Chapter 64: Chapter 64: Jon’s Little Artisan Class, Item Acquired

"Alright."

Jon, of course, had no idea what kind of internal struggle the girl had just gone through. He just wanted to finish the mission as quickly as possible, get the experience reward, and claim that Spellbook.

So, he picked up a loosely connected, sickle-shaped limb from the floor and fiddled with it a couple of times, like a teacher inspecting a student’s homework.

"Why is there only one drive shaft in the leg joint, but three tuning gears? With a structure like this, how do you expect to control the Mechanical Body’s standing and movement?"

"Ah..."

The black-haired girl clearly hadn’t expected the knowledge exchange proposed by Jon to start so suddenly. She thought she would have to offer her side of the bargain first!

’But... this style of just diving right in... so cool!’

It perfectly matched the image of a veteran artisan she had in her mind!

After this flight of fancy, Esra’s gaze toward Jon now clearly held a newfound admiration.

She scrambled to pull her notebook out from under the counter, then cautiously sidled closer and explained in a low voice.

"I... I was thinking..."

"If I combine the three tuning gears like this, the leg joint’s range of motion should increase from 45 degrees to nearly 85 degrees... A change like that shouldn’t have too much of an impact, right?"

Jon nodded, not immediately refuting Esra’s point.

"From a purely theoretical standpoint, you’re correct. But we are artisans, and we focus on practical application. Every modification needs to be made with the whole system in mind."

He stuck out his pinky and pushed one of the three gears upward.

Instantly, the entire leg joint locked up!

"See? If the weight of the main Mechanical Body were pressing down on a leg like this, would your three-gear structure still function effectively? And without any cushioning in the leg joint, could it even support the Mechanical Body to stand properly?"

Watching this, the black-haired girl was rendered speechless.

"So... that’s how it is..."

She looked down at her notebook, filled with a whole page of calculations, feeling a little discouraged.

"I... I didn’t consider any of that..."

But Jon paid no mind to her dejection, continuing his critique like a serious and responsible teacher.

"Don’t be disheartened. The fact that you could even think of a modification like this shows that you’re thinking for yourself during the construction process. You’re just lacking some necessary knowledge."

"Bring me a drive shaft and two figure-eight clasps."

"Ah... Right away!"

His serious, matter-of-fact tone made Esra subconsciously straighten up. She turned, rummaged through her toolbox for the items Jon had asked for, and handed them to him.

Jon accepted them without ceremony and immediately began assembling them for a demonstration.

"Watch closely. This is how a real three-gear structure achieves a wide angle of rotation while maintaining structural stability—"

Just like that, Jon quickly went over several key structures of the prototype [Primitive Walker I] for Esra, making a few demonstrations with the engineering components on hand. All of this left the artisan girl, who had never received any systematic training, in a state of giddy euphoria.

She ravenously recorded every word Jon spoke and every structure he demonstrated in her notebook.

And her earnest attitude made Jon feel compelled to explain a little more.

After all, everyone has a bit of a desire to show off their expertise in a field they excel at.

Besides...

’This kid... maybe I can recruit her to work for me...’

This thought only popped into Jon’s head after he saw how seriously Esra was taking her studies.

To build a faction, you need talented people.

And compared to established, skilled workers, Jon preferred to use his own knowledge of Engineering to train people from scratch.

This would ensure their loyalty and allow him to shape them into the kind of talent he needed. They would be much easier to work with that way.

However, building a faction was still in the planning stages, so there was no rush.

And Jon was quite sure he had made an excellent first impression on Esra.

He just had to look at the mission summary to know it!

——

[Knowledge Exchange (Ordinary · Random Mission), Complete]

[Your vast and profound knowledge of Engineering has thoroughly impressed the novice artisan. She is extremely grateful for the knowledge you have shared.]

[Completion Grade: S, reward multiplier 6.0x]

[Reward: 2,400 Universal Experience Points (400 base x 6.0)]

[You may now select any one book from Old Man Quer’s collection.]

——

’Heh, an S-rank completion. That’s pretty rare...’

Following a memory, Jon pulled a cowhide-bound notebook from a small bookshelf in the corner of the shop. After confirming it was the right one, he tucked it into the inner pocket of his cloak, then waved at the black-haired girl who was diligently studying the engineering components.

"Esra, I’m leaving!"

The girl, who was wearing an Engineering Observation Mirror and carefully studying the structure of the parts, looked up and shook her head in a bit of a daze. Then, she stood up and gave a very serious bow to the empty air next to Jon.

"Thank you, Teacher Jon! I will definitely treasure the knowledge you’ve given me and study hard!"

Her attitude couldn’t be called anything but respectful.

It’s just that... ’Kid, your nearsightedness is really bad. You should go to a church and get it checked out...’

Jon’s expression was complicated. He said nothing more and turned to leave.

The small bookshop returned to silence, with only the faint SCRAPING sounds of the girl fiddling with the engineering components and the crackling of the fireplace quietly drifting through the air.

An unknown amount of time passed. Just as the various parts before her started to form the rough shape of a four-legged Mechanical Body, a few coughs came from outside the door.

But it was as if Esra didn’t hear, still completely immersed in her own world of research.

Finally, the person outside seemed to grow impatient and gave the door a heavy shove.

The bookstore’s wooden latch was not very sturdy to begin with. Pushed with such force, the door flew wide open. A swirl of wind and snow instantly flooded the shop, blasting the girl behind the counter in the face and making her jump to her feet.

After she dishevelledly took off the Observation Mirror and put her thick glasses back on, she finally saw who had arrived. She lowered her head, somewhat embarrassed, and stammered.

"Grand... Grandpa... you’re back!"

"Hmph! I ask you to watch the shop, and this is how you do it? All day long, all you do is mess with that junk of yours! Wouldn’t it be better to read some proper books?"

The short, thin old man fumed, but when he saw his granddaughter with her head down, wearing an expression that said ’hit me or scold me all you want, I’m not going to change,’ he felt a bit defeated himself.

"Look at you! Come here and close the door!"

"Hehe..."

Esra knew she had successfully played cute and gotten away with it again. She immediately reverted to her usual self, came out from behind the counter, and helped her grandfather close the wind-blown door.

In the process, Old Man Quer asked casually.

"Did any customers come by today?"

"Yes."

The black-haired girl nodded honestly and told him that "a senior artisan" had visited.

Naturally, this set the short-tempered little old man off again.

He irritably rapped his silly granddaughter on the head and said, his voice full of disappointment.

"You silly girl, you got scammed and didn’t even realize it! How could you give a book to someone who didn’t pass the test!"

Esra knew she had broken the rule her grandfather had set, but she couldn’t help but retort.

"But... but the knowledge Mr. Jon gave me was really incredible... I think it was well worth it..."

"You dare talk back?! It’s bad enough you don’t watch the shop properly, but you don’t even follow the testing procedure!"

"My Lord Piero above! Just you watch how I deal with you!"

The black-haired girl immediately covered her head and scurried away like a mouse.

"Ow! Grandpa, stop hitting me!"

As always, the grandfather and granddaughter were a lively, cheerful pair.

Meanwhile, back at the Golden Maple Leaf Trading House, Jon was also in a very good mood.

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