How to get on the protagonist’s flower path

I shouted, blocking the path of Yggdrasil, who was staring at Kangu with shining eyes.

“Wait, hold on a second! Isn’t this a bit too much?!”

But my words didn’t reach Yggdrasil, whose eyes were already glazed over.

She spat out words like a machine gun.

“Do you know what kind of talent this is?! At this level, once fully developed, it could rival Aqua! It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this kind of motivation boiling up!”

Aqua? Isn’t she one of the members of the Savior Assault Team?

I heard she was a mermaid from another race who primarily used water magic and that her magical capacity was unmatched throughout all generations.

Is Kangu’s talent that great…?

I had known she was exceptional, but this was astonishing.

But I had to stop Yggdrasil’s rampage! At this rate, she would take Kangu away and treat her terribly!

‘I can’t do it…! I’m completely out of stamina!’

‘The water knows the answer! Water is also a potion! I will administer the potion!’

‘Grrr—’

‘Good! You still have stamina left! Get up!’

No way!

Absolutely not!

“No! Kangu is so young! She’s not even old enough to enter the Academy!”

“Hmm? Kangu, how old are you?”

“I’m fourteen!”

“Fourteen? That’s about the age when the awakening children from the noble families start to awaken. No problem. According to the Special Law for Awakeners, any exceptional awakener over the age of fourteen can enter the Guardian Academy if they have a guarantor to vouch for them.”

“Still…!”

Just as I was about to say something, I felt a hand grabbing my sleeve. It was Kangu.

“Sis, my dream is to be a Hunter. You know that. This is an opportunity!”

“You’re too young!”

“I’m already grown enough! I’m going to become a Hunter quickly and help our orphanage!”

Neither of them is in their right mind…!

I tried to dissuade both of them, but I felt helpless on my own.

Since Kangu had just awakened today, I managed to stall their rampage by making an excuse that we should take a break for a while.

However, this excuse would only work for a few days at most. They were both full of determination to resume their training for transferring to the Academy at any moment.

“Hmm! ‘Balancing on a Cliff’ and ‘Concentration in an Artificial Alligator Swamp’! Good choice! Choosing these two shows you know what you’re doing!”

“Really? I’m so glad!”

“I’ll make it even more dangerous for you!”

“Yes!”

Stop it, please.

I spun my mind around in frustration.

Kangu could be persuaded through the orphanage teacher. But there was no one to stop the rampaging Yggdrasil.

Was there anyone who could match Yggdrasil’s position and talk her down?

For example, someone from the same Savior Assault Team.

Suddenly, a memory of someone I met in the past flashed through my mind.

“I am Mikell, the blacksmith of the International Assault Team Savior.”

Mikell! Yes, Mikell was there!

Time was short. After hastily sending Yggdrasil away, I prepared to visit Mikell’s forge.

***

[Fragments of the story have been added!] [Currently collected story fragments: 8] – Academy’s Genius Commander: 3 – ???? ??? ???? ?? (Locked): 5

[Story Fragment / Unread] empty

As soon as Yggdrasil and her group left, the researcher scratched his head and made a phone call to someone.

Rrrrr—

The other party picked up the call immediately. There was a noticeable impatience in the pause, which made the researcher chuckle.

“You usually say you’re busy, busy, but this time you picked up right away?”

You’re being noisy. That’s because you’re reporting useless things. Anyway, how did it go?

“Oh, well, everything seemed fine. Healthy, limbs intact. But really, you actually managed to get the elixir! Who is this Kangan-hyun? And that Kangu, her strength… haha, it was really chilling!”

I don’t know the route for obtaining the elixir either, so it’s a bit troublesome. And Kangu… I expected she would have grown since her childhood, but I didn’t think it would be to that extent.

“Anyway, I did everything you asked, right? Don’t bother me for a while! I’ve thought of a few things we could try based on the actual elixir data!”

Yes. Get lost.

Click—

With that last word, the call ended abruptly, and the researcher chuckled to himself.

With a smile on his face, he approached one of the walls in the laboratory and manipulated a nearby research device. Then, the wall opened.

Inside was something resembling a telescope.

It was a thick, cylindrical object, black as night, with patterns of a fox and a tower engraved on its body.

“Well then, shall I prepare for destruction in my own way?”

As if to hide the researcher, the door in the opened wall closed.

“For the six races! For the representative of the celestial tiger!”

After playfully giggling, he quickly took hold of the telescope with a serious expression.

At this moment, it didn’t matter how complicated the winding roads of Meister Village were or how difficult it was to reach Mikell’s forge.

My goodness, when Kangu said she wanted to become a Hunter, I was prepared for her to enter the Guardian Academy, but for that to be happening right now is just not right!

As I walked briskly, feeling all mixed up inside, I soon spotted Mikell’s forge.

I quickly approached the forge and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock!

“Is anyone there, Mikell? It’s Kangan-hyun!”

“Yes, coming!”

However, the voice that came from inside the forge was that of an unfamiliar woman.

Huh? Just as I hesitated for a moment, the door to the forge opened gently.

But the one who appeared was not Mikell; it was a girl.

She had white hair, healthy brown skin, and a hexagonal red gem embedded in her forehead. Overall, she looked very sturdy with strong features.

I stopped in my tracks upon seeing her.

Wait, who is this girl…?

“Master is out for a bit! Would you like to come in and wait?”

“…Kim Kanga?”

“Oh, you know my name? Did Master mention me?”

“Ah, yes….”

She was Kim Kanga, the blacksmith character from the novel.

She is one of the top-tier masters in this world and is set to become the dedicated blacksmith for Nayuhan and his party starting from the second semester.

Why is she here? And Mikell is her master?

“Please, come in!”

“Yes, thank you.”

…Looks like I’m about to receive a weapon from someone extraordinary.

Shrinking a bit, I entered the forge and sat down in a guest chair as Kim Kanga guided me.

Glancing to the side, I saw various monster cores rolling around on what looked like a work table.

There were many rare cores, which piqued my curiosity, but I decided not to touch them carelessly since they were undoubtedly very expensive.

I vaguely remembered that it was mentioned in the book that something was being made with the monster cores, but I hadn’t read the later parts, so I wasn’t sure.

To pass the time, I asked her about the things on the table.

“What are these? What are you making?”

And I immediately regretted it.

Kim Kanga’s eyes began to shine brightly. Ah, I’ve seen that look before. It was just like when Yggdrasil went wild looking at Kangu.

What a day this is.

“Oh, those?! I’m making weapons using monster cores. Currently, monster cores are being used very limitedly. While they certainly contain strong energy, they are primarily handled for the purpose of stimulating and releasing the mana inherent within them. The method used to generate electricity from low-level monster cores primarily relies on this released mana to turn turbines. However, I thought about changing the approach a bit here. Well, actually, some pioneers have already had similar ideas, but anyway, what if I could create weapons that allow mana accumulation and release by enhancing the accumulation function originally used by monsters? In fact, there are already several prototypes out in the industry, and I’m working on making them lighter—”

“Yes. I see. Yes.”

I let Kim Kanga’s words wash over me without really understanding what she was saying.

Come to think of it, her passion for her interests might resonate quite well with Park Yul-ah.

In the original novel, as far as I had read, the two hadn’t met yet.

It should be fine, right?

I interrupted Kim Kanga’s speech at an appropriate moment and asked,

“From what you’ve said, I have someone I know who has similar interests. Are you interested in making researcher friends?”

“Of course!!”

“Shall I introduce you?”

“Yes!”

It would be great if they became friends.

To avoid Kim Kanga’s machine-gun talk, I passed her off to Park Yul-ah.

As I made a video call through the device, Yul-ah’s slightly disheveled appearance appeared on the screen, as if she had just been resting.

– Nahyun! What’s going on?!

“I have a friend I want to introduce.”

“Hello!”

I briefly introduced the two of them and handed the device to Kim Kanga.

Then I felt a bit of regret.

– Lightweight monster core weapons? There are certainly some types of monster cores that provide high efficiency with a small volume, but most tend to grow larger in proportion to their magical power. It would probably be better to create a new original core based on the principles of monster cores rather than using the cores themselves!

“Oh, original core! I hadn’t thought of that! It’s certainly a different perspective from mine, which is more about utilizing existing materials! Could I request that core from you?”

– Sounds good! I’m fired up after a long time! By the way, are you interested in beings from other realms? The energy they provide—

“That sounds interesting. According to what Yul-ah said—”

– How about making the equipment like a gigantic fortress?! A robot! A giant robot!

“Oh, a robot! Awesome! A girl’s dream!”

…What are they talking about?

My device didn’t seem to be returning from Kim Kanga’s hands anytime soon. Their conversation showed no signs of ending.

– There is a risk of explosion, but it should be fine to do at the academy!

“Of course!”

…Occasionally, I heard some strange conversations.

…Huh, did I accidentally create a recipe for disaster?

A thought crossed my mind that was close to the answer, but I desperately denied it.

No way. That can’t be it.

I felt uneasy.