“Oh, you’ve come.”
As I climbed to the third floor of the golem exhibition hall, a familiar face greeted me.
The executive who had transferred a ship to me before coming here, Golem Lover.
Originally, I didn’t even know his name, but after checking the Magic Engineering Guild’s list, I found out his name was Golem Lover.
He was involved in creating all the golems made by the Magic Engineering Guild.
“You’re Golem Lover, right? I’ve heard stories. You’re ranked number one when it comes to golems.”
“Ah, haha… Such an undeserved title…”
Golem Lover replied while sweating bullets, and Inoo next to him looked confused about why he was acting like this.
And rightly so, the Golem Lover I had seen was a person filled with immense confidence.
He had boasted about the prowess of his golems with a bravado.
But when my golem had been brutally crushed, he had lost a great deal of his self-esteem.
Most importantly, judging by his reaction, it seemed he had somewhat figured out that Rapina and I were the same person.
‘Given the circumstances, I doubt he’ll blabber about the past. Even if he did, he couldn’t handle the fallout, so he has to keep quiet.’
If he had that much confidence, he would have piled all his golems onto me and stopped me a long time ago.
“Pl-please, follow me. I will explain from here on.”
The steps of Golem Lover seemed heavy as he turned around.
■
─Wow, he’s really nervous. Is Lady Lily that great?
─You’re not even close to climbing that tree, Golem.
─Make sure to explain well. This is an important opportunity, so don’t mess it up in front of Lady Lily…
‘Please, shut up…’
Golem Lover was sweating profusely as he cleared the guild chat that popped up in his line of sight.
The Elders were busy making jokes at their expense, but this was an extremely serious issue.
‘It’s really Lily.’
Until I met her in person, I had dismissed it as a plausible delusion or something with a certain degree of likelihood, but now it was different.
The Lily in front of me was the raider I had seen back then.
And that raider was the user ‘Rapina,’ who had rapidly risen over the past few months, sparking endless discussions in the community about whether ‘Lily and Rapina are the same person?’
Opinions were split down the middle, and even Lily had neither confirmed nor denied it, leaving it in a murky situation.
However, as a ranker with a fair understanding of mana, Golem Lover certainly knew.
No, anyone who had seen the two separately would have absolutely known.
‘Anyone can see they’re the same…!’
Their speech patterns were similar, and while their actions differed slightly, essentially, they were the same.
Even if it’s there, it’s essentially the same.
More than anything, the special mana wave that can only be felt by Lily is also felt by Rapina.
It’s quite faint on Rapina’s side, but I could easily tell because she’s a Golem Lover wearing glasses.
She doesn’t seem to be trying to hide it in the first place.
“This is a Titan-grade Golem. It’s a weapon belonging to Rank 5 out of the 7 classifications of Golems, strong enough to match a Level 80-90 Field Boss, and it has several other special functions as well.”
“What about that one?”
“That one is a Gigant-grade Golem, a Rank 6 weapon. It’s as strong as a Level 100 Field Boss and has special…”
But I can’t let it show.
Lily is the most famous mega-star in Deoen, and because of her nature as a broadcaster, she has quite a number of followers.
“What? Lily pretended to be a Raider and attacked the Magic Engineering Guild, stealing their ship?!!”
Usually, when this kind of thing happens, people would naturally curse the players who raided, but the opponent is Lily.
She’s one of the users at a status that could pierce the sky and has many who love her for not only her might but also her personality and character.
Above all, Lily has brought the grand justification of the “Great Cataclysm Raid” with her.
In this situation, even if the truth is revealed, people would first look for a reason rather than curse, which would put the Magic Engineering Guild in quite a bind, as they’d have to sell their ship at a high price.
“She’s nice but not nice.”
It’s hard to call her nice when she’s beating people with a hammer and basically extorting them for payment.
But it’s also tough to say she’s not nice because the cost was justified, and her purpose was closer to peace than war.
Even at this moment, she’s running around like her feet are on fire to reduce the damage from the Great Cataclysm.
“…So, that’s it for the Golem. There are a few more being developed, but they aren’t ready for public disclosure yet.”
“What about the Rank 7 weapons? Is that what we saw outside the building earlier?”
“Oh, that’s more of a symbolic…”
Tudatada…!
A fierce wind rushes outside the building.
For a moment, the sky above the Froyd Kingdom darkens, and a gigantic ship wrapped in blue metal appears in the sky.
A man standing on the deck, wearing a black cloak, is staring this way.
He is the only person in the guild who can operate a large ship for personal purposes.
“I think the Guild Master has arrived.”
“So that’s the large ship, huh? It’s enormous!”
‘Pretending to be unaware…’
The Golem Lover stifled the words that rose up to his throat and hurriedly guided Lily outside the building.
He hurriedly guided Lily out of the building, holding back his excitement.
Before he knew it, the people of the Proiden Kingdom were waving their hands, staring at the massive floating ship as if welcoming a king.
[Wow]
[Insane]
[What the heck!]
[Why is it so big?]
[Holy moly]
[???]
[It’s huge!]
[Wow]
[Billions, for sure]
[That’s some serious style, lol]
[Let’s drop it!]
[Let’s ask for that, lol]
[Let’s rob it, let’s go]
[Info: That ship is worth hundreds of billions]
Lily’s chat window reflected her astonishment at the grandeur of the giant floating ship.
─Greetings, Lady Lily.
A deep voice echoed throughout the kingdom.
That man was Robus Opher, the source of all Magic Engineering technology and the master of the guild.
─Thank you for visiting the Magic Engineering Guild. Have you been admiring our great technology?
“Absolutely.”
─I hope you liked it. That way, we can work even harder to produce and distribute more floating ships. Our floating ships are undoubtedly the best among all artifacts existing today.
A rather arrogant statement, considering he was holding a top-ranked ship while the second-ranked one is still flying high.
But the ship he was riding truly was the best artifact and item.
Its grade was marked as mythical, but it was effectively beyond mythical, boasting unique features that only large ships possess, which neither small nor medium ships have.
‘Yeah. It really is the best.’
So far, no one could match the technological prowess of the Magic Engineering Guild, not even the incredible Lily.
After all, the great power that Lily possessed came from her abilities, not from superior technology.
Once he solidified his thoughts, he felt he understood why the Guild Master brought along the one and only large ship.
‘He’s trying to assert dominance. So the price must not drop.’
Lily’s character and disposition were already well-known.
If she were as adept in magic as rumored, she would surely examine the ship and comment on its pros and cons, flipping public opinion with every word she uttered.
Given that the prices of small and medium ships had already crossed a lot of lines, it probably wouldn’t go well.
Lily had already claimed that small ships cost less than fifty million.
‘But what if they show it from the start?’
If they displayed the greatness of the floating ship from the beginning, they could manipulate the tide of public opinion!
In fact, it seemed the Guild Master’s plan was working as the chat window shifted to a more favorable view of the Magic Engineering Guild.
While there wasn’t extreme idolization, there were still responses asking if it wasn’t reasonable.
Reactions ensue.
“Umm…”
Even Lily, who is staring intently at the belly, doesn’t refute.
The Guild Master seizes the opportunity and moves the belly right away.
-“It’s not polite to just talk splendidly without showing our guests, is it? Let me demonstrate the Magic Engineering Guild’s technical prowess.”
Kiiing!
Kiiing!
Kiiing!
A part of the side of the large airship hovering in the sky opens up, revealing a blue magical cannon.
Even with just one side opened, and only a third of it at that, there’s roughly 300 cannon barrels.
The cannons turn their heads to aim at the giant rocky mountain.
A plain mountain with nothing but that as its existence.
Soon, magical patterns are etched onto the cannons, and 300 beams of blue light are fired into the air.
Ka-boom!!
With a loud noise, a blue explosion occurs, leaving nothing but a flat plain in its place.
In the blink of an eye, one ‘mountain’ has vanished.
Clap clap clap.
Lily is applauding.
She looks pretty surprised with an “Oh~” expression.
-“A total of 327 cannons were used. If we open the unutilized sections, we can use up to 1768 cannons. The ammunition isn’t iron but mana bullets, so there’s no need to reload; just put resources into the magical stones.”
“That’s amazing. Truly the Magic Engineering Guild.”
-“But that’s not all. We can also use a self-defense shield utilizing magic formulas, have mythical-level defense against elements, and there’s also a stealth function. We’re even developing a way to transcend space…”
“Sounds great and all.”
Uh-oh.
Lily points at the sky.
“There’s just too much of everything. It looks flimsy.”
-…What.
Boom!
Creeeek… One side of the ship tilts.
At that moment, a terrifying warning sound echoes through the ship, and the Guild Master’s expression tightens with panic.
-“W-What! What’s happening!”
He’s so flustered that he amplifies his voice and starts shouting wildly.
At the end of the tilt…
“Whoa! A big one!”
There’s Leo.
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