Chapter 342: Chapter 339: You Really Are an Evil Mage
When Rorschach saw Mr. Boles again, the man did not disappoint.
The old man had an apprentice bring over two mechanically complex spheres. "We’ve completed three sets of parts as requested," he explained. "After assembly, we have two finished units that meet the specifications."
Given the required precision and tolerances, completing two functional machines in just five days meant all the master craftsmen had exceeded expectations. In addition to Bart paying for the materials in advance, he had also let the craftsmen drink as much Fanta concentrate as they wanted, pushing their efficiency to the max.
"Excellent." Rorschach paid Mr. Boles and the others the final balance and the promised bonuses. Only one of Mr. Boles’s apprentices remained.
"Hey, stop bothering the Lord Mage!" Mr. Boles, who had been about to leave, snapped at his tactless apprentice.
"My apologies. But I’m still very curious." The young man stood his ground, mustering his courage. "I want to know what it is I’ve actually built. This is the first time I’ve ever assembled such a strange, intricate, and complex device, and I can’t for the life of me imagine what it’s for."
"It has a built-in timing mechanism but no external dial. It has all sorts of repeating components made of springs and linkages that change in different ways as it turns... It has a lot in common with a clock, yet it’s completely different."
"But I still don’t understand it. If I don’t even know the purpose of something I built with my own hands, how could I possibly repair or improve it later on?" The young man shook his head. "As a craftsman, that’s a failing on my part."
Bart gave the old man a suspicious look. "Your apprentice made this?"
Mr. Boles was scared out of his wits. "The boy’s talking nonsense! The blueprints were provided by you two, how could we possibly call it our own work?" He moved to drag the insolent apprentice out, planning to teach him a harsh lesson once they were back at the shop.
The apprentice remained stubborn. "Master’s eyesight isn’t what it used to be; he can’t go over that many blueprints. Of course, I was the only one who could have completed it. Lord Mage, that’s not important. Please, just tell me! I just need an answer..."
"You blockhead with a brain full of sheep dung! Are the Lord Mage’s affairs something you can just ask about? Just do your job!" Mr. Boles wished he could just cave the apprentice’s head in on the spot. He had always considered the boy his successor because his skills were the best. Barring any surprises, they were supposed to sign a contract for the apprentice to inherit the shop and support the childless Mr. Boles in his old age.
But of all days, the boy had to pick today to pull this "seek truth at all costs" stunt. Mr. Boles wished he could turn the clock back eleven years and give his past self a swift kick for ever taking him on as an apprentice.
"Mr. Boles, please step outside for a moment. I’d like to speak with this young man," Rorschach said. He had a soft spot for such inquisitive minds. He then asked for the apprentice’s name.
"Becken Gao Pei."
"Alright. First of all, its name is the ’Universal Computing Core.’ I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of a ’Differential Engine,’ but they are both machines that use mechanical structures to perform calculations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The two you assembled, however, are more compact than other such machines."
"But I can’t give you any more information, because neither I nor another Mage are its designers. I do, however, have the complete set of blueprints, as well as the designer’s original documents explaining its principles and how it operates. Would you like to see them?"
’Of course I do,’ Becken thought. But before he could speak, Rorschach’s expression suddenly turned sinister. "However, this machine involves the secrets of us Mages. If you want to master it completely, you must sign a contract with us."
"And not one of those market contracts where you just sign your name and leave a thumbprint. This is a Magic Contract... If you breathe a single word of this to the outside world without permission, you’ll die a most gruesome death..."
As he spoke, an eerie green fire ignited in his hand, as if he were preparing to sketch a wicked Rune. The ghastly, pale-green flame made his sleep-deprived face look exceptionally terrifying.
Bart’s heart skipped a beat. ’Rorschach hasn’t been right since he got back from Istani,’ he thought. ’Don’t tell me he’s degenerated into an Evil Mage?’
"All the blueprints... and the design principles?" Gao Pei stared directly into Rorschach’s eyes, then finally nodded.
Bart watched as Rorschach sketched incomprehensible Runes out of thin air, which then flowed into the forehead of the nervous, frightened clockmaker’s apprentice. Next, Rorschach wrote a letter and handed it to the young man. "It seems your master has disowned you. Take this letter to the Green Wind Inn and find Mr. Hasse. He’ll offer you a salary I guarantee you’ll be satisfied with."
"From now on, you work for us. All the documents are in Lansite. You’ll be able to get them soon."
The apprentice’s face went pale as he received what seemed to be nothing but a worthless piece of paper. All he could process was that he had seemingly become the Mage’s slave. He began to regret his impulsiveness, and he walked out of the Mage Tower in a daze, as if his soul had left his body.
"I think the apprentice was right," Rorschach said, stroking the surface of the metal sphere. "Since it’s a mechanical device, it’s bound to break down. We need someone who understands how to improve and maintain it."
"That Magic just now didn’t actually do anything, did it? You were just scaring him?" Bart asked, coming to his senses. ’So in the end, this was all just to recruit an employee.’
"...What do you think?"
The matter of transferring a Soul was of great importance and could not be disturbed. Several more clay Stand-Ins were erected around the Mage Tower, each holding a sign: TOWER CLOSED TODAY. NO VISITORS.
The ritual was to take place in the Mage Tower’s bathroom, as it had become the Magic Power hub for the entire Wertz Region. Sitting in the bathtub made it easiest for Rorschach to enter the proper state.
In front of the bathtub sat one of the spheres.
Andre became the busiest person in the tower, tasked with preparing all the necessary materials, while Bart stood by with a Recovery Scroll, ready at a moment’s notice.
He didn’t understand why creating a mere Tower Spirit had Rorschach acting like he was on the brink of life and death. Recalling some new knowledge he and his wife had recently learned from a matron, an absurd thought sprouted in Bart’s mind: ’Is Rorschach planning to... give birth to the Tower Spirit?’
’He really has degenerated into an Evil Mage! He’s gestating an evil spirit inside his body and is using the creation of a Tower Spirit as a cover for it to be born here in Wertzburg...’
Once a bold idea takes root, countless pieces of evidence seem to arise to support it. Suddenly, all of Rorschach’s recent odd behavior seemed to make sense.
’You really are an Evil Mage!’
Bart clutched the scroll in his hand. He was becoming an accomplice to a dark ritual, but he felt powerless in the face of his friend.
’No, my family is here too! Guarding Wertzburg is the duty of the Town Mage! I can’t let Rorschach continue down this wrong path!’ Bart’s expression hardened with resolve. While one hand still held the Recovery Scroll, the other crept toward the Lightning Bolt scroll at his waist—his ever-present, life-saving measure of self-defense.
Rorschach saw Bart staring at him with a constipated look on his face, completely breaking the meditative state he was trying to enter for the Soul Emergence. Rorschach did some self-reflection and decided it was probably necessary to explain a few things to his friend to avoid any misunderstandings.
"Sorry, before we officially begin, I should probably explain the principle behind this. After all, you’re a client of ’Project Vanguard’!" Rorschach gave Bart a brief rundown of what happened in Istani, albeit a highly condensed version:
"I stumbled upon a conspiracy by the Return to the Holy Mother Order, was forced to hide in the underbelly of Storm City, ran into Teacher Caroline who’d gone through something similar, received the legacy of an Ancient Mage, and foiled the plot. The end."
"The price was that my Soul is now mixed with residual memories from the Ancient Mage and an Artificial Soul, so I have to pump massive amounts of Magic Power into my body just to keep it all suppressed."
Then he explained the plan for creating the Tower Spirit. "I’m going to use the Descent Summoning Technique to separate the impurities from my Soul. The impurity in question is an Artificial Soul personally crafted by an ancient Master, so we shouldn’t waste it. It will serve as the core material for an Enlightenment Skill, which will be infused into the Universal Computing Core to create the Tower Spirit’s sapient core."
"Alright, any other questions?"
’Everything is a question!’ Bart thought, but then breathed a sigh of relief. ’As long as Rorschach isn’t an Evil Mage, that’s all that matters...’ He asked aloud, "So you saw Teacher Caroline?"
"I did. I invited her to come to Bayern, but she said she’s been truant for so long that she’ll be expelled if she doesn’t get back to the academy soon!"
