A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 200 The True Face of a Shady Merchant

"Mariano isn't heartless; he gave me an excellent grade in the assessment. The council has approved a budget of three thousand gold coins, but the disbursement process won't be completed until at least the end of the year or even next year. My father and father-in-law gave a budget of eight thousand six hundred gold coins, to be paid in half each, but Millie and I have discussed keeping a portion for ourselves."

Wow, does your father or father-in-law need another son? I feel like I'm short on cash lately. As for Bart, Rorschach can only say he's working at his own expense; this young man must be someone who has transcended vulgar tastes. However, Rorschach observed Bart's dark circles and Amelia's more radiant appearance, suggesting he's only partially transcended them.

The three sat around the table, and Bart spread out the blueprints for the mage tower that the designer had given him.

"The following are the latest standardized blueprints. All the garrison mage towers and personal mage towers in Bain are modified from the following three types, each corresponding to a different construction cost."

The estimated prices are 5,000 Golden Eagle Coins, 8,000 Golden Eagle Coins, and 13,000 Golden Eagle Coins. What kind of medium, large, and extra-large cup designs are these? Luo Xia carefully examined the differences.

"Since the basement and storage room were not damaged, we can save some money. If we rely solely on the funding from above, it will just cover the most basic needs," Bart explained.

The cheapest one, Rorschach, has already been experienced. The defenses were completely ineffective, and the rooms had no special functions. It was just a watchtower with a small library and accommodation area, pretending to be a mage tower.

If we go to the other extreme and go for the super-sized cup, the construction team allows wealthy clients like Bart to delay the final payment. So if you use all the sponsorships from your parents and then wait for the funding to come through before settling the bill, getting the top-of-the-line model isn't out of the question.

For just 13,000, you can obtain Holy Kingdom technology, a stargazing mirror produced by the Bain Precision Instrument Manufacturing Workshop, a basic alchemy room, and a mail teleportation array for the Empire's inner network.

"The Empire has also established its own mail teleportation array?" Rorschach accidentally obtained an incredible piece of news. Wait a minute, why does it take him so much effort to communicate with the mechanism?

Bart scratched his head: "I heard it's not open yet, it's in trial operation. They gave me a site in Würzburg because of my excellent performance."

Luo Xia nodded in understanding, realizing that he had obtained the beta test qualification. He wondered if he could ask the head of the organization for a mobile port teleportation array scroll.

There's also an array that can actively manipulate the magical energy in the environment, artificially increasing the magical energy concentration within the tower. This can be used to enhance the magic of the mages inside the tower, or to pre-charge the defensive arrays. This intrigued Rorschach; he was quite envious of this kind of advanced technology.

The mid-range configuration omits the stargazing room and the magic circle for gathering magic power. In short, all three configurations are precisely tailored and strictly hierarchical; the more precise the cut, the more conflicted the client, Bart, becomes.

This won't do. I have to convince my best friend to order the extra-large cup so I can see what this magic circle is all about.

Bart pointed to the blueprint in the middle: "Amelia and I agree to choose the 8,000 gold standard. After deducting the cost of the foundation and basement, we can save about 2,000 gold. With the additional funding, the amount will be considerable. Amelia wants to run a private winery, which can be expanded from where we are now."

At this time, Rorschach's estate was already a manor with cellars and grapevines, a property secretly gifted by the king, but the vineyards were not large enough, and the yield was insufficient to match the spacious cellars.

Why does this feel like I'm building a computer? Luo Xia had already made up his mind to see what the magic circle was all about, and suddenly he was possessed by the cunning computer store merchant from his previous life: "That's right, the middle price range is the most suitable right now."

"And I must remind you, Bart, although I can participate in the design of the defensive array, the cost of materials is still considerable, so we will probably need to set aside some budget space."

However, this was a strategic retreat by the unscrupulous merchant Rorschach: "But speaking of defensive facilities, based on my actual experience, the original measures are completely ineffective. Even if I have drawn up new magical circuits, their effectiveness in an emergency will probably still be limited if they cannot be pre-charged."

Rorschach remembered that when the Lowe Merchant Guild headquarters building caught fire, all the magical structures originally designed to prevent fires failed, and he subsequently sued the Magic Guild and the contractor, and even made the case in the Valuwana newspaper.

Bart was still hesitating when Amelia immediately grabbed his hand: "Darling, since we're in danger, we should prioritize our safety. Protecting ourselves isn't the act of a coward, but of a wise person."

She and Bart had seen the collapsed ruins together, and she couldn't understand how such sturdy stone walls could have been cut. The bloodstains and bricks really made Amelia realize the dangers of magical battles.

Seeing that his offensive was working, the culprit behind the collapse of the mage tower quickly pressed his advantage: "Look, you don't really need any stargazing to handle emergencies throughout the city, right? The alchemy room can prepare simple potions, and occasional spellcasting is enough. So, the stargazing equipment can be cut, saving us some money."

It sounded exactly like the sales pitch, "Your laptop doesn't need such a high-end CPU for gaming." Sure enough, as soon as Rorschach said this, Bart, who had already been swayed by Amelia, hesitated even more, and his hand, which was pointing at the blueprint in the middle, unconsciously moved to the top-of-the-line version.

Become!

But Bart sighed again: "But that would delay the completion of Millie's winery. We should be able to think of another way. Rorschach, I heard you can get your hands on blue crystals containing a lot of magic."

It's true that both of them come from wealthy and noble backgrounds, but right now Bart only has the salary of a resident mage and a share of the merchant guild's profits. The latter is a fixed allowance allocated by his father from birth. It's enough to support the princess's life and so many servants, but it's a bit difficult to come up with a large sum of money.

"What, you're trying to take advantage of me?" Before Rorschach could even speak, Amelia immediately scolded, "Bart, how can you still demand Rorschach's help? Your friend already shielded you from a life-threatening attack and promised to help you repair the new tower. Isn't it inappropriate to make further demands?"

"That's not what I meant. I can pay for it. Look at Rorschach, if I stockpile enough crystals, can't I replace the energy-gathering array?"

It's like the difference between selling a charger and a battery. Unfortunately, Rorschach could only shake his head and refuse, not because he wanted to see the energy-gathering array, but because the crystal did have a problem: "The blue energy-storing crystal you mentioned is called 'passivation transmutation dust'."

"At least for now, once it's manufactured, it will continuously decay until it becomes ineffective. If you keep replenishing it, it's probably far less cost-effective than using an energy-gathering array."

"Alright." Bart finally gave up struggling, chose the most expensive option, and apologized to Amelia.

Amelia was naturally a restless person, but she was no longer a child and couldn't afford to waste her energy riding horses in the mountains. She was the mistress of this new family, but the princess of the kingdom didn't want to be confined to the small plot of land in front of her, which was no bigger than any palace.

"Would Your Highness Amelia be willing to become the representative of 'Fonda'?" Rorschach's sudden question startled the newlyweds.

"well?"

(End of this chapter)