Ch.163011 Investigation Record – An Unexpected Opportunity (3)

I personally thought that if the Industrial Spirit King’s problem was mental, it might be because he never had a childhood.

Spirits are born complete. Without the learning and trial-and-error of childhood, they are born as adults and live as adults. They probably never even learned proper human communication.

While other spirits could simply live their adult lives, the Spirit King couldn’t even do that. He must have been treated like a god from the moment he was born.

Spirits have humanity and duties but no desires. A person with duties but no desires is bound to wear down. Perhaps the Industrial Spirit King was in such a state.

Other reporters asked questions about the economy and industry. It was natural that they seemed somewhat impressive. I seemed to be thinking only about human matters because I was young.

No, that wasn’t it. I was someone who refused to compromise my preferences. If it was a flower bed I had grown and bloomed with my own hands outside the greenhouse, I could be a little stubborn.

I decided to take comfort in the fact that I was looking at the problem from a different perspective than them, and even if my human approach failed, there were people with professional skills who could help the Industrial Spirit King.

I didn’t need to accomplish everything. Usually, it takes about three ordinary people to solve a problem. When it came to caring for the Industrial Spirit King, many more people would be involved, so there was no need to worry.

The Economic Spirit King didn’t give us magical measures to grant us the right to go to the Industrial Spirit King. What she distributed to the reporters was a one-dollar note stamped with the Spirit King’s seal.

The amount wasn’t important. It was a token that if we were trusted by her, we could also be trusted by the Industrial Spirit King. I carefully tucked it into my wallet.

While other reporters would return to their companies to discuss, my method allowed me to go to the factory district right away. Since what the Economic Spirit King had asked for was not analysis but observation and knowledge, I decided to go immediately. If I lacked expertise, I should at least be quick.

I retrieved my pistol from security again, somewhat enjoying the strange looks I received for carrying such a proper automatic pistol for a reporter, and got into a taxi again.

“Ah, please take me to the factory district. To the factory where the Industrial Spirit King’s spirit core is.”

He was too enormous a being to talk to face-to-face. Moreover, it would be even more difficult to have a personal conversation. It was better to seek out his spirit core.

Usually, industrial spirits took engines as their spirit cores, but the Industrial Spirit King was a bit different. His spirit core was underground and incredibly massive. I had seen it once in a photo.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t a common destination, so the bespectacled human taxi driver looked at me with a puzzled expression. As the car started moving, he spoke with what seemed like curiosity.

“I’ve been driving for at least four years, but you’re the first customer I’ve had going to such a place. If you’re important enough to have business with the Spirit King…”

“I’m going because I’m insignificant enough to have never met the Spirit King! Ah, but I should still tip you as well as those important people would, right?”

He looked a bit embarrassed before breaking into laughter. It wasn’t a laugh meant to smooth things over.

“I feel ashamed for being greedy with someone so humble. Of course, more tip is always appreciated. Yes.”

I was going to meet the heart of the city and the heart of industry. No tip would be enough.

Looking out the window of the moving taxi, I watched people passing by, the air relatively clean… The streets that smelled of humanity immediately gave way to a completely different landscape as we entered the factory district.

I was greeted only by a landscape full of massive walls and the smell of some kind of smoke filling the air. I couldn’t tell what they were making to produce so much smoke and soot.

I headed toward the source of that soot. I reached the front of a building that looked like a factory, with a concrete structure covering the spirit core of the Industrial Spirit. I handed the taxi driver two dollars and got out.

The heart of industry had many more smokestacks than an ordinary factory. Not two or three smokestacks, but eight tall smokestacks stretching high toward the sky.

That building looked like a factory but didn’t produce anything. The machinery was always running, but smoke was its only product. Hope was its fuel. I couldn’t tell what its product was besides smoke.

As I approached the entrance of the building, two angels in neat suits, holding square adamantite steel shields planted on the ground, blocked my way.

Judging by the halos behind their heads, they weren’t low-ranking angels. They were probably among the highest-ranking angels who appeared on the front lines.

“This is a restricted area, reporter. You must know what kind of place this is.”

I took out the note, still warm from having received it not long ago, and showed it to them. After seeing the Economic Spirit King’s seal, they treated me more respectfully.

“Ah, we received word from the Federal Reserve. But, are you coming alone to meet the Industrial Spirit King? Some newspapers have already contacted us saying they’ll come in a few days because they’re busy with various tasks. It would be better if you brought someone who could assess the Industrial Spirit King’s condition.”

“Such people will come in droves tomorrow and the day after, so why should I do the same? I’m just someone who sometimes dives in headfirst.”

People with rank also have formalities. These people were experts at exchanging emotions for duty. Even if they wanted to mock my opinion, they wouldn’t do it to my face.

Usually, such people would mock others at a distance close enough for elven hearing to pick up clearly, but these angels didn’t seem like they would do that. They didn’t even look like they would mock me in the first place.

“If everyone uses the same method, when that method fails, everyone fails. Even if it doesn’t seem well-thought-out… a different approach is still an approach. I’ll open the door for you.”

The angel who politely pointed out that my plan was hardly a plan at all opened the door for me. An elegantly crafted wooden door opened, and I entered.

The first thing I felt was a wave of heat. The metallic sound of machinery running was painful, and the dry heat that dried my skin was unpleasant. It wasn’t a particularly good place for a race with sensitive senses like elves.

I moved toward the source of that heat and mechanical sound. The metallic sound was coming from the stairs leading underground. As I was about to head in that direction, a massive voice was heard.

It was a voice so enormous it filled the entire building. It was loud enough to painfully deafen elven hearing, but there was no hostility in the voice.

“Are you a messenger sent by the Lady of the Dollar? No, you must be a reporter… If you had come to conduct an inspection, you wouldn’t have come alone. Nor would you have come so early. What brings you here, little elf…?”

Because my ears were deafened by the too-loud voice, I couldn’t hear my own voice properly and had to raise it to shout.

“Just curiosity! I’m curious about what you’ve experienced to be in pain, and I also want to talk about the doomsayer I saw today! Oh, yes! You must have already undergone hundreds of inspections, right?”

Perhaps the bartender at Two Face was right. The people of this city—the Spirit Kings, the angels, everyone—might have become like this because they don’t know how to talk about themselves.

The Golden Age always ran ahead of us. Running ahead of us, it shows us brilliant golden images that we can chase. Following them would surely allow us to move forward, but we would eventually tire.

The Industrial Spirit King’s voice resonated again. The mechanical sounds and heat that had filled the factory building had subsided somewhat. If it truly was a heart, was it just beating faster due to anxiety? It might be.

“Come down. It would be better to talk face to face.”

Following his words, I headed toward the stairs I was originally going to. I wondered if the smokestacks had stopped emitting smoke, but there was no way to check from inside the building.

The stairs leading underground seemed to have at least two hundred steps. I descended halfway down the numerous stairs that seemed to extend to the very center of this factory district and encountered what was inside.

Below was a machine. A massive machine whose purpose and product were unknown. A machine with countless parts and numerous drive components.

It was as if all the machinery in the world had been gathered and merged into one. The machine, now so complex that its purpose and intent were unknowable, was quietly running.

I descended the rest of the stairs and arrived in front of the wall of the massive machinery. The machine began to turn. The sound of the machine turning while emitting heat soon became the voice of the Industrial Spirit King.

“It’s a bit ambiguous to call this face to face. Anyway, this is a personal space. Just as the inside of a human heart is a place where emotions surge. So… you said you were just curious? Really, you’re just curious about what happened? There’s no need for me to… do something for you?”

“Of course! I’m just a reporter looking for a story. Just writing down what the Industrial Spirit King says would be enough for a story! Um… it’s a bit of a corrupt attitude, but there are plenty of reporters like that!”

The massive machine turning in front of me creaked. I wondered what was happening, but judging from the Industrial Spirit King’s voice that followed, it seemed to be laughter.

“That’s amusing. It seems even the Lady of the Dollar makes mistakes. Sending such a corrupt reporter. Still… it puts my mind at ease. You said you were curious about what I saw. I didn’t see anything different. I saw that machine you’re looking at break down, and my heart break down and die. I saw the chaos that would follow after my death.”

Although the machine creaked when he laughed, the Industrial Spirit King’s heart was still actively pulsating. It was operating and beating like a young person’s heart, like the heart of someone who still had days of growth ahead.

I tried to place my hand on the machine but realized it wasn’t a good idea to touch a metal mass that was emitting such heat, so I withdrew my hand. Not knowing where to look, I looked up.

“Is it a prophecy?”

Steam erupted from various parts of the machine. There seemed to be pipes somewhere that were emitting steam. It was probably a sign of worry.

“It’s both a prophecy and a dream. A dream that flashed by at dawn when all factories stopped and the industrial spirits slept. Still, do you know how realistic it was? My heart stopped, the factories stopped… she collapsed. The Lady of the Dollar fell. It was a dark future. A dark vision…”

So, the prophesied doom that the doomsayer spoke of… was just the Industrial Spirit King having a dream of his own death and being anxious about it? Perhaps my guess was right.

“That… I’ve had similar dreams too. Quite a lot! Being a corrupt reporter, I’ve nearly died quite a few times in my reporting career! I was almost strangled to death by a detective who came to steal my article, and after that, I sometimes have nightmares about being strangled! Though I don’t have them anymore! When I woke up in the morning, my whole body would be drenched in cold sweat.”

I didn’t know. Only ignorance filled me like fog. If that was the case, I could just speak as someone who doesn’t know. Sometimes, there was no need to figure out what I didn’t know.

I borrowed the language of the bartender at Two Face who had helped me. I borrowed her thoughts. I believed this city was full of people who didn’t know how to talk about themselves.

“Still! I can’t let myself die by strangulation in reality because of a hand I saw in a dream! I don’t want to fulfill such an ominous dream with my own hands! So I reassure myself that a dream is just a dream and get through the day! How do you resolve it, Spirit King?”

Communication didn’t solve all problems, but sometimes, talking openly could prevent problems from festering. All I could do was let air circulate around the wound.

“Indeed… that is a foolish thing to do. To fulfill the future one fears so much. Why weren’t there people around me who would say such things? Everyone just tried to solve the symptoms.”

I felt like I should pay the bartender for her words. I smiled at that massive and powerful being and said:

“It was just bad luck, I guess! Industrial spirits live among people, but you, Spirit King, rarely meet with people. There might be other reasons, but it’s best to think it was just bad luck and believe tomorrow will be better, don’t you think?”

It was advice that had worked for me, so I believed it would work for him too. Once again, the machine in front of me began to creak. The Industrial Spirit’s voice also became a bit gentler.

“Misfortune. Probability theory. It doesn’t seem like the situation has improved at all… but I don’t feel bad. I’ll try to change my thinking a little, little elf. Ah, you said you were a reporter.”

“Yes! A reporter! Actually, I’m not that corrupt of a reporter! Probably!”

The machines turning in front of me aligned. As if the gaze was reaching me, every part of the machine began to turn toward me.

“Then, let me ask one thing. What is needed when informing people about something? If this dream repeats and repeats, I’d like to at least try telling people about it.”

I thought for a moment. I debated whether to give what might be called kind words or words that would use any means necessary… but I decided to give practical advice this time. I had used up my quota of flowery words for the day.

“More important than anything else is making sure as many people as possible hear it! If they don’t listen, words become meaningless echoes! If it seems like whatever you say will evaporate, it’s important to make it stick in people’s memories by any means necessary. If you can make it evaporate even a day later, yes! Someone will remember it!”

The machine started turning again. This time, it was moving at an appropriate speed without overheating. It still wasn’t producing anything, but it seemed a bit more stable.

The last time I visited Madam Gremory, I put the interview aside and just received counseling, but this time, it seemed like I put the interview aside and only gave counseling.

“Good, that’s good advice. And… there’s no need to speak so loudly, little elf. It’s amusing that you think I wouldn’t hear you while you’re talking in front of my heart.”

More than embarrassment, the fact that he mentioned this only at the end, missing the opportunity to say it earlier, showed how unskilled he was at conversation, how much he had fulfilled only his duties without having anyone to talk to.

I’m not making up a plausible excuse to hide my embarrassment. Probably. Probably.