I Give Up on Conquering the Heroines chapter 81

81 – Episode 81. Clockwork City(8)

Clockwork machines have a fatal flaw.

An inherent limit, a problem that can’t be solved no matter what methods are used.

That is, if even one cog stops, the entire machine will stop as well.

It’s obvious what method could halt a cog immediately.

It ‘bugs’ it.

Literally, by shoving a bug into the cog.

But isn’t there a clever bug next to me, who understands human language and voluntarily get itself inside the cog?

“I don’t want to! I don’t want to! I really hate this! I hate getting hurt!”

“I haven’t said anything yet.”

“You were going to suggest that I get stuck in the cogs and die, weren’t you! I know it all! Don’t sidestep this! I do not want to die anymore! I feel like I will go insane from the pain! Please stop being so indifferent to my suffering!!!”

“……”

I haven’t even asked her for a favor yet.

Despite that, Sister Ginnesu is jumping up and down as if having a tantrum, vehemently resisting.

Of course, she dislikes that.

She needs to directly experience and endure an excruciating pain that could cause her entire body to crumple.

I could also force her body to be thrown into the machinery by threatening her.

If she doesn’t listen to me, I could say I will hand her over to the guards.

Then, she would no doubt submit to me right now.

However, Sister Ginnesu would then surely treat me like her sworn enemy from that point on.

I’ve learned a valuable lesson after going through 12 regressions.

It’s best to avoid creating resentment whenever possible.

Not all meetups can be enjoyable but,

At least try to make partings amicable.

A gifted individual proficient in charm spells and rituals, with a monstrous origin.

“There’s nothing more foolish than turning such a person into an enemy.

Even if they’re not an ally, at least they should not be an adversary.

“I will go! Before that giant clock tower blocks off the tunnel! I will leave the way I came!”

“······.”

“I told you clearly! I, I will leave! Don’t hold me back!”

“······.”

“Why······ aren’t you holding me back······ It’s scary······.”

The footsteps of the clock tower migrant grow slower as she heads towards the tunnel, shouting loudly.

Her pupils tremble as they watch my movements.

She seems scared, fearing that I might attack her if she tries to flee.

“If you want to go, go.”

“Really? Is it okay?”

It’s not okay.

With the boss monster waking up and causing chaos, there must have been earthquakes all around.

Once the rumor spreads, the sharpest response will come from the Yerin.

If we give up and go back now, we won’t be able to challenge again once we have recovered our magic power.

By then, Yerin would have already come to the Clock City.

We absolutely have to finish things here today.

There won’t be a next time.

“You can go. But before you do, listen to my proposal.”

“You’re telling me not to go again!!!”

“I said it’s up to you. Just listen.”

That being said, I must hold the clock tower migrant here.

I have to make an offer she can’t refuse.

One worth enduring the pain of death for.

“It’s a deal. You insert your spirit into the clock machine and break it. Then, I will give you what you want most.”

“I don’t want anything?! I hate pain more than anything in the world! Whatever the deal is, I won’t die for sure! Now that I’ve heard it, I can go, right?”

“Or, let’s say, I will provide you with magic power and energy for life.”

“······!”

The body of the clock tower migrant, who was about to turn around and head towards the tunnel, shudders and trembles.

And then, she turned slowly to look at me, her gaze seeming to ask if I was sincere.

My heart could not help but flutter.

After all, her life depended on this.

“Until now, you have probably done reckless things in the name of gaining magic.”

No matter how well she could handle transformation, the denizens are genetically monsters.

Their actual form is that of a gigantic denizen.

Whether she is maintaining her transformation, casting spells, or even just breathing and consuming energy, her body always needs to consume energy.

And there is only one method to acquire that energy.

It can be taken from living life.

The act of seizing energy always comes with a significant risk.

The moment she is discovered, she would fall to the status of being hunted until the moment of death.

For survival, she has to repeat the dangerous process of absorbing energy.

“Looking at the quantity of my magic, you would know. If converted into magic and saved up, it would be plenty. If used sparingly, it will last for a month? Once it runs out, come back to me. I’ll recharge it.”

“Can… Can it really… be like that?”

I would be able to erase that risk for her.

Without the danger of being caught by the guards and killed.

Without the worry of being captured by the tower and being subjected to human experiments.

Just like getting gas at a service station, she would be able to live by replenishing her energy from me.

I have just declared a guarantee of her survival to the denizen.

“So what do you think? Willing to endure the pain like death once for a comfortable life for the rest of your days, or continue living dangerously?”

“Uh, Ahhhhh!!! How could I ever refuse this!”

“I’ve told you. I will provide what you desire the most.”

“The promise you just made. Is there proof of that?”

“There isn’t-any. You have to trust me.”

The denizen looked at me with teary eyes.

Then, with a pained expression, squeezed her eyes shut.

From Noble mtl dot com

Then with a thud, she falls to her knees.

“Ah! Then I’ll just die! I’m okay with dying! As long as! You always keep your words!”

“Of course.”

The deal is done.

The mermaid’s eyes, which were shaking back and forth until just now, straightened up.

Looking up at the clock tower, she clenched her fingers without a word.

“Ah!”

At that moment.

The duplicate body, which had been trembling in fear and hesitating, suddenly stood up.

No longer crying or shaking.

It seems that the duplicate has taken complete control.

The duplicate immediately whimpered and transformed into the appearance of the mermaid.

Moving her legs quickly, she descended the clock tower’s wall and slipped into the gap between the bricks.

“Any piece of paper will do. We must fully immerse the body. Unless we want to go through this again.”

“I know!”

The mermaid replied annoyingly.

Before long, the mermaid’s eyes widened.

Her eyes were filled with blood.

She bit her teeth until blood came out of her mouth.

“I promised! I said I will keep it! Men shouldn’t speak with two mouths!!!”

And then, snap.

From inside the clock tower.

The rigid shell breaks and a crushing sound is heard.

“aaahhhhh!!!”

At the same time, the mermaid screams in pain and holds onto her body.

As if being caught in a leaf machine, her body folds and unfolds like this.

Because the duplicate and senses are linked, it also affects the original body.

If this continues, it feels like something will break and get hurt.

“Tsk…”

Finally, he tightly holds onto the mermaid, supporting her so that her body doesn’t fold.

It would have been fine if it had always been the girl’s appearance, but…

Perhaps he didn’t care about the disguise technique, as he has transformed into the appearance of the mermaid.

“hahahaha, hahahaha! Stopppp! It hurts, it hurts!!!

“Ugh. I’m suffocating in filth.”

I hold onto the writhing, giant centipede.

I have to endure being hit by the rustling legs of countless centipedes.

The carapace is hard.

The belly area is strangely squishy, with a faint sticky sensation.

It’s so repulsive that I want to push my face away.

Yet for some reason, I want to keep touching it······.

Of course, only the sensation.

It doesn’t mean I like insects.

“Hate······ hate······ hate······ hate······”

As the clock tower, spewing black smoke, walks towards me without hesitation, its movement slows down.

Soon, the sound coming from the speaker also elongates.

And then, the legs that were twitching stop completely.

“Ha! Haaah! Haaah······. Promise······ We must keep the promise······.”

“Good job.”

The giant centipede leans against me and collapses.

As the clone dies and the connection is severed, the centipede maiden’s agonized moans also cease.

Now I don’t have to worry about my body twisting, so I put it down on the ground and it falls weakly.

“······You are kind.”

Mijung sits in front of it and strokes its head.

The centipede maiden leaves it with Mijung for a moment.

I think now I just have to go get the dungeon core.

I step on the still legs and climb up, crawling along the bricks of the clock tower.

It’s tough, but not to the point where I can’t climb.

Finally, after an unexpected rock climbing, I reach the clock dial.

This place has a recess on the inside where I can rest for a moment.

Just as I manage to climb up and lean my body against it.

“Hate······ hate······ hate······”

The giant eye narrows at me right in front of my nose.

They keep repeating the same words.

Why are they so despised?

I can’t understand it, and I don’t want to understand.

Linda, who has acquired the ability to think for herself through becoming a monster.

In this state, she can only live her life hating someone.

It’s time to cut off a thousand lives.

“How should I explain this to Kern?”

I sigh and start climbing again. My mind is getting complicated.

What should I tell Kern?

Did Linda, whom you tossed away in the clock tower, awaken and eventually acquire intellect through being a monster?

If I blurt out such stuff to Kern, who is already becoming weak, wouldn’t he really die?

Then should I hide it…

My worries deepen.

“Phew.”

I’ve finally reached the top of the clock tower.

The brilliant dungeon core reveals itself.

Judging from the squirming noise and vibrations from inside the clock tower,

Soon, it seems as if it will completely break the trapped avatar’s body inside and start moving again with a harsh noise.

I have to hurry and finish the work.

Before I pull out the dungeon core.

I pull out a black magic stone from my bag and hold it in my hand.

[“Soul of Calli”]

[Status: Starving]

[This is a magic tool made by processing the soul of the Druid Calli. When the time comes, it flourishes.]

[Accumulated amount: 2,850/62,500]

“Thanks to you, I’ll be eating magic well.”

There’s not much to do.

Due to the ‘starvation’ status, black magic erupts from the whole clock tower and gathers into the Soul of Calli.

And then the accumulated amount rises without limit,

Before long the clock tower becomes as quiet as a deserted house.

As if it had been an ordinary clock tower from the start.

Just standing there steadfastly.

[10,500/62,500]

The accumulated amount is enormous.

Approximately 8000 have been filled.

This alone is quite the harvest.

“Okay.”

The moment the core of the dungeon is conclusively pulled out.

The entire dungeon starts to crumble with a thunderous noise.

I have to escape quickly before being crushed by the falling ceiling…

But something is bothering me.

I just can’t leave like this.

“Mijung! Catch the dungeon core that I’ll drop!”

“…Yujin?”

“Take the bug and get out first! I’ll follow you shortly!”

The moment I throw the dungeon core, Mijung catches it securely with her two arms.

Mijung seems a little confused for a moment.

“… You have to return.”

“I will.”

Mijung nods without further ado.

Then she lifts the giant beetle, still limp from exhaustion, and runs through the tunnel.

I should start hurrying too.

Holding a brick, I slowly descend to the face of the clock.

Then the enormous eyes move to follow me, meeting my gaze again.

The eyes, unlike earlier, don’t give off a sense of life.

They seem tired, as if they’ve given up on everything.

“What is this nonsense…!”

Then, bang.

I punch the face of the clock, shattering the glass.

As I lean inside, it’s filled with dizzying clockwork mechanisms.

A cicada’s corpse can be seen stuck in a large spring.

I jump down, landing on the large spring.

Jump down again.

And once again…

I repeat, descending lower and lower.

‘It’s a waste indeed.’

No matter how you look at it, leaving a genius engineer like Kern as a dementia-ridden old man is a shame.

If he continues to contribute to the magic tool industry, he might bring about another revolution.

So what if a reason to live is given back to someone like Kern?

Not as a one-off creation of a magic tool, to then return to his dementia state.

He might be able to continually make magic tools as I need them.

Then, the difficulty of my return would significantly decrease.

I surely can’t resist.

“I found it.”

The deepest part of the clock tower.

Among the crevices, I discover an offensive-looking drive part.

Once I use the weak point, the drive part glows red.

This is exactly Linda’s logic circuit.

As there are no tools to dismantle it, I have no choice.

I roughly force open the surrounding connections and extract Linda’s logic circuit.

[Why… why…]

“Why?”

A bewildered, trembling voice flows through the speaker.

Why?

What a silly question.

“Because it’s worth saving.”

[…]

It’s a circuit that holds the lifetime efforts of a man.

Resurrecting an era of wind-up dolls that has long been over.

It’s an innovation that will usher in the era of artificial souls.

An item that, once lost, will cause arcano-engineering to regress by decades.

Leaving such an item to break is akin to sin.

Of course, one need not make excuses and explain like this.

It can be perfectly summed up in one sentence.

“It’s about the romance.”

The moment when Linda’s logic circuit was finally ripped out.

Boom!

The ceiling of the dungeon descended.

The clock tower crumbled.