episode_0074

“Captain! Over here! There’s a doll that looks like a totem!”

“Damn shamans.”

As the train arrived at the Taeyeop City station, the dwarf guards surrounding the platform rushed forward to inspect the train.

Before long, the dwarves successfully discovered the totem.

It was a wooden doll carved from wood.

A small amount of magic was detected inside.

It was concluded that this totem had cast a widespread spell across the entire train.

The guards immediately destroyed the totem and collected the fragments.

Subsequently, a search was conducted on all passengers.

Of course, both me and Mijeong couldn’t avoid the search.

“Um, could this be… a bloodsucker?”

“Yes.”

“We’ll need to conduct a saliva test.”

“Of course.”

There was a brief moment of confusion, but it quickly subsided.

Since bloodsucker testing kits were widely available worldwide, it was soon proven through the test that Mijeong didn’t have the bloodsucker virus.

As long as the fangs were removed and there was no risk of infection, it wasn’t a problem to carry a bloodsucker around.

Of course, due to the fear of bloodsuckers, it would be a problem if one went around advertising themselves as a bloodsucker to everyone.

But since Mijeong agreed to keep a low profile and conceal themselves, the guards no longer questioned her.

“What is your occupation?”

“I’m a mercenary.”

“You don’t look like a mercenary…”

“I also carry a dagger with me.”

“Wow! A knife from your panties!”

However, there still seemed to be some suspicion about me, as the searches continued.

I must have looked quite suspicious.

Surrounded by dwarves with thick beards and a strong smell, I felt an urgent desire to escape and bury my nose in Cornelia’s forehead.

“What are those marks on your arms and neck? There are so many.”

“Our child is teething, that’s why.”

“Ah, I see. You’re raising a puppy.”

“No, this one.”

“…?”

After enduring a long interrogation, I was finally able to be released.

It seemed that the guards concluded that I wasn’t a shaman.

After escaping, I learned that they hadn’t caught the person suspected of being a shaman after all.

The shaman had placed a decoy inside the train.

So, the real person was likely outside the train.

Even if they were inside, they were probably capable of disguising themselves and escaping in insect form.

“I can’t catch them. Let’s move on.”

If it were someone I knew, I could predict their movements and catch them.

But since I had never encountered this new face in the 12 rounds, I didn’t have a clear way to catch them.

The dwarf guards would handle it, anyway.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here.”

As I stepped out of the station, a magnificent view greeted me.

Smoke billowed from countless factories lined along the riverbank.

This was Taeyeop City.

It was the city with the most natural resources in the north and the largest industrial city.

The resources were so abundant that if you dug anywhere, oil would spurt out, coal would pop up, and natural gas would seep out.

They literally made money by digging the ground.

Using these abundant resources, they operated various types of factories.

From steel mills to textile factories, construction material factories, and shipyards…

In essence, it was a city that produced everything except food.

But the real charm of Taeyeop City was revealed as you moved beyond the industrial zone and entered the downtown area.

It was a branch of the unique branch of Madogonghak that had developed only in Taeyeop City.

A street lined with displays of Taeyeop machines stretched out before us.

“Wow.”

Mijeong couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.

Each shop was filled with unique machines.

From Taeyeop clocks to machines that automatically wrote, and jukeboxes that played music.

And that was just the beginning.

On the well-maintained streets, machines resembling carriages but powered by Taeyeop engines rolled by.

The doors of the shops opened and closed automatically, and steamboats with steam engines under their bridges passed by, emitting smoke.

It was charmingly noisy, as always, but…

“Wow, it’s really loud.”

“…Yeah, my ears hurt.”

It was always a noisy city, no matter when you visited.

No matter how much lubricant you applied to Taeyeop machines, they always made a creaking sound.

That’s why you couldn’t find Taeyeop machines outside the city.

Of course, despite the noise, Taeyeop machines had their advantages compared to other Madogonghak.

Taeyeop machines could create more complex and precise devices.

In theory, with Taeyeop machines, you could even create a computer.

Of course, the size would be enormous, and the efficiency would be practically non-existent…

“The Taeyeop dolls have completely disappeared.”

Taeyeop dolls.

A leaf-like machine resembling a person once enjoyed immense popularity.

In the early stages of the story, as soon as one returned to the leaf city, they could see the streets filled with leaf dolls.

There were maid leaf dolls, butler leaf dolls, and even coachman leaf dolls driving carriages.

There were also movements to develop artificial personalities to put into the leaf dolls.

However, it was just a passing fad.

The leaf dolls quickly fell into decline due to their low fuel efficiency.

Even in noble households, they were considered too burdensome to use.

But I heard that there are still some places that accept custom orders.

There is occasional demand from both humans and demi-humans…

It seems that those with unique tastes exist in every world.

“Let’s quickly take care of business.”

There is no intention to stay long.

It’s as noisy here at night as it is during the day.

This city is not a place where one can survive by drinking beer and getting drunk, collapsing onto a pillow only to snore loudly like a dwarf.

“Water… I’m scared.”

“Close your eyes. Hold my hand and walk. Let me know when we reach the stairs.”

Due to Mijung’s fear of the river, I had to hold her hand tightly every time we crossed a leg.

As we passed through the bustling streets of the dizzying leaf city and delved into the alleyways, we came across a shabby street at the end.

We arrived at the store.

The sign was rusted and about to fall off.

The windows and doors were all blocked.

It looked like a closed workshop.

But this is where a legendary technician lives.

This is where Kerren resides.

“Hmm…”

Thud, thud, thud.

There was no response even when I knocked on the door.

At this point, Kerren’s symptoms of dementia would likely be severe.

He might not be in his right mind.

“There’s no other choice.”

I placed my finger in the keyhole and cast the unlocking spell.

Magical energy flowed into the hole, and a pleasant clicking sound was heard.

Clank.

The lock opened, and the door creaked open.

The view inside the dark house.

“Wait.”

“…”

Mijung tried to cast a fire spell, but I stopped her.

This is not an abandoned house, so turning on the lights would be enough.

I felt around the wall and turned on the switch, brightening the surroundings.

Contrary to the exterior, the interior looked like a clean mansion.

The furniture and walls were spotless without a speck of dust.

“Grandpa Kerren! You’re not dead yet, are you?”

Shouting, I walked down the hallway towards the inside.

Kerren would be in the bedroom.

Although the exterior was neat, there were creaking sounds from the wooden floor throughout the walk.

As I turned the corner of the hallway…

[Shock detected]

“Ah, surprised me.”

I bumped into a pale-faced woman.

For a moment, I was startled, but soon realized that she was not a person but a leaf machine.

[Re-routing path.]

“It’s Linda.”

As our eyes met, she turned to the air and continued speaking, a maid robot.

While her front appearance was quite convincing as a human, the tangled leaves moving behind her revealed her true nature.

Her name was Linda.

She was the leaf doll taking care of Kerren.

Of course, her care was limited to delivering food to the room, following the programmed route for cleaning, and basic interactions.

[Ding. Cleaning time. Dusting will begin.]

Even though two unfamiliar people had entered, Linda started cleaning without any reaction.

There was no programmed response to intruders in the first place.

“It’s a bit strange.”

Usually, if the appearance was meticulously crafted, the software would be excellent as well.

But her software performance was far below that of the leaf dolls that were once popular.

Even though voice recognition and simple conversation were basic skills back then.

Was there a reason for deliberately installing faulty software?

[Shock detected. Re-routing path.]

“Mijung, move aside.”

“Okay.”

It was just a luxury item of little importance.

Ignoring Linda passing by, I reached the bedroom and turned the doorknob.

Inside, I saw Kerren lying in bed with his eyes open.

Kerren.

Once hailed as the greatest leaf machine technician.

He was around 60 years old, not very old for a dwarf.

But one day, he suddenly developed dementia, likely due to overwork.

Now, he was confined to his bed, unable to do anything.

“Grandpa, let’s make a request.”

“…”

Even waving my hand in front of his eyes elicited no response.

He was in a state where he couldn’t even communicate, let alone work on machines.

“What kind of request are you entrusting to a dementia patient?”

There are many ways.

A privilege reserved for a story writer.

I know of a certain Easter egg.

‘There is a ghost in the machine.’

When you recite this one sentence, Keren regains his sanity.

When Keren doesn’t know about the Easter egg, it’s just a faded glory of the past.

But if you input the command, he becomes a living legend.

So, what does it mean that there is a ghost in the machine?

I don’t know either.

It’s just that it’s like that because of the setting.

Gently leaning towards Keren’s ear, I cup my hands and whisper the command.

“There is a ghost in the machine.”

“······.”

He flinches.

Keren’s body trembles slightly.

And soon, his pupils, which were fixed on the ceiling, move and stare directly at me.

The old man who was dying is nowhere to be seen.

Instead, a dwarf filled with enthusiasm is burning with eyes full of determination.

And then, Keren······

“Aaah!!! A ghost in the machine! A ghost in the machine!!!”

He screams in terror, his eyes rolling back.

Oh. It seems like the symptoms have worsened.

Having to drop Keren from the window, I had a hard time.

Because the dwarf craftsman’s real muscle strength is no joke······.

After barely dropping him from the window and closing it, Keren screams and collapses back onto the bed.

“Ugh. I’m scared of ghosts.”

“This is crazy······.”

Something is wrong.

Originally, when he heard the command, Keren was supposed to exude an air of old manliness and ask, ‘So what’s the request?’.

It actually worked in the previous episode.

But why is his dementia getting worse in this episode?

What other variables are at play this time······.

It hurts.

“······Grandpa. It’s broken.”

“It’s not broken. We can fix it.”

Of course, there is a way to fix it.

Dementia is not an incurable disease in this world.

Among the spells, there is a spell that alleviates dementia symptoms.

But how can we find a shaman in Taeyeop City.

Here, shamans are often treated as frauds.

Oh. Where can we find a shaman.

“Ugh!”

“······?”

As I was thinking that.

The door opened roughly, and a clattering voice could be heard.

The voice sounds familiar.

And what appeared behind the door was a girl in a familiar nun’s attire.

“I heard you were looking for an exorcist! I am the exorcist approved by the church, right? No! I’m an exorcist nun! The basic fee starts at 1000 gold······ Uh······?”

She checks my face and turns pale.

It’s certain.

She’s the one who caused the curse terror on the train.

She looks younger than she did back then, but cases where the clone’s body is better than the original are numerous.

“You. You’re the shaman I saw on the train.”

“Oh, no, I’m not?”

It seems like my wish has been granted by the heavens.

Sending me a useful shaman like this.

I’ll make good use of her.