Emperor of Steel

Chapter 43: A Stir in the Magic Tower 2
Luke’s party’s second stop was at the branch of the Modern Magic Tower, which was founded 80 years ago.

In order to denote the modern magical engineering, which had developed since ancient times, the word ‘Modern’ was added to the magic tower’s name.

Although the Modern Magic Tower was a bit short on creating history, it was so huge that it had been regarded as one of the 10 largest Magic Towers in the Continent.

Just the number of Gigants that were produced by them for a year couldn’t be counted through a person’s fingers.

“The Modern Magic Tower is among the top ten Magic Towers for the fast production of the Gigants. Their production rate is so fast that they can create 3 Gigants in just a day.”

“Their designs are nice too.”

As Rogers described the Magic Tower, Philip tried to step in.

However, Rogers decided to ignore him and continued to speak,

“Furthermore, they have numerous branches and workshops all around the continent, so the supply of kits and parts is very fast. Which is why the countries at war buy a lot of supplies from the Modern Magic Tower.”

“I see. In order to win a war, it would be important to put in at least one more powerful weapon than the opponent.”

Despite their short history, their fast production speed and delivery speed played a major role in their growth to become one of the largest Magic Tower in the Continent.

“But I assume the quality isn’t that great?”

Anything that had advantages had disadvantages, and Luke took that into consideration.

“As expected from the young Lord. However, their products are cheap, so if we focus on the volume, this might be a better option.”

“Ohh! this is a cool design too!”

The call from Philip was ignored again.

Luke’s party entered the Modern Magic Tower branch.

It was the same as any top ten leveled towers, so it was similar to the Veritas Magic Tower branch in size.

The number of wizards and the mercenaries that worked there was about the same number too.

‘Is it because they all produce large scale Gigants? Everything looks the same?’

Thankfully, the Modern Magic Tower wasn’t there only to sell. They also treat their customers very politely without discriminating against them.

Though they weren’t asked for, they served their customers, who were in the waiting room, teas and snacks.

‘This friendly atmosphere is nice. If their product’s performance is good, then I’ll buy it.’

Luke looked over at the list of Gigants that were placed on a sheet that was on the table.

From the Warrior class to the Hero class, the Gigants which were produced by the Modern Magic Tower were listed there. Their names with their pictures and their performance were also there in full detail.

‘Their Gigants performance doesn’t look bad. As Philip says, it is nice to have a slender shaped one… especially, this Avanthra Warrior class and Grainger Hero class.’

In the calmness at the Modern Magic Tower, a nasty yell burst out from one side.

“What!? You can’t repair it!? What nonsense is that!? If there was a defect in the Gigant, you are supposed to repair it for free!”

“Oh, sir. Please calm down. It isn’t an inbuilt defect.”

A wizard was trying to deal with a noble, who came in to see someone because there was a defect in his Gigant, and the wizard was trying to calm him down.

“What do you mean by it isn’t an inbuilt defect!? The other Magic Tower’s Gigant with the same built as this and had the same thickness in its gloves wasn’t even scratched! But the Gigant that you guys made got crushed like a tin can!”

“Uh, that, about that… the armor of the gloves may vary depending on the angle of the attack and the size of the sword, sir.”

“What is that even supposed to mean?”

“The straight attacks are the same as the ones with the other Magic Towers, but damage cant be prevented if the angle is even slightly off.”

“Then, do you mean to say that every attack needs to be face to face!”

While such an uproar was happening on one side, the other side had one as well, arguing about the fault in the core engine.

“The magic stone in the core engine didn’t seem to be there during the start-up training. How do you plan on taking care of this?”

“Well, sir. Probably, the clasps that were holding the magic stone are loose… it isn’t exactly a fault in the core engine itself.”

“Don’t spew nonsense! There was no magic stone in the core engine; it isn’t a fault!”

A lot of complaints could be heard all over the place. The steering gear was broken due to a small shock, the joints were stiff, the Gigant’s aura was much harder than the others, such issues were being expressed.

Thanks to all that uproar, the slight infatuation Luke had developed on the Modern Magic Tower gradually changed.

Philip, who was constantly complimenting the designs of the Modern Magic Tower’s Gigants, couldn’t even rub off the absurd expression his face had.

“I don’t understand. Are these people making their Gigants with their feet? Why are there so many flaws?”

“I think their production speed is too much, so it’s natural for such problems to happen.”

Also, if one looked closely, their prices weren’t that cheap.

“What? 31,000 pesos? That is different from what is listed on the paper?”

In response to a noble, the wizards who were showing him the model spoke,

“Sir, this is the price if the big sword and the spare gloves are included.”

“We don’t need that so take them out.”

“That will be difficult to do. If you want our buy our Gigant, you need to purchase the items too.”

‘This is really making me speechless.’

Luke, who was listening to their conversation, just couldn’t even understand what the guys were trying to do.

“They aren’t making Gigants. They are just making profits from them.”

“That is indeed appropriate to say, young Lord.”

However, there was something much more ridiculous.

The Iron mages and the field captains in each of the workshops were asking for a wage increase, and the production of their own products wasn’t so smooth.

“We don’t have to stay here anymore.”

Luke and his party came out of the Modern Magic Tower branch.

For some reason, he wanted to buy the Gigants that he saw in there, but after listening to the random stories in there, he couldn’t help but get out of there.

“One of the top ten on the continent isn’t making everything so well.”

“Then what about going to a small Magic Tower next time? Even though it isn’t well known, I know a nice place.”

“That sounds great.”

Disappointed by the big towers, Luke decided to try the small and medium ranked Magic Towers upon Rogers’s request.

The third place where Luke and his party went was a small Magic Tower called Hallis.

“The Hallis Magic Tower is no match for the other Magic Towers in terms of history and scale of production, but among the professionals, it is famous for making Gigants.”

With a little excitement because of what Rogers had said, Luke went in.

Just as Rogers had said, its size and building was incomparably shabby when compared to the previous two.

However, Luke wasn’t disappointed because he already knew that size and appearance didn’t matter.

As they passed through the front door, a middle-aged female wizard went to greet her customers.

“Welcome, young Lord Luke!”

“Hold on, you know me?”

As Luke was confused, the wizard smiled and explained,

“Only the Rakan viscounts use the angel with a sword of light as the crest for their family. And I thought that such a person, being escorted by knights, couldn’t be anyone other than Luke, who is currently the young Lord.”

“Huhu, that’s correct. That’s very observant of you.”

The fact that she was able to recognize a person from their family crest meant that she cared a lot for them.

Which was why Luke and Philip felt good about her.

“I am Meril, General secretary of Hallis Magic Tower. What’s the reason why you have come to our Magic Tower?”

“Obviously to buy a Gigant.”

At those words from Luke, Meril seemed rather flustered.

She knew that the Rakan Viscount wasn’t in good condition to buy a Gigant.

But after seeing them there, she thought that something might have changed.

“Yes. Welcome again. We recently developed a new warrior class Gigant, and we were ordered by the Meister to sell the first few ones at a discounted price.”

The reason for the discount was probably because of the promotion.

The new types were never purchased by the noble families, especially because of the low popularity the low-level Magic Towers had.

That was why they sell their product at a lower rate, in the beginning, so they could increase their number of sales. After some evaluation, they would then decide what price they would put on their Gigants.

“Can I see the real thing for now?”

“Hoho, of course. Come this way.”

With Meril’s guidance, the group headed toward a Gigant.

Dozens of Iron Mages and field captains were finishing up on numerous pieces, and Meril pointed to one of them.

“No, this guy?”

Philip looked a little disappointed at the familiar Gigant he saw. It was because it was the Gigant Sting that Karen had boarded at the Gigant arena.

Sting was released 30 years ago and was almost ready to be taken down.

“Please don’t be disappointed. This is Sting II. It is a model that had the drawbacks of the previous Sting fixed. Its core engine output is 1050 fight, and its composite frame and gloves provide excellent elasticity and defense…”

Meril clearly explained the specification and performance of Sting II.

If it was just as she was saying, then the performance was pretty good.

“Sir Philip. Let’s test the Gigant.”

At those words from Luke, Philip got into Sting II coldly and moved out to the parading ground.

After adapting to its movements, Philip began to move in earnest.

Thump!

Booong!

Rogers was admiring the Gigant while Philip moved around the field, wielding the Gigant’s giant sword.

“This is pretty good. Its output is stable, and its movements are quite smooth.”

“You think so?”

“Yes, young Lord. If this is its performance, then it isn’t behind the level of the Veritas Magic Tower’s Gigants. If we have a little more money, we could be introduced to more models.”

Rogers was very moved, but Luke didn’t have that much money to buy many at the same time, so he decided to do that some other time.

After doing a test, Philip had approached them with a bright face and said,

“Thank you, young Lord! It is a much better one than what I had imagined.”

“What to do? I still don’t know if I should buy it or not.”

“Why are you doing this? Please buy it for me. After that, I will be forever loyal to you for eternity, young Lord.”

The mischief of Luke was very frustrating to Philip.

No matter how great a knight Philip was, he was weak in front of Luke.

Luke smiled at Meril.

“I will purchase the Gigant.”

“Ho ho ho, you have taken the right choice. I also received orders from our Meister for the Rakan viscount. I was asked to give it to you for 27,000 pesos.”

“Oh, you can draft the bill now then.”

The price of a new Warrior class was usually around 30,000 pesos, which meant that they got a 3,000 pesos discount.

Luke, who signed the bill, placed Sting II on the trailer after paying for it.

“Uh, young lord.”

When Sting got loaded into the luggage compartment, Philip called out.

“What is it?”

“Are we going back now?”

“Why? Do you have something else you want to do?”

“Since, since we’re already here…”

Brandon was the southernmost city, which was known for its numerous tourist attractions.

The royal palaces, the castles, and the lakeside, which were built in the days of Milton City, were attractions for young lovers.

Luke agreed since they didn’t have any urgent tasks at hand.

“Okay, take a day off and then we’ll go.”

“Yaehoo! Thank you!”

As the two of them made a decision, Meril too smiled after seeing them.

“It will be hard to find a place to fit the trailer in the town. Why don’t you park it at our Magic Tower till you decide to leave?”

It was a nice offer as Luke had been wondering about where he was supposed to park such an expensive bulky cart.

Which was why he accepted Meril’s offer and left the trailer in the Hallis Magic Tower.