The Story Of The Second Son Of The Baron Family [EN]: Chapter 98

“What are you doing here?”

A familiar face. A beauty that would make anyone turn back for a second look, but at this moment, her face, which had appeared as if by magic, seemed no different from that of an evil spirit to me.

‘Suddenly, without any notice.’

Well, when had she ever told me in advance before visiting? Every encounter so far had been a surprise. It was my fault for being careless, especially since she hadn’t shown her face or even contacted me while I was away.

“So, it was a Dragonheart?”

There was no way she wouldn’t recognize it. A cold sweat broke out instantly, but I regained my composure as much as possible. Frankly speaking, I hadn’t done anything wrong, had I?

I hadn’t told her that I had the Dragonheart, but she hadn’t asked either, and I had clearly said that I killed the dragon with my own hands. Once a battle is decided, it is only natural that the winner gains the right to take everything from the loser. So, I pretended not to be flustered and opened my mouth.

“Yes. I obtained it back then, as I mentioned before.”

“I wondered why it felt 2% lacking. But what were you doing here? You made me move twice for nothing.”

However, to my surprise, she brushed past the issue coolly, as if there was no problem at all. Even knowing that I was poking a sleeping dragon, I couldn’t help but ask again.

“Are you really okay with it? Even if he was lacking, wasn’t he one of your kind?”

“You’re quite smart for a human, but sometimes you ask foolish questions.”

She really didn’t care at all, and even replied in an indifferent voice, as if I was foolish for asking such a question.

“You two fought, right? And you won. The winner has the right to take everything from the loser. You must have heard it as a human—the cliché story of us threatening kingdoms or territories to obtain gold and treasures.”

Indeed, it was a tiresome pattern that appeared in fairy tales featuring dragons. An evil dragon kidnaps a princess or torments good humans, and a brave and righteous hero slays the evil dragon, marries the beautiful princess, and lives happily ever after. Just a cliché story, as she said.

Moreover, having glimpsed even a fraction of the dragon’s power through her, I couldn’t help but have strange imaginations. First, that fairy tales are just fairy tales, and second, if those fairy tales were based on facts, then the hero might actually be a dragon transformed into a human.

“That was possible because we were the winners with power. But you thought I would say something about a stupid guy losing to a human and having everything taken away? Those words should be said to the stupid guy who lost to a human despite being a dragon!”

She really seemed to think he was pathetic, looking at the remains of that guy who was now just a heart. But soon, her following words were enough to embarrass me.

“But I’m getting a little greedy. A fellow dragon’s heart is a treasure among treasures for us. It’s so hard to get. So, you know?”

The words that would follow were too obvious. She was the winner with power, as she said.

“I’ll take this. Is that okay?”

#

“I’ll give it to you.”

“Oh, really? Is that okay? It’s funny for me to say this when I’m about to take it, but this is really precious, you know?”

If she was going to say that, she shouldn’t have brought up taking it in the first place. I had no other choice anyway. It didn’t seem like this stubborn person would be persuaded by words.

“But I have a favor to ask.”

“A favor?”

“Please consider it a reward for the merit of offering a valuable treasure.”

“Tell me. What is it?”

If I couldn’t keep it, I had no choice but to get something else. It was an item that I couldn’t use properly right now anyway. It was like comparing gold and jewels versus a bottle of water. Anyone would think that gold and jewels are more valuable, but to someone on the verge of dying of thirst in the desert, a bottle of water is more valuable.

“Do you remember the Titan I was researching?”

“Ah, that lump of rock?”

A lump of rock.

Of course, it might really look like just a lump of rock to her. The progress of the Titan’s development was that slow before she left. Of course, even the current situation wouldn’t be much of a threat to her, unless a master-class knight was on board the completed Titan.

Ignoring her miserable evaluation, I began to explain to her that a power source was needed to finish the development of the Titan, and that I was researching the Dragonheart for that purpose. So, if she helped with the development of the power source, I would gladly offer the Dragonheart. Her answer to that was a cool and unsurprising one.

“Well, that’s not a very difficult request.”

I knew it. A problem that was like a challenge for humans was not a difficult problem for her. The difference in race and lifespan was so enormous.

“Let me see. I don’t know how much you want, but I’ll take a look.”

She snatched the related documents from me and watched them carefully for a while, then picked up a pen and began to modify and write something down. Watching the contents over her shoulder from behind, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

A spell I had never seen before.

A method I had never thought of.

A direction I had never imagined.

Someone might have thought of it, might have imagined it. But they might not have been able to show it because they thought it was impossible, or because they had repeatedly failed due to the limitations of their abilities.

“Is this enough?”

But at the same time, it was difficult and complex. As it was, there was no one who could properly understand and apply this. Not even my teacher, who was revered as the most outstanding magician in the Empire, nor I were exceptions. I knew it was great, but not to the point of knowing exactly how great it was. She gave a clear answer to this problem.

“Fill in the parts that you can’t do with magic with dragon words [runic inscriptions]. Besides, it’s not that difficult, is it?”

That’s right. It was difficult because I was trying to make everything with magic, but if I replaced it with appropriate engravings, it would be possible enough even at my level. But if that were the case…

‘No. Is there really a need to do that?’

I tried my best to construct the Titan project without applying engravings and only with magic. There was only one reason for that: to allow others besides me to make the Titan.

No matter how outstanding a magician I was, I was not at an extraordinary level, and no matter how hard I worked, I only had one body. If I were to take on the production of the Titan alone, it would not be enough even if I became a wizened old man to reach the goal I wanted. That’s why I didn’t get help from engravings in making the exoskeleton.

But is there a need to do that even for the power source?

It was difficult and complex, but if I got help from engravings, it wouldn’t be so difficult that I could only make one a day. If I left the parts that didn’t need me to other magicians and only paid attention to the parts that needed engravings, I could make dozens in a month.

More than anything, when that happened, even the Emperor would not be able to easily touch me or the people around me.

‘It’s also excellent in terms of security.’

Unless the dragon was on the other side, I was the only one who could complete the power source. Even if someone acquired the power source and tried to copy it, even if they tried to research it, I didn’t think they could follow the engravings that even my teacher had given up on. At best, it would only be a minor version.

“That’s right. That would be better.”

“Awesome. Then I’ll take this? Just try not to use this as an excuse to neglect your training like last time.”

As if possessed by something, I devoured the research data she had modified without hesitation, eager to bring what existed only in documents, what existed only in theory, into reality. I left the parts that were possible with magic and replaced the impossible parts with dragon word engravings. As time passed, the white parts of the paper disappeared and were repeatedly filled with black letters, and in the end, I tore down the cabin in my excitement.

#

“This is…”

“A power source. You said you’d bring something back.”

“No, how…? It hasn’t even been a few months.”

Magic power that could not be compared to any of the results I had created in the meantime. JoJo looked at me with a subtle face mixed with emotions such as embarrassment, surprise, awe, and bewilderment. It couldn’t be helped. Perhaps anyone other than JoJo would have had the same expression, but I had the best way to convince them.

“I had a small realization.”

“Realization? …Could it be you?!”

“I was lucky.”

Knights and magicians often say that they have surpassed the limits of humans. That’s not wrong. The power of magic allows them to do things that ordinary humans cannot. But among them, those who have surpassed the limits once again are called transcendents [individuals who have broken through conventional magical or physical boundaries].

“Come on, how long are you going to be surprised? This isn’t the end.”

The power source was completed, but the result was still unknown. The process was not over either. The synchronization work between the power source and the exoskeleton had to be done, and it also had to be tested whether the knight who actually boarded could properly use the magic power of the power source.

But compared to the things that have happened so far, they are trivial things, and it will not take long to see the results. When I revealed the power source I had brought to others for the sake of the results, the laboratory became bustling in an instant.

“Is this possible in this way?”

“How on earth did you…?”

“No, putting aside everything else, what are these parts? I don’t understand no matter how many times I look at them.”

“That part is difficult to explain. It’s also a secret, and at your level, it might just complicate your head.”

At the same time,

“Heok!”

“Are you serious?!”

“What kind of experience have you had in the meantime?!”

The fact that I had reached and proved that I had reached the realm of transcendence made it even more noisy. The difference was that the reaction to the power source was like looking at a genius who had come up with something they had not even thought of, while now they were looking at an extraordinary monster.

“There will be a chance to tell you the details later. More than that, shouldn’t you see it with your own eyes? Move. Ah, would you call Sir Mikhail?”

The power source that fits perfectly, like inserting a missing puzzle piece. The process that had been prepared in advance proceeded smoothly without any trouble. It was something that had been reviewed more than dozens of times, but there was not even a small variable to the extent that it could be said that the sky was helping.

“Have you returned?”

“It’s been a while, Sir Mikhail. It may be sudden, but could you board the Titan?”

“Of course. But why so suddenly…?”

“It’s complete.”

“Yes?”

“It’s a little lacking to call it complete, but the big picture is complete. I can’t help but urge you because I’m curious about what it will look like as the missing parts are filled.”

< The Second Son of a Baron – Episode 98 – > End