The sales pitch was a tremendous success. The performance of Minas Mar's Battle Puppets had instantly spread among high society. Almost as good as a dungeon buster, but almost! It didn't need a knight and only cost half as much as a dungeon buster.
"Was this why you wanted to know the price of a dungeon buster?" their ambassador asked, defeated after the ball ended and the crowd dispersed.
"Yup, but don't take too much of their money, try to trade a golem for something good we can actually use," the blacksmith advised, ignoring the burden he had just put on their representative in Perrerian. "Don't make such a face. Your job should become easier when they actually try to win your favor, no?" the bard argued against the grimace of defeat and depression the man displayed.
"Still...." he sighed. " Fine, I will contact Lady Mary to set up a golem business here. Tower Master, how much initial stock do you have with you?" he came to terms with his destiny and decided to look forward.
"Initial stock? I think I have about 30 hanging around in the corners of Legion..." the blacksmith. Unlike his inventory, he regularly cleaned and sorted. The space of Legion happened to have a bunch of golem variations he used to take along just in case.
The cheap golems were good for scouting and trap detection, traps that the Golem Eyes might not see or set off. As such, he also had a bunch of the kind of golems they used to sell to Arget Nore in there.
"30? I guess that would suffice for a beginning," the representative pondered. 30 didn't sound a lot, but considering these were 30 machines on par with creations praised as the peak of power in this world...For an ambitious man, it might be enough to set up their own little kingdom.
It was a good thing Minas Mar made sure never to take in people like that.
"I will see how far I can get with them," the man assured him.
"I will take them out when we are in a more private setting, the blacksmith said leisurely.
"Are you going to loosen their restraint when selling them here?" Mina asked, curious, sipping on her glass of wine.
"Nah, if anything, I think we should make them stricter. I wouldn't want these people to start wars with my golems. I will make it so they won't attack humans or demi-humans. That should be enough to make money and protect the dungeon buster business," the blacksmith mused.
"Protect their business?" Fin, who had already emptied a couple of bottles at this point, asked a little drunk. A sober fairy would have probably understood immediately, but the booze made her a little slow. Before Seth was able to, Monique explained.
"If we don't restrict the use-case for the golems, they will quickly take the places currently occupied by dungeon busters. The dungeon buster lobby, knights, and Magic College might become our enemies then.
But if we restrict them to only fight monsters and demons, they can really only be used for the protection of the land from monsters and dungeons. Mostly stuff they wouldn't want to risk a Dungeon buster for in the first place. This way we won't anger anyone by taking their high-profile jobs, while we can make a pretty penny," Monique summarized.
"We? I. I make a pretty penny," the blacksmith corrected her. Although Minas Mar also got its part for materials and distribution, the lion's part of the profit was his. Although this would flow back into making items that would be accessible by the members of Minas Mar, it was still his money, which he was getting for his work.
"I also want a pretty penny," Fin babbled.
"You are already so pretty, what do you need a penny for?" Seth joked, but got a genuinely happy smile from the drunk brute. Suddenly, the cat irl leaned against him, whispering in his ears, seductively.
"Since she is so pretty, i can have the penny, yes?" Mina teased him; her breath smelled of wine and sweet promises.
"What are you saying? Everything I own will be ours anyway once we are married," he whispered back, taking her in his arms. They started kissing, causing everyone else standing with them to turn away in annoyance, except for Drunk Fin, who complained to be included.
The banquet went over without any bigger incidents. The duel was quite big, so nothing else that happened that night was able to overshadow it. Seth, Fin, and Mina thoroughly enjoyed the room they had been given before the whole group assembled again the next morning.
"Uhhh, can't we stay another day?" Fin asked, suffering the consequences of her heavy drinking.
"No, just drink a potion and rid yourself of your hangover," Seth said strictly.
"But it tastes so baaaad...." Fin complained about the taste of the hangover potion. Although it got rid of a hangover, the taste also stuck around for several hours after drinking, so the fairy hated drinking it, despite her heavy hangover.
"Will she be okay?" Robin asked, watching Fin begrudgingly down a vial of potion.
"She will be fine if you don't pay too much attention to her," Seth said. Although it was a little cruel, it was true that Fin sucked it up quicker if there was nobody coddling her.
"How long will it take to reach the Archipelago again?" Mina asked, as they waited for their turn to step into the teleport room.
Today, they were scheduled to use the Imperial Gate and travel to the port town of Larida at the Gull Sea. It was the town closest to the Auk Archipelago on the continent, and apparently used to fervently trade with the place.
Perrican had prepared a magic vessel they would board there, that would allow them to cross the Gull Sea and arrive at the Archipelago, where they suspected a gorgon to make trouble. Although they made a little halt to crank up business, their prime directive was getting the materials to finish Monique's Regalia of Athena.
"Once we reach Larida we will immediately move to the harbor, where the vessel is waiting. Once we boarded, it would take roughly two days to reach the outer island of the Auk Archipelago," Robin, their royal aide in maid clothing, explained diligently.
"Good, that should be enough time to finish your gauntlets, Monique," the blacksmith assured her.
"More importantly, do you have a plan for the archipelago?" Robin asked, concerned. After all, he was supposed to accompany them there, but so far, these people had not once talked about any kind of strategy for how to proceed once they entered the archipelago.
At his question, the assembled looked at him with an expression of...confusion.
"What would we need a plan for?" Fin blurted out what everyone was thinking. Even Monique knew how futile it was to try and come up with a plan, considering their party's constellation.
"If you are concerned for your safety, don't worry. I will have a golem look after you," the blacksmith assured her, not giving any weight to his concerns.
"Oh, it's our turn. Let's go," Monique informed them, that it was time to leave. While the party of Minas Mar was looking forward to a fun trip, Robin couldn't help his concerns. What had he gotten himself into? This wasn't what he became an imperial aide for...