Chapter 56
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Is This a Dream or Reality?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Bernard couldn't believe the scene unfolding before him.
The third son of the Pador family had actually come?
The very one who had stirred up a storm at the birthday party of Ford's second son, Ran Ford.
A prime candidate for the starring role in the current empire-shaking drama, no matter who you asked!
A guy who was worlds apart from someone like him... someone he couldn't even exchange words with... had shown up.
-I'll make sure to stop by.
He'd thought it was just a casual remark, something said out of politeness.
'It... it was real?'
He'd really come!
Bernard saw this as a once-in-a-lifetime golden opportunity.
"Ahem...!"
He cleared his throat.
"Ahh...!"
He tossed aside the hideous hammer and stripped off his work clothes.
He had to look as scholarly as possible, right?!
Bernard leaned against a tree.
Then, in a deep, resonant voice, he greeted Deyan.
"You've arrived?"
"......"
It fell flat. His childhood friend Korel, standing beside him, shook her head repeatedly.
"Good grief..."
I-isn't this right?!
He glanced at Deyan, but... he couldn't read the third son of the Pador family's expression at all.
How could a human face be so utterly expressionless?
It seemed even more impassive than the iron dolls he used for experiments.
Don't panic, Bernard!
This rare chance—he couldn't blow it. He had to show him his masterpieces and secure some funding.
He had a mission to fulfill for that very reason.
As Bernard geared up for another greeting...
Deyan's lips curved upward.
H-he smiled?
"You're an unusual noble. Now I see why the villagers treat you so casually."
Bernard briefly wondered if that was a veiled death threat.
It looked just like the expression he'd worn when brutally smashing North.
Was he angry about Bernard undermining noble authority?! Is that it?!
No, no!
Stay calm. That's a sign of approval.
"Ah, ahaha. W-well, I am a noble, but not much of one. I've been close with the villagers since I was little, without any formalities. It's comfortable this way. It might seem a bit odd... but honestly, I'm no different from a commoner."
Bernard answered as carefully as he could.
To be blunt, what did status matter? But saying that outright would be like spitting in the face of that prestigious family's heir, wouldn't it?
Fortunately, Deyan took Bernard's words in stride.
"Nobles don't have to be arrogant. Doesn't matter—people come in all kinds. More importantly..."
Deyan eyed the sagging roof.
"That's quite the welcoming gesture."
"Haha, I was in the middle of research, so there was a little accident. A little acc—!"
Boom!
What little accident?
The workshop roof tore off as if hit by a typhoon all on its own.
"J-just a bit bigger accident, huh? Haha?"
He tried to play it off lightly, but everyone's faces soured—except Deyan's.
Korel, in particular... she figured it was all over after seeing Bernard's antics.
'That idiot! Who'd like seeing that?'
But...
Someone here didn't care about such things.
"Inventions come with mishaps like that sometimes."
Deyan strode into the workshop with a straight face.
Wasn't that a bit too oblivious...?
The homeowner Bernard and his childhood friend Korel were the ones flustered now.
But this wasn't the time to dwell on it!
Bernard hurriedly offered chairs to Deyan and his group.
"P-please, have a seat here!"
Then he yanked a string from the kitchen side. Teacups appeared on the table.
Judging by the extra shelf at the string's end, it was a setup that delivered the cups sequentially via controlled impacts.
Marian, who used the kitchen often, stared at the teacups in wonder.
"Wow...! That's neat!"
"Right?"
Marian's interest.
From Bernard's perspective, this was an opening!
Seizing it, he began hawking his inventions like a peddler.
"I've got more. Want to see?!"
Bernard scurried to the lab.
Meanwhile...
"The cups are empty."
"Yeah..."
Marian and Nellin giggled at the bare cups.
What good were teacups without anything in them?
Bernard was clearly full of gaps, obvious at a glance.
Korel sighed and heated a kettle by the fireplace, pouring tea for everyone.
"Sorry about that airhead messing up."
"It's fine. We get it—we've got one like that too."
Deyan subtly glanced at Nellin, but the person in question...
"Really?! Young master, who is it? I'll give 'em a good scolding!"
"......"
It's you. It's you.
Everyone assumed it was Nellin, but she had no idea it was about her.
She gulped down the still-hot tea.
Perhaps finding Nellin adorable, Korel propped her chin on her hand.
"Must be tough."
"Thanks for understanding."
People stuck with scatterbrains like these just clicked.
Just then.
Thud!
Bernard emerged from the lab, arms loaded with inventions.
He had so many he had to kick the door shut.
"Hahaha, I've got a lot of inventions, you see!"
He really did have a ton.
This many without even starting a company?
It'd take half a day to see them all.
A hardcore workaholic.
Bernard laid them out like a traveling salesman and pondered.
'Which one first?'
Plenty of inventions, but he couldn't show them all.
Deyan might leave anytime.
So, he had to captivate the Pador youngest in short order.
When a customer shows up, you figure out what they want, right?!
'First impressions matter... first...'
The roof was already gone, so first impressions were toast, but he could salvage it.
Bernard picked one after much thought.
A scabbard.
The Pador family wielded swords.
Everyone in the family used them, so no better fit.
"Hup..."
Bernard nervously presented the scabbard to Deyan.
"First up, this one!"
"Hm. A scabbard. Nothing new."
F-failure?
Deyan seemed unimpressed. Understandable—the Padors had their own forges under the family.
How many swords and scabbards had they seen?
Still, Bernard was confident.
This wasn't your average scabbard!
"True, nothing special... but!"
Bernard grabbed a pre-prepared blunt iron sword—just in case—and slid it into the scabbard, drawing everyone's attention like it was some treasure.
"This is no ordinary scabbard, folks! Swords dull with use, right? You think, 'Ugh, too lazy to go to the smithy.' Or maybe buy a new one at the armory? Too much hassle. That's where science comes in!"
Clack!
Bernard propped his leg on a chair.
"Science evolves to ease that hassle! Hassle sparks invention. Like this...!"
Shing!
Bernard drew the sword.
It stuttered midway—untested—but no one minded.
The blunt blade...
Was now gleaming sharp?
Jayvolg jolted upright.
"Ooooh!!"
What kind of tool was this?!
For a sword maniac like him, he couldn't stay seated at such a sight.
Bernard raised the sword high like a hero drawing a holy blade.
"And so! I invented it: the Auto-Whetstone Scabbard! Just sheathe your sword, and it sharpens instantly. The mechanism uses friction and..."
Buoyed by Jayvolg's reaction, Bernard dove into the science.
Jayvolg didn't get the details but was hooked anyway.
Too appealing!
"Y-you have to buy it, young master!!"
Jayvolg urged Deyan like he was impulse-buying.
But Deyan just murmured, "Ho..."—mildly impressed, nothing more.
Not enough to topple the Pador walls?!
'This is just the start... I won't miss this chance!'
Getting anxious, Bernard stowed the sword and pulled out another invention.
A hexagonal glass bottle this time.
"C-come on! One's not enough, right? Here's another. What is this, folks? When eating, what's key? Scent!"
Following Jayvolg, Nellin leaned in, enchanted.
"Y-yeah!"
"That's why I made this bottle. It captures any scent I want and infuses food. Say, apple scent in tea?"
Bernard stuck an iron straw in an apple and pumped.
Apple juice filled the empty bottle. He aimed the straw slightly above Nellin's teacup and...
Psssh!
sprayed it in.
"Apple tea, done. Want to try? Oh, you're already drinking."
Nellin couldn't wait and chugged it like booze.
She opened her big mouth wide after.
"Real apple scent!! Young master, we gotta buy this! Don't you want fireplace-scented steak?!"
As Nellin begged, Deyan smiled faintly.
"Interesting."
He's responding!
Winning over the entourage works, huh?
Even Korel sweated as Bernard's gadgets kept hooking the group.
'He's doing great.'
As Bernard reached for the next one...
Bang!
"Bro! Bernard bro!"
Korel's little brother Derek—who adored Bernard like family—burst in.
Why now of all times?!
They were almost sold, but this could ruin it. Derek was as accident-prone as Bernard.
Bernard tried to gently rein him in, but Derek yelled excitedly.
"Bernard bro! Your soil nutrient machine worked! Come quick, bro! Everyone in the village is gathered!"
"W-what soil nutrient?!"
Bernard instantly matched Derek's frenzy.
Soil nutrient machine!
His years-long labor of love!
If it succeeded, his life's masterpiece—actually working?
He wanted to see now!
'W-wait... if it's really like Derek says?'
This invention could revolutionize everything, interest or not.
That noble kid might beg him for it?
This could seal the win!
Bernard went for broke.
"Everyone! Care to see my masterpiece? Soil Nutrient Machine No. 124?"
Deyan replied languidly.
"Hm... better than these?"
"If it works."
Korel looked worried.
"You saw the land around the village on your way in? All barren."
"I did."
"A few years back, it wasn't like this. It was the most beautiful around. Not anymore, but anyway—Bernard made a machine to revive this dying land."
The parched earth Deyan's group had passed.
Reviving it?
Intriguing. Did Bernard sense it?
He clenched his fist.
"I guarantee it. Once you see... my other inventions won't even register."
"Alright, let's go."
At Deyan's okay, quiet Derek jumped for joy.
"Yes! Follow me, everyone!"
They followed Derek to the village outskirts.
There loomed an iron beast twice or thrice Jayvolg's bulk.
Spider-like legs rooted to the ground, head a massive trumpet-shaped pipe.
Villagers crowded around it.
Spotting Bernard, they all chimed in.
"Bernard! That spider-thing just sprayed water, and sprouts popped up!"
"Yeah, I saw! Amazing. This barren land fixed for real?"
What machine got them so hyped?
The whole village was there gawking.
Bernard, shoulders squared, addressed Deyan's group.
"Behold, folks. This soil nutrient machine turns barren land fertile instantly! It stores rainwater via that pipe to save water! Injects nutrients from the body deep into the soil! Revives drought-ruined earth!"
Fertilizing any land?
If true, revolutionary.
Size and scalability mattered, but the existence alone was shocking.
As Bernard smugly went to hand-on-hip...
"Still unfinished, though."
Deyan pointed at No. 124.
"Pardon?"
Bernard looked where Deyan pointed.
Pretty Soil Nutrient No. 124, show your power...
"Wh-what?"
The machine shuddered violently.
Overload? Its bulk shook, but rooted legs held.
Hiss!!
"Aaaah!!"
"I-it's gonna blow!"
Villagers fled in panic.
Bernard rushed to fix it...
Thump...!
"Wh-wha?!"
Legless body, trumpet head rolling right at him.
Bernard's prized masterpiece met a gruesome end before his top prospect.
Kneeling amid the instant disaster...
"No... 124...?"
He glanced at Deyan unwittingly.
The Pador third son.
The only noble kid who'd shown interest.
Deyan murmured indifferently.
"This won't do."
His heart sank.
'I-I'm done for...'