Chapter 469: Chapter 466: The Last Dance
As for the creative division... the award went to the recently sensational "Saint Squad," who took first place.
When Valentine came on stage to receive the award, the crowd below erupted with curses and sobs, which finally merged into a single phrase:
"Refund!" "Refund!" "Goddamnit, refund!"
Apprentice Gold had to snatch the [Amplification Technique] microphone. "Honorable customers, we stated clearly in the contract that services interrupted due to force majeure are not eligible for a refund. And, uh... that ’force majeure’ just gave us an award! But the cups are still usable, you know. If there are any quality issues, you can come find us."
Rorschach stood beside the group, smirking silently. ’This team is heading into seclusion at the Vox Factory’s secret research institute for at least two months. Good luck finding them.’
Valentine still had that punchable smile on his face. He took back the microphone: "Let me say a few words!"
The crowd below immediately fell silent, choosing to first hear what the lead creator had to say. This just went to show how high Saint Valentine’s reputation was.
"If it weren’t for Rorschach Mage’s guidance, I’d probably still be serving all of you. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with bringing people happiness, but for me, the Vox Automobile Factory is a wider sea and a loftier sky.
"Finally, I’d like to leave you all with a quote from Rorschach Mage: ’Young people, you must learn restraint.’
"Thank you. Thank you all."
All the customers were stunned by his utter shamelessness. After a brief silence, a torrent of curses erupted, nearly blowing the roof off the awards ceremony. Valentine’s team was the only one blasted off the stage by a barrage of junk and spells. Although Rorschach and the other judges had cast token protective Magic on them, the unlucky Apprentice Gold was still hit by a "Guaranteed to Puke" hex and was dragged offstage, vomiting all the while.
’This kid’s a legend! Just now, Gold had tried to be clever by exposing me as the mastermind who shut down their ’happy time’ service. But now the Living Saint, with a few light words, has drawn all the fire to himself. With this, I doubt anyone will remember it was my doing. Enough to make a man tear up.’
As for why Gold wasn’t protected, it was purely an accident... Rorschach watched as he was dragged from the venue, looking like a dog that had just eaten ten pounds of chocolate.
...
Among the three grand prize-winning teams, the "Puke-You-to-Death" spell was mass-produced in Scroll form, making a huge contribution to public security in the Bayern Kingdom’s Lansite-Kempson District. The fermentation tank was naturally applied to food factories, while the Vox Automobile Factory absorbed Valentine’s team and the Ice and Fire Engine.
The Ice and Fire Engine was especially notable; it would serve as the power source for the railways within Bayern. Thanks to the steel orders from the Empire, Rorschach had already obtained some of the Empire’s railway technical standards, such as track strength and gauge specifications, as well as the hauling capacity of standard Imperial locomotives.
Rorschach didn’t need to get his hands on the blueprints for the Imperial trains. The "Ice and Fire Engine" was now a better choice and would be installed in Bayern’s trains as their power source. This meant that more Transmutation Dust Collectors would need to be built to provide energy for the upcoming mass-produced vehicles and Mechanical Bodies.
Many other designs also had practical value. They needed to be sorted and archived one by one, then the factories would evaluate and integrate them. The organizing committee also specifically selected some non-sensitive projects and, after getting the teams’ permission, published them in the newspaper.
The people of Bayern, who had been closely following the design competition, learned for the first time what Mages were up to, what they were creating, and how it would change their lives in the future. Although the people within the Special Zone had already grown accustomed to such things, it was a novel experience for those in other places and for the Tower of Secret Techniques.
The public’s impression of Casters was no longer limited to Guilds with their sour-faced receptionists and frighteningly expensive wares, fearsome Mage Towers, and odd, withdrawn people. Oh, Bart and his Town Mage Tower were the exception.
At the internal debriefing, Caroline was still not entirely satisfied with the results. "Time was too tight. In less than a month, many people were only just getting the hang of the Spell Chain system. If the competition had been extended to three months, the quality of the submissions would have been much higher."
"Getting most people to accept the ’Spell Cloud’ means our primary objective has already been met... Any other results and impacts are just a welcome bonus. Three months... but time waits for no one."
There were three imminent events that would have a major impact on the Special Zone.
First was the summer grain. The spring wheat would be harvested in mid-to-late July, which was only a few days away. During this time, the Special Zone would need to conduct a survey and registration of its farmland before deploying the Mechanical Body harvesters. The Tower of Forest was also expected to arrive—they wanted to verify the effectiveness of the artificial fertilizer Rorschach had created.
Taking grain from the farmers was no easy task. Even for legally justified purposes like settling payments for equipment and fertilizer, or collecting the Special Zone’s taxes, grain collection was something where the slightest misstep could cause huge problems. No matter how noble or perfect the laws or contracts were, grain was life, and survival was the farmers’ highest principle.
Secondly, there was the matter of fulfilling the agreement between the Special Zone and the Bayern Royal Family. As required, they had to deliver twice as much grain to the Kingdom compared to previous years in order to legally maintain the Special Zone’s status. But the Special Zone had a very large population, and Rorschach was reluctant to hand over the grain.
Buying their way out with money had been a viable option in the past. Many free cities and Free States had purchased their autonomy by paying a sum to their Monarch. Unfortunately, with the war still ongoing, the Royal Family would probably dig in their heels and demand grain. Furthermore, there was another factor... The "June Financial Storm" had done a number on the Kingdom, prompting some nosy people to investigate just where the Special Zone was getting all its money.
And the King and Prince Otto’s reaction was: ’What the fuck?’
If they were in their right minds, they’d have to be thinking of ways to ’rein in the vassal’ by now. As for Rorschach and the Tower of Secret Techniques each taking a step back to form a joint venture with the Kingdom’s elite to establish ’Vox,’ that was a classic case of slapping someone across the face and then handing them a sweet.
’But who would dare play games with the Royal Family like this? Oh, right, the other two parties are Mages. Well, if there’s a benefit to be had, I guess you take what you can get... Still, while taking the deal, the Royal Family must be rubbing their bruised cheeks and muttering, ’Even the Empire never did this to me...’’
Rorschach suspected they would use the grain delivery as a pretext to make trouble for the Special Zone. His fingers drummed a restless rhythm on the table. TAP. TAP. TAP. ’Do I flip the table, or not?’
Finally, there was a matter of great importance, one that could affect the entire continent: the small electoral district reform, which would influence Rorschach’s plans.
Logically, parliamentary elections should have been suspended due to the special circumstances of wartime, but the Prime Minister had pushed the reform through regardless. The war itself had entered a relatively stable stalemate, with both countries catching their breath and preparing a major offensive.
The strategic moves of both nations would revolve around the summer grain collection. At the same time, the Empire was intent on forcing through its small electoral district reform. If it succeeded, it was predicted that the Empire would, for the first time, achieve complete internal integration, systemically dismantling the feudal structure of the Old Empire that had persisted to the present day.
Had it not been for the war with Valois, the only way the Empire could have achieved this goal might have been through a civil war. Thus, despite temporary setbacks on the battlefield against Valois, the Prime Minister was adamant about pushing the reform through, intent on completing it during his term in office and while the war was still being fought.
This would be his last dance. A great, unified Empire was the precious legacy that the Prime Minister and His Majesty would leave for the next Emperor.
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