As the blinding Ether Blast faded, leaving only a cloud of wood dust and steam, the Lupen nobles erupted into excited, competitive murmurs.

"Did you see the sheer range on that thing? It's magnificent!"

"Forget the fire, the ether mode will turn every siege weapons smithereens!"

"The Ursaroks won't stand a chance if we field these by the hundred!"

The demonstration had been undeniable: the Pearlwood Pattern 79 was a game-changer.

Lord Kema of the Illaia Family stepped forward, his eyes alight with newfound ambition. "Yamanoshi, there's one crucial question that must be answered: how much do you intend to sell each of these?"

Yamanoshi remained calm, his expression carefully neutral to avoid any indication that he intended to profit excessively. He wasn't after mere gold; control was his goal, and to achieve that, the Lupens had to become dependent on his technology.

"Well, if we count the material and the delicate labor cost per unit," Yamanoshi began, "I would say it costs us 10 silver each to produce. We will sell the final piece for 15 silver each."

A wave of disappointed murmuring spread through the group.

"Fifteen silver? Are they trying to buy a an entire estate with our coin?"

"Ten silver cost, five silver profit! The Foxkin demands too high a tribute!"

"Even the market price for crossbows is 5 silvers."

"You all must understand though that the price gives justice to it's destructive capabilities."

"If you say it like that, I guess that would make sense, but still it's too damn expensive."

Lord Johan spoke up, frowning. "Fifteen silver? Don't you think that profit margin is… excessive, Fox? Even for a weapon of this caliber."

"Please understand, dear lords," Yamanoshi replied smoothly, sweeping his gaze across the assembly. "The profit margin is not for my family's personal enrichment; it is purely an investment to fund the rapid expansion of our production capabilities. Currently, our mages must handcraft the complex spell imprints for each weapon—it is the most time-consuming part of the entire process, and it is nowhere nearly enough for your future demands."

He gestured broadly. "We are currently researching a revolutionary device that will automatically imprint the spell formula onto the wood. That endeavor requires massive resources. We will also be building new arcane workshops, a dedicated mana refinery for the ammo crystals, and crystal conversion facilities to meet your orders. You are not paying for the weapon; we are investing in our own future supply."

The Lupen nobles, all seasoned experts in metal forging and industry, understood the underlying costs of scaling up production. They nodded, satisfied with the explanation. The logic of investment, even into a Foxkin's enterprise, made painful sense.

"A necessary evil, I suppose. The tooling for these enchantments must be enormous."

"They are thinking like proper industrialists, not mages. If they can double production, the investment is worthwhile."

Lord Kema of Family Illaia struck first. "Then, I, Kema, will order 200 weapons and 10,000 ammo crystals. Furthermore, we will invest an additional 150 gold into your R&D endeavor. We believe victory comes at a cost, and we are prepared to contribute immediately in hopes you meet our order quickly."

Lord Korso of the Lowellian Family followed suit. "I, as head of the Lowellian Family, will order 300 weapons and 15,000 ammo."

Then came the surprise. Lord Qualz, the head of the Hammer Family, stepped forward, his eyes reflecting a cold, industrial calculation. "I, Qualz, will order 1,000 weapons and 50,000 ammo crystals."

The other nobles glanced at Qualz. It was not unexpected; the Hammer Family was the primary power controlling the forges and workshops in their territory.

"A thousand? The Hammer Lord means to arm his entire industrial guard!"

"Typical Qualz, trying to corner the market on firepower to protect his forges."

"What is he trying to protect though? Sooner or later, the entire war will turn towards the new weapon. Swords and Armors aren't gonna protect a soldier from a single blast of these weapons. "

His immense order was less about conquest and more about protecting his vast industrial assets and interests from future conflict. As much as he was interested in these new inventions, he wasn't dumb enough to depend on the cunning foxkins, but he wasn't also blind enough to see the weapon's capabilities.

The nobles then turned to Lord An'lil and Johan, awaiting the final, and likely largest, Huena Family order.

An'lil took a slow, deep breath, gazing at the assembly with contempt. "As much as our kind desires to be at the pinnacle of power, I value honor, pride, and trust in our innate abilities above all else."

His voice rang with dramatic finality. "Seeking a better weapon to win against the Ursaroks is only a confirmation of defeat. Warfare may have changed, and you may indeed win skirmishes with these gadgets—I admit, my own men might lose a fight against them—but we win in honor. War may be coming, but I will fight the way my ancestors knew how. This is a waste of my time and an utter disappointment for the entire Lupen race."

An'lil turned sharply and exited the hall, followed immediately by Captain Joral. Most of the other Lupen nobles, eager to enter the modern age of warfare, were disappointed by his antiquated pride. Only Lord Korso nodded to himself, agreeing with An'lil's sentiment—though he also knew the Lupens needed a radical change to emerge from the Ursaroks' shadow.

Johan, however, stayed behind. He watched An'lil disappear and then turned back to Yamanoshi, a subtle, cold smile on his face.

"I would like to use his family's ticket instead," Johan announced, surprising the remaining nobles. "I will purchase 600 weapons and 30,000 ammo crystals, plus a personal contribution of 200 gold to accelerate production."

The gasps were audible. Johan wasn't popular or highly relevant in the political scene. His ability to suddenly commit to the second-largest order, only behind the industrial giant Qualz, was shocking.

Johan was able to do this because, unknown to the most lupens and most of the mainstream nobility, he led one of the largest underworld organizations in the region. The Foxkins knew this because they were regularly his customers, requesting information, commissioning assassinations, and sabotage. Johan was an opportunist and a pragmatist, building influence and wealth through non-discriminatory clientele and cultivating a positive reputation among poor villages through famine relief—all designed to strengthen his covert organization's reach. It was his own genius play to use the masses and huge network of information.

The summit has created a dangerous, well-armed coalition of Lupen nobles, excluding the prideful Huena Family. Johan's hidden power is now in play.

Lord Kema, seeing the pricing debate settled, steered the conversation back to the immediate future. "Anyway, Yamanoshi," he asked, a pragmatic edge to his voice, "when do we expect you to deliver our order? We have... impending needs."

Yamanoshi inclined his head slightly. "Overall, the total order of 2,100 weapons would normally take at least three months. However, recognizing the urgency of your preparation, we took the liberty of stockpiling a reasonable quantity in advance."

He paused for effect. "I can only deliver half of your total weapon orders immediately. As for the ammunition, we have plenty in stock—rest assured, all 135,000 rounds of ammo and 1,050 weapons will be delivered to each of your estates by the beginning of next week."

A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

"Half is enough to start arming the front line, truly a blessing." "I can finally replace those useless crossbows. My soldiers will look sharp."

Even though the other half was still pending, receiving the initial delivery was enough for the nobles to immediately begin flexing their new technological advantage and reorganizing their forces. Ten soldiers armed with the Pattern 79 per infantry line would be enough to utterly dominate an early battlefield engagement.

The summit concluded, and the Lupens exited the fortress, their faces split by predatory, confident smiles.

From a hidden balcony overlooking the fortress courtyard, Lady Shiri watched the Lupen retinues depart, their newly signed contracts clutched tightly in their hands.

"Lord Yamanoshi," she said quietly, turning to the elder Foxkin, "was it truly wise to reveal our limited capacity? We still have at least 20,000 units in stock. Could we not have fulfilled the orders entirely?"

Yamanoshi merely smirked, a sliver of cold amusement finally visible. His gaze was distant, fixed not on the gold but on the long-term game.

"My dear Shiri, the idea isn't to simply sell all of them. The idea is for them to slowly depend on us. This is a controlled release."

He leaned a hand on the stone balustrade. "Unbeknownst to them, the devices they are investing in—the automated imprinting machines, the crystal converters—we already perfected that production technology nearly ten years ago. Money is not the problem. The goal is to give them the impression that they invested their valuable, hard-won resources into our expansion. In their minds, they now have a financial stake in our success."

Yamanoshi chuckled—a dry, rasping sound. "The dogs are slowly building their own chains without knowing it. If you have invested most of your capital into a venture, it is hard to exit without making your money back. They are naive and easily manipulated. All you need to do is feed their pride and ego, and I promise you, they'll lick your toes forever."

He then fixed his stare on the retreating carriage of the Huena Family, the one that had carried An'lil.

"Though we have a single, very dangerous wild card on our hands," Yamanoshi mused. "An'lil is by far the most perceptive. He already might have seen through our tricks. But knowing that his entire kin—the Lupen race—is about to enslave themselves to us, he must be careful not to be seen as their enemy, only as a man of principle. A smart one, indeed."

Yamanoshi straightened, the smile vanishing.

"All we need to do now is wait for the seed of chaos to grow. We do not need to interfere. They will gladly start the war themselves."

He turned to Shiri, his eyes cold and commanding. "Contact Lady Velari. Tell her, Phase 1 is complete."

Lady Shiri nodded once, her own expression turning serious, and exited to carry out the command.

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