Chapter 16 - As My Patron Said: Erica Phoenix
Erica Phoenix. The lady of the Phoenix Count family, who guards the border with the Argent Empire. And a customer.
"I watched the duel! Well, calling it a duel is kinda funny, but the Cyclops was overwhelming! I went straight to the saintess because I wanted to buy one, and it was the right call!"
"If my humble merchant guild could be of help to the Phoenix Count family, there's no greater honor~."
Mina smiled softly as she spoke in that gentle tone. Noel, now used to how Mina tailored her demeanor to each person, calmly poured tea and set it on the table.
"Please have some, Lady Erica. This is Aizen's workshop, so the tea is just barely passable…."
"Thanks, I'll dig in!"
Erica immediately gulped down the hot tea….
"Hot?!"
"I did say it was tea. It hasn't been steeping long, so your tongue should be fine."
Noel gave a wry smile, clearly accustomed to her by now.
"You haven't met Aizen yet, right? Let me introduce—"
"He already introduced himself when I came in, so no need, Noel. More importantly, a reception room in a workshop? Do you live here full-time? It's spacious and nice!"
I didn't live here full-time. I had a proper dorm room where I slept. Though the last time I'd stayed there was about six weeks ago.
...What did my dorm even look like again...?
As that vague sense of forgetting something trivial yet oddly important washed over me, I heard Mina chatting with Erica, a smile on her face.
"We made this reception room because you visit so often, Lady Noel, and for dealings and consultations with folks like you who are interested in Cyclops~. In an environment where accidents could happen anytime, we focused on making it sturdy, so it's a bit sparse, but I'm glad you like it~."
"Haha, the saintess really is so refined. No complaints here. Back in the territory, sometimes you'd be lucky to get a sip of water in the barracks!"
Erica laughed heartily. Then, finally snapping back to focus, she turned to me.
"Anyway, enough chit-chat. Here's my request: make weapons that Cyclops can use. My family will provide support and funding!"
"Is that something you can decide on the spot?"
Mina could pull it off with her own merchant guild, but Erica was just the count's daughter, not the count himself. More investors were great, but I couldn't just bite without checking.
In other words, did she have the authority? When I asked, Erica grinned.
"Heh, has hanging out with Saintess Mina made you this cautious? Or Noel? You're sharp!"
"Just answer the question."
"Of course I have the authority. Why do you think I came to the academy in the first place? To procure weapons."
Erica took another sip of tea, then opened her mouth again with a serious expression.
"Do you know relations with the Argent Empire are deteriorating by the day?"
"No clue."
"I like the honesty. If you'd pretended to know, I might've lumped you in with that parasitic pretty boy weirdo!"
Just like that? Bewilderment hit me first, but Erica let out a deep sigh.
"...Sorry. That was hasty. When people just say they 'understand' on the surface, I snap without thinking. It's because that guy's got us in a real bind."
"I don't think I've caused any trouble for the Phoenix Count family."
Honestly, up till now, we'd never even crossed paths. Noel and Mina, who seemed in the know, wore grave expressions.
"Already...?"
"It was possible, but this is too soon~."
Something had happened, apparently. Partly because I wasn't that interested, but unlike these two with their palace connections, I had no pipeline for that info. If news reached me here, it had to be fresh and solid.
Erica nodded.
"Word is, the palace advanced their review of support for the Abatus Count family by a few hours just recently."
"How'd you hear about that...? That's rude of me. You've been involved from the start, so you'd get the news first."
"The Phoenix family guards the border. If they don't like our weapons, of course they'd shop around."
Weapons, huh. Noel spoke quietly.
"That must've just come up. You said you hate politics, Aizen, but you're basically a challenger now, right?"
"So the Abatus Count family was my rival without me knowing?"
Noel nodded.
"The Abatus family's magic creates life. They've been trying to make weapons with it."
"The kingdom wants something that can overwhelm the empire outright if war breaks out," Erica added, arms crossed.
"To be blunt, the empire's wanted to annex us for ages, and we've resisted. But they're a nation that conquered and absorbed neighbors by raw military might. Head-on, the kingdom gets crushed."
"For a border count's lady, you're awfully quick to say we'd lose~," Mina teased, eyes half-lidded.
Erica chuckled.
"If spirit alone won wars, we'd do it a hundred times over. But you have to recognize the gap between enemy and ally coldly to win the fights worth winning—I heard that somewhere."
With that, she turned back to me.
"That's why we need weapons. Cyclops is great, but to make it a real powerhouse, it needs more than just itself. The palace will demand it soon anyway, so best to start now?"
And she wanted the Phoenix family to fund it.
"Fine."
"Straight shooter, huh!"
Erica grinned. She sipped her now-cold tea and continued.
"Work starts tomorrow then, so how about this oil I brought? It's great for fatigue…."
"The design's already done anyway."
As Erica trailed off, stunned, I shaped it with golem magic—what I'd been sketching mentally. Rock formed like a 3D printer, scaled down for viewing.
"...A club?"
"Think of it as a cannon, for simplicity."
In a magic world, such a weapon would seem alien, so club wasn't far off. You could swing it in a pinch, so not entirely wrong.
The three women crowded around the model. Mina examined it closely, Noel poked around, Erica inspected it frantically in confusion.
"I always wonder—how do you come up with this stuff?"
"Must've seen it somewhere. Something we don't know."
Mina eyed the model intently as she said it, slowly pulling the trigger.
"Pulling this does something, right? That must be standard. Human-sized might be tough to handle…."
"Lots of small parts despite appearances, so yeah."
Honestly, this was just a rough exterior; the internals weren't perfect yet. For human scale—the most famous size—it'd need more tech development.
"But for golem size, no need for ultra-fine machining. Should be fine."
What counted as precise for humans was just big patterns for golems. They stood two stories tall. Smaller than my original goal, but still, gear for that size wasn't trivial.
No major production issues.
"Still… isn't this too fast...? At this speed...?"
Erica, face serious, eyed the weapon, then Cyclops, then the nonchalant Noel and Mina.
"You're not even surprised? This is just... normal for him?"
"He'd pull all-nighters for a week straight if it meant making golems~."
Mina approached me, still masked for Erica's sake, but greed for profit gleaming beneath as she spoke.
"So, the principle~? You've figured that out too, right~?"
"Got one, but I could use some advice."
I could research it myself, but with other things to sort, pointers to avoid early missteps would be ideal.
Noel smiled.
"Gonna see the professors?"
"They're the experts with deeper knowledge than me."
I was the golem pro, but side fields? Their input would suffice.
Erica spoke gravely.
"Won't that be tough? Professors are renowned experts in their fields—strong egos. Even bribes might not get them to spare time easily."
"You think so?"
"They're authorities, some called geniuses."
Academy profs were often top-five in their domains. No way they'd casually share core knowledge.
"Plus, this ties to palace matters and messy politics. They won't want deep involvement."
Erica's face was dead serious.
"Better not count on professors' help, Aizen."
****
"Mana signals trigger an internal explosion, accelerating an iron-clad shell to fire it—that's the idea?"
"Reloading? Ah, continuous fire? After one shot, the next auto-loads into the barrel? Intriguing. Let me think on the structure."
"In return, a bit for my personal research funds… some rare metals if you have…."
Rodellini, the academy's famed alchemy professor, listened confidently and rattled off advice right away.
If money doesn't work, it's usually because you didn't offer enough. My patron had said that.