Chapter 83 Interlude – Black Box
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
That night, after his audience with King Torygg of Valend, Ayumu sat alone in his assigned chamber. He had spent his own coin to purchase dwarven goods, not for use, but to dismantle them. Piece by piece, he disassembled the items in an effort to study their design.
In his original world, this would have been called reverse engineering—breaking something down to understand how it worked. For those unfamiliar, reverse engineering meant taking apart an object and observing its functions in fragments. From there, one could deduce its principles, structure, and methods of production, even sketching out schematics along the way.
”Oh—whoa! That was close,” he muttered, jerking back as a spring jumped free.
Of course, makers often designed their creations to resist tampering. A careless disassembler would suddenly find parts scattering, or worse, components launching outward like traps.
Naturally, Ayumu wasn’t so foolish as to tear things apart without record. He kept track of the exact order of disassembly, numbered the pieces, and logged the process in meticulous notes. Even so, time bled away without mercy as he worked.
Some might ask why he didn’t simply learn directly from the dwarves. The answer was simple: dwarves of Valend were willing to demonstrate ore processing, but anything brushing against military technology remained strictly off-limits.
And so, Ayumu persevered, trying to extract knowledge from the weapons sold openly in markets. But as a self-taught outsider, his progress was slow and full of failure.
The greatest obstacle was what in his old world would have been called a black box.
”Ah, there it is. Knew it’d show up…” he sighed, half in awe, half in frustration.
A black box was a safeguard—an enclosed core device, its mechanisms hidden to prevent inspection or replication.
Encountering one in this otherworld for the first time, Ayumu felt a strange mix of admiration and despair. To think they’d go so far as to conceal their secrets here too…
”As expected, the dwarves aren’t fools. Nothing about this will be straightforward,” he admitted.
If only he had tools like a video scope, magnetic sensors, or X-rays—something that could peer inside without disassembly. But such equipment didn’t exist here.
With state-level funding and technology, he might have improvised alternatives. But here, stationed alone, even his homeland’s budget could not reach him. Securing skilled assistants would have been harder still.
Ayumu was capable, but he was no miracle worker.
”Well then… guess I’ll have to let this one go,” he said, shoulders slumping.
Acknowledging defeat with surprising grace, he carefully reassembled the weapon he had disassembled, every part returned precisely to its place.
Notes:
• Torygg – King of the Valend Kingdom, known as the Cave King.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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