The last few days had remained as calm and uneventful as ever, and Van had finally been able to throw himself fully into his latest invention.
"Why won't this work… Is it because it's too big?"
Spinning a wrench on one finger, Van frowned at the several-meter-tall "Blitz" standing in front of him and fell into thought.
It really was too big. His workshop could barely hold the thing.
"But if I reduce the counterweight, the performance will probably drop below what I need…"
Van had designed the giant machine for one reason: mine rescue.
Zaun was still full of mines and factories. With crude equipment and dangerous working conditions everywhere, accidents were hardly rare.
And knowing those black-hearted chem-barons, no one could expect them to take responsibility when something went wrong.
Van had once sneaked into the mines himself to earn a little extra money, but Vander had caught him and forbidden him from ever going back. Even so, the miserable working conditions and constant safety hazards down there had left a deep impression on him.
That was how the Emergency Rescue Steam-Powered Automaton Project, code-named "Blitz," came to life.
Most of the design and construction work was already done. The only thing left was the most important part: power.
The steam engine Van had cobbled together from scrap just wasn't good enough. Forget endurance. At this rate, getting the giant metal hunk to run properly at all would already be a challenge.
That was nowhere near good enough for Van. He still wanted to fit Blitz with a rescue grappling claw and an emergency overdrive mode.
"Ugh. Looks like I've got to make another trip topside."
Van casually tossed the wrench to the floor, pulled a gleaming gold coin from his pocket, flipped it into the air, and caught it again.
There was only so much he could do with junk. If he wanted proper high-end parts, he still had to get them from topside.
...
...
"Vi… are we really doing this?"
Even standing in front of the locked balcony door, Mylo still couldn't bring himself to start. With his lockpicks in hand, he hesitated again and again, glancing at Vi beside him in the faint hope that there was still time to back out.
"We came all this way and now you're chickening out?"
Vi peered through the balcony glass into the room. The furnishings inside were beautiful, and every random object looked like a luxury item the Undercity never even saw.
"The kid was right. This really is a big score."
"Heh… If Van finds out we went along with one of your crazy ideas, he'll skin us alive…"
"You're that scared of him? Even Powder came along. Just get the door open already."
"You two might not care, but Claggor and I are the ones who'll suffer for this!"
When Vi looked over, Claggor could only shrug and give her a helpless look.
"Tch…"
Already annoyed, Vi shoved Mylo aside and, fed up with how long he was taking, drove a kick straight into the beautifully carved door. It flew open with a loud crash, startling the crouching Mylo.
"Then don't screw it up. Pull this off cleanly so he won't have anything to complain about."
"Uh…"
Staring at the half-broken balcony door, and at Vi and Powder already walking into the room with their bags, Mylo and Claggor exchanged a dumbfounded look.
"Well, it's too late now… Let's just hope Van and Vander spare our lives after hearing we tried to stop her."
...
...
"Can you hurry up, Jayce? I've got somewhere to be…"
Caitlyn, carrying a whole box of assorted parts, followed behind Jayce, who was carrying a box of his own, as they headed toward his workshop.
"Somewhere to be? Don't you have no classes today?"
"Exactly. Which is why I have plans today."
"Plans?"
Jayce turned his head, clearly surprised.
"With who?"
"With a boy who's… different from the others."
"A boy?! Great heavens, Miss Kiramman's finally had a change of heart!"
This time Jayce was genuinely surprised, and he turned back with a teasing grin.
"Not exactly. It's just that he really is different from anyone else I've met… He does whatever he wants, he's a little unreasonable, and he doesn't talk in circles like everyone else."
"Huh. Sounds like someone from the Undercity."
"From the Undercity? No, he didn't seem that dangerous…"
Caitlyn suddenly remembered the robber who had nearly been kicked to death.
"Maybe just a little…"
"Haha, don't just believe what everyone says, Caitlyn. People from the Undercity aren't as dangerous as you think. That pile of stuff in your hands? I bought it from a boy down there."
"The Undercity? You really went there? By yourself?"
The moment she heard that, Caitlyn lit up. In her excitement, she lost her balance slightly, and an intricately made mechanical butterfly slipped from the box.
"Careful, Caitlyn. Those little trinkets may not look like much, but they were all bought with your family's money."
"Oh… right. Then tell me more about the Undercity."
Still unwilling to let the subject go, Caitlyn crouched down, set the box aside, and reached for the mechanical butterfly on the floor.
"It's a long story. Once we put everything away, I'll tell you properly."
Jayce smiled, stepped up to the door of his workshop, and turned the handle.
...
...
"You're a complete crook! You're charging that much for this piece of junk?"
Van slapped the engine on the counter and shouted at the shopkeeper.
"This thing is so badly made I could double its output with my bare hands, and you still want a whole gold coin for it?"
"Sorry, sir. That is this shop's listed price."
The shopkeeper looked half asleep and couldn't even be bothered to spare Van a proper glance. If this were the Undercity, Van would've shown him exactly what his iron fist could do.
But this was topside, and Van had no interest in causing trouble and bringing the Enforcers down on himself.
Unwilling to waste good money on a worthless machine like this, Van could only leave the hardware shop in frustration.
He decided to try another one. And if that still didn't work… then he'd just buy a bunch of precision parts and build himself a high-output generator from scratch.
As far as Van was concerned, that shouldn't be too hard.
"Come to think of it… wasn't there something I forgot…"
Boom!!
Van was still racking his brain when a sudden explosion ripped through the air and cut off his thoughts.
Woooo—
Before he could react, the golden horns mounted all across topside began blaring one after another. Flocks of birds perched on the rooftops scattered into the sky in alarm.
The long, mournful call of the horns sent an instant wave of tension through the city.
Van had noticed those horns ages ago, but he had never once heard them sound. He'd assumed they were just some kind of decoration, and had no idea what it meant when they went off.
But as he watched Enforcers rushing in from every direction, all heading toward the site of the explosion, his brow slowly furrowed.
A bad feeling rose in his chest.
[End of chapter]