Reborn as a Baron Lord (Light Novel) (A Steampunk LITRPG Light Novel Book 1)

by Han Yang

  “Ha! That is the only truth. I… I… understand you’re missin memories. Dad and Mom are an inseparable team. A team that got lucky and had me. Ginli and her two sisters… no kids. And she is the youngest. As a woman, I actually get the feeling of being barren and longing for a wee baby,” Joana said in a precious tone.

  “I take it babies are extra cherished since they are so rare,” I said and she emphatically nodded.

  We stepped over spilled hydrox and bits of blood. I got to see the assembled spear laying on the cavern opening. Not wanting to leave it behind, I plucked it from its resting spot.

  “I have memories of lots of children, and those are fading. The more I hear of Gearnix the sadder I get about the lack of young. Sure, you live for so long, but youth… has its own joys.” I carefully walked down the stairs. “Is there a way to give her a baby without… you know… doing… uh…”

  “Look at you blush, Bradley. Baby making requires a man and a woman. Wait a second, you’re turning even redder. When you said you want to wait… Are you one of those who is saving himself for marriage?” Joana asked with a gasp.

  Thankfully we reached the dead bodies where it was harder to see and I was able to hide my flustered expressions.

  “I don’t know what to believe, and I also know that since I awoke... that yeah I’m a virgin. However, I came to realize something. I want you around. And no offense to Ginli, just you.”

  She huffed. “Then wait. I’ll follow you around until she lets you go. You can snuggle and kiss my forehead. No cheek or lips, else it will change the dynamic. I get that you don’t follow Langshire customs but she does. Understood?”

  “Got it. Be caring but not daring!”

  She giggled, slapping my arm. “I enjoy how you make me laugh. Plus if we do the us thing this way. We can always be proud that we built a solid foundation.”

  I hugged her. “I agree.”

  “Alright, my stomach is rumblin, can ya help me drag this cat?”

  I rotated my arm, hearing a few cracks. “Have the leperas do it. I need to… Ah, here she is. I really like this blunderbuss.”

  “Yer weren’t kiddin. Tore the face right off.” Joana let out an astonished whistle. “I’ll carry the steambot for you.”

  I was going to protest, but decided against it.

  “Is there a code I need to give you to manage the leperas?” I asked.

  “No. Just,” she grunted carrying the steambot, “need to tell them to listen to me and done. Ginli will be upset you stole the body. This is an expensive body. She’ll make ya swap it later.”

  “At least the rustic red matches.”

  We went beyond the rocks, walking to the fire. Joana’s hands hissed steam from helping her move the dead steambot. Seeing as how there was a tooth stuck in the processor, I was certain this steambot was a goner.

  “Okay, phew. That little stinker was heavy. Surprise time.” She jumped excitingly with a small clap. “I sure hope it is silver. Gauging by the fact these defenders are about a zone higher than they should be, silver is my guess for sure.”

  I gently grabbed her hand and she shot me a concerned look. “If I take a vacation after. Say a four month steamboat trip to a new home with a better family society ruled by a council. Would you -”

  “Yes. Even though it’s been only four or five days. I would take the risk. Worst case, I don’t like you and I take another trip home. I certainly am willing to try though. Wait… that is -”

  I hugged her. “Yeah, it was what I was alluding to.”

  She skipped around the lake and for the first time I wasn’t bothered by the gloomy depths. I had to trot to catch up to her eager ways. She passed under the water and shrieked for joy when she arrived in the cavern.

  I followed her in and saw a half dozen rubies and sapphires and one small diamond.

  “I don’t get it,” I blurted. “Where is the metal?”

  “This is the metal. This is a rare chance. Bronze is worth more. Silver may be depending on how much we get and the quality of the silver,” Joana said, confusing me.

  “No one trades gems and I didn’t see much jewelry on the residents of Langshire.”

  She giggled. “Silly man. Half of Gearnix uses gems instead of coins to trade for H. If you go to say Ocaran, with Langshire coins, they won't take em. You have to get the coins smelted then exchanged. Seeing as how we fill our coins…”

  “Ah, you can’t fake a gem,” I said, catching on. “So it’s not great for Langshire?”

  “Ha! Wrong.” She playfully pinched my cheek. “Again, exchanging Langshire coins for gems in Ocarna will cost you more than exchanging them in Langshire. So anyone wanting to travel will be interested, or for example plan on doing a big foreign trade. Only thing better is leenspar bronze which is a step below neilspar bronze. Your hand is velron bronze as is the head in yer sack. Not worth the most but a good fine metal for fighting in.”

  “Yeah I thought bronze was soft but I know this is not, kinda makes sense Gearnix has variations of metal types. So… Do we speed this along somehow?” I asked, seeing the leperas tediously digging at the walls.

  “Nope,” she said, guiding me back to the fire. “The H is worth like a hundred times more. Hydrox is and always will be the king. The reason guilds and companies clear mines is for the low risk rewards after the high risk big gains. It's like signing a bonus check. That is our bonus. Our check is out there.”

  My stomach rumbled in complaint. “Sorry.”

  “That panther will make a fine meal. If we feed the leperas they regain hydrox consumed and work faster. Hurray. Do me a favor, get to work on that robot. Maybe we can get another set of hands that’ll answer to us.”

  “I - I - I don’t mind getting my hands dirty.” I said, feeling a tad ashamed.

  “Not ta worry pretty boy. Get the venturebot hybrid assembled. Please.”

  I loudly said, “Yes, Mam.”

  With my mission clear, I headed to the fire, and felt relieved when I rotated my shoulder without any loud noises.

  I grabbed the tools and the damaged steambot. Joana left me to my work, heading to extract the hydrox from the slain foes.

  There were a lot of distracting squishing noises while I operated. The process I used was basic. I found the line of the neck that stopped on the old head. I found the neckline on the steambot body that was a close match.

  I ran the tiny screwdriver over the neck and realized I needed more light.

  Combing through the piled leperas items had me frowning at the lack of wood. I busted up a weapons rack made of sticks, stoking the flames, and wanted more illumination. There were a few crude spears and a bench I tossed onto the re-energized flames.

  Unfortunately the lighting was just not enough. I stripped my top off, got close to the flames and put in some sweat equity on the project. Every little screw was so small it boggled my mind.

  I’d hover the screwdriver near a small screw and eighty tiny screws would flare to life. A few pieces used two, it was rare for a layer to have three or more screws.

  I may have zoned out hard. Joana dragged prime jaguar steaks onto the fire and cooked a half dozen before I even noticed she was nearby. Her offers to help were politely rejected, same with the offers for food.

  Organizing everything had been the main focus and I worried if I shifted focus, I’d forget the reverse order. Getting lost in time, I unscrewed a thousand tiny bits until the final one came off.

  There was a loud pop, the echoing noise converted to a hiss. I held my breath in the hopes the ejection of hydrox was minimal. My nerves were shot thinking of it ruining my layout on the cavern floor.

  When the ejection finished, I felt a wash of relief when my layout stayed intact. I had to get up at this point. I removed the old head to a bench, taking a seat beside a cool plate of meat and a jug of water.

  I inhaled the food, chugged the water, and grabbed the special venturebot head from my bag. The moment of truth.

  I lined the
old head up with the new body, finding they were slightly off…

  Hmm…

  I have to go for it. The difference shouldn’t be too bad.

  The metal bands that rotated creaked as they expanded for the incrementally larger head shaft. Committing myself to the cause, I bound the two pieces together.

  When I finished the first thirty of three thousand screws, I twisted and pulled on the head, and found it secure.

  Back into the groove I went, never slowing again for what was likely hours. When I finished my hands were raw and my body was rigid from staying in position for so long.

  I stood, shaking off my cramps and aches. I stared down at the hydrox port, not seeing any life or illumination.

  “Is it done?” Joana asked from a log seat.

  I contained my jump of surprise. “Uh, how long ya been here?”

  “Hours. I went and checked on Ginli a few times, she should be up sooner than later, the hole is her stomach is making slow progress. As for the time, it’s almost dark outside. I sent a leperas to stand at the cave entrance and hauled down wood.

  “They’re on orders to scream before they die. Do you know what a dodecahedron is?” Joana asked.

  I snickered, “Afraid I don’t.” I went to the newly attached head to study the hole. It was superficial mostly. “Fill me in while I study this.”

  “It is a twelve sided shape, in this case - like a cube. That cat was worth less than the leperas, but still super valuable. I… this is more than I dreamed of. When I -”

  “Found it!” I shouted in joy. She smiled but I saw her eyes say she was sad to be interrupted. “Sorry, sorry. Please continue.”

  “I was giving a tragic backstory, about my early days of adventuring. Where everyone tried to have sex with me, since I was the new girl.

  “Even if I did, which besides a wrongly chosen boyfriend or two, I didn't; I’d make a pittance of this trip. If we stop in just this room, I’ll have made about ten years of working for Dad. I… I feel amazing knowing I have enough that I could enjoy a few lazy boat trips.”

  I saw her grinning happily. “Ah… I get it. Especially since our share helps us convert to usable gems or raw bronze. I’m okay with stopping here and heading… to Langshire. Bronze is the universal top metal right?”

  My discovery was placed on hold while she vented. “Yes to Bronze. Yes to a nice relaxing boat trip also.”

  She neared to peer into the head of the ruined venturebot. I hovered the screwdriver over a section of exposed processor. There were two tiny screw holes that were missing.

  “Is this the big discovery?”

  “Yeah, I got melted silver up top to complete the repair but might just leave that as a bar. Adding a strip of shiny metal would ruin his coloration. At least the smaller body matches his red.”

  Joana patted my back, “They generally are asexual, and I’m guessing this one is a girl. A perfectly behaved darling who helps us achieve greatness.”

  I chuckled, not wanting to argue the merits or the concept. After handing a few thousand pieces of parts, I had a decent idea of what went missing. Based on the configuration there should be a similar single piece with double screw points on the processor of Ginli’s ruined steambot.

  A huff was added to my frown that I was so close, and maybe so far. I went to Ginli’s bot to remove the embedded tooth.

  When the snapped canine came out, I sighed at the internal sight. There was a lot of processor damage. When I hovered over the brain box two screws glowed orange.

  Instead of questioning the sudden help, I immediately stripped them out.

  “Uh, crap,” I mumbled. “I save the screws but the entire brain box is free.”

  I pulled the processor cube out. Two exposed screw tips glowed orange.

  Uh… Sure why not.

  The damaged parts cascaded down when I adjusted the second brain box. With an undamaged partial until I made an educated guess. When I tried to slide the two brain boxes together, there was a metallic pull, yanking the processing unit out of my hand and syncing the brains together.

  A loud humm erupted from the hydrox port.

  “So… Bradley. I’ve got points in crafting. These dainty little fingers and big brains make for a great crafter… How are there spare screws?” She asked.

  Instead of answering, I opened up my velvety purse to extract a small orb. I sunk the marble sized magic ball into the hole.

  “Here goes nothing,” I said excitedly.

  CHAPTER 15

  The robot whirled to life, squirting out steam from every port, and after a few twitching spasms there was… nothing. I knew immediately what the problem was. I plucked out a full cube of hydrox, and set the magic into the entry hole.

  A bright blue magic surged through the machine. The blue increased in intensity, changing to an orange hue that perfectly matched the color of how I found the head. A wave of magic -

  BOOM!

  Both Joana and I went flying. I wrapped her in my arms, absorbing the impact the best I could.

  She groaned and I moaned from taking damage yet again. My ringing ears cleared slowly. The creaky sound of steambot feet running told me I had a visitor.

  “Hey, young fella, ya okay?” the speaker inside the grated mouth said in a ratchety old timer voice that was certainly male.

  “Bradley. The name is Bradley,” I said, propping myself up on my elbow.

  The reddish brown metallic steambot smiled, with a wicked grin. For a second I thought he might punch me. His hands went to his hip proudly.

  “Friends call me Duke,” he said.

  I helped Joana sit up before saying, “Duke, what do you remember?”

  “Nothing, and everything. I have a full database of Gearnix Stations and Gearnix City Stations. I know of every train, city, and port. I understand every species in the wilds, their strengths, weaknesses, and even breeding rates. I know… a lot. Including how to fight.”

  Joana crossed her legs in fascination. “You’re a Gearnix Station attendant?”

  “Close, I’m not bound to a location, but a fair assessment,” Duke said with confidence.

  He was giving off a vibe of a wise man and yet... I held up a hand. “Are you supposed to be here?”

  “Absolutely not. That part is certain. I… I’ll need to hide. I sense there is a cave behind the waterfall based on the echo location,” Duke said and I shook my head.

  He gave me a vibe of book smart, street dumb. “That would hide you for only a few minutes.”

  “We’re almost out of time,” Duke said with an urgency.

  Joana’s ear creaked as it swiveled for the stairwell. They both tensed, flinching when the faint sound of a zap reached my ears.

  “Someone is here. Uh, oh, it's humans.” Joana shot to her feet.

  I struggled. Duke offered his hand and said, “I’m a big headed dumb steambot. Got it?”

  After I nodded he removed his hand. There was loud clapping from the stairwell. The body of the leperas we had guarding the entrance came tumbling down. When the worker’s corpse came to a rest, I noticed a gaping hole in the head.

  Duke became a statue. Joana slowly backpedaled with her hands up.

  A dozen Langshire guards stormed into the main chamber room with weapons ready to kill. I raised my palms up, walking to stand by Joana. There was a lot of firepower pointed at us.

  Whispering wouldn’t help so I simply said, “These are people sent to protect us. I think.”

  “Name’s Charlie, ya member me?” Charlie asked, holstering his weapon. “Sorry about the show of force, this worker normally means there is more down here.”

  “Uh… we were saving that life.” I gestured to the body. I really had wanted it to dig up more gems.

  “For right now, I guarantee it,” Charlie said with a charming smirk. “I got a blimp standing by. It’s time for you to flee.”

  “Ya lost me,” I said.

  “Who’s the cook?” Another guard asked, smelling the delicio
us roasting panther. “Is this rosemary sauteed? Your lady friend is a keeper!”

  “Dig in boys,” Charlie shouted to the others and the situation went from deadly to friendly. I let out a relieved smile and Charlie offered me a hand up. “Come sit by the fire. I’m afraid I have bad news. The kind… that requires you to sit.”

  I gulped, not sure what he was getting at. I knew one thing for certain. Joana was terrified even though everyone else was jovial.

  When I sat, Charlie sighed as if sad and said, “The Mistress is dead.”

  “Oh, bollocks,” I grumbled.

  Charlie chuckled. “That’s a new one. And yeah. You see this badge,” he said, removing his captain’s button. “Passed every test, swore every oath, and made a few promises I may not get to keep to protect the Mistress and her daughters.”

  “Um…” I looked to Joana for help, but she clung to my side trying to hide her fear. Duke was waiting behind me like an idle steambot should. “So… Why are ya here? To deliver bad news?”

  “The Mistress finally died of old age. Even her most loyal, like myself, were expecting her to pass years ago. Her eldest held a candle vigil in her room that caught fire, breaking the chain of succession. That leaves Kinnlie and Ginli. Kinnlie is safe, but out of Langshire, and Ginli is wounded,” Charlie said with a heavy tone of sadness. “We checked the carriage on the way down. She’s resting nicely.”

  “Wow… sounds horrible and a tad convenient.”

  He nodded, clenching his jaw. “It likely is. Doesn’t matter to small fish like you and me who is running a single city in Gearnix. It really doesn’t. Ginli though -”

  I attempted to finish his sentence and said, “You need her to get back to Langshire to be the new Mistress.”

  Charlie shook his head. Crushing the only good scenario I could think about. “Sadly, no. She’d make an awful leader too,” Charlie said and there were nods from the others who were listening in. “Nothing against her personally but Ginli never attended a single meeting or did much to help govern. I swore an oath to get her to safety. That is why I’m here.”