The Precision Forge was a triumph of engineering, but it was a financial catastrophe. Elias stood in his refurbished smithy, looking at the mountain of perfectly threaded bolts, knowing that every pound of high-grade steel and every hour of precision labor had drained his treasury.
MAOI Alert: [Capital Surplus: 5% Remaining. Financial Status: Critical] Required Material Buy-In: Catastrophic. Immediate Loan Required.
"Kaelen, we have defeated the mortar, the artisan, and the faulty tolerance," Elias said, his voice strained. "But we have a final logistical enemy: Cash Flow. I need to purchase the remaining structural steel now, or the deadline will crush us. We are broke."
Sir Kaelen looked at the balance sheet. Elias was right; the pursuit of perfection had cost him every penny. "My Lord, who in the realm would loan you such a sum, especially with Duke Vesper constantly looking to seize your assets?"
"No honest man, Kaelen," Elias admitted, pulling out his communication equipment. "I need someone who is guaranteed to be financially predatory and administratively sound. I need a Loan Shark."
Elias used his coded rope-telegraph to arrange a clandestine meeting in the capital with Master Broker Theron. Theron was a notoriously shrewd money lender—a man so cold he reportedly charged interest on personal grief.
Theron met Elias in a private, windowless room. He was thin, elegant, and had the eyes of a man who measured success only in compound interest.
"Baron Thorne," Theron purred, tapping a gold quill. "You require a vast sum. For an investment considered... volatile. What collateral can you offer? Your lease is currently unencumbered, but I see a large Royal Mandate hovering over it."
Elias knew his barony lease, though now debt-free, was too risky. He decided to collateralize what Vesper was truly trying to steal: his engineering edge.
"I offer you the intellectual property of my engineering," Elias stated. "Specifically, the patents for my Structural Cement Mix, my Precision Forge schematics, and the Variable Tolerance Joint blueprint. I will sign over the exclusive production rights to you for 99 years, should I fail to repay the loan."
Theron leaned back, intrigued. "Blueprints? Not the land?"
"The land is volatile. The efficiency is not," Elias argued. "My technology can make any mining operation rich. I am giving you a guarantee of future profit optimization."
Theron smiled—a terrible, slow, satisfied expression. "The offer is accepted, Baron. But my rate is high. I want 30% interest and the repayment deadline is five days before the Royal Mandate expires. Fail to repay, and Duke Vesper—my largest client, incidentally—will have access to every one of your inventions."
Elias signed the terrifying contract, knowing he was walking straight into Vesper's trap. The funds were immediately transferred.
Returning to Ironspur with the gold, Elias immediately placed the massive order for the remaining steel. The construction resumed with a frenetic energy; the new steel and the precision bolts were exactly what was needed.
Kaelen and Elias stood proudly on the cantilever foundation as the second half of the main arm was slowly hoisted into place. It was a beautiful sight of perfect, aligned mechanics.
"We have done it, Kaelen! We leveraged the money, and we have solved the structural problems! We will meet the deadline!" Elias cheered.
But as the truss was bolted into place, Kaelen noticed something subtle on one of the new, massive steel beams purchased with Theron's loan money. It wasn't an artistic signature this time, but a faint, laser-straight scratch mark.
Kaelen ran his finger over it. "My Lord, look here. This steel is perfectly good, but this mark... it's a stress calculation line. A very precise one. Someone has been testing the yield strength of this steel."
Elias frowned, pulling out his MAOI. He cross-referenced the steel supplier Theron had forced him to use in the contract.
MAOI Alert: [Material Analysis] Supplier: Vesper Holdings Subsidiary (Covert). Material Quality: Superior. Intent: Malicious.
Structural Flaw: **Calculated Fatigue Point.** A specific beam has been pre-scored to fail under **peak load tension** at 80% of the design capacity.
Elias's blood ran cold. Vesper hadn't seized the blueprints; he had used the loan to inject a single, structurally perfect flaw into the heart of the bridge. The failure would look like an engineering accident, but it was a calculated murder of his reputation.
"He didn't need the blueprints, Kaelen," Elias whispered, staring at the innocent-looking beam. "He just needed to control the supply chain. We have built the bridge on a suicide pact."