Chapter 725: Firearms Conference
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although Morris had put a lot of effort and heart into his research on the spirits of the dead, the research on how to combine the runes and the magical instruments was still the priority for the magical instrument department.
To close up the gap between the commoners and spellcasters, the breakthrough of these magical instruments would become a crucial solution. Like the buckler which they had come up with in their past research, after some improvement, the capital they needed to produce it had been greatly reduced, and it could now be mass produced. Furthermore, Morris had created a magical instrument that could help commoners be temporarily airborne.
"The activation of this necklace is very simple. You just have to crush one of the beads on the necklace, and it will give the commoner wearing it the ability to fly for almost half an hour. There are altogether ten beads on it, so it is rather durable."
A few days ago, while listening to this introduction by Morris, Benjamin had realized that they could already build an army that could oppose spellcasters.
The flexibility of flight was the biggest factor that caused the distance between spellcasters and commoners. A mage only had to fly into the sky, and a commoner soldier would be able to do nothing but get beaten. But this new discovery had given them the chance to fight back.
Benjamin had also tested this on people: Once soldiers had consumed magical potions, with the help of the power of this magical instrument, they could jump more than ten feet into the air, and unleashed their attacks easily while in a balanced stance. To top it all off, with the buckler possessing a high magical resistance, the typical spellcaster might not be able to win against him.
Furthermore, once new attack-based magical instruments had been developed, and with various pieces of equipment, even a commoner would, without a doubt, have a strong fighting ability against mages.
This was one of the reasons why Benjamin had suddenly proposed the building of an army.
"Alright... Since it is your intention, then I will begin to prepare the matter concerning the secret army."
Varys also knew about the newest developments of the magical instruments as he had obviously not thought this far. Although, after listening to Benjamin’s instructions, he seemed to be somewhat confused, nevertheless he still nodded his head.
Watching his back as he left, Benjamin was still unable to feel much relief in his heart.
In his original thoughts, a long time would be needed to complete all of this. To wait until the academy has nurtured enough mages, for the secret army to be familiar with the usage of the various instruments, for the research on runes and the spirits of the dead to have a breakthrough, and for their treasury to gather enough funds to support all of this... When the Academy of Magic had become truly strong in every sense of the word, they could once again officially wage war on the Church.
Except that the Church might not be so kind as to wait for them.
The loss of the key was only a turning point; the Kingdom of Helius could be considered to have an excuse to start a war. Benjamin was guessing that, when they were truly ready, they would definitely not hesitate in sending out their troops.
Icor is the frontline defense against the Church, and in the moment in time, the Guild Master of the previous Mage Guild had already slowly gathered a strong force of mages. Against the Church, however, Benjamin was not sure how long they would last.
After some thought, Benjamin sent a few recordings to the Guild Master.
"Some strategic magical instruments have been produced over here on my side. The Church is easily provoked at the moment. If you have the need, I can sell them to you."
The Cannon of Holy Light had long been sent for production; because of the high capital costs and the cumbersome production methods, so far, only two of them had been produced and were gathering dust in the storehouse of the academy. But if other countries wished to place an order for them, they would naturally continue the production.
During the emergency periods, Benjamin would not mind becoming a firearms dealer.
To be honest, this had originally belonged to the Church anyway; to sell it to the other countries, he did not mind in the least. Also, if this could help Icor defend against the Church’s possible attack, it could not be any better.
After the message had been sent out, in a short few days’ time, he had received replies from the Guild Master, the King of Carretas, and General Stuart.
Obviously, such a strategic weapon would be given primary importance in the hearts of the leaders in every nation. Now that Benjamin had opened this up for trade, if it were to be sold to only one country, it would definitely not work.
After a few days, a symposium was even formed, specifically for the distribution of the Cannon of Holy Light.
"Of course it’s Director Benjamin, even such a confidential blueprint could be snuck out from the Church’s hands." The General shook Benjamin’s hands vigorously, saying, "Compared to you guys, the spies I send to the Kingdom of Helius are absolute rubbish."
"Oh no, no..."
"However, these few days, our men have, indeed, gotten some bad news from the Kingdom of Helius," The Guild Master opened his mouth and spoke, "The Holy Knights in the realm had suddenly moved out in great numbers, and the whereabouts of some army troops are also very suspicious. Is this why Director Benjamin wants to sell the Cannon of Holy Light to us now?"
Hearing this, Benjamin kept away his smile, nodding.
"I suspect that the Church may suddenly start a war," He said slowly, "A few days ago, they had just cleared out their internal disorder. And I have, for some reason, enraged them. So... This is the Church we are talking about, you also know it yourselves."
For a moment, the General put on a solemn expression, and nodded, as though he had also heard some news. The King was somewhat astonished like he had not noticed anything before this.
Seeing this, Benjamin could not help but shake his head.
"An organization such as our Academy of Magic should not be involved in such things, but the Church is our collective enemy, so this is why I have proposed the matter concerning the sales of the Cannon of Holy Light," He said slowly, "Because Icor is the nearest to the Kingdom of Helius, for every three cannons we sell to Icor, we will sell one to the other two countries. How about that?"
Hearing this, the people on the scene were quiet for a few moments, before finally nodding their heads.
This model was already very fair. Icor was already under the alternate governance of the two countries, and with the strict surveillance from both parties, there would not be any change just because of a few extra cannons. Now that the Church was being so volatile, it was not a good time for them to criticize each other.
They had to be united.
"Since we have come to this, I will not hide it anymore," The General was silent for a moment, before speaking suddenly, "I have just received confidential information about the latest movement of the Kingdom of Helius. There was been a sudden relocation of their rations in their territory. I suspect that this has something to do with their battle plans."
"Relocation of rations? From where to where?"
"Moved out from the south of the Kingdom, in a granary called Mullander, and towards the east. The destination is nearby the Town of Crewe. There should only be a few ten thousand meters left of the journey now," He spoke slowly, "Even though I am not clear about the Church’s plans, nevertheless, once the supplies are in place, I feel that they would then probably send out their troops."