“Next slide please, Nairi.”
Nairi dutifully replaced one poster of a figure with another. While I regretted importing Powerpoint into this world, nothing undersold my point about the impending iron crisis better than a giant poster of a figure that had a downtrending line and an uptrending line.
“As you can see in this slide, the iron demand is expected to skyrocket with the addition of the M2 mortar in our arsenal. And the town production of iron is expected to gently decline due to the gradual depletion of the black sands on the banks of the Acheron.”
“In other words, we’re heading for an iron shortage.” Tali grimly noted. The rest of the room, which consisted of clerks in training and militia team leaders, began to understand the problem at hand.
“Correct, my Lady. We could lower the production targets for the Garand or the MG-42, but that seemed foolish considering we only have 3 dozen Garands and 10 MG-42s. And reducing the output for farming equipment is out of the question if we still want to take in new people.”
Tali stared at the figure with a bitter expression. Skera, reacting to this, quickly asked. “Why do we even need more than a few of these mortars? Tyrants are rare creatures to begin with- and that Hob might be the last Tyrant we’d ever see!”
Ugh! Thanks for raising the flag there, Skera.
“We need it for the Legion. It’s the only weapon in the arsenal that has a shot of punching through Paladin armor with <
WAHHHH*
Chloe interrupted the meeting with gusto. Her cry unapologetically reverberated across the City Hall meeting room. Based on my parental calculations, it should be poopy time?
“Excuse me.” I said in my most professional tone while I took out a jury-rigged diaper. I approached the also jury-rigged baby stroller and picked up my baby girl. After a quick sniff, I knew I was right.
“Wow, this one's a doozy. Nairi, take over.”
Ever since I became a father, I’ve had to deal with poop almost on a daily basis. It’s not an enjoyable chore, but this is part of the fatherhood package that I signed up for. Sure, my ideals of cleanliness and hygiene went out the window when I became a father, but I didn’t regret a single moment of it.
As a side note, my partners in crime were both unavailable for babysitting. Emma's out firing the bricks for new residences, and it was unsafe to bring a baby to the construction site. Sapphire, by the way, was busy repairing the trenches and spike pits on the east side after a Champion bear mana-beast rampaged through them. Damn, these mana-beasts are getting bolder by the day despite the body count around our defenses. Sheesh, you’d think they’d be smart enough to see the writing on the city walls and leave us the fuck alone.
The militia took down the bus-sized behemoth after a few minutes of shooting. Their accuracy still needed some work, but hey, you get what you pay for when you rely on teenage orphans to man your walls. Their discipline, however, was very commendable. Not a single one of them ran when that Champion charged at them. Skera really drilled down military discipline to these kids during basic training.
Stolen story; please report.
After changing and washing the soiled diaper (since we couldn’t afford the disposable ones, we had to wash the linen ones and recycle them), I came back to the meeting. It would appear that Tali called a brief break since the group were talking amongst themselves when I returned to the room.
Tali authoritatively cleared her throat to quiet the room. “Let us now continue with the meeting. Forge-master Rummy, now that you have returned, I imagine you have a plan to shore up that gap.”
“Yes, my Lady. The plan is simple. We have to import it from Carnwennan. Every time we go there to pick up new residents, we shall… obtain the iron.”
Skera stood up and retorted. “Surely you are aware that the current power-struggle amongst the nobles in the city caused an iron shortage so bad they restricted the sale of iron in the market?”
“Yes, so I plan on using alternative means for obtaining them.” I replied with a boyish smile.
“So murder and looting, with a side of black market dealing?” Tali grinned.
I chuckle hesitantly. “That is correct, my Lady.”
However, her jovial expression quickly gave way to a sigh. “I don’t like having to raise our profile in that city, Forge-master. Smuggling orphans and battered wives out of Carnwennan is one thing, but iron? This could become troublesome, especially if you’re out there shooting people.”
“My Lady, our alternatives are either to reduce production of critical weaponry, or to try our luck in Elf territory or the western bank of the Acheron. Believe me when I say that I’d rather kill and steal from noble brats than to mess with the Elves or whatever monsters that slaughtered the 625th way back when.”
Tali closed her eyes for a brief moment and opened them with resolution. “Very well then. I assume you have a plan for reducing the risk to our rescue operations if your cover were to be blown?”
“Of course, basic precautions will be taken. We will travel in separate carts, set to arrive at the city gate at different times. Also, we would meet outside the city before we returned into the Wilds. But more importantly, my raid team will kill to the last man before torching the place. No witnesses would be allowed to live.”
Hah, that statement shocked the clerks a bit. Guess they were not used to such savagery (at least, not against humans). On the other hand, Skera and Tali were used to this by now. Skera groaned, but otherwise made no snide remarks.
“I see. Well, looks like you've put in some thought into this. I shall put you in charge of this operation next week. The safe return of the refugees and the acquisition of iron are your responsibility.”
“Yes, my Lady.”
This op was difficult not because of the complete and covert slaughter I’d have to do (that part was comically easy since I was up against noble brats playing dress-up). This op was difficult because of the fact that I had to balance two competing priorities. I could hit multiple faction headquarters and make a killing (literally and figuratively) on the iron, but the resulting reprisal might uncover our rescue op. On the other hand, if we only stuck to the rescue op and bought legal iron, the amount was not nearly enough to sustain this city. The job was to optimize both goals and still have the constables none the wiser.
And for better or for worse, the rescue op was just as important as the iron. It wasn’t just that my boss believed in her heart of hearts that rescuing the downtrodden from that wretched shithole was her one true calling in life. We desperately needed population growth in order to sustain Pridwen’s growing economy and industries. After years of training and nurturing (not to mention all the capital I had), the local blacksmithing industry in Pridwen was about to mature and thrive. Soon, I’d have a functional industry capable of supplying me with all the raw/intermediate materials I needed for my projects, as well as the machinery needed to make the precision pieces that manual blacksmithing could never hope to produce.
Alright, time to go back home. My women should be back from their respective jobs. Time to hand Chloe back to them before spending the rest of the day on drawing up a plan of action for “Operation Rainbow Siege”.