What’s it like to sleep under a blanket in a room cooled to just over ten degrees, during a summer so hot you start to doubt you aren’t made of water?

Thinking of this, a few nobles in the room were reminded of the recent spring.

Spring and autumn were the nobles’ favorite seasons—neither too hot nor too cold. They didn’t have to sweat through their clothes like they did now, wearing the bare minimum, nor did they need to choose between shivering for the sake of noble elegance or wrapping themselves up like a rustic farmer just to stay warm, as they did in winter.

Spring was good. Autumn too. Lynch’s words brought subtle changes to their expressions.

“A device that controls the temperature in the room?” one noble repeated. “If that’s real, that would be wonderful!”

If nothing unexpected happened, this barely-even-a-discussion topic would’ve died right there. But Lynch wasn’t about to let it go so easily.

“Doesn’t Gephra have something like that?” His seemingly innocent question, paired with his tone, smile, and the fact that he was a Federal citizen, came together into something unmistakably provocative.

Imaginative nobles could already see it: Lynch arrogantly trampling over them, loudly mocking Gephra’s backward technology.

Nobles are a peculiar breed. They value their pride more than their lives—quite literally in many cases.

Some might bring up the noble ransom customs in wartime, but those weren’t what people thought. Captured nobles were rarely humiliated. Once they revealed their identity, they were often treated as honored guests.

Gephran historical novels like The Lion Dynasty are full of examples. Victorious nobles showed defeated ones great respect. They’d dine together, attend operas, enjoy tea, and share dinner like old friends. It was as if the captured nobles were just visiting, waiting for their families to pay the ransom and bring them home.

There’s even a tale of a defeated noble whose family refused to ransom him—he felt so dishonored, he killed himself on a velvet blanket.

Dignity matters deeply to nobles.

Lynch’s words, no doubt, stirred discontent and even anger among some of them. Their gazes grew colder.

“Of course we do…” one noble quickly chimed in. “It’s just that, for now, those temperature regulators are only supplied to the royal family. They’ll be widely available soon.”

He started off a bit hesitant, clearly making it up as he went, but gradually sounded more confident.

If the Federation really had temperature regulators in wide use, why weren’t they being exported? Any profitable product would first be sold to the elite and then shipped abroad.

It wasn’t that domestic lower classes were ignored, but selling abroad was simply more lucrative. Many tech products came with export subsidies and tax rebates.

Selling the same product for 100 units of currency might net less than 20% profit domestically, but exporting it—after rebates and subsidies—easily passed the profitability threshold, often yielding much more.

If the Federation’s devices were truly widespread, Gephra would be importing them already. Nobles here loved their comfort.

So, this noble concluded that such regulators weren’t common yet. His answer was, in that sense, justifiable.

Lynch didn’t argue. He just smiled politely. But that smile—paired with his silence—didn’t feel like agreement. It felt like mockery.

It was as if he were silently laughing at their feeble excuses, like he saw straight through the lie.

“What, Baron Lynch, you don’t believe us?”

His smug smile was unbearable. Someone snapped.

At this moment, Lynch had become everyone’s enemy—the target.

“Believe? Of course I believe,” he said, spreading his hands. His seemingly gentle smile twisted in their minds. “I believe every single word you’ve said.”

What should have been a mild response sounded unbearably sarcastic from his mouth. People were itching to slap that face.

Someone couldn’t help but ask, “Baron Lynch, what differences do you see between the Empire and Baylor?”

There were many Federations in the world, but Lynch came from the Baylor Federation. Gephrans never called themselves by the name Gephra, always the Empire.

Just like how people in the Baylor Federation would say, the Federation and the Empire.

The question sounded innocuous, but everyone could feel the heat beneath it. Lynch pressed his lips together, scanning the room. His gaze was calm—but to those with a certain mindset, it felt provocative.

“This place is great. It preserves many traditional elements. Like the streets outside the palace—supposedly the stones there have a longer history than the Federation itself.”

“And some historical sites… I even saw rickshaws.”

Lynch went on about what he thought was nice about the Empire. The nobles relaxed a little. Their expressions softened. Lynch didn’t seem like a hard man to get along with after all.

But that impression didn’t last long.

After sharing his praises, Lynch added with a smile, “This place really keeps a lot of outstanding and distinctive traditions. The city looks just like I imagined it would.”

“What did you imagine, Baron Lynch?”

“Something out of the Middle Ages. Before I came, I thought I’d see people riding horses through the streets, communicating long-distance through letters.”

“Commoners in long skirts or trousers, wearing wide-brimmed hats…”

“And the air… I expected it to smell faintly of cow dung!”

That wasn’t tradition—that was being backward.

“I don’t know who told you that was our Empire’s tradition. Clearly, you’ve been misled. Our country is extremely advanced and developed, and in some areas even surpasses Baylor technologically!” 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Lynch didn’t argue. He just nodded repeatedly, as if saying, Yes yes yes, you’re right, let’s drop it already. That only fanned the flames.

It felt like preparing for a duel—then your opponent shows up with a look that says, I don’t want to bully the weak.

It was like arguing with a thirty-something woman, and she puts her hands on her hips and snaps: You tell me who’s really being unreasonable here.

It wasn’t truly damaging, yet tempers flared sky-high.

The nobles took a deep breath. They had found the core theme of today’s salon: Lynch needed to understand just how serious the consequences were for speaking so arrogantly here.

The first noble to speak stood up, raising his voice.

In a salon, when someone did this, it meant the topic was about to draw wider attention.

The surrounding conversations stopped. Everyone turned to the noble, eager to hear what he had to say.

“We often hear that the Baylor Federation is world-renowned for its advanced technology. Baron Lynch, we’ve never been to that place—which used to be nothing more than a penal colony—so we don’t really know: just how advanced is your so-called technology?”

Lynch, composed like a true noble, showed no anger at the provocation—losing one’s temper was a sign of poor breeding. He paused in thoughtful silence, then replied, “It’s hard to summarize simply, but I think if we turn abstract ideas into specifics, it will be easier to grasp.”

“Technological advancement often shows itself in key industrial sectors—chemicals, medicine, electronics.”

“There are areas I’m not too familiar with, but since this gentleman wishes to compare our two countries, I’ll speak on the areas I do understand.”

A noble asked, “Baron Lynch, what exactly would you like to discuss?”

Those who hadn’t been paying attention were now quickly filled in. Being mocked by a Federal citizen—that was something no noble could tolerate.

This wasn’t just about the long-standing history between Gephra and the Federation, or mocking the Federation as a place for exiled criminals.

The deeper wound was a naval battle that had shifted the world’s balance of power. That kind of hatred didn’t fade easily—especially that kind.

Someone had already reported the situation to the emperor. He wasn’t overly concerned, but did order that someone keep an eye on things—no group assault on Lynch, as that would damage imperial dignity.

Now the moment was ripe. Lynch smiled faintly. “Let’s talk military.”

“You see, I run a private military organization, contracting military services—so I’m fairly well-versed in this area.”

“Other than healthcare, military is often the first place where new technology is applied. Perhaps here, we’ll find some clear contrasts…”

What followed was a stream of heartfelt truths, half-real, half-embellished. In the name of bringing honor to his country, Lynch revealed military tech data that even Gephrans hadn’t managed to uncover.

Details on new-standard weapons, specifications on artillery systems…

This salon was destined to be remembered—by many, even by history itself. When Lynch raised his hand and declared, “We’ve developed a 275mm field gun,” every noble in the room gasped.