I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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“What’s going on?”

The worst imaginable situation had unfolded.

I had no clue how to clean up this mess.

For good reason; the most fundamental premise had collapsed.

The basic premise of working as James’s assistant in the Academy’s forge had completely crumbled to dust.

‘The difficulty of infiltrating the lecture hall… it’s going to skyrocket beyond belief.’

It already took me 20 minutes to sneak into the 5th lecture hall from the forge.

But to infiltrate the 5th lecture hall from outside the Academy would require several times more effort.

No, the difficulty of sneaking in from outside versus inside was on a completely different level.

The Imperial Royal Academy is the finest educational institution in the Empire, where only elites gather, and it prioritizes student safety above all else.

In other words, breaching their ironclad security to infiltrate is no easy feat.

“Sigh… I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

How did things get so tangled up?

Could it be that I had been too complacent using the forge?

But given the circumstances, it was hard not to let my guard down.

Currently, only a minimal staff remained in the Academy.

In simple terms, there were only the blacksmiths who had come for the equipment bidding competition, the professors judging it, and a few operating team members.

That meant the chances of getting caught while using the forge were extremely low.

Yet, the cat I took care of happened to belong to Elena, and she came to the forge looking for her cat.

There were no such settings in the game, so I never even imagined that the cat belonged to Elena.

In other words, I just had the worst luck.

“…But what good does that do? I’ve already been disqualified.”

However, this train of thought was merely a meaningless lament.

Even if I blamed my luck, the reality I faced wouldn’t change.

What matters is acknowledging my failure, identifying the cause, and then finding a way to improve.

That is the mindset I must have as an engineer and a scientist.

“First, let’s be honest with James.”

So I accepted my failure.

Acknowledging failure and admitting mistakes was not particularly difficult for me.

Because I viewed “mechanical engineering,” which I could call my all, as a process of eliminating hundreds or thousands of failure factors to achieve a single success.

Therefore, to achieve that single success, one inevitably has to go through failures.

This failure was merely one step towards success.

“Father.”

With that, I went straight to James and honestly recounted everything that had happened.

James, who had been practicing for the demonstration event, looked disheartened as soon as he heard my words.

But that expression was only fleeting.

“Okay. Did you fix the cat’s prosthetic leg well?”

“Yes. I made sure it works perfectly.”

“Then that’s all that matters. I was already getting irritated waiting, so this worked out nicely.”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Ha ha. No need to apologize. Your intentions weren’t ill. And you didn’t ruin the cat’s prosthetic either. It was just some bad luck.”

“…….”

“If there’s anything wrong, it’s probably that you changed the prosthetic without getting the owner’s permission. That’s about it.”

… I agree.

Judging someone else’s belongings without consent is a presumptuous act.

Even if, from an engineering perspective, that prosthetic was garbage, it could be something truly precious to Elena.

“I’m reflecting on it.”

So I nodded quietly and acknowledged it.

James beamed and ruffled my hair.

“Great! Then let’s head home. Since we’re in the big city after a while, shall we grab something delicious?”

“How about the Big Best pork?”

“Excellent taste!”

“I’ll cover it.”

“Ha ha! Yes! Our son is treating us!”

This incident had ruined the equipment bidding competition.

But like always, I was confident I could sort it out.

First, I would treat James to some Big Best pork, then I would leverage my skills to significantly grow James’s forge.

Having improved enough to craft rare-grade equipment in just two months, I could create even more exquisite items from now on.

‘I need to carve a new route to infiltrate the Academy as well.’

The same goes for finding a route to infiltrate the Academy.

Though it’s true that digging a new one is an extremely difficult mission, I would grow through that process, and if I grew enough, I could break through the route.

After all, I had two ‘Eternal’ grade items.

“So, Big Best pork first?”

“Definitely! Let’s eat until we burst.”

James and I left the Academy side by side.

***

Goooooo…

Elena’s eyes glowed with blue haze.

She was focusing on Wyoyong.

She wanted to gauge the mana flowing through its body.

And she was genuinely impressed.

This was her first time witnessing such a stable flow of mana.

“Amazing…”

Only admiration escaped her lips.

All that had changed was one prosthetic leg.

Wyoyong’s once unstable ‘qi’ had regained its stability.

This was due to the fact that the newly changed prosthetic perfectly replaced its leg.

“That was done in such a short time…”

Yet, no matter how much she thought about it, it was an extraordinarily rare talent.

And rightly so, Wyoyong’s prosthetic was ‘custom-made.’

For the flow of mana to be this stable, it required designing the volume, weight, shape, and structure precisely to fit Wyoyong’s leg and then crafting it perfectly.

Yet this commoner named ‘Edgar Fix’ accomplished all that in such a short time.

What renowned blacksmith of the Empire would take several months to research something only to have it produced in just a few hours?

“Wy~oyong!”

The lively sight of Wyoyong was a first for Elena.

It was freely running, jumping, and swinging its front paws, fully satisfying its hunting instincts.

The primal instinct that had been forced to give up due to constant limping had finally been fulfilled.

It was the first time she had seen this since adopting Wyoyong nearly two years ago.

‘But what about me…?’

The day she stumbled upon a cat with a severed leg.

The scene of it crying by the roadside resembled an old friend struggling with a leg injury, and she made up her mind to take it in.

That cat had finally regained happiness.

But she had let slip words that should never have been said to the one who helped restore that happiness.

Disregarding him simply for being a commoner and preaching about life experience as if he was unworthy of it.

“Ah! Nooo!”

It was a moment she wanted to erase.

To put it in metaphorical terms, it was as if she had scolded a child with the potential to become a Great Mage.

The level of engineering thought possessed by Edgar Fix, who created this prosthetic, was far beyond her own understanding.

“Why did I do something so foolish?!”

It didn’t stop there.

She had trampled all over his good intentions.

The truth was, he hadn’t changed the prosthetic for any reward.

He simply wanted the prosthetic leg to be more comfortable for Wyoyong.

With that singular kind heart, he donated his talent.

‘Don’t be too disheartened. It’s just a learning experience, and you should treat a noble’s belongings with respect.’

Yet she had spat out such an absurdity instead.

Not only did she deliver a lecture while flaunting her superiority after he had risked everything to gift Wyoyong a perfect prosthetic, but she had also disqualified him.

There was no way this was acceptable.

“Miss… I’m losing my mind.”

Elena hurried her steps.

The face of the one who had looked downcast as if he had lost everything kept flashing in her mind.

Every time that face appeared, her heart felt like it was being stabbed.

“Professor Elena, welcome.”

As she entered the judging room, the seated professors and assistants rose.

However, Elena had no time to engage with them.

Her mind was currently filled with thoughts of Edgar Fix.

Namely, she needed to cancel the ‘disqualification’ she carelessly imposed on him and inform him of the news.

“Where are the bidders waiting?”

“Excuse me?”

“The bidders for the competition. Where are they waiting?”

The bidders for the equipment competition.

They were waiting at a distance from the judging room.

Since the Academy was established by the royal family, thorough inspections were necessary.

Moreover, as the judging panel was composed of nobles, they preferred not to be around commoners or lower-class blacksmiths.

“Ah… if it’s them, I’ve isolated them in Building A and C…”

“Where is contestant number 27?”

“27… If I’m not mistaken, that should be in Building C.”

“I’ll quickly go to Building C. Hold the judging until I arrive.”

With that, Elena turned and left.

But at that moment, a professor spoke up with despairing news.

“If you’re going to find contestant number 27, you’re wasting your time. Contestant number 27 has already withdrawn and left.”