Ch.242Combat Equipment (4)

A few weeks after the equipment began mass production following the completion of testing and incorporation of feedback.

Around the same time the werewolves began receiving something akin to special operations training, several events unfolded in the village over these two weeks.

First, some good news: after sending the data accumulated during mass production to my father, the portable rocket weapon was officially adopted as a standard military weapon.

‘What? It was officially adopted?’

[That’s right. This weapon turned out to be more impressive than I expected. It received high praise from the frontlines as well.]

In exchange for transferring the design to Luhr, we received an enormous amount in licensing fees. Thanks to this alone, we not only covered the resources spent on the magic equipment mass production plan but could also prepare several additional sets of reserve equipment.

While we might consider this rocket weapon prohibitively expensive, it apparently isn’t that costly from the perspective of a domain that possesses the largest ironworks and industrial facilities in the eastern part of the Frank Kingdom.

Especially, as the saying goes about economies of scale, once full-scale mass production begins, the unit cost per shot will become considerably cheaper.

Another piece of good news was that Magni had discovered an additional rock salt vein in the forest near the village.

“Rock salt? You’re saying it’s been discovered?”

“Yes! Judging by how close it is, there might be an established vein there!”

Although its export share has decreased considerably with the emergence of other export goods, rock salt still remains one of the major pillars of the village economy.

It’s virtually the only salt available in inland regions, and the fact that no proper rock salt mine has been discovered in Baron Colland’s territory until now cannot be overlooked.

Moreover, considering the proportion salt occupies in village life, it’s certainly difficult to ignore its importance.

The abundance of salt inevitably increased the proportion of various preserved foods in the village through salt curing, which has resulted in a generally more abundant diet for the villagers.

Even those cheap turnips can be preserved long-term by salting them, so other ingredients are also liberally salt-cured for preservation.

The final piece of good news was that, surprisingly, a master glassmaker with advanced glass-making techniques had requested to immigrate to the village.

“…Please, I beg of you!”

“…Once the inspection is complete, I will immediately support your immigration.”

“Inspection…?”

“A cultist inspection. Given the urgency of the situation… I ask for your understanding.”

“If you will accept me, I shall gladly comply!”

Glassmaking and manufacturing techniques are truly unbelievably advanced skills. A proper glass workshop is considered capable of supporting an entire city with its products, making it an extremely profitable business.

As a result, the monopolistic cartel is incredibly powerful, and the nations or cities where they exist often resort to ruthless measures without hesitation when necessary, due to the profits these artisans bring.

The glassmakers of Venice, a free city in the Holy Empire, were confined to an island during the city-state era to produce glass products, and even now, anyone caught attempting to emigrate faces punishment equivalent to the death penalty—that’s how serious it is.

Well, because of this, I was aware that there was something suspicious mixed in with their immigration request, but it was unavoidable that I accepted them right away, my eyes spinning at the mention of master glassmakers.

Glass in this era is used for countless purposes and is considered a luxury item comparable to quartz. Particularly, the “transparent glass” made by these artisans is considered so valuable that its price is whatever they ask for it.

Even a fairly wealthy person would find it difficult to have more than ten proper glass windows in their home. A hand-held mirror costs at least dozens of silver coins. Proper glass artwork or vessels need not even be mentioned.

Of course, at the current point in time, manufacturing methods have generally been figured out and the value has decreased somewhat, to the extent that it’s not considered extravagant for each temple belonging to the pantheon to have stained glass.

Nevertheless, glass still qualifies as a high-end product worthy of being included in a nation’s core industries, and the technicians are often treated almost at the level of knights and subject to strict control in the majority of cases.

Therefore, due to the complicated circumstances entangled with this glass industry, exports would be difficult for the time being, and until we could obtain materials for glass manufacturing and build a workshop, we inevitably couldn’t generate income from it, but…

If one were to consider even a little of the potential value that glass products could bring, this level of risk was certainly worth overlooking.

But as if to prove that good things can’t always happen, among the events that occurred, there were naturally also several bad ones.

First, a situation I had roughly predicted would eventually happen… that is, a spy from the Colland Adventurers’ Guild branch was caught among the adventurer visitors.

While reviewing the detailed contents according to the newly added schedule after the list was introduced, I discovered something that caused a sense of discomfort as I was reading through the list of new intruders.

‘…Huh?’

It was like my intuition was sending signals, tingling fiercely. When I decided to catch this guy based on a hunch…

Well, well, it turned out this very person was a spy sent by the branch manager of the Adventurers’ Guild in Baron Colland’s territory.

The contents of the directive, cleverly hidden between the double structure of the backpack’s outer covering, were precisely about espionage.

At the exact moment I read this far, it apparently burned away due to what was presumably magic, but just seeing this much was enough to perceive the sense of discomfort.

However, the real problem began from the next moment, that is, when we tried to proceed with a formal interrogation.

Based on François’s testimony and the rebellion in the pioneer village, it was proven that this person was controlled by brainwashing abilities, but…

The problem was that what had been cast on him was not just simple brainwashing.

“…”

“Wow, this is… nothing but an empty shell, isn’t it?”

At first glance, he seemed to have self-awareness and appeared mostly normal except for the brainwashing, but digging a little deeper revealed nothing but a shell mimicking his former self.

Even he himself didn’t know that his soul was already gone, to the point where the mark of corruption couldn’t even be imprinted on him, and furthermore, he didn’t even realize he was just an empty shell until I told him the truth.

The moment he learned this, as if some algorithm had broken down, even the function that had been operating the shell stopped working, which was completely unexpected.

And the second piece of bad news was similar to this…

‘The investigator dispatched to Colland… missing?’

It was the shocking news that the secret investigator we had sent, judging that something was wrong with Colland based on François’s advice, had completely disappeared, even missing the regular contact point.

The whereabouts of those who had vanished without a trace in an instant, including two knights from the knightly order and an inquisitor dispatched with the cooperation of the Inquisition, was truly shocking news beyond belief.

What particularly shocked me was that the secret investigation team, which I had sent after contacting the Inquisition with my father’s permission and calling for an inquisitor, had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

‘…Not a single piece of news.’

Even if three intermediate-level individuals had been attacked, there should have been enough commotion that it couldn’t possibly be concealed, but the fact that no such news had reached us meant only one thing to us.

Either the entire city of Colland—including its administrative facilities—had already been swallowed by the cultist branch manager, or the branch manager and cultists were so powerful that there was no possibility for any rumors to reach us.

[Generally speaking, I think it’s probably… both, with more weight on the former.]

While my father expressed such a personal opinion to me, he simultaneously made a choice that could not be ignored now that the situation had reached this point of certainty.

[So, Camille, prepare for war.]

‘…War.’

[Yes, war. Prepare a subjugation force as discreetly as possible, and settle this by the beginning of autumn.]

‘…Autumn is the best time, I see.’

[That’s right. If we’re too hasty, they might notice in reverse.]

Since my father specifically telling me to prepare for war meant he intended to settle the matter, I responded that I would comply and immediately took action.

And the third major incident was—the appearance of cultists.

It was an event that seemed to have become something of an annual occurrence: cultists appearing in the undeveloped areas near the village.