Chapter 112: The Strange Punk Mecha Model

After Louis gathered Ron, the necromancer Kadi, and the others, the group descended the stairs together.

At the entrance, Jerry and a few agents curiously used magic to inspect the vintage car and indeed found it malfunctioning. Yet he noticed that their leader didn’t even glance at the old car; instead, he headed straight toward the taxis.

‘What a coincidence!’ Jerry thought as he looked at the taxis. ‘Taxis are quite rare nowadays; they usually don’t venture out this far into the Muddy District!’

“Do you know where the exhibition is exactly? How do we get there?” Louis leaned into the taxi window, addressing the driver. He couldn’t help but blink in surprise—ah! The driver was a beautiful female Dragonborn!

He noticed the small horns atop her forehead. However, unlike typical female Dragonborn whose tails resemble those of lizards, hers was smaller and ended with a little arrowhead.

Upon hearing Louis’s question, the Dragonborn woman nodded and prepared to step out and open the door for the elder gentleman. But she was startled to see Louis smiling gently as he pinched his cheek pouch, touched his horns, then turned away and walked off.

A chill ran through the Dragonborn woman’s heart—her superior had shown her a photo, and this man was definitely ‘Louis the Sixth.’ If she failed to bring Mr. Louis to the boss’s boss’s boss, she’d be in serious trouble!

She hurriedly got out of the car to chase after him, calling out to invite Louis to get in. But by then, Louis had already led everyone to the entrance of the Association and entered through the door leading to the basement. The two Dragonborn guards at the entrance stopped her.

Anxiously, she rushed to a public telephone booth and called her boss, explaining the situation.

A rough voice came from the phone: “The exhibition? Are you sure?”

“I’m certain, boss,” the Dragonborn replied.

“Damn that beardless conch!” a string of curses erupted from the phone. “Go tell the boss’s boss that the upright ape has gone to the exhibition!”

Meanwhile, after entering the basement, Louis first cast a protective spell over the vintage car outside, so that the butler Stewart could drive it ‘intact’ tomorrow morning.

Then, he started scanning the direction of the exhibition, searching for a suitable alleyway.

“Is it too late, Louis?” Kate glanced at the clock on the wall.

“Not too late, not at all,” Helen called out.

“Ahem, it might be a bit late,” Jerry said. “The exhibition is on the other side of the city. If we get there now, it’ll be closed. Boss, what do we…”

Before he could finish, Jerry felt the world spin wildly. The scene shifted, and he found himself, along with the others, near a deserted alley close to the car exhibition.

Ron and the others stared at Louis with wide eyes full of excitement and curiosity.

Jerry and the others were utterly bewildered.

The Mage’s Association was over thirty Blackhorn Alleys away from the exhibition. A few days ago, Kevin had told him that the new recruit, Mr. Ross, was very skilled with illusions and had led a dozen people halfway across Blackhorn Alley. Jerry had been surprised—Kevin was useless, and even he couldn’t manage more than six people.

The agents looked blankly at Louis, suddenly recalling that he was a wizard.

“Let’s go.” Louis patted Jerry’s head and gave a quiet pinch to the stunned Kate’s backside, then pulled Helen and Kate along.

Stepping out of the alley, they saw the exhibition building across the way. Louis was somewhat surprised by its design: only three stories tall, but each floor was impressively high. The building looked like three stacked rectangles of varying sizes.

On top sat a large circular dome resembling a round canopy.

It resembled an airport terminal with a dome, but much simpler in comparison.

At the entrance was a small square with yellow soil. Many people, carriages, and even horses filled the area. Vintage cars were plentiful here, along with many caravans. Nearby, performers entertained the crowd with magic tricks and circus acts, creating a lively atmosphere.

Inside the exhibition hall, Louis found that it was actually a single large hall—spacious and deep, with open vertical space. Several large trees grew inside as part of the decor.

On either side were small rooms built with simple steel frames, lining the entrance all the way to the back. The first floor held individual rooms, while the second floor featured a gallery corridor. Many items were exhibited in the small rooms and the central hall. Visitors on both floors snapped photos of various objects.

There was still over an hour before closing, and the crowd had thinned considerably, though the staff remained diligent.

After wandering around, Louis discovered that the exhibition had everything: clocks, sculptures, artworks, antiques. There were even ship models and steampunk-style ‘Gundam’ models—one towering three stories high, standing like a giant tree, the brightest attraction of the entire hall.

However, it seemed to be made of paper and wasn’t fully finished. Originally, the model was planned to be five or six stories tall, but the space was too small, making the proportions awkward. So it was reassembled smaller.

A large crowd gathered around. A few small gnome engineers proudly explained things there, but Louis couldn’t hear clearly from afar.

He blinked in amazement—this art piece was quite well done. People in this fantasy world truly loved their fantasies, putting a Gundam model on display as if such a thing actually existed.

The crowd was thick, so Louis and his group didn’t push inside. Ron and Jerry suggested going upstairs for a better view. Louis was too lazy to move, and the two ladies didn’t want to circle upstairs either. So the three stayed downstairs, observing the steampunk Gundam model.

The paper model was odd. It wasn’t sophisticated, but it had a paper-made crystal on its chest, giving a magical aura.

Yet it also sported various small smokestacks. Its back bore a chaotic mess of cannons resembling steel reinforcements in ruins.

Its arms were exaggerated—one hand was a Vulcan-style rotary machine gun, probably powerful enough to rival an anti-aircraft cannon.

The right arm was like a giant sawmill circular saw, with a small tag reading ‘Mithril’—meaning it was forged from mithril.

Judging by the model’s shape, this saw seemed capable of flying out and retracting again.

What struck Louis as even stranger was the thrusters at the Gundam’s rear, resembling rocket bottoms, making it look as if it could really fly.

Also, the Gundam’s body was wrapped in chains designed to anchor it to the ground. It seemed that before takeoff, these chains would be shot into the earth to prevent the machine from flying too high and breaking apart upon landing.

‘It’s truly hideous! If this thing were real and operable, that’d be terrifying.’

[If anyone pilots it, they better be careful...]

Shaking his head, Louis felt speechless.

Not to mention this is clearly a fantasy creation, but if it were actually invented, it’d probably be a trap.

But honestly, a giant five or six stories tall... if such a thing existed and a skilled, fearless wizard sat inside, maybe it could really work. Then why bother with chains? Just fire the rocket boosters, and the mech with its giant saw might fly, dodging all anti-aircraft fire with sharp turns, destroying ground facilities.

Or in aerial combat, it could slice gliders or even fire dragons in half.

Judging from the model’s structure, its armor was terrifyingly tough—ordinary cannon fire couldn’t penetrate it.

So if it really moved, it’d be fiercer than any ‘Dragon Slayer Gundam.’

Its only weakness was probably magic.

However, if all parts were enchanted during forging, its magical resistance could surpass that of sea serpent robes. Spells below level 4 would be ineffective. It might even withstand dragon breath and cut through dragons.

But the key was, this seemed like an immature technology.

It might break apart mid-flight even if no one attacked it.

After watching for a while, the two ladies lost interest, so Louis decided to leave. Looking up at Jerry’s group upstairs, he saw their eyes shining with excitement.

Some small gnome agents whispered excitedly, glancing between the Gundam and Louis with curiosity and anticipation.

The crowd was too dense, and Louis didn’t bother reading their minds: ‘What’s so curious? These little gnomes really like weird and wonderful things. The gnomes in the academy also enjoy alchemizing strange mechanical golems.’

...

Just got notified that the book will be released tomorrow at noon. A bit of chatter from the author.

It’s been two months since publication, and finally, the ‘exam’ day has come. Launching is the test for the book—whether anyone reads it, how far it can go, whether it will be recommended or drowned in the sea of books. Much depends on first subscriptions.

So first subscriptions are very important; they determine whether editors consider the book trash.

Please don’t rush to read pirated versions right after the update tomorrow! That would disappoint the author.

Every writer hopes their book will be seen by more people and gain more homepage exposure.

If you can’t afford the official version, subscribing to the latest chapter tomorrow when the update drops is a way to show support.

Enough said. Time to write. Hoping to update more after the release.