Adopting Disaster
chapter-32-2

"Tower Master, it's Kaitlyn. May I come in?"

"Come in."

Kaitlyn was dressed in work clothes, unlike other assistant mages.

She should have looked innocent with her sturdy overalls and makeup-free face, but somehow, she felt more like an old man.

"The weaponization project of the magnesium gauntlet using this magic crystal is about halfway completed."

"Halfway done?"

He was about to ask, 'Already halfway?' but hurriedly changed the subject, not wanting to give her too much credit.

She was truly worthy of being a master of magic engineering.

With the right environment, she soared to new heights.

"Is everything going according to schedule? Any difficulties?"

"I'm struggling a bit with the circuitry and safety issues with the crystals, but I think I'll be able to bring you good news soon."

"You're always working hard. Make sure you take care of yourself."

He was still worried about her. A chief engineer's body was their greatest asset.

'Come to think of it, she must have multiple ideas for magic engineering products, right?'

In the ending scroll of <Disaster 7>, she was described as a mage who not only created weapons for war but also greatly contributed to improving living conditions.

He didn't know what the world was like after the ending, so he didn't know what she had made.

'But I've always been curious.'

'How did she create the magic engineering products in Reed's drawer?' That was the question.

Reed decided to ask her directly.

"Kaitlyn."

"Yes."

"These are the projects I have planned for the future. I'm curious about what you think."

Reed took out the projects he had stored in his storage magic and showed them to Kaitlyn.

He roughly expected her to say something like 'Did the Tower Master also have such thoughts?'

However, upon reading the project summaries, Kaitlyn exclaimed in admiration.

"Oh, you truly are the Lord of the Tower. You thought of this?"

"Haven't you ever thought about something like this?"

"Well, I did think that using magnesium as a substitute for iron to improve living conditions would be a good idea, but I never thought of a specific weaponization plan. It was difficult enough just to make ends meet…"

Kaitlyn's voice gradually became gloomy.

Contrary to Reed's expectation that his question would be answered, Kaitlyn's words only made the situation even more unclear.

'If the current Kaitlyn doesn't know, does that mean this knowledge was stolen by her?'

While it could be a belatedly sprouted idea, most of the items she created in the game were rearranged differently based on Reed's creations.

'The most likely possibility is that it was leaked in the latter part of the game.'

That's the conclusion he could draw right now.

"Do you plan on working on this project concurrently?"

"Huh? No. This alone wouldn't be enough."

"What do you mean?"

Reed decided to ask her while they were on the subject.

"Besides these war tools, is there anything that might grab people's attention?"

Kaitlyn tilted her head in thought.

"An attention-grabbing item? If you ask me so suddenly, I can't really think of anything."

"It doesn't matter if it's a bit strange."

"What do you mean? When have I ever thought of something strange?"

"Never mind."

Contrary to her characteristic as an 'eccentric inventor', she seemed to have no self-awareness.

"One thing I thought of before was a magnesium product that could be used as both a table and a bed."

"It's a bit unique, but not enough to catch people's attention."

"Hmm... Arguing like this won't help, so I'll go back to the workshop and think about it."

"Alright. Take care."

Kaitlyn spun around and left the room.

Reed didn't just wait for her to come up with a good idea as shown in the game ending, but diligently tried to think of ideas himself.

Knock, knock.

"Come in."

As the door slowly opened, a little angel peeked her head in.

It was Rosaria.

"Papa, are you busy?"

"No, it's alright. Come in."

Rosaria entered the room with a cheerful step and a smile on her face.

She was hiding both hands behind her, which meant she probably had a surprise gift prepared.

Judging by the dirt falling onto the shiny marble floor, she must have picked something up while walking outside.

"You seem to be in a good mood."

"I went for a walk with Phoebe and found a beautiful flower!"

Rosaria showed Reed the flower she had been hiding behind her back.

It was a beautiful wildflower with wide-open, light pink petals.

"It's called an Azalea."

"It's pretty."

"And guess what! Phoebe told me there's a song about Azaleas too!"

"Really?"

Reed knew of an Azalea song, but it was likely to be different from the one Rosaria was referring to.

"Aren't you curious? You are, right?"

"Yes, I'm curious."

Seeing her eagerness to show off, Reed nodded, creating an environment for her to sing.

Rosaria cleared her throat for a moment before she began singing.

"Azalea, azalea, beautiful azalea~. How can you be so beautiful~?"

The song was, as expected, quite amateurish.

However, when Rosaria's voice combined with the awkward tune, it sounded cutely endearing.

As a result, Reed couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Pfft."

The song abruptly ended, making it more funny.

"..."

As Reed lowered his head, Rosaria stood there with a shocked expression on her face.

Her face twisted in anger, and she glared at Reed.

"...You laughed at me."

"..."

"I'm not going to sing for you anymore."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you."

"Hmph!"

Rosaria pouted and ran back to her room as if to say 'I'm mad at you!'

Bang!

Reed felt guilty as he watched the door closing roughly.

Scared that she upset him by slamming the door too hard, she quickly opened the door.

The little angel approached him with quick steps and suddenly hugged Reed.

"Hmph!"

Then she left again with a sulky expression on her face.

This time, she closed the door gently.

There was no doubt that she had softened her approach, worried that closing the door too hard might have angered him.

"A song..."

Rosaria's amateurish song echoed in his ears.

And that song became an inspiration, causing a flash of insight in Reed's mind.

"...What if?"

A brilliant plan came to his mind.