Chapter 339: Act 107 – Duke Toniger and the Young Lord (7) (First Update, Where’s Your Support?)
“Young one,” It was at this moment he suddenly heard Otales’ voice in his mind, “I’ve been meaning to ask – is the silver elf girl accompanying you of the elven royal family?”
“Lord Otales, Medisa does belong to the royal family. Why do you ask?” Brendel replied.
“Nothing much, just that she looks somewhat familiar. She resembles someone I knew, though it’s unlikely to be her. Perhaps she is that person’s descendant…” Otales shook his head and answered, “But if she is of the royal family, then the question you asked earlier isn’t much of a problem.”
“Why?”
“One of the Silver Elves’ legacies, the art of elemental conduction, is known even more so by the royal family.” Otales explained, then fell silent.
Now that made sense. Brendel understood and looked curiously at Medisa. “Do you know it, Medisa?”
The silver elven maiden nodded gently.
“Alright, this issue is resolved, then,” Brendel knew this was one of the toughest challenges of the elemental furnace’s construction—solving it meant solving at least half of the problem, if not more. Still, he asked, “How do we convert these fire elements into a continuous flame? As far as I know, most alchemical activation arrays are instantaneous, yet an elemental furnace requires a stable and continuous activation—”
“Is there no way to resolve it?” Berun, who had just raised his eyebrows in hope, let them drop again, voicing his frustration, “It doesn’t seem that difficult.”
“It is difficult. The stability requirement for such an array is very high. However, there are substitutes. One is to reinforce the array, though this will affect efficiency. The second is to use better materials for the array, which would raise costs,” Brendel thought for a moment. A miniaturized elemental furnace could use a reinforced array, and the increased cost for a larger model seemed acceptable, as costs could always be passed on.
Though it was difficult, he remembered that he had Tam, the master alchemist, and he was confident handing the task to him would solve it.
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Alright, having alternate solutions is better than having none. We move on to the next issue – the power conduction device and the core?”
“I can try to source some cores,” Berun glanced at him, this elder, usually taciturn, responding tentatively, “I have some acquaintances in Ampere Seale, Corvado, and Siphai. I can perhaps request their help—though not for the largest ones.”
“Medium-sized will suffice!” Brendel responded quickly. As for the power conduction device, there was a rudimentary design that Antinna had, which might just work. These were far rarer and almost entirely controlled by the royal family and large nobles.
Still, Brendel took a moment to glance at the smith master with some surprise. This was the first time he had proactively mentioned using his network—an indication of how intriguing this project was to the old man.
Still, Brendel couldn’t help but probe further cautiously, “If so, why not ask them for some assistance? Aren’t you short on manpower, Master Berun?”
The old man shot him a glare, “You want more people involved? Others I don’t care about, but no one I know is getting roped into this ship of yours. My acquaintances are either loyal to the crown or my students, and I don’t want them dragged into this mess.”
“No, no, no, you misunderstand. Whether it’s the crown loyals or us, we are all in the same boat now, aren’t we? We are working for the Princess, are we not?” Brendel pressed, undeterred.
“Hmmph,” Berun remained skeptical, though the mention of the Lionheart Sword resonating with Brendel softened him slightly, “I’ve already committed to serve you. As for my students, that’s their choice. And the crown loyals? Don’t even mention it.”
“I never asked you to interfere with their choice, Master Berun,” Brendel quickly interjected, shaking his head as if sighing, “I’m not forcing them to commit to me—they can help us casually. Learn to adapt!”
“Look—helping us ‘smuggle’ in this way is not so different from aiding us in the cause of Princess! It’s also for restoring Erluin’s lost glory!”
“Most importantly, we will pay for their help. We won’t let any of your students come out short. It’s a win-win, isn’t it, Master Berun?”
Brendel coaxed carefully, sketching a promising future.
Of course, Xi and Medisa noticed this act. They couldn’t help but smile as the young lord appeared as diabolical as those tempters from the fiery hells with honeyed promises and sinister intentions.
The two women, seeing how the Master Smith was caught off guard and swayed by Brendel’s charm, exchanged glances but held back their laughter as the young lord turned behind him to silence them with a glare.
Brendel couldn’t help but muse internally: a few years as a guild leader in games had honed this talent for painting grandiose prospects. But compared to the managers in his old world, he was still an amateur; if they were here, they’d set up a massive transnational scheme in no time—though technically, it would still be a grand con job! No, no, it should be called a multinational corporation! And no, it could become a massive religious organization!
Surely not inferior to either the Wind Queen’s Temple or the Temple of Fire.
While Brendel enticed Berun with promises, his mind was racing with such thoughts. It seemed his efforts had finally paid off. The master craftsman of Erluin’s court hesitated a moment before deciding,
“Well, fine. What else do you need, Lord?”
“People! More population!”
“People!?” Berun was startled, staring at Brendel in shock, “You… you expect me to traffic people? Are you insane? Population trading is prohibited in Erluin!”
Though his stance was less firm than he made it seem, since underground black markets within Erluin still existed where nobles engaged in such reprehensible practices—a public secret.
Still, in Berun’s view, young Brendel wasn’t that kind of person. Despite finding the latter’s idealistic righteousness somewhat naive, he admired this trait in the youth.
Brendel frowned and shook his head, “What nonsense is this about population trading? That’s absolutely disgraceful! Master Berun, don’t bring those old aristocratic habits to my territory—”
Berun, barely holding back, stared disapprovingly at Brendel. In his mind, wasn’t this your suggestion in the first place? You said you need people, and it’s hard to see another way apart from population trading to acquire more.
“So what do you mean, Lord?” The elder asked irritably.
Brendel nodded approvingly.
“Alright, do you know the Black Rose War?”
“What’s that?”
“That is…”
Brendel paused mid-sentence, realizing there was no official name for the war yet. Calling it the “Black Rose War” was premature.
So he coughed to cover up and altered his wording, “I mean the war that just ended—”
“You refer to Madara’s invasion?” Berun thought for a second and asked skeptically, “But how is that related to the so-called Black Rose War?”
The young man’s face flushed slightly as he was caught in an awkward position, thinking to himself that this old man always picked the inconvenient topics to raise.
Before he could smooth over the situation, Xi softly interjected, “I’ve heard Madara was known as the Black Rose of Brahma. I think that’s what Lord meant.”
Berun’s eyes lit up, agreeing, “Ah, that makes sense. Perhaps historians will indeed name it thus. So, then?”
At this point, Brendel wanted nothing more than to grab Xi and kiss her—were it not for Little Romain’s sake. He stifled that fantasy and continued, clearing his throat:
“The Black Rose War may look like the greatest conflict Erluin has seen since the November War, but it isn’t. Ever since the royal family lost control over the provinces, nobles have been constantly warring, leaving this ancient kingdom in perpetual turmoil.”
Everyone present could relate deeply to his depiction of Erluin’s situation over the past two decades and nodded in agreement.
“Master Berun, do you know the refugees currently in Mintai?” the young lord asked further.
“Of course, some of my workers came from that group,” Berun hesitated for a moment, then realized, staring at Brendel in surprise, “My Lord, you’re talking about… refugees?”
Brendel nodded. Long-standing conflicts had created numerous displaced individuals. These refugees were either forced into the servitude of powerful lords, living without freedom as tenant farmers or serfs, or faced homelessness, living hand to mouth.
While there was no precise count, he was confident that such displaced people were widespread throughout Erluin, be it in the north or south.
To attract them was simple. A full meal and a dream of better life would be sufficient to bring them to Duke Toniger’s territory.
What he needed to provide them was the means to get here.
However, after his initial surprise, Berun quickly regained his composure and cautioned, “Lord, the refugees exist, but many are sick, elderly, or children. The strong laborers are valued anywhere, and such an opportunity likely won’t fall into your lap—”
(PS. As usual, a shoutout for support.)(To be continued, to find out what happens next, tune in.)
