I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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No matter how positively I tried to view it, the past version of Adela was quite lackluster.

She would constantly pick fights with the me from the past, issue ridiculous commands that wouldn’t work, and countless times, she would scratch at my pride.

It was as if she was testing the limits of my patience.

[Are you not angry?]

But the past me never got angry.

No, when it came to Adela, it seemed like she didn’t care what I did.

Because with all memories wiped clean upon my return, only the single purpose of ‘saving Adela’ remained.

[Because you’re a lady. Why would you be angry at commands given by a lady?]

[······.]

Then Adela began to slowly open up.

No, in truth, it was more like she was losing interest.

She had thought of playing with me until I made a mistake and then cutting me off, but since I didn’t react no matter how much she insulted me, it was more like she had given up.

[There’s a monster! Prepare for battle!]

However, after our first battle, her attitude vanished completely.

She changed her mind upon witnessing my dazzling performance in the first fight.

[Hey, Jack.]

From then on, she began to call me by my name.

Moreover, she often initiated conversation and even started to keep me company.

I started to pique her curiosity.

[How are you so strong? What’s with your rank, you seem lowly, yet how do you handle mana? From a fallen noble family?]

[······.]

But I had no answers to provide.

Having been reincarnated into this body with all memories sealed away, I recollected nothing about my life as ‘Jack Dionel.’

I had merely possessed the body of a mercenary who was dying from ‘Mana Depletion’ to fulfill my purpose.

I knew nothing about ‘Jack Dionel.’

[···I can’t remember. I don’t know who I am.]

So I answered that the past me could not remember myself.

Then Adela seemed even more intrigued and began to take an interest in me.

When combining the keywords ‘hidden ability’ and ‘amnesia,’ it seemed to spark quite the interest.

[Jack, can you see magical spells?]

From that point on, she frequently spoke to me.

She even asked me to teach her some spells, saying she wanted to learn from me.

The more battles we fought together, the more she realized my skills were anything but ordinary.

[Amazing. To notice this issue at a glance. What in the world are you?]

[·····I don’t know.]

Thus Adela and I drew closer.

Controlled by a powerful subconscious to ‘save Adela,’ I instinctively felt drawn to her, and Adela, who admired strength, began showing me fondness as well.

And the special circumstances of ‘the conquest’ drew us even closer.

Under the guise of training and scouting, she would call me aside, and we began to engage in something akin to a date.

[We’ll split into three squads for the assault.]

But those days lasted only for a brief moment.

The day finally came.

The day Adela would meet her demise.

[Adela, you’ll take Squad 1 and infiltrate the left side of the cave. It’s a breeding ground, so monsters will pour out in an instant, so evade immediately. In short, you’ll draw their attention and slip away.]

[Yes.]

[Squad 2 will take advantage of the chaos and charge directly in. Then our Squad 3 will dive in from the rear and take out the Beast Lord immediately. Squad 2’s role is to endure as long as possible without suffering heavy losses until the Beast Lord is defeated.]

[Yes!]

And so, we devised a plan, unaware of what future lay ahead and proceeded with the assault.

We were confident that intoxicated with consecutive victories, we could defeat the Beast Lord and claim this land.

[Let’s set out!]

Thus, the death march commenced.

If I had possessed my memories intact while reincarnated, I would have designed circumstances to prevent this from happening, yet without any memories, I went forth to execute the plan alongside Adela.

I had missed an opportunity to save her without risk.

[···This is strange. Isn’t it too quiet?]

But even without memories, my instincts remained sharp.

Feeling something off, I proposed to Adela that we retreat.

[We need to run immediately. This forest isn’t right.]

[····? What nonsense are you spouting?]

[Do you see this? The markings here, and the footprints over there. And the signs of life scattered around? This is the territory of Bugbears. We’ve stepped right into the heart of Bugbear territory.]

[····So…?]

[…Don’t you get it? These aggressive creatures are showing no movement. It means some powerful entity is controlling them.]

Bugbears, a category of powerful monsters.

Yet a formidable presence was controlling such Bugbear hordes.

Adela gulped.

However, she prioritized the success of our operation over my warnings.

[Even so, we can’t back down. If we fail, Squads 2 and 3 will be in danger.]

[······.]

[Besides, Bugbears at least possess some intellect, right? They might have retreated upon hearing rumors about us.]

…What foolish talk.

Bugbears would rather fight than fear humans.

[Consider it again. Right now, we should retreat and warn Squads 2 and 3 first.]

Yet I would not bend my will.

Deep within my subconscious was a belief that I must save Adela.

I wouldn’t let her walk into danger.

[…Do you dare defy my orders?]

But Adela crushed me with her authority.

She was a noble of unparalleled authority and pride, after all.

She didn’t want to be scared by the advice of someone of such lowly status and miss the chance to prove herself.

[The orders are given by me. If you defy me further, I won’t let it slide.]

[······.]

So, reluctantly, I followed her.

The concentration of mana in the air, traces left on the ground, and the abnormal scent were all filled with red flags, yet I couldn’t say a word.

If I spoke any more, I would be kicked out rather than be able to stay by her side.

[Set the explosives!]

Thus, having arrived at the cave of the Beast Lord, we planted mana explosives.

We aimed to blow apart the left side of the cave to expose the breeding den, attacking it to lure out the monsters within.

-Kwaaaaang!

The operation proceeded smoothly.

As the cave exploded, the breeding ground was revealed, and we shattered a few eggs.

Then, enough monsters started rushing in that the earth trembled with their massive presence.

“Retreat!”

But we had anticipated this situation already.

After all, our objective was to draw aggro.

As the monsters gathered for a revenge attack, we swiftly fled to the area where traps were set.

The enraged monsters fell into traps and either exploded or became incapacitated as they chased us.

[…Success! Now to contact Father…]

But just as I revelled in the success of the operation, Adela’s expression turned grave.

The earth began to tremble as if an earthquake were occurring.

But this wasn’t a quake—it was a tremendous wave of monsters approaching us.

A colossal horde of monsters charging across the ground could be felt even from where we stood far away.

[Ah…!]

And soon after, the sky turned black.

As always, the first monsters to arrive during a wave were birds.

Various types of flying monsters filled the sky, blocking out the sun.

[Snap out of it!]

However, now was not the time to be dazed while staring at the sky.

I shook Adela awake, then shouted to the soldiers.

[Open a dimensional portal! Retreat immediately!]

[····Ah!]

Then, the spellcaster specializing in portals began to gather mana.

At this point in time, the technology to open dimensional portals hadn’t advanced, so it required three spellcasters pooling their strength to open one.

[Uwaaaaah!]

However, an unexpected situation unfolded.

One of the spellcasters was grabbed by a harpy while trying to open the portal.

[What are you doing! Keep your eyes open! What’s wrong?]

I immediately swung my sword, unleashing a blade of wind.

Just that was enough to tear apart the harpies lurking nearby.

[…Damn it!]

Yet despite that, the situation continued to worsen.

With one spellcaster missing, the portal spell failed, and panic settled over everyone who faced the monster wave for the first time.

[Snap out of it! If this continues, we’ll all die!]

I led them to a more favorable terrain to confront the monsters.

A narrow entrance and hill terrain.

We quickly positioned ourselves there.

[Move, move, move… Open the portal! Open the portal!]

However, upon reaching the hill, I was the only one blocking the entrance.

The rest merely lingered behind me, waiting for the portal to open in suspense.

[W-what are you doing! Help Jack!]

Adela, enraged, ordered them to assist me.

But when death loomed, they disregarded Adela’s orders.

Most members of Squad 1 had either just pledged allegiance to the Elmar family or were mercenaries hired with money, solely eager to save their own lives.

[Damn it!]

Consequently, Adela gave up on command and came next to me to block the entrance.

Using her family’s unique spatial control magic, she assisted me.

[It’s opened!]

At that moment, while Adela and I bought time, the spellcasters managed to open the portal.

However, because it was supposed to be opened by three, the portal was extremely unstable.

And putting oneself through an unstable portal was akin to a suicide mission.

[Don’t go in! Throwing yourself into an unstable portal is suicide!]

I urgently turned to the others, warning them.

To never stick their bodies into the portal.

[Staying here will lead to death as well!]

But they didn’t listen to me.

They recklessly thrust themselves into the portal, squandering their only chance of survival.

It was the limit of mercenaries who had not received proper military training.

[…Jack. Wh-what should we do… Hah… Hah… Everyone…!]

So, as everyone disappeared, only Adela and I remained, leaving her hyperventilating.

Fear of dying had made her lose her composure.

-Crack! Crack! Thud! Rustle!

But I didn’t utter a word; only focused on slashing the monsters.

The performance I exhibited could rival that of a swordmaster.

Adela’s mouth gradually opened as her shaky gaze began to regain focus.

-Kwaaaang!

And then, a radiant light burst from my sword, collapsing the entrance of the hill.

In an instant, I utilized the powers assigned to Jack Dionel to wield my original strength.

As a result, the ground crumbled, and the path leading up the hill collapsed.

[…Jack, who are you…?]

[No time!]

However, I grabbed Adela’s hand and dashed without hesitation.

In the chaos, Adela called out to me with a trembling voice.

[I’m s-sorry. I… Hah… Hah… ruined everything! Hah… Hah… I should’ve listened to you! Hah… Hah… My pride—]

[Shut up.]

[······.]

[Conserve your breath. Focus on running.]

Excuses were just excuses, and right now, surviving took priority.

I helped Adela manage her breathing so she could maintain her condition, and soon we were able to distance ourselves from the Beast Lord’s cave.

[Growwwwwwl…]

But we hadn’t escaped the territory of the monsters yet.

This place had a pack of ghost wolves.

[Kill them quickly before they can call for help!]

The good news was that these were stragglers from the pack.

If we dealt with them swiftly, there would be no issue.

Soon, Adela and I desperately lunged at the ghost wolves, slicing them, and it seemed the situation was coming to an end.

-Thud, thud, thud, thud…

However, the ground began to tremble once more.

The ghost wolves had summoned their pack.

Despair clouded Adela’s expression.

[Snap out of it! There’s still a way to survive!]

I shouted as I slit open the belly of a dead ghost wolf.

Its entrails spilled out, soaking the ground in blood.

[Get in!]

With that, I pulled out the wolf’s entrails and crawled inside its split belly with Adela.

Given that a ghost wolf was about 4 meters in size, we could both fit comfortably.

[Shh.]

As soon as I entered the ghost wolf’s insides, I put a finger to my lips.

However, terrified by the approach of the ferocious howling wolves, Adela trembled and gasped heavily.

If we left it like this, the dead wolf’s body would twitch and we would be discovered.

-Thud, thud, thud…

With less than ten seconds remaining before the wolf pack arrived, I quickly closed the gaping belly of the beast.

The space inside was filled with thick blood and viscera.

Yet, as Adela continued to tremble, I embraced her tightly.

To help her find stability, I spoke to her in a gentle voice.

[Adela… I promise. You will never die. No matter what happens, I will keep you alive.]

[······.]

With that, Adela’s trembling stopped.

At that moment, the wolf pack arrived.

We heard frantic sniffing noises and angry growls from all directions.

Adela’s body began to shake again.

[Huh!]

So this time, I covered Adela’s mouth.

I don’t know why I did that, but I kissed her while holding her close.

-Swish…

Surprisingly, she began to respond eagerly.

Embracing me, her legs intertwined with mine as our tongues began to mingle.

We shared a passionate kiss within the bloody stomach of the wolf.