Ghosts of the Past (7)
‘That’s how you protect your own home…… .’
Despite narrowing down the areas they could take responsibility for and sticking close together, the forces of all kingdoms and military factions were gathered in one place. The standing flags looked like a fence.
Phoebe, who had been looking down with him, reacted while looking somewhere.
"Oh, Saul is there too~."
"Saul?"
"He's my younger brother in the Empire."
Reed moved his telescope below the Empire's flag.
A red-haired man in plate armor looked up at their location, and when he met Phoebe's eyes, he turned his eyes away with an uncomfortable face.
Then he awkwardly raised his finger and responded to the greeting.
Reed put away the telescope and doubted his own eyes.
'Is that man really Saul?'
The appearance matched perfectly.
As a characteristic of the half-dragon who doesn't age well, it feels similar to when Reed saw him.
Saul was an NPC who always invaded during training quests in the Empire Quests.
While training, he would pop out like a special event and shout, "Show me your skills," and invade.
Of course, there's no way to win.
Training events happen early on, and the initial specs are always at the level of a worm, so how can one beat the half-dragons with their final specs?
Saul was a bully character who liked to suppress others.
The Empire's bully became a gentle lamb in front of Phoebe, creating a huge sense of dissonance.
"Shall we go meet him?"
"Oh, do you want to see Saul?"
Phoebe's face brightened as if she was pleased.
"Well, it's not just because of Saul."
Reed said so and turned around.
When he came out, Phoebe accompanied him.
It was to escort the Tower Master Reed.
As they came out, all the watchmen's eyes were focused on Reed.
"We greet the Master of the Silence Tower."
All the watchmen who met Reed's eyes bowed respectfully to him.
It must be a greeting under the orders of the superiors to treat him like a king, but it wasn't bad.
Reed entered the monitoring area of the Garcia Empire.
The watchman must have informed them that the Tower Master had arrived, as the owner came out from the splendid tent.
It was the Crown Prince of the Garcia Empire.
He appeared to be in his mid-20s with blond hair and a refreshing impression that could be felt from his face.
Looking completely different from the little rascal William, the Crown Prince greeted Reed with a dignified appearance.
"The Crown Prince of the Garcia Empire greets the Master of the Silence Tower."
From his smile, one could understand a little why he was praised as the treasure of the Empire.
It was a refreshing smile that loosened the tension.
"Is it okay for the Crown Prince to come here in person?"
"You've been quite the topic among the magicians, so I wanted to see you at least once."
"You have a great sense of humor in these confusing times."
"I came with the pillars of the Empire as my escort, so why should I be afraid?"
He patted Saul's shoulder and smiled proudly.
Saul stood with decorum, similar to the other knights.
Unlike Gorgan, who was born a soldier, there were some awkward aspects, but it wasn't bothersome.
The Crown Prince glanced at the woman standing modestly beside Reed.
"Nice to meet you, you must be the Tower's Deputy?"
"Nice to meet you too, Your Highness."
Phoebe, perhaps nervous, sweated a little and offered a polite greeting.
There was great pressure to be cautious with her words and actions, as her position was more associated with Reed's image than that of the Emperor.
"Your reputation precedes you. Of course, only within the palace."
The meaning of 'only within the palace' referred to the content of blackmailing the Third Prince.
Of course, the blackmail was done by Morgan II, but after hearing all the circumstances, the Crown Prince realized that Phoebe had recorded the blackmail.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Despite being nervous, she was quite good at acting nonchalant.
The Crown Prince continued with a smile.
"Thanks to you, I was able to correct my brother's habits, so it's a relief for me. I thought he would cause a big accident someday, but you stopped it before it happened, so I should be grateful."
"You don't need to thank me for something I didn't do."
The conversation continued in a tit-for-tat manner.
The Crown Prince persistently tried to dig deeper, but Phoebe maintained her ironclad defense, letting the questions slip away.
The Crown Prince turned his head to look at Reed again.
"The reason I came here is none other than to discuss the items being produced in the Silence Tower."
It was a cliché story.
No doubt he would say the same thing as other nobles who wanted to monopolize.
However, Reed's position was always firm.
"Even if Your Highness comes here in person, I cannot give you the items carelessly."
"Is it because it goes against fairness?"
"Yes. Don't you already have enough magicians in the empire?"
There were defensive magic circles and an army prepared to intercept anyone who invaded.
It was the last fortress that would not fall easily, even if the hero who defeated the Demon King, precisely the hero who became the first disaster, took action personally.
"We want to monopolize the weapons to be made in the future as well. If you join hands with our empire, we can provide more support than the Hupper Kingdom."
The copyright of knowledge is always important.
Of course, they could create something similar to a bolt gun in a different way, but by then, the Silence Tower would already be far ahead.
And the Empire's magicians wouldn't come to learn magic engineering now.
It would be more profitable to join hands with the Silence Tower.
Of course, Reed had no intention of being swayed by that.
Giving them good weapons would be like giving wings to the power-hungry Garcia Empire.
"Resources and support are not the problem."
"Then?"
"It's a matter of trust. I am currently in a partnership with the Hupper Kingdom. If I throw away trust for immediate gains, I won't be able to receive or give trust to anyone in the future."
"I see. That's a valid point as well."
He took Reed's words seriously and showed his reaction.
Despite having enough reasons to resent the Hupper Kingdom for declaring its separation and independence, he showed no signs of displeasure.
Whether he was truly listening or just trying to win favor, it was clear he had the qualities for politics.
"I expected it, but it's a little disappointing to be rejected so quickly. In that case, would you at least accept the humble gift we prepared?"
"In that case......"
He couldn't refuse the gift he brought after turning down the Crown Prince, so he accepted it as it was.
The Crown Prince looked up at Reed with a satisfied expression, and only after receiving it did Reed realize that it was a method to give a gift.
'He's cunning.'
Knowing that he would obviously refuse, he made him refuse once so that he couldn't refuse twice, making him accept the favor.
It wasn't a skill he had tried just once or twice.
"Oh, speaking of which, didn't Saul say he brought something too?"
Although the Crown Prince casually called him, Saul bowed his head politely and answered.
"Yes, Your Highness."
"Give it to her now. There won't be many opportunities."
Saul took out his item from the tent and handed it to Phoebe.
Phoebe shuddered as she looked at the box nervously.
"What is this......"
"It's the thing you enjoyed eating in the Empire. You told me to buy more and bring it sometime."
Then Phoebe tilted her head and replied.
"When did I ever say I liked something like this?"
"What are you talking about? You said you wanted more and even hit me to bring—."
"Saul~."
Phoebe cut him off.
Even though Saul was much taller, Phoebe somehow looked even bigger.
"It's not true~."
Phoebe's smiling face sent an uncomfortable aura and a silent message.
A strong message to be more tactful.
Saul realized he had touched a sensitive topic and broke out in a cold sweat.
Saul stood still, forgetting what he was going to say, and Reed took the snack box from him instead.
"Thank you for your gift on behalf of the Tower."
"......Ahem, thank you."
Saul politely greeted and returned to his seat.
"I apologize for causing you any discomfort. We will make sure not to disturb you."
"Alright."
The Crown Prince and Reed greeted each other and turned back.
Upon entering the tower, Reed turned his head towards Phoebe and spoke.
"Phoebe."
"Yes?"
Reed handed the snacks he received from Saul to Phoebe.
"Enjoy them. Don't eat alone, share some with Rosaria too."
"Y-yes? Oh, I really didn't ask for these! Saul gave them to me on his own!"
She tried to explain as if she had been wronged, but he didn't believe her at all since he already knew her appetite.
That day, Rosaria came to Reed to brag about receiving a large snack as a gift.
* * *
Kaitlyn muttered as she looked at the on-site reviews of the items they received from various places.
"It's a bit scary that these hastily made items are selling so well......"
Reed had the same thought, but he didn't express it.
Kaitlyn's three creations were all of low quality.
Stability was increased at the expense of efficiency and power.
The reason for distributing the deliberately downgraded weapons was because Kaitlyn was too talented.
It was impossible for her alone to mass-produce three types of weapons and armor.
"The most praised was, of course, the bolt gun."
A long-range weapon made similar to a single-handed musket.
It allowed ordinary soldiers to use low-level magic by charging the magic crystal ball.
There was no need for the strength to withstand the tension of a bow like an archer, and training was easy since all they had to do was aim.
Most people adapted quickly if they had some experience shooting a slingshot when they were young.
'By thinking of them as units without magicians, it's possible to exploit their vulnerabilities... They must not have predicted that.'
What would become of them in this new world where new weapons have emerged?
Would they become obsolete, or would they adapt to the new weapons?
Reed hoped for the former, but they would stubbornly head towards the latter.
'I must stop them.'
The Aura Sword, which received the worst reviews as its performance depended on the user's skill, was put on hold, and they decided to prioritize producing the bolt gun first.
Reed began to produce magic engineering products according to the standard specifications for mass-produced goods.
As it was an emergency, all the magicians were extremely busy.
It turned into a factory that produced hundreds of items a day.
Although they said they had enough stockpiled raw materials, they would eventually run out.
To prepare for that, they needed to receive additional support, but the ghosts of the past wouldn't let that happen easily.
That's why Reed decided to transport the raw materials from the Kalton Mountains himself.
Using the magnesium gauntlet with a teleportation magic stone embedded.
The method was simple.
Teleport to the Barchan Alliance, grab the goods, and teleport back.
As it was an area Reed had traveled to before, it was not difficult to head to the Barchan Alliance in the Kalton Mountains.
When Reed traveled alone, it consumed 500 mana, but with the added weight, it took an additional 1,500 mana.
He transported 100kg each time, making a total of four round trips and moving 400kg of iron ore in one day.
Since the amount transported was too small compared to the daily production, Reed came up with a plan.
***
* * *
Dream big tl dot com
***
Reed had a dream.
It was a memory from his childhood.
Unable to sleep, he went to his father's study.
His plan was to visit his father, who was always immersed in research late into the night.
He cracked open the door, and Reed's hand stopped.
It wasn't just his father that he saw through the slightly opened gap.
There was a person standing with their back turned within Reed's small field of vision.
He couldn't see their face, but their hair was similar to Reed's and his father's gray hair.
Young Reed didn't know, but the dreaming Reed could tell who it was in an instant.
'The Hero.'
His father and the Hero were having an argument.
"Please reconsider one more time. If this is completed, there will be no need nor reason to sacrifice anyone."
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At this point close to confirmed the hero is Reed's ancestor.
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