"Yes, my lord. Steven ran lots of experiments to develop this gunpowder. All those craters on the hill behind us were blasted out by Steven's tests." Once Steven knew the profiteering city lord would not deduct any of his gold, he became much more talkative.
"Mm!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk nodded. "Steven, how long would it take to put this into mass production?"
"Well... well..." Steven stumbled over his words again.
"What's wrong?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked. "Steven, are there any difficulties?"
"My lord... Steven doesn't have enough gold to mass-produce it," Steven said quietly.
"Would it take a lot of gold?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked.
"My lord... we'd have to buy equipment... and raw materials. All those things together would cost quite a bit of gold. Steven... doesn't have that much money!" Steven clutched the hem of his clothes, afraid this profiteering city lord would change his mind again and deduct his gold.
"Equipment and materials? Whatever you need, have that profiteer Willyx buy it. Just tell him what you want, and don't worry about how much gold he needs. With that covered, how much more gold would you need to mass-produce these ballistas?" Yu Lin Bloodhawk asked.
"Ah!" Steven cried, his eyes widening. "Willyx will buy it, and Steven won't have to pay him?"
"No!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said firmly. "From now on, whenever you need anything for your experiments or research, just ask Willyx. You don't have to pay him. He can get reimbursed by the council himself."
"Ah! My lord! You mean... you mean Steven won't have to spend his own gold researching the things he likes anymore?" Steven stared at Yu Lin Bloodhawk in disbelief.
"Essentially, yes!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk replied with a slight smile and a nod.
"That's wonderful, my lord! Steven has so many