Chapter 80 – Dead Ember (1)

The Eternal Embers, having lost the heat and warmth it had infinitely gushed out, began to turn into a cold piece of scrap metal.

The day the hope of humanity, the city, and this world faded away.

“…….”

Still holding onto the operating lever of the Eternal Embers, I looked at the citizens who had fallen into despair and shock.

They merely stared at the stopped Ember, not knowing what to do.

The majority of people were lost for words due to shock, and not a few sat down helplessly on the spot.

There was one commonality in the reactions of the crowd.

The despair dwelling in their eyes was exactly that.

Just like the Eternal Embers losing its heat, it was a moment when the light of hope the citizens harbored in their hearts faded away along with it.

“Aylen Vale! You bastard, what on earth are you doing right now!”

Yan Casellos stepped forward with an angry expression.

Because he was the leader, he could not overlook my actions that had unilaterally twisted the fate of the Ember.

However, I could not feel any sense of responsibility as a leader from his face, nor the shock and despair that were felt from the citizens.

What was felt from him was only anger.

Only a deep anger toward me, who threatened his Ember and his position, could be felt.

“Didn’t I just explain? I said I’m shutting it down because the defect of the Eternal Embers is serious.”

However, I did not play along with his anger.

Even the time spent arguing with him was a waste, and this was a place where one had to stand with reason, not emotion.

Step, step.

Therefore, it was a moment when I ignored Yan and walked toward the citizens.

“So what kind of defect is it that allows you to control the fate of the Ember as you please? If you are so confident, explain it!”

He shouted as he roughly grabbed the back of my neck.

Since it had come to this, I couldn’t ignore it either, so I slapped away his arrogant hand and said.

“If I explain, will you understand?”

“What an arrogant bastard…!”

“Shut your mouth, Yan. As a magic engineer and a citizen belonging to this Ember, I only act for the sake of the Ember. And as for living or dying by this choice and judgment, it is the same for me as it is for you. Shouldn’t I, the expert, naturally know what to do?”

“…That cannot be an excuse for unilaterally putting out the Ember without any meeting or vote.”

“I have never wished for an excuse. Even if the Ember is revived in the future due to my choice now, it remains the same.”

“What…?”

“All I desire is the prosperity of our Ember. So I do not seek anyone’s forgiveness or mercy.”

“……!”

He ended up closing his mouth in the end.

Just as I said, the Ember was a community of shared fate.

If my judgment to shut down the Eternal Embers was wrong, I also would not be able to avoid the end of death.

Therefore, whether I explained the magic engineering reasons for having no choice but to shut down operations or not, he had no choice but to accept it based on the single reason that we shared the same fate.

Of course, what he could not accept was not such a reason, but rather this situation where the solid support rating for him and the leadership was shaking.

“If you understand, why don’t you set up a countermeasure with the leadership? I think cleaning up your mess right now would be much more helpful in protecting the Ember.”

“What mess? I declare that since the creation of the Ember, the leadership has never once ignored a request from the magic engineering department. Furthermore, is it common sense that we wouldn’t have provided support for the Eternal Embers, which determines life and death?”

“Anyone can talk. The important thing is that now, it has become like this.”

“…The leadership will assemble in the meeting room immediately. Since we will discuss the overall administration and supply plans for the city in accordance with the shutdown, bring all relevant materials.”

When I spoke sarcastically, Yan, who glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, led the leadership and vanished into the building.

This was not because he accepted my words either.

In the end, what happened had happened, and since he thought of this Ember as his, he was merely dealing with the unexpected situation.

For now, he seemed to view me as a mere nuisance and trivial variable.

‘If you do not see me as an opponent, I am rather grateful.’

However, I was not shaken by his attitude of treating me like a bug.

An unexpected single case was always more terrifying than ten thousand expected cases.

In the near future, I would become that one unexpected thing and pierce through his weakness.

‘Since I dealt with Yan and the leadership, is what remains persuading the citizens…?’

As the leadership that blocked the front disappeared, it was the citizens who filled my vision once again.

Their faces looking at me appeared very confused.

Faces that could not find direction on whether they should still treat me as a hero or as a traitor who put out the Ember as he pleased.

“Everyone, listen!”

I opened my mouth vigorously to put an end to their confusion.

In reality, those who were no different from the Ember itself were the real enemies I had to face, and at the same time, the allies who would become my greatest strength.

“Due to an irreversible defect in the core, the fuel efficiency of the Eternal Embers has dropped to half over the past year. Look at these figures. They are recorded in the maintenance document of the Eternal Embers jointly written by the magic engineering department and the leadership.”

Following my words, the magic engineering department members moved according to the prearranged plan.

They each approached the citizens holding transcribed papers and held them up so those in the front row could easily see.

It would have been nice if we could distribute the documents, but since paper and ink were scarce in the Ember, this method was the best.

“I-It really dropped to half. Then that means the consumption of magic stones is doubled…?”

“No wonder. I thought the reason they increased the mining of magic stones since a few months ago was to prepare for the snowstorm, but that wasn’t it. There was a reason for everything.”

As expected, the citizens in the front row noisily chattered and passed the news to the back.

In that way, as the people in the back passed it on by word of mouth, the contents of the document quickly spread.

I waited for the commotion to subside before opening my mouth again.

“The consumption of magic stones per hour is double compared to when it is normal. To put it another way, it is the same as saying that the lifespan of our Ember has been cut in half. Assuming the lifespan was one hundred years, it has been reduced to fifty years, which is half of that.”

“Such a thing…!”

The citizens appeared to be in absolute shock.

Explaining it with concrete numbers made it hit closer to home.

Of course, one could not calculate the lifespan of the Ember with such a simple calculation.

This was because there were many other resource factors, such as food, that affected the duration of the Ember, not just magic stones.

There were also variables that could not be calculated precisely, such as the population size or talent.

Just like me, a veteran player of who belonged to this Nameless Ember.

‘I do not know about afterward, but at least until the end of my lifespan, our Ember will survive. That much can be called a huge variable.’

It was an arrogant but grounded confidence.

Although I had lost my Ember to the colossal snowstorm blowing in during the final chapter, I had never failed to manage the Ember in any crisis.

It meant that I was confident in overcoming the defect that occurred in the Eternal Embers this time as well.

“That is correct. Right now, it is double. However, the core’s defect will accelerate further in the future, and it might become triple in a month, and quadruple in two months. In the end, we will face the conclusion of losing the Ember forever.”

However, there was no need to explain all of that.

Right now, it was right to give the citizens the greatest shock possible to make them accept that my choice was correct.

“It’s not the end, and it will drop even further in the future?”

“Isn’t that perhaps natural? Although it was named the Eternal Embers, it is also a machine in the end.”

“…Then what do we do? You said it’s an irreversible problem. Does that mean we just have to wait for death like this?”

Judging by the reactions of the citizens who murmured in panic, my intention hit the mark perfectly.

First of all, I had made them understand the reason for shutting down the Eternal Embers.

However, if there was a first, there was bound to be a second.

Soon, words popped out abruptly from among the citizens who fell into the fear of death.

“Stopping the Eternal Embers… Yeah, I get it. But what was the magic engineering department doing while the Ember became like that?”

“That’s right! No matter how much you blame the leadership, isn’t it the magic engineering department that manages the Eternal Embers!”

“Does it make sense to keep a problem that existed since a year ago hidden from the citizens? Especially a problem regarding the Ember! Lord Demian, please say something!”

Apart from the leadership’s poor support, a fierce backlash erupted over the magic engineering department’s lukewarm initial response.

This was an expected problem, and it was a karma that the magic engineering department had to bear.

To be precise, it was the karma that Demian Vale, who had not shared this problem with anyone, had to bear.

“That is…”

“Do not step forward.”

“Aylen…?”

Just when Demian Vale was about to step forward, I stretched out my arm to block him.

This was his karma, but the one to bear it had to be me, not him.

“Quiet!”

I shouted loudly in front of the citizens who were venting their complaints.

Perhaps because my voice contained mana that I had drawn up even in a clumsy manner, it overcame the clamor of the hundreds of citizens and descended upon everyone’s heads.

In the created silence, I began to declare while pounding my chest with my fist.

“Although there were unfair dealings during the negotiation process with the leadership, the magic engineering department has absolutely no intention of avoiding responsibility, considering the seriousness of the issue and our role. We will do whatever it takes for you and the Ember, and we are prepared for it!”

At the voice that pierced their ears through the power of mana, the citizens looked only at me with bated breath.

It was likely because they were overwhelmed by the solemn atmosphere, but they also probably wanted to hear what I had to say.

Thus, I calmly prepared my next words.

From here on, it was content that had not been discussed with the magic engineering department and had not been shared with anyone.

“As I told you, the core cannot be repaired. The core of our Ember has already passed the repair threshold, and it is impossible to even extend its lifespan with the low-grade equipment possessed by the magic engineering department.”

Just when I thought I had laid enough groundwork.

Fwip!

I unwrapped the bandage, stained with dried blood, that was wrapped around my right arm.

The blood-soaked bandage fell to the ground, and soon the snow that began to pile up on top of it was stained with blood and began to turn red.

At the same time, the lowered gazes of the citizens rose toward my right arm.

My right arm, which was growing new flesh but was still not fully healed, had a large scar.

I declared as I intentionally trembled my arm even more.

“If we cannot repair it, we can simply replace it! I will cross the Boundless Great Snow, find another Ember, and recover an intact core. I, Aylen Vale, will take responsibility and resolve the magic engineering department’s mistake!”

Shouting that, I bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

At that moment, although I could not see the expressions of the citizens and the magic engineering department, I knew by instinct.

I knew that their faces looking at me would be filled with some kind of anticipation and joy.