Chapter 75: Recognition (4)

Two weeks later…

Bang-bang!

“Grandpa! Grandpa!”

A booming voice accompanied by loud banging on Dexter’s workshop door shook its frame.

As if responding to Louis’s call, Dexter flung open the door reflexively and yelled, “Oh, what now?!”

Standing there with sparkling eyes was Louis, who grinned widely at him.

“What do you mean ‘what’? I’m here to show you something!”

“Show me? Show me what?”

“…Are you losing your marbles?” Louis’s enthusiasm cooled as Dexter kept repeating his question. He sounded visibly annoyed. “Did you forget that *you’re_ the one who assigned me homework?”

“Homework…?” The word struck Dexter, causing his eyes to widen slightly.

He hesitantly asked, “Could it be…you’ve finished it?”

“Of course!”

Louis nodded and gestured with his hand. “Please follow me. I’ll show you what I’ve created.” With that, he skipped away.

Left alone, Dexter stared blankly at Louis’s retreating figure.

“He really…made something?” Doubt mingled with anticipation on Dexter’s face.

Despite acknowledging Louis’s genius, it was hard for him to believe that a ten-year-old kid could create an artifact entirely by himself without any assistance.

Dexter pondered this dilemma for some time.

“Well? Hurry up!” Louis’s shout snapped Dexter out of his thoughts, prompting him to quickly put on his coat.

“I guess…I should at least check it out first.”

This child never ceased to amaze Dexter, so he wondered what Louis had managed to create this time. As he followed behind, excitement overtook skepticism on Dexter’s face. Together, they briskly made their way through the tower grounds.

They arrived at an open field behind the tower, where dangerous experiments were occasionally conducted. All members of the Wish Tower had gathered there, and in the center stood a massive object covered with a white cloth.

Dexter’s eyes widened as he took it in.

Is that it?

Considering how hard Louis had been hammering away, Dexter wasn’t surprised by its enormous size. As he curiously eyed the concealed artifact, the twins spotted Louis nearby and dashed toward him.

“Louis, Louis!”

“What’s that thing?”

Louis calmed down the excited twins before addressing the rest of the group.

“Ahem! Thank you all for coming.”

“Wh-what brings us here?”

“Ahem! We will now demonstrate the Dragonfly hovercraft!”

“The Dragon Flyer hovercraft…”

Everyone looked puzzled at Louis’s words, causing him to grin widely. He approached an object covered with a cloth in the middle of the open space and dramatically removed it, revealing…

”…?”

“What is that thing?” Dexter and the rest of the Wish Tower members were baffled.

“Hmm… Is it a boat?”

“A horse-drawn carriage?”

“But there are no wheels.”

Despite having seen numerous artifacts during their research, they couldn’t identify Louis’s creation. After pondering for a moment, Dexter asked:

“What exactly is this contraption?”

“Hehe, introducing the Louis-designed Dragon Flyer hovercraft!”

“Hovercraft?”

It was an unfamiliar term to Dexter as well. Without hesitation, Louis began his explanation.

“Think of it as a horseless carriage.”

“Huh? It does resemble a boat though, doesn’t it? And there are no wheels.”

“It’s amphibious, designed for both land and water travel.”

“What?! You mean it can move on water too?”

“That’s correct.”

“How?” Dexter’s eyes sparkled with curiosity.

Louis approached the hovercraft he had created. “Rather than explaining everything, let me demonstrate first.”

With that, Louis climbed onto the hovercraft and retrieved something from his pocket. Dexter’s eyes widened at the sight.

Is that…an attribute stone?

Based on the energy emanating from it, Louis guessed it was a mind-type attribute stone.

Louis inserted it onto the control panel of the hovercraft and announced, “Okay, everyone, please step back!”

With those words, he started up the engine.

Rrrrumble.

The amphibious air-cushioned vehicle lifted its massive frame off the ground.

“Ohhh…” Everyone marveled at the sight.

Incredible! How did he even think to do this?!

Dexter, who lacked knowledge of modern technology, was utterly astounded by the floating hovercraft. On the other hand, Louis himself was quite pleased with his creation.

Yes! This is exactly what I needed!

Initially unsure what to create, Louis decided it would be best to make something practical and essential for his needs. The first thing that came to mind was how tiring travel could be on horses due to their tight schedules.

I need transportation that doesn’t tire out…something sustainable for long journeys.

His initial thought was an automobile, but he quickly dismissed the idea.

No, no way. In a world where magic exists, settling for just a car is unacceptable.

With grand ambitions, Louis ultimately chose to craft a hovercraft, a modern marvel capable of traversing not only land but also lakes and seas with ease.

Although Louis understood its basic principles, he lacked the knowledge to construct it himself, but surprisingly, there was a simple solution.

Combining modern technology with holy magic… Isn’t this the privilege of someone from our era stranded in a fantasy world?

If high school students transported to another realm could do it, why couldn’t Louis?

From that moment on, he began utilizing all his modern knowledge.

I never thought dismantling those mini-car motors as a kid would come in handy like this!

By combining his childhood experience with mini-car motors, electricity, and brain attribute power, Louis created his own hovercraft. Considering it took him only about twenty days, the result was quite impressive.

Alright then… Time for a test run.

With some simple controls, the Dragon Flyer started moving.

“Ohh!”

“Oh wow!”

Despite lacking wheels, the dragon-shaped hovercraft moved smoothly enough to impress everyone watching it. Dexter was particularly astounded.

How is this possible…?

Louis displayed exceptional genius with everything he touched, and Dexter couldn’t wrap his head around how Louis achieved such feats.

Vrrr, vrrr.

After completing its test run, Louis proudly presented the prototype back to Dexter.

“Well?”

“…It’s incredible.” Even Dexter, who had high standards for artifacts, could not deny the excellence of the Dragon Flyer. Though still incomplete, it was revolutionary nonetheless. The emergence of this groundbreaking invention excited Dexter.

“How does this work exactly? What magic spell did you use?!”

“Oh, that’s…” Louis kindly answered Dexter’s question.

Dexter became more engrossed as Louis effortlessly explained everything, and their conversation continued for quite some time.

“So it moves by consuming mental energy?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm… Then it must consume a lot of lightning attribute stones. Can you afford them?”

“Heh-heh-heh, don’t worry about that.”

Louis had an abundance of lightning attribute stones due to the countless lightning strikes he’d endured over the years. His pocket dimension held a vast collection of dormant lightning attribute stones. While he couldn’t be certain, it seemed likely that he could continuously operate the Dragon Flyer for well over a decade without running out.

With Louis’s whirlwind demonstration of the Dragon Flyer completed,

“May I take a closer look?”

“Of course!” Louis readily agreed to Dexter’s request.

Dexter circled around the hovercraft with great caution as other disciples from the Tower of Wishes gradually approached it.

“Ohhh…” Dexter marveled at what he saw. “I can’t believe this…”

The craftsmanship of the vehicle was far beyond anything one would expect from a ten-year-old who had only been learning for a month. As Dexter continued exclaiming his astonishment, he climbed aboard and inspected the interior until he reached the main engine room.

Louis’s expression shifted abruptly.

Oh no!

Louis quickly scrambled onto the hovercraft, rushing toward Dexter standing motionless at its heart.

“U-um… Grandpa?” Louis cautiously called out to him, but Dexter appeared entranced as he stared down at something.

The object of his fascination was the power core of the hovercraft. Just as gasoline fuels the engine of a car, this power core served as the driving force for the craft, amplifying psychic energy to propel it forward.

“This is…” Seeing Dexter in a daze, Louis felt slightly uneasy and started making excuses.

“Ha-ha, Grandpa, you see…”

”…”

“Well, umm, I got inspired by those blueprints…you were looking at earlier and referenced them slightly…”

Dexter finally turned to Louis with a stern expression. “The blueprints you’re referring to…are they the ones on my workshop desk?”

“Yes, th-those.”

”…”

“B-but not much, really! I just used it for reference, honest! So please don’t deny everything now!”

”…”

“H-how about acknowledging everything else except that one part?” Louis tried to steer the conversation himself, but Dexter’s face remained unyielding.

Dexter scrutinized Louis’s creation with a piercing gaze. The power core was about the size of his head and filled with complex magic spells intricately woven together along with countless mysterious devices attached to it. As Dexter dissected its inner workings and comprehended more of them, his face grew increasingly grim.

He said he used my plans as reference…but this is no mere reference!

It wasn’t anger that arose from seeing someone else build something based on his blueprints. Rather, it stemmed from astonishment.

How could anyone…?

His expression darkened due to sheer amazement.

How did referencing my plans result in this?!*

Louis had claimed he merely referenced Dexter’s designs, which made sense to some degree, since Dexter himself noticed similarities between certain parts of the two cores. However…

Some parts of Louis’s power core resembled the engine he had been researching himself.

However…

It’s only about five percent.

That was how much overlap there was between Dexter’s blueprints and Louis’s creation. If Dexter hadn’t spent the last ten years studying his own designs, he wouldn’t have even noticed that similarity. In other words, despite claiming to have referenced Dexter’s plans, Louis’s power core was fundamentally different from Dexter’s original design.

Even after working day and night hammering metal…he made this?

Dexter urgently asked, “The blueprint… Where is the blueprint for this power core?”

“…I didn’t use one.”

“What?”

“I just calculated everything in my head while making it.”

“C-calculated? You mean you did all these calculations in your head?”

“Yes, sir.”

Fear flickered across Dexter’s face as he stared at Louis. It was the fear one felt toward incomprehensible talent bordering on miraculous ability. How could Louis possess such aptitude to complete the power core using an entirely different method after Dexter himself had failed despite ten years of research?

Dexter continued scowling as he grabbed Louis by the wrist. “Come with me!”

“What? M-Grandpa?”

Taken aback, Louis allowed Dexter to drag him away. He could have resisted, but feeling guilty for his transgressions, he quietly followed along.

“W-what do you think is going on?”

“I’m not sure…”

“The towerlord looked quite serious, didn’t he?”

“We should probably follow them, shouldn’t we?”

“Us? After whom? The tower lord or the dragon?”

“…Good point.”

The crew from the Tower of Wishes watched dumbfounded as Dexter hauled off Louis.