Ch.286286 – The Forbidden Technology Banned by the Empire

<286 – The Forbidden Technology Banned by the Empire>

Rozini turned into a statue.

Sandcooker, whom she might have kept in her heart.

She manipulates him with her fingertips, playing with both their hearts.

“Y-Your Ladyship? If you suddenly do this…”

“Don’t misunderstand. I just wanted to confirm something.”

Arcadia dispelled the temptation rising in her heart with a single snort.

A noble cannot be childish.

Especially not a noble lady from the declining Ceviche earldom.

‘What does she mean?’

Unlike Arcadia, who quickly suppressed her childish impulse to take out her frustrations on innocent people, Sandcooker’s heart was racing wildly, trapping him in anguish.

In my heart? Is this a proposal? Is she suggesting we have children? She’s seducing me, right? Does this mean I’ll become a noble too?

But I only have talent for magic—I couldn’t possibly satisfy this woman!

His imagination accelerated, wings of fantasy spinning rapidly!

His quickly revolving future plans ended with divorce at age 30, after disappointing his wife and failing to withstand the pressure from the Ceviche earldom.

Even his gloomy imagination couldn’t overcome the weight of reality.

“I’m sorry. No, I apologize.”

“?”

Sandcooker rejected the virtuous noble lady’s proposal, thinking it was beyond his station, yet feeling momentarily satisfied that he had been happy for a brief moment.

Having made poor Sandcooker’s heart race for nothing, the bewitching Arcadia got to the point.

“So if Rozini doesn’t need help, what assistance are you seeking from me?”

“Oh right. Ddidda, who went to join the mutiny yesterday, hasn’t returned. I’m certain the crew caught him and he’s getting his bottom spanked.”

“Bottom spanked…?”

“Don’t you know? At the magic tower, when disciples fail to keep up with their education, masters punish them by spanking their bottoms.”

Looking at Sandcooker’s innocent expression, Arcadia figured out what was happening.

Because he always wore that prickly expression typical of mages, it took her a while to notice, but Sandcooker was actually quite handsome—enough to make maidens swoon.

She remembered hearing rumors that the magic tower was full of even stranger eccentrics, and among them were terrifying masters who, having missed their prime marriage years and grown full of dark desires, unleashed their hidden lusts on their disciples.

‘The Foundation probably has mages too, but surely they don’t spank bottoms.’

Whatever the Foundation does would likely be far more horrific and cruel punishments.

“…Now I’m even more worried. Let’s go help.”

“Really? You’ll help so readily?”

“I came to start a mutiny too, after all.”

“So mutiny was really common sense!?”

“If you’re on a cruise ship, starting a mutiny is just common sense, isn’t it?”

Arcadia repeated what Oknodie had told her to say when troublesome situations arose.

For some reason, Sandcooker muttered, “So there’s common knowledge that stuffy apprentice mages from the tower don’t know about…” and reluctantly agreed.

“Was the power outage on the cruise ship also because of the mutiny?”

“I think so. That Titosoga helped the Northern Grand Duchess.”

“What? Titosoga did?”

Sandcooker grinned slyly and spoke smoothly.

“No use pretending ignorance. I already know Titosoga was some kind of secret weapon. Taking out all the lights is pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

“Huh? Uh? Are we talking about the same Titosoga I know…?”

“Still playing dumb. I get it. It’s supposed to be a secret, right? Don’t worry, I won’t run my mouth about it. I’ll keep today’s passionate events as a cherished memory in my heart.”

“?”

Arcadia was genuinely confused.

What on earth happened to Titosoga?

And why is this man blushing unpleasantly and glancing sideways like a shy bride on her wedding night when I haven’t done anything? And why do I keep feeling a burning gaze from Rozini’s statue when I haven’t done anything?

* *

The secret behind Titosoga’s unexpected display of presence that impressed many people was in the lighting.

-Oknodie really cares about her friends. She’s determined to venture into a dangerous monster habitat, deep inside no less, just for a lighting stand.

-Of course! Titosoga without his lighting stand isn’t Titosoga!

-What if it was someone else’s lighting stand?

-Hmm… I’d still go get it. Because I could give Titosoga a +2 lighting stand!

-+2…?

-Ah, you don’t need to know about how equipment can be enhanced when you collect the same items in multiples of two!

Irene remembered the conversation she had with Oknodie when Titosoga’s lighting stand was plundered by silkworm moth people!

She got a strong inspiration looking at the abundant lights all over the cruise ship.

“Irene. I have a favor! Won’t you contract with me and start a mutiny?”

“Wasn’t this cruise ship sent by your family?”

“I’ll give you Titosoga, so please help!”

“Alright.”

She was planning to win Oknodie’s favor anyway.

Having received permission from the concerned party, there was nothing to hold her back.

Titosoga, received as a bonus gift, awkwardly looked around, pretending to be interested in the lights of the lighting stands and fiddling with the poles, but that action gave Irene the decisive hint.

I see.

What Oknodie had said about Titosoga’s lighting stand.

The lights overflowing throughout the cruise ship.

This ship existed to enhance Titosoga’s lighting stand!

“Find me a production craftsman who can enhance items by combining two of the same material.”

“Hmph. You’ve gotten caught up in something trivial.”

Though Sing showed reluctance, he cooperated readily when told it was to help Oknodie.

“…When I asked you to find a craftsman on the ship, did you have to bring someone who looks like a criminal about to be executed, bound and with a sack over his head?”

“Be grateful I brought him alive.”

Although the invitation was somewhat aggressive, Irene found it convenient when the craftsman, once the sack was removed, burst into tears and promised to help with anything.

Thinking she should occasionally adopt Sing’s methods, she showed the craftsman several lights taken from the ship and Titosoga’s lighting stand.

“Please enhance this. This is to help Titosoga, a close friend of Oknodie, the Foundation’s top scholarship student.”

“Enhance…? Am I really allowed to enhance? Are you saying I can commit this forbidden destructive act prohibited by imperial law?”

“…Why is enhancement a destructive act?”

The production craftsman, still tightly bound with rope, looked around and spoke in a hushed voice.

“Enhancement is a secret technique of production craftsmen that uses two identical items to strengthen the performance of one. Naturally, to become skilled requires an enormous quantity of items, and covering this expense personally is burdensome for ordinary production workers.”

“Are you saying if they don’t have their own items, they use other people’s things?”

“Didn’t you, Northern Grand Duchess, tear out perfectly good lights to enhance the lighting stand? Imagine if such incidents happened repeatedly in public facilities, or if someone blew up their neighbor’s property through enhancement. Think of the chaos and expense this would cause society.”

It was dizzying just hearing about it.

What if soldiers in the resource-scarce North, driven by greed, used their comrades’ weapons as enhancement materials for their own?

While one soldier’s combat power might increase slightly, the others who lost their swords would face dramatically higher mortality rates.

“Enhancement, despite being classified as production, is extremely destructive and cruel. There’s a reason the Empire designated this technology as forbidden, taboo.”

Doing such an outrageous thing on a cruise ship her parents sent her on to play with friends—wasn’t Oknodie going too far?

Such thoughts disappeared completely when she saw students who had fallen to the working class, either imprisoned in underground dungeons and released after receiving Foundation scholarships to repay their points, or diligently working as crew members.

If the other side crossed the line first, there was no reason students shouldn’t cross it too.

‘Perhaps this is an extension of the Academy’s education.’

Socially unacceptable actions.

Outrageous ways of thinking.

The Academy encourages boldly committing them.

You have to survive first to do anything else.

Using all sorts of tricks, learning to counter others’ tricks, and making even the most law-abiding, order-following students realize how to avoid getting entangled in illegal activities or protect themselves.

The Academy isn’t so degenerate as to openly teach the taboo practice of enhancement, but Oknodie and the Foundation allowed it.

That must be the difference between an educational institution and a private enterprise.

If that was the policy of the Foundation and Oknodie, she, as an invited guest, had no choice but to follow.

For this reason, Irene actively tore out lights, and Titosoga had to anxiously watch his lighting stand being modified in the craftsman’s hands.

“What if my lighting stand explodes? It’s a precious gift from my sister!”

“Don’t worry. I haven’t been hammering for just a day or two. A lighting stand like this is just…”

With banging hammer blows, the lighting stand was enveloped in light, shone brightly, then made a cracking sound and broke.

“Waaah!”

“Haha. Don’t be scared. What’s breaking is the enhancement material, not your original equipment!”

The hammering continued, taking on the form of the lighting stand, attaching shabby light fixtures and wooden wheels for enhancement.

As the equipment’s enhancement level rose, the quality of materials improved to standardized steel fixtures and uniform wheels.

Naturally, as the level increased, both the enhancement effect and difficulty rose.

The craftsman, who had effortlessly achieved an enhancement level that ordinary production craftsmen could only dream of, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, feeling satisfied.

“Whew. It’s been a long time since I’ve enhanced so freely since graduating from the Academy.”

“You were a senior!?”

“Ah, I didn’t introduce myself? My name is Ferguson. Production Department, enrolled in class 970, graduated in class 982.”

Ferguson proudly presented his masterpiece.

“Here you go. This is a +5 lighting stand that theoretically requires enhancing at least 32 lighting stands. With its brightness adjustment function, it can cover everything from blinding flash attacks to adult mood lighting!”

That’s how the +5 lighting stand, which would play a crucial role in the mutiny, was born.