I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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A thick silence settled over the entire auditorium.

But that was only the calm before the storm.

A journalist threw a question at me, and the interest directed toward me began to explode.

“Mr. Edgar Fix! May I ask you a question about the exam you just took?”

“What was that weapon earlier?”

“Do you perhaps deal with trait-based magic?”

The three major newspapers representing the Empire.

They all eagerly thrust their small sound amplifiers (microphones) toward me.

Questions I found difficult to answer.

Questions I didn’t want to answer.

Questions I could respond to without concern.

Those questions mixed together, creating an atmosphere akin to a market.

I felt like a corrupt politician I had only seen on the news.

With so many questions pouring in all at once, what was I supposed to say?

“What is all this ruckus about?”

Fortunately, at that moment, Elena stepped in and was able to block them.

She told them that the exam was still ongoing and that no student could be approached, and added that if they had any questions, they should ask her, the representative of my official sponsor (Academy Talent Development Foundation).

In surely such difficult situations, Elena was a great help.

“Hey, Lord Fix! What was that thing earlier? It made a ki-iiiiiing sound, a new weapon!”

But no matter how much Elena tried, the students could not be prevented from crowding around me.

All the attention from countless students was directed at me.

“Did you just tear Max apart? That was amazing.”

“The strategy was fantastic, too! Honestly, the team members Lord Fix had were pretty mediocre, weren’t they?”

“Hey, Ed. Do you study military tactics as well?”

“Can I have that weapon? I’ll pay any price!”

“What exactly is the principle? I saw mana stones embedded in that bracelet; how many spells have to be combined for that kind of transformation?”

“Hey! Lord Fix! Look over here!”

Numerous questions were hurled at me in quick succession.

It was just as troublesome.

As a typical tech geek who loved tinkering with machines, I found the flood of interest entirely overwhelming.

“Ah, it’s so damn noisy.”

Yet, at that moment.

Through the clamor surrounding me, a woman’s voice pierced my ears.

And I wasn’t the only one who heard that sharp voice.

It was infused with magical power.

“Could you keep it down? The exam isn’t over yet.”

The voice belonged to Isabella.

Her violet eyes were glaring at the crowd.

With that, the crowd began to subtly shift and return to their seats.

“Umm… y-yeah, the exam is indeed ongoing.”

“Haha. We should avoid causing a ruckus.”

“Where was my seat again…?”

As soon as they felt Isabella’s gaze, the crowd quickly dispersed until no one remained around me except for my original team members.

Once Isabella confirmed that, she relaxed her irritated expression and gave me a faint smile.

Whoosh.

Then, she turned and headed back to her seat.

Did she try to help me out in a tough spot?

“Hey, Edgar Fix.”

As I was watching Isabella’s retreating figure, one of my teammates called out to me.

It was Fio, a fallen noble.

“I’m sorry for ignoring you before the match started. Things have been tough for my family, and I think I took it out on you unnecessarily. I felt jealous, you know. You’re doing well while I’m… just me.”

Fio scratched the back of his head as he apologized.

This was the guy who had dismissed me before getting his ribs broken and escorted out.

Yet now, he was apologizing with a complete 180-degree turnaround in attitude.

“…It’s fine. It worked out because of your cooperation, Fio.”

“Haha. I just did what you asked. Anyway, just call me casually. We were teammates, even if it was for a short time.”

“…Okay, sure.”

For me, it would be nonsense to speak casually to a noble, but if they allow it, it wouldn’t matter.

It felt right from my end as well.

Then Charlotte spoke up.

“Well, why don’t we just all do away with the formalities? Th-this is… a connection, after all.”

Charlotte, her round glasses glimmering, had turned bright red.

For her timid personality, it must have taken quite a bit of courage to make that statement.

So, we decided to be friends.

Everyone seemed to accept it gladly.

“Sure. Let’s keep greeting each other from now on.”

“It was an honor being able to fight alongside you. You’ll succeed at whatever you do.”

“I-I was happy to fight alongside you, Ed.”

Thus, we bid our farewells to each other.

Since the next exam would be an individual competition instead of a team match, there was no longer a reason to stick together.

Having exchanged our goodbyes, we dispersed to our own places.

Six teams went on to compete, and finally, the winners and losers of the first round were determined.

“The first round is now complete. I will announce the details of the second round.”

As the first round ended, the supervisor took to the stage to make the announcement.

The content of the announcement was that the second round would take place at the same time tomorrow and would be conducted in a tournament format.

“Then, everyone did well. You may disperse.”

***

After the instructor’s dismissal order was given, I headed straight to find Enya.

I had promised to visit her earlier.

As I exited the Basic Tactics department building 7.

“Ed.”

Someone called out to me.

The voice belonged to Enya.

She was already waiting for me near the entrance.

“Ah, Lady Cruel. I was just about to come find you.”

“Hehe. Did you know where I would be?”

“After the schedule, you take a carriage home, right? I was going to where the carriage comes.”

That’s right.

Enya commuted to the academy.

She was always with her three friends.

“Ah, so you knew about the carriage. But it’s a bit awkward to meet in front of them. They don’t quite understand my hobbies.”

“They probably don’t really like the artworks, huh?”

“They have no eye for art.”

“You must be missing out on some good things.”

“Hehe. That’s true.”

Enya giggled while wiggling her fingers, then seemed to notice the gaze of people around us, glancing back and then turning to me.

“Should we move to a quieter place? It’s too noisy here.”

“Sure. I happen to know a really quiet place that’s quite secluded.”

“Oh, where is it?”

“My personal workshop. Want to take a look?”

“…!! Yes! I want to see it!”

“Haha. Then I’ll lead the way.”

*

In Room 207 of the Department of Magic Analysis/Combination.

I brought Enya to this place.

This was a personal research lab set up solely for my use.

Of course, there was no way a commoner like me would be given an entire room at the academy.

Not even a small storage room, as you can see, it was a lavish, fully-equipped luxury lab.

Generally, such laboratories are usually reserved for professors or leaders of major projects.

That was why Elena had utilized some administrative trickery.

She registered this place as her secondary lab and enlisted me as a work-study student here.

I was a work-study student in charge of checking equipment and cleaning the lab.

So, if any professor raised questions about using this lab, I could simply answer, “I’m currently cleaning, you know?” Elena also told me that she’d handle any professors who might cause trouble since I’d gone through some chaos to acquire this lab.

“Hey, Ed. What are those shiny things?”

At that moment, Enya called out to me.

She was gazing at the blue light inside a test tube as she explored my lab, her eyes sparkling with wonder.

I stepped beside her and said,

“That’s mana.”

“…Mana, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Seeing mana is… fascinating.”

“I’ve made measures to allow it to be visible. I’ve received a lot of help from Professor Elena.”

“Ah… Professor Elena.”

“Yes. And actually, the blue light you see now consists of thousands of mana particles gathered together. A single mana particle is too small to be visible.”

“…This tiny light represents thousands of mana particles?”

“That’s right.”

“…That’s amazing! How did you figure that out?”

“I’m researching the properties of mana, the characteristics of mana, the energy conversion formulas of mana… I’m trying to uncover the secrets of mana.”

Enya nodded thoughtfully.

Then she looked at my face, which was illuminated by the blue light of the mana.

“I think you’re more amazing than I imagined, Ed. That gauntlet you wore today must have been made through such efforts, huh?”

…Efforts, she says.

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly.

Though I certainly put in some effort, I was also aided by the cheat keys known as ‘engineering thought’ and ‘manual skills.’

Eventually, Enya focused on the test tube and said,

“I’m curious about your secret. What efforts did you put into making such an amazing item?”

Enya was curious about my thought process.

What mindset or approach did one need to create something so remarkable?

But I mumbled an unintelligible response.

“Well, I just tried to decrease entropy, that’s all.”

“…Huh?”

The term “entropy,” which I had carelessly muttered, pierced straight through thermodynamics’ second law and was the core concept able to explain the universe.

It’s a concept that describes the directional flow of natural energy.

“Oh, that is—”

But Enya, being a local who wasn’t a major student, wouldn’t understand such concepts.

So, I decided to explain it so that she could grasp it.

“Um, let’s say entropy is… well, I guess it’s a term I made up?”

Of course, it wasn’t something I created, but I let that go for simplification.

“Um, you can think of it as the level of disorder.”

“Level of disorder…?”

“Yes. Shall I give an example?”

As I said that, I pointed at the test tube.

Once Enya turned her gaze to the test tube, I continued my explanation.

“If you look at the test tube, you’ll see the mana inside bouncing around randomly, right?”

Just like I said, the mana in the test tube was bouncing randomly about chaotically.

As Enya nodded, I followed up with the next explanation.

“I see this state of mana as disordered. It’s moving randomly without forming any specific shape.”

“Oh… is that how it is?”

“Yes. Now, let me try to bring this mana into an ordered state.”

As I spoke, I drew a reinforcement spell (ꇔ) onto the board connected to the test tube.

Then, a spell that looked like the reinforcement spell (ꇔ) I drew appeared on one wall of the test tube.

I immediately infused mana into the reinforcement spell (ꇔ).

“Okay. Now, the mana that was roaming randomly inside the test tube will align its form with the shape of the reinforcement spell (ꇔ).”

Just as I said, the mana that hovered chaotically turned into a blue light shaped like the reinforcement spell (ꇔ).

Seeing this, Enya nodded in understanding.

“I refer to this as the decrease of entropy. The mana that was wandering disorderly now assumes the order of the reinforcement spell (ꇔ).”

“…So, you mean that since the mana has taken on the order in the shape of the reinforcement spell (ꇔ), you think that the disorder of the mana has decreased? The entrop…?”

“Entropy.”

“Yes, entropy. That’s how you say that it decreased, right? Is that correct?”

“Precisely. You’re quick to understand.”

When I praised Enya, she offered a faint smile.

After taking a moment to collect her breath, Enya looked back at me and said.