[Re:write] Episode 12: Defense of the Steel City

—Rewrite the despair.

[For first-time readers] If you want to grasp the world setting first,
here is the link to the beginning of the story, Episode 1
👉　Episode 1: The Observer Wakes in the Forest
For work information and summaries, click here
👉　For first-time readers | Please start Re:write from Episode 1

Clang.

The dry sound of a bell cut through the heat.
Standing at the entrance was silver armor.
Even while reflecting the flames of the furnace, its brilliance was cold.

The knight—Hector von Valerius.

“—Found them! It’s those outsiders!”
The sound of iron boots striking the cobblestones filled the narrow workshop.
Armed soldiers poured in.
Sword scabbards scraped, metal touched metal, and the sounds collided before they did.
A closed space with no escape.
The smell of heat, oil, and soot.
Leon drew his sword and shielded Aria behind him.

The tip of his blade was trembling slightly.

“...Old dwarf. Are you one of their accomplices too?”
Hector looked down coldly at the soot-covered craftsman.

However, Drake did not flinch.
He stood firm in front of the furnace, crossed his log-like arms, and snorted.
“There’s no way a boor who points a sword at guests in my workshop would be an accomplice of mine.”
“...Hmph. You have a sharp tongue.”
Hector’s eyes narrowed.

“Fine. After I capture them, I’ll listen to what you have to say as well.”
The knight’s focus was split between Drake’s “sharp tongue” and Leon’s “sword.”
That split-second opening.

(...Too much noise.)
Kai quietly closed his eyes.

Deep in his brain, he heard the sound of a switch flipping.
“—Booting. [Social Structure Analysis Mode].”

The moment he opened his eyes, the world transformed.
The colors peeled away, and his vision was rewritten into a monochrome wireframe.
The soldiers’ killing intent, anger, and fear—all “emotional information (noise)” vanished, and only inorganic “vectors” and “nodes” floated up.

(Target A: Commander. Consciousness orientation, dispersion confirmed.)
(Environmental variable: Furnace temperature 1200 degrees. Bellows internal pressure, normal. ...Connection possible.)

The “line of command” extending from Hector to the soldiers loosened for just an instant.
Beside the furnace, a “singularity (Drake)” isolated from the network was waiting.

(...Solution, derived.)

Thinking time was 0.5 seconds.
Kai said in an emotionless voice,
“—Old man. That furnace, set the bellows pressure to maximum.”
“...Huh?”
Leon was dumbfounded.

But Drake was different.
His soot-covered mouth twisted ferociously.
“...Heh. Is that it, kid? Interesting!”
Drake threw his entire weight onto the giant air lever beside him.
“Close your eyes, you greenhorns!”

ROOOOAAAAAR!

The furnace roared.
Oxygen forced in beyond its limits caused the flames to expand.
Heat hammered against the walls.

The next moment.

A scorching blast was unleashed within the narrow workshop.

“““Gwaaaaaaah!”””

The field of vision was dyed crimson.
Heat waves scorched armor, charcoal dust danced in the air, and it robbed them of their sight and breath.
The orderly 'lines' of the command structure were severed by the physical impact.
Drake’s back served as a shield, keeping only the area around Kai and the others in silence.

“Now! This way, you fledglings!”
Amidst the smoke screen, Drake kicked open the floorboards.
A darkness opened its mouth wide.
The three of them dove into the entrance to the sewer as if sliding into it.

“---Chase them! Don’t let them get away!”
While his face was scorched by the hot wind, Hector screamed.
But his vision was covered in black smoke, and the prey was nowhere to be seen.

In the workshop where the smoke had cleared, the knight could only look down at the dark hole.

◇

Damp cold air.
The smell of decay.
The scent of wet stone.

The heavy air of the sewer pierced their lungs.
Every time they inhaled, the back of their throats grew damp.
Water dripped somewhere.
Drip, drip—the sound was close.
Shallow water moved under their feet, and their soles made a squelching sound.

“...Huff, huff... You saved us, old man.”
Leon leaned his back against the wet wall and exhaled raggedly.

“Don’t mention it. It’s just a small greeting for the idiots who trampled through my sacred workplace with their muddy boots.”
Drake laughed fearlessly while swigging from the ale at his waist.

But the crisis had not passed.
Muffled shouts fell from the manhole above.
The sound of iron boots striking the cobblestones echoed repeatedly.
The sound of metal scraping.
Short commands.
The impact of footsteps on the lid shook the water on the ceiling, causing it to drip again.

“The exit will be blocked. What will you do, Kai?”
“...We’ll head to the royal capital via the shortest route.”
Kai stared into the depths of the darkness and answered immediately.

“Hmph. Sounds like it’s going to be a crazy field trip.”
Drake hoisted his war hammer back onto his shoulder.

“Fine by me. I, the great Drake, will ‘forge’ a path for you lot.”

A thin sliver of light from the surface shone through the gap in the manhole.
The four small silhouettes were swallowed into the abyss of the sewer where that light could not reach.

Above ground and below ground.
Heat and cold air.

The two worlds were divided.
However, their shared fate alone was quietly, yet passionately, beginning to intertwine in the darkness.

Revised on 2025/12/28.

To read the continuation/background

Click here for the link to the beginning of the story, Episode 1
👉　Episode 1: The Observer Wakes in the Forest
Click here for work information and synopsis
👉　For first-time readers | Please start 'Re:write' from Episode 1

👉 Click here for a summary of the story of the novel 'Re:write' so far.