The Regressed Mercenary's Machinations-Chapter 758: Let’s Try That Too (2)

Ghislain’s words startled everyone in the group.

Julien widened his eyes and asked, 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

“That thing looks seriously hard. Are you really going to try it?”

Ghislain scoffed.

“There’s nothing hard about that. From what I see, it’s not even a real problem.”

Everyone stared at him with doubt in their eyes. Then Kyle, seemingly understanding something, asked,

“You’re trusting Astion, aren’t you?”

At that, Julien and Deneb both nodded. Astion might be a little dim at times, but he was still a mage.

Before Ghislain showed up, the one who guided the group with knowledge was Astion.

The other mercenaries nodded too.

Occasionally, Ghislain would quietly study at night. That was actually when Astion took over his body to learn magic.

The mercenaries all believed that was just another personality of Ghislain’s.

Hearing their conversation, Ereneth’s eyes twitched slightly as she muttered to herself,

‘W-Wait, seriously? Is he actually suffering from multiple personalities?’

Of course, she was still suspicious. So Ereneth decided to just keep observing for now.

Sure enough, within Ghislain’s consciousness, Astion shouted confidently,

— A clever mage can’t just ignore something like that. Damn arrogant dwarf.

Astion spoke with a proud voice, but Ghislain wore a disinterested expression.

That’s when Osvald suddenly raised his hand high.

“Boss! Osvald the Man! Let me try first!”

“...You?”

“What’s with that look?”

“...Nothing.”

Osvald politely extended both hands.

“Just give me 1 gold.”

Ghislain was still managing the group’s money. He gladly pulled out a gold coin and handed it to Osvald.

The dwarf looked Osvald up and down with a scowl and asked,

“You seriously want to give it a shot?”

“What kind of talk is that? The High Chief of the Elves said never to judge someone by their appearance.”

“Pfft! And you met the Elf High Chief, huh?”

“I actually did, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah. Humans sure love to bluff.”

The dwarf sneered and handed over the device. Osvald took it with a huff.

Of course, he didn’t think he could solve the puzzle. It looked way too difficult at first glance.

But he still had a reason for stepping up confidently.

‘Something like this, you just brute-force it. The High Chief said the inside is what matters.’

To him, “what’s inside” just meant strength.

Even though the dwarf gave a warning, he didn’t believe any of it. How could a little device withstand the power of a real man?

In a way, Osvald might have been the first person to adopt Ghislain’s approach—though in a rather twisted way.

He grabbed the metal rod and jammed it into the hole in the device with force.

Thunk!

Naturally, the rod didn’t go in further. But Osvald drew upon his mana and kept pushing it in with brute strength.

Grreeeeak!

It was obvious to everyone he was forcing it with mana. Sparks flew from the part where the rod touched the device.

Everyone watched nervously. But the dwarf just smirked.

‘Idiot. You think that’ll work? Feel the craftsmanship of the great dwarves with your whole body.’

Osvald, straining with all his might, gradually began to panic.

‘W-What the? Why won’t it go in? What kind of metal is this?’

No matter how hard he pushed, only sparks flew and it didn’t go in. At this rate, it was going to take forever.

It made no sense. If a metal like this really existed, the kingdom would’ve already used it for weapons and armor.

Ghislain narrowed his eyes, finding it amusing.

‘That must be...’

It looked like the metal was forged with rune stones mixed in during refinement.

Rune stones have the property of absorbing mana. That machine was likely designed to use that property to withstand Osvald’s force.

Once you understood the concept, it was simple. The armor worn by Fenris knights also used that trait of rune stones.

The embedded rune stones absorbed the wearer’s mana to trigger magic, but also absorbed and dispersed external impacts.

Of course, embedding such intricate mechanisms into a small device like that was impossible with ordinary skill. It meant the dwarf who made it was extremely skilled.

After watching Osvald struggle for a while, the dwarf barked,

“Stop! What the hell are you doing? You're gonna break it! That’s enough!”

“C’mon! I still have two more tries!”

In his frustration, Osvald shoved the rod into a random spot. But he failed on the remaining two attempts as well.

He returned to his seat looking sullen. All he got from stepping up was losing a gold coin.

The other mercenaries clicked their tongues as if to say I told you so.

This time, Ghislain turned to Julien.

“You want to give it a try?”

“No, stuff like that’s not really my thing.”

He asked Kyle, Deneb, and Ereneth too, but they all shook their heads. Same with the other mercenaries.

That kind of difficult puzzle wasn’t ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) something just anyone could do.

Then, someone unexpected stepped forward.

“Not to brag, but... I was the top graduate of the Imperial Academy.”

Lionel brushed his hair back. It was clearly a brag.

Still, he was a man of both intellect and combat skill. He had a background worth being confident about.

With confidence, Lionel stepped forward and picked up the device. But the dwarf suddenly shouted,

“Hey! Pay first!”

“......”

Lionel hesitated, then held out his hand toward Ghislain.

“Just one gold.”

“...Fine.”

He didn’t have any money either. Since becoming the rookie of the group, he had to hand over what little funds he had to the mercenary corps.

Besides, it was Ghislain who’d received a handsome travel allowance from the Pope, not Lionel.

Anyway, after paying up, Lionel carefully examined the device. His gaze turned sharp.

“Hmm, I see.”

He detected a pattern. In his mind, the device’s structure began unfolding like a puzzle.

His eyes sparkled as he confidently inserted the rod into the device.

Click.

The rod slotted in perfectly, and the device made a crisp sound.

Lionel closed his eyes and brushed his hair back again.

“Hmph. First attempt, success.”

Cheers erupted around him.

“Wow, it fit!”

“Did he really get it right?”

“If he knows the trick, maybe he can solve all of them?”

People watching became excited. Even passersby started gathering, increasing the crowd.

Wearing a supremely confident expression, Lionel began to explain,

“This is based on geometric symmetry. I arranged it using rotational symmetry, calculated the insertion sequence based on the golden ratio, and then...”

“That guy talks way too much. And he looks way too serious doing it.”

“......”

Lionel’s lip twitched at the dwarf’s snide comment. It stung a bit, but he decided to let it go.

He’d mellowed quite a bit since joining Julien’s mercenaries.

Swallowing his pride, Lionel focused again. He inserted the rod according to his calculations.

Thunk.

“One miss!”

‘...What? My calculation should’ve been flawless...’

Lionel panicked. But he quickly steadied himself and tried again.

More carefully this time, with sharp focus in his fingertips...

Thunk.

“Two misses!”

The dwarf’s shout was loud and annoyingly smug. Even the dwarves watching couldn’t help laughing.

Sweat beaded on Lionel’s back. Now even his hands started to tremble.

The dwarf flashed a deep smirk.

‘Stupid humans. They’ll never solve this.’

The truth was, it wasn’t just about finding a pattern in the symbols and numbers. You had to know the exact weight of each rod too.

Only then could you find the proper rule and make accurate calculations.

But there was no way to determine the rods’ precise weight here. Even with sharp senses, all you could do was feel tiny differences.

‘Without exact weights, how are they supposed to calculate anything?’

In the end, this was practically a scam orchestrated by the dwarf.

After all, the only one who knew the precise weights of the rods... was the dwarf himself.

Thunk.

Lionel failed on the third try as well.

“Three failures! You’re done!”

Lionel turned back with slumped shoulders. He’d just shown off and now ended up humiliated again.

Bit by bit, his self-esteem was crumbling.

The dwarf, now looking smug and cocky, shouted,

“Anyone else want to try? Huh? Is this too hard for human brains? Too tough, huh?”

His taunt drew annoyed expressions from the crowd. But no one had the courage to step up. It just seemed too difficult.

Even the elves traditionally didn’t get along with dwarves.

That’s why Ereneth kept twitching like she was about to step forward, her face full of frustration.

Seeing this, Ghislain asked,

“You want to try too?”

“...No.”

Spirits moved with the heart, not with calculations.

Ereneth forced herself to rationalize and turned her head away.

Watching the people around, the dwarf let out another sneering laugh.

“Well, if there’s no one else, I guess that’s it for business today. I didn’t expect everyone to be this dumb.”

“There’s still one left.”

Ghislain stepped forward. The dwarf, still grinning confidently, handed over the device.

Then he raised his voice intentionally toward the surrounding crowd,

“This guy’s the last one for today, got it? If anyone wants to try again, come back at this same time tomorrow! Spread the word too!”

Another dwarf nearby was already collecting the pile of money. Clearly, they didn’t think Ghislain would succeed either.

While the dwarves busied themselves packing up, Ghislain stared intently at the device.

Inside his mind, Astion spoke.

— Ghislain, let’s start by analyzing the structure and identifying a pattern. Since the dwarf succeeded, there must be a hidden condition. So first, slowly...

‘Nah. I don’t care about any of that.’

— What do you mean?! Then how are you planning to solve it?!

“Like this.”

Ghislain suddenly grabbed a metal rod and rammed it straight into the device.

CRACK!

“......”

Silence fell over the entire area like a cold wave.

The part of the device where the rod had gone in was crushed from the sheer force.

The dwarf stared at it, stunned.

“W-What... h-hold on. Y-You...”

Ignoring him, Ghislain shoved in a second rod.

Screeeeech!

This time, sparks flew, and the hole’s edges began to melt. Even the rune stone couldn’t withstand the overwhelming force.

“......”

Everyone stood frozen, mouths agape.

Without saying a word, Ghislain inserted another rod.

CRACK!

GRKCH!

KRSSH!

There was no sequence, no rule. He just jammed them in like hammering nails, violently and at random.

The more he did, the more the device dented, shattered, and twisted into something grotesque.

Unlike the dwarf’s clean insertions, this was clearly a mess. Anyone could tell he was doing it all wrong.

And yet, the dwarf had said brute force wouldn’t work. Everyone had seen Osvald fail with that approach.

Even if brute force somehow succeeded, the device was supposed to explode. But it didn’t.

It simply turned into a wrecked piece of scrap.

CRACK! KRAKKK!

Eventually, all seven rods had been jammed into the device.

Now it looked like a battered piece of junk, barely holding together.

Ghislain grinned and held the twisted metal up in front of the dwarf’s face.

“All done. That’s a success, right?”

“H-How? W-Who the hell are you?”

The dwarf couldn’t even form words properly, drooling slightly.

He had thought those ragged mercenaries were just fools. He was sure they’d never solve this meticulously crafted device.

And to be honest, there was a little trickery baked in.

He had prepared thoroughly for the kind of idiot who might try brute-forcing it.

‘Even a transcendent shouldn’t have been able to do it!’

The dwarf wasn’t stupid.

He knew that a superhuman or someone close to it could possibly force the rods in with brute strength.

So he’d made the internal structure explode upon incorrect insertions, a safeguard even transcendent beings wouldn’t be able to bypass without knowledge of the device.

And yet...

‘Why! Why didn’t it explode?!’

All that had happened was the device became a piece of scrap. What he was witnessing defied reason.

“You... how did you even do that?! You’re supposed to find the right pattern to insert the rods!”

“When your body’s good, your brain doesn’t have to work.”

“......”

At the bizarre remark, silence fell again.

Only Osvald cried out in awe,

“As expected! It wasn’t that my brain was bad—it was my body! Damn this useless body of mine!”

The dwarf rushed over, trying to snatch the device from Ghislain’s hands. But Ghislain dodged casually and said,

“What? Trying to destroy the evidence now? Just admit it already.”

“I—I can’t accept this! That’s not a real solution!”

“The goal was to insert the rods, right? I did exactly that.”

“T-That’s cheating!”

“Cheating how? You said brute force wouldn’t work, and that it’d explode if I tried. But it didn’t.”

“W-Well, yes, but...”

The dwarf was losing his mind.

Admitting defeat would mean acknowledging Ghislain’s success. But if he didn’t, it would imply his craftsmanship was flawed.

It wouldn’t be hard to just deny it outright. Dwarves aren’t infallible—he could just say it didn’t count. Even a master craftsman has to swallow his pride sometimes.

But right now, it wasn’t that easy.

“Yeah! Honor the deal!”

“If you’re not going to, then give back our money!”

“You fraud! We’ll report you!”

“We followed the rules! Why won’t you admit it?”

Shouts of protest erupted from all around.

Honestly, the crowd didn’t care how Ghislain solved it. They just enjoyed watching the smug dwarf squirm.

Even the mercenaries joined in heckling, drawing more people to gather around.

The dwarf paled and backed away.

‘Wh-Where the hell did this lunatic come from...’

The situation was spiraling. If this kept up, he really would be branded a scammer.

He was kind of scamming people... but still.

Too many people were watching. And this crazy bastard with brute strength clearly wasn’t going to back down.

Fighting lunatics was a losing game. Avoiding them was the smart play—and a wise dwarf knew that well.

Having made up his mind, he stammered out,

“A-Alright. Fine. You didn’t fail, so I’ll accept it. Here—take your 100 gold.”

He handed over the money, pretending to stay composed.

‘Whatever. Freaks like him are rare. I’ll make the money back fast from dumb humans anyway.’

He was trying to calm himself, but then Ghislain shook his head.

“Keep the money.”

“What? Why? Then what do you want? You just came here to show off?”

Ghislain grinned and pointed to a sword hanging in the back.

“I’ll take that sword.”

No one in the crowd had any idea what that sword was.

They all assumed it was just a piece of scrap.

Only Ghislain knew—that he was looking at the true value of Gramdir.