Chapter 62 – Incident (6)

“…Very well. Do as you wish.”

Said Yan Casellos, whose face had turned red and blue.

Since a green youth was acting high and mighty solely relying on the prestige of being the Chief Magic Engineer, he had no choice but to be angry.

But what could he do?

Just as he said, I was the Chief Magic Engineer.

At that, the one who beat Leona Melville, the granddaughter of Herman Melville.

Since I had decided to act as a rascal anyway, I made up my mind to be completely shameless.

“Very well? Who are you to give permission?”

“What…?”

“I didn’t seek permission; I made an announcement. Does a Chief Magic Engineer like me need to get permission from the leader of a Nameless Ember?”

Conversely, it was asking whether you should be the one seeking permission.

Yan’s neck was now red as well.

Yet, my words were not wrong.

Even an intermediate magic engineer stood shoulder to shoulder with most Ember leaders.

And all the past top scorers of the magic engineering exam rose to the intermediate rank. In short, it meant they were guaranteed a status corresponding to an intermediate magic engineer.

Therefore, it was only natural that the leader of such a Nameless Ember could not find fault with my words.

Why was Demian, an intermediate so outstanding that he was called the next Grand Magic Engineer, walking on eggshells around Yan?

That was because twenty years ago, Demian Vale, who did not want to be involved in politics as a magic engineer, declared in front of the citizens that he would run the Ember on equal terms with Yan Casellos.

Claiming that the Ember could only be healthy if there was no dictatorship, or some such thing…

‘To put it simply, he was tricked.’

Stupidly, Demian back then did not know Yan’s true nature.

To be precise, it should be seen that Yan had hidden his true feelings well.

‘Anyway. The key point is that I must look like a rascal intoxicated by the honor of being the top scorer.’

In that sense, my arrogant and impudent attitude seemed to have grated on Yan’s nerves very well.

He spoke in a voice suppressed with anger.

“Indeed. Someone of your caliber is entitled to that. It was my mistake.”

“Doesn’t matter. A broad-minded person like me forgets mistakes quickly.”

I could have pushed further with the rascal concept, but I stopped here.

I had only acted excessively on purpose to converse on equal terms, and doing more would only provoke his anger.

Yan Casellos had also managed his emotions by now, and his complexion had returned to normal.

Since the value of the top scorer was so high, he also seemed to accept it.

‘Even if it is an Ember in a remote place, a leader is still a leader…’

Even if it was smaller than this world, I was someone who had ruled a hundred thousand Embers in .

The people I dealt with in that Ember were not much different from Yan.

I felt like I understood why there were so many crowds following Yan.

“So what did you come to talk about? From the looks of it, you didn’t come to ask us to get along.”

Yan, who had brewed tea in the meantime, sat on the sofa holding a teacup.

Seeing that he still did not offer me any, he did not seem to have any intention of holding a long conversation.

Meaning we should get straight to the point.

The feeling was mutual.

“I plan to take revenge on Demian.”

“Revenge?”

“Yes, revenge. But it would be impossible for me to do alone what you couldn’t do even in the last twenty years. That’s why I want to work with you.”

“Ha!”

Yan, who let out a hollow laugh at the word revenge, asked while wiping the overflowing teacup.

“What are you talking about? The leadership has never persecuted the Magic Engineering Department, nor have we harbored enough ill feelings to warrant revenge.”

“Never did such a thing, you say…”

“I don’t know who you heard what from to act like this, but the leadership and the Magic Engineering Department have a symbiotic relationship.”

Yan spoke shamelessly.

Even though neither was ignorant of the situation to the point that even the citizens knew about the relationship between the two groups, who looked at each other like enemies.

There were two reasons for him speaking like that.

One was to test me.

The other was to save face by speaking that way.

Yan was still doubting me, and he had no choice but to doubt.

‘They said he was a highly suspicious man. That was correct.’

I thought deceiving him would not be as easy as I thought, but I chose my next words without hesitation.

“I am a rascal, not an idiot.”

“……?”

“I mean I don’t want to waste time on obvious talk.”

In any case, who would look at the top scorer as an idiot?

I continued speaking to Yan, who was smiling as if amused.

“The leadership wants the downfall of the Magic Engineering Department, and I want the ruin of Demian Vale. Even if the targets are different, aren’t we wishing for the same result? I think we could be good partners.”

“Bring you, Demian’s flesh and blood, into the inside? Absurd talk.”

“Why is it absurd? Conversely, it means I can become a core insider of the Magic Engineering Department.”

“Why should I take such a risk? We have already seized the upper hand anyway. And a good partner… what do you have except the prestige of the top scorer?”

Yan spoke like a man who had nothing to lose.

This was an attitude he could show because he knew that the golem development would end in failure.

As long as that belief was maintained, there was no chance of victory for me.

But it was fine.

Because I could just shatter that belief.

“Right, right. Exactly my point! You have no idea what I have, yet you act so fearlessly.”

“Don’t bluff. No matter how you returned as the top scorer, there is no one on your side in our Ember.”

“You really don’t understand. People who are slow to understand only believe once they are shown.”

Thud—

Saying so, I pulled out a stack of papers from my shirt pocket and threw it in front of Yan.

It was Herman Melville’s golem blueprint.

“This is…?”

“It’s a golem blueprint. If you look at the general shape, even an uneducated person like you would know it’s real.”

“……!”

Although Yan did not recognize it at first.

“This, this is a real golem blueprint? Where on earth, and how…?”

Now his eyes were wide in astonishment.

His trembling hands were busy flipping through the blueprint, and with each page he read, the trembling increased.

It was a perfect checkmate for Yan and the leadership, who had tried to bring down the Magic Engineering Department through golem development.

Yet, he asked while struggling to act calm.

“A golem blueprint is something that can only be made by someone at least upper-intermediate. And upper-intermediate magic engineers do not exist in this world.”

“Oho, you know quite a lot. But you still pushed for such an agenda while knowing that fact?”

“Don’t change the subject. This is a fake. A fake that cannot exist unless it was made by Herman Melville.”

He inferred that the blueprint would be fake based on his own background knowledge.

But that was real, and inference was not certainty.

Inference was a false belief shattered by 1% of truth.

“Let me ask you one question.”

“If it’s another trick to change the subject—”

“Did I, who beat Leona Melville and took top honors, meet Herman Melville or not? Answer me. Just like you inferred that the blueprint was fake.”

“……!”

Yan could not answer as freely as before.

Now was the time to drive a wedge into the conversation.

“Actually, whether the blueprint is fake or real depends on your imagination. Imagining how far one can go with the honorable status of being the top scorer.”

“What are you trying to say…”

“From the beginning, my words didn’t matter to you. So, if you want, you can call the Wayne brothers here to verify the authenticity of the blueprint.”

The Wayne brothers had deceived everyone by acting obediently to prepare for the day they would leave the Ember.

Thanks to that, these people firmly believed that the brothers were under the control of the leadership.

But Thomas and Willus were already on my side.

If the blueprint was real, they would naturally say it was real, and even if it was fake, they would say it was real.

Meaning the board was already fully set.

“How about it? Do you feel like having a proper conversation with me now?”

His answer was predetermined.

“Fine. Let’s talk.”

Everything was going according to plan.

* * *

“You’re really going to… produce a golem? And how on earth is that supposed to be a good thing for us?”

That was the first thing Yan Casellos said upon hearing the plan to produce a golem.

Production was one thing, but since he did not understand my intention, there was a need to add an explanation.

“I heard that the Magic Engineering Department has already succeeded in golem development and announced that they will even take charge of production. Do you still not understand?”

Before coming to the leadership, I read the news posted on the bulletin board.

The title was , which was news that Demian would take over even the production that the leadership was supposed to do.

Although it was a variable, my plan was modified and conceived from there.

By this point, Yan seemed to have understood my meaning, as he nodded.

“You mean we should snatch the glory of golem production that the Magic Engineering Department is to win, under the name of the leadership. Under the name of the leadership and you, the top scorer.”

“Yes. Although the Magic Engineering Department does not have the down payment to secure a contract for the golem, there will be quite a few Embers that would do it out of goodwill if it is under Demian’s name. Meaning the fight has already entered the final countdown.”

“So it’s about striking first.”

Yan nodded.

Because as long as the blueprint was ready, it was a battle of who would sign the contract first.

For reference, since I had already spoken about handing over the blueprint to the Magic Engineering Department, there was no fault-finding.

Claiming that since it was an item Herman Melville insisted be delivered to Demian, we might face severe retaliation in the future if we did not.

However, the day the blueprint would be delivered would be when the leadership’s negotiation team had already finished their departure ceremony, and since I had said I would leave the composition of the negotiation team to Yan, he no longer had any room to doubt.

Of course, on the day we would return to our Ember with the golem.

‘Even if I have to annihilate the leadership’s negotiation team, I must manipulate the story to my advantage.’

They were pests dreaming of a military dictatorship with their pathetic abilities.

Hearing their talk, even the reinforcement of the hunting squad was for the sake of reign of terror.

They even went as far as to tell them to exchange all the remaining money for mana guns if there was any left.

‘I cannot even imagine how many innocent citizens will die in vain.’

To prevent that terrible tragedy and seize control of the leadership, murder was an unavoidable choice.

The reason I devised this tedious task of cooperating with the leadership in the first place was all for that reason.

“I will assign the most useful people possible to you. Since we must secure the contract.”

But Yan would not even dream of betrayal.

Because I had handed him the trap of choice into his hands.

The composition of the negotiation team was a throwaway card to calm his suspicions.

Already on the list he compiled were Hunting Captain Archer Fordham, Jeremy Scott who had somehow become the vice captain, and the strategist Nikolai.

Since Jeremy, who had wanted to overthrow the military dictatorship, could not have stood on the side of the leadership, it meant drawing out two key figures as intended.

With this much, a large vacuum would be created in the leadership.

But I had to take it a step further here.

“And speaking of which, I need five hundred gold coins received as the reward, of course, plus an additional five hundred.”

“You need as many as a thousand gold coins?”

“You must know what a money-consuming field magic engineering is. How much more so for a golem, which is upper-intermediate?”

“Hmm…”

“What is there to hesitate? It’s money being invested in your Ember anyway. Ultimately, it will all be your possession.”

“I understand. I will notify the treasury.”

‘Stupid bastard.’

I cheered inwardly.

Even if the manufacturing cost of a golem was high, it did not require up to a thousand gold coins.

Furthermore, what I was going to make was a lowest-grade golem.

Meaning I planned to reduce the manufacturing cost as much as possible and pocket the remaining gold coins.

“A wise choice. I will keep it safe.”

In my pocket, that was.

Today, I pulled off another scam and became a rich man with one thousand one hundred gold coins.