"Huh?"
I just became a regular, and you're making me head in alone for a frontal probe?
Byrne's mouth twitched slightly at Renee's words. This woman looked cold, but she certainly knew how to boss people around. It seemed his resume as a Lower District repair shop owner had become the perfect excuse for this assignment.
Beside him, Selena kept her head down, lost in thought. Hearing Renee assign the task, she turned to Byrne and suggested, "Um, how about I go in with him?"
Renee shook her head. "No. Too many people make it easier to slip up. This repair shop isn't large, and the internal situation is unknown. One person probing the front while two backup outside is the most stable arrangement for now."
Byrne glanced at Renee's poker face. Seeing how calm and unfazed she was, he knew she was serious. Although he was annoyed by the arrangement, he understood that this wasn't the time to haggle. Cold as it was, Renee's plan was indeed the safer tactical choice.
"Fine."
Byrne threw up his hands, his tone laced with a hint of helplessness. "But let me make one thing clear: if there's some high-level heretic lurking in there, don't expect me to fight to the death."
Renee reached out and tossed something that looked like a car remote to him. Byrne caught it; the device had a single red button on the front but was otherwise smooth and unmarked, even simpler than his communicator.
"Don't worry. We'll be right outside. As long as you press that red button, we'll be there instantly."
"Go on then."
Byrne took a deep breath, tucked the pager away, and walked toward the repair shop. He hadn't gone two steps before Renee called out to him again.
"Wait. You're going in wearing that?"
Byrne looked down at his tax collector uniform. He realized his current attire was far too conspicuous and ill-suited for the task. Before he could speak, Renee pulled a set of clothes from her backpack.
"Luckily, the Captain had the foresight to prepare a set of clothes for each of us. Change into these quickly."
After speaking, she and Selena turned their backs in a synchronized motion.
Classic Captain. He really thinks of everything. Byrne smiled wryly and changed into the clothes Renee provided.
Once everything was ready, Byrne headed for the shop. As he drew closer, the smell of machine oil grew heavier. Byrne felt no discomfort; he had spent a significant amount of time dealing with machinery and grease in the Lower District.
Reaching the shop entrance, Byrne was about to push the door open when he noticed a recruitment notice posted on the wall. The notice was printed on yellowed paper with crooked handwriting and blurred ink at the edges, suggesting it had been there for quite some time.
[Hiring Mechanic. Experience preferred. Room and board included. Salary negotiable.]
Seeing the notice, Byrne's eyes darted. This was a perfect excuse. Simply walking in to fix something might arouse suspicion, but entering as a job applicant would allow him to naturally investigate the shop's interior while lowering the owner's guard.
Byrne intentionally crumpled his clothes and smeared some dust onto his sleeves to look more like a working mechanic. Only then did he push open the slightly ajar door.
When the door opened, Byrne paused. The environment was very different from what he had expected. He had assumed a shop harboring heretics would be messier to better hide secrets. However, the shop before him looked perfectly normal.
Yes, normal. If Renee hadn't warned him beforehand, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. The space wasn't spacious, but it was exceptionally tidy. Byrne scanned the area but saw no one.
"Um, hello? Is anyone here? I'm here about the mechanic job."
"Wait a moment. I'll be right there."
Shortly after the response, a curtain in the corner was pulled back, and a burly man stepped out. He looked to be in his fifties, with thinning white hair and a face covered in deep, crisscrossing wrinkles. His eyes were murky. Upon stepping out, he looked Byrne up and down.
"You're here for the job?"
There was a note of skepticism in the man's voice.
Byrne nodded, acting slightly nervous. "Yes, Boss. I've done this before. I saw the notice at the door and thought I'd give it a try."
The man rested his chin on one hand, staring at Byrne. "What can you fix?"
Byrne replied without hesitation, "I can fix all kinds of machinery, but my specialty is engines."
The man's eyebrow twitched. "Follow me then. I have a hovercar engine in the back room that's broken. Try fixing it. If you can, the job is yours."
"Sure thing."
Byrne followed the man into the back room. The moment he entered, a smell mixing machine oil with a faint rot hit him. Unlike the neat storefront, the back room was quite cluttered, matching his expectations of a repair shop.
He looked up and saw a half-disassembled hovercar engine resting not far ahead, with various parts scattered around it.
"That's the engine. Tools are in the corner. Help yourself."
The man pointed to a toolbox, then leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms like he was watching a show. Byrne gave a short acknowledgment and walked straight to the toolbox.
He intentionally slowed his movements. While checking the tools, he quietly released his psychic threads, letting them spread out into the surroundings. In the blink of an eye, Byrne's psychic perception covered the entire shop. Everything was reflected clearly in his mind.
The back room was smaller than the front. Besides the engine, a rusted iron cabinet stood against the back wall. Its doors were shut tight. When his psychic threads touched it, he felt a faint energy barrier, as if it had been reinforced by a simple rune.
Ha. There really is something fishy here.
Despite sensing the anomaly, Byrne remained calm. He brought the toolbox to the engine and began working. His movements were skilled and fluid—disassembling and testing with perfect precision. There were no flaws to be found.
On the surface, Byrne was repairing the engine, but in secret, he concentrated his psychic threads to probe the iron cabinet at the back wall. As he drew closer, the faint energy barrier became clearer. When a thread touched it, it was actually bounced back.
Tch, a bit troublesome.
Although the cabinet had an energy shield, Byrne felt it wasn't very strong. Given a bit of time, he could pierce it. Just as Byrne concentrated his psychic threads into a needle-like point to break the barrier, the shop owner standing at the door suddenly spoke:
"Heh. Young man, your mechanical skills are quite good, but your use of psychic energy is a bit lacking."