Steel and Mana

In my office, I listened to Oleg's portrayal, who retold in great detail what happened throughout the recruit's training and presented all the results in written form with actual test scores. I wasn't expecting such a detailed report, but I was glad to see it. He didn't joke around when he told me it wouldn't be easy and he would put them through hell.

"I have to say, Sovereign, the young kid outperformed everybody."

"I can see that." I nodded with a smile, seeing that Polo's name was atop the list of six out of the ten tests. "Father also said that he is the best candidate to start with. When he oversaw their first ride within Mirian's mech, he was the one who could move it as fluently as Father."

"Are we choosing him?"

"Yes." I answered after looking everything over one more time and closing the binder. "Make all the arrangements, and I will knight him personally. The ranking you provided is good; I accept it. Publish it to the Knight Aspirants and let them know in which order they are going to get their machines."

"Yes, My Sovereign!"

"Mirian's first caravan has also arrived. If everything goes smoothly, Polo's machine will be ready before summer ends!"

"What about the other two cores?"

"They should be here soon. Speaking about those, the Earthbreaker managed to burrow into a natural cave. Our people are reinforcing the insides, and we will use it as the first base. It is wide and tall enough for our needs! The two extra will be stored there as we establish the manufactory where we will build our airship."

"Constructing a hidden factory won't be easy…"

"It won't. But we can move our secret projects there and keep them away from the public. Did you visit the coal plant?"

"Not yet, Sovereign. Is it coming along?"

"Um. It should be finished soon. We will test it heavily before hooking it up to the hidden base. So, we will use it extensively on Avalon's first street lights!"

"Ah, I had seen the poles that had been erected around the main streets and the square."

"Thankfully, the city was built modularly, so we could install most cabling underground by picking up the stone slabs that make up the roads. I don't want people to try to climb them and touch the cables while electricity is running through them. As for the homes… For now, that will have to wait until we ensure the plant is working perfectly and we have ironed out everything."

"People will be impressed that the streets are illuminated even in the dead of the night."

"Only the main streets, walls, and the entrance to the city. For the foreseeable future, I don't want to go overboard. We still have the filament issue, having bulbs that burn out quicker than I feel comfortable with. When that issue is solved, we can advance and start bringing light to every house. Until then, we will only use it for the most necessary establishments."

"Like the train station."

"Like the train station." I nodded. "Speaking of trains, I already told Kraus and the rest to start producing enlarged Edmund Lamps. They will go onto the train and our tractors and howitzers so they can move about freely in the dark."

"A great idea!"

"It's a natural evolution." I chuckled, pulling out a paper and showing it to him.

"Is this…? A bigger tractor? No… Armored caravan?"

"Close."

"Wait, this isn't your handwriting, My Sovereign!"

"Sharp!" Standing up with flashing eyes, I clapped, "Can you realize who sent it to me?"

"It isn't Lady Sasha's either, nor Lady Yuri's… But I have seen it… Hm. Ah! Is this Pion's drawing?!"

"Yep! He came to me yesterday, telling me that he had an idea. I was also playing with the idea but was unsatisfied with the speed at which it would move."

"Yeah… a tractor is not fast." He agreed because we had had this talk in the past, "We could outrun it with horses. Huh… I have never guessed Pion had this in him."

"I like proactive people. Anyway, we are going to build a few! I don't want to stifle the creativity that young Edmund has planted in everyone in the city! Let them see that I am willing to indulge if their ideas are promising. Even with their speed being slow, there are circumstances when an army can be bogged down, and horses be stuck…"

"In the mud. One heavy, rainy day, and the whole army can be stuck in place."

"Exactly!" I smiled at my General. "If nothing else, we can ensure that our supplies are safely stored and carried behind the frontline."

"Will we name this after Pion, too?" He asked, his voice filled with just as much pride as mine.

"Ahahaha, no, he gave it an appropriate name. He is a sensible one. I honestly consider him to be your replacement when you decide to step down and have a family."

"I can do both. Plus, this service lasts until death or until I can no longer be useful to you, My Sovereign." Oleg answered jokingly while I patted his back.

"I am not going to send you away. Start giving Pion more significant responsibilities! Let him gain more and more experience in commanding larger forces and test how well he does with the grander picture! After the Knighting ceremony, I want the army to start doing drills and mock battles with the newest mech included."

"So… we are preparing for the inevitable…"

"Yes, my General. We are. I don't know when war will erupt, but we will be ready."

…

….

……

Under the capital city of Ishillia, Pascal was reading the latest reports, which came through the official channels and those that were delivered by his own hidden force. The situation was getting muddled daily, and with his agents infiltrating the prominent noble families, he was slowly getting to a position where he would be puppeteering both sides. Be it the increasingly rebellious peasants who were feeling that things were slowly beginning to change for them and the disturbed nobles who were genuinely experiencing a loss in power. Month by month, more of their privileges were being stripped away and turned obsolete by Mirian's orders.

"Tsk…"

What he couldn't infiltrate, though, were those who clearly chose Mirian's side. Looking at the map of his Empire, they were all getting transferred and solidified in the North, becoming almost like a growing tumor.

"Maybe it is time to light a spark?" He whispered, unsure of his decision. His people were still working hard to spread their wings and their influence. They needed time. On the other hand, he was feeling impatient for some reason. Something was nudging his soul to get rid of Mirian and do it as soon as possible.

He knew that no matter what, the moment he killed the Empress, it would thrust the Empire into an unavoidable rebellion. Those who were now praising her laws and edicts would want revenge, would want to keep the changes and not give them up.

"This doesn't make sense. There is something I don't know… And that is what troubles my mind."

Pascal understood that he was missing a puzzle piece. Even with everything Ishillia had, Mirian was alienating too many of the nobles to be this assured about her actions. She wasn't like her predecessor, which meant she had something up her sleeve she was confident in.

"It can't be the Scorc people…" He mumbled, glancing only once at the new territory that was now attached to Ishillia. Even if Mirian promised them their freedom, they wouldn't trust her. No... they for sure would betray her.

Whatever happens next, he knew that for the foreseeable future, that territory would rebel with everything they got and at every opportunity. The nobles who got sent there were as good as dead; they just didn't know it yet.

"The Kustovs… And to think I helped them raise to their current level!"

The thought of that family alone enraged him. To think that he also helped them to where they were now, and they were choosing to side with Mirian now?! It made him seethe in anger every time he remembered. When Milan Kustov was assassinated, he thought it would finally bring the family back down to where they should have been, yet he survived. He got brought to the North, though… Again, that fucking North.

"What are you doing there?"

With a flinch, he stood up from his armchair, holding onto the staff he had been bringing everywhere nowadays, and walked deeper into his vault. He had a specific book in mind: an old codex detailing one of the most devastating beast tides that broke through in the early centuries of Ishillian history. After finding the correct one, he quickly flipped to the page that was clearly the most read since the book had been completed in the distant past.

"Year AE 1502. Monsters have been pouring down from the North since three years ago. First, it was only small groups, no larger than horses. With the tribes and barbarians living in the North, old vassals of the Vasas, we didn't bother helping them at all. But… as the years passed, the groups of monsters were growing like locusts. As Emperor, I am obliged to protect my people! I won't let my Empire be threatened by the monsters the Vasas raised and caressed so dearly… It is time for the North to bow to Ishillia. They are unworthy of their freedom."

It was the handwriting of Laxor Ishillia I, the Emperor of Conquest, who subjugated the northern part of Ishillia, beating back the monsters and bringing thirty-four different tribes, kingdoms, and city-states under his rule, unifying the whole region. He was the one who ordained that a Grand Duchy would be established, a Frontier against the beasts, building a wall to block the bloody canyon, the Demon's Pass, and protect Ishillia from harm. He put none other than his own flesh, his trusted younger brother, in charge of the Duchy. It was a heavily militarized land for six centuries, holding back bigger and bigger tides of monsters until, one day, they failed in their duty. A beast the size of a castle broke through, massacring thousands, including the direct bloodline successors of Laxor Ishillia I.

The later codexes that Pascal was piling up on his desk, reading the remaining recounts, all explained that as the centuries have gone by, the Pass kept throwing stronger and stronger monsters at their defenses until one finally broke through, devastating the Grand Duchy of Lothlia. That beast was then slain by using the Spear of Death. Strangely enough, no monsters came for a decade after that disastrous event, as if the Gods themselves spared the people, giving them time to rebuild and reinforce the Pass.

Rereading the history, Pascal soon began murmuring to himself. He had access to the old emperors' and empresses' records, multiple of which detailed how they used the demonic creatures' bodies as invaluable resources, especially when it came to the Emperor of Magic and his few remaining notes.

"Resources…"

He finally began understanding. Mirian was harvesting the defeated demons… She was an intelligent witch; she had to realize how valuable they were, especially in creating magical artifacts. Their skin, bones, and blood were all valuable to a mage!

"You little shit…" He grunted, grinding his teeth, "You think you hit a gold mine? Well… we will see! We will see if your hidden cache can save your life…"

Corty

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