3 bar menu

Chapter 279 part 2

「Hearing that from you, Baron, gives us even more confidence. After hearing about the training we received from Lady Lenia, the people who used to look down on Kushli and me with disdain started to look at us with envy and jealousy. We’ll do our best to show them what we’re made of at the Magic Tournament.」

Seeing Kushri’s sudden cheerful smile, Christina felt a small wave of relief, somewhat convinced that their juniors’ performance would be just fine if things continued like this.

Just like last year, the Galois Magic Academy students had been honed by training partners beyond common conception, and they were bound to get results 『if the Magic Tournament was held safely.』

「Even without considering your achievements at the Magic Tournament, there are many nobles and merchants who would want to hire you based on your performance in today’s match.

I’m still short-staffed at my place when it comes to sorcerers, so I was thinking of making an offer to you if you’re interested. Oh, but if I’m too eager, will the others get angry with me for trying to poach you guys?」

Kushli and Aznar smiled with a boyish sense of pride and a touch of shyness at Christina’s evaluation, which was not flattery but an honest assessment from the perspective of a lord who needed as many more sorcerers as possible.

For the two of them, who came from affluent backgrounds, a job as a well-paid sorcerer under noble patronage was something they desperately desired.

Then Lenia, as always, was the one who put a damper on Kushli and Aznar’s beaming smiles.

「Don’t let their heads get too big from all this praise. As far as I’m concerned, Kushli and Aznar have only just reached the passing mark for the Tournament. If they get carried away by a single evaluation and end up tripping over their own feet, I’ll have to knock some sense into them myself!」

Despite being in a public place and who Lenia was talking to was Christina, the Baroness of Berne, she didn’t bother to show any courtesy or respect expected of a noble young lady. However, given the circumstances and the silent consent of both Christina and Dran, everyone understood that this was a special case, and no one dared to interrupt Lenia.

Meanwhile, Manos and Dran didn’t join in Lenia and the others’ conversation; instead, they had been having their own conversation about golems.

「So you’ve gone ahead with mass production of the multi-legged golem with cannons mounted on it?」

Manos, who had shifted from a damp atmosphere to a considerably more cheerful one, raised his glasses thoughtfully with his finger and inquired of Dran.

Although it was a divulgence of the internal affairs of the Barony, Dran had discretion over what was discussed as the head of the magic division, considering Manos’ personality and the fact that he had helped with the design and development of some of the golems.

「Yes, we have. It would take too long to gather enough manpower, and it’s easy to imagine that it would be difficult to replace any losses. That’s why I thought it was important to focus on increasing our firepower in order to avoid that.」

「I see, that makes sense. The latest cannons are quite expensive, and it must also be difficult to buy gunpowder. Are you gonna outfit the golems with magic cannons then? If it’s about Magic Stones, you can produce as many as needed, right?」

「We managed to get our hands on some old-fashioned cannons, both gunpowder and magic-based, but the latest models are still difficult to obtain. We could cast them ourselves from scratch, but we still don’t have enough furnaces or skilled workers.」

「Well, I suppose that’s to be expected. You’re the one who completed Gandoga, so I’m sure you know that it takes time to find the right approach.」

The fundamental premises for weaponry are universal usability and consistent performance. If only some specific people can handle it and its performance is unstable, then it’s a failure as a weapon.

That’s why it’s better if the methods for maintaining and manufacturing it are also universal. If we rely on methods that only you guys can perform, we’ll be in trouble if you’re absent for some reason.」

「Even now, we’re still doing a lot of things in ways that only we can do, so we’re in the process of adjusting things so that we can align with others as much as possible.」

「That’s quite a lot to handle, but it’s your business, so I won’t butt in with my know-it-all attitude. But, are you planning to mass-produce Gandoga?

If it’s just two or three units, that’s manageable. But if you’re planning to have a large number of them like the Magic Control Armors, they’re excessively extravagant items in terms of both cost and performance. You’d have to suppress them to around a tenth of current levels.

Also, you designed the Gandoga assuming that Lynette would be handling it using a neural connection. If ordinary people are going to use it, it would require a complete system overhaul.」

「For now, we’ve gathered a number of outdated Magic Control Armors. We’d like to improve their performance by modifying them, but it’s been difficult to find skilled engineers who are familiar with those armors.

In the current situation, it’s not easy to poach them from other places, so we’ve been focusing on creating golems equipped with cannons instead」

「Hmm, so you’re planning to reduce their numbers as much as possible with cannons and minimizing the need for Magic Control Armors in close combat. The lethal engagement range in warfare has increased proportional to technological progress, so your allocation of resources is logical.」

「We’re using golems to make up for the lack of living human soldiers, and we’re also developing golems specialized for melee combat and mass-producing Lesser Golems.

「You’re making rapid progress. But I suppose that means the situation is pressing for you to do so?」

「As expected, you aren’t solely absorbed in research. You’re properly keeping track of world events too.」

「If anyone is more out of touch with the world than I am, they’re truly ignorant. By the way I love building powerful golems, but that doesn’t mean I enjoy war.」

That was one of the aspects Dran admired in Manos.

Sensing the shady of their conversation, Nelneshia approached Dran and Manos with a more serious expression than usual. As the daughter of one of the kingdom’s most powerful and militant noble families, she likely had access to more up-to-date and extensive information than Manos, who tended to seclude himself for his research.

「Dran, Apienia will also be sending people to the banquet later. A trusted knight captain, myself, and a few others. Can you tell me what kind of discussions will be held there to the extent that you can share now?」

「Hmm, Berne is the northernmost territory, but that doesn’t necessarily mean an attack must originate from the north. It’s wise to stay vigilant.」

Dran’s statement made it clear that he was more concerned about the threat from the north than from the Romal Empire to the west. This alone was enough to convince Nelneshia that the recent increase in vigilance and military buildup among the neighboring lords was not a mistake.

「If they attack other northern territories without taking Berne first, they’ll be vulnerable to an attack from behind, so I think we’ll be the first target」

According to Dran’s secret reconnaissance, it was predicted that Berne would be the first to be attacked in the Arkrest Kingdom.

The Demon King’s army was also mobilizing forces toward the Romal Empire, but Dran, as a citizen of the Arkrest Kingdom, had no reason to take action against them, especially without a request from Amria.

「Do you think a surprise attack and sudden war without forewarning is possible?」

「Unlikely. Our opponent is the divine descendant and inheriting the divine blood and spirit vessel of the God of War, Sacurabus. As long as we don’t show discourtesy first, I believe they won’t smear their ancestral god’s dignity with such behavior either. Half of this is just my speculation, so don’t take it at face value.」

「A divine descendant… Even I’m a little intimidated by that. How much of this information have you shared, and with whom?」

「It’s been shared with Her Majesty, and she told that to the key nobles close to her and the chief vassals. I plan to inform everyone at tonight’s banquet.」

「For a moment there, I thought it might be better not to share it. If we’re going to fight back seriously, we’ll need to ask the temples for their full cooperation, and then it could become problematic with the existing cooperative relationships and the amount of donations. It’s going to cost more money than a regular war.」

Nelneshia frowned slightly as if she was already having a headache thinking about the impending war expenses because they were usually covered by taxes collected from the people.

Having to expend those in a defensive war that wouldn’t enrich the territory or citizens, it’s only natural Nelneshia would show feelings of disgust and displeasure given her temperament.

「That’s something we’re racking our heads over too. We were fortunate to be able to ally with the dragonkin of the Mores Mountains to fight against the Demon Kings’s faux dragons. However, we had plans to establish friendly relations regardless of the Demon King’s invasion, so we don’t want to see it as reaping benefits from misfortunes.」

「Then we’ll have no choice but to thoroughly crush them and demand reparations?」

「Or we could aim for a complete victory with no casualties or compensation for the families of the deceased. Your plan is to recoup expenditures, Nelneshia, while mine is to minimize costs as much as possible.」

「Haa, either way, it’ll be difficult to achieve. Minimizing damage to nil is ideal, but it would be too costly to delve into The Dark Wilderness, an undeveloped territory, to make the enemy pay for damages.」

「Hmm, now that you mention it, that’s true. But I’ll do my best, prioritizing the preservation of human life and avoiding deficits at all costs.」

「Wow… when you say you’ll make that happen, I somehow believe that you’ll actually make it」

「Well, I have a lot of reliable allies around me.」

However, those whom Dran referred to as 『reliable allies』would probably shout at the top of their lungs that he was the most reliable of them all.