Chapter 82 – Dead Ember (3)

“I understand that your major is military magic engineering. But what do you mean you can churn out five mana guns a day? Surely you must know the situation of our ember.”

I asked back at Will Ford’s words, which were filled with a confidence whose reason was hard for me to guess.

Of course, I knew that his skills could not be compared to his age.

However, creating a blueprint and actually manufacturing it were stories of completely different fields.

Because the blueprint depended on magic engineering ability, while the manufacturing depended on the productivity of the ember.

The reality of our ember, which had a golem blueprint in hand but had to outsource it to another ember, was for that exact reason.

Soon, Will Ford replied.

“It’s not something to go around bragging about, but… W701, I made it. I am the designer.”

Perhaps recalling a memory he did not want to remember, the boy’s complexion darkened in an instant.

Even so, his eyes, which held a strange warmth, seemed to expect something from me.

‘What is he expecting? Is W701 something I should naturally know as a magic engineer?’

It looked like the expectation of a magic engineer.

In the context of the conversation, the object called W701 was surely a mana gun the boy had designed.

Furthermore, if he could speak so confidently while mentioning the name of the firearm, it must have been a fairly famous item.

To put it all together, the boy’s expectation could be called the pure expectation of a scholar who wanted his invention evaluated by a magic engineer of a higher stage than himself.

‘To avoid raising suspicion, I should at least pretend to know…’

But even before I could respond, there was someone who reacted first upon hearing the firearm’s name.

“Kid, how old are you?”

It was Jeremy Scott, who had approached stealthily, just as he had done in the food storehouse.

“Even though the W701 has only been in distribution for five years, it is a weapon that is still adopted by numerous armed groups. Yet you are the one who made it? A young kid like you is boasting too much.”

Jeremy snorted as if he had heard something absurd.

Although he was not a magic engineer, he seemed to know the W701 well since he was from the military regime of the Ember of Progress.

According to his words, it meant that the W701, which Will Ford claimed to have made, was an old item that had been released ten years ago.

‘Wait… Then he developed the W701 when he was five years old? What nonsense…’

Will Ford’s age was only fifteen this year.

Although it was an age classified as an adult, it meant he was still a greenhorn who had not shed his boyish look.

To think that such a greenhorn had developed a mana gun ten years ago, during a time when he was practically nothing but a baby.

Moreover, a masterpiece that was still used in active service in this era, more than ten years later?

“Kid, now is not the time to play pranks. Distinguish between when to step forward and when not to.”

Jeremy spoke in a colder and more serious voice than ever before.

Just as he said, this expedition was a major event that determined the fate of the entire ember, and apart from that, Will Ford’s words were also hard to believe.

But unlike him, I had no choice but to trust that absurd story.

Because I knew what kind of guy Will Ford was.

“Hey, don’t try to lecture me as if you know everything. Because there is no one who knows better than me when to step forward and when to step back.”

On the contrary, Will Ford spoke as if it were ridiculous.

He might have been overwhelmed by the intimidation felt from Jeremy, but his appearance of not only overcoming it but also countering it leisurely was out of the ordinary.

Was that why?

“I understand. Because idiots, the epitome of inefficiency who don’t believe until they see it with their own two eyes like you, exist wherever you go. Follow me. If you can’t believe it, showing it to you will suffice.”

“I call that prudence.”

“Whatever you call it, the only thing that matters is: what is the truth? Let’s check whose words are correct.”

“…Fine, let’s go.”

Even though Will Ford, who was young enough to be his grandson, spoke provocatively, Jeremy followed the boy without another word.

He too had felt Will Ford’s extraordinariness in that brief conversation.

Step, step.

Thus, our expedition team passed by Demian and the magic engineers who were dismantling the Eternal Embers, and entered the Magic Engineering Department building.

“Watch closely. It will be over quickly.”

As soon as Will Ford sat down, he took paper and a pen and began to draw up the blueprint of the W701.

At that moment, Natasha pressed close to my side and asked.

“Is Will Ford really the designer of the W701? I know Will’s talent is great, but to be honest, it’s hard to believe…”

Concern for Will Ford was cast on Natasha’s face.

Even if Will Ford failed to draw the blueprint, Jeremy would not do anything to him, but she was worried that he might get hurt emotionally, as geniuses often did.

In her eyes, too, Will Ford seemed to appear as a child rather than an adult.

“If you are going to worry like that, it should be Jeremy who receives it, not Will Ford.”

“Pardon…?”

“You also seem to know what the W701 is, Lady Natasha… You will see if you watch.”

But I dismissed her concern, calling it a needless worry.

This was because I had no choice but to let out an exclamation of admiration just from the outline of the blueprint, which seemed to have only just been sketched.

‘So this is the mana gun that is still used in active service even though it was developed ten years ago… I can see why.’

It was my first time seeing a blueprint of a mana gun, and the blueprint had only just revealed its outline.

Yet, that alone was sufficient explanation for the greatness of the W701.

Accuracy, durability, portability, secondary equipment versatility, and so on… there was nothing lacking.

There was a particularly surprising part, which was the feature that must have made the W701 a masterpiece.

It was the mana bullet explosion circulation method.

“Oh…”

While everyone was silent, I alone admired it quietly.

It was not because I was peculiar, but because I was the only one who captured the greatness of this method as a magic engineer.

‘To think of circulating the explosive power and heat evenly to increase durability and control the recoil.’

The design of the method itself was not difficult, just as Will Ford had confidently asserted that five guns could be produced in our ember.

It was a form advantageous for mass production due to its simple structure.

However, the idea was great and wondrous.

No one would have thought to make a mana gun in this manner.

Moreover, did it not mean that the gun itself could play the role of a kind of stove the more it fired?

Looking at it a bit more from the perspective of a local, this method was truly worthy of being called a masterpiece among masterpieces that could perfectly overcome the environmental characteristics of the ice age.

‘And that designer is none other than Will Ford.’

Above all, in that it was designed by Will Ford, the creator of the W701, I had no choice but to give high marks to the reliability of the firearm.

Anyone who had been to the military would know, but malfunctions during firing were things that happened surprisingly often during training.

In actual combat, it was no exaggeration to say that a malfunction divided life and death. Therefore, while being the most basic aspect of a firearm, the most important thing was reliability.

Had about thirty minutes passed as Will Ford kept his hands moving busily?

Clack!

In the silence, a loud sound of striking the desk rang out.

Will Ford had finally put down the pen.

“Check it.”

At his words, everyone began to peer at the blueprint half-believing and half-doubting.

They had already guessed that his words were true from the neat blueprint, but still, it was not something to be completed in just thirty minutes.

However, they soon had no choice but to erase even the slightest trace of doubt.

“Drawing a blueprint of this level so flawlessly is impossible unless you are the original creator. I can tell just by looking at it.”

“Even looking at it from my perspective, having assembled and disassembled it thousands of times, every single part is accurate. The same goes for the sequence.”

Those were the words of David the blacksmith and Natasha the intelligence agent in turn.

From both the manufacturer’s and the user’s perspectives, they were words that proved Will Ford’s statements were the truth.

“Amazing. It was true…”

Jeremy, who picked up the blueprint, also nodded in admiration only then, and

“The one who failed to distinguish between when to step forward and when not to was me. I was hasty. I apologize, Will Ford. Will you accept it?”

He bowed his head to Will Ford first.

At that sight, people’s eyes widened.

Because they knew that bowing one’s head to someone much younger than oneself was not as easy as it seemed.

And Will Ford also accepted Jeremy’s apology lightly.

“It’s fine. It’s understandable that you couldn’t believe it. My talent is just that outstanding, after all.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

“No need to be thankful. I didn’t understand you; I understood myself.”

“Originally, only a fellow genius or oneself can understand a genius. I will respect you.”

If there was such a thing as a broad-minded person, would it look like this?

The conversation between the two felt too overwhelming for an ordinary person to follow.

An adult and a child were talking, but there was no child in their midst.

However, there was a moment when Will Ford, who had looked endlessly like an adult, returned to his actual age.

That was precisely when he looked at me.

“How does it look to you?”

Waiting for an evaluation, Will Ford’s eyes were sparkling.

A bit of nervousness was also mixed in, making him look as if he were worried about being found at fault by me.

Since I was a magic engineer who had reached a higher stage than him.

‘This is burdensome…’

However, it was more accurate to view it as the treatment I received for acting like a genius.

Because in his eyes, I was a magic engineer of unprecedented talent who had reached the upper-intermediate stage at the age of nineteen.

Seeing that he did not show such a respect-filled expression to Demian, who was at the same intermediate stage but possessed greater actual skill, made it clear.

However, contrary to his expectations, I was not some kind of natural genius.

I was just an ordinary young man and a gamer who had read through the setting book of hundreds and thousands of times.

“There is nothing to criticize. It is as great as its reputation.”

So that was how I replied.

Because I had no right to tarnish the boy’s achievement, which he had accomplished on his own.

“Really? It looks like that even to your eyes…?”

‘Oh dear…’

Yet even at those brief words, Will Ford was overjoyed as if he would jump.

As guilt surged in, I quickly changed the subject.

“Will Ford, what is the reason you named it W701?”

“Ah, the name?”

Everyone focused on his mouth.

The W701 was a mana gun good enough to be adopted by both Radiance and the Ember of Progress, but the meaning contained in its name seemed to be unknown.

It turned out that I had ended up asking about something everyone was curious about, like stumbling upon the answer by pure chance.

Soon, Will Ford spoke, curling one corner of his mouth as if bitter.

“W stands for the first letter of Williana’s name, and 701 is taken from July 1st, her birthday.”

“…”

“This mana gun was the first birthday present I gave to my younger sister, Williana.”

Guessing that there was some story behind it, people asked no further.

There was no good in digging up wounds, and it was not the situation for that anyway.

Currently, every minute and second was pressing.

“Good. Let’s postpone recalling memories for next time and revive the cold fire first.”

Speaking as much like a local as possible, I began to command the expedition.

“David, is it possible to make six mana guns, including yours, and silencers within today?”

“Since the blueprint is so excellent, it seems possible.”

“Great. Just in case, I will assign Will Ford to assist you. The rest of you, come with me to lower the off-roader below the ember.”

“Lowering the off-roader? Why?”

“To deal with the mutants, we will also need to add reinforcement plates to the off-roader. Then, let us disperse.”

With those words, we quickly dispersed.

Because the expedition to secure the core was a matter of utmost urgency.

We had to set out immediately as soon as we were ready.

That night, having completed all preparations by manufacturing the mana guns and reinforcing the outer armor of the off-roader.

“We will be back. Everyone, please stay safe.”

Amidst a crowd of gathered citizens, the Core Expedition announced their departure.

Mutants roaming in packs, a snowstorm descending at high speed, the extinguished Eternal Embers… it was truly a war.