I brought him into the house.

I was about to put a wet towel on his head, but I stopped, afraid of getting electrocuted. I was about to massage his heart, but I stopped because his muscles were made of steel.

'What should I do?'

There was nothing I could do.

As I was contemplating, the outsider moved.

Bzz!

The spirits enjoyed the popping sparks as if they were watching fireworks.

[The World Tree confidently takes action.]

Thwack!

"…!"

A long, extended stem struck his forehead.

The sound of the impact was refreshing.

It was a rather hard hit.

As his head bounced up like a fish from the shock, there was a reaction.

"Hmm."

Evolving from a convulsion, his whole body creaked, and each body part asserted itself.

And then.

Thud!

It stopped moving.

"...Is it dead?"

I didn't know if it was right to describe a machine as dead, but it seemed to have gone.

[The World Tree protests that it was an unintentional accident.]

The World Tree, which had unintentionally delivered the final blow, trembled.

The spirits circled around it, teasing it.

It was a spitefulness like younger siblings laughing at their older brother's mistake.

"Tsk."

I patted the World Tree to comfort it.

If I had saved it, I could have used it usefully.

It was a pity.

Still, this had its own demand.

As they say, a tiger leaves its skin when it dies.

This guy also left many parts.

Wouldn't I get a decent price if I sold them at a pawn shop?

It was then that I was smacking my lips.

Pshhh!

With a pungent smoke, his front panel opened, and something popped out from within.

"Phew! I, I almost died."

"…?"

A person came out.

A young man, skinny and wearing work clothes covered in grease.

[The World Tree shrugs its shoulders triumphantly.]

As expected, machines are fixed by hitting them.

The World Tree insisted, forgetting that it had been flustered just a moment ago.

It was an irrefutable argument, as the proof was right in front of me.

"By the way."

Under his shaggy long hair, his eyes, weary with fatigue, scanned the surroundings.

"Where am I? And who are you?"

That was my line.

***

"Ah, now that I look closely, I remember."

The man, who had shamelessly demanded food, saying he was hungry, finished the can of substitute meat I had given him and said.

"The contractor who carried out a mission with my works. Your name was Allen, right?"

"Works?"

"I'm talking about Number 16 and Number 21."

Although he was tall like a scarecrow, his voice was quite young, as if he had just gone through puberty.

In this city, there were so many people who lived a hard life that it was impossible to guess their age by their appearance.

He was estimated to be in his early twenties at most, a young kid.

"And who are you? Seeing that you know Number 16 and Number 21, you seem to be related."

He looked like a person, but I couldn't be sure.

The technology of magic engineering was so strange that in some fields, it even surpassed the modern technology of Earth.

Androids were a prime example of that.

I couldn't be sure that the guy in front of me was a person.

"Me? The designer of these guys."

"You seem to be a person."

"Only people can eat food. If it were an android, it would be pouring oil and a solution of dissolved magic stones."

His gaze, as if asking if I didn't even know that, was grating on my nerves.

His shamelessness of asking for food first, and his very self-centered personality.

'For some reason, he reminds me of someone I know.'

There was a similar guy.

Although his appearance and age were quite different.

I asked him in more detail.

"What's your name?"

"Name? You wouldn't know who I am even if I told you, so is there a need to know? I'm a famous person in my industry, but I have no connection with your industry. It's better not to know than to be embarrassed for not recognizing me."

"Do you think I'm asking for an autograph?"

"Wasn't it?"

It was a reaction as if asking why not.

'He's rude.'

Although everyone in this city is like that.

Should I start by punching him?

As if my worries were for nothing, another side moved first.

[The World Tree is annoyed by the insolent conversation attitude.]

"Whoa! What's this?!"

The guy was startled by the World Tree's surprise appearance and dodged.

'He's a coward, just like the guy I know.'

He was trembling, so I explained, thinking I wouldn't get an answer like this.

"Say hello. He's your benefactor."

"Benefactor?"

"He's the one who fixed your broken machine. He's also a tenant living in my body."

"Oh, really?"

The guy quickly adapted and observed the World Tree with a curious expression.

"The internal circuit was definitely broken, so even I didn't dare to touch it and was prepared to die, but that's amazing. What theory did you apply to find and fix the problem? Ah, wait. Let me guess. I think it's from a paper recently published by the Mage Tower..."

[The World Tree is confused.]

In front of the engineer who was talking about things it didn't know, the World Tree was flustered and asked for my help.

Fortunately, I knew how to deal with this type of person.

"Tell me your name before I kick you out."

"Bel Hackerson."

"...Franken?"

"Oh, you've heard of me. I'm also called that by people who know me."

Of course I know.

'Isn't he the designer of the combat golem?'

The time I was active in the Mage Tower before.

I had worked with him as part of a collaborative research project I had taken on to receive funding.

He was a giant in the industry who had designed and popularized the golem, which was only used for menial tasks despite its high price, as a weapon.

Franken in my memory and the young man in front of me were similar yet different.

"The Franken I know is a middle-aged man with wrinkles on his face and a bald spot on his head."

Although he looked old for his age, Bel Hackerson in front of me was not that bad.

"My hair! It's not! Bald yet!"

I realized from his reaction of freaking out after hearing my muttering.

'Ah, he just got old from overworking.'

You can't guess a person's age by their appearance.

I never thought that formula would apply to a character I knew.

'Tsk, how much did he work at the company?'

He looks old now, but will he look even older than this?

They say the more competent an engineer is, the more they are ground down, and it seemed to be exactly that.

'Franken is the designer of Number 16 and Number 21.'

Combat golem and android, although they might be similar in field, it was a relationship that was hard to imagine.

Franken in my memory was dedicated to the design and supply of combat golems, so he was far from the achievement of designing an android.

'Did his interest change in the middle?'

However, it was surprising that the guy who had already successfully designed Number 16 and Number 21 had not announced it.

'Or... is it related to the situation where he was wandering around, hiding in his own work, and was picked up by me?'

Just then, Bel said.

"Aren't you going to ask me why I ended up in this state and collapsed in front of your house?"

"Since they were androids who were active as contractors, they must have had a mishap on a request. It's an unwritten rule in the industry not to ask about such things, as you can get entangled in their interests if you hear the details."

"You're being unnecessarily diligent. Shouldn't a person give in to curiosity sometimes?"

I wasn't interested.

He was a guy who hadn't even paid the price for Number 16's betrayal.

Saving his life was the greatest favor I could do.

"If you've come to your senses, pay the price for saving your life and get out."

"The price of a life, right. I have to repay the help I received. What do you want? Just say it."

The guy bluffed.

I didn't believe him when he said that, as he was broke.

'But he's a capable guy.'

I thought for a moment and said.

"I'm not asking for anything grand."

"People who say that usually have a huge greed."

No way.

"Just give me one spare android like Number 16 or Number 21."

"See, I knew it would be like this."

Bel grumbled.

I was the one who was being wronged.

"Is it the pride of an artist who values his own work more than his life?"

"It's not like that... No, that makes sense. My work isn't more expensive than my life."

The guy who had finally been convinced nodded his head.

Still, he looked very disappointed, so I took a step back.

"If you're really reluctant, then just give me the guy you came in. He looks slow, but he'll be useful enough."

"Ah, I can't use that one. It'll be hard to fix, and it's not a tough enough machine to be used for your work. It was just something I quickly put together to hide and move my own body."

"You mean it's strong enough to move one person."

"That's right."

"That's enough. I didn't ask for it to use as a companion."

His expression became strange.

"Then what?"

"A handyman."

That expression crumpled even more at the following words.

"I'm going to make him farm for me."

***

"Well, it's not like I can't use it that way."

Bel, who had arrived at the World Tree's vegetable garden and heard my blueprint, scratched the top of his head.

"It's going to be a little difficult in the current situation."

"Don't you have that much ability?"

Disappointment.

Is he still lacking in experience?

The guy, who was offended by my condescending gaze, grumbled.

"No, who said I can't? If I just have the money and materials, I can make it right away according to the blueprint. If necessary, I can just modify the existing stock."

"Then why can't you?"

"It's related to the reason why I'm wandering the streets in this state."

In the end, it all comes back to that.

I sighed and nodded for him to speak.

"As you were worried, it's not that I had a mishap while carrying out a request. I had a lot of trouble while escaping."

"Escaping?"

"I had a conflict of opinion with the company that hired me. They told me to focus on golem development rather than android development, which is hard to commercialize. When I said I didn't want to, they even tried to confine and threaten me. So I saw the signs and escaped."

It was a common occurrence.

It was a world where they even hired contractors to bring down rival companies.

It was not strange at all to try to kidnap and confine an engineer and make him work.

"Considering Number 16 and Number 21, isn't the development almost finished? They told you to give up because it's difficult to commercialize?"

"Ah, those are unique. The rest were mostly disposed of within half a year at most."

"Hmm."

Considering the performance, it was a development process that would have cost an astronomical amount of capital.

It wasn't that I didn't understand the company's judgment.

"And they told me to develop golems, but I just pretended to do it right before the audit and developed them secretly. Damn it, that's why I even had them act as contractors to secretly test their performance, but to think I would get caught."

"So?"

"I escaped with just my body, so I left behind the blueprints and the stock I had made. It's a pity."

In short, it was impossible because he was broke.

"You did a stupid thing."

"I know, right? It's something they'll regret for the rest of their lives, letting go of a talent like me. They could have just negotiated and let it go, there was no need to cause such a troublesome thing..."

"If you had conveyed your intention to switch to a rival company and then backstabbed your original employer, this wouldn't have happened. You were stupid."

"Huh? Me?"

Bel blinked his eyes with a dumbfounded face.

"No, I was the one who embezzled the research funds, but it's shameless to go that far."

"If you were that conscientious, you should have just taken it."

"Uh, well, is that how it is?"

In this city, acting like that is a virtue.

As I clicked my tongue and rebuked him, Bel looked confused.

"Anyway, let's cut the crap, you're broke right now, right?"

"Right."

"And you were boasting that you could do anything?"

"Who knew it would be such a request?"

His face was red, as if he were embarrassed.

"...So, about that."

Bel scratched the back of his head and hesitated before speaking.

"I have a proposal that will satisfy both of us."

"A contract request?"

"How did you know?"

"It's obvious."

How many people have I saved from drowning only to have them ask for my belongings?

In this city, the concept of morality was a story more distant than the stars in the sky.

"Deliver the request formally through a broker."

A direct request from an individual had no credibility.

In an extreme case, it was fine even if the client ran away without paying the reward after the request was completed.

Since they hadn't gone through a broker who guaranteed credit, the contractor could not legally demand the reward, other than personally chasing them down and collecting it.

"If I did that, I'd be caught by the guys who are lying in wait and dragged away."

"I don't think you can offer a reward with your broke pockets."

"The reward will be taken care of as long as you succeed in the request. My masterpiece that I'll retrieve from there will be more than enough to cover the price of my life and the request reward."

Bel had a disappointed expression, as if he were the one at a loss.

Had he forgotten his own situation?

As if he had noticed my contemplation of just handing him over to the company, the guy hastily explained.

"I'll give you the machine I was developing last for the handyman you asked for. It's a guy that learns like a person. It'll learn whatever you ask it to do in no time."

"Didn't you say most of them are disposed of within half a year even if they're completed?"

"This one is real. I can't make it again even if you ask me to. I'm so anxious right now that those ignorant company guys might touch it as they please."

Is that so?

He was a trustworthy person in terms of ability, so it wasn't that I wasn't attracted.

"What's the company name?"

"Delight Conquem."

Now I remember.

A unicorn company that started as a golem manufacturing company and emerged as a future military company.

The protagonist who had caused that miracle was the one in front of me.

'So he was eventually kidnapped and ground down as an engineer?'

No wonder his face was so haggard and he was bald.

It all connected.

"I understand for now."

Although the reward was tempting, it wasn't something to be decided right away.

If I was lucky, I could take care of it on the side, so I had to gather information first.

"Alright, please consider it positively. I'll be in your care until then."

Bel became cheerful and shamelessly insisted.

Since his appearance was quite unpleasant, I said.

"Then pull the weeds from here to there and water them first."

"…?"

Bel, who was about to go home to rest comfortably, turned to me in confusion.

"Since you couldn't provide a worker, you'll have to work instead until then."

"…!"

Where do you think you're going to play and eat comfortably?

Bel insisted that he was not a talent to do such menial work, and he succumbed to the World Tree's show of force, which could no longer watch.

(End of Chapter)