CHAPTER 184: CHAPTER 182 EBONY AND WHITE IVORY

Conversing with Ezio allowed Perfikot to gain an entirely new information channel, revealing much hidden beneath the peaceful surface of Langton.

"So the conservatives are trying to incite the academic and religious circles to criticize me and undermine my reputation?" Listening to the intelligence gathered by the Assassin Brotherhood and presented by Ezio, Perfikot felt an urge to laugh.

If this had happened a year ago, Perfikot might have been angry; two years ago she would have hidden away to cry.

But now, for the Lord of the North, this was trivial and even amusing.

Do these conservatives know about the apocalypse? Perfikot believed they did because they were a major political faction within the Empire; to say they were completely unaware would underestimate them.

However, facing such disaster, expecting them to rationally analyze the situation or have the foresight to determine what should be done was somewhat demanding for them.

Of course, from their perspective, they would think their actions were correct.

After all, with the impending catastrophe, the Empire needed mature and stable individuals who could balance the interests of the ruling class to lead the nation, not allow a naive little girl to make a mess.

Needless to say, in their view, the Empire should be inherited by Justinian, with the new King assisted by the nobility, maintaining the noble tradition passed down since the founding of Victory.

As for the fact that Justinian was a useless fool who would only become a mediocre and incapable ruler?

Isn’t that even better? How else could the wisdom of those aiding the King in governance be highlighted if the ruler were of outstanding skill?

Moreover, a mediocre ruler would be more easily controlled and manipulated.

Now that we have entered the industrial age, the old monarch could be considered as a mascot under the feudal system, couldn’t it?

After all, the bourgeoisie has been clamoring about constitutional monarchy, which is really just aristocratic parlance; the King, in days past, only managed his direct territory, and national matters still needed to be discussed with the nobility.

Although due to the Industrial Revolution, the King became the Emperor and the nobility lost its former status, at such times of crisis, leadership by the nobility was still needed; how could the common folk govern the country well?

Thinking of this, Perfikot couldn’t help but let out a laugh, knowing clearly how shortsighted these old nobles were.

"How do you plan to handle them?" Ezio asked upon hearing Perfikot’s laugh, while simultaneously showcasing his weapon to Perfikot: "If you need, the Assassin Brotherhood can help eliminate them."

For Ezio, removing a few decaying nobles was not a difficult task.

Previously, they were left untouched simply because these incompetent nobles posed no threat, and the Assassin Brotherhood was not a wanton killing organization, so they did not act against these old nobles.

But now, if they impeded the fate of all humanity, the Assassins’ swords wouldn’t mind being stained with blood.

However, Perfikot did not respond to Ezio’s resolution; instead, she turned her interest toward the weapon Ezio displayed.

It was affixed to the arm, resembling a bracer, a sleeve blade augmented with a handgun.

"Did my father help you modify this? This added gun..." Perfikot dismantled the bracer from Ezio’s arm before he could react and began examining it: "Too crude; though it’s a delicate design, it’s still too crude. Don’t you find this gun difficult to use?"

Listening to such an assessment, Ezio paused for a moment before responding, "Actually, it’s okay; your father designed a paper cartridge bullet. You just load one into the chamber, and tearing the paper shell ignites it with flint for firing, so it can serve as an emergency backup in critical times."

Perfikot’s shaking head was unavoidable following this evaluation, and she turned around to rummage through her lab’s cupboard.

Under Ezio’s puzzled gaze, Perfikot soon retrieved a long wooden box from the cupboard and placed it in front of him.

"Open it, it’s something I made for fun a long time ago." Perfikot sat down again, motioning for Ezio to open the box, while she casually drew an alchemical Array on the table and tossed Ezio’s sleeve blade into it to begin modification.

Ezio felt a slight pang for his sleeve blade, but recalled he had a spare one and Perfikot was a master of alchemy with skills rivaling her parents, so he held back his words and instead opened the box before him.

Inside were two weapons Ezio had never seen before, looking like guns but not of common design; a black and white grip with iron-black body appeared beautiful, making them seem more like artworks than weapons.

Ezio took out one, studied it intently, and though he quickly figured out how it might work, he found no place for loading bullets.

This led him to turn towards Perfikot, who was dismantling the sleeve blade, to ask: "How do you load bullets into this? I can’t find a way to open the chamber, nor a place for flint."

"Forget the backward flintlock method, current technology allows mercury fulminate caps for simple and convenient bullet ignition." Perfikot replied to Ezio, then explained how to use the two weapons: "There are bullets and magazines beneath the box; push bullets into the magazine, insert the magazine into the grip, and pull the slide above to chamber a round, pressing the bullet into the chamber.

I originally intended to make a version that doesn’t need bullet loading, but the Empire’s mages couldn’t manage the enchantment I wanted, so this design had to be shelved.

Now, the barrels of these two guns each bear enchantments for additional flame and frost damage; aside from showcasing different effects upon bullet impact, they don’t provide much else.

Their power is sufficient to kill an elephant at fifty meters distance; additional special effects aren’t required.

"What are their names?" Ezio followed Perfikot’s instructions, pressed brass-colored bullets into the magazine, inserted the magazine into the grip, chambered the rounds, then tried dual-wielding them, and asked Perfikot for their names.

"Ebony and Ivory." Perfikot revealed the names she had whimsically chosen.