My Fate System

“Welcome, guests!” The girl with an eyepatch on walked toward them slowly. She was their age, but it seems she was trying to act otherwise. In her hand was a Tabaco pipe she inhaled from, creating a cloud of smoke above her. “I am… cough! Cough!”

The four looked at the girl having a coughing fit until her face was red. It was clear to all that she wasn’t used to smoking, but she was determined to pull off the scene.

“I am…” She inhaled from the pipe again, and she began coughing until her face was blue.

“Boss, I think this girl will choke to death before we get to hear her name,” Sergio whispered beside Nikolai, who had the same worry.

‘Why is she trying so hard?’

Nikolai looked at the girl as she adjusted her posture again and inhaled from the pipe again. This time, she didn’t cough, but it seems as if she was holding herself back.

“My name is Lex!” She said, with bloodshot watery eyes. “I am the Gunmaster of Ferro Fort! Welcome to my abode, travelers!”

“I guess she knows of our arrival?” Sergio blinked. “This can’t be her usual behavior?”

“Good to meet you, Gunmaster Lex.” Nikolai stood up and placed his hand on his heart in a salute. “I’ve heard of your great skills from afar!”

“???”

‘???’

Yuxi and Sergio looked at each other with shock. For Nikolai to show such respect and flattery toward someone was an anomaly in itself.

“Ah?” Lex seemed shaken by Nikolai’s reaction. However, she straightened her back and laughed heartily. “Oh, haha! I guess my reputation proceeds me.” She said with a smug expression.

Nikolai could feel the Master Dwarf glaring at him for manipulating Lex, but he didn’t care. The moment he recognized the pipe, Nikolai figured out the identity of this person.

Gunmaster Lex, Techs Master Lex, and Lex the Clumsy were all nicknames she earned in her past life. She was a traveling mechanic who built a flying forte later in the apocalypse.

Lex’s bizarre fascination with pipes and smoke made her an unforgettable character. Even in his past life, Lex was one of the few renowned Gunmasters in the apocalypse.

His intentions weren’t to manipulate her, but Nikolai respected this person because of an incident in the past. When the King died during the second wave of the apocalypse, mayhem ensued, and the people of the Rosia Kingdom had to flee.

Gunmaster Lex allowed the refugees she came across to live on her flying fort, saving thousands of lives. Lilith ran Nikolai’s division at that time, but she decided to establish a stronghold elsewhere instead of helping people. 

“Have a seat, good traveler!” Lex said with a grin to Nikolai. “I didn’t expect one of my guests to be so lovely!”

“Someone called Boss lovely?” Sergio’s hands shook as he touched his forehead, face pale. “I… need to rest for a while. It’s too shocking.”

Nikolai glared at the alchemist as he sat down. Yuxi looked at him with anger, as if she was lamenting the difference in treatment. However, he didn’t mind her and simply sat down to eat as Lex sat beside him.

“It seems you wanted to see me?” Lex grinned at him. It was the first time that Nikolai came in close contact with her in both lives, making him surprised that she wore an eyepatch even now.

She held her amber hair in a pun, with several strands messily falling to the side. Her eyepatch was black, and it covered her right eye. Her other eye, light violet, was bloodshot from the smoke.

“I heard of the Great Master Lex being in these parts, never thought I would meet you so fast.”

Nikolai said with a smile, entertaining the Gunmaster. Since she seemed gullible, he didn’t mind leaving a good impression of himself.

Until now, he was surrounded by people from Rohan, the same people who made his life a living hell before. That’s why he didn’t want to build good connections with them because he can never bring himself to forgive them.

Another person that would become important later on was Valkyrie, but Nikolai could never work with her after knowing that she was the one who ruined his life.

As for revenge against Valkyrie for using him and discarding him in his past life, Nikolai knew that he would have to wait until he grew stronger. He had to bottle down the hate and ignore thinking about it.

“Come on, take it out!” Lex said with an excited expression as she looked at Nikolai’s waist.

“Take what out?” Sergio dropped the fork with a gaping expression.

“My gun,” Nikolai said, but he saw Sergio tremble. He frowned at the alchemist who grabbed his arm.

“Bossman, it’s inappropriate to do such stuff here!” Sergio shouted as if he was the defender of chastity and purity. Nikolai slapped his hand away with a frown.

“Why are you such a pervert?” Nikolai berated. “I told you she wants my gun.” He took out his pistol and handed it over to Lex.

Sergio paused before falling back into his chair with a cough of embarrassment. Nikolai was speechless how the alchemist mistook his words for… that.

“Ah, you’ve taken good care of this baby, even though it doesn’t have much to show.” Lex took the gun with a gentle expression. She ran her finger on the gun’s parts as if she could tell every battle that it went through.

“I’ve bought this from a fence, so it isn’t much, but I make do with it.”

“Do you want an upgrade?” Lex asked with a smile. “I can increase its firepower and add a few gadgets. That is if you want to keep being a gunman.”

“What do you mean?” Nikolai asked with confusion.

“Guns are dying, and everyone knows that. Mana, elements, and skills favor cold weapons.” Lex shook her head with a sad expression as if she was mourning a dying era.