Machina Arcanis: Two Worlds Collided-Chapter 238. Deal Struck

238. Deal Struck

The admiral of Zeigerlich, Sandria Meinhardt, rushed through the metal corridor, her combat boots clinking loudly against the floor plates. She clasped a datapad tightly to her chest as she walked past a few of her original staff.

“Admiral.” The staff paused and saluted her in reverence. Their eyes told the story of how they had all agreed to defect from their motherlands and join Solis Aeternum’s fleet. From the genuine smiles on their faces, she felt she had made the right decision.

“At ease, crew,” she said, attempting a softer tone before continuing on her path.

She was, by all means, late for the conference, thanks to the overwhelming missions associated with the demonic infestation that had been piling up for the past two weeks.

At first, the demon numbers were few and easily managed by the fleet of Armatus units. Now, after this morning’s operation, she wasn’t so sure. Astrid Ember Lorne was one of the elite arcanists, and even she had begun to sustain injuries during the fight.

What if much, much more powerful demons rise up on our soil? How can we fight against them?

Sandria’s brows furrowed into a deep crease. Her mind wandered, but her tired legs kept strutting forward.

If that wasn’t enough, the dwindling number of operational Armatus units was becoming more and more scarce, with the majority of Dunkelheit’s manufacturers having collapsed from Umbral’s sabotage. The former knight, Eric, had also totalled one unit. She was happy he was alive and safe, but she couldn’t shake the ugly feeling of wastefulness.

It was as if everything was suffocating her from all sides. She held high hopes that some of these issues would be resolved in today’s conference with Rye Au Norm, the High Magnus of Thylin.

She arrived in front of the conference room. The atmosphere inside was dense, thick with tension. Scowling, unhappy faces turned towards one another.

Aurelia, Friederich, and the Prime Minister himself were in the first row, facing the holographic images of the party from Thylin. Other high officials filled the room, their hushed whispers buzzing like a swarm. Each row was layered with importance — the closer to the front, the higher the status.

“...I plead to you that the production is not being halted, but we admit to the delay from our side. You see, the electronic and instrumental equipment in our stock was originally manufactured by Tabit. Mind you, their industry collapsed, so now we have to outsource the parts to other places…” the CEO of Arm-Harm, Jerad, addressed the issue with practised precision, not a single word stuttered.

In the last few conferences, they hadn’t gone this far to bring a CEO into the discussion. Rye had already planned her stage very well.

A predatory businesswoman, Sandria sneered inwardly.

Quietly and swiftly, Sandria joined the second row, where Operation Chief Engineer Robert of Yamamoto and Chief Engineer Ito of Zeigerlich were seated. The old man's distorted face switched into a friendly smile as she settled next to him.

“So… what did I miss?” Sandria whispered. Rye was smiling with almost unblinking eyes. Sandria had always hated that snake woman, if she were to be honest with herself.

“Practically nothing of substance…” the old man grumbled, chewing gum and crossing his arms. “Lots of mumbo jumbo. Bottom line is, Armatus units won’t be filling our hangars anytime soon.”

Oh… It’s worse than I thought. Sandria swept her eyes across the hall.

“With all due respect, we uphold our best in terms of the treaty, where it is applicable and suits the best interest of both countries,” Rye concluded, her voice echoing with confidence.

No longer a petulant child, Aurelia raised her hand with polite etiquette. “So, I understand that either you raise the production price, or we accept the delay?” Aurelia’s voice reverberated. Her eyes met Sandria’s, and she exchanged a respectful nod.

“That seems to be the only two reasonable options,” Rye shrugged, while her party nodded along. “Unless this back-and-forth conference is starting to become counter-productive…”

“Gaia… we’re quite desperate for production with the demonic uprising across the country,” Ryusei whispered softly, wiping his brow with a handkerchief.

“Can we realign our interests first, Father?” Aurelia asked, her tone hushed.

He pondered for a moment before nodding with a faint smile. “Spare us a moment for an internal discussion, High Magnus Rye,” he said, raising his hand.

“With pleasure, Prime Minister,” Rye replied with a grin.

With a respectful nod, Ryusei turned to lend his ear to Aurelia. “Well, what do you think?”

“Either we compromise with one of their options,” she said, pointing to her holographic report. “Or… I notice this data was last updated at the last meeting. We need the most recent figures before making an appropriate judgment. And since Admiral Lume isn’t here, we should gauge the requirements from our other admirals.” Aurelia pointed to Sandria, along with three others.

“Very well. Admiral Sandria, would you kindly share your unit requirements?”

Sandria straightened her back. “Currently, we have a shy 52… I mean, 51 functional units aboard this ship. Comfortably speaking, we need at least 75 per cent of the hold filled, sir.”

Ryusei then went around the table to gauge the total number of units required.

As a final summation arrived, it didn’t look good. Their fleet was critically lacking at this dire time.

Ryusei began, “If that’s the case, we’d like to—”

Aurelia brushed her hand softly on her father’s arm. “Father, if I may. I’ve done some research on the parts and cross-referenced them with our own local capabilities.”

“Please continue…” Ryusei leaned in closer as Aurelia whispered to him. For a moment, Rye fidgeted with her crown-braided hair, her ribbon-like tongue flicking out, bored.

Eventually, Ryusei turned to Thylin’s party and cleared his throat. “Very well. My good princess has a great solution that might lead us to solve this more effectively.”

“Isn’t that wonderful?!” Rye gasped with mock surprise, her sarcasm barely concealed. “I’m all ears.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Aurelia almost groaned but ignored the remark, sending the data to the main display. “Well, I believe Solis Aeternum has the capability to supply some of the instrumentation parts to you.”

“Isn’t the import going to be a pain?” Rye spoke up, her face scowling. “How does that benefit us?”

Aurelia smiled widely, her groundwork prior to this meeting was about to shine, “The treaty isn’t just about a ten per cent Armatus production discount, if I may. It also grants us zero tariffs. And we plan to utilise that benefit fully. Although we can agree that we’ll handle the freight cost for delivery.” 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Ryusei nodded with a calm and content expression. The sense of pride swelled in his chest. She did her homework well as always.

Tsk! Rye clicked her tongue, then her face shifted in an instant. “Fine… Clever. A very clever solution, princess.”

Friederich arched his brows, wondering how someone could change their facial expression like a switch. It was almost second nature to her.

“This would bring only about a 12 per cent cost impact on production, rather than the outrageous 95 per cent,” Aurelia concluded firmly, pointing out the calculation.

The atmosphere seemed to lighten on the Solis Aeternum side. Hope returned to their expressions.

“May I get a confirmation that you’ll be able to keep your timeline if we deliver these parts?” Ryusei pressed.

For a good fifteen minutes, Rye went back and forth with the CEO of Arm-Harm and her parties.

“Excellent offer. We accept your deal,” Rye said, no longer attempting to pull anything else. The little princess was starting to exhaust her.

A collective sigh of relief echoed inside the room. The thick air dissipated, filled with smiles and faint cheers.

“I’m glad that is sorted,” Ryusei said, delivering a brief closing speech before everyone marched out of the room in an orderly fashion.

“Excellent work,” Ryusei showered his daughter with praise with his perpetual smile before bidding his farewell.

Friederich rubbed his long neck, feeling the soreness from standing for so long.

“You seem awfully brilliant at this,” he quipped.

Aurelia snapped to him. “Not really, I’ve got excellent resources: a good adviser, experts, and some bright ideas!”

Huh? A character development I’d like to see. Friederich mumbled softly to himself. “A humble Aurelia. I wonder where the old one went.”

“What did you just say to me?” Aurelia shot him a stern look.

“Nothing,” he blurted.

“Hey, you two.” Sandria made herself heard. She was the last one still lingering around.

“Sandria! How’s Zeigerlich?” Aurelia asked, her voice excited.

“Except for one less Armatus unit, we are doing okay,” Sandria said with her tired expression.

“Admiral.” Friederich clapped his heels into a crisp salute.

That brought a smile to her face. “Really, Prime Guardian?” she quipped.

“Well…” He stammered, lost for words.

“Anyway, I’d like to personally thank you for sorting this out. It’s been quite a dead-end conference up until today,” Sandria beamed.

“I know, right? I think I bored the lady out. She practically just gave up,” Aurelia jested, and everyone tilted their heads back and laughed.

“Rye is a real piece of work. I bet a million credits she is calling Lume right now,” Sandria exaggerated, still chuckling.

Soon, Sandria parted with them and strode away, leaving the princess with her Prime Guardian. They walked through a vacant corridor that led to the royal port, where the security presence was heavier, with Armatus units packed at the entrance.

After a yawn, Aurelia stretched both hands in the air and moaned softly.

“So, back to Kanto Castle?” Friederich asked, opening the car door and gesturing her inside.

Aurelia shot him a knowing smile. “Fried, you know what I want.”

“But your safety,” Friederich protested.

“Come on, this is our first day in Solis Aeternum!” she insisted, pulling on his sleeves. Her big, beautiful eyes pleaded with him endearingly.

How could one refuse such a beauty? Friederich sighed sharply, his hand tightening on the hilt of his arc sheath. “Very well. A spicy noodle place it is.”

“Yay!” Aurelia pumped her fist in the air, almost dancing on her tiptoes with joy. He watched her with unblinking eyes, knowing she deserved some sort of reward — a little thing that he could give her.

Thus, the two departed to grab a spicy delicacy on their first day back in their home country.

In the late evening, Aurelia and Friederich arrived at a shopping district lined with shops on both sides. Tall skyscrapers, densely packed and decorated with flashy lights, surrounded the area. This was one of the best hangout spots in the city at night.

It was noisy with a conspicuous mix of people: locals in business attire and tourists in casual clothes.

High above, a massive billboard showed various types of dopamine-inducing content, from products to the most outstanding of all: a realistic video poster of the hottest idol, Céleste Polaris. The shop owners blasted her catchy music as it drifted mesmerisingly through the space, reeling people in to check out their stores.

“Aww! It’s been forever since I last visited!” Aurelia clasped her hands, her eyes darting left and right at every detail she had missed, hyper-stimulated.

This is the worst place I want to be. Friederich, a head taller than most, stood guarded with a stiff, regal posture, his hand resting on his belt.

As they strode through the crowds, the gazes of both men and women alike were drawn to him. Wherever he shifted, it was not the attention he wanted.

“Excuse me!” A tall, dog Wildren girl walked over and waved her hand amicably, her wagging tail evidence of her excitement. Her pretty eyes were round like a puppy’s.

“Yes?” Friederich said with a flat expression, while Aurelia checked out some products at a plushy store. He hadn’t realised until now that she was interested in such things.

“You look cute! Can I ask for your number?” she asked casually.

Cute? He raised a brow, shaking his head as he was about to raise a hand to protest—

“He’s taken!” Aurelia interjected sternly, pinning her fists on her small hips.

“Oh! I didn’t know. Well, figured,” the dog-girl said, her tail dropping flat. “See ya!”

Friederich watched the girl disappear into the crowd. Relieved, he couldn’t help but ask the princess, “By whom? You?”

“Pfffff!” Aurelia blew a raspberry and shook her head. “Nuh-uh!” That part, she decided, must remain a secret for now.

Slightly frustrated, Friederich could only exhale.

“Come on! We’re close!” Aurelia eagerly pulled his hand and pointed to the noodle shop, its amber interior light setting a nice, cosy atmosphere. The steaming smoke of a mouth-watering delicacy and the spice that tickled the nose into a state of uncomfortable pleasure drifted through the air. They entered the shop with the ring of a welcome bell.

“Lucky us, it isn’t that crowded!” Aurelia chirped, twisting about with happiness. Friederich couldn’t help but let out a chuckle too. She just had that radiance of joy about her.

“Welcome to our establishment!” the work crew greeted them in perfect harmony.

Ten minutes after they ordered, Aurelia’s braised pork belly noodle, with the highest level of spice, arrived in a bowl the size of her face. The soup was a blazing crimson that reminded her of Astrid’s hair — such a striking and beautiful friend she had.

“Woah! Thank you so much!” she said to the chef in his white uniform. Turning to Friederich, she asked, “What did you get?”

“This?” Friederich showed her his bowl, one that made her immediately jealous. It was the seafood boiled noodle with soft-shell crabs, lobsters, and prawns. She regretted her choice immediately.

“Do you want it?” Friederich asked, rubbing his wrist.

“Yeah… maybe another time.” Aurelia turned back to her less appetising-looking dish. Comparison truly was the thief of joy.

Then, Friederich motioned and switched the bowls effortlessly. “Here. I know you want it more than I do,” he said, his tone resolute.

“Thanks, but… You would do that for me?” Aurelia blinked, her lips parted in surprise.

“I just did, didn’t I?” He shrugged and unpacked the chopsticks before handing a pair to her.

“Are you not afraid I’ll get spoiled?” she probed, receiving the chopsticks. She was still feeling the warmth of his kindness. He was never just her bodyguard; he was her friend, the best of them all.

“Too late for that, Aurelia,” he grinned and gestured for her to dig in. “Bon appétit!”