The Greatest Mecha-Chapter 44: The Errand Boy

The doors to the mech engineering department broke into a portal, and out of it came a bright young man. In the room were six figures. The room was rough and unkempt, with parts of mechs scattered around. Clearly, the absence of Alto had returned it to its terrible state.

As Alto appeared, he drew the attention of the six figures. Those he recognized were the professor, who was busy with a clipboard in hand; the second was Charles Vans, who was tinkering with the arm of a mech on a table with a screwdriver; and there was Eleven, who sat by a workbench stuffing his face with treats. Their faces were filled with surprise at his presence.

The other three were a mix of faces both old and new. There was Marie Hanswith and Kendell Brist, the two cadets he had met days earlier and directed to the training room. Marie smiled and blew him a kiss, while Kendell winked at him. The final figure was a huge man looking to be in his fifties; he wore a thick black uniform similar to theirs.

Alto scratched the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Um, did I interrupt something important?"

The huge man was a mass of muscles and dedication. He looked down at the professor and said gruffly, "Who is this insolent little man here, professor?"

The professor kept quiet, unsure of how to refer to him. She was a bit surprised to see Alto out—it made her wonder if he had managed to finish his task in such a short amount of time. Another thing that took her by surprise was how he looked. A week ago, Alto looked like a quiet, insignificant young man, but now his eyes carried a more dignified look and his face was more pleasing to look at.

The professor gulped down as she remembered she had been asked a question earlier.

Charles Vans stepped forward with an explanation of his own after sensing his master’s hesitation. "General Duncan, this here is Alto. He’s nothing special—just our errand boy around here."

The general nodded. "Hmm, I see."

Alto stood there, uninterested in whatever Charles Vans had to say about him. He sighed after a while and walked toward one of the workbenches to tidy it up. This infuriated the General further, as this supposed errand boy did not pay him any respects.

Marie Hanswith chimed in with a chirpy voice. "Hey, it’s Alto! He helped us find the training room."

General Duncan growled at her, "I don’t care who he is. How dare he not pay respects to me?"

Before even the professor could intervene, Alto stepped in for himself, shocking everyone in the room. "I don’t pay respects to people I don’t know. If you want some recognition, why don’t you announce yourself first, you pompous fool?"

"What the fuck?" Professor Alberta said in a bare whisper, seeing such a side of Alto was entirely new to her.

While he said this, Alto did not look in their direction once. All he did was pack away the parts of mechs to one side before sorting them one at a time.

Charles Vans screamed out, "You little piece of shit! How dare you insult our master’s honor like that—assaulting a general like that!"

Eleven could not help but smile.

Kendell whistled. "That boy’s just decided a terrible way to die."

Marie was dumbfounded. She had only seen the sweet side of Alto and not this wild-mannered version of him. "And he was such a sweet boy too."

The general shot forward like a raging missile, with insane mobility that betrayed his huge figure. He leapt over a workbench and soon appeared before Alto, who was carrying some mech parts. "You insignificant little man, do you know what you’ve done?"

Alto did not look up to face the general. He paused, leaving the room in silence for a few seconds before saying, "I’m just the errand boy, aren’t I?"

The general flared up as he threw a powerful blow at Alto, intent on pummeling him to the ground. An explosion of wind spread out across the room as the blow was interrupted mere inches from reaching Alto’s face.

Alto looked forward to see Eleven standing before him, his palm outstretched, stopping General Duncan’s punch from reaching his face. "Mister Eleven?"

The general raised an eyebrow and looked down at the pale young man who looked thin. "How did you stop my blow?"

"I would appreciate it if you didn’t touch a hair on him," Eleven said with a straight face.

The general chuckled as he withdrew his hand. "How bold you young ones are. Why would I let this arrogant bastard go?"

Eleven straightened his form to make himself look taller and more confident and said, "Because Alto is my brother."

Charles Vans raised an eyebrow. "What the hell? Are they really brothers? That can’t be right."

Alto was also confused by this revelation, but he came to the realization that Eleven had said this to either piss off the general or because he saw Alto as his brother, since they were both working under the professor.

Professor Alberta walked forward and interrupted the rising tension. She clearly had not expected everything to spiral so out of control. "General Duncan, you came here wanting to thank me for my help to your fleet and insulted one of my own. I trust you will let him off with a warning as compensation for my help, and I will handle his punishment."

General Duncan growled as he relaxed himself. He looked at every figure in the room before settling his eyes on Alto, whose eyes still burned with passion. Then he faced the professor, to whom he was deeply indebted. "Indeed, I do owe you a great deal, and I respect you. I will not arrest this naïve puppy, but I will not let him off either."

Professor Alberta stroked her chin and said, "What do you have in mind, then?"

Alto tried not to show his tenseness in this moment.

The general smiled as he looked at his cadets. "He will duel one of my own—Kendell Brist. Whether he wins or loses, he will have learned his lesson."

Alto looked over in Kendell’s direction, and their eyes met. Kendell mouthed a sorry to him. Alto knew that if he chose to fight the huge mass of muscle, he was sure to receive exclusive treatment in the med bay.

Professor Alberta nodded in agreement before escorting the general and his cadets away. Charles Vans approached Alto and said, "What is your problem? You come back today and decide to fuck things up? Were you sent to sabotage master?" He turned to address Eleven next. "And you—what was that shit you were spitting out earlier? You want to disgrace master even further?"

Eleven glared at him to shut him up. He opened his mouth and spoke. "There are more important things than your childish ego."

As much as Alto knew that he was in deep trouble, he was a bit confused about something. "How did you stop the general’s blow?"

This piqued Charles Vans’s interest also. To this, Eleven responded, "I blocked it with my palm."

Alto wanted to say more, but the professor walked back into the room just then, and she did not look happy.