Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

So the plump Ernest Fuller made up his mind and asked bluntly, "Just tell me whether or not you're selling!"

Georg's breath hitched. The old man pressed his lips together repeatedly, then finally jumped off the carriage and pulled Fuller toward a secluded spot. "Let's first settle on a price."

Fuller stood firm and whispered, "I have one more condition."

"Troublesome! Spit it out!"

"Secrecy. You can't tell anyone I'm the buyer." Thinking it over, Fuller added a plausible motive for himself and mumbled awkwardly, "This deal… isn't exactly honorable."

Georg glanced at the surrounding militia. "As long as you don't tell anyone I'm the seller."

...

[Steelburg, Old Town North Shore]

[City Palace]

Steelburg's three iconic landmarks include the Erwin Great Cathedral on the South Bank, while the City Palace and the District Guildhall are both on the North Shore.

After a night of raging fire, the roof of the Erwin Great Cathedral collapsed, but the City Palace and District Guildhall remained unharmed.

From the day after the fire was contained within the city, Steelburg's capable city councilors gathered in the city hall and then… started discussing.

The topics of discussion covered a wide range, such as refugee resettlement and relief efforts, post-disaster reconstruction, and whether to impose special taxes.

Some topics were more contentious. For instance, some councilors claimed that the military's takeover of Steelburg violated the laws of the autonomous state and the Republic, trampling on citizens' property rights. They urged the city government to immediately petition the Grand Assembly for compensation.

Others argued that, according to the law, the militia command belongs to the mayor elected by the city council, and the military should return command immediately.

However, all these discussions were just that—discussions. Even up to today, no conclusions had been reached.

On the other hand, Steelburg was now entirely under military control. If not discussing, what else could the councilors do?

On the first floor of the council chamber, the councilors were locked in heated debates.

On the second floor of the chamber, a young lady wearing a blue veil quietly sat in the corner.

A figure quietly ascended to the second floor and approached the young lady. The guards recognized the intruder's face and didn't stop him.

The visitor took off his hat and held it in his hand, bowing respectfully. "Madam."

Anna returned the bow gracefully. "Mr. Fuller."

"Is Baron here…"

"He's attending to other matters."

"Understood, understood." Fuller nodded repeatedly. "I came to…"

"No rush." Anna's gaze shifted to the lower floor. "Listen first."

Councilor Selvit's dry voice came from the first floor, "... Scattered relief and assistance are far inferior in efficiency and effectiveness to centralized efforts. The likelihood of the army compensating for losses during disaster relief is also close to zero. Considering all these factors, imposing additional special movable property taxes is the only viable choice."

The chamber immediately erupted into a clamor:

"Special movable property tax?"

"What madness!"

"Steelburg just suffered a fire, and now you want to impose taxes at this time?"

A calm male voice silenced the noise—it was Ironhand Gaisberg. "Councilor, who do you propose as the targets for this special movable property tax? The Blacksmiths' Guild doesn't have any surplus funds."

"The Blacksmiths' Guild lacks surplus funds, but other guilds have some." Selvit's tone remained unwavering. "The purpose of the movable property tax isn't to take funds from the Blacksmiths' Guild but to use funds from other guilds to assist the Blacksmiths' Guild."

"Which guild has the capital to bail out the Blacksmiths' Guild?"

"Based on my calculations…"

"Stop calculating!" Gaisberg interrupted Selvit's remarks. "Instead of spending time reallocating assets from other guilds, why not figure out a way to ensure the military quickly returns the confiscated armaments? Every workshop has its unique mark. If we just put in some effort, sooner or later, we can restore what belongs to each."

"That brings me to another matter. Restoring everything to its rightful owner is an unprofitable endeavor. The optimal strategy is for the city government to collectively purchase all confiscated armaments under a debt guarantee and uniformly assist all workshops in rebuilding…"

The chamber erupted again:

"Ridiculous!"

"Where will the city government get money to guarantee debts for all workshops? Are you planning to mortgage the City Palace?"

Ironhand Gaisberg's voice rang out once more, "Diligent blacksmiths earn money; lazy blacksmiths lose money. It's always been this way. Some workshops are managed well; others poorly. Those who manage well survive; those who manage poorly should go bankrupt. Offering indiscriminate debt guarantees—what happens to the principle of fairness?"

On the second floor, Fuller grew more and more curious as he listened. He couldn't help but whisper, "Madam, isn't Ironhand one of Selvit's staunch supporters? Why is he opposing Selvit? And why hasn't Mayor Paulo Wooper said a single word?"

"Ironhand opposes Selvit because their interests have diverged." Anna propped her chin on her hand. "As for Mayor Wooper being silent, he's fully engrossed in contemplating three things."

"What things?"

"How to evade blame, how to claim credit," Anna paused briefly, "and how to claim credit while evading blame."

Fuller glanced at Paulo Wooper, who was clad in a purple robe and appeared lost in thought, and let out a dry chuckle.

"If you have something to say, please go ahead, Mr. Fuller."

Fuller hesitated for a moment, then struggled to suppress his exhilaration, striving to report calmly. "Currently, four workshop owners have agreed to sell the burned-out armaments at low prices—secretly. The fifth is still considering, but I believe it's only a matter of time."

"You've done very well, Mr. Fuller. More workshop owners may approach you in the coming days. Please continue."

"So… buy everything?"

"Yes, no limits—buy it all."

"If we buy everything, the vast quantities of semi-finished products and scrapped armaments will inevitably leak out at some point." Fuller became somewhat anxious. "Under what name will you purchase them?"

"Under what name?" Anna smiled faintly. "Of course—as scrap metal."