The entry of the rest of the guests marked the start of the dinner party, a small affair that turned out to be just the smiths, the guard officers, and Princess Alexis along with Royal Advisor Morgana, a Techno Witch.
The Techno Witches were an odd bunch, they were somewhat like artificers, but their devices didn’t actually work without magic. Instead, they added magic to broken and nonfunctional items and made them work as intended.
Something about that just felt off to Dominic, like they should pick one or the other, either technology or magic. But that was not their way, and the items that they made were powerful.
The Inventory Cubes and other storage items were mostly made by Techno Witches, since the Wizards who could use space magic were much less common. But the ones that the Witches made just felt creepy to Dominic for no apparent reason. It wasn’t like they did anything unusual to make them, not like the alchemists and their potions.
The magic just felt odd to Dominic.
The Princess cleared her throat and greeted the room. "Welcome everyone. I am glad that you could all come on such short notice, but we have an urgent matter that we need to have dealt with before the morning comes.
There have been signs that there is a hidden force behind the attacks on Cygnia City and the surrounding villages. So, we are organizing missions to send out the reserve regiments to hunt for the suspected leader of the attacks.
For those of you who haven’t seen it before, this means a full mobilization of the army, including sending out support staff with the Regiments to keep them operating. The army has most of the logistics staff, the cooks, the tailors, and such. But the Smiths, the Tailors and the Artificers in the employ of the Palace will all be called upon to send members with the regiments.
You are the senior staff in the forge, along with your apprentices, who are the most likely to be called upon, so we have brought you here today to discuss any concerns you might have. If I can’t answer your queries, then the officers here will be able to."
The journeymen looked at each other, while the apprentices mostly began to look a bit ill at the prospect of ending up on a battlefield.
Princess Alexis smiled. "I know that most of you have never considered going to the battlefield, and that only one of the apprentices here has any combat experience at all, or even any training. But you will not be on the front lines, you will be in camp taking care of the equipment while the soldiers spread out among the villages to hunt for the source of the problem.
Some of the Masters’ personal Apprentices are currently up for examination, and on a temporary contract. Those contracts will be made permanent before you leave. Congratulations, applicants."
That helped their nerves a little bit. At least the other apprentices didn’t look like they might vomit before they even had a chance to eat dinner.
However, the announcement that they would just be approved for the position without any additional contests felt a lot like a posthumous honour given just a few days too early.
Pops spoke up first. "If we’re sending away our personal apprentices, then both the quality and quantity of the weapons going to the front lines around the city is going to drop. They’re the ones that send the weapons to the enlisted men, and the lesser apprentices and general forge workers can’t keep up that standard."
The officers winced at his blunt warning, but the Princess nodded.
"That will be inevitable. But we have a plan to deal with it. There are a number of weapons stockpiled in the officers’ armoury, and those will be distributed to the ranking enlisted. We will also be sending more officers to the line, instead of having them in command posts inside the city. While their safety as nobles is important, it is also important that the preservation of Noble lineages doesn’t cross the line into cowardice."
That really got the officers present concerned. These were line officers, not the most senior of staff, but if the Princess ordered the entire officer corps forward, the pampered senior officers would be the ones leading the squads.
The Princess looked around the room. "Let me be clear, it won’t be a glorified version of the riflemen, putting down their cigars twice an hour to shoot down a troublesome monster. The officers, including the riflemen, will be embedded with the front-line units.
While they are doing that, we are asking that the Masters and senior Journeymen will take a break from instructing and begin mass crafting for the sake of the army while their juniors are away assisting the reserve Regiments."
Pops chuckled at that. He had been running a tool forge until this week. The others had gotten used to doing a minimum of work to keep the officers supplied. They hadn’t worked like the apprentices in a long time. After all, that was the entire reason that they kept Apprentices.
"When will we be leaving?" Dominic asked, when it became clear that the other apprentices were too nervous to speak.
"Tomorrow at noon. I do hope that doesn’t interfere with your plans?" Princess Alexis asked in a teasing tone.
Dominic smiled back at her. "No, Your Highness. I will make the weapons delivery in the morning so that I still have time to make certain that my hair is immaculate for my departure."
The Princess chuckled, as did the forge workers, who had seen what he looked like an hour and a half ago when he left the forge, covered in soot and sweat. But the Officers looked more concerned than anything.
"You are worried about your hair?" One of them asked.
The Princess turned to answer before Dominic could think of a good response. "I believe that in his case, that means without any Ogre blood in it. I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumours, as well as the report from the lines yesterday regarding the Ogre Lord."
Dominic nodded in agreement. "I won’t make that mistake again. I’m still a bit new to working near the frontline during combat, and I hadn’t expected that much blood when I stabbed the Ogre."
"And the solution for next time is?" The Princess asked.
"Well, since they’re magic resistant, I suppose I should learn to throw a spear, or use a gun or something. Your Highness." Dominic replied, hastily tacking the honorific on the end.
Something about her just set his mind at ease, and he was already beginning to feel too comfortable around the Princess. That could be bad for a commoner’s health.
"If there are no more questions, we can enjoy our dinner, and then everyone can go prepare for tomorrow’s events. The guard officers will have a list of recommended belongings to pack, as well as travel packs to load your gear in, for those that do not have a storage device." Princess Alexis informed them.
Through it all, the advisor had remained silent, but she had a look of approval regarding how Princess Alexis had handled the notification. The younger twin Princess didn’t have a lot of Royal Family responsibilities, but it seemed that even she couldn’t escape this one.