This Isn’t It!!

Deus Ex Machina.

The reason I took her in wasn’t because of her aspects as a weapon, but because I saw the aspects of a girl who wanted to learn about the world.

‘Gunpowder can be so beautiful, can’t it?’

That statement wasn’t something a being who only knows slaughter could make.

Of course, my thoughts might be wrong, but it wouldn’t be too late to make a decision after hearing what she would say afterwards.

For that reason, I was now heading towards a place where there was someone believed to be the only person in this Maris who could repair this weapon, with the chairman’s permission.

‘So, you want me to introduce you to a craftsman who can repair that weapon?’

‘Yes, since I pulled out and exploded this child’s power source while it was still alive, I think I’ll need something to replace it. Plus, I’ve also somewhat diminished its combat abilities.’

Fortunately, Mariel also oversees matters outside of Maris.

Of course, she knows all the key collaborators of the academy, so she should know several excellent craftsmen.

Especially since this academy has many special facilities that can’t be found elsewhere.

‘If we’re talking about someone who also has an understanding of the engineering applied to ancient weapons… There’s only one person in this Maris.’

‘Only one?’

‘You know how the magical tools in this academy function automatically without sorcerers, right? The base design and devices for that are, in a sense, derived from ancient technology.’

Ancient technology that was once developed but for some reason, its usage methods were lost.

The person Mariel introduced was said to have directly analyzed and understood such technology, and had a record of modifying it into technology needed to create tools and facilities necessary for the academy.

A person who could be called one of the founding contributors of Maris.

Of course, craftsmen tend to be quite stubborn, but since I received a letter of recommendation from Mariel, I judged it wouldn’t hurt to try.

‘Oh, by the way, regarding the necessary budget, I won’t be able to solve it from my end. I’ve given you temporary possession rights judging that you, Seine, have the ability to take charge of a weapon that should have been originally retrieved or destroyed.’

‘…What does that mean?’

‘You can claim it if results are proven, but before that time comes, you have to pay the costs incurred in managing that weapon. No matter how much it is.’

…Well.

Money issues are involved, but I don’t have anywhere to spend money right now anyway since it’s all savings, so I can think of this as an investment and recover it later.

“Is this the place that Mariel guy mentioned?”

For these reasons, the place I arrived at was an area not too far from Maris.

However, compared to the prosperous central area, it was a gloomy alley with hardly any human presence.

You could say it had an atmosphere that ordinary people wouldn’t even glance at… Well, it wouldn’t be strange for a craftsman to be in a place like this.

Usually, people who dig only one well don’t show much interest in anything except their specialty, so it’s understandable that they prefer places without human footsteps.

-Hing?

“Oh, yes. This way.”

So I stroked the mane of the unicorn pulling the cart and continued walking down the alley.

A series of empty houses that were once inhabited but now abandoned.

Abandoned factory materials, and yet a street without any trash as if no one ever passes through…

“If it’s the address written down, it should be around here… Hm?”

I stopped at the place I reached and briefly gazed at what unfolded before me.

A building with smoke gushing from its protruding chimney.

Towards a man in a school uniform standing in front of a place that was clearly a workshop at first glance.

“Ah, hello. Um, do you have business here?”

The male student who immediately noticed my presence and greeted me.

He was an impressive child with a polite attitude and a height taller than most adults.

“Yes, I’m Seine, the health teacher at Maris. Do you know about me?”

“Ah, yes. You’re the one who was appointed this year.”

The male student exclaimed, seeing the white gown I was wearing.

Afterwards, having let down his guard, he smiled more lightly and bowed politely towards me.

“Nice to meet you, Teacher Seine. I’m Malian Drevis, serving as the vice president of the Maris student council.”

“…Malan?”

“Yes, please call me as you like.”

Malan smiled brightly.

Introducing himself as the vice president, he seemed to be the closest aide to the president who had cared for Dale.

“Hmm.”

How long had I been looking him up and down, strangely intrigued?

Soon, my first impression of him was voiced aloud.

“You’re quite skinny, kid.”

“Pardon?”

“Are you eating properly? You’re not skipping meals because you’re sleepy while studying or working, are you?”

“That’s… well…”

Malan averted his gaze for a moment, flustered.

A reaction close to having hit the nail on the head.

“Tsk, that won’t do. You should be eating well at your age. Look at you. You’ve grown tall like a beanpole, but your arms and legs are all thin as sticks.”

“Ugh!”

Malan staggered as soon as I patted his shoulder, feeling sorry for him.

It was a natural result since his entire body seemed to be composed of just skin and bones.

Well, if I didn’t have personal business, I would have taken him somewhere to eat some meat.

“Studying is good, and being diligent with student council work is good too. But health comes first, you know. Exercise regularly, cut down on flour and greasy foods, drink mostly lukewarm water, and don’t smoke or drink…”

“Y-Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Malan nodded to my words, though with a troubled expression.

Seeing that, I chuckled and patted his shoulder as I moved into the workshop.

A place cluttered with various tools and materials. Though the space was wide, it wasn’t easy to find a place to step.

I roughly pushed aside such things with my foot to clear a path and continued speaking.

“By the way, why were you standing blankly here, Vice President? Did you have business with the owner here like me?”

“Ah, that… Actually, I came here regarding the order of school supplies.”

“School supplies? Ah, come to think of it, the student council handles things necessary for school operations too, right?”

The authority held by the Maris student council is higher than that of ordinary teachers.

Moreover, the student council has more direct interaction with students than teachers, so they’re well-informed about school affairs.

It might be natural for them to take charge of ordering necessary school supplies.

Well, like with any job, there are those who just have good intentions but pass off the work they don’t want to do to others…

“Anyway, if it’s about ordering supplies, shouldn’t you go to the factory rather than a workshop?”

“Ah, well… They said the design for the item we want to order hasn’t arrived, so I came here directly to receive it.”

“You came instead of them sending someone from the factory?”

“Ahaha, it’s a common occurrence, so please don’t mind.”

Oh my, it seems it’s not just teachers who make use of students.

I heard that students working in the field is also meant to foster independence and self-reliance… But at this rate, I wonder if they’ll just leave after graduation feeling only the bitterness of middle management.

“…I can guess why you were standing around.”

The stairs I discovered after leaving the entrance area.

The footprints in the dust accumulated on those stairs mean someone has gone up here recently.

I followed those traces and continued speaking.

“You find that craftsman person difficult to deal with, right?”

Usually, stubborn people are hard to handle.

Moreover, if you’re a student, it wouldn’t be strange to be disrespected as a youngster.

“No, it’s not that they’re difficult… It’s more that I’m worried about how hard they work.”

“Worried?”

“Well, in their case, they’re actually more concerned about the works they create.”

“Concerned… You mean they feel more anxiety than pride?”

“Yes, everything they make is really amazing and in high demand. But no matter how well-made a work is, it’s impossible to completely prevent it from breaking or having issues, right?”

“That’s true, no matter how high the durability, reaching an ‘absolute’ level is only theoretical.”

Especially since what’s being ordered now isn’t a personal order but a design to be sent to a factory.

Of course, as it’s premised on mass production, the materials need to be processed quickly, so durability will inevitably be greatly sacrificed.

“Of course, they know that too, but if it actually breaks and someone gets hurt, they wail terribly. So they spend several days and nights trying to make something better… And when that happens, they don’t listen to anything anyone says.”

“No matter what anyone says?”

“Yes, I worry about what if they collapse like that… But I’m even more worried that something bad might happen if I interfere.”

So that’s why he couldn’t enter the workshop and was just fidgeting outside.

Damn, it seems negotiating will be extremely difficult.

If they’re just stubborn, you can break them through arguments or whatever, but with depressed people, if you make a wrong move, you might crush their will to work and end up worse off than before.

“Is the order urgent?”

Still, since I came here because I need something too, I can’t just turn back like this.

“It’s not that urgent. We have a lot of what’s been produced so far, so there are many alternatives. It’s just that if there’s a need to replace supplies within the academy, it’s customary to consult the craftsman first…”

Malan trailed off at that point.

Judging by how reluctant he is to answer, it seems a major incident has occurred at the academy that I don’t know about.

“…There was an accident, wasn’t there.”

“Yes, recently there was a casualty due to something they made.”

If it’s a casualty, does that mean fatalities…

No, if something like that happened within the academy, it would be impossible to hide, so there probably weren’t any deaths.

Even in the worst case, it would probably be severe injuries that endangered life at the time.

But if a patient occurs at the academy, that news should be conveyed to me, the health teacher.

At least since I started regular work, the only ones who were injured to the point of life-threatening in this academy were at most the Guidance Department.

Even those injuries were from recklessly trying to subdue a boy of barbarian origin, not from equipment damage… Could it be that the school has hidden a patient I don’t know about?

“What broke and injured someone?”

If that’s really the case, it’s something I can’t overlook as the health teacher.

As soon as I asked, Malan hesitated before answering.

“A window.”

“…A window?”

A window, he says.

The thing Dale keeps breaking all the time?

-Crash!!!

At that moment, the sound of breaking glass echoed through the workshop.

My attention, suddenly on high alert, turned towards the path I was heading.

Damn, I thought things had calmed down recently, but did something happen here?

“Ah, again…!!”

But unlike me, Malan just let out an exclamation as if used to this kind of thing.

Judging by his pale face, it doesn’t seem dangerous… No, it would be better to check directly than to ask.

“Mr. Draft. Are you alright?”

The place we entered after Malan took the lead was a workroom located in the workshop.

Inside, along with the heat emanating steam, fragments of something shattered were scattered everywhere.

Metal… no, glass.

And quite sharp glass at that. Rather than being processed like this from the start, it was closer to a form that had been indiscriminately shattered by physical impact.

“This isn’t it!!”

And the old man presumed to have done this was still aiming a hammer at the glass plate on the workbench.

“This isn’t it. This isn’t it!! Aaaaaargh!!!”

Immediately after, the glass plate shattered with a loud crash as the hammer was swung mercilessly.

As he hammered the shattered glass plate again, the targeted fragments finally crumbled like powder and began to flow in all directions.

For some reason, this situation felt familiar.

Seeing that sight, an exclamation involuntarily escaped my lips.

“Wow, so that’s why those damn hard windows keep breaking all the time.”

Who would have thought the creator himself was the window destroyer.