Last Gun Alchemist

"Oh..."

Blake finally stopped praising Ezra.

He rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed smile before suddenly remembering something else.

"Gwen told me your maid is her best friend."

His eyes shifted toward Lucy.

"Yes."

Lucy replied instead of her master with a gentle nod.

Blake smiled.

"That’s honestly amazing."

He spoke with genuine admiration.

"Who would’ve thought that on the very day you came to Cryden Town...you would meet your long-lost friend just like that."

He lightly laughed.

"It really feels like fate."

His bright smile carried no hidden meaning.

He was simply happy for the two girls.

Lucy smiled back politely.

"If I may ask, Young Noble..."

She had barely begun speaking...

"Please."

Blake quickly waved both hands.

"Call me Blake."

His smile widened.

"A friend of Gwen is a friend of mine."

He confidently gave Lucy a thumbs-up.

Lucy blinked once before smiling helplessly.

"Alright... Sir Blake."

From the side...

Ezra quietly watched the exchange.

His blank black eyes rested on Blake for a brief moment.

...He really reminds me of Veda.

The thought naturally surfaced inside his mind.

Both of them possessed the same cheerful personality.

The same straightforward nature.

The same habit of treating people sincerely without caring much about status.

The only difference...

Was that Blake’s excitement showed itself much more openly and unrestrained, while Veda had an elegant way of showing his excitement.

Ezra silently shifted his gaze away.

His attention landed on the building standing a short distance ahead.

Calling it a workshop...

Would have been somewhat generous.

Originally...

It had clearly been nothing more than an ordinary storage building.

Wooden walls.

A simple roof.

Small windows that allowed only enough light to work during the day.

After Blake had decided to become an inventor...

The room had gradually transformed into his personal workshop.

"Sir Blake... if I may ask, where’s Gwen?"

Lucy asked while looking around.

Blake turned toward the building and pointed ahead.

"Oh. She should be inside."

He scratched his cheek.

"I asked her to help me organize everything."

He laughed awkwardly.

"The place is... well...kind of a mess."

"I can imagine."

Lucy smiled knowingly.

The three of them continued walking across the snowy path.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Their footsteps left clear marks behind them as the fresh snow compressed beneath their shoes.

Just as they reached the entrance...

The wooden door opened.

Gwen carefully stepped outside carrying a medium-sized cardboard box filled with crumpled papers, broken wooden pieces, and various scraps she had gathered while cleaning.

The box looked surprisingly heavy.

She adjusted her grip before noticing the people standing outside.

"Lucy!"

Her tired expression immediately brightened.

She quickly placed the box on the ground before dusting both hands with a small handkerchief tucked neatly into the waistband of her maid uniform.

The cloth had already become slightly dirty from all the cleaning.

"Good morning, Gwen."

Lucy happily waved before walking over.

"I still can’t believe it."

Gwen pouted slightly.

"My girl’s master is actually the Ezra Ashenlocke I’ve been talking about..."

She crossed both arms.

"And you never told me."

Lucy couldn’t help laughing.

"Hahaha. Of course, I couldn’t."

She smiled apologetically.

"My Master wanted to keep his identity hidden at that time."

She gently placed one hand over her chest.

"So, as his maid...It is my responsibility to respect that."

Gwen puffed her cheeks.

"Whatever."

She looked away dramatically.

"I’m still annoyed."

Even so...

A smile quietly appeared at the corner of her lips.

She bent down, lifted the cardboard box once more, and walked toward the nearby waste container.

"Wait for me."

Lucy immediately followed after her.

The two girls naturally began chatting as though they had never been separated for years.

Their laughter occasionally echoed across the snowy courtyard.

Blake watched the scene with a warm smile.

"They really are good friends."

He slowly waved one hand in front of his face as though fanning himself.

"I always feel emotional whenever I see moments like this."

He quietly sighed before looking toward Ezra.

His smile gradually froze.

Ezra...

Didn’t appear moved in the slightest.

His attention had already shifted somewhere else.

"..."

Blake awkwardly coughed.

"Well..."

He quickly changed the subject.

"Let me show you my work."

Without wasting another second...

He hurried inside the workshop.

Ezra calmly followed behind him.

The moment he stepped inside...

His eyes quietly swept across the room.

Compared to his own workshop...

This place looked extremely simple.

A single sturdy workbench occupied the center.

Several wooden shelves stood against the walls.

Most of them were filled with rolled blueprints, notebooks, scattered tools, bolts, gears, measuring rulers, and small metal components.

The floor had scratches everywhere from constant experimenting.

The air carried the faint smell of wood dust mixed with machine oil.

Although Blake proudly called it a workshop...

Many essential crafting tools were missing.

There were no advanced forging equipment.

No precision cutting machines.

No proper mold-casting stations.

No Steam powered Furnace

Only ordinary hand tools remained neatly...or rather, half-neatly...arranged around the room.

Still...

Ezra wasn’t surprised.

Considering House Wellston’s financial condition...

Having a place like this was already impressive.

"Please have a seat."

Blake quickly wiped the worktable with a cloth before pointing toward a nearby chair.

"I’ll bring out the design I want you to see."

He immediately hurried toward several large wooden boxes stacked in one corner.

Each box contained dozens of tightly rolled design sheets.

He enthusiastically searched through them.

Meanwhile...

Ezra quietly sat down.

Lucy and Gwen soon entered as well.

The two girls continued chatting softly while Gwen occasionally glanced toward the mess Blake was creating.

"Young Master Blake..."

She slowly placed both hands on her waist.

A helpless smile appeared on her face.

"I just finished organizing everything."

Blake didn’t even hear her.

He continued digging through the mountain of rolled papers.

"Found it!"

He suddenly shouted happily.

Holding one rolled sheet high above his head like a treasured relic...

He proudly turned around.

Only then...

Did he notice Gwen staring directly at him.

His smile immediately stiffened.

His eyes slowly lowered toward the floor.

Papers...

Blueprints...

And notebooks now covered nearly every part of the workshop again.

"..."

"I’m sorry."

He quickly crouched down.

Without another word...

He hurriedly gathered every scattered sheet before stuffing them back into the storage box.

Only after cleaning the area did he walk toward the workbench.

He carefully unrolled one large blueprint.

"There."

He took a small step back.

"This..."

He looked nervously toward Ezra.

"...is the invention I hope will amaze you."

A weak smile appeared on his face.

"Although..."

He awkwardly laughed.

"I’m sure it won’t surprise an incredible inventor like you."

He scratched his cheek.

"But...I still hope you’ll like it."

Ezra quietly lowered his eyes toward the blueprint.

Lucy leaned closer with curiosity from behind the chair Ezra her master sat on.

Since Ezra himself had acknowledged Blake’s potential...

She had unknowingly raised her expectations.

Several seconds passed.

Then...

"What is this?"

Lucy blurted out.

Confusion completely covered her face.

Blake’s shoulders immediately slumped.

His expression visibly darkened.

He instinctively assumed she disliked his invention.

Seeing his reaction...

Gwen frowned.

"Lucy."

She folded her arms.

"Let the expert evaluate it first."

Lucy quickly shook both hands.

"No."

She looked back toward the drawing.

"I’m not saying it’s bad. I just honestly don’t understand what I’m looking at."

She tilted her head again.

"The shape feels familiar... like a vehicle, but also strange."

Blake nervously looked toward Ezra.

"You..."

He hesitated.

"...don’t think it’s terrible?"

Lucy quietly waited as well for her master’s own thoughts on the invention.

Only Ezra remained calm and expressionless as usual.

After studying the blueprint for another moment...

He finally spoke.

"This..."

He lightly tapped the center of the drawing.

"...is a bicycle."

His finger slowly moved toward another section.

"With a steam engine."

He raised his eyes toward Blake.

"Correct?"

Blake’s entire face brightened.

"Yes!"

He almost shouted.

Lucy immediately looked between the blueprint and Blake several times.

"Wait..."

She blinked several times in disbelief.

"This is actually supposed to be a bicycle?"

Her surprise was completely understandable.

When she first looked at Blake’s blueprint, the exterior didn’t resemble a bicycle at all. Instead, it looked more like a miniature steam carriage, almost the same size as the compact steam carriages that traveled around the Ashenlocke Estate.

In Britannia...

A bicycle was simply a two-wheeled means of land transportation.

Its design wasn’t very different from the early bicycles of Ezra’s previous life’s world.

The frame was mostly wooden, with metal used only on important supporting parts. It looked old-fashioned and required the rider to constantly push the pedals with both legs to keep the wheels turning.

Because of that...

The nobles of Britannia looked down on bicycles.

Even wealthy merchants and high-class citizens rarely rode them.

To them, manually pedaling a vehicle looked inelegant and exhausting.

Only the middle-class citizens still used bicycles regularly, mainly because they were affordable compared to steam-powered transportation.

Even then...

The bicycle industry had been declining year after year, since it lack much usage.

People still preferred paying for Horse carriage cabs instead of riding the bicycle.

Ezra already knew all of this.

He had spent countless hours reading books on Britannia’s transportation systems while studying.

Lucy leaned forward once more, carefully studying Blake’s drawing.

"Now that I’m looking at the wheels..."

She pointed toward the blueprint.

"...it’s obviously a two-wheeled vehicle, so it really is a bicycle."

Her eyes slowly moved across the rest of the design.

"But..."

She frowned thoughtfully.

"Even someone like me can tell this doesn’t fully show the kind of bicycle upgrade you’re trying to create."

Her tone unconsciously became much more professional.

Ever since she had spent time watching Ezra discuss inventions with the members of the BNC Group during the auction preparations...

She had gradually learned a little about craftsmanship.

Not enough to become an inventor.

But enough to understand basic concepts and ask reasonable questions.

Blake awkwardly laughed.

"I know..."

He scratched the back of his head.

"It looks pretty bad. My biggest problem is the steam engine."

He walked over to the blueprint and pointed toward the rough sketch attached to the bicycle’s frame.

"I kept wondering...how I could fit something this large into such a small body."

He sighed helplessly.

"No matter how many times I redesigned it...I couldn’t find a proper layout."

The frustration in his voice was genuine.

Before anyone could reply...

He suddenly ran back toward the wooden storage boxes.

He quickly pulled out another stack of rolled design sheets.

Several of them slipped from his arms and scattered across the floor.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Papers spread in every direction.

"...Ah."

Blake froze for a second.

Gwen immediately pinched the bridge of her nose.

A helpless sigh escaped her lips.

Without saying anything...

She quietly walked over, crouched down and began gathering the scattered blueprints again.

At this point...

She had already become used to cleaning up after her young master.

"I also thought..."

Blake continued while hurriedly unrolling another sheet.

"...maybe I should reduce the size of the steam engine itself."

One blueprint after another covered the worktable.

Each contained different attempts at redesigning the engine.

Some focused on shrinking the combustion chamber.

Others experimented with reducing the Crytalix steam chamber.

Several explored different layouts for the steam piping and also the number of Novarite Rod in the engine.

Lucy stared at them in surprise.

"There are so many..."

She quietly muttered.

Ezra remained silent.

His blank eyes slowly moved across every single drawing.

One...

After another...

He carefully examined each design.

Not once did he rush.

His expression never changed.

Yet...

Inside his mind...

A different conclusion had already formed.

I knew it.

This guy really is talented.

His black eyes slowly lifted from the blueprints.

They settled on Blake.

The young inventor stood nervously beside the table.

Both hands were tightly clasped together.

He looked as though he were waiting for the final judgment that would decide his future.

Ezra finally spoke.

"You mentally dismantled an entire steam engine."

His calm voice filled the quiet workshop.

"Then...You tried redesigning it into a miniature version."

He placed one of the blueprints back onto the table.

"That’s an impressive photographic memory you got."

He looked directly at Blake.

"And... A creative way of thinking too."

The praise came in the same flat tone as always.

Yet...

Those few words alone made Blake’s eyes light up.

"Rea..."

He excitedly opened his mouth.

Before he could finish...

Ezra continued.

"I noticed something."

He picked up another blueprint.

"You spent a lot of time reducing the number of Novarite Rods."

His finger lightly tapped another section.

"You also redesigned the Crytalix steam chamber."

He calmly looked back at Blake.

"But...Did you stop there?"

Blake blinked.

Ezra continued.

"Why did you abandon redesigning the rest of the steam engine...and immediately move on to fitting it into the bicycle frame?"

Blake scratched the back of his head.

A slightly embarrassed smile appeared on his face.

"...Yes."

He admitted honestly.

"I was worried. If I continued changing too many parts...the bicycle might lose its efficiency."

Ezra quietly nodded.

He really thought of creating a motorbike.

His thoughts became much more serious.

This was already part of my long-term plans.

I intended to introduce motorcycles after achieving the title at the Royal Academy and establishing my company.

Thankfully...

I found him before anyone else did.

Ezra looked at Blake again.

Although the young inventor’s design remained very rough...

The idea behind it was already there.

That alone held tremendous value.

Even if his current design is incomplete...

He still managed to reach the correct direction.

If a company like Eclipse obtained only these sketches...

They could eventually develop the same concept.

Combined with the carriage designs I already introduced...

The appearance of motorcycles across Britannia could happen much sooner than I planned.

And that would reduce the value of introducing them myself later on.

His thoughts quietly settled.

This boy...

Must not slip away.

Even though Ezra genuinely felt impressed...

Nothing showed on his face.

His usual blank expression remained exactly the same.

He gently placed the blueprint back onto the worktable.

"You chose the correct path, Blake."

His voice remained calm.

"But...I also see where you’re lacking."

Blake immediately straightened his posture.

Ezra continued.

"You need more than creativity and you also need knowledge."

He lightly tapped the steam engine drawings.

"Especially knowledge about steam engine technology."

He looked directly into Blake’s eyes.

"Your lack of understanding...is exactly what caused your design to stop progressing."

The workshop became quiet.

Blake slowly lowered his head.

Instead of feeling discouraged...

His eyes became even more determined.

"So..."

He looked back up.

"What should I do...Mas..."

He stopped himself halfway.

Lucy had already narrowed her eyes.

She looked at Blake with obvious dissatisfaction.

Who did he want to call Master?

The look on her face clearly said she didn’t approve.

Ezra calmly answered before Blake could finish.

"Don’t call me that."

His reply remained flat.

Blake immediately stiffened.

"S-Sorry."

He quickly apologized.

His earlier confidence disappeared once again.

Ezra didn’t dwell on it.

"You need to enter Ash Academy."

He spoke plainly.

"To continue expanding your knowledge. Not only as an inventor...But also as someone who understands steam engine technology."

He paused briefly.

"I already know every correction your design requires."

His black eyes rested on Blake.

"And I can help in the completion of this invention. But...You’ll have to sign a contract with me first."

Blake tilted his head.

His expression was filled with confusion.

"My father did mention something like that."

He scratched his cheek.

"But...He said you wanted to recruit me into the Ashenlocke Family."