Chapter 527: The Deal Is Made

“Weaponry and equipment?”

Hearing Gawain’s words, Victoria’s heart stirred slightly.

The situation was exactly as she had anticipated—Cecil was short on funds.

Over the past three days, Victoria had employed various methods to investigate the situation in the southern territories. Although she couldn’t directly contact the administrative officials or leave the city, she had access to the Cecil market, their newspapers, and the buzz of the streets. She had even seen magical projections twice—what the Cecilians called “programs.” From these publicly available sources, she was able to deduce a great deal.

Cecil was developing rapidly. Gawain Cecil, a founding hero from the days of Gondor, seemed to be using knowledge from seven centuries ago to build this land. He had launched several massive projects, including the redistribution of the entire southern population and the simultaneous construction of multiple new cities. Such large-scale undertakings undoubtedly required enormous wealth.

The newly established Duchy of Cecil was likely under severe financial strain—that was the conclusion Victoria had drawn from her investigations.

Even before arriving in the south, she had been pondering what to offer to appease and win over this founding duke. Royal “recognition,” or any form of “legitimacy certification” from contemporary nobility, held no meaning for a duke who was himself the source of legitimacy. But now, knowing Cecil’s financial difficulties, she believed she had found the perfect “gift.”

Moreover, after seeing the Cecilians’ extraordinary equipment, she had developed a strong interest in those items. She just hadn’t known how to broach the subject. But now… both sides had needs. This was the ideal situation.

“You’ve probably already seen my army and the rearmed Rockfort,” Gawain said, noticing the subtle, almost imperceptible change in Victoria’s eyes. He knew she was thinking along his lines. Suppressing a barely contained smile, he continued in a measured tone, “The duchy is newly established, and my forces are only enough to protect this land. But we have a surplus of weapons prepared for war—high-quality extraordinary arms that I’m sure would be of great help to the kingdom’s army.”

“That’s beyond doubt,” Victoria replied immediately. “The Easterners are fierce warriors, and our soldiers struggle to match them. But if we had a batch of powerful weapons, the situation would be very different…”

“Then that’s excellent,” Gawain nodded, then shifted gears. “However, extraordinary arms aren’t like ordinary swords and spears. The Cecil family has invested heavily in crafting them. I can’t just give them to the kingdom’s army for free.”

Victoria was not surprised. “Of course. Extraordinary arms are always rare. If they can be purchased with money, that’s already a huge benefit. But I’d like to know—what kinds of weapons do you have for sale, and in what quantities?”

Gawain smiled faintly and stood up. “Follow me. I think a hands-on demonstration will leave a stronger impression.”

Victoria followed Gawain’s lead. They left the lord’s manor and boarded a magi-powered carriage, departing the administrative district. After some travel, the buildings around them thinned out, and several watchtowers came into view.

They arrived at the weapons testing ground northeast of the city.

After disembarking, Victoria glanced back at the carriage—a marvel of convenience and speed. Especially on the battlefield, it wouldn’t spook like a warhorse, and with its sturdy shell and immense strength, outfitting it with ballistae, archers, and javelin throwers, or using it to transport supplies… how useful that would be.

Lost in thought, a young knight approached them. This was Philip, who had been notified in advance and was ready at the testing ground. “My lords, everything is prepared.”

Gawain gestured for Philip to lead the way. Victoria temporarily set aside her musings and, accompanied by some attendants, followed them to a cleared, guarded open area.

A soldier approached Gawain carrying a long wooden box. When opened, inside lay a one-handed longsword with a dark blue blade—elegant in design yet imposing.

Victoria recognized the sword—it was the same type wielded by a female knight named Margarita, who had left a strong impression on her.

“This is an extraordinary weapon imbued with fire elemental power. We call it the Molten Edge,” Gawain said, picking up the sword and casually swinging it a few times. Then, pressing a hidden mechanism on the hilt, the blade emitted a faint hum and quickly glowed red-hot. The air near the blade visibly warped—Victoria could sense the intense heat radiating from it. “As you can see, its power comes from the superheated blade. In normal combat, it can easily cut through any ordinary sword and cleave light to medium metal armor in two. Against heavy armor, its effect is less direct, but the heat can continuously weaken the armor, making it deadly.”

Victoria stepped closer and took the sword from Gawain, feeling the intense heat and the magic running through it. “Does it require magic from the wielder?”

“No. It’s a self-sustaining extraordinary weapon. As long as the user is trained, an ordinary person can wield it.”

Self-sustaining extraordinary weapons—these were the most expensive type!

“No wonder the southern noble coalition couldn’t stand against you,” Victoria admired the deadly yet beautiful weapon in her hands. “If ordinary soldiers could be equipped with magical weapons, any army would become terrifying. How much does a sword like this cost?”

Gawain, pleased with her reaction, named a price that left her stunned: “Only twenty Ansu gold coins—or seventeen Shield coins.”

Victoria was shocked—not because it was expensive, but because it was too cheap!

Twenty gold coins for a sword. For an ordinary blade, that would be expensive—an unenchanted steel longsword might cost two or three gold coins at most, and even a masterwork sword wouldn’t exceed four. But for an extraordinary weapon? Twenty gold coins often wouldn’t even cover the material costs!

A longsword with the simplest sharpness enchantment could fetch hundreds of gold coins, and elemental weapons could cost twice as much. Moreover, even with money, it was often difficult to acquire suitable extraordinary arms because only high-status extraordinary artisans could craft them—and they didn’t lack money themselves. To commission them required not just wealth but also status and influence.

Yet in Cecil, an elemental longsword cost only twenty gold coins—and it was mass-produced.

“Is the price not right?” Gawain asked.

Victoria shook her head. “No, it’s actually much cheaper than I expected.”

“The low price is due to certain flaws,” Gawain chuckled. “As you probably know, many of Cecil’s extraordinary arms are mass-produced. To mass-produce magical items, we have to compromise on quality. This sword’s power is comparable to true extraordinary weapons during normal use, but the magic capacitor embedded in the hilt will break after a period of time. Then it becomes an ordinary weapon.”

“No wonder it’s so cheap…” Victoria’s expression shifted to one of understanding. Then she asked with concern, “What happens when the magic mechanism in the hilt breaks?”

“It can be replaced. To compensate for quality compromises, many parts are designed to be removable and replaceable,” Gawain smiled. “Don’t worry—the replacement magic capacitor costs only one gold coin. And if you’re concerned that ordinary soldiers might damage the sword’s other critical parts during replacement, you can send them back to us, and we’ll replace the capacitors free of charge.”

“One gold coin?” Victoria confirmed, and upon receiving an affirmative answer, she breathed a sigh of relief.

This seemed… quite a bargain. Although the ongoing cost of replacing magic components might add up over time, compared to buying a genuine extraordinary weapon, the Molten Edge was still incredibly affordable.

After that, more weapon samples were brought before Gawain and Victoria.

Gawain ordered soldiers to demonstrate each weapon on the spot, introducing them one by one:

“This is a thermal ray gun. It fires scorching beams. Its range is shorter than ordinary thermal rays—less than a hundred meters—but it surpasses many bows in range and power. Of course, it’s also a cheap mass-produced extraordinary weapon. Its focusing array is fragile—you, as a mage, should understand that’s unavoidable. But don’t worry, the focusing arrays are inexpensive…”

“Crystal grenades—reliable power. No worries about lifespan here; they’re consumables, but definitely cheaper and easier to carry than explosive scrolls.”

“Magic armor—an excellent defensive tool is just as important for soldiers. I’m sure you don’t want soldiers equipped at great expense to fall easily on the battlefield. This armor has multiple effective enchantments. The power core on the chest keeps it running for four hours, enough for most battles. Its enchantments come from rune plates slotted throughout the armor. In other words, swapping or adjusting the rune plates changes the armor’s magical resistances, allowing soldiers to adapt to complex battlefield conditions and effectively counter any enemy.”

“How much does this armor cost?” Victoria couldn’t help interrupting. She saw a unique design concept in this armor—though she didn’t know the term “modular,” it didn’t stop her from being deeply interested.

“Free.” Gawain smiled faintly and said the word plainly.

Victoria thought she’d misheard. “Fr… free?!”

“Yes. The armor is free because it comes in different combinations and is hard to price. We only sell the rune plates. The kingdom’s army can order specific rune plates as needed. Buy at least three types, and the armor is given as a free gift. If you buy a full set of rune plates, we’ll throw in three crystal grenades as a bonus.”

Victoria felt like she was hearing a flood of unfamiliar terms from Gawain, but their meanings weren’t hard to grasp—just required some thought to keep up. She did her best to follow—and it all seemed… quite reasonable.

Everything made sense. The Cecilians had indeed achieved mass production of extraordinary arms, but at a cost: the quality couldn’t match true extraordinary weapons. Key components were prone to damage and needed replacement, but those parts were inexpensive.

Victoria pondered for a moment, then asked, “How many sets of such equipment can you provide? One set includes weapons and armor, excluding the crystal grenades.”

Gawain estimated the production line’s efficiency and current inventory, then gave a conservative figure: “Before spring, ten thousand sets is no problem.”

Ten thousand…

In all her years, Victoria had never heard anyone describe the quantity of extraordinary armaments using this kind of unit.

Her heart pounded wildly as she ran through the implications in her mind—an army equipped with ten thousand sets of these supernaturals could wield immense power. But once the initial excitement faded, she immediately realized just how staggering the cost would be.

True, the Cecilite armaments were remarkably cheap on a per-unit basis—barely a fraction of the price of standard supernatural gear—but…

The quantity was measured in “ten-thousands.”

That number was terrifying.

And that didn’t even account for the ongoing expenses of replacing fragile parts or maintenance. Though there was no exact data yet, Victoria instinctively knew those costs would be enormous as well.

“I’m afraid… we don’t have that many gold coins,” Victoria said hesitantly. At first, she felt awkward, but seeing that she was speaking to an elder, much of her embarrassment faded. She spoke frankly about the kingdom army’s current predicament. “The Eastern rebels have seized one of the most prosperous regions on the Holy Spirit Plains, and the past six months of war have drained a large portion of our reserves.”

“I see…” Gawain looked troubled, furrowing his brow as he pondered for several minutes. Just as Victoria was about to speak again, he let out a long sigh. “But what I’m offering is already at cost price. You know as well as I do that magical materials and mages don’t just fall from the sky… How about this: you pay half in gold coins and the other half in raw materials. Would that work?”

Victoria blinked. “Half gold coins, half raw materials?”

“Iron ore, crystal ore, copper, quartz… all common materials. We can calculate their market value and deduct it from the total,” Gawain explained. “This is the best concession I can make—I’m sending mountains of these armaments to the Holy Spirit Plains battlefield, and they’re all forged from resources in the Southern Territories.”

Victoria thought it over, rapidly running the numbers in her head—estimating whether the kingdom army could shoulder such a staggering expense. After factoring in some of the northern territories’ tax revenue and mineral wealth, she finally managed to make the sums add up.

For Ansu.

“Deal.”

(End of chapter)