“Ah… ah…” Milia and the others stared at the stone blown apart, like a thunderclap had stunned fledglings; their small mouths wouldn’t close.

Medith stepped to the blasted rock, boots crunching grit like frost. The boulder was reduced to crumbs, yet a bowl-lipped crater still yawned, with swirls as if something had churned it.

“Was that spiral-tipped arrowhead what did this?” Medith asked. Her surprise flickered like a candle, but it stayed within what she’d expected.

“Yes,” Elyu said. “But our tech can’t keep its flight stable or its damage consistent. As you saw, the heavy shaft and that hulking drive chariot are its weak legs.”

“The recoil kicks like a mule in a storm. It threatens our own men. The ballista carrying it snaps its string after five shots.”

“We’ve shored up the ballista frame. But the string, the shaft, the load-bearing, the accuracy—those are still dead knots.”

“For this kind of power and that oversized shaft, we must coat it with a lot of Impado. Normal arrows take Impado for a lightening effect on the shaft.”

“The Bonecrusher Arrow can’t. Its accuracy is already poor. If we also sacrifice sturdiness, we’re chasing our tails.”

“Frankly, this is beyond our current refit range.” Elyu spoke while shaking his head, stealing glances at Medith like a fox watching a flame.

Medith’s face settled like still water. “I can tell you how to improve a bolt’s load-bearing without losing power. I can also grant you all the magic knowledge we know. Your nation’s Impado already aligns with Wind Magic; it should fit like wind to a sail.”

A man with a mess of hair, like weeds after rain, overheard and rushed in. “Really? You mean it? You truly have a way to improve a bolt’s load-bearing?”

Medith started. The man’s hair looked uncombed for ages, his face rough with stubble, his features weathered like an old cliff; yet his eyes held a keen, bright wisdom.

“And you are…?” Medith asked.

“I’m Epalus, an engineer with the War Readiness Corps. I’ve racked my brains for more than ten years on this and found nothing. This matters to us. Every step our arms improve puts one more lock on the people’s safety.”

“Please, you must—”

“Epalus, let me talk to our guests, alright?” Elyu patted his shoulder. Epalus understood, apologized to Medith, then hugged his blueprints and fell silent, like an anchor dropped.

“Please don’t mind him,” Elyu smiled. “He’s not a bad sort. He just gets too urgent with things like this.”

Milia and the others shifted, uneasy as cats in rain. Their faces flushed in a flash, feeling like Medith was using this to trade and making them look like villains.

The women were striking to begin with. Add an exotic cuteness and a bold, martial style, and they drew the eyes of many corps soldiers like moths to lanterns. Too bad Sais hadn’t worn her usual tempting outfit.

After seeing the king, she’d grown wary and wrapped herself tight, like a scroll sealed. Otherwise, half the men here wouldn’t get any work done today.

After a round of barking from the officers, everyone snapped back like bows strung, and went to their tasks.

“Your Highness, you honor us. Coming here with us is favor enough,” Medith said, lifting one slender finger like a reed. “I’ll lay everything out, truthfully. I only ask one thing.”

“I heard you need current intel and equipment for this incident,” Elyu said, as if he’d prepared the return already. “We have complete schematics and data for several pieces. Commander, interested?”

Sais’s eyes went wide as moons. She hadn’t expected the goal to land so fast. She kept calling Medith in wind-speech, afraid the deal might collapse.

“What equipment?” Medith asked, steady as a rock under rain.

“The Bonecrusher Arrow production method,” Elyu listed. “The full schematics for the Blackblood War Chariot. Repeating crossbow design. Light crossbow design. Heavy crossbow design. Enough?”

“Heavens… that many bow-and-crossbow plans, and a battlefield design with this kind of destructive power.” Sais’s whole body grew restless, like wind in high grass. “Medith! Say yes! I won’t let you mess this up!”

“You’re too naive.” Medith flicked those four words through wind-speech and ignored her.

“Very good.” Medith’s expression turned satisfied, like a blade finding its sheath. Elyu exhaled in relief. The women clapped hands over their mouths, bodies trembling with excitement, almost crying out.

“However… isn’t that a bit much, Your Highness Elyu?” Medith murmured. Laughter froze to cold sweat; drops beaded like dew.

“Why say that, Commander?” Elyu’s smile thinned. His gaze turned from gentle to lion-tough. Anyone meeting it felt their soul shiver.

Not far off, the women had gone blank with fear. “We’re done for, we’re done for…” they whispered like sparrows.

Medith leaned in, voice soft as silk. “Your Highness, you plan to trade a few busted crossbows and a clunky war chariot for our precious magic knowledge?”

Her voice wasn’t loud. Only Elyu could hear. But the girls’ keen hearing caught every word; their faces went pale, cold sweat running like rivulets.

“What do you mean, Commander?” Elyu’s face soured. “I’m making a good-faith trade. Even if you look down on our equipment, there’s no need to belittle it. I have a bottom line. Don’t go too far.”

The women nearby stood stunned, whispering, “We’re done for… we’re done for…”

Medith met his eyes without fear, teasing like wind over steel. “Your schematics, aside from the repeating crossbow having a tiny bit of reference value, make your light and heavy crossbows ‘free gifts.’ We aren’t fools.”

“The seized batch of bolts could be tweaked to develop those two crossbows anyway.”

“Even without the repeating crossbow, our draw speed is like a hawk’s stoop. It won’t be far behind.”

“That leaves the so-called Blackblood War Chariot. At first glance, it hits hard. In practice, its use is small. As a fortress piece, maybe. Once enemies close, it’s scrap.”

“Not to mention the massive side effects, and the nightmare complexity of arrow production.”

Elyu’s eyes flashed with surprise, then he laughed. “Hahaha. Medith is not so easy to fool.” The sharp pressure vanished, replaced by humor and a touch of embarrassment.

“We’re both clear-headed,” Medith said. “No need to twist words. I want your methods for fortifying walls, your building methods, your process for establishing training grounds, your military trap designs. And everything you just listed. I want it all.”

The women had lost the ability to think, staring dumbly like statues as gods sparred.

“Deal.” Elyu didn’t hesitate. He was no fool; fortune had fallen like rain.

Their hands met in a firm clasp, sealing the true purpose of this visit, like ink drying on a pact.

They laughed together, eyes bright, like kindred spirits finally found.