I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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The next day.

Elena woke up with disheveled hair, getting out of bed.

And as soon as she stood up, a small smile crept onto her face.

It had been a long time since she felt this excited.

‘Should I make a request too?’

Last night.

Elena had kept Edgar in her heart.

So she went to find the villagers who had commissioned custom items from Ed and looked at each of the inventions he had created.

Each one was an outstanding invention.

She couldn’t help but admire his creativity and engineering sense.

‘I absolutely have to bring him back.’

At first, it was only an intention to rectify her mistake.

A bidding rival she lost to due to her own arrogance.

To Elena, Edgar Fix was merely that much of a significance.

But last night.

As she talked with the village chief, her feelings about him subtly changed.

It was his humanity, sharing his talents solely for the people, that moved her heart.

Elena liked such a kind-hearted person.

She had already grown tired of superficial relationships driven solely by self-interest.

She wanted someone like Edgar Fix, a born good person, by her side.

“Uuugh!!”

Was that it?

Elena stretched, feeling refreshed.

Though the inn was shabby compared to her residence, it felt endearing.

She felt as if she had returned to her hometown just by being in this village.

Grrr…

Suddenly feeling hungry, Elena went down to the inn’s hall.

A few men, sensing her presence, looked at her with dazed expressions.

Eyes of men entranced by her external charm.

However, she was already accustomed to such gazes.

Compared to nobles or powerful figures in the city, it was cute.

As soon as their eyes met, they quickly turned their heads away to avoid her gaze.

‘Come to think of it, everything is fascinating. Edgar Fix remained unfazed even receiving my attention.’

But Edgar Fix did not avoid her eyes.

The Great Mage and the princess’s teacher.

And the academy’s head professor, he didn’t flinch at all upon seeing her.

He confidently conveyed everything he wanted to say.

‘He was calm even knowing my identity. It wouldn’t be easy for a commoner to do that.’

Moreover, Elena possessed stunning beauty.

She was so beautiful that men weak to a woman’s charm would gaze at her in a daze.

Yet Edgar Fix seemed completely unaffected by it.

Casting aside all his status, innate beauty, and far-reaching reputation.

He treated her as a person, person to person.

She couldn’t help but smile.

What an intriguing man he was.

“Hmm····”

However, even she had a flaw.

That was the fact that she was broke.

Though the head professor’s salary was high, she had so much debt.

Her relationship with her adoptive parents was far from parent-child; it was a strict business relationship.

In exchange for receiving their surname, she would pay off their debts, and they would use various political maneuvers to elevate her to a central noble.

As a result, Elena had to be frugal in choosing her breakfast menu.

She had to select the most cost-effective food.

“I’ll order one C-set.”

Ultimately, what she ordered was the C-set.

The cheapest food at the inn.

About 15 minutes later.

While having her meal, Elena looked around the inn.

People gathered in groups, chatting about Edgar who would arrive soon.

“See this? This is what Edgar made last time; its performance is just incredible!”

“Haha, is it another talk about Edgar? Well, I have been enjoying the gear he made.”

“He’s going to be a big shot someday. I can’t believe he thought of making such things.”

Everywhere she went, it was talk of Edgar.

In every corner, there were discussions about him.

It was no wonder, given that in two hours, Edgar would start taking custom orders.

According to what she heard from the village chief last night, he accepted custom requests every Saturday at noon.

So the entire village was thrilled at the thought of ordering custom items.

‘Now I can clear up the misunderstanding.’

Elena was equally excited at the thought of meeting Edgar.

How happy he would be if she told him he was given another chance.

Elena smiled at the thought of his happiness.

***

Two days ago, I had a honey-like vacation.

I roamed around the big city with James, eating and having fun to our heart’s content.

Of course, I covered all the expenses myself.

The purpose of this trip was to lighten James’s mood.

In the end, we had an amazing time.

We drank all sorts of quality drinks and had heated discussions about the engineering approach to crafting equipment.

And of course, there were women involved.

James lost his wife a decade ago.

I playfully pushed for his remarriage and sent a note to a service worker he showed interest in.

I also slipped her some flowers, and upon seeing James’s face, she blushed and expressed that it would have been nicer if she gave the flowers to him directly.

The look of surprise on James’s face was priceless.

I hollered “You can do it!” as I left the inn, and for a while, James and the service worker chatted over drinks.

Well, in the end, it didn’t quite work out as the woman spotted the ring on James’s left hand, but it still made for a fun memory.

‘Now it’s time to work.’

Even though it had only been two days, it had been a fulfilling vacation.

So now it was time to get to work.

Every Saturday at noon, I had agreed to take on crafting requests, so I hurried home.

And that time was also the day to receive the ‘sweet quest.’

‘I need to stack up on experience points.’

The sweet quest.

The reason why people call this day, when I receive crafting requests from village folks, a ‘sweet quest’ is simple.

One of the items bound to me, ‘The Creator’s Hammer,’ has the effect that the more equipment I craft, the more skill level experience I gain.

And as the skill level goes up, the seals placed on the Creator’s Hammer gradually weaken.

Thus, days when requests for crafting come in are the sweetest for me.

The more varied equipment I make through considerable struggles, the greater the increase in skill experience.

‘With money, I’ll also gain reputation from the villagers and stack up experience points. It’s a sweet deal.’

Truly a killing three birds with one stone.

I can earn money, gain reputation, and increase my experience points.

I hurried home humming a tune.

***

In the peaceful rural village of Greta.

An unusual spectacle was unfolding that was rarely seen.

Most of the villagers were gathered at James’s blacksmith shop, bustling as if they were having a community meeting.

“They should be showing up soon!”

However, they didn’t gather to have a meeting.

Their purpose was to request crafting services offered every Saturday.

To have the village’s pride, Ed, craft items, they all threw down their work to come here.

And among this crowd was Elena von Elyd Rosario, an individual who had reached the level of the Great Mage and was also the princess’s teacher.

A powerful figure who ranked within the top 10 of the empire’s power hierarchy was mingling among common villagers waiting for a single common boy.

Thus, this was quite an unfamiliar experience for Elena.

Wherever she went, people would usually fear her and clear the way, but the village folks were solely interested in Ed.

As this was a remote rural area, no one except the village chief and his closest aides recognized the Great Mage’s face.

Moreover, she had asked the chief to keep it a secret from the other villagers.

Currently, the villagers viewed her as just a ‘skilled mage’ or perhaps, ‘a mage from the city who has come to commission crafting after hearing rumors about Ed.’

‘Well, this isn’t necessarily a bad thing.’

In fact, Elena didn’t find the experience all that unpleasant.

Owing to never being free from the gaze of others, she was feeling a sense of liberation for the first time in a while.

It almost felt like returning to her days as a commoner, wandering freely.

Perhaps that’s why this village felt like home to her.

“Whoa! Ed! You’re back!”

While she was having those thoughts.

Finally, Edgar arrived.

The villagers greeted James and Ed as if they were returning heroes.

“Hey! James! Did you get a good score?”

“Of course, you probably passed easily!”

“Yeah! Did you bring Ed with you?”

“Hmph… how can we live without Ed now?”

The villagers showed no curiosity about James’s results.

It was because they had brought home the village’s genius prodigy, Ed.

However, James’s response was surprising.

“Haha, I was a bit unlucky. I actually failed.”

…Failed the bidding competition?

The villagers started to murmur.

Elena started to break into a cold sweat as she stealthily slipped away from the crowd.

“No, if you didn’t get picked, then who did?”

“This is quite unexpected.”

“Who were the judges? They clearly didn’t know what they were doing!”

“Didn’t they have professors judging? They invited some high-ranking head professor.”

“Tsk tsk. A so-called head professor lacking an eye for talent.”

“Well, isn’t this a good turn of events for us? Hahaha! Ed! We’re counting on you!”

Elena’s face flushed as if it would burst.

Words she had never heard before were pouring in from all sides.

To think someone would say she lacked the eye for judging people.

She had always been celebrated as a genius.

‘Ugh····’

But it was her own doing.

In a fit of frustration, it was none other than herself who disqualified Edgar.

Elena pulled her hood over her head, reflecting on that moment once again.

This is why one must never be hasty in dismissing others.

“Well, enough about that. We need to take requests for items. I’ll call out the ticket numbers, so please line up.”

As Elena was deep in self-reflection.

James began calling out the ticket numbers.

The order for crafting requests was determined by three criteria: 1. The fewer times someone has commissioned, the higher their priority. 2. The more urgently needed items for daily life, the better. 3. The shorter the crafting time required, the quicker the turn-up would be.

And James had already checked these three items in advance, pre-arranging the villagers’ waiting order.

Therefore, all he needed to do now was call out the predetermined numbers.

“Number one: Graham, number two: Jackson, number three: Aleta, number four: Wilson, number five: Jake····”

And thus, the villagers’ names began to be called in turn.

Each person whose name was called lined up, creating a new line.

“Number 47: Tom.”

With that, the line was finally completed, ending with number 47 Tom.

However, there was just one person.

Elena, clad in a hood, was standing there hesitantly, glancing around.

She was an outsider, so James couldn’t have prepared a ticket for her in advance.

Finally, James called out to Elena in the hood.

“Hey, who are you? I checked all the ticket numbers···”

James asked her who she was.

Elena hesitated.

What should she say?

In that moment, a middle-aged villager stepped in to provide an answer for her.

“Oh! James, this person is a mage from the city. She wants to commission crafting after hearing the rumors about Ed.”

The middle-aged man recited the cover identity she had asked the chief to use.

James glanced at her and nodded.

James had lived his entire life in this rural village, so he didn’t recognize Elena’s face at all.

“Hmm··· For guests from outside, please wait until the end of the line. You didn’t make a reservation, after all.”

With that, James entered the blacksmith shop.

Whiing- A lonely wind blew, rustling Elena’s hood.

Elena trembled, realizing her predicament.

‘Right now, I’ve become the last? The Great Mage, me?’

The Great Mage and the princess’s teacher.

And the academy’s head professor, Elena von Elyd Rosario.

She, who had been assigned the last place in line.

She, who had always been treated as a priority everywhere, was pushed to the very end.

In the midst of this, a boy said in a slightly mocking tone.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and move to the back of the line.”

“Oh, right.”

But there was no helping it now.

In this place, she was downright an outsider.

Elena trudged to the end of the line.