#34. Coming Soon

I think I’m screwed.

Every machine I make runs on Mana Stones. Can’t recharge them, either, once they’re spent, you just swap in a new one.

Of course, I don’t have any on me.

“…”

Well, there’s one thing, but…

How am I gonna get it out and swap it in, in time?

Damn it.

“Guess I got no choice.”

The shotgun became a blunt object, the magic sword just a heavy weight.

The only weapons I could rely on had become useless.

I decided to use my last resort.

“Hey you.”

I tossed the shotgun and the magic sword in front of me.

Sorry, my precious sons.

He raises both hands, a resolute look on his face.

“I surrender.”

One against twenty? That’s just not cricket.

Not like I’m some martial arts grandmaster.

.

.

.

‘We’ were no longer confined to a room.

A prison, barred with iron, became our new abode.

Here, in this underground dungeon, we’d be under constant surveillance for the next twenty-four hours, they said.

A rather unfavorable turn of events.

They even brought back the paper I’d torn to shreds, painstakingly pieced back together. A few spots are missing, the scraps I must have pocketed…

Anyway.

I took the initiative.

“Now that things are as they are, how about we introduce ourselves?”

“……”

“……”

A frigid silence descended.

Locked up with me were the very people I’d been about to rescue.

What must they think of me?

Probably not seeing me in a positive light, I wagered.

“My name is Rain Ortiz, and I was kidnapped today. They wanted me to decipher some resurrection magic.”

He offered his introduction, regardless.

It only takes one to break the ice, and then the others will follow suit.

Just as I suspected, a woman, looking apprehensive, finally spoke.

“M-my name is Fiesta Elune… I-I was kidnapped two days ago, and they want me to work on weapon development…”

Fiesta was a petite woman with pink hair.

Next, the man began his introduction.

“…My name is Tail Merrit. I was abducted two days ago, alongside her, and I’m also working on weapon development.”

Two on weapon development, huh…

That practically screams an impending attack on someone or somewhere.

I’d need to stop it, of course.

“Might I inquire as to what exactly you’re developing?”

“…We’re developing small-scale bombs.”

“Bombs, you say?”

“Yes, there’s been a severe crackdown on mines lately, so obtaining explosives is proving difficult. Armories are too heavily guarded to infiltrate. Hence, they’re resorting to manufacturing them directly. By abducting technicians, that is.”

I grasped the situation fairly quickly.

And a plan began to take shape in my mind.

“Let’s build them.”

“…Huh?”

“We need to escape. We have to make something, don’t we?”

Tail stared at me, incredulous.

“Are you out of your mind? Even if you make something, they won’t just let us walk out. They’ll just order us to develop other weapons.”

“I’m in my right mind, and I know that.”

“So, you’re suggesting we use that bomb to escape? With even a moment’s thought, it’s obviously impossible…!”

“Yes, I know that too.”

A small bomb. I don’t know what they intend to use it for, but kidnapping a technician indicates it must be something they desperately need.

And the fact they need a technician…

Means the Minders don’t have any.

“We’ll make something else besides a bomb. Something that looks similar.”

“…Huh?”

The surveillance has intensified, but in this case, it’s actually beneficial.

After all, they can’t understand our production process, and being close by makes it easy to request materials.

So, instead of a bomb, we’ll make a tool for escape.

“I have a plan.”

I explained the future plan in detail.

What to make.

How to escape.

“But we’ll need a blueprint for that.”

“No problem.”

They’ll give us paper if we ask.

We have the excuse that it’s needed for the resurrection magic interpretation.

“Do you really think this is possible?”

“We…we don’t even have magic stones…”

Despite the detailed plan, the two of them remained skeptical.

I decided to show them something.

“Those guys, they don’t really do thorough body searches.”

Something I’d hidden inside my underwear.

A blue stone.

“Just wait a moment.”

I smiled, showing them the stone I had secretly taken.

“This will act as the magic stone.”

Probably.

*

“I need a pen and paper.”

“Why?”

“Do you expect me to do the interpretation in my head? I’m not that skilled.”

“…Understood.”

I obtained the pen and paper.

“Blood, I need tweezers. Two should do…”

“What for?”

“For, for delicate work… precision stuff…”

“Understood.”

“Ah! And…”

Fiesta obtained the equipment, including the tweezers.

“I’ll list the materials I require.”

“Good.”

Tale acquired the rest of the ingredients.

“Let’s begin.”

It would likely take about a week.

The worry gnawed at me, could we pull this off without being discovered?

Anything was fine.

Just the possibility was hope enough.

“Here are the blueprints.”

I drew the schematics on a piece of paper.

It was a rather taxing task, but it was relatively easy since I had looked at the blueprints before coming here.

“…You want us to make this?”

“Yes.”

“Us?”

“Yes.”

“How…?”

“Ah, I’ll handle the circuitry. The rest isn’t too difficult, is it?”

“No…”

There was some friction, but still, the work proceeded smoothly.

The trouble began on the morning of the second day.

*KWAANG!*

“Hey.”

A woman roughly kicked the iron bars.

The mask that only covered her eyes seemed somehow familiar.

Who was it…?

Ah.

“A pleasure…?”

“Pleasure my ass, it’s you, isn’t it? The one who shot me with that weird thing.”

“I’m completely in the dark.”

“What are you talking about? You, come out here for a second.”

“If you open the door, I’ll come out.”

“Alright, I’ll open it, just you wait.”

As the woman reached for the lock, the Minds behind her desperately tried to stop her.

“O-Our Aurora! You can’t do this…!”

“Shut it! I’m going to kill that b*stard!”

The cadre, losing all reason.

His subordinates, trying to restrain him…

A strange feeling of pity washed over me.

“Damn it, enough.”

Aurora, having barely regained her composure, spoke to me.

“You lot, stop dawdling and start making bombs.”

She’d obviously seen through our little charade.

“You know this is a magic-null zone, right? Whatever you build won’t work here, so just get on with your work.”

“…Understood.”

“And you two.”

This time, she spoke to Fiesta and Tail.

“Two days. I want five bombs made by then.”

“W-wait just a minute! That’s not nearly enough time…”

“Shut up. Just do as you’re told.”

With those words, Aurora left the prison.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Time was running short.

If we didn’t finish in two days, something bad was bound to happen.

“What do we do now…?”

Tail asked, his voice laced with fear.

“What *can* we do.”

We were in a real bind, but there was no other choice.

“We have to finish in two days.”

From then on, we worked with renewed intensity.

The sound of hammering echoed day and night, and I pretended to decipher magic while constantly fabricating circuits.

The poor quality of the materials made them easy to work with. If I’d used top-grade materials like I normally do, it would have taken much longer.

One day passed.

Then another.

“Only assembly remains.”

I’d fabricated a total of twelve circuits. If I could assemble these twelve circuits precisely, we’d be done.

“…Time is of the essence. I’ll do it quickly.”

Each device was about the size of a human fist. Cramming such intricate circuitry into that small space required immense concentration.

Even a single mistake would render all our effort worthless.

I huddled in a corner, a pair of tweezers in my hand.

Carefully, very carefully.

I gently picked up a circuit and attached it to the correct location. Cold sweat trickled down my face.

I repeated the process a total of twelve times. Position and angle, a force that was neither too strong nor too weak – assembling the circuits.

The machine’s innards, thus completed, resembled nothing so much as a vast network of semiconductors.

“Hah…”

“Is it finished?!”

“Yes.”

Only one gate remained to be opened.

“Let’s insert the mana stone.”

Frankly, I wasn’t sure it would work.

It might not activate, or something even more dangerous could occur.

But I had my reasons.

The genesis of this stone was mana itself.

And it possessed a stable crystalline structure.

[At least it won’t explode again, right?]

‘Right.’

I swallowed hard.

Picking up the stone, I carefully inserted the mana stone.

Mana pulsed through the circuitry. A blue energy began to envelop the entire machine.

A sign of success.

“…It’s working.”

“It’s working?!”

“Un…unbelievable…!”

My colleagues rejoiced with me.

After four days of miserable labor, they deserved it. I gripped the completed machine tightly and approached the two of them.

“We can escape now.”

The machine I had created was a ‘small-scale spatial jumper.’

That’s right. I had referred to Rachel’s teleportation device blueprints.

This place blocks all magic, but it cannot block ‘magitech machines’ that operate through circuitry.

The shotgun working was proof enough.

“Ah, before we escape, there’s something we need to do.”

As if on cue, the Minds stormed into the dungeon.

“Is the bomb finished?”

The first thing they asked about was the bomb. A smirk played on my lips as I replied.

“It is finished.”

I activated the machine.

Exactly ten seconds later, we would jump to our designated location.

The designated location was, of course, the Academy.

And…

“You’ll be seeing them soon.”

I drew ‘two mana particles’ from within myself.