“Haha. I wish I had met you a little sooner.”
The reason Ras had remained alone at the merchant group to face death was that he couldn’t bring himself to abandon the many devices he had created.
But now, after hearing what Dien had to say, his strange attachment to his old inventions had vanished. While the inventions Dien described were incredible, Ras’s heart hammered against his ribs at the mere thought of being the one to build them.
In his mind, Ras had already arrived in the new world Dien spoke of. It was a world as empty as a blank canvas, but Ras found himself wanting to fill it with the devices he would create.
“However, there is something you must do if you move to our kingdom, Master Ras.”
“A condition? What is it?”
“Please share your technology and knowledge.”
“Share my technology? With whom!”
Ras’s eyebrows shot up. He found the request offensive at first glance.
The technology of the Rasmos Merchant Group was both a patent and his personal asset. Dien’s request was essentially asking him to give away his wealth for free.
“You must pass your knowledge on to the students of our kingdom’s academy. Knowledge is meant to develop further as it is shared. You should teach everyone so that another genius engineer can follow in your footsteps.”
“The academy students…”
“Yes. There were orders from the Chancellor to invite you as a professor for our engineering academy.”
“An academy professor…”
Ras bit his lip at Dien’s words. Becoming an academy professor had been his dream long ago. It was a dream he thought had drifted too far away, yet Dien had placed it right in front of him.
He had always wanted to live as a professor — if he accepted Dien’s offer, he could be both an academy professor and a developer who would leave his mark on history.
Moreover, Dien was right. For the sake of a better world, knowledge had to be shared and advanced.
Unaware of the inner turmoil, Dien simply waited anxiously for his answer.
Ras clutched his trembling heart for a long time.
At that moment, a commotion erupted outside the building.
“What’s happening?”
Dien and Ras rushed to the window.
Before their eyes, a swarm of armed intruders appeared, swords in hand.
***
“Master Dien, I’m afraid this is as far as I go.”
Ras let out a deep sigh.
To think the Crown Prince would draw his blade against him today of all days. Judging by the number of intruders entering the building, escaping seemed impossible.
“I’m glad I met you before I died. It’s been a long time since my heart raced like this. If there is a next life, I’d like to be born in the world you described. Ah! And I have one last thing to tell you.”
“Yes?”
Dien gave a short reply, his attention entirely focused on the intruders rushing toward the building.
“Our merchant group has another core technician besides myself.”
“Who is it?”
“Coincidentally, that technician is in the Bentham Village you mentioned. He is my twin brother, the physicist and mana circuit expert of our group. My brother was a pioneer of imperial mechanics, though circumstances have turned him into a simple country farmer for now.”
“Could his name perhaps be… Mos?”
“How did you know my brother’s name?”
The leader of the Rasmos Merchant Group was named Ras. It stood to reason that his brother’s name was Mos, completing the name “Rasmos.”
It was a simple deduction, but Ras looked at Dien in surprise.
“So you were twins.”
“That’s right.”
Ras stared blankly at Dien for a moment before letting out a mischievous smile.
“Take Mos to the Kingdom of Delos. Show my brother the world you told me about. If you do, I’m sure the rascal will follow you just as I planned to.”
“You should come with us, Master Ras.”
“My friend… look at those intruders. I don’t have much time left to live.”
The sounds of the intruders could already be heard outside the office door. Then, a moment of silence followed. They had reached the entrance.
*Shiver…*
As the noise died down, Dien drew his sword.
“You are someone who has more to achieve in the future than what you’ve already accomplished. We will bring Master Mos along, so please, come with us. I will clear a path for our retreat.”
“Master Dien, how do you plan to handle that many people!”
Dien closed his eyes and heightened his senses to their absolute limit.
Fortunately, none of them seemed to have deep martial expertise. Furthermore, the lack of coordination among the intruders gave off an air of something hastily put together.
‘They have the numbers, but no substance.’
It was a disharmony one would expect from common street thugs. Dien boldly pointed his sword toward the office door.
“Could it be! Do you possess incredible swordsmanship?”
Ras’s voice was filled with hope. Unfortunately, Dien’s answer was devastating.
“It hasn’t even been one year since I first picked up a sword.”
“Good heavens.”
In despair, Ras sank to the floor.
“Master Ras, the intruders are right outside the door. Hide under the desk for a moment. And… please put out all the lamps in the office. Close the blinds as well.”
“Why the lights — “
“Hurry!”
Though confused, Ras began extinguishing the lamps exactly as Dien ordered.
“No matter how skilled a swordsman is, if they are blind, I can handle 100 of them.”
Dien decided to trust his own abilities.
***
Soon, the intruders quietly pushed the door open. Despite the pitch-black darkness inside the office, they rushed in out of desperation, and Dien was able to track their movements through the sounds of a guitar.
“Damn it! Where is he?”
“Argh!”
The intruders flooded into the dark, spacious office. However, unable to see even an inch in front of them, they could do nothing but stand there awkwardly.
“Aaaaagh!”
The screams continued. Only Dien, guided by the guitar sounds, was able to strike down the intruders.
“Damn it! Where are you?”
Terrified, the intruders began swinging their swords wildly without even confirming if they were hitting friend or foe. They were in a hurry because they needed to take Ras’s head before anyone else did.
“Gah! Who’s there!”
“It’s me!”
“Damn it! Someone bring a light!”
Soon, they began hacking away at one another. Dien concentrated all his senses, darting between them and dodging their strikes.
As the scene turned into utter carnage, Dien approached Ras’s hiding spot and whispered quietly.
“Let’s go now, Master Ras.”
The intruders were still pouring in. Now was the perfect chance to escape the building while they were busy swinging swords at each other.
“Is it safe now?”
“Their numbers have dwindled significantly, but it’s too early to let our guard down. Just hold onto my sleeve and follow me.”
Ras grabbed Dien’s sleeve. Dien began to lead him quickly and quietly through the chaos.
“There’s Ras! Ras is on the lower floor!”
Dien shouted into the darkness, masking his voice to sound deeper. In the confusion, no one could tell whose voice it was.
“Damn it! When did he get out!”
“Move to the lower floors! Our group must be the ones to take Ras’s head!”
“Move, fast!”
Dien’s ruse worked. The intruders began racing toward the lower floors, and taking advantage of the gap, Dien and Ras ran in the opposite direction.
“Master Ras! Is there an evacuation facility in the building?”
“An evacuation facility?”
The intruders were swarming the lower floors. Using the main staircase to go down would be suicidal.
“The kind of equipment made for escaping during a fire. A building this large must have at least one evacuation system!”
According to building codes, structures with a large total floor area and high stories were required to have appropriate facilities. Dien wasn’t sure if the Imperial building codes had such provisions, but he figured the greatest construction merchant group would have at least one escape route.
“There is one.”
“Where!”
“On the rooftop!”
“As expected of Rasmos.”
Dien clenched his fists as his hunch proved correct.
“We’ll use the exterior stairs to reach the roof.”
“Understood, follow me.”
At Dien’s word, Ras took the lead and began to run.
***
“Huff… huff… wait! Come this way.”
They weren’t safe just because they had left the building. The merchant group’s thugs were still scattered throughout the streets of the capital, leaving no room for carelessness.
Yet, despite the heavy surveillance, Dien was perfectly evading their pursuit. Ras couldn’t help but marvel at the way Dien dodged the intruders with such keen intuition.
“Wait a moment, Master Ras. A group is approaching from the opposite side. Let’s wait before moving out.”
Dien quickly covered Ras’s mouth and hid in a blind spot. Just as he said, a group of thugs came rushing from the other side.
“How did you know they were coming? Do you experience this kind of thing often?”
“Hahaha, no. I’m just an ordinary administrative official.”
“An administrative official who is this skilled in evasion? You are a man of many mysteries.”
“Hahaha, I have a special ability that’s hard to explain. That’s enough for now. Let’s move.”
Thanks to Dien’s superior judgment, they finally managed to escape the heart of the capital.
***
Ras was completely out of breath. He sank to the ground as if he couldn’t move another step.
“I think we’re safe now.”
The sound of swordsmen no longer reached Dien’s ears. Relieved, Dien sat down on the ground next to Ras.
“Heh, hehehe.”
“Hahaha.”
Dien and Ras locked eyes and burst into laughter. It was a laugh born of sheer relief.
“The leader of the Rasmos Merchant Group has ended up in quite a pathetic state, haha.”
Unlike Dien, Ras’s laughter didn’t stop for a long while. It was the sense of liberation he felt even in such a dire situation.
Everything he had built had crumbled today, yet he felt strangely light. It was as if the shackles on his feet had been removed. He felt a profound sense of relief just to be alive.
“It’s still too early to relax.”
Despite Dien’s warning, Ras couldn’t stop laughing.
“I can find my own way out of the capital now.”
Ras finally stopped laughing and looked at Dien.
“Will you be alright?”
“Do you think I, Ras, remained in the capital because I couldn’t escape the Crown Prince’s surveillance? I have my ways of getting out!”
“I suppose so. You are the man who built Rasmos into the greatest merchant group in the empire. You wouldn’t be defeated by a simple city wall.”
“Hmph, you certainly have a way with words.”
Ras stood up, brushing the dirt from his clothes.
“You remember the meeting place?”
“Hahaha, yes. I’ll make sure to bring my brother, Mos. I plan to tell him everything you told me. His heart will probably race just like mine did.”
“Understood. From that point on, the kingdom’s knights will escort you and Master Mos.”
“Then I suppose we shall meet again in the royal capital.”
“I expect so. When we do… let’s finish the conversation we started.”
“Hahaha, yes! You must finish the story then! Oh, right! Since I’m a wanted man, I won’t see you off.”
Ras turned his back to Dien and began to walk away.
“I won’t see you off either. I’m in the same position, after all.”
“Hahaha, you truly are an interesting fellow.”
Ras raised a hand toward Dien before disappearing into the darkness.
“That went well.”
Dien felt he had made the right choice in telling Ras about Earth’s technology. Without that conversation, it would have been difficult to change his mind.
“Now I should head back.”
The faint light of dawn was beginning to break. Soon, the sun would rise.
Dien pulled off the mask he was wearing and tossed it aside, then began walking toward the inn with a light heart.