Chapter 605: Suspicious Engineer (3)

Enforcers.

The most formidable elite corps in the Machine City, and the very symbol of Machina’s power.

Their renown spread to other cities, so much so that talented superhumans would come for training just to learn the Enforcer curriculum.

Though considerable time had passed and Machina’s insularity had grown even stronger, their prestige never faded.

Could it be said that Lennok’s connections, made through his pretense as a craftsman offering consulting, had already reached this far?

Or was there another reason for the Enforcers to seek out this workshop?

“……”

Isabella had undoubtedly exposed her Enforcer’s glove to Lennok on purpose, showing it to him.

If her intention was to gauge his reaction, Lennok was confident he wouldn’t fall for it.

But what if they had come to confront Lennok, armed with sufficient suspicion or doubt about his very identity as Van?

At the very least, it was clear that the Enforcers, as a group of superhumans, were precisely the kind of entity for whom visiting Lennok for such a reason would not be strange at all.

“May I examine it before making a judgment?”

Forcing down his suspicions, Lennok examined the object Isabella offered.

It was a sword-like form with four jet-black blades neatly folded inward.

The blades were folded so deeply that it was uncertain if it could cut anything even if wielded.

Despite clearly being broken beyond functionality, the power emanating from it felt vividly palpable, almost tangible.

Without needing to touch the equipment further, Lennok knew what Isabella had brought forth.

“It’s an artifact.”

“That’s right.”

She nodded.

“The craftsman who made this equipment was a Master who could directly create artifacts.”

Equipment crafted with the aid of magic engineering technology, and artifacts directly imbued with mana.

While their ultimate purpose – to be held and wielded by someone – was the same, the results produced through their respective processes were entirely different.

Unlike equipment, which rigidly adhered to its form-dictated purpose, an artifact was something that housed abilities or spells that could be manifested through mana.

This was impossible unless the creator of the equipment himself could control and manipulate Mind Imprints and Will-thoughts to some extent.

For this reason, those with the talent to intentionally imbue artifacts with specific abilities and orientations almost invariably earned the title of Master.

“I heard you handle not only firearms but also bladed artifacts.”

“……”

“If you succeeded in fixing the music box, your repair skills must be excellent.”

Instead of answering, Lennok quietly reached out and slowly gripped the hilt.

Kiiing…!

At that moment, the four blades faintly vibrated as if starting up, rising in a rotational motion.

An artifact that activated upon gripping the hilt, transforming into a combat-optimized form?

Lennok closed his eyes, maximized his mana perception, and then, the moment he infused mana into the blades.

Wooong!!

A hallucination unfolded before his eyes, like a vast labyrinth.

The mana pouring from the artifact wasn’t overwhelming Lennok.

It was merely a powerful image, arising from the combination of the Will-thought embedded within the blades and the blueprint of the components assembled inside the equipment.

‘It’s a method of internally amplifying the user’s mana by dividing it into four channels within the artifact.’

He quickly identified how the components and Will-thought moved to activate the internal functions when mana was inserted.

‘Though it takes the form of blades, its role is closer to guiding mana flow rather than direct combat. Its design structure forcibly extracts resonance and repulsion.’

The sword-like appearance was merely superficial. In reality, it was an incredibly powerful mana amplification device.

And it was an item crafted specifically for Isabella, and for her alone.

‘The internal mana flow control technology is applied with astonishing smoothness. Instead of allowing multiple users, they’ve pushed the mana amplification efficiency to its absolute limit.’

The craftsman who made this artifact was not merely skilled in equipment crafting, mana manipulation, and the application of Mind Imprints.

He possessed profound insight, capable of correctly understanding and applying the value of imposing restrictions through Geas, and thereby enhancing potential and overcoming limitations.

‘If he had lived, he would surely have risen to a high-tier superhuman and attained a longer lifespan… No, that’s not it.’

He wasn’t a craftsman who could have become a high-tier superhuman.

This craftsman, who created this equipment, must have already been a high-tier superhuman in the crafting lineage even at the brink of his death.

Having reached that conclusion, Lennok stroked the blades and asked Isabella.

“May I know the craftsman’s name?”

“Clark. Clark Lonsdale.”

Isabella replied.

“You might have heard the name at least once.”

“……”

Lonsdale. Maiya Lonsdale.

There was no way he wouldn’t recognize that as the family name of the Machine City’s finest Enforcer, now reduced to a criminal of Pandemonium, a monster.

The craftsman who had created the equipment Isabella carried was, in fact, Maiya Lonsdale’s blood relative.

Lennok hesitated, then placed the artifact down and gestured toward the inside of the workshop for Isabella.

“If this requires artifact repair, not just simple maintenance, it would be difficult out here. Please come in.”

Lennok skillfully guided Isabella and the young man, Uzart, into the workshop.

The two surveyed the workshop, filled with all sorts of stacked equipment like a military woman’s armory, but showed no expression or impression of it.

‘This isn’t just rigorous training. They are veterans with extensive combat experience.’

Despite recognizing that the environment differed from a typical workshop and observing it closely, their gaze wasn’t drawn away by the space itself.

Such an unreactive demeanor could only be explained by the cautiousness attained through countless experiences in the field.

They were undoubtedly skilled high-tier superhumans, but their abnormally calm attitude spoke of a level that couldn’t be explained by talent and combat prowess alone.

Lennok seated the two in chairs with a clear view of the inner workbench and placed the artifact on the table.

Click, clack!!

He directly plugged thick wires protruding from various parts of the workbench into the artifact.

Isabella observed this and spoke quietly.

“You’re not adjusting the connection points separately. If you connect it without measuring the artifact’s internal mana efficiency, one side is likely to break.”

‘Her observation is sharp.’

She clearly understood the artifact’s structure and the process of its maintenance.

Perhaps her lover, Clark Lonsdale, being an excellent Master, had provided her with extensive knowledge in that area.

Indeed, Isabella’s point was not wrong.

Lennok had connected the wires to various parts of the artifact so conspicuously precisely to show that he would supply mana using them.

Ironically, that made it easy to offer a plausible excuse in front of Isabella.

“You don’t have to worry.”

Wooong……!!

As he activated the device, the簡易 (gan-i) engine built into the workbench also started, drawing mana and channeling it directly into the artifact.

Lennok, his face illuminated by a deep blue mana light, slightly turned away as he spoke.

“I plan to make real-time adjustments as I go.”

“No, wait, that doesn’t make any sense—!!”

The flustered young man, Uzart, jumped up to intervene on Isabella’s behalf, but Isabella stopped him with a sharp gaze.

Was she determined not to object to the process once she had decided to entrust the equipment?

Lennok thought so, gathering the mana rising above the workbench and slamming it onto the artifact’s blades.

Crackle!!

Hundreds of mana particles, fragmented into countless pieces, spread through the artifact’s internal components, rotating.

They smoothly swept over the surface of all the intricately assembled parts, scanning their surfaces into a 3D schematic displayed above the workbench.

Whoosh!!

The 3D holographic image suddenly appeared above Lennok’s head.

Uzart, realizing that the image was the artifact meticulously disassembled and floating in mid-air, gaped in astonishment.

“Found it.”

Lennok briefly closed and opened his eyes, then picked up a thin, needle-like screwdriver and pushed it directly between the widely spread blades.

Click, squeak…!!

He magnified the internal structure through a magnifying glass inside his iron mask, and the screwdriver in his hand, manipulated by mana threads rather than his fingers, delicately reassembled the misaligned components.

“The components are excessively small, and the structure is overlapping, making it prone to total malfunction if even one part goes awry.”

“……”

“It’s likely due to designing a single component to perform multiple complex functions. Of course, that’s how they managed to miniaturize the amplification device to this extent, but…”

Isabella’s eyes gleamed at Lennok’s soft murmuring.

“So you already understood it was a mana amplification device.”

“How could someone claiming to repair an artifact not understand its origin and purpose?”

Master Clark Lonsdale was likely an exceptionally skilled mana user, possessing acute senses that were highly sensitive to even the slightest changes.

The internal structure of the sword-shaped amplification device revealed the designer’s obsession and effort to distort the flow of mana to its absolute limit.

Its precision and complexity were impeccable, comparable to even a living mana user.

Though Lennok had never witnessed it himself, he could almost see how much effort he had poured into creating this artifact.

“But to implement the desired function, many features like persistence and reliability were sacrificed. This is ultimately an item with a fixed lifespan.”

“……What did you say?”

Lennok knew how difficult it was to miniaturize a mana amplification device into a weapon.

For someone not a transcendentally talented mage like Lennok, to be able to gradually amplify another superhuman’s mana…

If he had even adjusted Geas to embed that function into the artifact, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Clark Lonsdale’s crafting skills had already reached a masterful level.

However, to actually implement that function, he had to endure an excessive number of components, frequent malfunctions, and complex designs.

Regardless of Clark’s own will, the components comprising this artifact must have been constantly wearing down and breaking.

Knowing this, Lennok had discarded the idea of repairing those complex internal components from the beginning.

Click!!

The moment he removed the screwdriver, shattered gears and screw debris from inside the artifact poured out.

Not stopping there, Lennok proceeded to disassemble and detach the four blades that were folded around the artifact.

Uzart flinched, looking as if he would leap forward at any moment, but Isabella patiently continued to watch.

“Damn it, he doesn’t know how important that artifact is to us, so he’s just…!!”

“Be patient. This is the last step. It’s not too late to talk after we see the result.”

Click, clack!!

This wasn’t just repairing the artifact; it was a complete overhaul and external modification on the spot.

Not only was he removing internal components instead of fixing them, but tampering with the exterior itself was astonishing.

Even more surprising was the fact that he was performing all these processes while an enormous amount of mana continuously flowed over the workbench.

This was proof that the craftsman, who introduced himself as Van, possessed unbelievably delicate and meticulous skill in mana manipulation.

That was why Isabella still endured and observed the process Lennok was carrying out.

“For a long time, whenever I saw artifacts with this kind of design, I’ve had a particular method in mind.”

Lennok said, dismantling the existing exterior without hesitation and beginning to modify it on the spot.

“I might as well try a new approach this time.”

“……”

What were the chances that a craftsman’s new experiment would lead to a good result?

Uzart looked as if he wanted to point that out, but remembering Isabella’s words, he kept quiet.

Meanwhile, Lennok continued to remove existing components, bend them, melt them, and reattach them.

Ironically, the artifact, which seemed to have completely lost its original form and been dismantled in the process, was returning to its initial shape.

Snap!!

As he reattached the four blades he had last removed, the artifact returned to a shape very similar to the one Isabella had taken from her pocket.

Simultaneously, the immense flow of mana over the workbench subsided as if washed away, and even the vibration calmly settled.

“It’s done.”

Lennok wiped sweat from beneath his iron mask and carefully detached the wires connected to the artifact.

Turning around, Lennok gently placed it on the table where Isabella was sitting and nodded.

“Minor adjustments like output and mana flow control will require further fine-tuning, but the basic operation should be fine.”

“Alright.”

Isabella, without hesitation, gripped the hilt of the artifact and asked.

“Can I use it right here?”

“Of course.”

Click!!

The moment Isabella gripped and lifted the artifact, the four blades fully unfurled, transforming it into something resembling an inverted umbrella.

Even after undergoing modification and maintenance, the artifact, as if it hadn’t forgotten its original owner, started up quickly when mana was infused.

However, immediately after she began to infuse mana into the artifact, Isabella’s expression hardened like never before.

“What did you do?”

Sizzle…!!

The mana Isabella poured in wasn’t entering the amplification device properly.

Instead, it was streaming out unabated over the artifact’s surface.

It seemed he hadn’t fixed the artifact, but completely broken its internal mechanism.

Isabella turned to Lennok, unable to hide her bewilderment, and Uzart, realizing the situation, placed a hand on his waist with a chilling expression.

Sling!!

Uzart, with a thin rapier in hand, pointed it at Lennok’s throat, blocking his movement.

“Clark Lonsdale’s mana amplification device is a unique artifact, the only one of its kind in the Machine City, impossible to mass-produce even with a Master’s hand.”

Unlike before, Uzart glared at Lennok with an emotionless face, pressing the blade against his neck.

“I wonder if you understand the immense responsibility for completely destroying it with your own hands.”

“……That rapier.”

Instead of responding to his words, Lennok looked at the rapier aimed at his neck with an expression of interest.

“That’s also an artifact with complex internal functions, not just a simple sword.”

Though it had the form of a sleek blade, Lennok didn’t miss the sound of mechanical parts turning inside the blade.

At Lennok’s attitude, showing interest in other equipment even in this situation, a vein throbbed in Uzart’s forehead.

“This isn’t the time for games—!!”

“I’ve thought about this for a long time, but the structure of embedding functions and abilities within equipment inherently carries instability.”

“……What?”

“If a component breaks or the exterior is even slightly twisted, the artifact’s abilities often break down and become unusable.”

Lennok said, glancing at Isabella.

More precisely, at the form of the mana amplification device she still held.

“Wouldn’t it be more convenient to conceptually twist the embedded function out of the artifact and extract it?”

“……You don’t mean.”

Isabella seemed to understand what Lennok was saying immediately, her eyebrows faintly trembling.

An emotion akin to shock spread across her usually cold face, and just as Uzart turned his head, dumbfounded by her reaction.

The mana that had failed to enter the artifact and was streaming out began to gather, all converging at a single point.