"I came here on Zeno's orders," my voice sounded dry. "He sent me so that this village wouldn't disappear from the map. So that Dornheim would survive."
The crowd responded with a dull murmur. A tall man, clutching a bloody axe in his hand, took a tense step forward.
"Zeno? The Elder? Why should we believe you, stranger? You look like a product of the very darkness that burned our homes!"
'Damn it... thanks, old man,' I thought.
"He is telling the truth," a voice came from above.
The spirit soared above the square. Her tiny figure suddenly began to emit a light so powerful that the people involuntarily squinted.
"This iron man is the will of the one who maintains the balance. By driving him away, you drive away your hope."
The murmur subsided. They bowed their heads, unable to argue with her.
But as soon as the tension eased, I noticed that the spirit's glow began to fade. She swayed in the air.
I lunged forward, activating the skill for a fraction of a second.
Dash. Downward vector. Intercept.
I caught her just above the ground and carefully settled her on my shoulder, shielding her from the eyes of the crowd.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked quietly once we stepped into the shadow of a surviving barn.
"In this form..." she breathed heavily, clutching my jacket with her tiny fingers. "I shouldn't have used so much magic. The flow is too strong..."
"In this form?" I frowned. "There's another one?"
"This is a limiter," she smiled weakly.
"I already told you in the spiritual space, and I'll say it again: you can't come with me. You see for yourself what it leads to."
"Foolish iron man," she scoffed, though her voice was still trembling. "Time will restore me. In the meantime... you’re too interesting to abandon.
Three months passed.
Dornheim was changing.
I wasn’t good at giving inspiring speeches, but I knew how to design. Lumon became my main tool. While the residents slept, I stood in the midst of the ruins, and virtual blueprints unfolded before my eyes.
Engineering: Lumon and I calculated load vectors. I showed people where to dig the foundation so the walls could withstand a battering ram.
Logistics: we optimized every sack of grain. Zero waste. The system calculated calories and working hours.
I worked hard alongside everyone else, and sometimes did the work of five people. I hauled logs that oxen couldn't budge and forged tools that didn't dull for weeks.
The people grew accustomed to my cold presence. They were still afraid of me as before, but they began to trust my efficiency.
But there was one thing that kept bothering me.
Noah.
He helped me communicate with the people, translating my dry commands into a language they could understand. But in his free time, he did things that made me stop and watch.
He was learning to wield a sword. By himself. Every evening, as the sun set behind the forest, Noah would take a heavy training blade and practice strikes to the point of exhaustion. His movements were clumsy, but a fire burned in his eyes.
'Lumon, report on object Noah,' I ordered mentally for the hundredth time.
[Warning. Analysis unverifiable. Target signature exceeds Lumon's current computational power. Access error: 403.]
I clenched my fists.
'There's no way this weakling is stronger than me. Lumon, are you out of your mind?' I said to myself time and time again.
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