Otome Game Mob Villain

Chapter 349

After the greeting between me and Fara in the audience chamber of the imperial castle, the next stage was the presentation of the offerings from the Bardia territory and Renalute.

With the emperor's permission, my father brought various items into the audience chamber through the knights of the Bardia Order.

The offerings from Renalute were mostly Japanese-style items, such as swords, armor, and kimonos.

Since the items were presented to Their Majesties of the Empire, even I, an amateur, could tell that they were of excellent quality.

I could hear murmurs of admiration from some of the nobles.

Their Majesties, however, looked at the items being brought to them, but did not seem particularly surprised.

For the royal family at the top of the empire, they may have seen the offerings from Renalute several times.

When the items were eventually brought in, Father and Farah gave a brief explanation of the offering.

'The exquisite workmanship of the Renalute is always wonderful to behold,' they said. The emperor's words made Fara bow in awe.

"Thank you for your kind words. My father, Elias, would be pleased."

"Yes," said the emperor, "and I will send my thanks to Renate. Now, Rainer. We know about the gift from Renalute, but what is this new product that you have developed in Bardia?"

Yes. Let me introduce to you the products we have developed in Bardia. The first is a watch that can be carried in the bosom ...... "pocket watch". Rid, take it to Their Majesties."

The nobles made a noise as Father's voice echoed through the audience chamber.

This may be a natural reaction since portable watches have not yet been developed in this world.

Nodding, he accepted the box containing the pocket watch from Deanna and walked forward.

He then got down on one knee in front of Their Majesties.

"This is the only two pocket watches in the world, specially decorated for Their Majesties. Please accept it."

"Oh, it's so pretty."

"Well, ...... this is a watch Does it look like a decorated insignia?"

"No, it has a lid to prevent the clock face from being broken. Please, try to press the projection on the top.'

Their Majesties pressed the projection with their thumbs, and the lid of the pocket watch opened to reveal a finely decorated dial by Alex the Dwarf, the Foxmen, and the Ape People.

In terms of sophistication and luxury, this is probably the most exquisite pocket watch ever made in Bardia.

'This is wonderful. Clocks are usually large enough to be hung on a wall or placed in a stationary position, but I didn't realize they could be made so small. Just think about it for a moment, it is a product that is full of effective ways to use it."

"Your Majesty is right. There is no doubt that this is a wonderful product in itself. However, I feel that it has even more potential."

As I bowed, a voice from where the nobles were gathered echoed, "May I take a look at that watch, Your Majesty Irwin?

" m......Grade, you are a frontier count. Is this watch still of interest to you?"

'Of course I am. We have been working on a prototype of a portable watch for some time, but we have not been able to reduce the size of the watch to that level. Therefore, I would like to take a look at it."

"Very well, Rid. You have no objection, either, do you?

I nodded my head. I would love for the Count of Grayedd to take a look at it,"

This might be a good thing.

The Count of Glade is the current head of the Kelvin family, which is known as the "Shield of the Empire" and has military power comparable to that of the Bardia family.

If he recognized the usefulness of the pocket watch, it would attract even more attention from the nobles.

It would also lead to orders for the pocket watch, which would become a source of funds to further develop the Bardia family.

No, no, no, I must not let my guard down.

I took a small, deep breath in secret to keep my mouth from slackening and tightened my grip.

Soon after, the Count of the Grad Frontier approached the emperor with a young man in tow.

He carefully received the pocket watch and carefully adjusted its functions.

The young man who came with him was also curious.

Looking closely at the Count Grado, he appeared to be in his late forties or fifties.

He had dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a well-groomed beard.

The young man beside him was in his late teens, or at least around 20.

His hair color and eyes are the same as those of Count Grayd, so he may be his son.

"Father, This is close to what we were aiming for, isn't it?"

"Well, Rid, I'm going to ask you something, but how does this thing work?"

The conversation suggests that the two were father and son after all.

I smiled at Count's question.

"I can't give you the details, but we use a method called "manual winding," which is also used for stationary clocks. Therefore, it is necessary to wind the mainspring at a fixed time every day, but that should not be too hard."

"I see. We have succeeded in miniaturizing the watches that are commonly used. If we simply think about it, is that correct?"

The two men who immediately understood what I was talking about showed their admiration for the pocket watch.

But not long after that, Glade the frontier count with a suspicious glint in his eyes turned to the emperor.

"Your Majesty . With all due respect, this pocket watch should be disseminated to all military personnel in the Empire as soon as possible. Therefore, I suggest that the Empire allocate a budget to encourage further development of the pocket watch in Bardia."

The sudden and unexpected proposal left me dumbfounded, " What? I was taken aback.

And, worse, the emperor, upon hearing the Count of Glade's proposal, raised one corner of his mouth and said, "Certainly ...... that might be worth considering," and looked at us as if he were testing us.

This is an unexpected turn of events.

If it were said that the development of the pocket watch would be funded by the imperial budget, it might sound like financial backing.

But the fact that the government's budget is going to be used could lead to the necessity of revealing all the development technology that has been cultivated so far to the state and the aristocracy.

Besides, in the Bardia territory, there are still many things that are being developed in secret, including a cure for Mother's disease.

Under the current circumstances, it smells quite risky that the state's funds would come into the development being conducted by the Bardia family.

However, I can already hear voices from the surrounding nobles nodding or agreeing with the proposal of the Count of Glade's Frontier.

As I was pondering how I should get out of this situation and how I should refuse the proposal, I heard the following words: "Your Majesty, Count Glade, I am very grateful for your proposal. I humbly decline," my father's voice echoed through the room.

I turned my head involuntarily, and my eyes met his.

It seemed that he had guessed what I was thinking and raised his voice.

He nodded at me and shifted his gaze to the emperor and Glade.

The emperor, however, showed no sign of moving and asked,

"Rainer. What do you mean by refusing to accept a budget from the government?"

The father looked straight at the emperor and his voice rang out in the audience hall.