Chapter 225: The First Commission
There was an old saying that had been passed down at Yggdrasil Academy for generations.
A rumor that hidden treasures were concealed throughout the academy.
After hearing that rumor, quite a few cadets set out to search for them themselves.
Late at night.
Footsteps echoed through a pitch-black forest where even the moonlight failed to reach.
A freshman named Philip.
A boy slightly smaller than average, with bright, lively eyes.
His curly hair swayed in the wind.
He, too, had ventured alone into the darkness of the forest in search of a 'hidden treasure.'
...At that moment.
Grrrrrrrr...
A tree that had been standing motionless suddenly writhed before Philip's eyes.
“E-Eek! Hah!”
His startled expression lasted only an instant before he immediately swung his wand.
A blade of wind appeared in the air.
Slash!
The tree split cleanly in half.
Philip kicked the tree as it crumbled into ashes.
“Haa... You scared me! Why is that flower hidden in such a terrifying place...?!”
Philip pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket.
A crudely drawn map was sketched on it.
A classmate had shared it with him, saying it was a rumor passed down by an upperclassman they knew.
At the end of this forest bloomed many kinds of flowers.
Among them was a flower blessed with the 'Blessing of Eternal Life.'
A magic that prevented it from ever withering, preserving its radiant beauty forever.
Philip wanted that enchanted flower.
He wanted to give it as a gift to his fiancée, Elsa, who had enrolled in this year's class alongside him.
After all, in just a few days, they would be celebrating the first anniversary of their engagement.
Philip was the eldest son of an impoverished Viscount family.
On the other hand, his fiancée Elsa was the daughter of a wealthy provincial Count.
His finances made it impossible to buy her an expensive gift.
Besides, she came from an immensely wealthy family.
A gift that was merely expensive wouldn't mean much to her.
So instead...
He wanted to give her something that couldn't simply be bought with money.
Something exceedingly rare.
That was why Philip had braved his fear and come all this way.
The path had been filled with thorns.
He'd regretted coming countless times while making his way through the forest.
But...
“Wow...”
Philip finally stopped walking and stared ahead in complete amazement.
Countless flowers bloomed beneath the moonlight, glowing with a faint radiance.
Before such a magnificent sight, every trace of regret disappeared.
...It really had been worth coming.
'Beautiful.'
Philip hurried forward.
Every flower was breathtaking.
But he didn't pick them carelessly.
He intended to take only what he needed, without any greed.
There was only one kind he was searching for.
'Elsa loved forget-me-nots. Where are they... Ah.'
His breathing stopped for an instant.
Not far away, a blue flower shimmered softly beneath the moonlight.
Entranced by its beauty for a brief moment, Philip quickly came to his senses and approached it.
Just as he carefully reached out to pick it...
Piiing.
Something made a sound beneath the forget-me-not.
“Piiing...?”
Piiiing.
It had startled him at first.
But after hearing it several times, it somehow sounded strangely adorable.
'An animal?
An insect?
Or... did the flower make that sound...?'
He couldn't tell.
The ground beneath the flower was unusually dark.
He couldn't see clearly.
'Ugh... This place is creepy. I'll just pick it and leave.'
Piii...
As Philip's hand drew closer, the tiny sound gradually grew louder.
Piiiiii... Pii, Bwaaaaaaaaaak-!
“Waaaaah?!”
Something enormous suddenly appeared before Philip's eyes.
Unable to pluck the forget-me-not blessed with the Blessing of Eternal Life, he immediately fled.
“W-What is that?!
What is that thing?!
Aaaah!”
A gigantic, round shadow.
Everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't gotten a proper look.
Had the flower actually been a monster?
Broooooooooar-!
As though enraged that its territory had been invaded, the enormous monster let out a deafening roar behind Philip.
“S-Somebody help!”
Philip grabbed at the air and pulled out his wand.
...But.
“M-My magic!
My magic won't come out...!”
It felt as though the flow of mana had stopped.
He'd never experienced anything like this before.
He had no idea why.
Perhaps he'd been so frightened that he couldn't concentrate.
Boom!
Boom!
Heavy footsteps thundered behind Philip as he fled.
Something enormous was chasing him.
At the same time, dust began filling the surrounding air.
The rustling leaves had already crumbled into powder.
One strange phenomenon after another continued to unfold.
...Then.
Clink.
Perhaps because he'd gripped his wand incorrectly.
The silver ring on his finger slipped off and fell to the ground.
“My ring...!
Damn it!”
The monster was right behind him.
There was no way he could go back to retrieve it.
Clenching his teeth, Philip continued running.
The blazing midday sun shone upon the first floor of the Old Wing.
This building housed all of the academy's club rooms.
Countless students had gathered to advertise their clubs, making the entire area incredibly lively.
“We're the Drama Club! If you join, you'll get the chance to perform in next Succession War Incident's play!”
“Hey, first-years! Interested in the Athletics Club? Look at these magnificent muscles! Come train your body with us!”
“Join the Book Discussion Club~! We've even prepared all the latest books~!”
Everyone desperately gestured and shouted in hopes of recruiting freshmen.
“Please join our clu... Eek!”
Naturally, there were also plenty who tried to recruit me...
Only to recognize my face and immediately turn away.
But I hadn't come here to join a club.
I walked down the basement staircase of the Old Wing.
In the dim corridor, I stopped in front of a door marked 'Department of Mechanical Engineering.'
The sign hadn't been fastened properly.
It hung crookedly from the old iron door.
The moment I opened the handle and stepped inside...
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Party poppers exploded.
...Inside, several people wearing party hats welcomed me.
“Welcome!”
“Congratulations on becoming our first new member!”
“Glad to have you! We'll give you the warmest welcome possible, freshman!”
“......”
Covered in colorful paper confetti, I silently stared at them.
“......”
They also froze after recognizing my face.
Then they blinked.
“H-Huh?”
“...I-Isn't that Big Brother Dedencman?”
Standing in the middle of the flustered Mechanical Engineering Department members was a small female student wearing a party hat.
Esdal.
A third-year student from the Hephaestus Department and the president of the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
“Ah! Representative of our Patron! Welcome!”
President Esdal raised both arms high in greeting.
As I brushed the confetti off my head, I spoke.
“...Have you all seriously been waiting like this until a new member showed up?”
“Y-Yes. Since our department looks rather gloomy, we wanted to make a good first impression immediately.”
“We've been standing by ever since lunchtime, Big Brother.”
“And just so you know, this was Big Sister Titania's idea. Isn't it a brilliant idea?”
“Shut up!”
A shout came from somewhere.
“Huh? Big Sister Titania, why did you suddenly hide inside the wardrobe? Don't tell me... you didn't want Big Brother Dedencman to see you wearing a maid outfit...?”
“I said shut uuuup!”
Another shout rang out.
...A moment later, Vice President Titania of the Department of Mechanical Engineering emerged.
Her face was bright red.
She was wearing her school uniform.
Apparently, she'd changed back into it inside the wardrobe.
“It looked like you were wearing a maid outfit.
Why'd you bother changing?”
“S-Shut up...”
“Hm.”
Looking around the room, I spoke.
“Well, anyway.
Judging by your reactions, I guess I was the first visitor to the Mechanical Engineering Department.”
“Yes, that's right.”
Esdal nodded.
“Stop welcoming people like this.
If I'd actually come to join the club, I would've felt so pressured I'd have run away.
Besides, you're all wasting your time.”
“Hehehe...”
Esdal and the other club members scratched the backs of their heads awkwardly.
“So... what brings you here?”
“I came to ask for a favor.”
The moment I answered, Esdal's eyes sparkled.
“Ah!
You're finally giving us a commission!
What would you like us to make?
Just tell us!”
“I want you to make a gun.”
Esdal blinked.
“A gun...
You mean the kind that goes bang bang?”
“Yeah.
A weapon.
Can you do it?”
“Ah...”
Esdal looked hesitant.
“It's absolutely not that I doubt the Representative of our Patron, but...
You're not planning to use the gun for something bad... are you?”
“Well.”
I had no idea what qualified as 'something bad' by Esdal's standards.
“A weapon is a tool created to injure or threaten others in the first place.”
“That's true...”
“So what really matters is who's using it and for what purpose.”
As I continued speaking, the uncertainty gradually faded from Esdal's eyes.
“The same weapon can become an instrument of slaughter in one person's hands...
Or a force that restrains violence in another's.
It can even be used to save someone.”
There was no need to deceive Esdal.
I was simply speaking exactly what I believed.
“I'm not carrying a weapon just to harm other people.”
I was the son of one of the Empire's highest-ranking noble families.
Even so, the reason I struggled so desperately in this world was ultimately so I could live comfortably myself.
However.
“At the very least, I can promise I'll use a weapon to protect someone.”
That promise rested upon one absolute condition.
Humanity had to survive.
Which was why...
Using the strength I possessed...
I had to protect this world.
And.
To surpass the Happy Ending I'd seen in the game...
And reach the very best ending.
I absolutely could not allow the students of this academy to die.
Esdal quietly looked at me for a while before slowly nodding.
“...Alright.
I'll trust the Representative of our Patron.”
Esdal readily accepted my request.
“Thanks.
Then let me explain exactly what kind of gun I need.”
I described the gun's concept in detail.
Esdal looked fascinated.
But Titania, who had been listening beside her, wore an expression of complete shock.
“You're using Crovanium as the bullets...?”
“Why?
Surprised?”
“It's such an outrageously extravagant idea.
How much money do you have lying around to use Crovanium as ammunition?”
Crovanium was an extremely expensive material commonly used for defensive equipment.
Using something like that as bullets...
From her perspective, I naturally looked like some insane nouveau riche.
“If you've requested it, we'll definitely make it.
But...
There's a problem.”
As Esdal spoke, Titania nodded and continued.
“Crovanium nullifies Magical Energy.
But it also has the ability to cancel out vibrations.”
Crovanium absorbed and dispersed impact.
If it were made into bullets, delays and losses in force transmission would naturally occur.
“I'm not even sure Crovanium can function as a bullet.
Even if we make it, I'm worried it won't even penetrate a wooden board.”
“Hm.
I see.”
After thinking for a moment, I spoke.
“What about Arcanium?”
Arcanium.
One of the ten high-end materials.
A superalloy.
Esdal nodded.
“Ah...
That might actually work.
Arcanium doesn't simply transfer incoming force.
It amplifies it momentarily before releasing it.”
Opening her notebook, Esdal began scribbling calculations.
She appeared to be working through some kind of scientific formula...
Honestly, I couldn't understand any of it.
“You force the energy through before Crovanium has time to absorb it.
That's actually a good idea.”
To put it simply...
It was like spraying water from a fire hose onto a soft sponge.
The water pressure would launch the sponge away before it could absorb all the water.
“Crovanium's resistance still can't be ignored, so it'll be a bit weaker than an ordinary firearm...
But we can still expect respectable power.
The recoil will be extremely strong, though.
Will that be alright?”
“Don't worry about that.”
I wouldn't be firing it with my own bare hands.
I'd be using it while cloaked in darkness with Shark's power.
“Alright.
But Arcanium is difficult to obtain...
So manufacturing will take quite a while.”
That made sense.
As a high-end material, even a tiny amount wasn't something a student could easily acquire.
“Then it's settled.”
As I headed toward the club room's exit, I casually replied,
“I'll bring it to you tomorrow.”
The moment those words left my mouth...
Esdal and Titania cried out in shock at the same time.
“...Tomorrow?!”