Chapter 20 - A Choice and a Tampered Decision
Weiss was only a little disappointed to miss the latter half of the event. From what she saw, it looked like a bunch of people chopping up and carving bits of metal. Sometimes there were sparks flying as metal was sanded down on the electric sanders. Other times it was the loud bangs of hammers, or the squeaks of who knows what. It was interesting to be sure, but she was never completely into the manufacturing and designing aspect of a hunstman's weapon.
Weiss preferred their use.
So, a bit before noon, Weiss and the rest of the panel of judges were escorted to a different part of the estate where the actual judging would eventually take place. That meant a few hours of boredom. Some judges spoke with one another; they were all experts in the field of weapon-smithing after all, so it made sense for them to want to compare notes. Most of what they spoke about went straight over Weiss's head. No, Weiss did not know the advantages and disadvantages between stationary and mecha-shift weaponry. No, the addition of point one percent more gold into a specific steel alloy was not something that she had spent weeks researching or learning. Nor did she care to begin learning it.
Even with all the technical gibberish, Weiss could really only think about how that Ruby girl would have loved to be with them right now. They had only spoken for a short while, yet it was clear to Weiss that this was her life. The technical, as well as the aesthetics. Weiss truly was curious what she would be making for the competition.
"Hopefully it's better than Cardin's." Weiss said to herself, turning away from the other judges.
With a knock at the door, a procession of servants, each carrying one beautifully crafted blade reverently in their arms came through. It was truly a sight to behold. It surprised Weiss, how in the span of only a single day, all with the same basic materials, these people could craft such unique blades and designs. Each was laid down on a clothed table for all the judges to see. Weiss followed them to the table, but while they each carried notebooks and pens to scratch away and detail their notes, she was able to just admire their individual splendour.
The first one that caught her eye was a fully white sword. It's blade was straight with a crossbar inlaid with silver and what looked to be diamond. With her nail, she scratched at it, looking for any cracks. Her eyes widened when she saw no marks. They were most likely the real deal. "When did we put out diamonds for contestant use?" Weiss mused quietly before moving to the next blade.
Most were the standard grey-ish, silver-ish colour, but some had added flair. One sparkled in the light but looked too flimsy to actually be of any use. Another was red or purple, depending on which way Weiss looked at it. One was a light blue, from the hilt all the way to the top of the blade. It was all so interesting to see.
"Have we all had a nice look?" One of the judges said, looking to his fellows for their nods of affirmation. "Then, let us begin. Weiss? If you would…"
Weiss nodded, knowing it was time for her to leave the room. The first round of judging was to be done without her. She had faith that her father's selected judges would choose only the best blades for her to make the final selection from. She also had faith that all her father's selected judges would be bought, and one of those final blades would be Cardin's. Whether it was indeed a worthy blade or not.
Soon, it would be the part that Weiss was both excited for and dreading. A true mind-game to be played with her father and mother. The reward for winning, freedom from this betrothal, at least for a time. The penalty for losing? Well, Weiss hoped she would not lose. If anything, she had a better chance of winning thanks to statistics.
Weiss had to think hard. What would be the most likely weapon that Cardin would make, based on what her parents most likely told him? Weiss could immediately disregard the flashiest weapon, as that would be too obvious a choice for his. Or, would her mother know that she would think it was the obvious choice and have Cardin make that one?
"Ugh," Weiss growled, sliding against the wall and down onto the ground, taking extra notice of her surroundings so that none would see her sitting there.
As much as she wanted a weapon and for this entire process to end, she was dreading this moment. She had never seen a weapon Cardin had built before, so would not know his signature style. Similarly, Weiss didn't know what sort of funny business was going to go in this closed-door portion of the judging. She wouldn't put it past her father to have all three blades be copies of one of Cardin's, or to have played with the identification tags so all three were linked to him. Anything to get his way and control one more aspect of his precious daughter's life. All while enriching his and his wife's companies of course.
As much as she scoffed at her father's unorthodox and downright brutish tactics and business practices, at least his were understandable and straightforward. It had always been her mother that she worried about the most. She was what Blake had called a 'Chaotic Lawful' archetype. It was a play on some silly game she enjoyed; the rules of which Weiss had never bothered to learn nor truly understand. But Blake did at least explain what she meant. A person who used the literal definition of the law to its extreme. It was ingenious in its own right. Never breaking the law, nor even crossing it, but doing things that didn't often make the most sense to those of more sensible minds.
If the law stated a company with more than five hundred employees paid a higher amount of tax, she would hire five hundred employees for five separate companies, all working as independent subsidiaries of a single product. If an employer could only be CEO of one company at a time, then she was the CFO, or CTO or any other chief whatever officer gave her the most power with which to control her companies. And of course, if there was a loophole in the law, it would be her to exploit it first.
Weiss had to hand it to her mother. There was few craftier than she. As proud as Weiss was, in an annoyed sort of way, it just made this choice in blade that much more difficult. Would it be the most obvious choice? The least obvious? The central, least divisive option? Would his sword be placed in the middle, where a person's eyes were first drawn to? The right side? The left? Even the smallest change in placement for their first-time viewing could change the perception of an item and guarantee a choice favouring it or not.
Weiss sighed, wishing for not the first time that she had paid more attention while learning business psychology.
Then, there was a hand on her shoulder.
Flinching from the sudden pressure, she looked up to see a judge looking down on her. "We have decided," he said, leaving her to stand up on her own.
"Well, then. Please show me the final selections."
Weiss was led back into the room where only three swords remained. The first one was the white one she had noticed before. Beautiful in appearance in almost every way. She wanted to hold it, feel its weight in her hand and give it a few thrusts.
"That blade is named Beaufort. One pound, eight ounces, it is light, sleek and exquisitely designed." The judge lifted the blade I both hands, gently withdrawing it from its scabbard. "Do you hear that?"
Weiss listened, but in the end shook her head.
"Exactly. Perfectly fitted and silent upon removal from its sheath. Made of the provided metal but laced with white ash to give it this Schnee White colour, then sanded down and polished. Inlaid with real gemstones. White leather hilt as required. Altogether, one of the best swords of this competition if you don't say so myself."
Weiss nodded, letting the judge place the blade into her hands. It was light. Very much so. The grip fit her fingers perfectly, like she had held it hundreds of times before. "Remarkable weapon. Please, let us continue."
The judges moved on to the next one. "This one here is named Minderwertigkeit. Two pounds, seven ounces, also a rapier. Purple in colouration, thanks to combining the metal with the powder of a violet flower, along with a few other chemicals, which the smith has refused to share. In all, it is a sharp blade, well-balanced and looks exquisite. The white leather grip is malleable to fit to your hands after some use and works well with the dark purple colour of the rest of the blade."
Weiss held this one, rolling it around in her hands o see both sides, before grapping the grip and holding it aloft. Heavy. Not by much, but a bit too heavy for what she would like. This would be a perfect choice if her father had been the only one to have his hand in this. No way would he suspect Weiss of choosing a blade that would be too heavy for her. Her mother on the other hand…
"And lastly, this on here…" Weiss placed down the purple blade and looked at the final one of the table. It was the strangest of the three for sure. There was no scabbard accompanying it, just a blade with what looked to be a barrel fitted into it. The judge speaking did not look too impressed with it.
"This one, as detailed by the smith is a rapier-revolver hybrid weapon. It was chosen of the three, even with its strange design, because it was the most unique of the choices, while also being sturdily built and assembled quite well. Straight silver in colour, with no metals or items smelted in to change it in any way. Thin, yet surprisingly sturdy, two pounds, four ounces in weight. It is named Myrtenaster. I do have to point out that while it looks like both the sword and… gun portion of this weapon are well-made, it does have an annoying sound which almost took it from the running."
Weiss could only smirk at the judge's statement. Obviously, it had been chosen as the third option. The one least likely to be picked because of poor workmanship. "Fine, give it here," Weiss said, holding out a hand for the strange looking blade. Grabbing it by the handle from out of the judge's hands, she held it up, looking at it was a critical eye from each angle.
It was, surprisingly, well balanced and weighted well. It did look odd though. The white leather had been patterned, which was nice, but it was hard. It wouldn't shape to her fingers well, requiring a lot of practice with it and constant use to mould to her touch. It looked different though. Not just pure white like the others but laced with some other colour that caught her eye. Or was it colours?
And the revolver-like chamber at the center of the sword, just above the hilt, was a little jarring. Wondering what her judges meant by annoying sound, she spun the cylinder.
Click-clack-click-clack-click-clack-click
She watched it spin with fascination. It was a somewhat loud sound, but not altogether bad. It spun effortlessly as well. Almost as if…
Almost as if the smith had designed it to have this sound in particular. It was calming. Those sounds continued to slow as friction took a greater toll, and yet, the rhythmic click-clacking continued to bring Weiss some amusement.
It was a brilliant weapon.
Now, for the difficult final decision ahead of her. The perfectly sculpted white blade, that fit her so perfectly. The purple blade that was heavy, but exquisitely made. Or the silver rapier that was also a gun, that held those little ticks which warmed her heart?
iamking - Thank you
chinaluv - And more there shall be!
killamriX88 - Thanks! It's not very often that you get to write a chapter almost solely devoted to building a weapon.
timrocks99 - And we're only half done! ish... Maybe a bit more than half done.
And with that, we have a single chapter left until the big-ish climax! For anybody who knows what this story is based on, you guys will know what to expect. All that being said, thanks to this whole corona virus thing, mixed with it being my final semester of university (and all the massive projects that come along with it), I have not had very much time to maintain my backlog by writing more. As such, this fic will be put into an unscheduled hiatus. Make no mistake, this fic is not over. I have notes for the rest of the story, as well as a chapter half written. My goal is to build back up my backlog to at least 3 chapters before I start posting again. And even if that doesn't happen, expect a chapter by the end of April at the very latest. Thank you all for sticking with me!
