Chapter 6: Almost Went to Jail
"Anyway, you guys should just start over."
Seeing Babbage's form becoming more and more excessive, Tristan hurriedly offered advice.
"How could we?!" Eikou protested passionately, "I worked so damn hard to create Big Sister 2B, how can you just tell me to start over like it's nothing? Wouldn't that make all our efforts go to waste?"
"Sir Eikou... So you finally admit you did it on purpose. Though I really like Babbage-sensei's new look, that's not what we were aiming for in the first place."
"Hard to argue with that..."
"Babbage-sensei could wake up at any moment. Next time, you must rebuild him properly and restore him to his original form," Tristan said seriously. "I'm truly counting on you guys."
"Even if you say that…"
Eikou glanced at Babbage's current form, suddenly looking troubled.
"To be honest, do either of you still remember what Babbage-sensei originally looked like…?"
"I've completely forgotten already," Gawain said regretfully.
The three of them fell into an awkward silence.
After all the edits and modifications through multiple versions, their original impression of Babbage had long since been distorted.
"I think I still remember a bit…" Tristan cautiously spoke up. "To start with, Babbage-sensei's design leaned toward dark gray colors. Under special circumstances, he could even transform into a steam locomotive (Summer Event)."
"You mean, if we use the shape and structure of a black steam locomotive as reference for the redesign, we might be able to recreate something close to his original appearance?" Eikou asked seriously.
"Exactly."
"Steam locomotive, huh…" He nodded thoughtfully. "I think I get it now. Let's get to work. Gawain, I think I know how to fix it."
"Following your lead," Gawain replied.
The two of them once again carried Babbage back into the workshop.
Hearing the sounds of banging and hammering from the workshop, Tristan suddenly had a very bad feeling.
About thirty minutes later,
The two carried out a freshly completed, brand-new version of Babbage.
"Phew, that was hard work." Eikou said with arms crossed. "This is the 'steam locomotive' you wanted. No need to thank us."
"This is the hottest model of locomotive from recent years, please take a look," Gawain chimed in.
"It is a steam locomotive… but this version is even worse than the last one. This thing isn't even a robot anymore. What the hell are you two even doing? Are you seriously trying to screw me over?"
Eikou shook his head heavily and said, "To be honest, we had our own difficulties this time too. Not enough materials, not enough experience, and the steam locomotive structure you wanted was way too complicated, so we had to compromise with this."
"What you made is clearly a hundred times more complicated than a normal steam locomotive. Seriously… this is just depressing…"
Tristan let out a deep sigh, sorrow practically spilling out from his eyebrows.
"Sigh, I really shouldn't have expected you guys to finish this. I better handle it myself." He strummed a tragic tune on his harp. "This is a battle where we're allowed to succeed, but not allowed to fail—otherwise, we're all going to jail."
"You're the only one going to jail."
Eikou and Gawain said in unison.
"Ah, I…"
"Stop playing the harp, Tristan, we're just messing with you," Eikou said with a smile. "No way we'd let a friend go to jail. Come on, this time the three of us will work together. We will reconstruct Babbage-sensei properly and earn his forgiveness!"
"Exactly, Sir Tristan is also an important member of the Round Table,"
Gawain added, getting emotional.
The three of them once again carried Babbage-sensei into the workshop.
"We don't have much material left, so this really is the final fix. There's no room for mistakes this time. So the three of us must give it our all and give Babbage-sensei the answer he deserves."
[You used Hero Creation E]
[Gawain's strength is temporarily enhanced.]
[You used Protection of the Lake E]
[Gawain and Tristan's stats are both temporarily enhanced.]
"Phew..."
Eikou had poured out every skill he could use—whether they would succeed this time now depended solely on fate.
He quietly pulled out a wrench, while Tristan handed Gawain the electric welding tool and a safety mask.
"Let's begin."
[The three of you put your full strength into the workshop, aiming to restore Babbage-sensei to his original state.]
[Please perform two consecutive checks: a Luck Check and a Endurance Check.]
[Endurance Check: D – Success.]
[Luck Check: E – Great Success!]
"What the hell, a great success again?!"
[At the crucial moment in the restoration process, a sudden surge of inspiration hits you. Not only do you instinctively grasp the mechanics of assembly, but you even recall the original appearance of Charles Babbage. You perform far beyond expectations—the restoration proceeds incredibly smoothly, and within half an hour, Babbage-sensei is fully restored!]
[You have acquired the skill "Steam B".]
[You've gained a fresh perspective on the field of Steam Engineering, greatly enhancing your performance in future exams and crafting assignments.]
It was completely finished.
They even learned a new skill.
The three of them stood like survivors of a disaster, staring in disbelief at the newly completed Charles Babbage.
"I can't believe it… We really did it."
"This version of Babbage… it's unbelievably perfect. We've truly recreated his original form exactly," Eikou said in awe.
Tristan rubbed his eyes, not believing what he saw, "…But I thought Babbage-sensei didn't look like this?"
"Your eyes are too damn small, you never look at people properly." Eikou pointed at Babbage's current form. "This is obviously Babbage-sensei's true form—1:1 replica, pixel-perfect restoration. Back me up here, Gawain?"
"Ha ha, Sir Tristan is just being overly cautious," Gawain said confidently. "I swear on my holy sword—this is absolutely the original form of Babbage-sensei!"
"Shame on you, Tristan. You don't even know what our teacher looks like? Don't talk to us anymore."
"Uh, well, but…"
Tristan kept staring at Babbage-sensei's current form.
"Did he really used to look like this...?"
...
[Some time later, police received a report and arrived at the scene. They immediately transported the unconscious Babbage-sensei to the repair center. After hearing the full story, they took you to the Chaldea police station.]
[In front of the officers, you and Gawain argued forcefully, insisting that if someone had to be arrested, it should be Tristan alone—why drag the two of you into this? But the police stated that all of you had altered someone's appearance without their consent, and that this was extremely serious.]
"I still don't think we did anything wrong."
In the interrogation room, Eikou declared righteously.
His stance: act with a clear conscience.
"Officer, you may accuse us of negligence causing harm, or say we handled things improperly. But how can you baselessly claim we altered someone's appearance without permission? We simply used the most professional and precise mechanical techniques to restore Babbage-sensei's form."
Faced with this, the officer could only sigh helplessly.
"What can I say… do you guys really think you didn't do anything wrong?" he asked.
"Officer, I firmly believe there's nothing wrong with our actions!"
Gawain suddenly stood up like a defense attorney making a dramatic final argument. At 1.8 meters tall, his presence startled the officer across the table.
"For this matter alone, I swear upon my holy sword—we strictly and faithfully reconstructed the most accurate, most authentic image of our teacher. As far as I'm concerned, 'Charles Babbage is supposed to look like this'! Anyone who sees his current form would say this is truly the real Babbage-sensei!"
"But," the officer zeroed in on the key point, "that's the problem—you guys took the restoration way too seriously! If this counts as restoration, it's just way too... realistic!"