Chapter 314 — "Foresight"
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 3
"Very good. Find a way to obtain one of these so-called 'mana engines,' and that other thing... the magic net, obtain that as well," Count Karlov decided at once. He had already seen the potential value in these two things, and striking at the right moment was a fine quality of the Hossman family. "Do not worry about the gold required; what matters most is obtaining the magical secrets of the Cecil Territory."
Green smiled. "You shall have what you want."
In the lord's residence of the Cecil Territory, Gao Yang finished reading the letter in his hand, then looked up with a smile at Amber. "Care to guess what our neighbor in Tansang Town has to say?"
Amber glanced at the letter—the crest of the Leslie family was visible in one corner—but without reading its contents she said offhandedly, "Other Southern nobles have started approaching him lately, and they want to buy mana engines, right?"
Gao Yang looked at Amber with some surprise. "How did you know?"
"I am the director of the Military Security and Intelligence Bureau! The director!" Amber's eyes went wide as she jabbed a finger at her own nose. "You appointed me yourself—good heavens, don't tell me you flat-out forgot..."
Gao Yang hastily pushed Amber's ever-advancing head back and waved his hand. "I didn't forget, I didn't forget, of course I didn't forget. It's mainly that I never expected you to actually be doing work. Every day what I mostly see you doing is cadging meals off one department or another, and the rest of the time you spend making trouble for me. I figured you never did a single proper thing."
Amber: "..."
The half-elf lady glared at Gao Yang in a standoff for quite a while, then, reflecting that she could not beat him anyway, backed down with practiced ease. "Besides the mana engines, I have also received intelligence that crude magic nets, or clues relating to magic nets, have appeared on several domains in the western part of the Southern Region. Some noble lords are recruiting rune craftsmen and rune masters, and others are hiring mages at high prices. Judging by the direction in which the 'magic net' intelligence is circulating, I conclude that those local lords have already bought or stolen some of the magic net data and are attempting to replicate it."
"So the magic net has already begun to spread... slower than I imagined, but considering the impact of winter, the pace is not bad," Gao Yang said, nodding as he pondered. "Viscount Andrew has worked hard, too."
At the mention of Viscount Andrew, Amber could not help rolling her eyes. "You're one to talk. Earlier, Viscount Andrew was trembling and sneaking around bribing the technicians you sent over, and spent a great pile of money—half of it went into your pocket. And just when he had finally learned about as much as he could, you suddenly sent a messenger saying the magic net was for sale—not just for sale, but that he could even act as your agent and sell it farther afield... Is there anyone who swindles people like you do?"
"I never meant to swindle him in the first place—he was the one who insisted on playing little tricks," Gao Yang said with a helpless spread of his hands. "Dealing with the nobles of this era, the most headache-inducing thing is exactly this: when we could be doing honest business in the open with benefit to everyone, they insist on over-interpreting everything and letting their imaginations run wild. Still, I trust Viscount Leslie will have learned his lesson after this... Doing business with Cecil, the rules are different from elsewhere."