Chapter 505: The Ancestor’s Business Sense

“Summing up, the situation in Luan City has basically stabilized. Through targeted propaganda and several effective work-for-relief projects, the officials we sent from the Administration Office have gained the locals’ initial trust. Meanwhile, the large-scale renovation of the Cathedral District is widely seen as a triumph of the ‘valiant resistance’ movement, earning praise and support from nearly all the city’s residents.”

Hetty placed a report on the table in front of Gawain, her face showing a look of relief as she spoke.

“With this, even if there are die-hard old church loyalists trying to stir trouble, it’ll be hard for them to make any real waves.”

Gawain flipped through the report, nodding slightly. “Good… but we still have to watch out for embers reigniting. The remnants causing trouble openly aren’t the real threat—it’s when they go underground that things get tricky. Let’s leave that to Amber and the Intelligence Bureau; they’re experts at handling this kind of thing. By the way, how’s the demolition of the inner city walls coming along?”

Hetty thought for a moment. “According to the plan, two-thirds of the walls on the west and east sides of the Cathedral District will be torn down, with the remaining walls preserved only as memorials and decorations. The western wall has already started coming down. The citizens of Luan City support this, of course, but to be honest… Ancestor, is this really necessary?”

“The inner city walls of Luan City are unlike any others. For centuries, that wall has been more than just a fortification—it’s a symbol. A symbol of the absolute boundary between gods and mortals, a symbol of the unbridgeable gap between the clergy and ordinary people. As long as that wall stands, even if we tear down the cathedral itself, the ‘Cathedral District’ will remain a place ordinary people dare not enter. This runs completely counter to the new church’s doctrine of the Holy Light,” Gawain patiently explained. “I know what you’re worried about—the inner walls are part of the city’s defenses, and tearing them down might weaken Luan City’s ability to withstand disasters. On that point, take a look at this…”

As he spoke, Gawain pulled a document from the pile beside him and slid it across the table to Hetty.

Curious, Hetty glanced down and immediately recognized it as a schematic of a large rune array. Though the finer details of the runes weren’t fully listed due to space constraints, the roughly circular overall layout clearly marked zones labeled Energy Extraction Array, Resonance Zone, Functional Area, Amplification Zone, Projection Zone, and so on.

“What is this?” Hetty studied the document carefully. “The scale… it’s huge!”

“It’s the city-level shield for Rockstead Fortress,” Gawain said, lifting his teacup for a sip. “We found the original design blueprints for the city shield in the fortress’s library. During renovations, the engineers even uncovered a rune array from a hundred years ago beneath the foundation. After bringing the data back, Jenny and her apprentices spent over two weeks studying it. This is their result.”

Hetty’s eyes widened, her hands trembling slightly as she held the plans. For a mage, this was an unimaginable treasure!

Though these days she was almost entirely focused on urban development and internal affairs…

“A city-level magical shield is a strategic-grade creation… There are fewer than ten such shields in all of Ansu,” Hetty said in disbelief. “The Rune Research Institute… they can mass-produce something like this now?!”

“The biggest issues with city-level shields are energy consumption and stability. Because they consume so much power, they must be built on natural mana focal points. To ensure stability, they require vast amounts of expensive magical materials. These two factors have limited their use. But Jenny has optimized the design in two ways and integrated the mana network directly with the shield’s base structure, making mass production possible,” Gawain explained. “I plan to install the first prototype shield in Luan City, synchronizing its construction with the large-scale Cathedral District renovation. If it works as expected, every city—and even every town—in Cecil’s lands will be equipped with such shields.”

“Put… put strategic-grade shields on towns?!” Hetty gasped, her mind instantly flooded with budget calculations. She was about to strongly advise the ancestor against this shocking idea. “Ancestor, please calm down! This is a massive shield system, not a magical streetlamp…”

As the steward in charge of finances, Hetty lost her composure the moment budgets came up. She even started complaining about the ancestor, just like Rebecca. It seemed the Cecil family’s stubbornness was hereditary—some had it dominant, others recessive…

Gawain looked at Hetty’s near-defeated expression and guessed why she was so flustered. Hetty usually lost it for only two reasons: overwork or lack of funds. Since she looked fine otherwise, with no dark circles or signs of exhaustion, it was probably the latter. He shook his head. “Don’t be so nervous. Thanks to Jenny’s optimizations, the cost of these giant shields is lower than you think. And once such a large project starts, it will spur many related industries: byproducts from shield unit manufacturing, new engineering machinery, lots of jobs. In the long run, these will generate returns.”

“Money only has value when it circulates. Sitting in the treasury as ingots is just dead weight…” Hetty sighed, recalling something the ancestor once told her. Then, hesitating slightly, she looked at Gawain and said, “Ancestor, is there another reason you want to install these shields in every city and town…?”

Gawain met her gaze and couldn’t help but admire his great-great-great… great-granddaughter’s sharp mind. Unlike Rebecca, who sometimes stumbled onto the key point by sheer blunt force, Hetty always pinpointed the core issue quickly, making communication much easier. “As you guessed—mana storms. We have to be ready for them.”

Hetty exhaled, thinking, of course.

Installing such massive shield systems in every city and town would be a huge expense. Even if, as the ancestor said, Jenny had reduced costs to a level the Cecil Duchy could bear, it was still a massive outlay. At a time when the duchy was just stabilizing and countless infrastructure projects awaited, dedicating so much capacity to an expensive shield with no direct economic return meant only one thing…

Mana storms could strike at any moment.

“I understand,” Hetty said, bowing slightly with solemnity. “I will draft plans accordingly.”

Seeing Hetty’s expression, as if she were preparing to march to her death, Gawain pondered silently.

The duchy’s internal situation was stable; internal and external threats were either resolved or unlikely to erupt soon. Cecil was about to enter a phase of rapid development. With four new industrial cities starting up, countless infrastructure projects, education initiatives, and talent recruitment plans would follow. To ensure smooth progress, Cecil would consume vast funds and resources.

The duchy’s economy was indeed growing rapidly, thanks to new policies and merchant support. The trade rivers, once frozen by the old aristocratic system, were thawing, and gold coins flowed along newly built roads and waterways. But even so… it wasn’t enough.

Magical industry was a ravenous beast, demanding ever more resources to grow. Gawain needed it to reach a self-sustaining level before he could rest easy. Relying solely on internal economic reforms was risky; a single disruption could cause the duchy to collapse.

Especially with so many large projects underway… Gawain didn’t want the solid foundation he’d built to be dragged down by a few overambitious ventures.

Hetty noticed the ancestor’s long silence and asked curiously, “Ancestor… what are you thinking about?”

Gawain sighed thoughtfully, “Lack of money and resources… that’s the problem.”

“Who are you planning to squeeze this time?”

“Maybe the kingdom’s army…” Gawain said casually, then caught himself mid-sentence. “Wait, what did you just say?”

Hetty blushed furiously, bowing quickly. “Sorry, Ancestor! I… I was daydreaming just now…”

Gawain was honestly a bit surprised. He’d never seen the usually composed Hetty lose her cool twice in such a short time. Clearly, money was tight lately—mention budgets, and she just lost it.

He cleared his throat and tapped the table. “Watch yourself next time—we don’t cheat anyone. We do business with honor. Back to the topic: although the duchy has closed the gates of Rockstead Fortress, we can’t seal it off completely or forever. As a fortress city, part of Rockstead was originally designed as a trade hub. Though the fortress isn’t finished, merchants are already moving.”

The ancestor was passionate about business, and it was clear that sometimes his ventures brought more profit than war. Hetty immediately caught on. “You plan to trade with the Holy Spirit Plains?”

“Strictly speaking, we’ll be doing business with the royal family,” Gawain nodded. “What do you think the kingdom’s army lacks?”

“…They probably don’t lack alchemical potions,” Hetty said thoughtfully. “The Holy Church’s army has joined the kingdom’s side. On the battlefield, priests and church knights don’t hold back their magic. With holy water and the power of the Light supporting them, the kingdom’s army doesn’t need many alchemical potions. What they lack… are stronger weapons.”

Hetty paused, then continued, “The kingdom’s army almost never defeats an equal number of Eastern Legions. The main reason is poor troop quality—the Eastern Legions face Typhon and border barbarians, so they’re mostly battle-hardened veterans. The kingdom’s soldiers, except for the northern mountain troops, need two or three men to match one Eastern soldier… It’s hard to improve soldier quality quickly, but with better weapons, the kingdom’s army could close the gap in a short time.”

“Looks like we can produce a batch of ‘export weapons’…” Gawain stroked his chin. “I’ll have Nicholas Egg start designing something.”

Hetty hesitated, looking at Gawain. “Ancestor… are you really going to sell weapons to the kingdom’s army?”

Gawain answered firmly, “We need funds, and the Holy Spirit Plains have rich mineral resources.”

Before Hetty could respond, he added thoughtfully, “Also… since the Holy Light Church, the best at healing, has fully sided with the kingdom’s army, what do you think the Eastern Legions lack… in terms of potions?”

Hetty blinked, puzzled. “???”

(End of chapter)