Novel Full Chapter 713 713 The Other Kind of Meetings
All night long the meetings dragged on, with nearly every petitioner asking for the same thing, more powerful weapons for their people’s defence. Some, like the wrath demon that was looking after the bears, planned to bring their own, but the vast majority had realized that the rifles were more suitable for the job, as long – ranged combat reduced casualties.
The Demons and the Fae might not have been extensively exposed to technology in the past, but now that they had experienced the wonders that were inscribed weapons, they were beginning to understand the human saying “don’t bring a knife to a gunfight”. It was just good common sense when the guns could actually harm you, unlike the mundane versions that had a very difficult time breaking even a Rank Two armour spell.
It was nearly dawn by the time that Wolfe finished assuring all the evening’s guests that he would really make them weapons that could deal with the influx of more powerful monsters, and the next day had even more meetings scheduled.
Out of courtesy, they should each be done individually, so none of them felt slighted, but Wolfe knew that if he released a statement that they were making weapons for everyone who was on the regular delivery routes, he could likely remove two thirds of them from the waiting list.
The only issue with that was that it would leave him with nothing but a series of dating requests, and there was no good way to move them to someone else’s responsibility, as it had been deemed to be his job to vet them.
The truth spell would do a lot of the hard work for him, and it would keep them from outright lying about their purpose in looking for a particular partner, but there was a very high chance that at least a few with ill intentions were still going to slip past on technicalities and generally benign intentions that the defensive spells wouldn’t react to.
After all, just because they didn’t intend to actually harm them didn’t mean they would make great marriage partners.
According to the notes, there were a few who were forced to drop out of the listings, and a few more who had proven unable to apply for a meeting at all thanks to the [Kind Intentions] spell. Those had all been put on a blacklist for future engagements, in case they found a way around the spell next time.
“Cassie, can you put out a notification that the ammunition will be upgraded to Rank Three and that a selection of more powerful weapons for the elite squads from each village will be distributed? If we do it now, we can clear most of this list and shuffle everyone else forward so that I’m not in meetings all day and night again.” Wolfe pleaded.
“And who is going to make all this new ammunition? You know that we can’t create it above our own level, and the number of Rank Three witches is still very limited. Give it another season, and we will have more options, but for now, we’re all pretty strained.” She replied.
“I know, but it’s necessary. We also need more planes and pilots to send north. The human nations are looking for basic supplies for their survival, and that can be taken care of by the Rank Two witches that are moved from the ammunition production lines. Then we just need someone to fill in for the more powerful spells that the Rank Three witches had been making.
Perhaps if I talk to the Fae we can contract a few workers to take over the job? There are plenty of Rank Three Fae in town for the festival, and their bosses can likely find us a few more to work here for a season or longer.
The Fae should be able to use the spells much more easily than the Demons, as they are likely to be more proficient in the elements involved, but Wrath Demons might work as well.” Wolfe requested.
Cassie frowned. “Are you sure it’s wise to hire outsiders for the production of weapons?”
It did have some risks, but so did not bringing in talented enough magic users to keep up with the needs of the continent.
“I think that we should be alright. We will have contracts ready, and both the Fae and the Demons are tightly bound by contract in a way that the humans aren’t. It’s not a casual matter for them to betray their employers or go back on their word, as long as it’s clearly spelled out and not open to interpretation,” he replied.
Cassie understood that in theory, but it still felt like a big risk to be taking, for not enough reward. But everything she was hearing was about increasing levels of danger, and the need for more security. If they wanted the regular citizens to have faith in them, then letting the continent fall back into the terrified state that the Frozen Wastes were used to was not an option.
“Alright, I will have someone arrange it. Perhaps some of your Demons could do the job? They should know people.” She suggested.
“That’s not a bad idea. Risa, can you come inside for a moment?” Wolfe called.
“You need me to do some recruiting? I’m not on the best terms with the Fae, but if I tell them that I need about ten Rank Three wind users to go with the ten rank three fire users from the Demons, they’ll definitely find some, just so they can’t be accused of being incapable. They’re tiny, but proud.” She laughed, showing a pearly white row of pointed teeth.
“That’s the spirit. There is just wind and fire involved in the ammunition production, but there is Gravity Magic involved in the additional spells, so I’m going to have to do them myself unless we’ve got another Gravity Magic user around.” Wolfe replied.
“I’m going with no. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a Gravity Magic user outside the Magi. Even the Royals brought you in for your strange spells, and they should have been able to find a caster if one existed.” Rail agreed.
“Perfect. You can do that now, or after shift change, whichever suits you.”