As I entered the Kingdom of Proiden, home of the Magic Engineering Guild, a city brimming with magic engineering came into view.
Everywhere were towering black gears, and the buildings all had unique structures that seemed crafted from magic engineering.
In some areas, steam was rising, while in others, mana was in the air.
Additionally, dozens of small floating ships darting through the sky made the might of the Magic Engineering Guild clearly apparent.
[Oh]
[Looks impressive, huh?]
[Is today the day of Proiden’s downfall?]
[We could just take all of that, right? ㅇㅇ]
[So tempting!]
[Ah, let’s conquer first!]
[Wow, billions in the sky ㄷㄷ]
[Leo is so cute!]
[Wait, why is it only 500 million with that much?]
I glanced to the side to see Leo, her eyes sparkling as she gazed at the small ships.
Looks like she’s curious about the ships.
“Would you like to go look? I heard from the Magic Engineering Guild that as long as we stay out of the upper parts of the spire or the restricted areas, we can go anywhere!”
“Oh! Sounds great!”
Whoosh~
As the green wind swirled, before I knew it, Leo was on one of the small ships cruising through the sky.
She landed on the ship in the blink of an eye.
The regular Magic Engineering Guild member on the ship was stunned for a moment before Leo’s spirit spread out, exploring the vessel.
─Oh! The structure is really unique. Can I take this apart?!
─Huh? Wait a moment, permission—
─Whoa, what’s this? The magical structure is weird…
─Ah! Don’t touch that!
Already chaos was erupting above, but I couldn’t intervene.
After all, we were dealing with a user ranked number 2 who could crush a kingdom single-handedly.
Not even the regular guild members, let alone the elders or the guild master, could handle Leo.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Leo is overjoyed!]
[Magic Engineering Guild, emergency!!!]
[If the amusement park opens, you have to be ready to tear things apart ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[How do we stop Leo?]
[Ah ㅋㅋ just taking apart the rides a bit]
[Lily isn’t stopping her?]
[Isn’t that going to be a big deal? Shouldn’t she avoid touching things recklessly?]
I looked up at the chat window’s responses.
Not only taking things apart, but Leo was infusing the magical stone with the spirit’s energy.
Soon, the floating ship turned green and sped off like a racing boat, overtaking numerous vessels and disappearing into the distance.
─……Waaaah!!!
─So exciting!
And not long after, a tiny dot in the distance grew larger and returned with an incredible gust of wind.
The regular guild member, panting as if his soul had left his body, and Leo, looking proud.
Looks like she’s using her learned teleportation skill quite well.
“Well… they did say to use it comfortably. I’m sure they’ll understand, right?”
Even if they don’t, we have to deal with it.
[U?ndеrstand]
[Understand (Physics)]
[Ah ㅋㅋ I meant to understand]
[Understand it, will you?]
[Hahahahaha]
[Leo, what the hell is going on? Hahaha]
[Lily, let’s throw a bit of a tantrum too!]
I moved my steps into the city for some serious sightseeing.
■
While Leo was assigning properties to five floating ships for a race, I walked into a shop with a black spring stuck in the building and started looking at the items inside.
This place sells combat items made with the technology of the Magic Engineering Guild.
From various weapons to consumables, equipment, and…
Clack!
“A gun?”
In the shop owner’s hand was a pistol with a glossy black finish and a blue spring emblem engraved in the center.
An item that doesn’t quite fit in the fantasy world of Deoen.
The shop owner, a large man with an impressive beard, wiped the gun with a special cloth and handed it to me.
“Yes. This is a Magic Engineering gun. It’s a product that combines the abilities of one of the elders, Gunner, with Magic Engineering technology.”
“Oh…”
“It’s the latest developed weapon, so it has all the benefits of a gun, but there’s a drawback.”
“What is it?”
“If you aren’t in a gun-related profession, its efficiency drops below 5%.”
The penalty in Deoen, which hates modernity.
From the start, the hidden profession Gunner has his own unique gun and buffs for it, but other users are different.
The gun’s firepower drops to 1/20, and above all, you can’t use the gun unless it’s charged with magical power.
That means you can’t just create iron bullets and shoot them out.
As a demonstration, the shop owner took a shotgun from the wall and fired it directly at a scarecrow stuck in the corner of the shop.
Boom!
The sound was loud, but aside from a bit of scorch and some small holes in the scarecrow’s body, the damage wasn’t that significant.
Sre… It seemed the scarecrow, a product of Magic Engineering, regenerated and became clean again.
“As you can see, the gun works this much. However…”
Clack.
This time the owner took out a crossbow, fitted a magic arrow, and shot it.
Whoosh!
The arrow pierced through the scarecrow’s head in an instant.
Picking up the arrow with an expressionless face, the shop owner continued speaking.
“Just the name crossbow makes its performance incomparable. So these guns are only slightly useful for anyone other than Gunner.”
“……”
“It may work well at low levels, but once the level gets a bit higher, even bullets won’t hit—”
Bang!
The scarecrow exploded from the shot I fired.
The remains of the scarecrow couldn’t even regenerate and rolled on the floor.
The shop owner looked at me with eyes about to pop out.
“What the…”
“Looks good to me!”
“…Y-Yes?”
[Hahahaha]
[What the heck, a gun?]
[???]
[No way, LOL]
[Just gonna immediately turn it into a +10 OP gun~]
[Hey Lily, what are you doing bringing a real gun?]
[Lady Lily?]
[How is this a real gun, LOL]
[Why is it exploding, damn it]
[A +10 OP gun. I’m going to use it right away.]
“Why… is it good?”
“I tried to add a ‘buff’ since there are a lot of things stuck together as you mentioned. Shooting correction, speed increase, power increase, durability increase…”
With countless magic formulas layered on and bullets made holy, that’s how much power we’re seeing.
But still, the downside is…
[Crush… Crush…]
“…it’s a one-time use, right?”
The gun broke from the excessive buildup of power.
It’s not that the gun had poor durability.
All items crafted with magic engineering have self-repair functions and decent durability to boot.
But it was nowhere near enough to withstand the shock breaking through the gun’s ‘suppression’.
‘There’s really no reason to use it.’
Just using the gun makes you feel a tremendous suppression around it.
I forcibly increased the specs to break through that, but it didn’t yield much advantage.
Even if I somehow made a gun that could withstand the backlash, it would still be more beneficial to swing a spear once more with that amount of power.
“Well, it might be good as a variable? Like you said, low-level users might find it useful.”
“…Could you share how you did that?”
“Even if I told you, you wouldn’t be able to use it.”
To create a bullet with such a magical overlap and comparable to holy, you’d need at least Leo’s level of ability and a decent amount of knowledge in magic from a lower demon.
‘But why would someone with that kind of ability bother with a gun?’
Whether it’s firing one bullet or up to a hundred, it’s much faster and more efficient to just smash the opponent with magic.
No matter how fast the gun is, the person firing it isn’t quick.
Even if the buffed gun were given to someone else, they wouldn’t be able to withstand the aftershock without being the original owner.
I roughly shared several spells that could increase efficiency before leaving the store.
Even if it only increases by 5%, it’s still better than nothing.
Click, click.
I fiddled with the revolver in my hand.
Since it piqued my interest, the shop owner gifted me another revolver in return.
I should probably try modifying it later when I have time.
[At least I got one, LOL]
[Lily, the gun thief]
[A spear is cooler than a gun though]
[Lily with guns, wow]
[Is a magic gun boom coming?]
[What the heck would you use that for?]
“Someday, I might find a use for it?”
And then…
“This place is huge.”
We stood in front of a gigantic gray golem statue that looked to be at least 200 meters tall.
In front of it was a smaller building, from which the flow of countless mana could be felt inside.
As we walked in, a line of golems stood like they were in a car showroom.
Their shapes weren’t very steampunk-like, but surprisingly neat.
[Oh]
[It’s a golem, a golem]
[Let’s take one of those too, hahaha]
[That’s a magical stone in the center of its chest…?]
[Can we ride it?]
[Could it be that thing was a golem too?]
“Welcome!”
“Nice to meet you, Lady Lily. The Magic Engineering Guild’s greatest golem—”
“Oh! Oooooooh!!”
Behind the neatly dressed staff welcoming me, a girl with pigtails in a uniform dashed towards me with a loud noise.
It was a combination of black and blue.
It was ‘Elder’ attire.
The girl quickly landed lightly in front of me.
Floating behind her were two golden gears about the size of her upper body, spinning rapidly while infused with her mana.
“Sister Lily! So nice to see you! I’m Inoo! An executive of the Magic Engineering Guild.”
“Ah, nice to meet you, Inoo. I’m very grateful for the warm welcome.”
“Hehe! If my sister is coming, of course, I had to grant permission~ Hehe.”
[So cute]
[Not bad, actually!]
[That’s a demon; she’s one of those price gougers]
[Inoo is pretty, hahaha]
[Just look at her trying to suck up to Lily, I just wanna smack her, for real, lol]
[Hehe, I agree]
[Last time, she mocked us saying we had no money, and now she’s pretending to be all sweet]
[No bashing Inoo, okay?]
[Queen Pigtails;;]
[So cute, why are we bashing Inoo?]
Even with the chat window filled with negativity, Inoo cheerfully led me inside.
She looked genuinely excited walking forward.
“Hehe. Originally, I was supposed to show you right away, but I was waiting here since you went to check another spot first!”
“I see. Are you the one guiding us for the golems?”
“No! It’s actually assigned to someone else, but they were shy or something? So I went, ‘no way,’ and gave them a serious scolding, saying I’d take care of it. Just follow me, and that person will take over!”
“Hmm…”
“Ah! Is something bothering you…?”
“No, I’m just looking forward to it.”
I really wonder what the reaction will be.
I’m so excited!
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