Chapter 1076: The War Forge Assembly (2)
Chapter 1076: The War Forge Assembly (2)
“Is that so?” Giving himself time to process Julian’s words, Byron eventually regained his smile as he looked back at the two, his gaze briefly on Valyr before returning to his friend.
“Mind if I take a peek at those items in advance, then?”
At those words, Valyr looked at Julian, who stared at Byron for a bit before eventually shaking his head. “Normally, I don’t mind if you take a look at it. However, I would have to decline that request this time around.”
Noticing the man’s raised eyebrow, he quickly clarified itself. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that I’m not confident in what we’ll be showing later on.”
“But… don’t you think it’ll be more exciting if all that expectation comes rushing at once?”
As he took note of his friend’s slightly teasing smile, Byron could not help but slightly frown at his answer.
Though, after closing his eyes for a bit, that frown gradually disappeared, returning his expression to more or less what it was before.
Pushing his senses to the limit to see if there was any falsehood in their words, the man was about to say something to Julian, only to be interrupted as a couple of other directors made their way to greet him.
Seeing that, Byron inwardly let out a low sigh as he decided to part ways from the two for the meantime.
But not before leaving a statement for the two of them.
“I may not know exactly what items you plan on showing, but consider me invested,” said the man to the two, his gaze eventually landing on Julian. “I hope it doesn’t disappoint my expectations.”
“I assure you. It won’t.” With those parting words, Julian and Valyr soon made their way to one of the more vacant areas of the assembly hall, occupying a pair of seats that were only a few rows away from the stage.
Noticing that there was still some time before the meeting officially began, Valyr looked around their surroundings for a bit before asking Julian a question. “Was there really a need to do all that?”
“Oh, definitely.” Julian nodded as he softly chuckled. “It goes without saying that garnering more support from my fellow directors beforehand would increase the chances of our proposal getting accepted.”
“If that’s the case, then why not garner more support from the other directors before the meeting starts?” asked the young man after a bit of thought.
“Because there’s no need to,” replied Julian with a confident smile, only to then point at the suit of armor he was currently wearing.
“The performance of your items is more than enough to garner all the support we’ll need.”
With their conversation done, the two decided to remain silent and focus on their own thoughts for the meantime, waiting for the meeting to begin as more and more people entered the assembly hall.
Of course, since the various directors of the Blacksmith Guild rarely met up with one another aside from the assembly, many of them took this meeting as an opportunity to catch up on what the other directors were doing.
Naturally, it went without saying that Julian was the same, eventually standing up to talk to the directors that greeted him back, leaving Valyr alone in his seat.
Though, not even a few minutes later, Julian returned to his seat, his expression stern as he told Valyr that the meeting was about to begin.
Nodding in response, the young man directed his attention towards the small stage, only to be greeted by the sight of an old man that he was faintly familiar with.
“Seeing as everyone has more or less arrived at the assembly hall, let us begin today’s War Forge Assembly.” Infusing mana into his words, the old man’s voice reached even the corners of the large hall, causing everyone to stop what they were doing before focusing all their attention on him.
Nodding at the reaction he got in satisfaction, the old man took in a deep breath before continuing to speak. “To those that are just joining the War Forge Assembly for the first time, I am Alvin Martilla. However, you may know me more as Elder Alvin, the vice head of the Imperial Production Guild’s Blacksmith Division.”
“Due to unfortunate scheduling, Elder Merahm, the head of the Blacksmith Division, is unable to lead today’s War Forge Assembly as he is busy forging equipment for the frontlines. Of course, I shall make sure that he stays up to date once the meeting is over.”
“With that being said, General Cain, if you’d like to start the assembly.” As these words left Elder Alvin’s mouth, a middle-aged man stood up from his seat in response before making his way to the stage.
Looking at the man the elder called to the stage, Valyr’s eyes widened in surprise as he took note of the various badges that were affixed to the man’s chest, immediately recalling most, if not all of the methods to obtain them.
Though, just as his gaze shifted onto the man’s uniform, Valyr immediately retracted it as he felt a terrifying aura wash over his body, only to then realize where the aura came from. Faintly nodding as he finished his cursory sweep over the people attending the meeting, the general thanked the elder before giving everyone a quick nod.
“So…” Taking in a deep breath, he then began to discuss the current situation on the frontlines with all of the directors of the Blacksmith Guild, officially kicking off the War Forge Assembly.
Listening to the words that came out of the general’s mouth, Valyr made sure to commit most of it to memory, seeing as it would allow him to prepare for the time he arrived at the frontlines in the future.
Though, aside from a few important parts that piqued everyone’s interest, the young man didn’t really pay that much attention to what the general said.
After all, the reason why he attended the meeting in the first place was to show his items to the directors in the hopes of it being mass produced for the frontlines.
Then again, that didn’t mean he didn’t have a general idea of the discussion.
After the general was finished getting the directors up to speed on the current state of the war, the secretary that accompanied the general took up the stage not long after, informing everyone of the changes that would take immediate effect after the meeting.
Noticing that some of the directors began to frown at the secretary’s words, Valyr looked at Julian and asked what was going on, only for the latter to explain to him that there was a certain pattern to the meeting.
“You could say the meeting is split into two parts,” Julian told Valyr in a whisper, making sure not to disturb the meeting. “The first part is somewhat static, considering that it’s just the military keeping us up to date on the frontlines, as well as informing us of the changes they plan on implementing.”
“On the other hand, the second part is where we shine.” he continued. “This part is where us directors throw out ideas and proposals that might possibly help out in the war efforts.”
“That’s also the part where we come in.”
Satisfied with the explanation he’d gotten, Valyr soon returned his attention to the secretary talking up front, only for what Julian termed as the first part of the meeting to be finished around ten minutes later.
By the time the secretary stepped down, Elder Alvin went up stage once more, informing the directors that it was now time for them to share their ideas and proposals with the other
directors.
“If you have any proposals or ideas that might help in the frontlines, feel free to step up,” said the elder, which immediately prompted a couple of directors to be the first in what Valyr eventually thought was the longest part of the War Forge Assembly.
Glancing at Julian in the midst of others’ proposals to see if they’d pitch their ideas soon, Valyr was quickly met with a shake of the man’s head, telling him that it’d be better for them
to bide their time.
And thus, the two listened and took note of the proposals the other directors gave, with most of them unsurprisingly being rejected by the other directors due to the outlandish ideas they
brought up.
As for the proposals that were accepted, Valyr noticed that the secretary took down notes while talking with the general from time to time, causing a bit of the nervousness he thought
had disappeared to come to surface.
Eventually, after watching the other directors propose their ideas to the assembly for over a
couple hours now, Julian stood up all of a sudden before making his way to the stage, forcing Valyr to let out a soft sigh as he followed behind the man soon after.
After all, this meant that it was now their turn.
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