Author’s note:

I bought a new high-end computer <3

Chapter 52- Mechanna

***July 5th, 965 A.F.***

***Caedona Outskirts***

***Ajax McGuire***

“Calm down Ajax. Analyze the situation calmly and logically You don’t need to get all emotional just because she is your ex-girlfriend.”

There is a chance that she just looks similar to Valery. She said her name was Fin, not Valery. So she can’t be her right? No. There’s a chance. Fin could be just a player’s name in the game. I remember when I was a goblin, the system prompted something like a paid name change service. She could have easily changed her name from back then.

Should I ask her about it? I can’t ask her outright “Are you Valery?” I can’t let her know that I am an NPC with the memory of the past world. Maybe if I can ask some probing questions, I can figure out if she is indeed Valery without giving away the fact that I am Driskoll. For example, I can lead her to talk about her love life and ask about her previous boyfriends. If the story sounds anything similar to what happened between Valery and me, that might be an indication that she is indeed Valery.

On second thought, what’s the point of knowing the truth? Would I try to get revenge on her for leaving me? Do I try to get back together with her? There were no merits to both of these options. What if after I took revenge on her and it turns out she wasn’t Valery? It would be a terrible weight on my conscience. Even if she was Valery, as much as I would want to pay her back for breaking my heart, I can’t blame her for it. She is a player. In her view, everything she did was a part of a game. To her, I am just a bunch of computer codes.

Getting back together with her was an even worse option. There is no point getting together back with her. She will break my heart all over again since she is a player. Not to mention, even if we did get back together, I would live my life at the edge. I need to watch every word and action in front of her since I cannot let her know I am a self-aware NPC. It would be hell, living every day as though if the scythe of death always hovering over my neck.

No, the best option is to do nothing. Ignorance is bliss. Once this journey is over, I will go back Belhern as if nothing happened. I will continue living my life as it is. Why am I thinking such things as getting back together with Valery when I have my sweet Cecilia already? Bad Ajax!

Having made up my mind on what to do, I turn to the next thing that needs my immediate attention. It was the magic tome that Wyn gave me in exchange for my body, I mean the permission to hug me. I took it out and started flipping through the pages, absorbing everything as fast as possible. My chuunibyou side cannot wait to start slinging spells.

***Caedona Outskirts***

***Fin’Vaiel***

“It’s not fair.”

We were on the road towards the Dwarven Capital. Aewyn and I were riding in the front coach while the kid that we were supposed to escort was riding in the back of the wagon. The sun was beating down on my face, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I have been working in front of the computer for far too long, and I needed a bit of the “outside world” to relax. Aewyn was in charge of driving the wagon of course since she knows the way and I can’t drive anything if my life depends on it.

“What’s not fair?”

“Did you see how he stuttered all of his words after he saw you?”

“Yes, and what does that have to do with anything?”

“The Ajax I know never stuttered. I know that expression. I have seen it before. It was the same expression that my husband gave me when he first saw me. I am pretty sure he fell in love with you at first sight.”

“Ha. Ha. That’s hilarious.”

I gave Aewyn my most sarcastic laugh I can muster.

“It’s not fair, I found him first. Why does he treat you like an angel and treat me like a monster? I am not ugly, am I?”

“You will lose your license to adopt if anyone from the adoption agency sees you fawning over a kid like this. Wouldn’t your husband be jealous?”

“It’s nothing sexual anyway. I am not a Pedobear.”

“Whatever that means.”

“I am not handing him over to you!”

“You can have him as a pet all by yourself.”

“Shh! What if he heard us calling him a pet?”

“We are far enough away from him. He wouldn’t hear anything over the loud squeaking wheels. Anyway, how far away are we from your so called ‘surprise.'”

“We should be near it. I had to place it somewhere far away from the city so that others wouldn’t stumble onto it. Just keep an eye out in the sky for it. You will know it when you see it.”

“In the sky?”

“In the sky.”

I squinted at the heavens. I saw nothing except the setting sun and the orange tinted clouds. I have no idea what I am looking out for. I hate surprises from Aewyn sometimes.

***July 5th, 965 A.F.***

***Caedona Outskirts***

***Ajax McGuire***

“It’s not fair.”

I had a glint of tears in my eyes after I finished reading and did all the tests prescribed in the tome. Even though my stats is amazing, I am designated as a “non-combatant” NPC. Therefore, I had no affinity to any elements. I couldn’t cast any spell that had an element attached to it. If I had an affinity to an element, with my stats, I could have cast any spell chantlessly. I could have shot out fireball like a machine gun.

There were some spells that I could cast, though. They were similar to the “cantrip” spells from Dungeons and Dragons. They were spells that were minor with no attributes that did nothing except make life a little bit easier. I took out my canteen and pour some water into my cupped hand to try one of the spells out. Using the method taught in the book, I recited the spell with the image in my mind.

“Dry.”

The water in my hand evaporated into nothing, just like my chuunibyou hopes and dreams. I let out a long sigh of disappointment as I look at the orange sky. In my despair, something moving in the sky caught my attention.

“What the hell is that? It’s a bird? It’s a plane?”

I noticed a small dot in the sky. The dot became gradually larger and larger. Before I could make out what the dot was, I jerked forward as the wagon suddenly stopped. After that, the surrounding became so bright that I had to close my eyes.

I started to shiver from the sudden change in temperature. I could hear the oxen that was pulling the wagon bellow in distress at the sudden change. It was as if winter had suddenly come. When I was finally able to open my eyes, I was completely stunned. We were no longer on the road to the dwarven capital. When I look out the wagon, I saw no trees nor roads. In their place, was the orange cloudy sky.

I crawled out of the wagon and found myself on the cliff made out of an giant metallic clockwork gear. In front of me was an enormous mountain made of the gears similar to the one that we were standing on, held together by bits and patches of rock. Some of the gears as large as a skyscraper, producing an eerie grinding noise while turning. I carefully walked to the edge of the gear that we were on. When I looked down, I saw that the wagon was thousands of miles above the field below. I ran back to the wagon immediately towards my two escorts.

“Wyn! Fin! What happened? Where are we? How did we get here?”

She beamed a proud smile as she answers me.

“Welcome to Mechanna.”