***
Everything was on fire.
And from a shimmering space in the sky, monsters I had never seen before were pouring down.
Buildings collapsed, blood splattered everywhere, and screams filled the air.
Hell.
Just moments ago, I had been living a perfectly normal day, but in an instant, the streets had turned into hell.
I ran like a madman.
When I arrived home, the family I had exchanged normal greetings with that very morning was gone, and the monsters that had poured from the sky had occupied the house.
And at their feet, unrecognizable lumps of blood were scattered about.
Fzzt.
My vision changed.
And that event repeated itself once more.
A precious bond that had approached me when I was wounded.
By the time I realized it, it was already too late.
Because of the hateful monsters, I had lost my family twice.
‘I’ll kill them.’
I think it was from that moment on.
That I decided to kill every monster that existed in the world.
But I had no power.
No special abilities, no combat sense or instincts.
So, I hammered, touched, and combined metal like a madman, calculating data.
And using the ‘gates’ from which the hateful monsters poured as raw material, I created the ultimate aether weapon.
The Powered Suit.
The crystallization of my hatred, made solely to kill monsters.
With it, I would kill the monsters.
“Ni…el.”
Kill all the monsters.
“Raniel!”
“Hah!”
I opened my eyes to someone’s touch. An all-too-familiar ceiling came into view.
And a face that was still a little unfamiliar.
Senil Leventia.
My mother was looking over at me with a very worried expression.
“Oh my, did you have a nightmare? It seems like he’s awake, but just like me, it’s hard to tell if his eyes are open or not.”
Her joking words made the dark feeling in my heart subside for a moment.
“No, it wasn’t a nightmare. I just dreamed I was playing and fell out of a tree…”
“Really? That’s a relief, but if you have any worries, you can always talk to me.”
My mother caressed my head and cheek with a gentle hand.
Her body temperature was on the cooler side, so her hands were usually cold, but for some reason, they felt strangely warm.
“Umm, well, I do have one worry…”
“Leave your father out of it.”
“Then I have none.”
“…”
Was I too blunt?
I could feel a hint of disappointment from my mother.
“In other words, I’m saying that being your son makes me happier than I deserve.”
“Oh, you.”
Looking at my mother’s gentle smile, I sat up.
It was about time to start the day.
“I’ll wash up and be down in a minute. I’ll see you downstairs later.”
“It’s alright if you want to roll around in bed a little longer.”
“I have a lot to do today.”
As I said that and straightened my clothes, my mother’s gaze seemed both proud and somehow pitiful.
“Don’t overdo it. Mom is content as long as her son is happy.”
“Come on, I don’t overdo things. And besides, I’m doing it because I enjoy it.”
“Alright… If you say so.”
After my mother left, I opened the window to air out the room briefly, then headed to the bathroom.
<><><>
Decades had passed since I, an engineer who had been developing weapons in the Republic of Korea, was reincarnated in this other world.
The body that had been a newborn’s had become that of a precocious boy.
And I had adapted, to some extent, to the language and culture of this world.
Though the nightmare that began on Earth still remained.
-Swaaaaah.
Still, after a refreshing shower, the effects of the nightmare had subsided somewhat.
Of course, just as it always had, it would probably surface from time to time and torment me in the future.
But it certainly felt less severe than in my previous life.
To the point where I wondered if it might disappear one day.
‘No, probably not…’
I chuckled and headed down to the dining hall.
The path to the dining hall looked like something one would imagine when thinking of medieval Europe.
Stone architecture, a long corridor, a high ceiling.
However, if there was one peculiar thing here, it was the ‘electric lights’ installed at intervals along that ceiling.
‘I still can’t get used to this.’
This was a fantasy world with kings and empires, knights and mages.
But at the same time, it was also a place that had developed a form of ‘magical engineering’ very similar to ‘Gate Engineering,’ achieving a lifestyle comparable to that of modern civilization on Earth.
There were, of course, the electric lights on the ceiling, hot water came out of the faucet in the bathroom with just a turn, car-like things rolled around outside, and there were even things similar to tablets.
Basic science was at a level of near-total annihilation, but they had achieved a modern level of civilization by bulldozing through everything with a cheat-key energy source called ‘mana.’
‘In particular, some of the magical engineering technologies surpassed Earth’s Gate Engineering.’
A developed civilization with a comparatively poor grasp of basic science.
It was a rather interesting research topic.
“But it’s only interesting, not something I’ll actually research…”
“What are you muttering about to yourself?”
At the suddenly heard voice, I turned my head to see a girl in a maid uniform looking at me with sparkling eyes.
“You look stupid when you talk to yourself with a blank look on your face.”
“Are you talking about yourself?”
“Of course not!”
I furrowed my brow at the maid spouting nonsense.
“Linia, if you keep talking nonsense, I’m docking your pay.”
“Young Master Raniel, this girl was merely concerned for the future of the Leventia family. Please spare my life!”
“You only call me Young Master at times like these?”
“My salary is precious!”
Linia was a war orphan whom my father had brought in and hired as a servant.
However, since we had grown up together since I was young, we were practically as close as family.
“Oh, right! I shouldn’t be doing this. I was looking for you, so this is great!”
“What is it?”
“My tablet is broken! Ugh! Three months of my salary is about to go up in smoke!”
“Let me see it.”
I took the tablet Linia carefully handed me and looked it over.
Since this was a world that had thrown basic science out the window from the start, its functions were poor compared to its fancy appearance.
Still, you could use this world’s internet network, called the Mana Network, at speeds comparable to an old dial-up modem from Earth.
And it had several decent functions, like reading the news or sending mail.
‘So the broken part is…’
After looking it over, it wasn’t seriously broken; it seemed the internal magic circuit had gotten a little twisted due to an overload.
“S-so? Can you fix it?”
“Yeah, I think I can fix it right now.”
I lightly operated my mana to fix the twisted circuit, and the tablet screen began to display properly.
-Today’s weather: Clear. However, a brief shower is expected in the afternoon.
-Imperial Academy is now recruiting new students.
-The popular adventure novel, The Chronicles of Kalalitan, Volume 3 is now on sale to rave reviews.
“Wow! You fixed it right away?!”
“This much is nothing.”
“As expected of our Young Master! Even if your swordsmanship is crap, your magical engineering is absolutely amazing!”
Was that a compliment or an insult?
“Anyway, thank you! Since I saved on repair costs, I’ll treat you to something later!”
“Ahem, where does this delinquent maid think she can get a free repair? Do you know how much it costs to get that fixed at a workshop, and you’re trying to pay me off with a meal?”
Civilization here was developed, but it wasn't exactly the same as the modern world, so there was no concept of a service center.
Because of that, repairs were usually entrusted to private workshops, and the repair costs were astronomical.
“Hey, we’re family.”
“Don’t you know that you have to be even more thorough with money between family members?”
“Give me a break! You know how little my salary is!”
“You get room and board, why do you need a salary?”
“Evil employer!”
“Yeah, delinquent maid. You skipped cleaning again, didn’t you? I’m going to tell Tania Noona.”
“Eek! Give me a break! This place is unnecessarily huge, and it’s just me and my sister working here!”
Seeing Linia on the verge of tears, I let out a light sigh.
“Alright, alright. I’ll let it slide, so just sign this.”
“What’s this? A contract… form?”
After reading the contents, Linia crumpled the paper and shouted.
“I thought you were letting it slide!”
“I’m letting the part about telling Tania Noona slide. You still have to pay the repair fee.”
“You’d skin a flea for its hide!”
“I haven’t skinned one, but I have sold one.”
When I stood my ground, Linia also adopted a defiant attitude.
“Ah, whatever! I don’t have any money! I don’t!”
“That’s fine. I’ll just break it again, and you can take it to a workshop to get it repaired. As a family service, I’ll even add interest and make the repair difficulty twice as hard.”
At my calm response, Linia trembled.
“Wow, a devil. There’s a devil right here!”
“Do devils make a lot of money? If so, being a devil doesn’t sound so bad.”
“You’re the kind of guy who’d sell a devil!”
“So are you going to sign it or not?”
Linia reluctantly signed the contract form.
“Sob. I really feel like I’m being sold off somewhere.”
“Slave trading is illegal in the Empire.”
“So you’d sell me if it wasn’t illegal?”
“…”
I quietly closed my mouth.
“That’s not it, right?”
Linia grabbed my shoulders and shook me.
“Why? Why? Why are you avoiding my gaze?!”
“Ahem, I must be going, for the family meal…”
I quickly snatched the contract form from her hand and started to walk away.
“Oh, right! It was changed so we’re all eating separately for breakfast today.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“The Lord of the house said he had something to attend to and left early in the morning.”
My father, who always insisted that breakfast must be eaten together as a family.
What could have happened so suddenly?
“They said some strange phenomenon was witnessed near the village, but I don’t really know the details.”
“So Father is out, what about Mother?”
“The Lady also said she had something to take care of and went out for a bit.”
“Is that so?”
Well now, that’s some interesting news.
“Alright, thanks!”
“W-wait a minute! Before that, this debt! I think there’s an extra zero here?! No, wait!”
You just noticed that now?
Of course, once it’s signed, there’s no going back.
And in the first place, I didn’t exactly trick Linia.
It was just that when I had her sign the paper, my thumb happened to be over the last zero of the number.
‘Of course, even so, it’s much cheaper than the local workshop.’
“Hey!! Raniel!”
Ignoring Linia’s shout, I quickly left the spot.
<><><>
Hearing that my father was out, I immediately dodged Linia, left the mansion, and headed toward the backyard.
Then, just in case, I carefully scanned my surroundings before entering the barn.
Inside the barn, stockpiled grains and farming tools prepared for rent were neatly arranged.
I went to where the farming tools were displayed and placed my hand on one of the walls.
-Vwoom.
And when I channeled mana into it in a specific pattern, a secret passage was revealed at my feet.
What lay beyond it was the private workshop I used as my personal workspace.
But, one more time here.
-Vwoom.
As I channeled additional mana, a passage leading to another place was revealed.
I once again looked around to check for witnesses before slowly descending into the secret workshop.
“Cough! How did it get so dusty when it’s only been a few days?”
Unlike the workshop I used somewhat regularly, the secret workshop was unmanaged, so its condition was a mess.
A scene of dust piled up thickly and disorganized equipment scattered here and there.
I couldn’t even remember when I had last come in.
‘It’s quite a pain without assistants to clean up after me.’
But it was also difficult to just shove it all to one side because, even though it was all scattered like junk now, each and every one of those things was an expensive piece of experimental equipment.
Because of that, I swallowed my tears and the dust, and carefully moved and organized them one by one.
And after taking a short breath, I stood before a coffin-like object covered with a white cloth.
“Alright, then shall we start working again after so long.”
Steeling my resolve, I pulled off the cloth.
There, not just smashed but turned into scrap metal, was the masterpiece of my previous life, the powered suit.
The prototype.