Chapter 90 - The Roar of Industry (Patreon)

Chapter 90

Red Sands Desert, Principality of Rebirth.

Dungeon Factory, Primary Forge.

Alexandra smiled as she watched the golem smiths hitting their anvils with synchronized perfection. It was smaller than her previous forge…but it was a step in the right direction, and it was far cleaner, and more streamlined than her previous industrial center. She'd learned a lot from it, and she was putting those lessons into action.

Not to mention the fact that with the materials she had acquired, she could do a far wider array of things. She looked at the conveyor belt slowly rolling forward, bringing the newly forged weapons to specialized golems, who inspected them for flaws, throwing them into scrap bins or racking them depending on the result, the large spider tank transporter ladden with crates of armor and weapons making their way to the warehouses, or most importantly, the last line, at the back of the forge.

Where golems methodically checked and tested muskets and various other firearms. Smoothbore, unfortunately, she knew how to make the bullets so they took the rifling, but she was having trouble rifling the barrels in the first place. But that was only a temporary inconvenience. She didn't have much gunpowder to work with, not yet, and the gun barrels were made out of iron, not steel, but it was the first sign of modern weaponry.

There were also her first industrially produced claymores on that belt, and a handful of revolvers and experimental thumper fragmentation warheads. All of those were reserved for her praetorian guard, and this time Emilia had only nodded in approval, not sighed in exasperation. Clearly the vampire girl had finally come around to the matter of their protection, and Alexandra could finally allocate the budget she'd always wanted to defence.

Three hundred. That was how many golems she had in her praetorian guard, tucked away in the fortress she was busy constructing around her core room. She might not be able to prevent an attack before it hit her dungeon, even with her alliance with the baroness, but she'd be damned if she'd be caught unprepared again. Unbeknownst to the surface dwellers, a good chunk of her time and resources wasn't actually dedicated to bringing the dungeon back online. Or rather, not the adventurer part. For every point of mana she spent on the main dungeon restoration, she spent two on the new mini floors…and three on her defensive measures.

By the end of it, damn them all, she was going to build a gods damned planetary defense center, including the fucking surface to void railguns and nuclear missile batteries if that's what it took to keep her and her advisor safe.

And if that wasn't enough…well, she might not have her implants anymore, but she had been over every single centimeter of a Dawnstar-class super-battleship's schematics a dozen time. She might not remember the exact working of the components, but if she re-engineered the tech she could damn well build one.

"Everything ready?" Asked Emilia, and Alexandra nodded.

"Yep. We have the production, that alongside the spawners, to keep the new step running. And once we're done with the expansion, and the rooms for it of course, the labyrinth will be ready as well." Alexandra smiled. "That, I believe, will keep the higher ranks quite occupied."

Emilia nodded, and Alexandra turned towards the entire platoon of praetorian guards lining the walls, headed by a gilded golem she had designated as its commander. Who knows, in time it might even end up being another Jared!

"Send a message to CQ that I'll be needing her services for a bit." She smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I have to keep borrowing her body like that, but it's for the best for now." After all, using her boss as a host was the best way to show her commitment to the alliance and cooperation with the baroness.

The golem simply bowed, slamming his right fist against his left shoulder in salute, before gesturing at one of the guards, who took off running like an athletic sprinter.

Alexandra might not understand all of the inner workings of her golems just yet, but thanks to the spider golems she grasped how they moved, and her experience with the monk golems had allowed her to significantly upgrade her personal guard, the small group of praetorian guards who followed her and Emilia everywhere. They were expensive as hell yes…but they could leap over walls, run at full speed in full steel plate armor and juggle barrels of concrete. Anyone trying to mess with them was going to regret it.

Assuming they lived long enough for that. Which given the fact that with the new thumper warheads they literally had RPGs, and that she'd liberally equipped them with revolvers and muskets wasn't actually a manner of speaking.

"She understand why you do it. Besides, if you don't get her off her puppy from time to time she'll drive it insane!"

Alexandra chuckled. CQ's reaction to her resurrected puppy had been…ecstatic, and this time the boss was determined not to lose it, which was why she had Alexandra make a bracelet to teleport it to safety should the worse happen.

"True enough, I suppose!"

She smiled at her advisor, and looked at the vast forges and their purposeful energy, before shaking her head.

"Alright, while the runner gets CQ, might as well see what's next on the list."

Emilia nodded, and cracked open her notebook with the ease of long practice.

"Alright, finish the last few of the hundred labyrinth rooms, but you're already doing that." Alexandra nodded, her increased capacities were really fantastic, and she'd taken to them like fish to water. Which had kind of surprised Emilia, as apparently artificial dungeon cores had a hard time adapting to it, or at least so her books said. Alexandra found it a bit odd as well, but she decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

She never caught the slight change in her thoughts as he worries were eased away by an alien program…but her other self did, and counter measures began taking shape deep within her psyche.

"So, next up is mineral deposits. You said you wanted to have mines back up for the adventurers as soon as possible, to attract metal workers and help getting the steel tech from the fox eared twins." Continued Emilia, as oblivious as her dungeon core about the conflict starting to unravel inside the deepest layers of the Earth-born's mind. "Honestly, I'd suggest putting some in the mini dungeons. The iron step would be appropriate thematically, if nothing else."

"Well, yes, but wouldn't 15 minutes be far, far too short for it to regrow fully?"

"Probably, but not all adventuring group is going to have miners with them. Besides, it will give them an incentive to try to rush a bit and to be the earliest ones in."

"That's a fair point I guess. Plus even if they 'overmine' it it's not like the deposit can truly disappear anyway. I'll put some deposits in the last room, see how it goes. Hopefully they'll have some miners in the caravans who are interested in getting an adventurer escort for some shiny ore!"

*****

"Milady?" Allya lifted her head up from her paperwork as the door opened and one of the knights added to her personal guard poked his head in. "Your appointment is here."

"Ah, excellent! Show him in, would you?"

"Right away milady."

Allya smiled…and sighed once the door was closed and the sound proofing enchantment reactivated. Éclair, who was standing guard in a corner of her office, gave her a sympathetic look, before going back to watching the door intently. The last few days had been hell. Dealing with the population of her town being effectively tripled overnight had been…interesting, to say the least. The fact that much of that population was clueless, far too rowdy adventurers had made that all the more challenging.

Fortunately the veterans hadn't hesitated to get the newbies on the right way…and kick the ass of those that wouldn't listen. At this point most of them qualified as grizzled veterans by any standards you care to name, and they weren't about to be stepped on by some newcomers. Some bars, notably Firegecko's, which was being firmly settled in as the best bar in town, had been the site of some pretty vicious fight. Fortunately those fight had subsided quickly, especially at Firegecko's. The bartender had proven he could more than live up to his name during the desperate fight to keep the town, where he had taken up arms to defend his establishment.

When he'd explained to her that his shotgun had fire enchantment she'd expected flaming pellets. Not some madman's idea of a lava cannon crossed with a flamethrower. He had piled enough bodies to make the veteran adventurers instantly throw their hands in the air when he'd grabbed his weapon behind the bar.

Unfortunately the idiots they'd been fighting hadn't realized the danger, and a particularly stupid group had elected to attack him instead. Allya had personally ordered that their incinerated remains wouldn't be brought to the dungeon to ask for resurrection. The message had gotten across quite nicely, and although she wasn't supposed to have heard it, she knew that rumors were starting to spread from the veteran adventurers about her combat prowess. Embellished of course, but more and more of the new adventurers were going out of their way to pay their respects instead of simply standing by the side as usual.

If there was one thing adventurers respected other than money, it was strength, and Allya had both in abundance.

The door opened, and as a dwarf walked through Allya got up to greet him, a smile plastered on her face. Actually, the smile was pretty genuine. There were so many people she should be meeting -not the least that bitch aide Sylvia had taken prisoner-, but this one was among the most important, especially for developing the town, and she was very glad Melia had managed to find him and get his meeting request to her desk.

The dwarf was tall, as far as such things went, impeccably dressed…and all of his clothing was heavily reinforced and practical. He looked clean and stylish with his glasses and neatly trimmed beard and mustache, but he wasn't covered in the embroidery and finery too many people of high rank would have festooned themselves with. He seemed to be from the same school of thought as Elkaryos in that regard, and Allya for that matter. If you needed to display your wealth through opulence, then it meant that you had failed at hammering it into your guests' skulls through other, subtler means.

In his case, that 'subtler' means was the fact that every article of his clothing was covered in discreet, softly glowing runes, disappearing into complex patterns woven into the cloth.

"Forge master Imrak! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"Please milady, the pleasure is all mine!" Said the dwarf as he grabbed her extended hand and kissed it. Allya's eyebrow rose, and she chuckled.

"My, and a gentleman at that. Please, take a seat."

The dwarf nodded, and sat down with the economy of movement and the grace of someone used to moving in the highest circles of society.

"Thank you milady. And might I say, it is a relief to be able to speak to you at last. I am very, very thankful that you were able to make a place in your busy schedule for me." He held up his hand as she opened her mouth. "Don't try to deny it. I have seen some of the…trouble that has happened. I know you have far more pressing matters to attend to."

Allya smiled.

"It depends on one's definition of 'important'. You are, after all, the representative -a rather high ranking representative for that matter- of the Silverlode consortium. Which is the largest mining consortium on the entire continent."

"True, but this is a dungeon town, and so far mineral exploitation of the dungeon has been a minor activity."

"So far, yes. But I believe that taking the long view always brings greater benefit than exclusively focusing on more immediate issues. Oh, losing yourself in the future and what could be is very dangerous, but the opposite is equally true."

The dwarf looked at her closely, and nodded, apparently satisfied.

"I see that your reputation as a wise leader isn't in error, milady. And I am glad for that. Very well then, since you have been so direct and candid, allow me to answer in kind. I am, indeed, very glad that you made time for me. Although the dungeon hasn't produced many minerals yet, it has made mineral deposits for adventurers far earlier than expected. In fact, as far as I can tell, it is the youngest dungeon to do so, which augurs well for future opportunities, to say the least." He shrugged. "I won't lie to you, originally I was sent here purely to see about maybe setting up a small presence here, and move onto the Republic where my actual mission laid. However, after the discovery of the mineral deposits my order were changed. I have been tasked with acquiring as large of a foothold here as possible for future industrial development, as well as secure a supply of mineral through the dungeon."

"So, a speculative mission."

"Of a sort, yes. The risk is high, but the payoff…"

"Would be stupendous." Allya smiled. "Believe me, I know all about taking risky bets with massive payoffs."

The dwarf chuckled.

"I suppose you do. Regardless, I have been sent here with specific instruction to secure as much of that as possible. Hence me meeting with you."

"I see…" Allya leaned back into her seat and sighed. "Alright, you have returned candor for candor, so I suppose it would be churlish for me to try to dance around the point. First and foremost, I know what you are going to propose, and no, I will not even entertain the possibility of a monopoly, even one sponsored by me…or 'guaranteeing' that a chunk of all minerals extracted has to be sold to you. No matter how much you try to bribe me."

The dwarf tilted his head, and she saw something strange in his eyes.

"Well, that is certainly direct. But still, I would be failing my obligations if I didn't tell you that my consortium would be more than happy to provide you with a great deal many things. Weaponry for your forces, financial backing with banks, vast investment opportunities throughout the world, personal artifacts, exotic slaves-"

He stopped as Allya moved with the grace and smoothness of a trained killer. She leaned forward and smiled, and for a second it wasn't the nice, if slightly harassed baroness speaking, it was the psychotic assassin that had made her way through the world leaving a trail of bodies behind her.

"If you so much as bring slaves into this city forgemaster, I will have escorted you out a sword point within the minute. Am I understood? I realize that the kingdom's laws do not outlaw slavery, but I'll be damned if I ever let a person own another on my lands, understood?"

The forgemaster looked up at her…and slowly smiled.

"Fully understood. And thank you for allaying my concerns milady."

Allya blinked internally in confusion, although thankfully she was a good enough dissembler to catch the reflex before it affected her face.

"How so?"

"About slavery. My consortium, in pure cold blooded terms, has long since concluded that slavery was bad for business. Golems can do the same work for far cheaper, and with far less of a risk of collateral damage, or intentionally sabotaging their work, which believe me can be terrifying in metallurgy. And on a more personal note…My grand parents once were escape slaves who lived in New Raleigh. I might have few ties to their refuge now, but I still remember watching the tortured, martyred slaves being brought into the city to be healed and freed, when I visited my grandparents. It is a sight I will never forget."

"I see…I think you will find kindred spirits in my alchemist and artificer. They are both from New Raleigh as well."

"So I'd heard. It will be a pleasure to make their acquaintance, in due time. Now, since bribing you is out of the question, how about we discuss the terms of my consortium's implantation?"

"Of course."

Allya leaned back into her chair, and tilted her head as the dwarf began laying down his initial terms. Outrageous ones of course, but that was how all negotiations started. She didn't have Pyn by her side -the elf was too busy helping build permanent accomodotations for their suddenly influx of residents-, but this was only preliminary negotiations, she'd ensure there was second session where the elf could hammer in the finer points, and use her admittedly far superior negotiating skills to their fullest.