Let's Try That Too. (2)
At Ghislain's words, the entire group was taken aback.
Yulian widened his eyes and asked,
"That looks seriously hard though? Are you really going to try it?"
Ghislain scoffed and said,
"What's so hard about that? From what I can see, it's not that difficult."
Everyone looked at Ghislain with doubtful eyes. Then Kyle asked with a knowing expression,
"You're counting on Astion, aren't you?"
At those words, Yulian and Deneb both nodded. Astion might seem a bit clueless sometimes, but he was still a mage.
Until Ghislain showed up, it had been Astion who led the party with his various knowledge.
The other mercenaries also nodded.
There were rare moments when Ghislain quietly studied alone at night. In truth, those were the times when Astion took control of the body to learn magic.
The mercenaries all assumed that was just another personality of Ghislain.
Hearing their conversation, Erenes's eyes twitched slightly as she murmured inwardly, "R-Really? It's really multiple personalities?"
Of course, she still had her doubts. So Erenes decided to observe a little more without saying anything.
Indeed, even within Ghislain's consciousness, Astion shouted boldly,
— A smart mage can't just ignore something like this! What an arrogant dwarf.
Astion spoke confidently, but Ghislain wore a bored expression.
Just then, Osval suddenly raised his hand high.
"Boss! The man Osval! I'll go first!"
"...You?"
"What's with that face?"
"...Nothing."
Osval held out both hands politely.
"Just give me 1 gold coin."
Money was still being managed by Ghislain. He cheerfully pulled out 1 gold coin and handed it to Osval.
The dwarf looked Osval up and down, his face rugged, and asked,
"You really planning to try?"
"Why are you saying it like that? The Elf Grand Chieftain always said not to judge people by their looks."
"Pffft! You've met the Elf Grand Chieftain?"
"I have, actually."
"Sure, sure. Anyway, I'll give it to you — you humans sure are good at bluffing."
The dwarf sneered as he handed the device to Osval. Osval, huffing, received it.
Of course, he didn't actually think he could solve the problem. It looked far too complicated at first glance.
But he still stepped up confidently for a reason.
'This kind of thing, I'll just solve it with brute force. The Elf Grand Chieftain said what's on the inside matters, after all.'
To him, "what's inside" just meant strength.
The dwarf had issued a warning, but Osval didn't believe any of that. How could such a small device possibly withstand the strength of a man?
In a way, Osval might've been the first to adopt Ghislain's method of solving problems — though in a rather distorted way.
Osval grabbed a metal rod and shoved it forcefully into the device's hole.
Thunk!
Of course, the rod didn't go in any farther. But Osval even drew up his mana and tried to force the rod in.
Creaaak!
Anyone could tell he was forcing it in with mana-enhanced strength. Sparks flew from where the metal rod contacted the device.
Everyone watched in tense silence. But the dwarf merely smirked with ease.
'Fool. You think brute force will work? Feel the might of dwarven craftsmanship with your whole body.'
Osval, straining hard, began to look increasingly bewildered.
'W-What the? Why won't it go in? What kind of metal is this?'
No matter how much strength he used, it barely went in, only producing more sparks. It looked like it'd take quite a bit of time to insert it completely.
It didn't make sense. If metal like this really existed, it would've already been used all across the kingdom for weapons and armor.
Ghislain narrowed his eyes, looking amused.
'That must be...'
It seemed the metal had been alloyed with runestones during smelting.
Runestones have a property of absorbing mana. That machine was using that very property to endure Osval's strength.
It was a simple concept, once understood. The armor worn by the knights of Fenris also used the same runestone properties.
The runestones embedded in the armor could absorb the wearer's mana to activate magic, but also dispersed external shock to reduce impact.
Of course, implementing such detailed function in a device that small was impossible without exceptional skill. It meant the dwarf who made it was very talented.
After watching Osval struggle for a while, the dwarf suddenly shouted,
"Stop! What the hell are you doing?! It'll break if you keep going!"
"Eek! You said we get three tries!"
In desperation, Osval shoved the rod into random holes. But he failed the remaining two tries as well.
He returned to his seat with a sullen face. All he got for his trouble was losing 1 gold coin.
The other mercenaries just clicked their tongues, as if they saw it coming.
Ghislain turned to Yulian next and asked,
"You want to try?"
"No, I'm no good with stuff like that."
He also asked Kyle, Deneb, and Erenes, but they all shook their heads. The other mercenaries were the same.
Something that difficult wasn't for just anyone.
Then, unexpectedly, someone stepped forward.
"Not to brag, but... I graduated top of my class at the Imperial Academy."
Lionel swept back his hair. He was clearly showing off.
Still, he was a man of both brains and brawn. He had the credentials to be confident.
He strode forward and picked up the device — but then the dwarf cried out hastily,
"Hey! Pay first!"
"...…"
Lionel paused, then reached out to Ghislain and said,
"One gold coin, please."
"...Fine."
Lionel didn't have money either. Since joining as the youngest, he had handed over what little funds he had to the mercenary group.
Besides, it was Ghislain, not Lionel, who received the generous travel expenses from the Pope.
Anyway, once he paid, Lionel carefully examined the device. His eyes gleamed with intensity.
"Hmm, I see."
He had spotted a consistent pattern. In his head, the structure of the device unraveled like a puzzle.
His eyes sparkled for a moment, and he confidently inserted the rod into the device.
Click.
The rod fit perfectly, and a pleasant sound rang from the device.
Lionel closed his eyes and once again swept his hair back.
"Hmph. First attempt, success."
At that moment, gasps erupted around him.
"Wow, it went in!"
"Did he really solve it?"
"If he figured out the method, can't he solve all of it?"
Even passersby gathered as the crowd grew larger and more excited.
Lionel, brimming with confidence, opened his mouth,
"This was solved by arranging geometric symmetry. I used rotational symmetry and calculated the insertion order with the golden ratio, then——"
"That guy sure talks a lot. Looks all serious, too."
"...…"
Lionel's lip twitched at the dwarf's jab. It stung, but he chose to ignore it.
It was true — ever since joining Yulian mercenaries, his obsession with saving face had mellowed quite a bit.
Swallowing his pride, Lionel refocused. According to his calculations, he inserted the next rod.
Thunk.
"One fail!"
'......What? My calculations should've been perfect.'
Lionel was flustered. But he quickly composed himself and tried again.
This time, a bit more cautiously, heightening the sensitivity in his fingertips...
Thunk.
"Second fail!"
The dwarf's shout was loud and smug. The other dwarves watching nearby couldn't hold back their laughter either.
Cold sweat trickled down Lionel's back. His hands had even started to tremble.
Seeing this, the dwarf let out a deep sneer.
'Stupid humans. That thing is impossible to solve.'
In fact, it wasn't something solvable just by finding numerical or symbolic patterns. One had to know the exact weight of each metal rod.
Only then could the correct pattern truly be identified.
But here, there was no way to precisely determine the weight of the rods. Even with sharp senses, one could only tell there were slight differences—nothing more.
'How could they possibly find the pattern and do the math without knowing the precise weight?'
In the end, it was practically a scam set up by the dwarves.
After all, the only one who knew the exact weight of the rods was the dwarf himself.
Thunk.
Eventually, Lionel failed on his third attempt as well.
"Three fails! Done!"
Lionel turned around dejectedly. His shoulders were already drooping.
He had shown off so much, only to end up humiliated again.
With each failure, his self-esteem was sinking even further.
The dwarf, with a cocky expression, shouted proudly,
"Anyone else want to try? Huh? Is this too difficult for you humans and your puny brains? Is this hard?"
People frowned at the dwarf's provocation, but no one dared step forward. The challenge was simply too difficult.
And traditionally, elves and dwarves never got along.
Which was why Erenes kept twitching as if about to step forward, a frustrated look on her face.
Ghislain noticed and asked,
"You want to try too?"
"...No."
Spirits moved with the heart, not through calculations.
Erenes stubbornly rationalized it that way and turned her head away.
The dwarf, watching them all, sneered again.
"If there's no one else, too bad. That's it for today's challenge. Who knew you'd all be this stupid."
"There's still one left."
Ghislain stepped forward. The dwarf, still smug, handed over the device.
Then he raised his voice on purpose, turning to the crowd.
"This guy'll be the last one for today! Got it, everyone? If you want another chance, come back tomorrow at the same time! Spread the word!"
The other dwarf beside him was busy collecting the money pile. They clearly assumed Ghislain would fail, too.
While they were fussing and organizing the setup, Ghislain simply stared intently at the device.
Inside his consciousness, Astion spoke.
—Ghislain, let's analyze the structure first and find the pattern. Since the dwarf succeeded, there must be a hidden condition. So first, let's take it slow——
'I don't care about that.'
—What are you talking about?! Then how do you plan to—?!
"Like this."
Ghislain suddenly grabbed a metal rod—and shoved it into the device with brute force.
CRACK!
"........"
Silence fell instantly, as if the entire crowd had frozen.
The area around the inserted rod was crushed from the sheer force.
The dwarf stared at it, dumbfounded.
"W-What... y-you——"
Ghislain ignored him and inserted a second rod.
GRRRK!
This time, sparks flew and the hole's edges began to melt. Even the runestone couldn't withstand the force.
"........"
Everyone stared at the scene in stunned silence, mouths agape.
Without a word, Ghislain inserted another rod.
CRACK!
Grrrk!
CRASSHH!
One after another, the rods were driven in—no order, no pattern. It was as if he were hammering in nails.
And the more he did, the more the device warped and shattered into a hideous mess.
Unlike the dwarves' smooth insertion method, Ghislain's approach was obviously crude. Anyone could see it was nonsense.
But the dwarf had said it wasn't possible with strength. Everyone had seen Osval fail.
They were also told that if you forced it, the device would explode. And yet, it didn't.
It was just… falling apart.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Eventually, all seven rods were embedded in the device.
It now looked like a battered pile of junk.
Ghislain smirked and held the scrap(?) up in front of the dwarf's face.
"All done. That's a success."
"H-How? Who… What are you?!"
The dwarf couldn't even string his words together, practically drooling.
These beggarly humans had seemed laughable.
He was sure that such idiots could never solve his intricate device.
And yes, there was a bit of scam involved in the setup.
Of course, he had thoroughly accounted for fools trying brute force.
'Even a superhuman couldn't do it!'
The dwarf wasn't stupid.
He had anticipated someone with superhuman strength might try to force the rods in.
So he had set it up to explode if inserted incorrectly. Without understanding the precise internal structure, not even a superhuman could prevent that explosion.
But...
'Why?! Why didn't it explode?!'
The device was simply turning into scrap metal. Something completely absurd was happening before his very eyes.
"How did you even do this?! You're supposed to solve it properly to insert the rods!"
"When the body's strong, the mind rests easy."
"........"
The bizarre statement brought silence crashing back again.
Only Osval cried out with emotional joy,
"Of course! It wasn't that my brain was the problem—it was my body! Curse this weak body of mine!"
The dwarf hurriedly tried to snatch the device from Ghislain's hands. But Ghislain evaded him and said,
"What, trying to get rid of the evidence? Just admit it already."
"I-I can't admit that! That wasn't a proper solution!"
"We were supposed to insert the rods, right? I did that."
"Y-You forced it!"
"How's that forcing it? That was the condition. You said brute force wouldn't work, and that it would explode. It didn't."
"T-That's true, but..."
The dwarf was going mad.
If he accepted that twisted logic, it meant he lost. But if he didn't accept it, it meant his technique was flawed.
He could've just said Ghislain failed. Dwarves weren't perfect. Even masters have lapses.
But here, now, it wasn't that simple.
"W-We had a deal! Honor your word!"
"If you're not giving him the prize, give all our money back!"
"You're a total fraud! We're reporting you!"
"He did exactly what you said! Why won't you admit it?!"
Angry shouts erupted from the crowd.
Honestly, they didn't care what method Ghislain had used. They just enjoyed watching that arrogant dwarf suffer.
Even the mercenaries joined in the jeering, and more people gathered around.
The dwarf backed away, pale-faced.
'Where the hell did this lunatic come from…'
The mood was turning dangerous. If it went on, he really would be branded a scammer.
Which, frankly, wasn't too far from the truth.
Too many people were watching. And this lunatic with freakish strength clearly wasn't going to let go easily.
You don't deal with a crazy person—you avoid them. The wise dwarf knew this well.
Deciding he needed to get rid of Ghislain fast, he stammered,
"F-Fine. You didn't fail, so I-I'll admit it. Here, take your 100 gold."
The dwarf forced a calm smile and handed over 100 gold coins.
'No big deal. Guys like this are rare. I'll earn it all back from the stupid ones soon enough.'
He had just begun to console himself when Ghislain shook his head.
"Forget the money."
"What? Why? Then what do you want? Were you just showing off your strength?!"
Ghislain grinned and pointed to a sword hanging behind the booth.
"I'll take that sword instead."
No one in the crowd knew anything about the sword. They all assumed it was just another piece of junk.
Only Ghislain could see it.
He had recognized the true value of Gramdir.