124
Chapter 124
Come to think of it... the Dwarves finished repairing the Holy Sword I requested in just a single day.
A sword said to be forged by a god.
They had successfully restored an artifact from another world with their own hands.
If they were given enough time and budget, what on earth would they be capable of?
I was experiencing the results of that firsthand right now.
The elevator disguised as a warehouse came to a halt.
Intricately turning gears.
The doors opened with a hiss of steam.
The moment I stepped beyond those doors, the sight that greeted me was a landscape truly worthy of being called an Underground City. A splendor that could rival even Las Vegas.
I stared at the scene in a daze for quite a while before I noticed something strange.
Light was shining down.
A soft, ambient moonlight.
Beautiful stars embroidered across the sky.
Here we were, clearly underground, yet a vast night sky stretched out above us.
...This wasn't just some decoration.
It wasn't just a few ornaments hung up to pretend it was the night sky, but a perfect recreation that was impossible to distinguish from reality.
No, if anything, it felt even more beautiful than the real sky.
The city streets at night.
Glittering neon signs. A strangely decadent yet captivating atmosphere.
All of these elements combined to create a landscape that could easily be called a masterpiece.
But... the astonishment didn't end there.
The sound of machinery echoed.
A gleaming silver sheen. Humanoid Armored Robots were patrolling the streets.
"What in the world is this......."
I muttered to myself as I watched them.
Perhaps misunderstanding my words as a reprimand, Rob awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and continued his explanation.
"Um... I know it's not efficient. Any enemy capable of invading this place would just overwhelm us with numbers anyway. No matter how many of these we deploy, it wouldn't do any good."
As a bonus, that sky apparently had no use other than aesthetics.
The buildings had a function to transform into robots during emergencies. But even that seemed less efficient than just letting Lucy plaster her Curses everywhere.
However, even so, I felt like I understood why the Dwarves insisted on this inefficiency.
"I tried to stop them as much as I could. But the atmosphere got too heated, and I just couldn't halt the momentum...."
Because it looks cool.
A Secret Base underground that no one knows about.
Another world spread out within it. A captivating city of night and the mechanical devices parading through it.
How could anyone resist this?
The Armored Androids were designed to make a satisfying mechanical sound when moving, even though they could have easily been made silent.
You couldn't put anything inside a building that transforms into a robot. They could have just built security robots from the start instead of wasting time on transformable buildings, but they stubbornly stuck to the concept.
That was certainly inefficient.
But those things held a romance that transcended efficiency.
They contained a value that simply couldn't be explained with words or logic!
"If you don't like it, I will order them to dismantle it immediately. If we redirect the Mana Stones wasted on these useless devices to maintaining the Curse, the efficiency would definitely be much...."
"No. This isn't bad."
Since there were many eyes watching, I suppressed the urge to grab the Dwarf by the collar and scream, 'Are you crazy? Even if it's inefficient, you want to destroy this?' and calmly spoke instead.
Perhaps catching on to my true intentions, as expected of the quick-witted Rob, he said he would complete the construction of the other areas in the exact same way.
I looked at Rob for a moment before suddenly getting curious and asking,
"But how on earth did you make this?"
A question I threw out without much thought.
But at those words, Rob's expression soured. He looked as if he had come face-to-face with human trash.
Flustered by his sudden reaction, I wondered why he was acting like that for a moment, before soon realizing one very important fact.
......Ah.
Right, I was the one who told them to make that.
I objectively reflected on my own actions.
A vicious Boss who comes up with ridiculous ideas like a Bluetooth showerhead and forces his subordinates to build them.
They had cut back on sleep, skipped meals, and literally burned themselves out to barely finish the development, and here I was asking them that.
The guy called Boss returns, and with a giddy smile, the first thing out of his mouth is,
Wow, they actually made this.
It was just a passing comment I had made, you know?
...It would be weirder if a surge of murderous intent didn't rise up.
Honestly, Rob's social skills were downright terrifying, managing to suppress his fury and slap on a customer-service smile in less than 0.1 seconds.
Yet, not only did he suppress his urge to kill me, he actually went so far as to smile warmly and answer my question.
"The Blueprint you provided last time was a huge help."
He even threw in some flattery with absolute naturalness.
The more I watched him, the more I understood how he had achieved such remarkable success.
The expression from earlier that seemed to scream, 'You crazy bastard, you're the one who told me to make this!' vanished without a trace, and Rob smoothly continued his explanation.
The technology of the Empire that I had smuggled out.
I had no clue what methods they used, but thanks to that, things had apparently gone quite smoothly.
"I have no idea what kind of tricks those guys are using. Even if we dissect the devices made by the Empire and figure out how they work, our memories of it fade away in no time."
Listening to Rob, it seemed they were even using the Authority of Dominance to monopolize their technology.
...So this was why the Empire alone had developed so abnormally. Considering their track record, they probably stole the achievements of others, claimed them as their own, and monopolized them.
"We merely utilized the information that you provided us, Boss."
Rob said with a smile.
It was true that I had provided them with the blueprints for various mechanical devices like the Mana Train, as well as the operating principles I learned from the Artbook.
Even so, the fact that the Dwarves could perfectly grasp the applied technology with just that alone, and even improve upon it to utilize it so skillfully, was far more monstrous.
He was humbly shifting all the credit over to me.
Well, knowing his personality, it was probably all a calculated move anyway.
While it's one thing if an incompetent guy is just good at kissing up, there was no reason to hate someone who was genuinely competent and hardworking, all while knowing how to flatter.
I pondered for a moment... before finally opening my mouth.
"If you're short on manpower, feel free to use them."
Saying that, I pointed upward.
The Elves I had left upstairs since their underground access rights hadn't been registered yet.
The work in this immediate area was mostly finished, but he had told me that the overall construction would still take a bit more time.
I had just given them permission to freely use the Elves for the construction work.
Hearing my words, the corners of Rob's mouth curled up into a wide grin.
He truly was a sharp one.
If it had been any other Dwarf, they would have simply thought I was offering extra manpower so they would work harder.
But Rob had caught the hidden meaning behind my words.
I didn't say to cooperate with them; I said to use them as you please.
This was essentially me stepping in and establishing the hierarchy between them myself.
Making it clear that the Elves were beneath the Dwarves.
He would now be in charge of not only overseeing the Dwarves but managing the Elves as well.
'If they produced results, it's only right to reward them, and this is much easier for me anyway.'
Even setting aside the emotional satisfaction that the Dwarves caught red-handed peddling stolen goods were less sickening than the ones who sold our location to the enemy and nearly got us all killed, this arrangement was simply more rational.
If I ordered the Elves to do manual labor, they would obviously rebel. If I left them as equals, the construction progress would slow down significantly.
The Elves were a notoriously prideful bunch.
Without strict control, they would inevitably throw a fit, stubbornly refusing to do such menial work and complaining about how they could possibly be subjected to this.
I couldn't exactly stand around the construction site all day to discipline them, so officially establishing a hierarchy and giving one person the Admin role made management much easier.
Rob laughed cheerfully and pledged his loyalty to me once again.
It was a true win-win situation.
It was a decision that left everyone satisfied, barring the Elves who had unknowingly been relegated to the bottom of the totem pole beneath the Dwarves.
...Well, regarding what I was thinking right now.
The Dwarves seemed almost too competent for their own good. Had Rob read my mind and known I was thinking about threatening them with a knife to build my next crazy idea, that bright smile would have vanished in an instant.
But there was no need to wipe away a happy smile.
Ideas were already springing to mind.
A massive Aerial Aircraft Carrier soaring through the sky.
An overwhelming size comparable to the Empire's Capital, equipped with all sorts of cutting-edge weaponry, including a Railgun.
I could already picture my future self declaring that it was their job to figure out from now on when Rob inevitably asked how they were supposed to build such a thing, but....
Good enough was good enough.
I decided to keep my plans for the next project a secret until this current construction was finished.