The Son-In-Law of the Magician Is a Transcendent Sword Master - Chapter 66
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 66
When I came to my senses, there was an unfamiliar ceiling before my eyes.
As I raised my upper body, a wet towel fell from my forehead with a thud.
“…Hmm.”
I looked around.
The place was the lodging within the citadel that Arcamen had prepared for us.
Just then, at the edge of my vision, a black-haired woman was sitting in a chair, staring intently at me.
“…Sheril.”
The covert mage Sheril let out a deep sigh and nodded.
“Lord Reagan, are you awake?”
“You can see for yourself.”
“Yes. You’re awake.”
Sheril approached to check my condition, but I raised my hand to stop her.
I know my own body’s condition best.
Except for a slight dizziness, I’m fine.
“Sheril, how long was I lying here?”
“Not long. Half a day.”
“Half a day.”
It’s a time that could be considered long or short.
It means I needed at least 6 hours of rest to recover from my overloaded mind.
“What about Renia?”
At my question, Sheril smiled bitterly and nodded.
“At least you have your priorities straight. Naturally, she was extremely worried. Oh, of course she didn’t show tears. Instead of being sad, the young lady got angry.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean she gave Arcamen a thorough scolding. It almost became an issue between families, so I barely managed to stop her.”
“Ah….”
That definitely sounded like something Renia would do.
With her fiery temperament, she probably raged at Iline asking what the hell she had done.
“What on earth did you do to end up in this state? All I heard from the young lady was that you took some strange medicine.”
“It wasn’t strange medicine, it was a reagent made by Arcamen. It has the effect of accelerating the mind.”
I roughly explained the situation to Sheril, and after hearing the whole story, her lower eyelid trembled.
“Lord Reagan, may I dare say something?”
“I think I know what you’re going to say, so you don’t have to. No, please don’t say it.”
“No. I must say this. Are you really insane?”
Sheril went ahead and scolded me anyway.
“Your ignorant training method from before was already astounding, but this time you’ve outdone yourself.”
“….”
“Why did you gulp down medicine with such a suspicious effect as mental acceleration, especially a prototype that couldn’t even be mass-produced due to safety issues? Lord Reagan, you’re Benheim’s son-in-law, not some starving beggar, are you?”
Sheril’s words were sharp.
I smiled bitterly and explained.
“I had faith that I’d be safe. I also calculated that since Iline, the Archmage Lord, gave it to me, my life wouldn’t be in danger.”
“And then you fainted?”
“….”
Well, I had nothing to say about that.
When I remained silent, Sheril sighed deeply enough to make the ground cave in and gripped the bedsheet tightly.
“Please think about your own body. Lord Reagan might not care about yourself, but how heartbroken must Lady Renia be watching this?”
Since she brought up Renia in her advice, I couldn’t not respond.
“Alright. I’ll think once more before acting next time.”
“Think twice.”
“Fine. Twice.”
I reluctantly answered Sheril.
Well, both Renia and Victor must have been terribly shocked, so it would be better to apologize later.
I removed the wet towel Sheril had placed and got up.
“Lord Reagan, where are you going again? It’s night now.”
“I need to look at the mechanism once more.”
“Are you planning to faint again? Have you already forgotten the promise you just made?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t faint anymore.”
I grinned and continued.
“Coincidentally, I figured out the identity of the ‘mechanism.'”
At those words, Sheril’s eyes narrowed.
“You can fix Arcamen’s ancient device?”
“Whether I should call it fixing or completing it.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
Sheril gestured with her chin, urging me to continue.
“It’s hard to explain in words. If you’re curious, follow me and see.”
At my words, Sheril tilted her head with a puzzled expression.
* * *
“Are you feeling alright?”
As I was walking down the corridor outside the lodging with Sheril, someone approached.
It was Renia. After confirming that my gait and complexion were the same as usual, she almost collapsed right there on the spot.
“Renia, are you okay?”
I hurriedly approached and grabbed her arm, and Renia clutched my collar tightly. She took a deep breath, looked up at me, and asked.
“I thought something terrible had happened to you.”
“I’m sorry for worrying you.”
“Is that just a lip service apology?”
“I’m sincere. I’ll be careful next time. Really.”
Renia glared as if she was about to get angry, then bit her lip slightly and shook her head.
“Well, it’s fortunate that you’re safe, Reagan… but wouldn’t it be better to rest more?”
“My body is too fine for that. I also figured out the identity of the ‘mechanism.'”
“Identity?”
Renia’s eyes widened.
The constellation I saw just before fainting.
I had figured out the purpose and structure of the ‘mechanism.’
So now it was time to accelerate the repairs.
Just then, I met Victor at the workshop entrance. He was pacing around the entrance with a hesitant attitude.
“Victor, what are you doing there?”
“Umm… well… the atmosphere inside seems quite ominous.”
“Inside?”
As Victor said, loud voices were coming from inside the workshop.
At first, I thought they might be cleaning up the scene where Renia had caused a ruckus, as Sheril had mentioned.
However, not long after entering the workshop, we encountered Archmage Lord Iline in the middle of a threatening formation in front of the ‘mechanism,’ wearing a troubled expression.
“Iline! What on earth is this about!”
A bushy-bearded old man shouted while striking the floor with his staff.
“Why are you trying to fix the mechanism now! And trying to entrust our family’s long-cherished wish to an outsider!”
“…Well, please calm down, first. Reagan is from Benheim….”
“Benheim or the Royal Court, it doesn’t matter! The mechanism is Arcamen’s soul and roots! What if it gets permanently broken from careless handling! Will you, the family head, take responsibility!”
When one of the elders raised his voice, voices of opposition erupted from around them, not to be outdone.
“That’s right! This mechanism is the pride that has sustained Arcamen for hundreds of years! How can we entrust it to the hands of an outsider! The previous family head would have been shocked if he knew!”
“If the machine breaks due to that person’s meager knowledge, our generation will be the one to break the lineage. How could we face future generations then?”
After hearing that conversation, I understood the general situation.
The elders opposing the repair of the ‘Mechanism’ had come to formally protest to Iline.
Meanwhile, Iline couldn’t dare to argue back against their words.
‘Because she’s young.’
In reality, though Iline was the head of the family, she was at most in her early thirties.
In the craftsmen’s industry, being in your thirties was no different from being a greenhorn.
On the other hand, the elders surrounding and pressuring Iline were craftsmen who had hammered iron their entire lives.
Naturally, she had no choice but to remain silent.
“It’s not like I haven’t thought about such things. The ‘Mechanism’ is like a symbol of Arcamen. As you elders say, the risk burden would be great if we failed.”
Iline reluctantly opened her mouth.
When the elders had expressed concerns about restoring the ‘Mechanism’ earlier, I noticed that Iline also harbored the same anxieties as the elders.
However, Iline clenched her fists tightly and raised her head.
“As you say, the ‘Mechanism’ is the soul of our Arcamen. That’s exactly why I don’t want to leave it in a broken state. I understand the fear. I feel it too. But… change and development. Isn’t pursuing that the true pride of Arcamen?”
Even with Iline’s appeal, the elders remained unmoved.
The white-haired elderly man, Elder Ivar, opened his mouth.
“Iline, having lived a mere thirty years, do you intend to speak of Arcamen’s pride? All of us here have spent more than your entire lifetime just hammering iron. Therefore, even if you are the family head, Iline, you cannot unilaterally decide on Arcamen’s major affairs.”
“…That’s.”
“Exactly! You have no right to arbitrarily damage the legacy containing our ancestors’ spirits!”
Iline’s face contorted.
I thought it was truly merciless.
To have several people openly oppressing a woman who could be their daughter.
“Change is fine, and development is good! But that’s only when we can handle it! If we entrust it to some unknown outsider and the ancestors’ wisdom contained within gets damaged, who will take responsibility!”
Finally, unable to watch any longer, I stepped forward.
“I will take responsibility.”
Everyone’s gaze focused on me.
The elders’ eyes narrowed.
I pointed to the ‘Mechanism’ and continued speaking.
“Just now, I figured out the purpose of that mechanical device.”
A moment of silence.
One of the elders who had been quietly listening to my story scowled and stood up.
“You’re talking nonsense! I’ve spent nearly half a century trying to analyze that machine! Even so, I couldn’t figure it out!”
“Then you’ve wasted your life.”
“What did you say?”
Fury blazed in the elder’s face.
Even Renia panicked and tugged at my sleeve.
“Re, Reagan, what are you doing! Apologize quickly!”
I shook my head.
Earlier, after taking Chronos, I learned about the true meaning of the ‘Mechanism’.
So these elders’ excessive caution couldn’t help but seem ridiculous to me.
“I’ll speak bluntly.”
I spread both arms with my back to the ‘Mechanism’.
“This mechanical device was originally designed to be in a broken state.”
Everyone’s eyes widened in shock.
* * *
At my bombshell declaration, the elders were uniformly enraged.
“What kind of nonsense is that!”
“Just because you have a mouth doesn’t mean you should babble carelessly! I’ll immediately contact Benheim to condemn your arrogant attitude!”
“Are you now daring to say that Arcamen’s ancestors made defective products!”
The elders’ faces turned red and blue with anger.
Even Iline scratched her cheek and looked at me with worried eyes.
Indeed.
It would have sounded like a statement insulting Arcamen’s founder, so it was a natural reaction.
However, I had seen it clearly.
“No, I don’t mean it’s a defective product. It’s an unfinished work.”
I pointed to the ‘Mechanism’s’ complexly intertwined mana circuits and explained.
“This device has been passed down in an incomplete state from the beginning. The circuit ends are severed, and even the power source for circulating mana is empty.”
“Th, that was lost over time…”
“No. That spot was empty from the beginning. If it had been lost, there would have been at least some traces left, but that spot was remarkably clean.”
I spoke firmly.
When I accelerated my brain using Chronos’s power, I was able to visualize the entire blueprint of the mechanism in my head.
Countless constellations adorning the night sky.
However, there was no light in those constellations.
Clearly, it was a void waiting for someone to fill it.
The reason Arcamen’s elders hadn’t noticed this until now was probably due to their pride as craftsmen.
For craftsmen who firmly believed that the ‘Mechanism’ was Arcamen’s pride, the possibility that the massive machine created by Arcamen’s ancestors might be incomplete was never even considered.
Even if they saw structural gaps, they would have viewed them as the ancestors’ wisdom and the result of perfect design.
“That’s also why you couldn’t determine its purpose. Trying to understand the structure of an incomplete mechanical device from the start was just a waste of effort.”
The elders were left speechless, and Iline frowned as she asked me.
“Then why did Arcamen’s ancestors leave us an incomplete device?”
“Well. There could be various reasons, but I’m an outsider so I wouldn’t know well. However.”
I trailed off and looked around at the craftsmen gathered in the workshop.
“At the very least, seeing this farce, I think Arcamen’s ancestors left such a challenge because they didn’t want to see your pathetic state.”
At my words, silence fell over the workshop.
I looked up at the massive mechanical wall.
“Change and development. As Iline said earlier, I think this is roughly what Arcamen’s ancestors wanted to convey. They probably hoped that future generations would fill in these blanks and complete it with technology suited to their era.”
Of course, this was just my speculation…
“In other words, because this is not perfect, it can become anything.”
I looked around at the elders and said.
“I will repair this mechanism. No, I will complete it. So please watch over me.”
I spoke with a confident tone.
Before I knew it, the elders had become speechless.
They had no logic to refute with.
My interpretation of it being incomplete had become an excellent justification to console the numerous failures they had experienced.
Because they were the ones who had continuously studied the mechanism, they had no choice but to acknowledge that my words were the correct answer.
No, perhaps they had already known the answer. It was just that their pride as craftsmen wouldn’t allow it.
“What do you think?”
Even to my question, no answer came back.
“…Haha.”
At least Iline’s expression was bright.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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