The passage of time passed almost unnoticeably by more than ten days.

Planning and preparing had come with it a huge cost — time — but I was more than willing to wait. Time was indeed relative… Since the agreed time with a certain someone was around the corner, I was checking on her now. That “someone” was obviously Cornelia, the always happy-go-lucky girl; she agreed to help at the drop of a hat.

Walking down the busy street to a large familiar workshop, I opened the door with a light push. Surrounded by a thin envelope of hot gas, I could see a person smelting ore near the blast furnace that was more than thrice as tall as a grown man while in a— What?!

“Ohh! You’re here already?!” Cornelia glanced toward me, swiping the glistening sweat falling from her wet, disheveled hair off her head while showing a toothy grin, looking somewhat like a lunatic at first glimpse.

Right now, she was only wearing a long, thin light brown camisole-like garment that barely covered her top and bottom and likely a set of thin underwear underneath — maybe it was hot here, so she took off her outer clothes or something. Problem was, not only was she sweating profusely, making her clothes tightly drenched from sweat, but she also had such a distinct and enticing figure that even made me unsure where to look and could only avert my eyes in embarrassment while still peeking occasionally.

“Thank you.” I expressed my gratitude in a low voice only audible to me. Ugh… maybe I should just wait outside until she’s done.

“What’s wrong? You got stomachache?” She was still oblivious even when I was wincing in embarrassment.

I guess her working here alone must have caused the bad habit… I grimaced in thought. Maybe I ought to tell her… but how?

“Ah, um, how do I say this?” Scratching the back of my head, I blurted out the content of my mind: “You sure are sexy today.”

“Sexy? What do you me—?” Realization finally struck her mind the moment she glanced down, and she screamed, “Eeek! You pervert! Stop staring!” Her palm came flying toward my cheek at an incredible speed, propelling me to the storage racks near the wall. Her movement was so fast that I couldn’t easily dodge at such a close distance.

“Argh!!” Pain colored my back as it hit against the hard surface of the racks, and as if that wasn’t bad enough, the racks, as well as their contents, rained down on me. “Ouch! Ow! OW! Fuck!” All I could do in the rain of metal parts was to protect my head.

“I worked so hard for you, yet you actually…” Blushing in fury, she squatted down and wrapped her body along with her knees with her arms, but I no longer paid her any mind, or more like I couldn’t.

“…Help…” Buried deeply under the rubble of metal parts and racks, except thrusting my left hand out, I couldn’t move an inch. Thankfully, the Lavish Set hardened and protected me from any serious injuries, but most importantly, it was fucking hurt!

“Oh, no! Vincent! Are you okay?” she rushed at me and asked.

“Am I okay?! Does this look okay to you?!” Geez… That monstrous strength of hers… She should have watched how much of it she exerts… If I didn’t move a little down, I don’t know how much my teeth would fall out…

The whole reason my cheek didn’t hurt too much was that I jumped to the side instead of being propelled by the slap. Honestly, counting this, I had danced with death twice thanks to her. Just how did she possess such unimaginable physical prowess?

“Sorry…” she apologized and quickly began clearing the pile of stuff on top of me.

Once I extricated myself out of the rubble with her help, I cleaned the dust and the sticking metal parts off my coat. No broken bones, no noticeable injuries… At least, I was all fine, mostly.

“Phew. I… uh.” Now almost sticking to me, it was even harder not to look at her almost bare figure; I raised my head quickly, then took off my coat and draped it on her. “First, go wear your clothes, you exhibitionist.”

“Hey, I’m no exhibitionist! Alright, a moment, I want to dust myself off.” She fled deeper into the workshop, my oversized coat covering her body.

In the meantime, I sat while inspecting her workshop. Many new unfamiliar objects were put in many wooden crates I had requested her to make, but there was this peculiar thing placed not far from me too…

“Wait… isn’t that… a camera?” I hadn’t realized it at first because it had two lenses stacked on top of each other, but it was definitely a camera.

But how? Since early types of steam engines had been made, it wasn’t too far-fetched that lenses also existed in this world.

“Such an interesting design it has.”

“Right? It’s my pride and joy.” Cornelia suddenly stood by me at some point, back in her usual jumper-like outfit and her trademark goggles.

“No lie, it's a lot like a twin-lens camera. You did a great job.”

“Right? Right?!” She smiled heartily as if forgetting the whole incident that happened just now. “You see, to make this prototype, I have to ask a friend of mine that is versed in magic to help. So in a sense, it’s a magic tool. To make it without relying on magic will take me much more time.”

Still, what a genius… Even if her Vocation helped her in achieving this, she was by no means “normal.” I definitely could use her to make more things… Yeah, I must have her work for me at all costs! But then, the scene of the recent incident flashed through my mind, creasing my eyebrows… What if she hates me now?

Putting the thought out of the way, I inquired, “So, where’s the ‘thing’?”

“Oh, of course.” She darted toward a certain section of the workshop before returning with a box in hand. “Listen, firearms are strictly forbidden outside the military — no matter whether they are magic guns or not.”

Unmistakably, I had asked her to make me a gun, but not any kind of flintlock or steam gun; I had no use for such a bulky and impractical weapon. Besides, guns were used to kill humans, not monsters, and as a result, no adventurers used guns.

Inside the box was a strangely shaped white metallic gun. By strange, it was more like a toy gun that replicated a pistol’s modern counterparts — it was made without thinking too much of the design and based on the knowledge I had with me at the time, after all. Although, the principle behind the working of the gun was based on Wikipedia.

She took the gun from the box, cocked it back, aimed at an armor stand a distance away, and pulled the trigger. With a faint popping sound, the gun fired a metallic spherical projectile and hit the armor stand before ricocheting into the collection of stuff placed nearby.

“Its unique design aside, I don’t see why you would want a gun that has such close range and can barely scratch a wooden plank.” She tilted her head, gently placing the gun back into the box.

Well, it was natural that the gun was lacking in power as it used neither gunpowder, black powder, nor gas. Instead, it was a spring gun that I could easily buy cheaply in almost any supermarket back in my world, but there were complicated mechanical parts like the spring-loaded piston pump inside that made it difficult to manufacture as explained by her. This inspiration had similarly been previously used by the gunner golems back in the dungeon but many times more complex.

“This is just perfect; I can’t ask for more.” I held the box with the enthusiasm of a little boy that just gotten a birthday present. Just thinking about what I could do once it was filled with special bullets made me giddy with joy and my hands itched.

She said, “You bet. But just so you know, I’m no alchemist, so…”

“Whoa there, Cornie.” I motioned her to stop speaking. “Quit mining, you already struck gold. I don’t even know how to repay all your help.”

As if waiting for me to say that one sentence, Cornelia followed up with a request and said, “Welp, there’s one thing you can help me with.”

“Just say it, I’ll do my utmost.” I didn’t think she would ask for money since she didn’t seem to lack them.

“You know, ever since meeting you, I have a hunch that you’re no one ordinary dude.” She spared a glance to the camera, then to the things I asked her to make before finally settling at the gun. “My mechanical instincts tell me that you have more interesting stuff in store, so I want you to show me more. I’m curious, and I wanna invent more new things!”

“That is…” I was dumbstruck; I seemed to have underestimated her curiosity.

Actually, apart from when I came to ask for a favor, I had come here several more times prior to that because she’d come pestering me with a myriad of camera questions otherwise. Consequently, she would naturally learn that I possess knowledge out of this world.

“I won’t hold you responsible for the matter just now!” she added, her cheeks crimson red.

What? I’m responsible for that? While frowning over this girl’s unreasonable behavior, I ruminated on the pros and cons. Hm. I can use this chance to rope her in, I suppose. After taking all into account, she was bound to have more and more suspicion as time went on.

“Okay, but on one condition… can you promise me not to disclose anything that I’ll share with you in the future?”

“Naturally! Nothing’s gonna slip from my mouth.”

“Even if the things you make might be used to kill people?” I pushed her a step further. This was necessary since I knew that she was a kind girl, so if she couldn’t accept at least this much, then the deal was off, and I would find another way to compensate her.

She was silent, opening and closing her mouth like she wasn’t expecting such a question, fluctuating like a half-broken lamp. But soon enough, resoluteness began coloring her eyes and everything.

“You see, the weapons I made in the past are also used to kill things. Granted, it’s not against people, but no one can say for sure that it won’t happen in the future. So long as it’s not used to kill innocent people, then I have no qualms against it whatsoever.”

“I see. I understand your determination.” I gave recognition to her with a small nod. “Then it’s settled, and you don’t have to worry about the worst — it won’t happen.”

“Mm-hmm!” She perked up and returned to being her outgoing self. “I know that you won’t turn into evil.” Er, I’m a Dungeon Master, you know… I can’t say it’s an honest and righteous job.

“By the way, Cornie, when will you return my coat…?”

“Oh, I’ll call dibs on that till you fulfill your end of the deal,” she said with a nonchalant expression.

“…” I didn’t think having my coat as collateral was in accordance with common practice.

***

Moving all the stuff from Cornelia’s workshop to the outskirts of the forest required us to go back and forth several times. Maybe it would be a good idea to rent a cart just for convenience’s sake, but the Great Elion Forest being the destination made it sound infeasible. Luckily, the gatekeepers didn’t ask about the content of the crates because they thought that it was just another of Cornelia’s experiment projects.

“You sure leaving it here’s enough?” Cornelia looked around before settling at me with a doubtful look. “Where will you be bringing all this stuff to, anyway?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that for now.” Nor that I will tell you ever…

“C’mon, spill your secret!” She started poking my cheeks relentlessly.

“I refuse!” The less who knew, the better. And it would be a pain in the ass to explain. Yeah.

“What’s there to hide?” She grabbed my shoulders and shook me violently.

“Stop it! Stoooop! You’ll kill me!” My body was throbbing in pain from her violent actions.

“Fine. You can keep your little secret for now.” The grip on my shoulders was finally released, leaving me to freedom. “Oh yeah, I’ve yet to congratulate you over your advancement to Iron rank. We should go grab some food together in the city sometime.”

Is she asking me for a date? I thought but soon refuted it. Nah, with how her brain works, that would hardly be the case.

“Sure. When there’s a chance.”

“Mhm.” She offered me a small nod before bidding her farewell with a wave. “Bye then. I’m gonna go back since my pops is returning soon. Wish you the best of luck.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

As if her disappearing figure was a signal to summon her, Blizzard’s figure slowly surfaced from the foliage toward me.

I quickly tied all the crates on her back with the rope I’d prepared beforehand. And since Blizzard would be bringing all of this up, there was nowhere left for me to sit on her.

“Here goes another tedious journey back to the dungeon…” I sighed, dragging my body into the treacherous forest. It just so happened that I had bought a new beast repellant, so the way there should be safe.