"...Is that really okay?" Liam asked hesitantly as he leaned on a rough walking stick. Janica was frozen still, staring with wide eyes at the massive mansion they were standing in front of. Glenn, with his hands on his waist, grinned widely.
"Yeah, don't worry too much about it. The Cleaner's Workshop likes me quite a bit," His expression darkened and he muttered, "...Even though I did kill one of their Cleaners..."
Janica snapped out of her shock and looked at Glenn in horror. The latter shook his head dismissively, his grin coming back in full force.
"Anyway, welcome to your new place for..." Glenn moistened his lips and shrugged, "...As long as you'd like, actually. Just don't bring every kid you find in the street here, it's still my team's place. It's temporary until you manage to make yourself a new heart, Liam."
Liam gulped and nodded slowly. After Glenn gave Liam and Janica his proposition of keeping the mansion for the time they were gone, they went to the Cleaner's Workshop in District IV, signing them as Fixers and giving them Identification Daggers. It was the only way to give them their keys to the mansion on Longhorn Street, so Glenn opted for this solution. And now, they were back in front of the mansion on 33rd Longhorn Street.
"I...I think the Baron's mansion is slightly smaller..." Liam muttered in awe. Glenn's lips curved upward pridefully until he clapped his hands and opened the gate, leading them to the mansion. Sahro was following behind while rolling his eyes, unsure if he was agreeing with Glenn's choice of leaving the mansion to two brats. Janica's lips were sealed shut, and she was practically glued to Liam, her eyes darting left and right in wariness.
Glenn ushered them in, closing the door behind Sahro, "Welcome to our place. We've been here for, what, twenty-four hours? But whatever! Feel free to explore the place, the Workshops are in the West Wing—"
Liam and Janica both dashed in the same direction as one, not even bothering with the rest of Glenn's explanations. The latter watched them run away and scratched the back of his head until Sahro came and patted him on the back.
"Seems like they're much more interested in those tools than in the entire house," He laughed.
Glenn shrugged and headed for the North Wing, "They must be truly passionate, in addition to being geniuses."
Sahro scoffed, "Geniuses? What makes you say that? The mechanical heart? Is it really that impressive?"
Glenn moistened his lips and turned to the Black Heir, "Yes, it fucking is. Remember when I told you Earth was way more advanced than this world? Well, that mechanical heart is something that I doubt would be achievable back on Earth. We could take someone's heat and put it in someone else, but a mechanical heart?" Glenn shook his head, "There were temporary solutions, not something you were actually supposed to live with. And yet, it was already the peak that medical research could attain then. That means Liam and Janica somehow managed to make something similar to modern-age technology, with scrap metals and screwdrivers."
The Black Heir stared at his friend with a lost look, before nodding in understanding, "Yeah, okay. I understood everything you said. So, they're really skilled at...engineering, right?"
"They really are," Glenn agreed as they entered the relaxation room. Milena, Liara, and Javier were playing cards while enjoying sodas thanks to the Mini-Fridge. They looked up when they heard Glenn and Sahro arrive.
"Ah, you guys are back? We found Javier and bought a few necessities for the trip, as well as this deck of cards. Wanna join in?" Milena asked. Glenn smiled and grabbed an armchair, pulling it to the table.
"Count me in."
"Sure, why not," Sahro also found himself a chair and joined the table.
"Where was Javier?" Glenn asked as he glanced at his cards. Seven and two of Fire. He smiled widely and placed his cards back down. Of course, he had to get the worst fucking hand.
Milena peeked at her cards before leaning on the table, "It was pretty much a random guess, but he was at a fletcher to buy new arrows. We went with him to a bowyer too, to get, well, a new bow. His old one wasn't good enough apparently."
Sahro raised an eyebrow as he knocked on the table, "You can talk to him?"
Milena shook her head and pushed forward a few coins on the table's center, "No, but I can understand him. I raise five gold."
Liara winced and threw away her cards, as did Sahro. Javier silently added five coins to the table, as did Glenn.
"What about you, what were you off to? What was that Pierrot kid about?" Milena revealed the first three cards, a Two of Water, a Five of Fire, and a Seven of Water. Glenn sighed. Two pairs. That was more than he should have ever expected with this shitty hand.
"Oh, nothing much. We brought back two engineer kids, one who had been captured by Baron Howard, turned into a vampire, ripped his own heart, and replaced it with a mechanical one of his own. Nothing too crazy," Glenn explained nonchalantly as he pushed five new gold coins on the table. Milena was about to play but her hand froze in the air and she slowly turned to Glenn.
"...What?" She blurted out, but Glenn shook his head.
"Yeah, and he will be staying here with his girlfriend while we're gone. Keeping the house safe while using the Workshop, you know?" Glenn continued to speak casually before nudging Milena, "You're playing or what?"
Milena shook her head frantically and threw five more gold coins into the pile, "Yeah, yeah. Can I meet him after that game?"
Glenn nodded, "You're free to do so. He's in the Workshop right now, with Janica. And he's Liam."
Liara stood up and smiled politely, before heading off, probably to meet the two young engineers. Javier looked at his cards emotionlessly, before putting them down and leaving. Milena raised an eyebrow and revealed his cards. An Eight of Fire and a Three of Earth.
"Oh yeah, his hand sucked," Milena admitted. She revealed another card, a King of Earth. Her lips curved upward slightly, but Glenn didn't change his tactic. He added five new gold coins to the pile and leaned back in his chair.
"That'd be kind of funny if you managed to win with the worst hand," Nelg remarked in Glenn's mind. The latter could only agree. Milena sighed and added her own five gold.
"I sure hope you're bluffing. I don't have much..." She said through her clenched teeth. Glenn shrugged and revealed the last card, a Two of Thunder. He grimaced and rubbed his forehead, hesitating to push more coins into the pile. Milena moistened her lips as Sahro began to snore, having fallen asleep at some point during the game. With a difficult expression, Glenn pushed ten gold coins into the pile, which Milena didn't hesitate to raise to twenty. Glenn sighed and followed her.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Well, I never thought you'd be so much of a pushover, Glenn from Earth!" Milena exclaimed triumphantly as she showed her cards. A Water and A Thunder King. Glenn whistled, impressed.
"Three of a kind! That's..." He grinned and showed his cards, "...Disappointing."
Milena gasped, double-checking his cards. "A Full House?!? But—Two and seven? That's like, the worst hand ever?"
Glenn shrugged and pocketed the money with a wide smile, "I guess I'm lucky even when my hand is terrible. Haha!" Milena puffed her cheeks and threw her cards away, before leaving the room. She kicked into Sahro's armchair, waking him up.
"Uh? Did—did I miss something?" He blurted out in surprise, reaching for his sword. Glenn shook his head, "Nothing, I just beat Milena's ass. No worries. You do fall asleep very quickly."
The Black Heir shrugged and pushed himself up, "I didn't sleep much last time. I was thinking about what you told us, about Earth and everything."
Glenn scrunched his nose, "Why? Do you have any questions?"
Sahro scratched the back of his neck, hesitating, "Well, that's...you know I don't remember much from when I was still living in the Ink Dunes, right?"
Glenn nodded with a frown, "Yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"
The Black Heir moistened his lips and bobbed his head left and right.
"There's one thing I can remember, and it's a legend of a mysterious ruin who told the truth about who the Black Heirs are. Whose Heirs they are? Supposedly, the answer was waiting in that ruin, but nobody could ever find it. Most Black Heirs spent their lives growing strong enough to face the desert by themselves and go look for that ruin. I don't know why, but I feel like there might be a link between your story, and ours."
Glenn blew raspberries, unsure, "That's...that's a little far-fetched. Well, we are going to find ruins and stuff to take away from the Celestial Bastards, so might as well look for that ruin on the way. Perhaps you'll be the one to answer this eternal question of your people."
Sahro snorted, "Yeah, I doubt that. Anyway, I'll eat and go to sleep. I think I can use the rest before heading to war."
Glenn scoffed, as did Diamanes.
"Don't dream about me!" The entity yelled at him. The Black Heir's expression darkened and he left the room without another word. Glenn sighed.
"You really are annoying, sometimes."
Diamanes huffed, "What? No, I'm just showing my affection in an unusual way, alright?"
Glenn didn't even bother replying to him. Sadly, Diamanes wasn't done yet.
"Hey, you know what I thought about?"
"No, but please, tell me so I can forget about it," Glenn sighed.
Diamanes smirked, "What do you think about asking Liam for this thing..."
Glenn's eyes, originally uninterested, suddenly brightened up. He stood from his seat and looked at his hand.
"That's... a surprisingly good idea." He admitted. Diamanes laughed.
"Go ask him quickly, with a bit of luck he'll be done before tomorrow."
A few minutes later.
"Do you two think it can be done?" Glenn asked as he looked at Liam and Janica. The two exchanged a knowing glance and nodded.
"It shouldn't be too hard. I..." Liam grinned, "...I think I heard that he could use thunder magic, right?"
Glenn nodded, his smile widening as well. Janica played with a tool in her hand while rubbing her chin, "Maybe...Yeah, I have some good ideas. We could work on something pretty nice...Hey, Liam, what about finding that alloy you told me about the other day? The one which—"
Liam and Janica entered a passionate discussion as they started to draw plans on a blueprint. Glenn stepped back with a wide smile, before glancing at Liara. She smiled at him and placed a finger on her mouth, promising silently not to say a word, as ironic as that was. Glenn glanced one last time in the engineers' direction, before leaving the Workshop with the Black Heiress.
The next day came quite fast. Glenn didn't sleep during the night, choosing instead to Meditate it out. Diamanes mocked him for that, but he couldn't care less. If he could avoid having to deal with bad dreams, that was the best option for now.
The team rejoined in the entrance hall, equipped and armed. Everyone had their dimensional pouches full of food and water and were in their best condition to head beyond the Dark Wall. Glenn found it a little ironic, in the end. He had finally managed to enter the Bourgeoisie after a year of struggle, and now he was leaving for another part of the world without even getting the time to see a noble.
"...Sigh. Is everyone ready, then?" Glenn asked one last time as he turned to his teammates. Sahro rubbed his stump, his thunder arm still not returned. They still hadn't got their clearances to use Aura nor Mana after all, but normally they should be able to get it back after their trip in the Ink Dunes.
...If they came back at all.
"Wait!" Liam's voice exclaimed from the Western Wing. He stumbled quickly to Glenn, a package under his arm. Janica followed behind him, black circles under her eyes but satisfaction creeping up her lips.
"Here's what you ordered. That's...also my thanks for giving us access to this workshop. We—we're not stupid, we know you're trying to look out for us," Liam said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Glenn raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. His main goal was mostly getting them to work for free for him, but well, all the better if they took it this way.
"Don't use it until you have access to Mana again, though," Janica warned, "It needs it as fuel, or else it won't work."
Glenn grinned widely and shoved the package in his dimensional pouch, before grabbing Liam's shoulder.
"Thank you for your work, Liam. Thank you too, Janica. Take care of the place while we aren't here, alright? And use protection!"
Liam frowned, "Protection? Against what...?", while Janica's cheeks flushed with a deep dark red. Glenn grinned and left the mansion with his team.
Sahro came and nudged Glenn on the shoulder, "What was that about? That package?", but Glenn clacked his tongue, frowning.
"Didn't you hear the engineers' words? We can't use it if there's no Mana. You'll see when we'll be out of the Bourgeoisie. I'm pretty sure we will be by the end of the chapter."
"Chapter...?"
The group went to District XIV, Towsblade, and the Cleaner's Office, using the Transit against Liara and Sahro's hatred of the system. The lone clerk sitting at the counter raised his eyes to look upon them and nodded.
"I take it your team is completely ready, Fixer Glenn?"
Glenn grinned widely, "Absolutely. Send us there."
The clerk smiled back, "So be it."
The floor twisted under Glenn and his team's feet, their surroundings warping and their insides wrangled, signs of teleportation. Glenn gasped heavily as he felt his Mana Heart fill back up once again, hungrily pulling in all the Mana around him. Sahro and Liara sighed in unison, similarly happy to find back their powers. Only Milena and Javier didn't seem to be thrilled by the return of their powers.
"Ah, this feels great..." Glenn smiled happily before looking at his surroundings. They were in a dark room of roughly carved black stones, and a Cleaner employee, recognizable by the red cross pattern on his white suit, was controlling the teleporting gate.
"Welcome to the Dark Wall, everyone," A voice suddenly called out to them. Glenn turned his head to find Veil, standing with his hands crossed behind his back. He smiled under his bandages, before opening a door in the black wall, letting a warm wind enter the room.
"Veil," Glenn saluted as he walked past him. Veil nodded at him and closed the door behind the team. The first thing Glenn saw was the Wall. If King's Rise's Ramparts reached beyond the clouds, then this...
This probably was double its size.
A Dark, massive Wall, that seemed to never end, be it in height or length. Massive, sharp mountains that were casting an immense shadow over the region. Glenn blinked, before suddenly looking back. They had come out of a small stone cabin, which was stuck to hundreds of such small cabins. It seems like the Cleaner's Workshop wasn't the only place with direct access to the Dark Wall.
"So this is the Dark Wall..." Milena muttered, unable to avert her eyes from the massive mountain chains. Sahro crossed his arms, moving his thunder arm as if it were a real one. Liara silently gazed at the Dark Wall, an indescribable emotion in her eyes.
And as usual, Javier didn't seem to care too much. Glenn marveled at the sight for a few minutes, standing there silently, before suddenly turning in Sahro's direction. He took out the package Liam gave him and held it out.
"Here you go, you can have it now."
Sahro frowned as he carefully took the package, "...That was for me?"
Glenn nodded silently. The Black Heir unwrapped the package, his expression becoming increasingly more confused as he did so. Of brass, steel, and other metals which Glenn couldn't recognize, was an arm. A prosthetic, tailor-made for Sahro.
"W...What is this?" Sahro muttered under his breath. His thunder arm touched it slightly and the mechanical prosthetic suddenly trembled, before flying out and sticking to the stump. Sahro flinched and tried to rip it off, but it wouldn't come off. The thunder's energy crackled uncontrollably for a few seconds until it finally settled down. Blue lines filled up with energy in the arm, powering it up.
Sahro watched in awe as his arm came alive, with the power of thunder and engineering.
The Black Swordsman was finally whole again.
Well, as whole as a prosthetic could get him. But that was progress!