‘Right there, I put an iron plate, an iron helmet, and to the other side, one protective vest and a protective helmet. I’m going to show you the difference.’ Edmund pointed at the objects.

The distance used for training was 20 yards. Edmund took a rifle that was leaning against the table; it already had a battery in it. He aimed at the objects and used all seven shots because he was not that good at them.

‘Now let’s see the damages, Capitan. I’m sorry for my poor aim; I don’t really train and don’t really see the need to.’ The young man started to walk toward the iron plate while still holding the rifle.

‘No problem, kid, I think you are pretty good, not compared to me, but again, I train every day, and it's really good that the ammo for these weapons is rechargeable.’ Alon laugh.

Getting to the iron plate, the young man touched the hole, and the magic projectile did. The results didn’t really impress Alon, as he had seen this before. Going to the iron helmet had the same result; with a hole to its side, it didn’t really hit the center much like the iron plate. Again, the capitan didn’t really find the results strange.

‘What is your point, Edmund? I have things to do.’ Alon crossed his arms.

‘Calm down; your work will not run from you, humph.’ Edmund looked at him, annoyed.

The protective vest, on the other hand, had no marks whatsoever. Alon found it strange that the cloth didn’t have any damage whatsoever. Edmund passed his hand on the vest and looked at Alon before pulling another battery and reloading his rifle.

‘Look.’ He shot at point blank the vest.

It was like the shot that came from the rifle was absorbed the moment it touched the vest, making Alon widen his eyes, but Edmund shot again, and it punched right through like it was nothing.

‘In the front, in the back, and to the sides is all a battery so that it can manage two shoots of the rifles and maybe ten normal arrows; on the other hand, the helmet right there.’ Edmund turned and shot the protective helmet.

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It made a hole in its side like the one made of iron. Edmund looked at Alon with a smile.

‘The helmet only stands one shot; oh, by the way, this will only work on basic-level magic; the foot soldiers use this kind of firepower, so that's fine.’ He walks badly to the table.

‘Ok, you really are building all of this thinking about this demon lord stuff, hum?’ Alon scratches the back of his head.

‘Well… Yeah, why would I do any of this if it was not to defeat the demon lord? Sometimes you say the funniest things, captain.’ Edmund smiled at the capitain.

Hum, I understand.’ Alon crossed his arms.

‘This is it; I would recommend the soldiers train in full gear, with more to add later as I still need to perfect and prevent this little ball right here from just randomly activating like this.’ He grabbed the ball with his right hand.

The device had the size of an apple and the moment Edmund grabbed it, it made a noise and the red mark on its side began to blink. Right after that, he threw it in the direction of the iron helmet, but it exploded mid-air.

‘There, I need to work on that... It just doesn’t work at all; I don’t get it.’ Edmund looked up and sighed.

‘Yeah, work on that; my men will never use that death trap unless it is safe.’ Alon looked at the young man with concern.

‘Fine, this is progress; the first ones just exploded at random.’ He laughed.

‘Ho no… ‘ The captain nodded his head negatively.

At the capital of Lavan, the archduke was meeting with the representative of the noble faction. The room was well lit, and they were drinking tea while the tension in the room was really high as their eyes met from time to time.

‘So, your majesty, the nobles will give you full support in dealing with the A-Dam scum of the Velvent kingdom. The nobles don’t really like the duchess, as you may know but we can’t let that territory fall under Velvent control.’ The Shafran with dark clothes took a sip of his tea.

‘I’m glad we can put some differences aside for the greater good; spies are no joke, and it looks like my daughter is turning the territory around; I’m happy to know that.’ The archduke smiled.

‘I’m surprised to know too that her duchy is going well, expanding their villages and town, but the better is to get rid of the Chatzi scum that plagged our beautiful forests.’ He laugh.

‘Humm... enough, Marquess Oren.’ Adrian spoke angrily.

‘But even with this good the duchess has done to the kingdom, the nobles still want compensation for their support; you need to marry; we need an Archduchess.’ Oren looked at Adrian with a smirk on his face.

‘I understand… ‘ The archduke looked to the ground with a defeated expression.

‘Don’t be sad; my eldest daughter is a beauty; she is shy and too kind for my liking but you will see she even sympathizes with your cause; your majesty, even if that makes me angry, I think is a good compromise, right?’ His face had a wide smile that he covered with his hand.

All the Archduke could do was sigh as he listened to his words; the sound of his voice cut deep into his heart, making him uncomfortable. His position was like this because of his love for Ariadne; his wife died before giving birth, and Ariadne’s mother was killed by the nobles, trying to cover what he did while traveling to Velvent. If only he could turn back time, he would take his first true love under his wing and, like he did with his daughter, face the nobles head-on, but she wanted a simple life. He should have tried harder.

‘Yes.’ Adrian sighs again.