Cost-Benefit Analysis
"In short, you talked your way out of it and chased him off."
That was Noel's immediate assessment after I recounted how I'd repelled Hephaestus.
Mina flashed a wicked grin at her. "Wordplay is the spice of contracts."
"The world might call it a scam, though. But I'm sure you have no intention of scamming the royal palace, so you'd better start delivering soon. To smoothly claim your reward for beating Prince Gilford in that duel, showing some trust is the way to go."
To put it coldly, the only real leverage the palace has over us is tied to the golem deliveries. Once those are done, they won't have much reason to meddle.
"The palace didn't put up a single coin for development, but they've got plenty to say," Erica muttered offhandedly.
Noel looked a bit troubled but didn't argue.
Come to think of it, maybe they were planning to swoop in and claim the results once our passion project bore fruit.
"We should just shove 'em aside."
"Do that, and Professor Reina will come charging in."
"Then we'll shove 'em aside on the sly."
Mina backed off a little, perhaps still smarting from Reina's iron grip this time around. It was more banter than serious talk, but Noel spoke up quietly.
"I understand how you feel, but please hold back. Not everyone in the royal family is a villain, and there are plenty in the palace who support you, Aizen."
"I don't know much about that stuff, but I've got a lot of allies?"
"Did you notice anything while talking with that man from the Abatus family?"
Something I'd picked up from chatting with Hephaestus.
"On the surface, he has the kind of looks that win people over easily, but there's this weird vibe that makes you not want to get too close."
"Anything else?"
"That's all I've got... If we're talking impressions from here, he acts polite but comes off rude, seems humble but reeks of greed?"
Noel and Erica's eyebrows shot up at my words. Then they gave wry smiles.
"So you started off giving him the benefit of the doubt."
"I only talked business, so I held back on judging the guy for real."
Noel looked at me for a moment, then smiled—faintly, but bright and genuine.
"You're something else, Aizen."
Good job~ Her face seemed to say.
She turned serious again. "The Abatus count family's magic is life magic. That's why they branch into all sorts of businesses in healing and beauty treatments, raking in massive profits—or so it seems on the surface."
There's more to it behind the scenes.
Her troubled expression suggested it wasn't all clean.
"Better not to know the dirty side," Mina said firmly, her face saying she knew exactly what it was and wished no one would bring it up.
A few things came to mind, but keeping quiet was probably best for everyone's ears.
"And whether it's the magic or just their bloodline, they've always been famous for producing handsome men and beautiful women. They barely age, too. That's why the Vespa royal family has historically married into that house a lot."
Life magic apparently had effects tied to youth. With all those beauties, it made sense they were favored by the royals—not your average family.
"The other houses aren't any different. The Nexia ducal family and the Phoenix border count's bloodlines probably have Abatus ancestors too."
So high nobles in general favored them, not just the royals. That explained why upper nobility tended to be so good-looking—lots of Abatus blood mixed in.
In a stratified society, high nobles mostly married other high nobles anyway. If the Abatus were especially stunning, it was no wonder they were snapped up everywhere...
"Doesn't that make most of the kingdom's high nobles basically cousins?"
With so many beauties tying bloodlines all over the place... Noel shut her mouth and nodded quietly—she couldn't deny it.
Of course, the Abatus didn't have hundreds of kids per generation, so not every noble house had direct ties. But frequent marriages with high nobility meant they were entangled in all sorts of interests. Easy to imagine.
"Looks really are a cheat code."
"I don't know what a 'cheat code' is, but beautiful appearances, the etiquette of a long-standing noble house, and their family wealth. There's a reason a mere count family wields so much power it's hard to believe. Some say they stay at count rank because they're court nobles without military merits to climb higher, or that they deliberately avoid it to pay less tax."
And maybe they just didn't see the need to rise further. A countship got you VIP treatment anywhere, and if their influence already reached everywhere from that spot, why bother? The tax angle was plausible too.
"...Abatus, the people traders."
"Huh?"
"What merchants call the Abatus house as an insult."
Mina didn't elaborate.
Noel looked at me quietly. "Anyway, for a house like that, their power and influence are immense, but they have plenty of enemies too. Lots of people in the palace dislike Count Abatus. I think those folks stepped in to keep them from pressuring you more."
"And Hephaestus Abatus is just some guy from the count family—not even the count himself, and no title to boot. For him to barge in as their 'representative' is ridiculous," Erica added.
"Normally, you need at least a baron's rank to qualify as a palace representative."
"So a nobody like that struts in as their proxy."
Is this country okay?
Her words suddenly made sense. A powerless family member could waltz in as a rep because their influence was that strong. No wonder they had enemies.
At that level, if I'd handed over the blueprints, they probably would've intercepted them midway.
The recruitment pitch and their eagerness when I offered the designs... Yeah, saying I'd pass them through other channels was the right call.
"Politics gives me a headache."
I tuned out Noel's talk of palace allies blocked by Abatus lackeys, Erica's point that behind-the-scenes deals weren't bad, and Mina's gripe that no funding changed nothing. I had no interest in getting more tangled up.
Time for the important stuff.
"...So the prime minister could've shown up to pressure us himself, but this is manageable enough..."
"Hey, Aizen, whatcha doing?"
"Next-gen frame."
The Cyclops was the Cyclops, but the real meat of my deal with Mina was her backing the next model's development too.
Mina and Noel, deep in debate, immediately perked up and crowded around my sketches.
"Whoa, this is... different from the Cyclops?"
"Of course it's different from the Cyclops."
As I answered Noel, Mina snatched up the sketch, scrutinizing every note, mentally simulating it, then passed it to Noel. She and Erica pored over it together.
"No way, this is..."
"We figured it out fighting that cyclops giant last time."
I tapped the sketch firmly and stated it coldly.
"Cyclops alone just aren't enough."
The Cyclops itself was a powerful weapon, but even so, its shortcomings were clear. We'd optimized for productivity, versatility, and ease of control, making it solid overall—but nothing exceptional. Against large monsters where size was comparable, it was bound to get pushed back.
"Big monsters shrug off the machine gun to some extent and charge right in. They're tough enough that it turns into close quarters anyway."
And at that scale, every part of a massive monster was a weapon. They matched or even exceeded the Cyclops in raw power. Some even had the smarts to prioritize dropping the machine gun.
Once combat kicked off, it ditched the gun first—no assuming monsters were dumb and getting sloppy.
And it took nearly a full mag to drop it.
We finished the cyclops giant with gunfire at the end, but only because it was already dying—we poured everything in. At full health, it'd tank shots and close the distance.
Bottom line: close combat with large monsters, and Cyclops couldn't guarantee superiority. The fight had perfectly exposed its limits.
"Can't you just overwhelm with numbers?"
"If two against one means one gets wrecked, better to have both come home intact."
I gave Erica my straight take.
Two Cyclops would eventually take down a big monster, but losing one to a bad melee matchup while the other survived? Bad math.
So, assuming melee was inevitable...
"Time to counter with a close-combat specialist."
The best we could do at our current level. I pointed to the sketch of the greatsword on the side.