body to look better than the original.
“You. You’re the shaman I saw on the train, aren’t you?”
“No, no, I’m not?”
It seems the heavens have granted my wish.
Sending me a shaman to use like this.
I’ll make good use of this.