The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 716: Order Of Operations

Dominic quickly assembled the magitech orbs of [Create Munitions] and assembled the rifles one after another all day long, and then again the next day.

He had the process down to an art form now, and while he didn’t have enough rifles ready for an entire Knight patrol, it was enough to get started. They also needed pistols, which were much quicker to create, and some better spears.

The ones that they were sent with were just level three uncommon items, the sort that the Royal Forge sent out to Sergeants.

Apparently their order was either short of favour with the Royal Forge, or these Knights were not deployed in the Capital during the siege, so they never got the supplies of the Royal Forge at that time.

If they were going to represent him as Governor, he needed to give them something that would actually make them impressive in combat beyond their training.

That meant the good stuff.

Dominic reluctantly took out some fresh mana oil and a level twelve monster core.

This one had come from something that was Earth Element aligned, not something that he had killed personally. But it would do just fine for the job. All he had to do was inscribe a swiftness rune on each of the weapons then give them a heavy dose mana, and they should become a rare grade level twelve spear.

Incredibly valuable by trade prices, but not so outlandish that they would seem as if they had been overgeared for the job.

The rifles were nearly as good, and the pistols were level five uncommon weapons.

It was his standard for mass-produced pistols, and let him remember which ones were cast with transmutation magic, and which ones he had actually hand made. If the design didn’t match the level, he would know that it was a fake, and someone was trying to turn out weapons while pretending to be him.

Naturally, the Knights weren’t going to become gunslingers just because they got a bit more kit. But pistols would allow them to slow the enemy while they closed the range, and it would surprise enemies who weren’t expecting to be shot at by Paladins.

He was just finishing up a batch of pistols when Dave brought lunch out to him.

Not from the Manor kitchens, from the guard kitchens, which were closer. That meant lunch was an entirely oversized bowl of soup, portioned for a Mountain Troll that was five times his body mass, along with an entire loaf of sourdough bread.

“You know what? This looks wonderful. Thank you, Dave.”

The Troll gave him a silly grin. “I told that Chef Beth lady that we would take good care of you while you worked. You’re busy making guns for the new soldiers, so we made extra food for you.

Working harder means starving by lunch, so I brought the bigger bowl.”

The troll retreated to his post by the door, and Dominic set the weapons aside while he ate. This rhythm was going well, all they needed was a couple of weeks to train the Knights in the new techniques, and then they would be on their way for a tour of the Provinces.

And that was how, when the advisors came in with their afternoon updates, they found Dominic at the side table in the forge, spoon in one hand and pistol in the other, eating from an absurdly large bowl while testing weapons for functionality.

“Come in, come in. What do you have for me today?”

“The docks are about to turn out another airship, and they need an update on what customer it should go to. We have identical orders from both seaport Nobles and the Merchant’s Guild, but the Dwarves say that they don’t know who gets priority.”

“That’s actually a good question. The Guild had their order in first, but the King wants airships delivered to the Nobles as soon as possible. Duke Seaveton is willing to buy ten of them outright, no need for payment terms.

That is more than I had expected, but it will cause issues if he starts trying to bypass the Guild right away.

However, if we make them wait weeks or a month before the first Noble gets an airship after we deliver this one to the Guild, the King is going to have questions I don’t want to answer.

So, what I’m thinking is that we give this one to Earl Tarleigh of Port Tarleigh.

He only wanted one airship, he’s in on the King’s plan, but not particularly enthusiastic about it. He just wants a fast airship to move goods between distant sides of the coast.

That meets the requirement, and he did put in the first request, so we can claim we’re just being fair about things,” Dominic suggested.

Lord Blackwell pursed his lips as he considered the plan. “That’s actually not a terrible idea. Tarleigh has a horrid reputation as a city, but everyone knows the Earl as someone who can get what you need.

Mostly because he does business with pirates off the books.

Getting the airship to him will ensure that everyone knows how good they are, and not just from watching the Merchants arrive in them. Seaveton is a better businessman, but that just means he’s less likely to brag openly about the capabilities of his equipment.

It’s better for him to let people think that it’s not quite as impressive as it actually is so that he can overdeliver, and come up with borderline miraculous delivery schedules.”

“Anyone else?”

The other advisors shook their heads, and Jack Merlot shrugged.

“It’s always good to hand off a shiny toy to a man who loves to gossip. Tarleigh isn’t a braggart, but I can guarantee that before that airship goes anywhere, he’s going to take a bunch of trade ship captains up for a ride around the bay.”

“Perfect. Alright, inform the Earl that his airship is ready, and inform Duke Seaveton that he’s in the queue, first up from the new shop when it opens. We already discussed the matter, with one shop for the Cygnian Nobility to improve their fleets, and the other shop for private customers.”

“We will get it done. But you should likely call Rill over and explain the situation. He likely already knows, but it’s better that he hears it from you,” Jack reminded him.

“I will go see him this afternoon, before the airship leaves the hangar.”