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Dreadnought-class battleship, huh?

That’s a pleasant surprise to hear.

With Leon’s downfall, now that other capable princes and princesses have arrived, I was absolutely thrilled to present a big play that could completely shift the initiative of exploration over to our side.

“Can you really build such a ship?”

“Yes.”

Moreover, the battleship Edgar spoke of was an innovative vessel that could completely overturn existing naval combat.

No, it felt like we were entering an unknown realm where even the feasibility of constructing such a thing was in question.

This was mainly because the princess saw a battleship, considered the pinnacle of the wooden sailing ship era, as a ship built on remarkable technology.

‘If Edgar Fix says it can be made, then it can be made.’

However, the princess chose to trust Edgar’s claim that the dream ship could indeed be constructed.

After all, Edgar possessed future technologies that couldn’t be understood by the common sense of the medieval people.

“If you want something, just say it.”

So, the princess decided to support Edgar in every way she could.

Building such an enormous ship would surely require immense costs.

However, the answer Edgar gave was an unexpected topic.

“Please grant me the exclusive operational rights to the battleship.”

In other words, he was asking for full control over the ship’s operation.

That is, when this national-scale battleship weapon was announced, it meant he wanted to drive away the parasitic noble factions that would cling to him.

Since many nobles would undoubtedly bring up annoying discussions regarding this massive battleship that could bring about ‘control over the seas.’

“What about ownership?”

“Ownership will always belong to His Majesty the Emperor. However, please grant me a five-year lease. Once the lease period ends, it will immediately revert back to the royal family.”

“…Hmm.”

To summarize, Edgar wanted the ship he built to belong to the Emperor, but to be able to operate it independently for five years.

In other words, he wanted to operate the ship independently while being under the royal family’s protection.

‘That’s quite clever.’

And this was the most natural way to subtly twist the power structure of the Empire.

If Edgar had claimed both ownership and operational rights, he would have faced attacks from other nobles, but since he handed over ownership to the royal family with a five-year lease, the other nobles would likely have to accept it.

“Hmmm. What will the royal family have to pay?”

However, knowing Edgar’s character, he wouldn’t just hand over ownership of the battleship for free.

He must have some ulterior motive for making such a bold proposal.

Then, Edgar opened his mouth.

“Please bear all the costs needed for the battleship’s construction.”

What Edgar wanted was funding.

But the amount was staggering.

Even in the early 1900s, with established infrastructure, the national economy would wobble at the cost of building a single battleship, so the Empire would need to spend even more.

“…Hmm. An amount of that size might be too much even for the royal family. It would take several years to fill the national treasury.”

“Extract it from Clendor.”

At that moment, Edgar brought up an interesting topic.

The princess looked at Edgar with a smile, urging him to elaborate.

“Didn’t Clendor recently declare itself an empire? This is nothing short of a challenge to His Majesty the Emperor. How can there be two emperors under the sun?”

The princess nodded.

The emperor was a symbol of singularity.

Yet, Clendor declared itself an empire based on its victory in the Great War seven years ago.

They were puffing up their chests to stand shoulder to shoulder with the Empire.

“As soon as the battleship is completed, I will go to Clendor. Clendor will pay tribute to our Empire as it used to.”

In other words, Edgar’s strategy was “Bow down, you little brat!”

It was no different from saying, “You’ve got some nerve acting arrogantly when I’ve just built a brand new battleship?”

For all this time, Clendor had been treating the Empire with the attitude of “Ah, that washed-up old noble is getting quite puffed up.”

“…Haha. Alright. I will propose it to His Majesty the Emperor.”

The corners of the princess’s mouth twitched with excitement.

***

Three days later.

I was able to hear the news that the Emperor had given his approval.

After all, there was no reason for the Emperor to refuse my proposal, as this was an opportunity to subdue Clendor, which had messed up the conquering war seven years ago.

Most importantly, the emergence of the Dreadnought battleship was a chance for the Empire to seize naval dominance.

“Your Majesty, I hope you have been well.”

So, as soon as I received the Emperor’s approval, I immediately moved to the next step.

I asked to borrow a titular Dwarf artisan from the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom.

[Hmm. A titular artisan… it seems… it might be…]

“I will, however, purchase coal, limestone, and iron ore in large quantities.”

Of course, I wasn’t asking to use them for free.

I expressed my intent to buy an ample amount of the surplus minerals the Dwarves had.

Then, the Dwarf King’s eyes sparkled as he heard the scale of it.

A guest as grand as me must be unprecedented in history.

[Hahahahaha! Of course, it’s possible!!]

Thus, with a massive scale of promissory notes promised to the Dwarf Alliance Kingdom, the Dwarf King happily accepted my offer.

In return, I obtained the right to borrow 30 skilled Dwarf artisans for several months, free of charge.

I had secured a foreman who could understand and instruct the engineering designs of the mechanical devices.

“You guys aren’t slacking off, are you~?”

With that highly skilled workforce promised, I soon went to find the club members.

Now, it seemed the club members had become completely enamored with mechanical engineering, even cutting back on their sleep to focus on the task of building the initial automobile that I had assigned.

“You guys seem to have found a good teacher.”

Upon visiting the club members, I announced that skilled Dwarf artisans would soon arrive in my territory.

Since they were notable figures, regarded as authorities in ‘Magical Engineering.’

“Learn from them. Your eyes will definitely be opened.”

The club members had only learned the modern knowledge of mechanical engineering I had provided until now.

However, there was also a long-established line of magical engineering.

Thus, to truly become skilled craftsmen, they needed to integrate knowledge from both the modern world and this other world.

“Well then, good luck. Report to me when you finish the assignments later.”

After sharing the news with the club members, I immediately began preparing for the next phase.

That was to build the factories and infrastructure necessary for mass production of steel.

However, for that, a mounted construction robot was a prerequisite.

“Vroooom~!”

And that work was proceeding smoothly.

The many parts awaiting the construction robot were 80% complete.

Indeed, entrusting the regent duties to Fix was the right choice.

There was no one who understood my thoughts and executed them as well as he did.

Thus, two weeks had passed since I immersed myself in everything necessary for constructing the Dreadnought battleship.

When I visited the territory to check on the progress of the construction robot, I found that every part needed for assembly had been completed at 100%.

Now it was just a matter of assembling.

“I need to gather everyone.”

So, I called in the Dwarf artisans promised by the Dwarf King, the club members, and all my construction troops.

Then, I held a grand party, giving them the chance to get acquainted.

After all, before starting work, it was necessary to at least greet each other.

“Alright—foreman folks, please focus. The screen you see here is the design of the mounted construction robot.”

After finishing the banquet.

I gathered the Dwarf artisans for training.

I explained in detail what parts they would be in charge of and how they should be produced.

As expected from Dwarf artisans who had a deep understanding of magical engineering, they grasped my explanations with ease.

It was a breeze.

“Phew! Thank you for your hard work, everyone.”

As a result of everyone pooling their efforts and diving into the production process,

In about a week, the first wearable construction robot was born.

Thanks to the excellent understanding of engineering by the Dwarf foreman and the standard components prepared in advance.

“Gric, give it a try.”

“Yes, my lord.”

And the honor of being the first to pilot it went to Gric, the butler of the Fix family.

Once a bandit who had defied the lord, he had sworn loyalty to me and transformed into a faithful subordinate.

-Stepping… stepping…

Gric approached the wearable robot with a nervous expression.

And as he placed his hand on the power device, the entire construction robot lit up.

The small emerald mana stone embedded in Gric’s palm responded to the user recognition spell, granting a ‘permission command.’

Thus, I embedded the power mana stone within the wearable construction robot, while implanting a miniature mana stone capable of recognizing the user in the palm of the user’s hand.

That meant I had effectively given the ID key to their palm.

This way, I could prevent the construction robot from being hijacked.

“Whoa! My lord! Look at this!!! Hahahahaha!!”

“…”

Next, Gric, equipped with the wearable construction robot, began bouncing around like a child who just received a Christmas present.

It seemed he was pleased with his ability to control the powerful mechanical arms and legs at will.

“Puhahaha. Then let’s start the experiment.”

I then began testing whether the wearable construction robot could perform its functions.

I checked how much weight it could lift, whether it was welding properly, and if the drill arm and saw blade arm were functioning well.

“Tonight, we party!”

“Wowwwwww!!!”

As a result, everything passed.

It easily met my standards.

‘With this…’

The labor revolution had been completed.

I had laid the foundation for one worker to manage the workload of a hundred.

In other words, it meant I only needed to pay one person a salary!!!

“Not only that.”

And this was not simply about salary.

Food, housing, labor management, worker safety management, and so on.

The additional benefits gained from producing the wearable construction robot were immense.

“Now, if I return the surplus to the royal family…”

The royal family would welcome this with open arms.

Of course, I wasn’t saying I would return 100% of the surplus; I planned to keep around 10% and return the remaining 90%.

Because that 10% was—

‘Infrastructure’

It would be the cost needed to build the infrastructure in my territory.

Using the income from monthly air conditioning subscriptions and mosquito net subscriptions to solve the food and housing issues for the territory’s residents, and dedicating 10% of the surplus to infrastructure would—

‘My territory would be taking a different tech tree.’

It would allow for the birth of an industrial revolution territory.

And if there existed a territory based on industry, it would be of help to me in any form.

In order to confront high-ranking demonic officials in the future, I would also need an extraordinary suit, like the Hulkbuster.

***

“Already?”

It had been about a month since I engaged in developing suits and weapons, as well as the wearable construction bots.

That day was fast approaching.

In other words, the day of the Academy Festival was near.

“Hmm…”

And that meant both the male and female dormitories would be opened.

This was a grand easing of regulations by the academy administration to help relieve the stress built up from training.

“…”

And that also meant many events would occur.

Various events would take place between players and heroines.

 

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