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Chapter : 23
The man who spoke like that looked down at me and asked, “Isn’t that so?”
He said that on purpose. I just heard from the previous duke that I wasn’t his daughter.
Unconsciously, I fiddled with my fingers at the adults’ consideration.
“Oh, I see. I thought you were his granddaughter because you look so young.”
The boy smiled innocently.
But I saw it.
“…So that’s what it was?”
He muttered quietly.
“Then it’s nothing special.”
And his eyes, which had cooled further once he realized I wasn’t a granddaughter!
“Anyway, this place is dangerous, so introduce me around. And while we’re at it, let’s take a short break.”
At his words, the man put me down on the floor.
As I trailed behind him, I could hear him say happily, “Two kids really are better, aren’t they?”
A sharp, musty smell.
The sound of hammering.
The creak of a cart growing distant.
“Hey.”
The boy spun around to look at me.
“You’re the new recruit, right?”
His sharp eyes and curt mouth— the innocent smile he had shown to the adults vanished in an instant.
“So you’re the youngest now, huh?”
He lifted one side of his mouth into a mischievous grin.
Suddenly, I understood a very important part about this child.
So, a classic—
“You’ll be in charge of washing my socks from now on.”
A kid who loved power.
“……”
I quietly stared at the sock that had fallen beneath me.
Not too big, slightly grimy.
It was clearly his sock.
“The initiation should be grand, but of course, only clean socks are here. Well, expensive ones always smell better…”
“Disgusting.”
“…What?”
“I think it’s going to stink.”
I covered my nose and said, and the boy yelled with a flustered expression.
“No! My feet always smell like jasmine! Don’t think I’m like the old men!”
Then, realizing he hadn’t acted like a senior properly, he coughed lightly, composed himself, and cleared his throat.
“…Anyway, we haven’t exchanged names. What’s your name, youngest?”
“Hanysha.”
I answered indifferently. Judging by how he kept talking about me being a newbie, he seemed pretty excited to meet someone his age.
“I see. Hanysha. A small… what? Hanysha? Hanysha, you say?”
The boy’s eyes widened.
“You’re the daughter of the newly arrived duke? That tiny, lovely little snowflake who even outsmarted the unlucky Count Roman?”
I hadn’t outsmarted anyone, and I hadn’t even been acknowledged as a daughter yet.
More importantly, I wasn’t tiny or lovely…
I wanted to hide in embarrassment, but just moments ago, the boastful face about being the youngest and new recruit had disappeared.
Hmm? Then…?
I lifted my chin confidently.
“Yes, that’s me.”
“…!”
The boy flinched at my straightforward acknowledgment.
Tsk… Grinding his teeth, he bent down and picked up his sock.
Sock servant power, impressive.
Anyway, I didn’t need to pick it up for him. That meant…
I grinned and turned around. As I started walking on my own, I heard a voice from behind: “Hey, hey? Where are you going alone?”
I caught a faint warning that it was dangerous to go alone.
I have something to check.
The north was land steeped in strong magical power, and the monsters infused by it were ferocious enough to run wild.
Naturally, the ore mined in the north contained magical power. If mismanaged, even people could be corrupted by it, so only those born and raised in the north could handle it.
Because the northerners’ bodies had some resistance to magic.
Blacksmiths had tried to use this to create weapons unlike those sold in the market.
Weapons that could attack but not kill, harnessing the resistance of bullets infused with magic.
It only needed a bit more research, but Stukkia had to halt development for a while.
Someone had distributed ore containing extremely strong magic to the market.
People corrupted by the magic went mad, and the legend of Stukkia’s ore worsened.
And the cause was here, in this very forge.
Technically, I only knew the alias, not the exact age or name.
Anyway, it was here. If I caught that person, the duke could develop the weapon without issue.
“…Hey, youngest.”
Besides, I knew the crucial part of the development, right? If I helped find the cause while assisting development, the duke might acknowledge my contribution.
“Can’t you hear me? Hey!”
Back to square one. First, find the distributor. Bring them to the duke, and…
“Hanysha!”
I finally turned sharply at the call.
“Why do you keep calling me?”
“You… you…!”
From about ten steps away, the boy shouted, terrified.
“What if you go between the ores?!”
“Huh?”
Looking around, I noticed piles of ore not yet sorted.
“Small kids like you get easily corrupted! No matter how much money is spent, it can’t stop contamination! H-h-hurry…!”
Stammering, the boy eventually shut his eyes tight and ran toward me.
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out from between the ores.
“Ugh… that was… really, really close…”
“If you’re scared, just run alone…”
“You might get infected! If that happens, I’ll die before the adults! We’re already broke; don’t let things get worse!”
Ignoring his terrible warning, I saw him still holding my wrist, slightly apologetic.
“…Sorry. I should’ve watched where I was going.”
“Just knowing it from now is fine… well, if you really want to, pay me with money.”
The boy grumbled but ruffled my hair. While fixing my mess of hair, I thought:
This kid…
Even working in a forge making weapons, he’s scared of ores?
…Wait.
Red hair, green eyes. Age easily estimated around this time.
Could it be…
“Hey. What’s your name?”
“You dare ask a senior your name as a newbie? Do you know how expensive my name is?”
Even as he said that, he shrugged proudly, as if being generous.
“Well, since I’m your direct senior, I’ll tell you.”
Then, like I had done moments ago, he lifted his chin.
“I’m Max.”
“…Huh? Wh-what?”
“Max. My name.”
Max spoke clearly, with pride and confidence in his face… but I couldn’t smile.
A crazy killer who had stained every step with blood, starting with the ore leak.
A man called “Stukkia’s first son.”
And his name was Max!
The reason the temple held such immense power was due to their divine power.
Yet, they did not misuse it.
People who were about to die were saved.
Through surgery, people were given new lives.
This all went against the temple’s principle of “nature and order.”
Ten years ago, a religious war left many people with disabilities.
Divine power could only be accessed by the wealthy, leaving poor commoners helpless.
Their bodies restricted, their lives became more desperate.
Then appeared an inventor named Max.
He attached scrap metal to bodies.
For those who lost arms, he gave new arms.
For those who lost courage to walk, he gave new legs.
Everyone praised Max. Some even argued that compared to his inventions, invisible divine power was hardly “power.”
But it didn’t last long.
“Eh? Why is this happening? H-help!”
The newly attached arm strangled its owner’s neck.
The new legs ran uncontrollably toward a cliff.
Terrified people complained to Max.
He replied:
“I gave a new body, didn’t say I saved anyone.”
The temple had to intervene, and people started blindly trusting it again.
From that day, Max’s title completely changed.
From “Merciful Master Max” to “Mad Max.”
A truly insane psycho. Stukkia’s disaster.
A person not to be approached.
But…
“What are you staring at?”
Seeing my incredulous expression, Max twitched his lips.
“What? Do you think I look cool?”
“….”
“Well, it’s a face you want to keep looking at. Where else do you see a face like this? It’s an honor to have someone like me as your senior.”
So he’s that “Mad Max”…
If you want, I can also do a more polished, novel-style version that reads smoothly in English without losing any nuance of the characters’ personalities.
Do you want me to do that?
