I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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“Clarice? What’s wrong?”

In the shared lodging of the Elves.

Charlotte approached Clarice with a worried expression.

With her back against the wall, Clarice had buried her face in her knees but lifted her head at the sound of Charlotte calling her name.

Clarice’s eyes were red and swollen.

“Did you, did you cry? What happened?”

Clarice’s face clearly showed she had cried enough for her eyes to swell up.

As Charlotte looked closely at her face, she asked what was going on.

Clarice answered in a choked voice.

“I finally… finally met my mom… but she didn’t recognize me… Mom… Mom…”

With a face full of sorrow, Clarice recounted the circumstances that had led to this moment.

Charlotte, who had grown close to Clarice recently over their shared interest in the ‘forest’, listened quietly to her story.

And the story continued for about 30 minutes, encompassing the tale of her life.

She spoke of living in the Elven Kingdom until she was 6 years old, suddenly returning to the Empire with her father when she turned 7, and being separated from her mother.

Afterward, Clarice longed for the forest and her mother, but her father resolutely refused to send her back.

Apparently, her mother had fallen for another man and tried to abandon her human father, and she had been pressured to quickly forget such a woman.

“Still, I wanted to know the reason… at least the reason. It was hard to believe my father’s words completely.”

But in Clarice’s memories, her mother was not a person capable of such things.

Moreover, she knew her father wasn’t good at lying, so she sensed instinctively that he was lying.

As a result, after her father passed away in an accident, Clarice sought a way back into the Elven Kingdom.

And now, having entered the Eldar Kingdom as she desired and met her mother, but…

“Did she not recognize you at all?”

“…No. She seems to have some issues with her mind…”

Not only did she fail to recognize Clarice, but there were also signs of a mental issue.

She seemed to be staring vacantly into space all day as if devoid of a soul.

“…What happened to her? Since when?”

Charlotte asked when her mother’s symptoms began.

Clarice replied with a tearful expression.

“Right after I left… It seems she developed a mental illness from that time.”

“…”

Charlotte sat close to Clarice and held her hand.

Clarice trembled as she spoke.

“I resent Dad… I was happy here… I always missed the forest…”

Clarice said, insisting that her mother had not cheated.

When she asked her uncle, the Elf King, to confirm her father’s words, he said her father had severe paranoia, and her mother had never once cheated.

“Once this is over… I won’t go back. From now on, I will stay by my mother’s side… until she gets better…”

As Clarice said this, she wiped her tears.

Charlotte held onto Clarice’s hand, reassuring her that everything would turn out well as long as she was there and not to worry.

***

At the same time.

The Elf King Gideon was taking a night walk with his niece Ellarien.

Ellarien was the daughter of Gideon’s younger brother, the divine archer Altarion, and had followed her uncle, the king, closely since she was young.

Their relationship was close enough for them to take walks together at night like this.

“…Do not worry, my lady. If we resolve this matter well, we will be able to return to how things were.”

However, Gideon addressed his niece Ellarien in a strange manner.

He referred to her as ‘my lady’ and used honorifics.

And Ellarien’s reaction was also unusual.

“Hehe… I trust you completely. But on the other hand, it’s a bit disappointing… This body is the one you like after all.”

As she said this, Ellarien pressed her chest against Gideon’s arm.

With a sly smile, Gideon replied to Ellarien.

“Someone might see us.”

“Hehe… It’s quite late at night~? And we’re pretty far from the palace~?”

Saying this, Ellarien gave a mischievous smile.

She placed her palm against Gideon’s chest and slid her hand inside his sleeve.

As he let out a small groan, she rubbed her palm against his skin while saying.

“Anyway, my days living like this are numbered. ‘That girl’ has returned.”

“…Indeed.”

“Hehe. So, both you and I… this could be the last time for this body.”

Saying this, Ellarien hugged Gideon tightly.

Looking up at him with sultry eyes, she said.

“Hold me.”

“…”

The two gazed at each other with deep eyes.

Eventually, Gideon covered Ellarien’s lips with his own.

The two, an uncle and niece, began fervently mingling their tongues and breathing heavily.

“Hah… Hah… Hah…”

However, among the Elves, there were no customs regarding incest.

No matter how closed off they were, they strictly forbade it.

“Fill me… fill me up completely…”

But they did not care.

Having maintained this kind of relationship for several years, they eagerly explored each other.

Eventually, Gideon thrust his hard member into Ellarien’s depths and released himself.

Having intertwined their bodies once more, they mingled their tongues.

***

The next day.

I called all the members of the dispatched team.

This was to prepare for the ‘World Tree Purification’ operation requested by the Elf King.

“The World Tree is a space for spiritual exploration. By drinking the tree’s sap and making physical contact, one can access the vast world of consciousness.”

After gathering everyone, I began explaining the features of the World Tree.

This was essential as everyone needed to access the World Tree for this operation.

“However, going into the World Tree alone is dangerous. Within it lies a collection of souls and memories accumulated over thousands of years, making it easy to be swept away by others’ memories. In other words, one could forget who they are and drift aimlessly within the World Tree forever. It’s practically the same as being dead, as a body that cannot return to consciousness is merely a shell.”

“…”

The expressions of the cadets hardened seriously.

Some even expressed concerns about whether they would die like this.

At that moment, Elena stepped forward.

“So that’s why we all need to connect together. If we huddle together to connect, we can hold onto one another so that we don’t get consumed by other souls and memories.”

“Ah…”

“Thus, it’s important to cross-verify each other’s memories. Remembering shared memories can help anchor conscious drifting away. If three of the closest friends pair up, they can complement each other well.”

Elena said this while looking around at everyone.

The cadets, who had sat in groups of three, nodded at each other.

And in my case, naturally, Enya and Isabella formed a team.

Although Isabella had been cold and avoided eye contact with me the entire time.

‘Come to think of it… it’s been over 49 days.’

We used to meet once every 49 days.

But at some point, Isabella began to avoid me.

Just like in every previous instance, she had decided to accept her fate and rise to the role of Graham’s head.

‘…Anyway, that’s that.’

Anyway, what’s important now is to focus on the task at hand.

While I’m confident I won’t be consumed by the World Tree, the cadets entering with me could be in danger.

Ultimately, I must lead them well.

“Alright, let’s start with some practice.”

Thus, I gathered everyone and issued practice instructions.

I trained them to carefully observe whether their partner’s consciousness was drifting away and to recall memories that could anchor their consciousness if it did.

“Great. I think this should be enough.”

After about 2 hours of practice.

We were able to familiarize ourselves with ways to hold on to each other’s consciousness.

Now, only the practical execution remains.

“Everyone, drink up.”

I handed out bottles filled with the sap of the World Tree.

After everyone took their shots of the sap, they placed their hands on the World Tree.

With a strange sensation of their minds being pulled somewhere and a feeling of floating, we entered the World Tree.

〔Everyone, hold hands! Huddle together!〕

The team members, floating in forms of hazy spirits.

I shouted for everyone to huddle together as we had practiced.

Before long, the spirit members of the expedition squad entered the Spirit Mana Shield formed by Elena and me, and we began our journey through the vast world of consciousness.

But it wasn’t long before—

-Paahhhhhhhh!

The powerful will of the World Tree began to exert pressure to scatter us.

A great light appeared, attempting to shove millennia of accumulated memories into our souls to “neutralize” us.

‘Do you think that will work?’

But it had chosen the wrong opponent.

I was a regressor who had repeated hundreds of reincarnations.

That’s only counting the number of times I remember.

If we include regressions I do not recall, I have no idea how many times I’ve repeated.

‘All of those are just terrible memories.’

However, all my regressions ended in failure.

The best possible outcome was experiencing immense pain while being surrounded by demons and being devoured alive.

In other words, if the memory of the World Tree wants to neutralize me, it would have to accept all my terrible memories.

-SSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

But the result was clear.

The massive light suddenly withdrew its light and began to flee.

It had gazed into the abyss.