For a newly established knightly order to attract lower-ranking knights, it first had to offer benefits appealing enough to draw them in.

Anyone who joined the Order of the Flame Demon would receive a set of magitech armor worth nearly one thousand magicoins. While that kind of benefit might not mean much to a Rank Three Sky Knight, it was highly attractive to Rank One and Rank Two knights.

This was especially true for ordinary knights who had only recently advanced to Rank One. In the midst of the Clash of Civilizations, their lives were constantly at risk, and receiving magitech armor this early could greatly improve their chances of survival.

It was Sein who had originally suggested using this kind of armor as a recruitment incentive.

Only someone as wealthy as he could support something like this.

Most newly advanced Rank Four knights were already struggling to cover the cost of their own training, along with the loans used to establish their knightly orders. Very few could afford to spend millions of magicoins on benefits like these.

In the end, with the substantial discount Babbage secured for them, Sein’s group spent a total of ninety-six million magicoins in Steel City. At full price, it would probably have cost around one hundred twenty million.

The space fortresses and prism forts accounted for the largest expenses, while even the war airships cost more than they had when Sein purchased them in the past.

Reina’s space fortress alone cost Sein thirty-two million magicoins.

Sia’s was slightly cheaper, but even after the discount, it still came to nearly twenty-seven million magicoins.

That kind of burden was far beyond what most newly advanced Rank Four powerhouses could afford.

No wonder the Magus Civilization offered so many financing options: basic loans for divine towers, low-interest loans for divine tower development and construction, and even special loans for ordering space fortresses...

***

After leaving Steel City, Sein and the others boarded their newly purchased prism fort and began their journey back to Ashenreach.

The two space fortresses, along with the rest of the prism forts and war airships, would be delivered to them gradually over the next fifty years.

Docking a space fortress outside the Magus World required starport fees. Sein still seethed when he remembered how Thor and Loki had tried to swindle him with that bitten Golden Apple, which had probably been smeared with an overlord’s saliva.

“There’s no need to rent a public starport. Once the fortress arrives, send it straight to Titan Starport. I know someone there. It’s mostly empty anyway, so we might as well use it,” Sein said to the Steel City personnel.

Having spent so much of Sein’s money, Sia felt somewhat guilty.

“Did we not go a little overboard with our shopping this time?” she asked.

Sein glanced at Sia. His mother-in-law did have a certain talent for management and analysis, but when it came to long-term vision and decisiveness, she still fell short—mainly because she did not share Sein’s broader perspective, nor did she have access to the same level of capital.

“The war between the Magus Civilization and the Gallant Federation has already passed its opening stage. What we are entering now is the most critical middle phase,” Sein replied.

“Haven’t you noticed? Even the victory reports from the front lines are no longer coming in as often as they did when the major victories in the Netherworld Star Domain were first announced.

“Don’t worry. The prices of war machinery, such as space fortresses and prism forts, will only continue to rise. Buying them now guarantees that we won’t lose out, no matter what happens. The Gallant Federation is not some weak opponent. No one knows how long this war will last.”

“Don’t dwell on the initial cost of building your knightly order. What you should be thinking about is how to grow the Order of the Flame Demon as quickly as possible during the Clash of Civilizations. That’s what matters most,” Sein advised.

“Alright,” Sia replied softly. She had no intention of going against Sein at a time like this.

As for the guilt she felt over how much Sein had spent, Sein himself did not seem particularly concerned.

He had just sold two more secret treasure fragments to Babbage. With those fragments from Sein as a foundation, the Babbage might very well accumulate enough knowledge and resources to create a mechanical secret treasure of his own.

Of course, Sein’s supply of technological secret treasure fragments was not endless.

After multiple sales over the years, the stock he had taken from the ruins of the Eiyurant Papillon Civilization was gradually running low.

Fortunately, in recent years, the Divine Tower of Ashes legions had been steadily sending war spoils from the frontlines back to Magus World.

As long as Sein did not make any more major purchases, maintaining Ashenreach’s current development would not be a problem.

Throughout this trip to Steel City, Tourmaline had accompanied them the entire way.

Yet from beginning to end, she did not buy a single thing. She simply watched as Sein and the others made purchase after purchase.

For Tourmaline, spending money herself was a painful experience, but watching Sein spend his brought her an oddly deep sense of satisfaction.

As a result, this trip to Steel City had been an especially joyful one for Tourmaline.

Watching her bounce around inside the prism fort, Sein felt his own mood lift a little as well.

***

Upon returning to Ashenreach, the construction of the Order of the Flame Demon was still in full swing.

Sia’s knightly order stood not far south of the Divine Tower of Ashes. Although the planar node there was only average, the area was especially rich in pyro elemental energy.

Sein also noticed that ever since the Divine Tower of Ashes had been established in this region, the surrounding planar nodes and elemental environment had improved significantly compared to when he had first arrived.

This was enough to show that the Divine Tower of Ashes had truly brought prosperity and development to this part of the Magus World.

No wonder both the Magus Alliance and the rules set by the guardians strongly encouraged newly advanced law-wielding knights and mages to establish their own divine towers and knightly orders.

In addition to the main hall, Sia was also planning four branch halls. Most of them would be located in the southern part of Ashenreach, where the region was most developed and prosperous.

With the main hall and these branch halls as a foundation, the new knightly order would gradually take shape throughout Ashenreach.

It seemed that, besides the Regional Inter-Divine Tower Academy War in which the Divine Tower of Ashes often participated, Ashenreach would soon add another major program—a Nation War Plan meant to cultivate more promising knightly talent.

As he looked at Ashenreach’s continued growth and improvement, Sein felt a deep sense of accomplishment.

In a sense, this region had been built by his own hands.

No matter how Ashenreach developed in the future, the Divine Tower of Ashes would remain in the leading position, and Sein’s own prestige within this region would remain unshakable.

Not long after returning to the Divine Tower of Ashes, Sein had just cleared his mind and was preparing to resume his experiments when he received word that visitors had arrived.

“A Rank Four knight named Gin, and his sister, Gina, have come to see you,” Marie said. “They already came by two months ago, but the matter they brought up was an important one. I couldn’t make the decision on my own, so I asked them to return later.”

“What is it?” Sein asked, recalling the siblings from the Atlan Interstellar Prison.

“The Rank Four knight has expressed his wish to relocate his knightly order to Ashenreach. To be more precise, he wishes to affiliate his order with our Divine Tower of Ashes,” Marie explained as she looked at Sein.