Chapter 528 - 527: Deal Reached
Weaponry?
Upon hearing Gawainâs words, Victoria couldnât help but feel a stirring in her heart.
The situation was not beyond her expectations, everything was as she had surmised over the past few daysâCecil Clan was short on money.
Over the past three days, Victoria employed various methods to investigate the situation in the southern borders, and though she couldnât directly contact the Administrative Office staff nor leave the city, she was able to access Cecil Clanâs market, their newspapers, hear the gossip in the streets and even witnessed Magic Projection Technique twiceâwhat Cecil Clan called "programs". From this publicly disseminated information, she could deduce a lot of useful insights.
Cecil Clanâs development is extremely rapid, and Gawain Cecil, this founding hero who experienced Gondorâs time, seems to be using his seven-hundred-year-old knowledge to build up the land. He initiated several astonishing projects, including the redistribution of the entire southern borderâs population and the simultaneous construction of multiple new cities, which undeniably require shocking amounts of wealth to support.
The newly established Cecil Principality should already be under significant financial strainâthis was the conclusion Victoria deduced from her investigations over the past days.
Even before arriving at the southern borders, she had been pondering what could appease and win over this Grand Dukeâthe royal familyâs recognition or the "legitimacy certification" from contemporary aristocrats is meaningless to a Duke who himself is the source of legitimacy. But upon realizing the possible financial strain of Cecil Clan, she believed she had found the perfect "gift".
Moreover, after witnessing Cecil Clanâs Beyonder gears, she too developed immense interest in those items. She did not know how to broach the topic proactively, but now it seems mutual necessity had created the best scenario.
"You must have seen my army and the rearmed Rocky Ridges Fortress," Gawain noted the subtle change in Victoriaâs eyes, knowing she had already begun thinking in his desired direction. He suppressed the irrepressible smile in his heart and continued sternly, "The principality is newly established, my troops are just sufficient to protect this land, but the weapons we prepared for warfare have significant surplus, and they are high-quality Beyonder gears, surely beneficial for the Anzu Kingdomâs military."
"There is no doubt," Victoria immediately responded, "The Eastern Regionâs People are battle-hardened, our Soldiers are hardly able to contend with them, but if equipped with powerful weapons, the situation would undoubtedly differ from now..."
"That would be ideal," Gawain nodded but then shifted his tone, "However, these Beyonder gears are not akin to ordinary sword, Cecil Clan spent a kingâs ransom creating them, I canât offer them to the Anzu Kingdomâs military for free."
Victoria anticipated this: "Of courseâBeyonder gears are always scarce, even if they can be acquired with money, itâs a stroke of luck. But Iâd like to know, what weapons do you have to offer to the Anzu Kingdomâs military, and how many?"
Gawain smiled slightly, standing up: "Come with me, I think a practical demonstration would be more impactful."
Victoria followed Gawainâs steps; they left the feudal lordâs mansion and boarded a Magic-guided Vehicle, promptly departing the administrative district. After a brief drive, the surrounding buildings grew sparse, several sentinel towers gradually appeared in view.
They arrived at the weapons testing grounds located in the cityâs northeastern direction.
Upon alighting, Victoria couldnât resist glancing back at the vehicle they just rodeâindeed, it was exceptionally efficient and swift, especially on the battlefield. It wouldnât easily get startled like a warhorse and possessed a sturdy shell and great power. If equipped with crossbows, stationed archers and javelin throwers, or used for transporting supplies... that would be splendid!
While pondering, a young Knight approached Gawain and Victoria. It was Sir Philip, who had been informed in advance, and had prepared the test grounds: "My lords, everything is ready."
Gawain gestured for Sir Philip to lead the way, while Victoria temporarily curbed her thoughts. Accompanied by part of the attendant personnel, she followed Gawain and the young Knight, swiftly arriving at a cleared area, guarded by Soldiers.
She saw a Soldier approach Gawain with a long wooden box in hand. When the box was opened, inside was a single-handed Longsword with a dark blue blade, aesthetically pleasing yet imposing.
She had seen such a swordâin the hands of the female Knight named Margarita, leaving a deep impression.
"This is a Beyonder gear infused with fire elemental power, we call it Melting Sword," Gawain picked up the Longsword, casually swung it a couple of times, then pressed a mechanism on the hilt before Victoria. The Longsword emitted a faint hum, and the blade swiftly turned red, with the air near the blade visibly distortingâcausing Victoria to realize the swordâs incredible heat, "As witnessed, its heat blade is its power source. In normal dueling, it can effortlessly slice through any ordinary sword. Against light and medium metal Armor, it can cut through with one strike, though its effectiveness against heavily armored units might be limitedâbut the heat can continuously warm the heavy armored warriors, and its lethality remains deadly."
Victoria leaned closer; she accepted the Longsword handed by Gawain, feeling the astonishing heat emitted. But she felt more intensely the automatic operating Magic Power within the sword: "Does it not require Magic Power from its user?"
"Indeed, itâs a self-sustaining Beyonder gear. Anyone with training can use it."
A self-sustaining Beyonder gearâamong the most expensive of its kind!
"No wonder the southern borders Noble Allied Army couldnât match you," Victoria admired as she observed the deadly yet beautiful weapon in her hand, "If common Soldiers are equipped with Magic weapons, any army would become terrifyingly formidable... How much does a sword like this cost?"
Gawain regarded Victoriaâs reaction with satisfaction, quoting a price that left her stunned: "Only twenty Anzu Round Gold Coinsâor seventeen Shield Gold Coins."
Victoria was astoundedâitâs not that it was too expensive, but shockingly cheap!
Twenty Gold Coins for a sword; if it was an ordinary sword, it would certainly be expensive, since non-magical steel Longsword at most would cost two or three Gold Coins, no more than four even if crafted by master artisans. But if itâs a Beyonder weapon... Twenty Gold Coins wouldnât even cover the materials sometimes!
A Longsword with the most basic sharp enchanted symbol could be priced over a hundred Gold Coins, and those with elemental power could have their prices doubled, often unavailable even with moneyâbecause those who can craft magic weapons are influential Transcendents, who themselves arenât short of money. To commission them to craft weapons requires not just money, but enough reputation and standing.
Yet in Cecil Clan, a Longsword infused with elemental power is just twenty Gold Coins... and such swords are mass-produced.
"Is this price inappropriate?"
Gawainâs voice prompted Victoria to snap back to reality, she shook her head: "No, itâs actually much... cheaper than I imagined."
"The low price is due to certain flaws," Gawain chuckled, "As you must already know, many of the Cecil Clanâs Beyonder gears are mass-produced. However, to mass-produce objects with Magic Power, we have to make certain compromises in qualityâwhen used normally, the sword in your hand has no difference in power compared to real Beyonder gears, but the Magic Capacitor buried within its hilt will break down after a certain period, at which point it turns into an ordinary weapon."
"No wonder itâs so cheap..." Victoria remarked in a moment of realization, then couldnât help but ask concernedly, "What happens after the Magic mechanism in the sword handle is damaged?"
"It can be replacedâto compensate for the quality deficiencies, many of its components are detachable and replaceable," Gawain smiled, "Donât worry, the Magic mechanisms are even cheaper, a new Magic Capacitor costs only a Shield Gold Coin, and if youâre concerned that an ordinary Soldier would improperly replace it and damage other key structures of the sword, you can send them back, and weâll replace them for free."
"Only a Gold Coin?" Victoria confirmed, and upon receiving a definitive answer, she couldnât help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Seems... quite cost-effective? Although the long-term accumulation of costs for continuously replacing Magic mechanisms may become significant, compared to buying a real Beyonder gear, this kind of "Melting Sword" is still way cheaper.
Afterward, more weapon samples available for sale were brought before Gawain and Victoria.
Gawain commanded the Soldier to demonstrate those weapons on-site, while he introduced them one by one:
"This is a heat-ray gun, capable of firing Scorching Ray, though its range is much shorter than that of regular Scorching Ray, less than a hundred meters, but it already surpasses many bows in range, and its power is far beyond what bows can match. Of course, itâs also a cheap, mass-produced Beyonder gear, and its focusing array is prone to damageâyouâre a Mage, you should know this is an unavoidable situation. But you donât have to worry, the focusing array is very cheap as well..."
"Crystal Grenade, reliable in powerâyou donât need to worry about its lifespan, itâs a consumable itself, but itâs definitely cheaper and easier to carry compared to a blasting scroll."
"Magic Armor, excellent defensive measures are equally important to Soldiers, and I believe you also donât want Soldiers armed with a large amount of Gold Coins to easily die on the battlefield. This armor has multiple effective enchantments, and the Power Core on the chest allows it to operate continuously for four hours, which is enough to handle most battles. The effects of its various enchantments rely on the rune trigger in the armorâs slots to generate, in other words, changing or adding rune trigger alters the armorâs magic resistance, which can cope with extremely complex battlefield situations, allowing Soldiers to effectively confront whatever the enemy is."
"Whatâs the value of this armor?" Victoria couldnât help but interrupt Gawainâs words, in this armor, she saw a unique design conceptâthough she did not know this design concept was called "modular", it didnât hinder her from taking great interest in the Magic Armor.
"Itâs free." Gawain said with a faint smile.
Victoria thought she was hallucinating, "Fr... Free?!"
"Yes, the armor is free, because it has different combination methods, making it really difficult to price, so we only sell the rune trigger, the Anzu Kingdomâs military can order specific types of rune triggers as needed, just buy enough three kinds, and the armor can be donated as a free gift. If you buy a whole set of rune triggers, you can also get three additional Crystal Grenades for free."
Victoria felt she heard a lot of unheard-of terms from Gawainâs mouth, but the meanings of these terms were not hard to understand, just required some thinking to keep up with Gawainâs paceâshe tried hard to catch up with this pace, and then felt... seemed quite appropriate?
Everything was reasonableâthe Cecil Clan indeed realized the mass production of Beyonder gears, but their mass production came at a cost, the cost was that the quality of weapons couldnât compare with real Beyonder gears, they always had various critical components that were prone to damage, then had to be replaced, but those components themselves werenât very expensive either...
Victoria pondered, then asked, "How many sets of such equipment can you provide? A whole set of weapons and armor, not counting those Crystal Grenades?"
Gawain estimated the efficiency of the production line and the current inventory, and stated a conservative number, "Before spring, ten thousand sets should be no problem."
Ten thousand...
This was the first time Victoria heard such a unit used to describe the quantity of Beyonder gears in her life.
She felt her heart pounding, the role a military equipped with ten thousand sets of Beyonder gears could play continuously simulated in her mind, but after the initial excitement subsided, she immediately realized how vast a sum of money this would require.
The Cecil Clanâs Beyonder gears were indeed very cheap in unit price, almost just a fraction compared to normal Beyonder gears, but...
Their quantity unit was "ten thousand."
That number was quite daunting.
And this did not yet account for the subsequent cost of replacing those fragile components, maintenance, and upkeep costs, although thereâs no definite data now, Victoria instinctively sensed that it was also going to be a large sum.
"We perhaps... donât have enough Gold Coins," Victoria said a bit in difficulty, initially a little embarrassed, but considering the person before her was her elder, as a junior, the embarrassment dissipated considerably, and she candidly stated the current difficulties of the military of Anzu Kingdom, "The Eastern Territory Rebels occupied one of the wealthiest areas on the Plains of the Holy Spirits, and the past six months of war have already consumed a large part of the militaryâs reserves."
"Ah..." Gawain showed a hint of difficulty, furrowing his brow in thought, he pondered for several minutes, just as Victoria was about to speak, he finally sighed deeply, "But the price I mentioned is already the cost price, you should know, magic materials and Mages donât fall from the sky... Letâs do this, you can use half Gold Coins, half raw materials to offset, will that work?"
Victoria blinked: "Half Gold Coins, half raw materials?"
"Iron ore, crystal ore, purple copper, quartz... These common materials are all acceptable, deducted at market price to offset the cost," Gawain said, "This is already the biggest concession I can makeâI am going to deliver heaps of Beyonder gears to the battlefield on the Plains of the Holy Spirits, all of them were manufactured with resources from the southern borders."
Victoria contemplated, quickly calculating all the data in her mindâshe could only estimate, estimating whether the Anzu Kingdom could afford such a still enormous expenditure, finally after adding in a portion of the taxes and mineral resources from the northern parts, she finally managed it.
For Anzu.
"Deal."
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