Magitech Weapons And Their Purpose

“Hm? Oh… I had a little business in the Estraia Empire.”

“Wh-wha…!? R-really! I see!”

Jonah never expected to hear the Empire’s name from Carlo’s mouth. He nearly shouted, but hurriedly covered his mouth, cleared his throat, and nodded with an exaggerated smile to cover it up.

‘Just what did Carlo go to the Empire to procure…?’

The Estraia Empire’s main industries are forestry, agriculture, and iron ore mining.

Even if he went to buy those, the huge amount of cargo on the carriage clearly wasn’t lumber, grain, or ore—and a crown prince wouldn’t need to go himself for such things.

No merchant would be rude enough to summon foreign royalty for ordinary trade talks, and that still wouldn’t explain the cargo.

In other words: it was a transaction so important that the crown prince himself had to go, and the other party was someone of extremely high status.

He travelled without escort probably because of his personality.

Or because it was easier to move alone.

Either way, Carlo had secretly gone to the Empire to procure something that must not be known to the public.

“Eat more! There’s plenty left!”

“Y-yes!”

Jonah asked no further and simply enjoyed the meal.

“Ugh… I can’t eat any more…”

Late that night, Jonah lay in bed clutching his swollen stomach.

He had definitely overeaten; sleep seemed impossible tonight.

After tossing and turning for a while, he decided to walk it off, slipped out of bed, and left the room.

The royal palace of Benedia was on a small island and thus not particularly large.

Driven by a bit of curiosity, Jonah began wandering the corridors—

“…is it possible?”

A man’s voice drifted from a room deeper down the hall.

Though a little frightened, Jonah cautiously crept closer.

Then—

“Mass-produce these weapons…?”

“Yes. Can it be done?”

“I’m not sure… As expected of the Empire—the technology is extremely advanced. I don’t know if our craftsmen can replicate it…”

“Hmm…”

“Even if mass production were possible, it would take at least a year.”

“We can’t wait that long… Guess we’ll have to challenge it with just what we have here…”

One voice was Carlo’s. The other belonged to an unfamiliar man.

The man was likely a Benedian technician, and judging from the conversation, what Carlo had procured were Imperial weapons.

‘This… this is kind of a big deal…’

The Estraia Empire’s status as a great western power comes not only from its vast territory and abundant talent, but above all from its military strength.

That strength is backed by superior tactics and advanced technology.

Specifically—the Empire’s primary weapons are magitech armaments.

Jonah had never seen one in person, so he didn’t know their exact structure or power, but they clearly required tremendous technology.

Otherwise, other nations would already be mass-producing them too.

And Carlo had purchased those very magitech weapons from the Empire.

To study them and eventually mass-produce them.

But there seemed to be an even higher-priority objective.

Thinking about it that way made it understandable why Carlo had gone alone to the Empire disguised as a commoner.

Whoever in the Empire dealt with him had committed what amounted to leaking state secrets—treason.

The sheer scale of the situation left Jonah clutching his head, unsure what to do… when—

“…!?”

“Young Master Jonah. What are you doing in a place like this?”

Someone tapped his shoulder from behind. It was the maids Aurora and Priscilla.

Their eyes held no trace of a smile.

“U-um…”

Jonah had eavesdropped on Carlo and learned a state secret of Benedia.

Caught red-handed, there was no excuse.

Best case: imprisonment. Worst case: execution.

Regretting that he’d listened, Jonah desperately racked his brain for a way out.

At that moment—

“Jonah?”

“Ah…”

Carlo peeked out from the room.

The exchange with the maids had apparently alerted him too.

“Ah… so you heard everything, huh.”

Carlo scratched his head with an embarrassed look.

Yet there was no grim despair—just the face of a boy whose prank had been discovered.

“Well, whatever. I’m not exactly planning to do anything evil.”

Saying that, Carlo beckoned Jonah inside.

Jonah hesitated, but he had no choice but to obey. He stepped into the room.

Inside, numerous weapons—magitech armaments—were stacked. The man who had been speaking with Carlo stared at Jonah suspiciously.

“Th-this is…”

“Weapons I bought from the Empire. They’re called ‘magitech armaments’.”

Carlo answered openly, pointing at the magitech.

“…Mr. Carlo… no, is the Kingdom of Benedia planning to use these to start a war…?”

“No.”

Carlo answered Jonah’s question with a deadly serious expression and a firm denial.

If not for war, then what were they planning to do with the magitech? Unable to guess the reason, Jonah looked up at Carlo’s face.

“We’re going to use these magitech weapons to subjugate the Guardian Deity of the Central Sea.”