The Grand Mage's Cat
"Where's contestant number 27?"
"What am I supposed to do?" The worst possible scenario I could imagine had just unfolded. I had no idea how to clean up the mess. It made sense—after all, the most basic premise of my plan had completely collapsed. The very foundation that I, as James's assistant, would be working at the Academy forge had crumbled into nothing.
'The difficulty of sneaking in just skyrocketed.'
It already took twenty minutes to slip from the forge into Classroom 5. Sneaking in from outside the Academy would take several times longer. No, infiltrating from inside to inside versus from outside to inside were entirely different levels of difficulty. The Imperial Academy was the Empire's finest educational facility, reserved for the elite, and its top priority was protecting the students. In other words, breaking through its ironclad security was no easy feat.
"Haa... I never thought it would come to this."
How had things gotten so twisted? Had I been too careless with the forge? But the situation had made it hard not to let my guard down. The Academy was operating with minimal staff—only the blacksmiths competing for the equipment contract, the professors judging them, and a handful of administrative personnel. The odds of someone catching me using the forge were extremely low.
Yet of all things, the cat I'd treated belonged to Elena, and she'd come looking for it right at the forge. There had been no such setting in the game, so I'd never even considered that the cat might be hers. In short, my luck had been absolute garbage.
"...Still, what's the point? I've already been disqualified."
But these thoughts were nothing more than meaningless grumbling. Blaming my luck wouldn't change reality. What mattered was accepting my failure, identifying the cause, and improving. That was the mindset a true engineer and scientist should have.
"First, I'll tell James the truth."
So I accepted my failure. Admitting defeat and owning up to my mistakes wasn't difficult for me. I viewed mechanical engineering—the very core of my being—as a process of eliminating hundreds or thousands of failure factors to achieve a single success. Therefore, reaching that success inevitably required passing through failure. This failure was just another step on the path to eventual success.
"Father."
I went straight to James and honestly explained everything that had happened. He had been intensely practicing for the demonstration, but the moment he heard my story, his face fell. The disappointment lasted only an instant.
"So, did you fix the cat's prosthetic leg properly?"
"Yes. I made it function perfectly."
"Then that's all that matters. I was getting annoyed waiting anyway, so it's worked out for the best."
"...I'm sorry."
"Haha. No need for that. Your intentions weren't malicious, and you didn't botch the prosthetic. You were just a little unlucky, that's all."
"......"
"The only real mistake was changing the prosthetic without the owner's permission. That about sums it up."
...I agreed. Arbitrarily judging someone else's belongings was arrogant. Even if the prosthetic was engineering trash, it might have been incredibly precious to Elena.
"I'm reflecting on it."
I nodded calmly in acknowledgment. James grinned and ruffled my hair.
"Good! Then let's head home. Since we're in the capital for once, how about we grab something tasty on the way?"
"What about Big Bess pork?"
"Excellent taste."
"I'll buy."
"Haha. Sure! Let my son treat me for once!"
The equipment contract competition was ruined because of this incident. But as always, I was confident I could recover. After treating James to his favorite Big Bess pork, I'd use my abilities to expand his forge significantly. If I'd reached the level of crafting rare-grade equipment in just two months, I could create even rarer items going forward.
'I'll have to find a new route into the Academy, too.'
The infiltration route was the same. Creating a new path would be an extremely difficult mission, but through the process, I would grow—and if I grew enough, I could break through. After all, I possessed two items of Eternal grade.
"So, Big Bess pork first?"
"Yeah. Let's eat until we burst."
James and I left the Academy side by side.
***
Hooooom....
Elena's eyes, glowing with a blue haze, were fixed on Waeyong-i. She was analyzing the mana flow within the cat's body. And she was genuinely impressed. She had never seen such stable mana circulation before.
"Incredible...."
Nothing but admiration escaped her lips. All that had changed was a single prosthetic leg, yet Waeyong-i's once-unstable "qi" had returned to perfect stability. The new prosthetic was functioning as a flawless replacement for the cat's missing limb.
"To accomplish this in such a short time...."
No matter how she thought about it, the talent on display was extraordinarily exceptional. After all, Waeyong-i's prosthetic had been custom-made. Achieving this level of mana stability required designing and perfectly crafting a limb with exact volume, weight, shape, and structure to match the cat's leg. Yet the commoner named Edga Fix had completed all of it in mere hours—something even renowned imperial blacksmiths would need months to research and produce.
"Meow~!"
Waeyong-i had never been this lively before. The cat was freely running, jumping, and swiping its front paws, finally satisfying its hunting instincts. For the first time since being taken in two years ago, it could fulfill the primal urge it had always had to abandon due to its limp.
'But I....'
She had found the injured cat by chance one day. Its crying on the roadside had reminded her of an old friend with a similar disability, so she had decided to care for it. Now that cat had finally regained its happiness—only for her to say something unforgivable to the benefactor who had made it possible. Simply because he was a commoner, she had dismissed him and delivered a condescending lecture about gaining life experience.
"Aah! Aaaah!"
It was a moment she desperately wanted to erase. It was like telling a child with the potential to become a grand mage to know their place. Edga Fix's engineering insight in creating that prosthetic belonged to the realm of untouchable genius.
"Why did I do something so stupid!"
Not only that—she had trampled on his goodwill. He hadn't replaced the prosthetic expecting a reward. He had simply wanted Waeyong-i to be more comfortable. With nothing but that kind intention, he had offered his talent.
'Don't be too discouraged. Think of it as gaining life experience. You shouldn't touch a noble's belongings so carelessly.'
Yet she had uttered that ridiculous nonsense. Not only had she lectured someone who had risked danger to gift Waeyong-i a perfect prosthetic, but she had also disqualified him. No matter how she looked at it, this was wrong.
"Damn it.... I'm losing my mind."
Elena hurried forward. The image of his face, head bowed in despair, kept flashing before her eyes. Every time it appeared, her chest ached.
"Professor Elena, you've arrived."
When she entered the judging room, the seated professors and assistants rose. But Elena had no time for them. Her mind was filled with only one thing: Edga Fix. She needed to revoke the hasty disqualification and inform him.
"Where are the contestants waiting?"
"Pardon?"
"The contract bidders. Where are they waiting?"
The bidders were waiting in a location far from the judging room. As an academy founded by imperial decree, thorough security checks were necessary. Moreover, since the judging panel consisted of nobles, they preferred not to share space with commoner blacksmiths.
"Ah... those people have been isolated in Building A and Building C...."
"Where is contestant number 27?"
"Number 27... that would be Building C."
"I'll head to Building C for a moment. Hold off on the judging until I return."
Elena turned to leave, but at that moment, a professor delivered devastating news.
"If you're looking for contestant number 27, you're wasting your time. Contestant 27 has already withdrawn and left."