Lahen (1)
I summoned every engineer attached to the laboratory.
They were the mechanics who had once handled the Blædwin estate’s mana-engineering gear. All of them now belonged to my lab.
“Alvar. You’ve been studying the way I told you to, right?”
“Yes, sir. The other engineers are studying day and night as well.”
I had split RMEL’s organization into three broad divisions.
Technology Research and Development. Fabrication and Process. Operations and Administration.
I was the director of the Robon Mana Engineering Laboratory.
Andersen was head of Technology Research and Development—and Magic Advisor.
Alvar was chief engineer of Fabrication and Process.
Chief engineer, because he had been the first to learn engineering from me. Giving him full department head still felt premature, so I settled on that rank instead.
Operations and Administration remained empty. I wanted someone capable in that seat, but I hadn’t found the right person yet.
“You’re chief engineer. Carry the responsibility that comes with it.”
“Understood.”
A strange heat rose in Alvar’s face. The title clearly pleased him. In practice, he drilled the engineers under him every day and threw himself into process work right alongside them.
“What did I say an engineer’s job is?”
“Engineers take the technologies researched and developed by the R&D division and apply them on the actual production floor—building and assembling equipment!”
Andy, the youngest of the engineers, answered at the top of his lungs. Kid had spirit; maybe that was just youth.
“Correct. Engineers need to be able to handle every machine. So we’re running a milling-machine proficiency test.”
For the past few days I had sent the engineers to the forge so Old Man Amos could teach them the mill. The basics weren’t hard, but when it came to fine control, the old man still outclassed even me.
“Everyone, begin in order. Start!”
“Start!”
Alvar went first, then the five engineers after him, each fabricating a gear from the blueprints alone on the milling machine.
Sparks flew in every direction; iron dust hung in the air. From a distance, mask on, I watched them work in silence.
Not bad at all.
People of the Blædwin estate carried composure in their bones. That temperament suited precision work, and they adapted quickly. After I invented the lightbulb, most of them had been camping at the lab into the night, grinding away at mana engineering. This was the result.
“Oh, that’s good. Alvar?”
“Thank you.”
From rough milling through finish milling, drilling, and tapping, the work flowed. He produced a gear that was nearly flawless. Using the vernier calipers I had made, he checked every dimension, then finished with deburring and cleanup. You could see at a glance how hard he had practiced.
“That’s my chief engineer. I can trust you with this.”
“Thank you, Director! I only ever wanted to be an engineer who was actually useful to the laboratory.”
Alvar’s passion had been obvious from the first day we modified the Black Terahole. He had always stood at my shoulder, watching how I worked and what I built, asking questions, trying to learn. That was part of why I put him in the chief engineer’s chair.
“You’re free to go.”
“Yes, sir!”
Alvar left looking thoroughly satisfied.
“Next.”
One by one the engineers came through and finished the test. Of the six gears, not a single one was unusable. Three were a little rough; the other three were almost perfect.
“First, second, and third place get a special bonus. You’ll also join the Brutal Force production project.”
“Really?!”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
“Whoa! I’m going to work on the Brutal Force…!”
The remaining three looked disappointed, but that was how it had to be. Growth needed competition. And from their skill levels, putting them on real equipment builds still felt a little early.
“You three start with Robon-001, 002, and 003. Raise your milling proficiency even if you have to practice on wood.”
“Yes, sir!!”
The engineers’ resolve burned hot.
A pickup truck is a truck in name, but its silhouette is closer to an SUV—think an SUV with a truck bed bolted on. Its strengths are the power to chew through rough country, durability, stability, and the ability to tow all kinds of gear. In this world, it was an extremely practical vehicle.
“Tires are done. Wheels a little larger… Suspension that can move independently with the terrain… Perfect.”
The raw power and torque of a V6 engine. A differential that took that force through the transmission and split it to the wheels at different speeds through a turn. CV joints that kept steering angle and speed consistent and gave the ride its stability.
This pickup was one I was building properly, from the ground up—and it was taking time.
Why hasn’t Andersen sent word?
Had he actually run? Had I worked him too many nights?
Come on, no way… Even as I thought it, a knot of unease settled in my gut. Having Andersen and not having him were entirely different things.
In the end I asked Father to put the Blædwin intelligence network to work and hunt for news of him. Nearly a month after Andersen left, I finally heard something.
“Uncle Richard! What are you talking about? Andersen was arrested?”
Richard Blædwin was my uncle—Father’s younger brother—and the family’s administrative officer. Exact, principle-bound, intolerant of mistakes or impropriety. In short, a thoroughly stuffy old fossil of a man.
“Tsk. Wherever you dragged that man from… Robon. Look at this.”
He handed me several sheets of paper. The contents ran as follows.
Of late, seditious movements have been detected within the Mardan Principality. The Lahen family has seized the suspect elements and confined them within the Sky Peak Territory, where they are presently under interrogation. A bald six-circle mage and several individuals of no small skill, recently observed stirring trouble throughout Eidras, have been apprehended and taken into custody.
“…Andersen is a seditious element?”
“Yes. Still only under suspicion, for now.”
“That’s absurd! There’s no way!”
“Robon! Don’t get any strange ideas. We will not make an enemy of the Lahen family over one man like that.”
“Ha! Administrator Richard. Nothing’s been proven yet, has it? Is it right to seize someone without evidence and torture them?”
“There’s usually no smoke without fire.”
“You rigid old man!”
“What did you just say?!”
Bang!
I slammed the door and stormed out.
What kind of nonsense was this? Andersen goes on leave and suddenly he’s a subversive? This had to be a plot. My research partner would never do something like that.
“…What do I do?”
The Lahen family’s Sky Peak Territory sat at a far higher altitude than the surrounding lands. Even ordinary freemen and merchants had to steel themselves before climbing the brutal mountain roads that led there.
The Floating Castle of Sky Peak Territory stood higher still—so high that from a distance it looked like a single vast mountain. The approach from the gate was a steep climb; most people who reached the Floating Castle did so under floating magic cast by Lahen mages.
A natural fortress, people called it. For that reason, most of the Mardan Principality’s dangerous elements ended up in the Floating Castle’s prison. The Lahen family also specialized in interrogating prisoners.
“Urgh!”
Prisoners hung limp, arms and legs bound to cross-shaped interrogation frames.
“You there—bald mage. Speak honestly. What exactly were you doing in the Principality?”
Wounds scored his body as if by a blade; his robe was soaked in blood. Andersen breathed hard, head bowed, and forced the words out.
“We… already told you… we weren’t…”
“You expect me to believe that?!”
Whiiip! Crack!!
The whip coiled around his arm and left a raw red welt on bare skin. He shuddered, groaning through the pain.
“An unregistered six-circle mage, and thieves who lightly outrun soldiers and even dodge magic… Why were people like that tearing around Eidras?”
“Looking for… demon… worshippers…”
“That story again. All of you—strike them. That’s enough for today. We’ll resume tomorrow.”
As he rose, the sound of whips cracked from every side. Before he left, the chief jailer murmured a warning.
“Every day will be hell. Better to talk soon.”
Bang.
By the time the man had gone, Derik—who had already slipped into Sky Peak Territory—was laying plans with his men for a breach of the Floating Castle.
“You idiot! I told you not to get involved.”
Derik let out a long breath. He had never imagined the situation would tangle this badly. Of all times for Lahen mages to be on the scene.
“Even so, Lord Andersen seemed to have recovered his old strength. How did he get caught?”
“I don’t know. Why he didn’t fight properly… If he’d just killed those knights who showed up and run, there would’ve been plenty of room to escape.”
Demon worshippers—also called the Fallen—were people who would commit any atrocity without hesitation in their pursuit of becoming demonic beings. Andersen and Derik had moved to take them down, and in the end they had succeeded in cutting off both the Fallen’s location and their plans.
The problem was that in the process they had been spotted by Principality soldiers and Lahen mages—and every last Fallen had taken their own life. Andersen and Derik’s subordinates were seized on the spot and mistaken for murderers, with no way left to prove what the Fallen had been planning. Derik had been lucky enough not to be there and so avoided capture; Andersen had taken the fall for all of them.
“Breaking into the Floating Castle is impossible, Guildmaster.”
“I know. With our current strength, it would be.”
“…You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, Guildmaster?”
The officer beside him narrowed his brow and caught Derik’s arm.
“You can’t.”
“Let go. If I’m going to save Andersen, there’s no other way.”
“Even if you save him, you’ll spend the rest of your life hunted by Lahen and the Principality. And you, Guildmaster—”
“That’s my karma. Don’t worry. We still have time. Wait a little longer. They won’t execute him right away.”
The officer exhaled in relief at those words. Derik looked up at the Floating Castle with eyes gone cold and still.
This time it’s my turn to repay the debt. Andersen.
Clatter! Clatter! Clatter!
Three horses tore along the mountain road without slowing, racing toward some distant point.
Neeeeigh!!
The horses snorted and came to a stop. Far below the high peaks, the city of Aion Hall spread out in view.
“Fine for me—but should the two of you even be this far out? What about the knight order?”
Erdin Lobel asked the two knights who had followed him.
“Am I not supposed to attend you, Lord Erdin?”
Gast Lobel removed his helmet as he dismounted and drank from the waterskin at his belt.
“I simply wanted to see it once. What the Blædwin estate looks like these days, with all the rumors flying about.”
When she took off her helmet, yellow hair spilled free and swayed.
“And I owe the Blædwin family my life, don’t I?”
At Sernia’s words, Gast nodded.
“Dame Sernia, do not forget that you are a person of the Lobel family.”
“I know. What exactly do you take me for?”
She sounded offended; Erdin flustered and scrambled for an excuse.
“Only that Dame Sernia’s presence is important enough that I spoke as I did.”
“I know. Let’s go. I’m eager to meet this famous Robon Blædwin.”
For someone who had just said otherwise, the interest she showed in Robon made Erdin bite his lip with a flicker of unease.
“No need to worry. Dame Sernia’s loyalty is well known.”
“…I wasn’t worried. Hyah!”
Erdin spurred ahead; the two knights hurried after him.
“Tsk. With things like this, I don’t have a choice.”
Engine performance tests and fine adjustments on various parts still weren’t finished, but I rushed the Brutal Force to completion. Given the situation, I needed a vehicle I could drive right now.
Going alone felt a little dangerous, so I had meant to ask Wendy or one of my brothers—but everyone was too busy. Impossible, they said.
“Then I’ll go alone.”
I was about to climb into the truck and leave when guests arrived at the manor. Familiar faces.
“Erdin Lobel?”
The two knights behind him spotted me as well, approached, and removed their helmets. One was Gast Lobel; the other was a face I didn’t know.
“What… is that vehicle?”
All three knights’ eyes locked not on me, but on the Brutal Force.
“A pickup truck I just built. Move. I’m busy.”
I needed to leave before Father noticed. But they stood blocking the road and would not budge.
“Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
Erdin’s face twisted.
“You look like you’re in a hurry. Is something wrong? If we can help, we will.”
Gast cut in.
“I don’t need—”
Wait. Thinking about it, taking three knights with me might not be a bad idea at all compared to going alone.
“Fine. Then get in—now! Hurry!”
At my urging the three knights froze for a beat, then climbed down from their horses and into the truck.
“L-like this?”
“Oh, surprisingly comfortable.”
“Don’t look so provincial. It’s just a car.”
The Lobel knights settled in. I was about to put my foot on the accelerator when—
Thud.
Father landed lightly in front of the truck as if he had dropped from the sky, blocking the way.
“Where do you think you’re going, Robon?”
A freezing stare and a colder voice. At Father’s appearance, not only I but the Lobel knights went rigid.
Ah… I’m screwed.