Koutetsujou no Kabane-Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress- (Ikoma Love Story)

02

"You can think about this situation as something similar to the philosophy of 'The Absurd'." You  thought  as you looked to see them taking the man away for having parts of the Kanabe in his bag.  "'the Absurd'" refers to the conflict between (1) the human tendency to seek and (2) the human inability to find any. In this context, absurd does not mean "logically impossible", but rather "humanly impossible". 

"And that is the situation at hand, can you fix it?" asked the Lord.

"I can maintain its feature but if I was to fully update its steel exterior, it will take about three years. I will first need to find some iron ore  mined from the ground. Then, smelt it in blast furnaces where the impurities can be removed and infuse carbon along with another metal. In fact, a very simple definition of steel is 'iron alloyed with carbon, usually less than 1%.'" you replied, "And from the job you just asked for, it will take that long where the best thing I can do is only update some of the components with the materials I have on hand with me."

"What if I have your expenses paid and ask you stay here to fully refurbish the Kotetsujo within the three-year mark?" asked the Lord.

"As pleasing as that sounds," you started, "I will be needed elsewhere and I can't just agree to your terms in the guarantee that I will be safe."

"B-But-" the lord started.

"I will update the modifications I discuss in my letter and will give you a full diagnostics of what the train will need if you want to make this fortress impenetrable," you replied as you climbed up on the train with Hikari on your back. You pulled out your machine gun while Hikari pulled out the train's blueprints and began reading off the calculations.

"So this part of the train consists of two gears only. Each gear is mounted on a separate shaft which are parallel. The first gear is driving the second gear. The speed of the first gear is recorded to run about 600 r.p.m. The number f teeth on the gears from its last run-in with the Kabane are respectively 20 and 60 respectively," Hikari read from the written reports.

"Determine from the reports and the calculations, the train's gear speed ratio should be three, the train's value of the gear train is 0.33, the speed of the second gear is around 200 r.p.m, and the direction of rotation of the second gear if the first gear is rotating clockwise is anticlockwise," You continued, "Also, just from you reading off the  blueprints of this cart, it seems that this plate needs some adhesive."

"W-Woah," you heard some of the workers as they looked up in awe at the teamwork both you and Hikari displayed. Over the nation and over the years, many of these people often fought to try and contact you to become an apprentice. You, on the other hand, never cared to take anyone under your belt because you had Hikari and having an unnecessary factor in your plan of finding a cure wasn't needed."

"She is  'Humanity's Last Defense'" another worker stated

And that nickname that also spread around like wildfire.

"Hikari," you muttered, "They will be here by nightfall..."

"Hm..."

"Let's ignore them and continue fixing this cart."

"Right!" Hikari yelled as he continued to read out the problems while you were hitting a nail with your hammer, imparting a strong impulse on the nail. The nail transmitting this impulse through it and when it touches the steel, the steel then imparts an equal and opposite reaction. Often they would use a nail gun, but you always thought that traditional methods were way better in getting the job done and making the work last longer rather than being done quicker.