Blade of Dawn - Chapter 544 — The New Laboratory - 清風書屋

In the First Administrative Hall of Cecil, inside Hetty's office, aunt and niece were locked in a staring contest, while Kamael floated quietly beside them, as unobtrusive as a lightbulb.

"Aunt... this is the complete budget request..." Rebecca sensed that Hetty's mood might not be the best, yet she steeled herself and handed over the proposal she had spent all night cobbling together, along with the budget application form. "In theory... as long as the laboratory doesn't blow up for two months, you won't need to allocate additional funds for the first quarter..."

Hetty's eye twitched slightly. "Do you realize you've blown things up four times in six days, and in total destroyed eight amplifiers and two engine test units?"

Rebecca shrank back a little. "But didn't you say back then... that failure is the cornerstone of success, and that a mage's path of research is always accompanied by the price of failure..."

Hetty pressed a hand to her forehead. "Did I not also add a second half to that—that a rational mage will find a path that minimizes failure, while the overly blunt ones almost all die poor."

Rebecca craned her neck. "You never said that."

"..." Hetty regarded the Marchioness of Cecil before her with speechless resignation, then, under the girl's simple and steadfast gaze, let out a sigh and sat back down behind her desk. "Bring me that proposal first. Let me have another look."

"Oh, oh, right!" Rebecca hurriedly handed over the proposal, her face already blooming into a smile. "I knew you were the best, Aunt!"

"Don't get excited just yet. I need to look through your proposal carefully," Hetty said without lifting her head as she took it. "Don't forget, before I became Chief Administrative Officer, I was a mage too—"

She read through the follow-up test plan Rebecca had drawn up with great care, and soon noticed that the plan contained distinctly different approaches and verification procedures running in parallel, which made her look up. "Testing both the centralized-power and distributed-power designs simultaneously, and also testing the effect of weight-reduction spells on the balance of both vehicle bodies at the same time?"

"Yes—don't worry, I've already arranged the manpower."

"It's not a question of manpower..." Hetty frowned. "Aren't you being a bit too impatient?"

Rebecca was by nature a girl of extraordinary drive, and since childhood had had a tendency to act without thinking things through. Looking at the plan the girl had devised, Hetty could not help worrying that she might charge ahead recklessly—but then she saw Kamael, who had come along with Rebecca, and grew uncertain again. Rebecca's head was prone to overheating, but Master Kamael had no brain left to speak of, so surely he wouldn't overheat along with the child?

"...I am a bit impatient, but there's no helping it," Rebecca said, making no attempt to hide anything at Hetty's question. She laid out her thoughts openly. "The Zuyan people have already signed a mining agreement with the Eastern Region, and hauling the ore from the White Sand Mine back is no easy matter. We could ship the ore to Gelan first, then load it onto boats at Gelan and follow the White Water River to the inner industrial zone, but there's still a long stretch of overland travel in between. Given the mining methods the Zuyan people have planned, even with magic-guided vehicles it won't be enough..."

Here she paused, and a look of stubborn determination came over her face. "So I want to solve the train problem before the ore from White Sand Mine piles up badly... Even if we can't build the best, at least we have to build something that runs."

As Hetty listened to Rebecca finish, a trace of astonishment flickered in her eyes.

So this child had thought that far...