As Salin spoke, he took out a stack of blueprints from the drawer and spread them out on the table. Ainphent glanced at them and could tell that they were all blueprints for weapons and equipment.
"This is cavalry armor? This design is from a thousand years ago, right? "Ainphent found it strange. He picked up one of the blueprints and asked Salin. This thing was too heavy and expensive. It wasn't easy to maintain. It would be understandable if Salin wanted to build a two-hundred-man cavalry brigade, but he wanted to build a large mercenary corps. This kind of armor was meaningless.
Such a heavy armor could only be used by a good warhorse. Normal horses were not strong enough, so the cavalry could only mount the horse before charging. Usually, they could only transport the armor on the chariot and rely on the support soldiers to help them put it on before the battle.
Good warhorses were expensive, even more expensive than some magic beasts. If Salin were to do this, even if it was just to form a flag regiment, it would probably cost him all his money.
Back when the knights were still around, the Fourth Dynasty was extravagant, which was why they designed such expensive, beautiful, and impractical armor. But the Fourth Dynasty had the entire continent, so it was easy to gather a few thousand strong cavalry. Salin couldn't. Although there were many places in the north that produced horses, there weren't many good horses that could carry such armor.
Although the Magic Wolves of the Gaugass could also carry heavy loads, the Magic Wolves' advantage would disappear if they were to carry such a Cavalry. The power of this kind of cavalry lay in their powerful impact, which could even kill heavy infantry. If there weren't enough heavy infantry, this kind of cavalry wearing armor that weighed almost a hundred pounds could tear a hole in the heavy infantry's formation.
Salin laughed. "Why would I make that kind of armor? Even if I had skeleton warhorses, I wouldn't spend such a waste of money. This is magic armor, made with alchemy. It only weighs about ten pounds. "
"Magic armor? Isn't that even more expensive! "
"Magic armor is expensive because it has to be made with magic attributes and magic resistance. My armor only has one thing, and that's the Strengthening spell. This thing can't even defend against a fireball. "
"Then the cost won't be low!"
"Cost? I found that seashells in the sea are very good alchemy materials. They can also be farmed. Also, it's very easy to make such armor. Rex has hundreds of low-level mages and thousands of magic apprentices. It won't be difficult for him to make ten thousand sets. " Salin's smile was meaningful. "Anyway, those mages usually rely on this to train. I'll just treat it as free materials."
Ainphent was completely speechless. Even Rex had to make the best use of Salin.
"But this thing can't defend against heavy weapons, right?" Ainphent was indeed from the Clyde Family. Even though he had never participated in the design of weapons, he could still see the weakness of this armor at a glance.
Salin laughed. "This isn't for generals, and the enemy is just an ordinary swordsman. They can't even be considered a swordsman. If the enemy is really that strong, like Zola, when he wields the Tear Stain, even a Saint-rank armor won't be able to defend against it, right? "
"That's true." Ainphent blushed.
"The main function of this armor is to defend against bows and light weapons. It's best against the enemy's cavalry. Even if our warriors lose their warhorses, they can rely on this armor to become powerful infantry. Of course, armor that weighs more than ten kilograms can't be considered heavy infantry, but it won't affect marching. "
"What's this?" Ainphent picked up another blueprint. He actually didn't understand it.
"The spearhead can be used as a dagger. Soldiers carry a piece of fire glue with them. As long as they have a suitable wooden shaft, they can make a spear in a minute."
"I know this. I mean the one next to it."
"This is a fire tube."
"What do you mean?"
"Elementalists use magic powder as a burning agent. The magic powder is diluted and mixed with sulfur and a bit of magical beast bone powder. When it burns, it's quite powerful, but it's hard to control and can't be used for alchemy. This is a double-layered ceramic tube with a magic array at the end. Only a magic apprentice can activate it. The flames it shoots out can burn for at least a minute. Nothing will be left within five meters. "
"Five meters? That doesn't seem suitable for battle, "Ainphent muttered. He knew that Salin wouldn't design useless things, but on the battlefield, even the worst bow and arrow could shoot dozens of meters. Some infantry's spears could reach more than seven meters.
"It's not like we're fighting in the field. If we put this thing on the city wall, the enemies will charge and burn everything. Unfortunately, this powder is too unstable and can't be controlled. If only it could be controlled and exploded. "
Looking at the table of blueprints, Ainphent asked, "You designed all these?"
"More or less. I came up with most of them."
"It's a pity that you don't make weapons. Sigh, if the Clyde family had someone like you, the Williams family would've given up the weapon business long ago."
Ainphent discovered that the weapons Salin designed all had their limitations, but they had one thing in common: they were all cheap. These weapons for soldiers had to be mass-produced. If the price was too high, the nobles wouldn't be able to afford it. Naturally, they wouldn't have any business.
Glancing at the blueprints on the table, Ainphent saw no less than thirty types of weapons for the battlefield, ranging from a combination shield wall to a water bottle for soldiers. All of them were made from relatively cheap materials. After low-level magic processing, they immediately became more valuable.
Ainphent was glad that most of the weapons here could only be made by Rex's magicians in the later stages. The initial processing of materials was the most difficult and the least profitable part. Even if Helene got this business, the income wouldn't be too much. But with Helene's personality, she would probably focus on hunting. This business was dispensable.
Salin had promised to give each of them a ship. Helene would accept this business even if she had to pay.
Thinking of this, Ainphent suddenly asked, "Salin, the ship you promised us isn't a new design, is it?"
"Yeah, how do you know?" Salin asked curiously.
"Of course. You want us to test the ship's performance, right? What if something happens?"
"Just get more lifeboats," Salin replied patiently. He had promised to give each of them a ship. Of course, it wasn't for free. First of all, the profit from the first trip to the Frozen Sea belonged to Salin himself. Then, the two of them had to help Salin familiarize himself with the ship's performance. Otherwise, Salin wasn't a benevolent noble. Why would he give them two expensive ships for free?
The wooden pirate ship that Salin had seized back then had cost more than ten thousand gold coins. According to the standard design of a warship, a few hundred thousand gold coins were considered small.
"I don't care what happens to Helene. If the ship you gave me sinks, you have to give me another one."
"Of course!" Salin promised. Then, he added, "As long as there's a problem with the ship, I'll let you experiment with it."
"Salin, your skin must have solidified with Stone Skin," Ainphent said helplessly. But as long as Salin's ship didn't kill anyone, he wouldn't lose out, because he would get a good ship in the end.
Helene wouldn't lose out either. The ship that Salin gave her would definitely be meticulously built. At least it wouldn't sink immediately. Even if something happened, it would only be discovered after a few trials. As long as this ship could go to the Frozen Sea once and return safely, Helene would have made a profit.
Salin did this to accumulate some experience for himself. He didn't have any professional ship builders on hand. He had to recruit them from outside. He definitely wouldn't recruit too many people. Most of them would have to be trained by himself. It would take at least three years for a shipbuilder to mature. During these three years, the workers couldn't be idle.
After all, Salin was a pure-blooded Scottinyan. He had a talent for business. He didn't even need to plan for this. He could naturally think of how to do it.
"Ainphent, I'm a Mage. I can't put too much effort into this. But there's no one around me who can help me. Luckily, the design of these things will help me understand magic. Otherwise, I'll really go crazy. " Ever since Salin started building this city, he hadn't slept normally. He'd always relied on meditation to recover his energy.
Meditation couldn't completely replace sleep. All Mages knew this. But Salin always felt that he didn't have enough time. Especially after he met the black-robed bishop of the Vatican. He knew that if he didn't work hard, all his previous efforts would be in vain. The Vatican could send him to hell at any time.
To Salin, money might not be important, but power was. In order for the city to operate safely, he had to maintain a fleet to prevent the Vatican from attacking from the sea. How much money did it cost to maintain a fleet? Salin didn't know, but he knew that maintaining a warship cost tens of thousands of gold coins a year.
He had to do these things. He had to think about them. If he was still that magic apprentice, still living with a piece of bacon and white bread for every meal, of course, he wouldn't have thought so much. However, Salin was no longer the little beggar of the past. His goal in life was no longer to fill his stomach.
Ainphent didn't know what to say. He understood Salin's pressure, but he couldn't help with this. He had to practice magic too. He knew how tight time was. If he didn't work hard, he might never become a Magic Shooter. If he didn't become a Magic Shooter, he could live for 120 years at most. No matter where he came from, he'd turn to dust.
"Forget it, Ainphent. Let's take a break, drink some wine, and chat. How about that?" Salin extinguished the magic lamp on the roof and lit the table. In the huge room, this was the only place that was lit up. In the dark corner, the red Soul Fire danced in the eye sockets of the 87 skeletons. The rhythm was soothing.
"Sure." Ainphent sat down again. He had a lot of worries. He'd brought all his savings to this city and had feelings for it. But the situation on the continent didn't seem to be favorable for the development of this city. The expeditionary army of the East Sea island nation had probably taken Lianyun City. His investment was likely to go down the drain.
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