Abatus Count Family's Research (1)
About ten days had passed since they set up shop on the land granted by the Phoenix Count family. Aizen had started using his rarely employed earth magic to erect temporary clay walls, sketching out various facilities inside using dirt, rock, and clay. Once Mina's merchant caravan brought in materials, they'd rebuild everything in metal. The mass-production setup was coming along smoothly.
"Proper mass production starts with standardization," Aizen said.
"No idea if that's true, but it looks solid enough," Mina replied, sipping tea alongside Noel.
Noel smiled faintly. "Even the artisans from our family said as much. When you push like that, Aizen, no one can stand in your way."
"It was kinda fun to watch," Mina added with a satisfied grin.
Watching the two of them, Aizen narrowed his eyes slightly. "You two dumped this on me on purpose, didn't you, investors?"
"Efficiency," Mina shot back, and that left him with nothing to say.
The artisans from Mina's caravan each believed they were the best in their field, pushing their own ideas hard. If they were truly top-tier, they'd be pampered in a noble house like Noel's family, not slinging it for a merchant guild—but they still had real talent. From their perspective, Aizen was just some kid, and one who looked like Mina's hire at that. No wonder they'd come out swinging to seize control.
"Wasted a ton of energy dealing with that nonsense. Was exhausting."
Now, though, they were quietly following his directions to build the facilities. They'd started with unifying leg lengths—the most urgent issue—then locked down specs, documented everything from multiple angles, adjusted tools for easy processing, and so on. So much to do he'd barely slept. Blissful days.
"Ah, finally feels like we can get some real work done."
He blinked hard, taking in the scene before him. Right there stood two Cyclops leg frames, produced from the standardized facilities. They'd swapped them onto existing Cyclops units to test functionality, then removed them again. The first one had come out subtly undersized during assembly, so they'd disassembled and checked everything. Tweaked the second. And now, this third leg—crafted entirely by Mina's artisans since dawn.
—"Damn it, when the hell does this end?!"
—"Aigoo, I just wanna sleep..."
—"That guy's seriously not slept once...? And he settles for steamed potatoes for meals...?"
They were beat, but with results piling up right in front of them, everyone dove in with real enthusiasm. Good thing. Aizen didn't mind skipping sleep himself—plenty of time after everything was built.
And just like that, the third leg was done.
"Workshop foreman! We finished it ourselves!"
"Testing it now!"
Why they called him "foreman," he had no idea. He hurried down, inspected the leg parts, slotted them into a temporary motion rig, and confirmed no issues.
"We'll swap 'em in later and test for real. Go grab some rest!"
"Finally, a break!"
"Thought I was gonna die!"
The artisans let out triumphant roars as they shuffled off to crash. Aizen immediately checked the facilities. Success didn't mean it was over. He had to scan for flaws, verify consistent quality output, log it all. And that was just legs—arms, torsos, heads, engines, backpacks all needed mass production too...
"What can I say, first step's half the battle. Ten more sleepless days it is."
His goal: a full Cyclops rolling off the line without him intervening. Low bar.
Mina smirked at him. "You monster kid, not sleeping a wink."
"Shut it. I'll sleep when it's done."
So much to do, and all of it fun—why sleep? As he bantered with Mina, he took a quick breather and started drafting blueprints. The scratch of pencil on paper filled the air. Noel and Mina watched quietly. Even Mina, usually full of snark, stayed silent in moments like this. Sometimes a plate of snacks—probably from Noel—appeared beside him; he'd grab a bite without breaking stride, eyes and hands flying.
"This should do it."
He'd roughed out facilities to help the other artisans build Cyclops arms. Circling the interior, he pondered: better to build low and hoist up for attachment, or lay the whole Cyclops flat with support gear and stand it at the end? He was about to ask Mina and Noel's input when—
"Pardon the intrusion! Is this where Baron Arclight resides?!"
"Baron?"
"Maybe rumors twisted the Cyclops delivery to the royals and the barony that comes with it."
No delivery to the palace yet, so no title either. The palace itself was still debating where to offload the mana metal mine he'd won from Gilford—picking candidate sites now. Barony, my ass.
...Huh. Makes that prince even more of a pain in the ass.
Everyone at court pulling all-nighters to clean up his mess? Hilarious. Aizen was having a blast; they must be dying.
"Looks like you thought of something fun, Aizen," Noel said.
"Let's see what happens. Could get interesting."
"That's exactly when I get uneasy," Reina muttered, appearing out of nowhere. She rubbed her temple, scanned the area, and sighed in relief. "Good, no Phoenix armor or swords swiped..."
"What would I even do with that stuff?"
"You? Melt it down, no question. If rare metals from this region—like heat metal ingots, that special mana metal—go missing, even I can't laugh it off."
"Tell me more."
Reina glared. "...Just so we're clear, that's a vital resource for the count family. Mine it or take it without permission, and summary execution's on the table—no complaints."
Explains why Mina hadn't sourced it. Mana metals had subtypes; he'd been using high-strength ones, so maybe it slipped her mind. Reina looked pained regardless.
"Heard knights came looking and first thought was you'd caused trouble. Put yourself in my shoes."
"I'd never just take count family gear."
"...Did the academy finally teach you common sense? Or do they just pay reparations and call it good?"
Evidently, Reina had snuck in the back assuming he'd screwed up. They'd been chatting too long and forgotten the guests outside. Then the door flew open—three knights stormed in.
"Excuse us! No Baron Arclight here?!"
"No Baron Arclight. Just Arclight here."
Correcting them furrowed the lead knight's brow. Reina stepped forward now that she knew he hadn't messed up.
"Sir Galred. Long time. Why seek Aizen?"
"Indeed, Lady Reina. Here to warn him straight."
Familiar with Reina... or just a blunt personality. She looked annoyed.
"Lost your manners since last we met."
"You're no longer in the Order. Never were Phoenix knights proper. No respect owed, no courtesy."
"Doesn't make it your place to mouth off. Want a beating?"
Reina growled low; Galred glared back. Famous knight?
"...Heard knights got no fear..."
"Underrated 'cause there're so many, but individually? Terrifying combat power," Mina whispered.
Made sense why he pushed so hard—pride and confidence in skill. Even against a powerhouse like Reina, he acted ready to fight. Knights' grit was no joke.
Wait, does that mean Reina holds back her temper normally...?
Swearing right to someone's face...
"So, what warning? He's an academy student. Pull any shit in front of me, you'll never ride again."
"Telling him to know his place is shit?"
They traded barbs. Galred turned to Aizen.
"Hear this: Phoenix knights need no help from scum like you."
"Isn't that for the count to decide?"
If the count said go, he'd have to. He was here by permission, working and researching.
Galred glared harder. "Even counts err. It's a knight's duty to stop him from straying."
"Ignoring the count's will."
"Precisely because I respect him."
Something had gone down. Noel and Mina looked grave; Reina signaled to drop it.
"Enough, Sir Galred. No ties between here and that place. Wrong target, you'll regret it."
"Still, it must be said—for our fourteen fallen comrades' sake."
"Fourteen?"
"The number who died here 'researching' weapons," Galred said coldly. "Casualties from that wretched Abatus family's experiments. Men who charged chimeras bare-handed and fell."
"Abatus Count family..."
Heard that name before. What the hell had they done to make knights vent at a stranger like him? Baffled, but clearly no small matter—then Galred grabbed his collar.
"Listen well. Treat lives like consumables in your war machines, and I'll end you myself."
"I'm not Abatus."
"But a weapons maker. Love blood and death, do you?" Galred hissed. "We guard this land and kingdom fine without such filth—without you."
His grip tightened. "No need for one-eyed junk monsters from trash like you. Remember that."
Galred glared daggers. Aizen met his eyes calmly.
"Done?"
"What, got something to say?"
"Yeah."
Aizen seized Galred's gauntlet. Metal screeched as the grip loosened, pulling away slowly. Galred's eyes widened at his crumpling gauntlet. Aizen yanked him in, twisted with leverage, and flipped him over.
"Guhk!"
"Sir Galred?!"
"This bastard—!"
Aizen straightened casually, brushed off dust, and waved Mina and Noel back. Looming over Galred, he cracked his knuckles.
"Don't call my golems that."