Treasury
Gilbert’s Point of View
“These golems are incredibly strong, aren’t they? They are sturdy, and those guns are something else. Isn’t she a bit too stoic about this? They’re just snacks, after all.”
“I bet if you were to say that to Alice, she wouldn’t speak a word to you anymore, would she, Father?”
She treats what’s important to her with care. The rest, she is somewhat indifferent about… At least, I would like to put myself into the important category.
We couldn’t quite see further inside the cabin, so we were not sure how we should go about searching for the workshop, but it turned out that it was right behind the cabin.
It wasn’t something particularly noteworthy. There were just many tools and shelves. No walls or roof either… There were craters and such around, so I guess this is probably where she builds things. Currently, there was something in the center of the workshop. Since this kind of thing was beyond us, I thought we should ask Lord Grantz, who might know.
“Well… Isn’t this an airship? I can’t build the internal engine of airships by myself, so I’m not 100% certain, but she used something similar in the blueprints. It’s probably a one-seater prototype. This one… can’t fly just yet, though.”
“It’s not surprising since she herself said she can make it, but the small airship I have isn’t this complex, right? In fact, what we can’t replicate should be the power unit and the control panel for the levitation magic, right? This seems to be… a different system altogether.”
Naturally, I have a small airship of my own, but it definitely wasn’t of this intricate design.
“It’s probably just Missy’s hobby, no? There should be specifications document, so take a look at that. Its range and speed are probably far beyond any existing airship. If this gets out, the Empire’s prided air division will suddenly lose its value.”
Although I thought Alice’s designs might be encoded, they were actually written in plain text. She probably intended to sell them to Father as soon as they’re ready.
“If we were to buy something like this, the country would go bankrupt!!”
Father didn’t seem to have considered that she might sell this too; he was holding his head in his hands. The shipbuilding technology for airships that far surpass existing ones can probably only be bought at a fair price by the Empire. Of course, that country would likely seize it with some convenient excuse. They won’t part with their money.
“Well then, you guys better leave quickly. This isn’t a place to linger. It’s where craftsmen belong. Amateurs shouldn’t be coming in here. Damn it, at least make a spare balancer beforehand. It’s a hassle, but I’ll make it.”
“You could’ve just made it from the beginning yourself, you old geezer.”
“What? Do you have any idea how much of a pain it is to make this from scratch? Besides, even among the Dwarves, there are only a handful who can make a single part for that airship over there!! Precision machining without even half a millimeter of error would be difficult even for my apprentices… well, Missy is my apprentice too, but only I or she should be able to do it.”
Father spewed venom. It seems he disliked any man that approached Alice. I don’t think highly of them either, but Lord Grantz should be fine. He’s only interested in alcohol and craftsmanship. Apparently, he completely lost interest in the opposite gender since his wife passed away.
Afterward, while exploring various things, we walked the way back, and lo and behold, there were numerous items that seemed to be products of another world’s technology. This was more like an armory than a treasury. According to Lord Grantz, most of them couldn’t be operated. He pointed out issues with power and other details that Alice hasn’t resolved yet.
“It’s technology from hundreds of years in the future. Normally, we shouldn’t be even capable of producing these, let alone dream of using them. First of all, none of these can be moved with just a magic sphere. Even with the power of a magic sphere and a magic crystal together, you probably wouldn’t get the original performance. My Spider is limited by this as well. Originally, we were planning to install a Magic Furnace.”
“That isn’t yours, Lord Grantz.”
Please don’t arbitrarily claim the Spider as your own. As much as Lord Glantz likes it, I don’t know what crazy thing he’ll do with it if we give it to him. As soon as Alice wakes up, we should have her seal it up.
And so, the exploration of the treasury came to an end. There was a shelf near the entrance with weapons, but the loud laughter of Gladius and the roaring of Alice’s dragon staff were so annoying that no one went over to look. Or rather, Alice had no time to sleep during the battle, so is that why they are in the treasury? They were laughing and shouting at each other as if they were close friends. It’s understandable that Alice found them irritating and shut them in here.
In the end, although I didn’t understand what was what, the only conclusion was that the things in here were extremely dangerous.
“Well, if all of those could be used, they would obliterate Arland in no time. Even if the soldiers of Arland were considered the strongest on the continent, they wouldn’t stand a chance against those things. If Missy were to start a rebellion, you would surrender in no time.”
“As for you, you just want to work together her, don’t you?! My daughter doesn’t have such dangerous thoughts.”
“Of course, Alice wouldn’t start a rebellion… I can’t say the same about her running away, though.”
I can definitely assert that it’s impossible. Alice is overly kind to her family. She doesn’t even scold Alicia for her overly frank remarks, and she even went so far as to defy our Father for the sake of her friends.
Probably not everything in Arland is an entity under her protection, though. She really dislikes those annoying nobles, so I think she has her own criteria for judgment.
The result was that Alice’s sermon was confirmed. In some cases, she had hidden things that could be seen as treasonous. Of course, we won’t suspect her because this is her home, but if someone else was making all those things on their own, they would likely be arrested. Fortunately, Arland is so relentlessly bothered by external threats that we warmly welcome overtechnology. If we can protect the country at a lower cost, we would like to use the rest for domestic development. Therefore, the conclusion was to forgive her with just a light lesson.
Naturally, although this incident resulted in a lecture, there would be no official punishment. The next generation of the Royal family is only Alice and me, and it would be a waste to delay the development of such a precious talent. So, we concluded that we need to bind Alice to the country, even if it means bending the country’s own laws. It’s really not a situation that can be left untouched. We decided that giving her an official position and educating her about her own responsibilities would be for the best.
And then, one month after Alice fell asleep, just as she foretold, Alice woke up.