"All in all, my Lords, you must melt him down and start over."
Seeing Babbage's appearance grow more and more ridiculous, Tristan quickly urged.
"How can we do that!" Ei protested, excited. "I finally managed to build Miss 2B! How can you tell us to melt her down? Wouldn't that mean all our hard work was for nothing?"
"Sir Ei... you finally admit you did this intentionally. While I appreciate Teacher Babbage's new form, that was not our objective at all."
"Hiss, I can't argue with that..."
"Teacher Babbage could wake up at any moment. Next time, we absolutely must rebuild him properly, returning him to his original appearance," Tristan said earnestly. "I'm genuinely begging you both."
"Even if you say that..."
Ei looked at Babbage's current form, suddenly facing a dilemma.
"By the way, do either of you actually remember what Teacher Babbage originally looked like...?"
"I've completely forgotten too," Sir Gawain said regretfully.
The three fell into an awkward silence.
After repeatedly modifying him in several versions, their original impression of Babbage was entirely gone.
"I think I still have a faint impression..." Tristan cautiously began. "First, Teacher Babbage's body is closer to a dark gray, and in certain situations, he can transform into a locomotive (Summer Event II)."
"Sir Tristan means that if we reference the appearance and structure of a black locomotive for the redesign, we might be able to get close to his original look?" Ei asked seriously.
"Precisely."
"A locomotive, huh..." He nodded thoughtfully: "I think I understand. Let's do this, Sir Gawain, I think I know how to modify him."
"I'll follow your lead," Gawain replied.
The two once again carried Babbage back into the manufacturing workshop.
Listening to the sounds of hammering and clanging from inside, Tristan suddenly felt a terrible premonition.
About half an hour later, the two emerged again, carrying the newly 'manufactured' Babbage.
"Phew, that was exhausting," Ei said, crossing his arms. "Here is the 'locomotive' you wanted. You're welcome."
"This is the most popular style of locomotive in recent years. Behold," Gawain seconded.
"It is certainly a locomotive, yes... but this is even more preposterous than the last version! This isn't even a robot anymore. My Lords, what are you doing? Are you trying to drag me into a deeper pit?"
Ei shook his head heavily and said, "We had our reasons this time. We lacked materials and experience, and the structure of the locomotive you requested was too complex, so we compromised."
"What you built is clearly a hundred times more complex than a standard locomotive! Alas, this makes me incredibly sad..."
Tristan sighed deeply, his sorrow practically overflowing.
"Oh, I shouldn't have relied on you two to get this done. I'll take over myself." He plucked a tragic chord on his instrument. "This is a battle where failure is not an option, or we're all going to jail."
"Only you are going to jail."
The two said in unison.
"Ah, I..."
"Stop playing the lyre, Sir Tristan, we're just kidding." Ei smiled. "How could we let a friend go to jail? Come on, this time, the three of us will work together to put Teacher Babbage back together perfectly and earn his forgiveness!"
"Exactly. Sir Tristan is an important member of our Round Table as well," Gawain echoed sincerely.
The three carried Teacher Babbage into the workshop one more time.
"We don't have much material left, so this truly must be the final attempt. There's no room for error this time, so the three of us must do our utmost to give Babbage a satisfactory result."
[You used Hero Creation E]
[Gawain's Strength is temporarily boosted.]
[You used Protection of the Lake E]
[Gawain and Tristan's overall attributes are temporarily boosted.]
"Hoo..."
Ei had used up every skill he could. Success now depended on fate.
He silently picked up a wrench, and Tristan handed Sir Gawain the welding Noble Phantasm and a safety mask.
"Let's begin."
[The three of you pulled out all the stops in the workshop to restore Teacher Babbage to his original state.]
[Please pass two consecutive checks: a Luck Check and an Endurance Check.]
[Endurance Check D, succeeded.]
[Luck Check E, GREAT SUCCESS!]
"What? A Great Success?"
[Just at the critical moment of Babbage's restoration, inspiration struck. You suddenly mastered the principles of machine assembly without instruction and finally recalled Charles Babbage's true original appearance. You performed miraculously, and the repair process went incredibly smoothly. Babbage was fully repaired in less than half an hour!]
[You learned "Steam B"]
[You have gained new insight into the field of Steam-based technology, which will prove beneficial in future exams and manual projects.]
He was perfectly repaired.
He even learned a new skill.
The three of them stared at the newly manufactured Charles Babbage as if they'd been reborn.
"I can't believe we actually did it."
"The Babbage model we built this time is simply perfect. This is a truly perfect replica of his original appearance," Ei exclaimed.
Tristan rubbed his eyes in disbelief. "...But, I seem to recall Teacher Babbage not looking like this?"
"You must have poor eyesight and don't pay attention to people," he said, pointing at Babbage's current form. "This is clearly Teacher Babbage himself! A one-to-one replica, pixel-level perfect restoration! What do you say, Gawain?"
"Haha, Sir Tristan is clearly overthinking this," Gawain said confidently. "I swear on my Holy Sword that this is absolutely Teacher Babbage's original form!"
"How embarrassing, Sir Tristan! You don't even know what your teacher looks like. Don't talk to us anymore."
"Um, ah, but..."
Tristan looked at Teacher Babbage's current appearance.
"Did he really look like this before?"
...
[After a while, the police arrived after receiving a report. They first took the unconscious Teacher Babbage to the repair bay, and after hearing the details of the situation, they brought you to the Chaldea Police Department.]
[In front of the police, you and Gawain argued vehemently that only Tristan should be arrested, asking why the two of you were being implicated. The officer, however, stated that attempting to perform unauthorized cosmetic surgery and altering someone's appearance is a very serious offense.]
"I still maintain that we did nothing wrong."
In the interrogation room, Ei said righteously.
He was primarily focused on having a clear conscience.
"Officer, you can accuse us of accidentally injuring someone, or of mishandling several things. But how can you fabricate a crime by saying we altered someone's appearance without permission? We merely used the most professional and meticulous mechanical techniques to restore Teacher Babbage's form."
The officer merely sighed helplessly.
"How do I put this... do you genuinely believe you did nothing wrong?" he asked.
"Officer, I believe our actions were completely appropriate!"
Gawain abruptly stood up, taking the stance of a debate opponent entering the ring. His six-foot muscular physique caused the officer on the other side to flinch.
"On this one matter, I can guarantee with my Holy Sword that we conducted a precise and rigorous restoration based on his truest appearance. If you ask me, 'Charles Babbage should look exactly like this.' Anyone who sees his current form would say he is Babbage himself!"
"But," the officer latched onto that word, "that's the problem! You restored him a little too rigorously, didn't you? It's too three-dimensional!"