I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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“Blood, I see Lord Fix!”

As soon as I crossed through the portal, the commander, drenched in blood, rushed over and bowed his head.

Just by looking at the commander’s expression and his battered armor, I immediately recognized how dire the situation was.

“…Formalities are unnecessary. What is the current state of affairs?”

Thus, I quickly inquired about the situation.

In response to my question, the commander took a deep breath and began recounting the various fronts in which the Kershtan Kingdom found itself.

To summarize, it was a complete disaster.

“There are many places to send reinforcements, yet all portals have been cut off, and in the meantime, the morale of the troops has hit rock bottom.”

“…I beg your pardon.”

However, if I were to explain this complete catastrophe a little more clearly, it would be as follows.

First, the Kershtan Kingdom is currently unable to evacuate.

This is because all portals were severed simultaneously with the demon invasion.

It’s likely that one of the exchange station staff managing the portals was compromised by the Demon Church and set everything up in advance.

And second.

The major cities of the Kershtan Kingdom have been taken hostage.

The port city “Galeymahtin,” the fortress city “Agile,” and the bustling city “Bitenoreun.”

These three major cities, which support Kershtan, have fallen into the enemy’s hands and are being used as hostages.

Finally, third.

The Kershtan army finds itself in an extremely perilous state.

With the major cities of the kingdom being held as hostages, there is much discontent regarding the king’s orders to defend only the capital without rescuing the other cities.

Because 50% of the kingdom’s army hails from the three major cities that are hostages.

Their beloved families are likely held as hostages by the demons of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Therefore, no matter how well-trained the soldiers may be, they cannot help but waver.

The expressions of the defense forces currently guarding the capital were filled with anxiety and discontent.

“…In fact, it’s not that we didn’t send reinforcements from the start. Rather, His Majesty the King ordered the first dispatch of reinforcements…”

However, from the beginning, the commander stated that they didn’t intend to keep only the capital safe.

Instead, the King of Kershtan actively commanded the liberation of the cities, and at that time, the national army fought with rage over the invasion of their homeland and families.

“But just because we sent reinforcements, mass slaughter began in the cities that were held hostage… Moreover, crucially, the battle results…”

But the reinforcements were utterly defeated, and the cost was horrifying.

Fifty thousand headless corpses were thrown outside each city.

“Since then, it has been in this state. Unable to act left or right… only defending the capital…”

At the top of the castle.

I looked down at the far below.

Hundreds of thousands of demon troops had camped outside, eyeing the entrance of this castle.

The soldiers stationed throughout the castle wandered, their eyes filled with anxiety and fury.

In the midst of this, the commander spoke.

“Lord Edgar Fix, what should we do? We’ve endured countless battles, but this is the first time we are completely cornered… Please tell us what to do…”

I looked at the commander.

His eyes were filled with desperation.

However, the moment the next words left my mouth, his expression hardened completely.

“The most certain method is to abandon all the cities.”

“…Huh?”

“It’s the cleanest and surest way to drop a nuke on each city. The longer we delay, the stronger their forces become.”

“W-What are you saying…?”

“Do you know why they hold cities hostage?”

The commander shook his head.

Of course, he wouldn’t know the reason why the cities were taken hostage.

I began to explain the reason.

“They are sacrifices. Offerings for the ‘Worshippers of the Seven Deadly Sins’ to grow stronger.”

“…”

Worshippers of the Seven Deadly Sins.

Those filthy demon bastards grow by devouring humanity’s sins.

In other words, they create extreme situations at the cost of lives to compel moral decay, completing the sins related to the Seven Deadly Sins.

The more evil related to the Seven Deadly Sins festers, the stronger they become.

“If that’s the case… if such events are rampant in cities with populations of hundreds of thousands…”

“Then it would grow into a disaster. At that point, it wouldn’t just be a city; the entire kingdom would fall.”

“Ah…”

The commander sank to his knees.

He covered his face and wept, apologizing to his son.

His son was in one of those major cities.

“But there’s a way.”

Immediately, at my next words, the commander raised his head in haste to look at me.

He leaped up and asked what that method was.

“Stealth.”

“…Stealth… you mean?”

“Yes. A small elite unit sneaks into each city and simultaneously eliminates the enemy’s leaders, so they cannot massacre the hostages.”

To elaborate on the operation a bit more.

Currently, the cities being held hostage are a port city, a fortress city, and a major city, and we would dispatch elite troops with the power to kill the bosses in each city to eliminate them all at once.

Because if word spreads that something’s gone wrong in one city, the demons in the other cities will retaliate.

Therefore, simultaneously eliminating these three cities is the best way to minimize the damage.

“…B-But sending reinforcements through that encirclement… isn’t it nearly impossible?”

But the commander’s next question hit the nail on the head.

The problem was the blockade of all roads leading to the cities.

Demons swarmed around both the ground and the sky.

If even a hint of reinforcement deployment was detected, they would retaliate by killing the hostages.

“We can disguise.”

However, I had already found the answer to that.

We just needed to disguise ourselves as demons.

“C-Can that be… possible?”

“Of course, it is.”

I had already successfully disguised myself as a demon.

Having disguised myself as a demon to raise the awareness of the academy students, I impersonated the Swordmaster Gyro, who was a henchman of the Grand Duke, and sent him to his doom.

Furthermore, that was not all. I had walked into a place filled with the Demon Church’s followers and even charged my Crucible with hell energy.

They didn’t recognize me at all in my demon disguise, and gratefully, they drained all their power to charge my Crucible.

That’s how perfect my demon disguise was.

“Then… who will go for the elite units?”

Anyway, the commander, convinced by the disguise plan, asked the next question.

What would be the size and composition of the elite troops?

“Well, that’s a bit of a problem.”

However, I couldn’t provide a certain answer here.

I was pondering how to best divide the troops.

How can we allocate personnel efficiently?

If they have to be split into three units, the two units without me will have to take risks.

‘Ah.’

At that moment, a brilliant idea struck me.

If I brought ‘them’ along, I could guarantee a degree of safety even without my presence.

Those would be the Grand Dukes, on par with the strongest in this world.

“No, I just thought of a method. Let’s call in more reinforcements.”

***

Thus, four Grand Dukes gathered.

Adrian Graham, the father of Isabella.

Duke Ireya Cruel, the father of Enya.

Adela Elmar, the mother of Lucas.

Bjonson Bernhardt, the father of Claire.

Thus, four individuals, who were the strongest in this world.

“So, if I understand Lord Fix correctly, Graham and Cruel will pair up, and Elmar and Bernhardt will pair up for infiltration.”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

I then asked them to work together as Graham-Cruel and Elmar-Bernhardt, to protect their respective children.

Since the purpose of this war was to grant experience points to the children of the Grand Dukes, having their respective heads act as mentors would be a tremendous help.

“Then let’s assign each area. First, Graham-Cruel will take over the port city.”

With that, I began the area assignment.

I assigned the port city to Isabella-Enya, and the major city to Lucas-Claire.

“Then what about the remaining fortress city…”

“I will take it.”

And I decided to take responsibility for the fortress city.

Because the worshippers of the Seven Deadly Sins residing there were the most vile and powerful.

I, the strongest among all current forces, would take over that place.

The Grand Dukes nodded in agreement without any objections.

“The operation will commence immediately after we finish the disguises. As I described earlier, until we break out of the encirclement in front of the capital, we will move together in the same formation, and once we reach a place without enemy surveillance, we will disperse to head to our target areas.”

And I reiterated the main points once more.

Everyone nodded, showing they perfectly understood the operation details.

Afterward, we immediately commenced the disguises.

Eve and her assistants helped with the disguises.

【So, are you all ready to enjoy the feast of slaughter?】

An hour later.

Having completed my demon disguise, I asked for our departure in the ‘demon version’ that was auto-translated.

Originally, it was a simple and polite phrase such as, ‘Shall we get going now?’

【Krrk! We’re going to kill!】

【Guts! Heart! Tear them apart!】

【Blood…! I want blood…!】

【Kihihihi! Let’s fuck!】

But the language of demons couldn’t possibly be normal.

Everyone responded with strange phrases using Eve’s implanted ‘automated translation’ demon language.

And I could not even begin to imagine what kind of situation this automated translation would lead to.