With the plan finalized, everyone quickly split up and began to act.
At the same time that the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess was enjoying himself in the Great Labyrinth City, the two Short-Eared Elf had also left the small mobile fortress.
Before leaving, the elven mage broke off a small piece of wood from the body of the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess and cast Psionic Energy Formula on it that was beyond the players' comprehension.
He then handed the small piece of wood to [ Do Some Farm Work ], instructing him that if there was any emergency, he could crush the piece of wood, and he would come to help immediately upon sensing it.
Finally, the two disappeared into the Great Labyrinth City, just like two ordinary tourists traveling there.
Before long, the [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] arrived at a machine processing and repair shop with a somewhat old-fashioned storefront.
Bang bang bang.
She pounded on the half-open door, listening intently to what was happening inside.
The only response she received was a snoring sound with an irregular rhythm.
Having roughly guessed what was inside, [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] pushed open the door and entered the repair shop's courtyard. A large number of parts and tools were scattered on the ground, seemingly following a certain pattern amidst the chaos, much like the seemingly messy "mountain of books" that most people experienced during their school days, where you could always find any book.
Following the faint, irregular snoring, [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] navigated through the messy yard and several complex pieces of machinery that had been dismantled for repairs, finally finding an old man dozing off in a recliner in the corner of the yard.
This guy looks to be around sixty years old; one arm and one eye have been replaced by machines.
Dark black grease ran along the deep furrows of his face, as if he had never washed his face since birth.
He was hunched over, curled up in a deckchair made of scrap materials, sometimes snoring, sometimes muttering something:
"Brother, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let him..."
Bang bang bang!
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] tapped on the courtyard wall beside him. Because it was covered with a layer of sheet metal, the sound was particularly clear in the afternoon.
The old man, who had been curled up in the recliner, immediately sat up like a startled toad, opening his only remaining eye as the mechanical arm made a clicking sound.
With a crisp, clear sound, a knife sprang from his robotic arm; it was a knife stained with machine oil...
screwdriver.
Okay, that fits the repairman's persona perfectly.
"Who are you? What are you here to repair?"
The old man looked the Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop scoop up and down, but did not see the expected signs of mechanical modification.
Of all the people he knew, there was only one who had never undergone mechanical modification: Gray's wife, Nora.
Now that he has met another such person, he instinctively thinks of the child he watched grow up, and a wave of sadness washes over him.
I don't fix things.
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] looked at the somewhat dilapidated sign and asked:
"Are you Fener's junior?"
"It's me."
The old mechanic looked wary, after all, his senior brother had been dead for some years, and it was unlikely that anyone would mention him normally.
"Okay, I'm here to tell you that Gray Griss and Nora Griss are still alive and on their way back to Graycast Corridor."
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] calculated the time and said:
"If all goes well, you should be able to see them both in the Great Labyrinth City within three days."
The old mechanic's face was filled with astonishment, and the layers of wrinkles on his face temporarily relaxed as a result.
"Are they still alive?"
"They're alive and well."
You're not lying to me?
[A scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] said it in a matter-of-fact tone:
"I'm from the Second Holy See, why would I lie to you?"
"They were attacked by Corpse Tide on their last trade route, and their retreat back to the Graycast Corridor was blocked, leaving them no choice but to flee to the Second Holy See."
"Now that the Corpse Tide blocking their path has been dealt with, they can naturally return."
Although he didn't know what the necessary connection was between the Second Holy See and not lying, the mechanic was already in tears, and he bowed deeply as he looked at the [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ].
"Thank you for saving those two children. Is there anything that needs fixing? Or is there anything here that you like? Feel free to take it."
No need for a thank-you gift.
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] felt this task was quite simple, so he smiled and said to the old mechanic:
"Oh, by the way, Gray and the others asked me to pass on a message to you."
What did you say?
The mechanic raised his head with anticipation.
[ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] opened the chat window with his older brother and read aloud, word by word, what the other had relayed:
"Uncle-Master, since we're not dead, quickly return the money collected at the funeral. Don't let it all go towards buying alcohol, otherwise..."
Before he could finish speaking, the Soul Returner suddenly noticed that the old mechanic's expression was a little off and his movements were somewhat suspicious, as if he was taking small, quick steps toward a corner of the courtyard.
What are you doing?
The Soul Returner tilted his head and saw, from the side of the old man's body, a pile of empty wine bottles that the old man had hidden behind him.
"Looks like I'm not going back..."
[ The Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] sighed and read aloud the last half of Gray's sentence:
"Otherwise, we'll use your goods to pay off the debt."
"No!"
Upon hearing this, the old man in front of him let out a mournful cry:
" Gray, Nora, how cruel you are! How could you, how could you come back to life!"
"I've almost run out of money, how come you guys are alive now... Waaaaah!"
Two streams of tears flowed down the old mechanic's cheeks. For a moment, the Soul Returner couldn't tell whether these tears were for the two children he had treated as his own, or for the money he could never get back as a wedding gift.
In short, after confirming that the old man's mental state was relatively good (though this was questionable), [ Vanilla Ice Cream Scoop ] left the yard with a sigh of relief, and also bought a few metal parts as a small gift for the King of Fall Resistance, I Guess.
On the other hand, the [ Do Some Farm Work ] is not progressing very smoothly.
To be precise, his task was stuck at the first step --
How to revive Gray.
The resurrection here is not a resurrection in the literal sense, but rather how to bring a couple who have died and whose files have been sealed back to life in a social sense by going through the normal procedures in the Great Labyrinth City.
While this has indeed happened more than once in the past eighty years, none have been as troublesome as today.
The reason is simple: Gray is still driving here.
The staff at the Great Labyrinth City, with great professionalism, stated --
We will absolutely not approve his resurrection without seeing Gray himself.
Clearly, to participate in the election of the Grand Foundry Master, one must be a living person.
And so the whole thing got stuck at the first step.