"Hi Selena!" Katarina greeted. "We came to hang out!"
"Lady Katarina!" Selena exclaimed happily. "We?"
"Yup!" Katarina said. "I brought my friends! You know Mary–"
"It's nice to see you again, Lady Berg," Mary said serenely.
"– and this is Sophia!" Katarina said.
"Hello," Sophia said, waving shyly.
"Come on, let's go get Lalatina!" Katarina chirped. "I wish Maria could have come with us, but she said she was busy with something… "
The gatekeeper had seemed amused when Maria had just trotted up to the gate on her horse. Apparently, they seldom got lone riders. Still, she was allowed entry through the gates, the ringing of bells announcing her arrival. They led her horse away readily enough when she got to the top, and someone led her to a small room to wait, offering refreshment. She demurred.
She had only waited half an hour before she was told she would be seen and led to a different, small room with the person she was to meet. Maria, when receiving the invitation to the capital to finalize the contract, hadn't expected to be talking to the king or the prime minister about the fine details. She'd expected some senior official, perhaps someone under the Colonel Titanites or General Solcrista.
She hadn't expected Nicol.
"Lord Ascart," Maria greeted as he stood to greet her on her entrance. "Sophia asked me to give you her regards should I chance upon you."
"Thank you, Lady Campbell," Lord Ascart said.
Maria coughed. "Her regards are: 'Big brother, you're falling behind, get a move on already, even Maria is getting in front of you and she's not even competing'. I assume she was talking about closeness to Lady Claes."
Nicol seemed to sigh without changing one muscle on his face. "Ah. Thank you for conveying her regards, Lady Campbell. Shall we get on to business?" He gestured at the sofa opposite his.
"Let's," Maria agreed, sitting opposite him.
"You say you need three months to set up production facilities…" Nicol began.
There was negotiation. Of course, they had wanted her to begin production sooner and in great numbers, but Maria was able to slightly blunt this enthusiasm by pointing out that despite their similarities to crossbows, guns had significant differences that meant anyone using them would need some retraining. True, she had to volunteer to provide the retraining, but only with an initial group that would act as trainers for the rest of the Royal Guard.
Lord Ascart blinked. "Are you really qualified to teach people how best to use this weapon?"
Maria gave him her flattest, most insulted look. "Yes," she said, daring him to challenge her again.
Lord Ascart took a moment to consider. "We shall need proof I can present."
Maria nodded grudgingly. "Are there any in the Royal Guard who can create… I believe the term used is 'dirt doll', to separate it from the golems of myth?"
"Yes…" Lord Ascart said.
"I brought my pistol with me," Maria said. "If you would have a capable guardsman who can create a dirt doll, I can present proof that I can adequately train people in how to best use a gun."
Lord Ascart considered, and nodded. "Very well. Let's go down to the barracks."
"Holy wife of the Chosen Lord," Nicol said, managing to declare this gross blasphemy while looking completely serene as Maria's pistol thundered one final time, shattering the large dirt doll's remaining knee and causing it to fall down, collapsing to dust.
"Abyss consume," Sir Gucci, the one who'd agreed to test Maria with a dirt doll, agreed. He'd made the dirt doll roughly in his own shape and had it carry an earthen great sword. It had moved as smoothly as a knight in full armor, and this hadn't meant a thing as Maria had proceeded to use her gun to blow apart its hand, its elbows, shoulders, head and, of course, knees.
There were only a few witnesses, as Maria had demolished it too fast for word to spread. The few in the training yard at the time were starring in disbelief.
"You didn't go easy on her, did you?" Nicol asked.
"I didn't have time, your lordship," Sir Gucci said, now staring at Maria intently.
"She's spoken for," Nicol said. Rafael was his friend after all, even if he was still used to thinking of the other as Sirius.
There was a sigh. "Noted, your lordship."
"In your opinion, would that have killed you?" Nicol asked.
"Maybe if I wasn't wearing armor," the knight said, but he sounded unsure. "But she was aiming for places with weak armor so… definitely crippled, so yes, probably dead. What weapon is that, and where can I get one, your lordship?"
"Thank you for your assistance, Sir Gucci," Nicol said.
"Your ladyship, what is that weapon? I must know!"
"Thank you for your interest, sir knight," Maria said, smiling and following after Nicol.
"All right, you are clearly qualified", Nicol said as they walked away. "However, training cannot begin without…"
The knights present all stared after them.
"I want one," one of the other knights said.
"The weapon, the man or the woman?"
"Yes."
"She's spoken for and he's an Ascart," Sir Gucci said.
"Hex it! But we can get the weapon, right?"
"No idea."
"Our lives are terrible!"
Eventually, after hours of negotiation, Maria was able to walk away with a crown contract. The terms were… mixed. Maria had needed to agree to a smaller amount of souls for setting up the production facility to keep the crown from partially owning the facility. She had managed to get a squad of guards for the facility, Royal Guards who would hopefully dissuade more trespassers and intruders. She'd have to feed and house the, but she had enough room in her servant dormitories, especially since the children slept in the manor now. The squad would be the ones she trained with the weapon, and they would be cycled out once she pronounced them proficient in its use.
They were also given a production target of a hundred guns, 50 pistols and 50 rifles, by the end of the year for a bonus on top of what the crown would pay for the guns themselves. At which point, Maria was to give an estimate of how long it would take to produce a thousand of both types each.
Included in the contract had also been issued a request: to produce a prototype of a gun that could kill a knight, with a prize for delivery or a working prototype.
Maria mused as she walked away from her meeting with Lord Ascart. While they were set to be to make 'enormous piles of money', they might not be able to, in Maria's estimation, to set up the adequate production facilities with the money the crown was giving them for that purpose. Well, theoretically they could, but it would just barely be able to produce the guns commissioned by the crown. It would not, for one thing, be able to produce anything else, like guns for nobles. There was no helping it.
They needed more investors.
"So, Lady Berg…"
"Lady Sophia…"
The two stopped and they did the noble formality shuffle as they tried to figure out who got to talk. Thankfully, Selena had been getting more backbone lately, or else they'd have been shuffling forever.
"Lady Sophia," Selena said. "Do you know how Lady Campbell's venture with… those weapons are going?"
"She went to the castle to negotiate the contract today," Sophia said, sending a glance in the general direction of the castle as they sat at the café and waited for Katarina to finish making her order. Without Keith to hold her back, she was ordering most of the menu. "Why do you ask, Lady Berg."
"I find I have much time on my hands when my prince is busy," Selena said. "And I was wondering… could Lady Campbell use an investor in her very interesting venture?"
Sophia blinked and smiled. "I think she would welcome one, Lady Berg."