Chapter 249: Our Knights Will Wear That
The spy’s leader was sweating bullets and rolling his eyes.
“What the hell? They only saw us for a moment, and they remember us? Among all those laborers?”
What a crazy eye for detail. Although he had never seen the lord’s skills directly, he thought maybe the rumors were true and they were close to becoming a master.
“What do I do? What should I say?”
The spies were panicking. They couldn’t leave a trace in someone else’s memory. Reducing their presence was essential to their spy life.
The leader quickly pulled himself together and replied.
“We became friends when we met during migration. Being in a foreign land, we needed someone to rely on.”
“Oh, really? No families?”
“Yes, we’re all solo. Some were orphans from the start, and others lost their families due to war. We had the common point of having no one to rely on, which helped us bond more easily.”
The leader tried to calm his heart as much as possible. He had prepared a solid backstory for moments like these. He could answer anything they asked.
He had also manipulated his identity, and just in case they investigated, he had created a fake hometown and fake acquaintances. Of course, they were all fellow spies.
Ghislaine chuckled and then patted the leader’s shoulder, saying,
“Yeah, making friends is really important when living in a foreign place. But all three of you are in great shape, huh?”
“…Embarrassingly, I used to operate as a gangster in the poor district in my youth. Now, I’m reflecting on my past and working hard to help the territory.”
“A gangster? That sounds cool. So you were just a jobless thug, huh?”
“…Yes.”
“And the other two?”
At Ghislaine’s question, the fellow spies tensed up and answered.
“I was mainly just a laborer working for a merchant group. They let me do security work for a bit because I’m strong.”
“I mostly roamed construction sites as a laborer. I briefly worked as a guard for the Labor Assault Corps.”
They answered as they had been trained, and indeed, they had acquired knowledge about those jobs.
Someone might suspect them just from looking at their bodies.
“Hmmm….”
Ghislaine surveyed the three with a suspicious gaze up and down before saying,
“Take off your tops.”
Who would refuse in front of whom? The three hesitated but eventually took off their tops.
Indeed, all three had rather solid physiques. After briefly examining their upper bodies and hands, Ghislaine continued,
“No matter how you look at it, you have the body of someone trained in swordsmanship… And judging by your hands, it seems you’ve learned some dirty tricks too.”
The spies grew even more anxious at those words. It wasn’t even that hot, but cold sweat began to pour down.
It wasn’t even hot, but cold sweat started dripping down.
“What is it? How can you know just by glancing?”
“You’re just fishing for information, right? Please tell me that’s all it is.”
Spies typically learn swordsmanship to prepare for assassination orders or when they need to escape by force. The same goes for learning stealth techniques.
Of course, there are spies who don’t learn any martial arts. But those spies are smart enough to infiltrate as managers or scholars rather than engage in manual labor.
Unlike the two team members who looked as pale as ghosts, the leader quickly and coolly started thinking.
“What if I just confess and sell those guys out? I was really trying to settle down here! I even got a house and saved a lot of money!”
He was going to abandon his family and plant his roots here. He was trying to convince his team members too. Dying now after being caught as a spy felt incredibly unfair.
No way. He had finally succeeded in getting a house, and he couldn’t die now.
“Well, actually…”
The leader opened his mouth with great difficulty, but his words were cut off by Ghislaine’s abrupt remark.
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter if you’re a spy or not.”
The three of them widened their eyes in surprise.
“Was he just messing with us?”
“What does it mean that it doesn’t matter if we’re spies?”
Seeing the three’s panic, Ghislaine chuckled.
“I’m a non-violent pacifist. If I just grab and kill someone for being suspicious, that would just make me crazy, right?”
“Y-Yeah…”
“And our territory is in need of every hand, so it would be a big loss to kill someone who looks strong and capable just for being suspicious. Even if you were a real spy, we couldn’t just kill you.”
“R-Really?”
“But we can’t just let suspicious people go free either. So there’s a position prepared for you.”
“W-What is that?”
Ghislaine glanced at Gillian beside him and said, “Send them all to the ‘Labor Assault Corps.'”
“Understood.”
The spies collapsed to the floor as if struck by lightning.
“Oh no! Lord! We are innocent!”
“We’ll work hard!”
“Please spare us!”
The spies cried out.
The ‘Labor Assault Corps’ is sent to do the most dangerous work in the territory. They also receive military training. There were rumors that they would be at the forefront in the event of a war.
It was clear they would be fighting Desmond soon, and if they were sent to the front lines, it was obvious they’d get killed by their own side.
Even Ghislaine shook his head despite their cries.
“Why are you so scared? It’s just a workplace there. It’s just a bit harder than usual. You’ll be working there proving your innocence.”
The three were dragged away with looks of injustice on their faces. It was a relief not to be dead immediately, but it was a definite death sentence if a war broke out.
On top of that, they had to endure hardship until they died. Rumor had it that Kaor worked the labor corps members to the bone.
The leader gritted his teeth as he was taken away.
“I won’t die! Absolutely not! I will live and spend my happy days in my house!”
He hadn’t felt this way before he got his house. He was a loyal spy for Desmond.
But once he got a nice house, his mindset changed. He wanted to get married, have kids, and live a happy life.
Ultimately, it was about the house price. With his spy salary, he could never guarantee when he would buy a house in the expensive Desmond territory. And if he made a mistake while doing spy work, he could lose his head.
“I don’t want that life anymore! Just working here pays more than spy wages!”
“I don’t want to! Here, just working gives more than the pay for spies!”
He was utterly defeated by the powerful force of hardened loyalty capital.
If he lived earnestly in the Labor Assault Corps, he could be freed. If that happened, he believed he could earn a lot of money and live leisurely.
So he resolved.
“I will definitely survive! I will kill the most Desmond scum and win the war, earning great merit!”
A legendary traitor was being born.
*
When Ghislaine returned to the office after sending the spies to the Labor Assault Corps, Galbarik and the dwarves came running with tears streaming down their faces.
“My lord! My lord!”
“What’s going on?”
The dwarves looked like bearded goblins in a miserable state. But unlike before, their faces were filled not with fatigue but with happiness.
“Oh, could it be?”
Receiving Ghislaine’s gaze filled with expectation, Galbarik let out a loud laugh.
“At last! At long last, we have succeeded in making Galbarium!”
“You’ve really succeeded!”
Ghislaine smiled brightly. It took a long time, but unlike the large incubator, she was sure this would succeed.
Galbarik had found a way to succeed even in his previous life, where he knew nothing about the materials.
Returning Ghislaine’s radiant smile, Galbarik replied confidently.
“Yes! I truly succeeded based on what you taught me! Hahaha!”
Galbarik laughed heartily. Even though he received Ghislaine’s help, he was thrilled to have acquired a new technique.
From his pocket, he carefully pulled out a metal ingot and handed it over.
“This is Galbarium! Take a look!”
Ghislaine picked up the Galbarium ingot and examined it closely.
It was incredibly lightweight. No one could have imagined this alloy would be as strong as iron.
She drew her sword and swung it with just the right amount of force, without putting any mana into it.
Clang!
The sword bounced back. There wasn’t even a scratch.
“Wow!”
It was perfect. She couldn’t help but admire it. It was just like what she had seen in her former life.
With a satisfied smile, Ghislaine said,
“Great, it’s perfect. Just like what the legendary blacksmith made.”
“I want to meet that blacksmith!”
“…I don’t know where he is.”
Ghislaine turned her head and pretended not to know. It was hard to explain that all she had to do was look in the mirror.
Galbarik, with a slightly regretful expression, looked at the mirrors around and tidied his beard before continuing.
“Anyway, this is an achievement to be remembered in history! And more importantly, we are the only ones who can produce this now!”
Just as Galbarik said, this technique belonged solely to Penris Territory. There are no eternal secrets, so it would spread someday, but not yet.
“Alright, we need to start mass-producing Galbarium now. Let’s only share the method with skilled and trustworthy technicians and begin production immediately. But let’s pay them several times so they won’t complain at all.”
“Understood! I promise it will be well-managed so that no information leaks out! Don’t worry!”
Galbarik also realized that this territory would eventually have to fight Count Desmond. So, it was crucial that this technology does not leak.
Thus, he fully understood Ghislaine’s intentions.
“Trustworthy” technicians and “multiple times the pay” meant keeping the technicians locked up to work.
Once they secured the workforce, there would be no issue with mass production. They had already built large-scale smelters and forges all over the territory for this moment.
“Then I will immediately set to work and training for mass production! With that, I’ll take my leave…”
“Then let’s get right to work on bulk production and training! Well then…”
Galbarik and the dwarves were about to dash away. They knew very well that talking to the lord wouldn’t lead to anything good.
But Ghislaine grabbed Galbarik’s shoulder and smiled.
“Why are you leaving already?”
“To quickly start production….”
Feeling a bad premonition, Galbarik and the dwarves averted their eyes and muttered. It was obvious they were hoping to be let go.
“Come on, you know our style by now. If we succeeded in making Galbarium, we need to move on to the next task, right?”
‘You’re not human…’
Galbarik felt tears welling up.
Creating this was already tough enough. Now they had to handle mass production too. But it looked like more work was being added.
“I shouldn’t have promised to work hard for no reason!”
Still, he couldn’t say no because of dwarven pride. The dwarves never realized that pride was always the problem.
“Alright… so what’s next?”
“We’re going to create some armaments.”
“Armaments? Didn’t we decide to replace all weapons and armor with Galbarium anyway?”
After mass-producing Galbarium, they planned to replace the armaments of knights and soldiers. The same went for all metal products necessary for daily life.
Except for those that were useful just by their weight, like the castle gate bars.
But Ghislaine had a slightly more special equipment in mind.
“I’m not just going to change the material of the current gear; I’m going to develop entirely new equipment. I’m thinking of adding weapons later, but first, let’s start with the armor and helmets for the knights. Take a look at this.”
Ghislaine handed Galbarik the blueprints for the equipment he had prepared in advance.
Galbarik stared intently at the blueprints for a while before asking with a puzzled expression.
“What’s this groove on the armor and helmet? Don’t tell me….”
“That’s right; we’re going to embed Runestones there.”
“Huh, you’re planning to engrave the magic circle on the armor and use Runestones too? You want me to make 400 of these? Did you really do the math right?”
When Ghislaine nodded, Galbarik was shocked.
If made according to the blueprints, the value of this armor alone could sustain an average person for a lifetime.
Making 400 of those would certainly far exceed the budget of a typical territory for decades.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that these pieces of equipment were the most expensive items in the territory.
“I may not know much about administration or finance… but if we make this, the territory’s funds are going to wobble, right? Galbarium is one thing, but the Runestones are another. The more you use, the less we can sell.”
Galbarium was still in the early production stage. It required a lot of materials and had quite high production costs.
To replace all the metal gear and tools of the territory would already cost a staggering amount.
And now, embedding Runestones too? If the retainers heard this, they would all faint. Especially Claude would be in a frenzy over it.
Worried, Galbarik asked again.
“It will enhance combat power, but… this seems a bit excessive. No territory has armaments of this level. Wouldn’t it be better to use that money to increase the troops and weapons instead?”
“Our knights will wear these.”
Ghislaine didn’t want just ordinary knights who could only use mana.
He envisioned creating a knight unit that could fight anytime, anywhere, capable of executing all-around operations.
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