Capturing the bandits took less than half an hour, but repairing Tower Three took the entire afternoon.
The wiring inside the tower had been torn apart, and the positioning dial had been installed backward twice. The technician sat on the floor, reconnecting the Magic Crystal as he earnestly asked whether the bandits could also be sentenced for damaging the signal tower.
"That should be possible," Macao said.
"How much longer could they get?"
"Depends on whether the judge has ever repaired a signal tower."
At dusk, the third blue pillar of light finally crossed the canyon, connecting with the first two towers.
Lin Yuan stood atop the tower and looked into the distance. The four remaining towers were scattered along more distant ridges, and Tower Six was almost hidden beneath the clouds. Following the roads on the map to each one would take at least another ten days.
"Which route should we take?" Macao asked.
The technician instinctively looked at him.
But Macao sat down on the stone steps and lit his pipe. "Don't look at me. He's in charge of the arrangements from now on."
Lin Yuan unfolded the map and noted the distance between each tower and the next, then asked how much repair material remained.
"Tower Five first, then back to Tower Four."
"Five is farther away," the technician pointed out.
"But it's the highest. Once it's repaired, I can use it as a coordinate to send the materials to the other three towers."
Macao offered no opinion. He simply stood and brushed off his clothes. "Then let's go."
The three of them didn't return to the canyon entrance, instead setting up a temporary camp in the mountains. Early the next morning, Lin Yuan first sent the technician across a stretch of broken cliff, then folded the wooden crates full of parts across the mountain road.
Using spatial magic repeatedly demanded more precision than he had imagined.
A person could adjust their landing position on their own, but the Magic Crystals in the crates couldn't. After the first transfer, all the bolts rolled to one side. After the second, the technician opened a crate to find a wrench wedged between two crystals, and it took him a long time to pull it free.
"At least nothing broke," Lin Yuan said.
"Why do you sound a little disappointed?"
"He might be calculating the compensation," Macao said.
Before the third transfer, Lin Yuan extended his spatial perception inside the crates as well. Instead of moving only the crates, he kept every tool and part inside at its original distance from the others.
When the crates landed, even the screw on top didn't roll.
The technician was silent for a moment. "Transportation companies might all end up hating you."
Using the coordinate established at Tower Five, they made much faster progress afterward.
On the fourth day, Tower Four was back in operation.
On the sixth day, Tower Six lit up again.
Early on the seventh day, the three arrived at the last tower. The technician had just opened the circuit board when a low rumble of thunder came from above the canyon.
The true wind season had arrived.
Dark clouds pressed in along the mountains, and sand and stones swept up by the gale struck the tower like rain. The bandits had already damaged Tower Seven's foundation, and before the securing bolts could be replaced, the entire tower began to tilt toward the cliff.
Lin Yuan immediately held the distance between the tower and the ground in place.
The stone tower stopped just before it fell, but it didn't stand upright again. Relentless winds pressed in from every direction, and whenever he corrected one section of space, another shift appeared on the other side.
"I'll block the wind!" Macao raised his hand.
"No." Lin Yuan stared at the tower. "Burn the sand and stones in the wind. Don't let them damage the crystal."
Macao glanced at him, then turned and spewed out a broad swath of violet flames. The fire spiraled around the tower, burning the incoming stones to fine ash, but it did nothing to relieve the pressure on Lin Yuan as he held the stone tower in place.
The technician lay beside the tower's foundation. "Three more minutes!"
A bolt of lightning struck a distant peak, shaking the ground violently.
Lin Yuan suddenly released his hold on the stone tower.
"What are you doing?"
"The wind keeps changing, but the tower's position won't."
Black-and-silver magical power sank into the ground.
He stopped fighting the entire storm and instead fixed the distance between the space around the stone tower and its original coordinates. No matter which way the gale pushed the tower, any displacement would be folded back to its original position.
The leaning tower jerked to a halt, then slowly straightened.
"Done!"
The technician tightened the last securing bolt, then rushed into the tower and connected the wiring. A blue pillar of light pierced the dark clouds, reaching the distant Tower Six with perfect accuracy.
Immediately afterward, the sixth, fifth, and fourth lights responded in turn.
All seven signal towers had finally been restored.
On the way back, the administrator placed three stamps on their proof of completion: repaired wiring, assisted in the capture, and recovered the stolen goods.
They had completed the commission, originally scheduled for twenty days, in just nine.
After they returned to Magnolia, Makarov carefully examined the records, but his first question was still, "How much did you have to compensate them for?"
"One repair crystal," Macao said.
"How did it break?"
"I lost it to the technician in a card game, and he took it."
"That's not compensation!"
The familiar roar instantly brought the Guild to life.
Mira hadn't finished her mission yet, but Laxus had already added two completion stamps to the logbook. He glanced at the three proofs in Lin Yuan's hand without a word, then slapped the next commission he had just taken down onto the counter.
Lin Yuan also walked toward the mission board.
Macao called him to a stop and handed Makarov his evaluation of Lin Yuan's leadership on the mission.
There was no lengthy explanation on the paper, just one sentence.
After reading it, Makarov looked up at Lin Yuan.
"For your next A-rank mission, you won't need a veteran member to accompany you."
Macao puffed out a mouthful of smoke and added his assessment with a smile.
"You can lead your own team now."