Chapter 350

The perpetrators who tried to wreck Asha’s workshop ended up getting wrecked themselves, torn to shreds by a rain of bullets, to the point where their original appearance was unrecognizable.

In fact, it was so bad that you couldn’t even tell if they were men or women.

You can pretty much imagine what state the corpses were in.

Unidentifiable bodies. Combined with Asha’s absence at the time, the attack on her workshop was concluded as a simple case of accidental arson.

“At this point, they probably just want to sweep it under the rug. From the Empire’s perspective, there’s no benefit in letting the half-beasts and the craftsmen’s guild clash. It seems the guild might’ve even spread some money around to hush things up.”

Asha smiled calmly, as if she had expected this outcome from the start.

“Should I lend a hand or something?”

“You’re planning to hang all the craftsmen…? That’s a bit…”

No, logically, there’s no way I’d do that.

How did you interpret “lending a hand” as me planning to massacre the craftsmen?

Have you been seeing me in that kind of light all this time…?

“…Not like that. I meant something like ordering a reinvestigation under my command or something.”

“Ah…I misunderstood! If that’s the case, then it’s fine. I’ve already chosen a much better method!”

…A better method?

From what I’ve learned after spending a few months in this world, there’s no such thing as a “better method” here that isn’t bloody.

“…What method is that?”

“I used some of the budget I received from the homeland to poach all the skilled craftsmen and apprentices from the guild! I can’t teach them our race’s techniques, but I promised to teach them human-level craftsmanship someday! They all came over pretty easily!”

Uh…so, in other words.

“The two guilds are going to collapse now! They won’t be able to sustain themselves with only a handful of craftsmen left. After the guilds fall apart, I’ll buy up the remaining workshops for cheap, fill them with the people I poached, and…a massive industrial guild with me as the owner will be born!”

Watching Asha smile brightly while saying money is meant to be used like this, I felt a mix of emotions.

Should I say she did well…? She’s essentially starving the craftsmen to death while monopolizing the market.

I’m no economist, so I’m not sure, but is this really okay?

Isn’t this the kind of thing that leads to slogans like, “Craftsmen of the world, unite!”?

I can already picture craftsmen standing up, waving red flags, and marching in protest.

Somewhere in the workshop district, a bearded blacksmith grandpa might be writing a book titled “On Half-Beasts” or something.

“Won’t the guild craftsmen rebel even more now?”

This isn’t just about taking their rice bowls—it’s like smashing their heads with the stolen bowls.

“Let them rebel. If they’re worried about losing work, they can just work under me. But if they refuse and demand I back down, why should I entertain such nonsense? If they attack me directly like this time…under the Empire’s special laws, attacking me would be a serious crime that could cause diplomatic disputes, so ‘suppressing’ them wouldn’t be a problem.”

Asha casually smiled and gestured toward the machine gun turrets installed on the workshop walls.

So, if they rebel and come at her, she’ll just mow them all down.

…I don’t think she used to be like this.

After tasting the power of money, she’s turning into some kind of…ruthless business tycoon, I guess?

—-

After ending the conversation that felt like a red tide was about to sweep in, I brought up the things I wanted to ask Asha about when we met again.

Like repairing my damaged armor here and there, or processing the pile of beastman hides I brought back from the north.

“The Beast King’s hide, you say?”

Ryu-rik’s hide seemed to be an interesting material for her too, as Asha’s eyes sparkled with anticipation as she asked again.

“Yeah. That guy Ryu-rik kept tearing off parts of his body to escape whenever we tried to cut him, so we ended up with nearly ten sets of his hide. I think we can make a few sets of armor out of it.”

“Without seeing the hide myself, I can’t give an exact estimate, but it should be enough for at least nine full sets of armor.”

I’ve already loaded the hides onto the carriage, so I can show them to you in a bit.

Since I received so many beastman hides this time, I had to leave most of them with Freide, except for Ryu-rik’s and the paladins’ hides.

Even if they can’t make armor, they can still produce basic leather goods, so some will be used for the interior of my mansion in the north, and the rest will be sent to me later.

A mansion filled with furniture made from beastman hides…

It’s a bit eerie, but still.

“So, you’ll make new armor out of that? Since it’s the Beast King’s hide…it’ll take a while to maximize the material’s properties.”

“Ah, about that…can you make armor for others too? Like Damien, Milia, Leonor, and…if possible, Nigel too.”

In places not as cold as the north, the parts I cover with hide are just my shoulders, right arm, chest, skirt, pants, and shoes.

If we use the hides I brought back to make just those, we’ll have enough for nearly forty sets.

Rather than wasting them, it’s better to show some generosity to others.

Nigel and Damien can wear plate armor over the beastman hide lining, while Milia and Leonor can wear finely crafted beastman hide outfits.

Armor made from skinned beastmen.

I used to feel a bit uneasy about it, but after trying Boris’s hide armor, I realized there’s no better material.

“That shouldn’t be a problem. They’ll just need to come by for measurements.”

“I’ll bring them over today or tomorrow. They’re all in the capital now. Leonor can be measured right away.”

If I knew this would happen, I wouldn’t have sent them to the academy earlier and just brought them along.

—-

It’ll take at least twenty days to complete the Ryu-rik hide armor, so for now, I’ll have to keep wearing the Boris hide armor.

Wait, should I call it the Ivanov hide armor now?

Since I’ve patched up the torn parts with Valentin’s hide.

After removing the broken scales and replacing them with spares Asha had prepared, the armor looked as good as new.

Though it feels a bit awkward to show it off again after keeping it covered for so long.

“But why does it take twenty days? Is the hide that tough?”

“No, it’s not that. High-quality materials like this retain traces of their original properties. Like dragon scales.”

…Did you just call Ryu-rik “raw material”? That’s a dizzying choice of words.

“If done right, we can even restore those properties…but the process is quite delicate. It’s not something that can be finished in a day or two.”

Asha stroked the Ryu-rik hide with a fascinated expression, nodding repeatedly.

“What happens if you restore it?”

“In this case, since it’s the Beast King’s hide, the regenerative properties will likely be restored. Unless it’s cut by Jin’s Sword, even if it gets torn, it’ll slowly repair itself.”

Wow, that sounds amazing.

It means I won’t have to repair it as often as I do now, no matter how damaged it gets.

Though the metal parts won’t regenerate, so I’ll still have to visit Asha occasionally.

“…That’s incredible. It’s almost like magic.”

Even Leonor, who was listening, was impressed.

“That’s our secret technique. This much is only natural, right?”

Asha grinned.

—-

After measuring Leonor and myself and leaving all the beastman hides with Asha, I left her workshop.

I also took the opportunity to order a portable odor purifier I’ve been wanting for a while.

I’ll pay for it once I receive the reward from Leopold.

She said repairs to the scale parts are free, but crafting armor from Ryu-rik’s hide will cost extra.

It’s not a small amount, but it’s not a problem.

The me who used to sigh over a few dozen gold coins is long gone.

Even without the reward, I already own two mansions, along with territories in the north and the Empire’s mainland.

Even before inheriting Landenburg, my income was overflowing.

Unless I start a large-scale business or raise a private army, there’s not much to spend big money on.

Though I’ll need to hire servants to manage the mansions and pay salaries to my knights.

Ah, now that I think about it, I’ll need to hire some administrators.

I need people to manage the northern territory and Median’s marquisate, but everyone in my circle prefers swords over brains.

And I can’t just send any random person.

If I send a proxy and they mess up the management, cause losses, or embezzle the territory’s income while oppressing the people, I’ll have to hunt them down and skewer them later.

The problem is, since the original game was combat-focused, I don’t know any talented administrative characters…

Well, I can just ask people who might know such characters.

Like Leopold, Lacey, or even Ludwig. I’ll bring it up with them later.

—-

After stopping by a general store to buy a crate of mana herbs, I headed back to the academy.

About ten minutes later, the familiar phrase “Cradle of the Nation’s Protectors” greeted me at the main gate.