Chapter 184: Industry of War – Part 2

Chapter 184: Industry of War – Part 2

Yunia is busy researching [Spirit Magic] and [Martyrism] with Roxanne, so we send Hana and Kaatohe to talk with Hekeman, who has brought along one of the craftsmen we showed the gun to.

"Are you willing to trade this technique you've shown to our craftsmen?" the rhino-headed Prince makes his opening statement.

And Hana relays our words in her own way, which is amusing, to be honest, but it'd be even more amusing to see her use formal speech, "For sure, but we want to fund and expand our Research Institute, so we'll trade only for things that directly benefit it."

The Prince calmly hums curiously and inquires further, "Your Institute? How interesting. What are your goals for it aside from expansion?"

So Hana boastfully replies, "The creation and spread of knowledge, Wolfy's greatest gift to the humanoids. We'll push the Realm into a new age, kicking and screaming."

The craftsman seems awed, taken by her high "Charisma," but the Prince just sensibly chuckles and continues his polite questions, "That is... quite the grand goal, though it isn't unexpected, all things considered. But isn't the High Forest very rich, already?"

And that just gives her the opportunity to brag again, "Even though this is important for the progress of humanoid civilization, we can't simply do this for free. You've already seen that Wolfy can do amazing things if he has the resources, but the more he has, the bigger the returns will be to you."

Now this is the sign for Kaatohe to begin taking over the negotiations, so she preemptively explains our angle, "The benefits of receiving this technology can't be calculated with just one transaction as you'll profit from it for eternity, which is why we desire a continuous investment."

"But what if conditions change and we aren't willing to pay the investment anymore?" he wisely questions.

"Then the Institute will stop sharing its discoveries with you," Kaatohe directly answers.

"Ah... now I understand the kind of relationship you want to build," he hums with a pleased smile, and his muscular body seems to relax as a sign of trust.

Then my bronze cat clarifies an important point, "And if you don't want to talk about long-term investments, we still wish to arm your soldiers with our guns. Just the Lordsguard won't be enough to wipe out the Titans when we actually invade their territory proper."

And the Sky Lander craftsman shows a restrained reaction. He knows how powerful a gun is, so we have to work together to convince Hekeman to completely overhaul his army.

Then lunchtime arrives, and I finally greet Tinkerbell in person.

"Princess Belind, it's a pleasure to meet you again," I cheerfully state.

And she nods respectfully as she replies in kind, "Likewise, King Wolfy. I didn't expect us to meet so soon, but I'll accept it even if it's happening due to unfortunate circumstances."

Hearing her call me Wolfy makes my Cock throb in happiness, but... no hug?

I don't let that get me down and happily continue, "Indeed. Though I wish I had more time to rest at home before the Gods sent me here. I've been living a constant stream of battles for a while now."

She opens her eyes wide and asks with genuine concern, "That sounds awful. Are you alright?"

But I calmly answer, "Of course, I am. Not all of these battles are of the violent kind. Keeping a large harem happy and satisfied is a daily battle by itself."

Then I smirk, and she also smirks.

I'm gonna fuck her so fucking hard. Godsdammit, I love flirty women like her.

But we don't say anything else, so I just move on and greet Looklwind.

"Thank you for answering our invitation so quickly," I honestly state to the boy Prince.

And Belind grins as she wishes to tease her brother, but remains silent this time.

The Prince subtly stiffens up in reflex as he's already conditioned to expect teasing, but since it doesn't come, he just answers me in kind, "Thank you for the interesting invitation. I appreciate that you remembered me, even though our meeting was so brief."

"It wasn't me who suggested we invite you; it was Lina and Aoi," I clarify, feeling proud of my two gunsmith girls.

"Oh... I have to thank them, then," he rather awkwardly hums.

This Prince really is so teasable...

"Make sure you're very polite and do it in front of a lot of people just to embarrass them even further," I suggest with an "innocent" smile.

And Lina gives me a horrified look.

"I... understand they're both shy," he concernedly remarks, and I'm not sure if that's a question.

So I just confirm with a cheeky grin, "Exactly."

And he finally gets it, but he just awkwardly refuses, "Oh... I'm afraid I'm not the kind to do pranks."

"I'll do it for you..." Belind volunteers with a fake tired tone.

"We can hear you!" Lina exclaims, starting to feel exasperated at the blatant teasing.

"Then you already know what to look forward to," Belind gleefully replies, and Lina blushes at the pretty woman's gentle tone, making Ciel mildly jealous.

I'm in love with this woman!

As for today's meal, we have pan-fried top sirloin covered in a meaty sauce. It's perfect, just like everything that the Sky Landers have served us, but it makes me nostalgic for how we used to do it back home: roasted in cubes with square slices of not-bell-pepper, onions, and bacon in between the pieces. So I make this request to the chef for the next meal.

I also find it amusing that we're served salted, roasted sunflower seeds (that taste a bit like peanuts) and some sort of edible white flower that I think was called "cup of milk" back on Earth, but I don't remember what the official name for it was. Gnomic or pixie food is always so childish-looking, as long as it isn't bugs.

The flower is actually tasty as the corn-cob-looking thing in its center has sweet pollen that tastes similar to honey, and Belind shows us how to eat it. You slice the cob, then rub it on the petals so that the pollen sticks to it. You have to do this because eating the pollen-cob-thing by itself feels like eating raw flour/sugar, unless that's your thing.

"Cup-a-milk is one of my favorites," Belind cheerily remarks as she picks another flower from the bouquet.

And I'm suddenly taken over by a silly irritation, leading me to blurt out, "Why is it called that? There's a... big yellow thing right in the middle of it."

Looklwind just turns to his sister, who's very happy to answer with a straight face, "The 'phallic' thing is called a 'spadix,' and this flower didn't use to have one, but some pixies decided to give it a penis to collect pollen. It became popular because the pollen takes on a honey-like taste with time, and if you put the flower inside a glass dome, the pollen will ferment, become dark red, and acquire a gentle alcoholic taste, which is a favorite of pixies."

Well, I shouldn't be surprised by the pixie naming sense... or the kind of shenanigans they get up to in that forest of theirs...

"There are a lot of phallic-shaped things in Betoverd Bos," Looklwind quietly remarks, sounding mildly concerned.

And his sister innocently shares salacious details, "Gnomes spend too much time working underground, so we pixies have to keep ourselves 'occupied' while we guard the forest."

Then the Prince rolls his eyes, somewhat regretting mentioning that.

"I'd love to visit Betoverd one day," I calmly remark, not one bit phased by her sneaky naughtiness.

And she does it again, making my Cock throb with the implication of her words, "I'll gladly show you around. Normally, only those married to pixies or gnomes can enter, but we can work something out."

Gods, she's such a fucking tease...

Then I return to my dark corner for the evening, but now I pay attention to Looklwind as he works with the girls, and it helps me work on my own project. Even with my degree in robotics, I lack the specialized knowledge about mechanics that I need for this.

I'm sorry...

"He was a nerd, not a gun nut," Lily defends(?) me.

"Oh..." Thant hums and hesitates, suddenly concerned about the safety of the gun, for some reason.

But Lilly forgets all about that and just encourages him, "Now, shoot it."

"Cover your ears, Princess Belind," Alissa suggests, then follows her own advice.

So Thant pulls the trigger, and he handles the recoil perfectly.

Belind is distracted, so she gets startled, even though she was covering her ears and had already seen a gun being fired before. At least now, she's over her bewilderment.

"The kick was a bit stronger than I expected," Thant remarks as he lowers the gun.

"The gunpowder, which is actually a liquid, is likely more powerful, as it was made with [Alchemy]," Alissa replies matter-of-factly.

And he snorts. "That explains things."

"Me, now," Lily eagerly requests, and I become concerned since I don't know how much she knows about gun safety. But a problem immediately becomes evident that kills her excitement and even embarrasses her. "You ain't got anything smaller...?"

"We actually don't have any dwarves in our Lordsguard, so we didn't make anything in your size," Alissa stoically answers, holding back a grin.

But Lily still gets mad. "What about Lina?! She's a dwarf!"

"And the Prince is a gnome, too. What about us small people?!" Samkelo suddenly chimes in, and I think he's faking his outrage to score points with Belind.

But this delights Alissa, as it gives her the opportunity to sternly lambast them, "Do you think making guns is easy? We won't make a gun for only four people... well, five with Princess Belind. Our priority is our men, as the guns will safeguard their lives."

This shuts them both up as yesterday's death is still fresh in their minds, so Lily humbly and begrudgingly suggests, "I can handle the recoil without any bracing. Just cut down the 'stock' for me."

So Alissa stoically delivers the kicker, "That, we can do, and Samkelo can just use a 'breechloader' pistol we made."

"What?! You had one all this time?!" Lily exclaims, her humbleness gone with the wind in an instant.

"Yes, but you needed the scolding," she smugly replies, amusing Belind.

And the two clench their jaws in frustration but shut up for good, so Ted hands Samkelo a pistol and then starts working on cutting down the stock for Lily's rifle.

But now that the banter is over, Alissa goes silent as eagerness starts to take over her mind. Thant is helping Chesa learn how to shoot (which makes me jealous), and Belind is also going for the pistol, so there's nothing left for Alissa to do.

I kiss her forehead internally and tell her to let it loose, so she [Equip]s her own rifle, which has been enchanted with a Unique Spell called [Muffle]. Then she promptly aims and fires, the enchantment turning the *bang* into a little *pop*, but the impressive part is how she hit the bullseye perfectly.

"Is this your first time using a gun?" Thant asks her, staring in awe and seemingly impressed by her form and accuracy.

"Yes..." she whispers, a vicious grin slowly growing on her pretty lips. Then she deftly racks the bolt again and quickly shoots another bullet through the same hole that the previous one made. "But I'm a sharpshooter."

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