"I'm not sure. I asked around, and the answer I got was, 'Smaller than the Castel.'"
Smaller than the Castel?
Wasn't that obvious? Could they even build a ship larger than the Castel?
Clearly, it was just an excuse to keep things confidential.
Come to think of it, Castel hardly kept its technology secret.
But that made sense. Even if they were handed those technologies for free, they might not be able to reproduce them. That bolt-action rifle from before was a prime example. He had sent many craftsmen to study it, and the conclusion was—making a single rifle was not difficult, but mass-producing the parts and assembling them into functional weapons was practically impossible.
This was with the Faithguard Army's Holy Scripture serving as an instruction manual. If they blindly took things apart and tried to imitate them, suffering Cognitive Interference twice would be the least of their problems.
With that in mind, the prince felt at ease. If he possessed such industrial strength, he would not hide it either. He might even hope others would study it—if they did not, how would they know how powerful he was?
As for enemies, hah. Why bother concealing anything when he could crush them head-on?
"Did you find out anything else?"
"They developed an entirely new weapon, but apparently it is too large and can only be installed on buildings."
"A purely defensive weapon?"
"More or less."
The prince nodded. Then it was of little significance. His battlefield with the Empire would certainly not be in Tis, and such a weapon would not help him much.
"What else?"
"They are considering building a railway."
"A railway?" The prince froze, then gradually recalled what he had seen and heard on the island. "You mean those tracks made of two iron rails, the