Steel and Mana

I woke up early that day. Leon was out visiting the secret factory we were building in the mountains, checking the work and ensuring everything was being done according to his plans. Whenever he looked at his blueprints, his eyes focused ahead of himself, lost in his thoughts... Every time I watched him like that, he looked enchanting. I always felt my chest, and... well... I felt myself heating up... I always told myself it was because of my magic, but I know better.

"Hauh... Focus, Sasha!"

He didn't go alone, taking Mikki with him. The workers were finishing widening the entrance, and I knew that Mikan was trying to make a formation that would visually hide it from view, so this time, she tagged along to plan it out in person. I was going to have the day easy, but after Merlin told me that Marca was here, looking for Leon, I left my kids with Luna and Yuri, hoping they wouldn't leave a mess behind. Again. Ah, who am I kidding?

By the tone of Merlin, our Alchemy Master was looking for Leon about a significant discovery, something that sounded important indeed. Because he was unavailable for the day, as his wife, it was my job to step up and see what happened. I always felt a bit nervous when doing so, but I tried not to show it. Following Merlin, I met her in the throneroom, and the first thing I noticed was her black fingers and the grime under her fingernails. No matter how much she has scrubbed them, she probably couldn't get it off. Then, there was a slight tinge of sulfur coming off her hair. Hm...

"My deepest apologies for the smell, My Queen!" Marca spoke after bowing, noticing that I wrinkled my nose, but I only raised an eyebrow because it wasn't that bad. I smelt worse. Something way worse than sulfur when I was younger.

"It comes with work." I answered, smiling at her, "Sometimes, my husband tells me I smell like superheated steel after a long day in my forge." I added jokingly, and I was glad to see her chuckle.

I always found it hard to maintain or follow protocol because I didn't feel any different from when I was just a girl in a run-down, abandoned woodcutter camp. I may have been well-dressed now, have a loving family, and even become a mother, but I never felt myself to be royalty. I don't know if I ever will… I don't even know how I should act as Queen, as many are calling me nowadays.

That's why I really enjoy the show we do with Mikan, talking to the people, reading the letters they send in, answering their questions, or just walking around the city with my kids. I never felt it bothersome to sometimes stop and speak with the people. Our people... I… I feel like being one of them, and I think that's so much better than being their ruler. I am happy to let Leon carry the burden of authority and do the ordering around. It is hard enough to keep Yuri and my little imps in line!

Of course, besides thinking about irrelevant thoughts, I still paid attention to her words as she explained that she created… fire. This seemed a bit weird because, of course, we can make fire. When I was still afraid of my gift, I still could smack two rocks together and make a spark. But the way she was speaking, it was not any ordinary fire, so I was even more intrigued now.

"No, my Queen, it is wrong to call it fire because it appears in a flash and then goes away without pouring water onto it!"

"Then it is an energy release." I immediately understood as Leon's lessons and his books began swirling in my mind, and I could easily recall the relevant parts: "What you are describing to me is a sudden release of energy."

"Energy release…" She mumbled, thinking about it.

"Can you show me?"

"Certainly!"

I was surprised that she didn't do it inside the palace, but I understood it after seeing it. We went to the training field, where we always tested our cannons and weapons. It seems that Marca and her husband came way earlier because the latter and some of our soldiers had already prepared multiple portions of 'fire powder' in different containers and in various amounts. For safety reasons, I told them that it would be me who ignited them while they stood behind me at a safe distance. By now, the feeling of magic, the mana within me, was as natural as breathing. I just thought of the relevant spell, and the runes popped into existence as fast as my thoughts allowed them to be. It happened quicker than I could speak; my tiny fire formation appeared in place, spewing a teeny spark onto the first pile, letting it release the energy within in a bright flash. It was indeed as I expected! What I did not expect was that the last one was a pretty loud explosion, launching the barrel up to the sky for at least ten meters. The kids would love it…

"How… is it?" Marca asked, bringing me out of my thoughts, already knowing that Leon would like this a lot. This had to be the powder he once mentioned to me. His world's magic solution and what drove their warfare to a level that destroyed significant parts of his world.

"I was right; it is not exactly fire but a violent release of energy!" I nodded, clapping my hands to show her how happy I was. It was indeed an important milestone!

"I knew it was similar to how our cannons sound, but I didn't realize it would be this loud." She sighed, relieved, rubbing her ears because the last one was like thunder.

"Yes… It is similar." I hummed, explaining how Leon explained it to me once, "Imagine, if you will, a dry sack of grain. If you burn it slowly, it will turn to ash bit by bit, like a log in the hearth. But now imagine that same grain, ground into fine dust and scattered in the air. If you set it alight, the fire would leap through the air much faster than a single log could burn. The difference is how quickly the fire can move and how much air can simultaneously reach all the tiny bits."

"Hmm…" She hummed, listening, imagining the scenario, waiting for me to continue.

"Now, your powder holds a great deal of potential energy, much like a spring ready to uncoil. Lighting this powder makes it burn quickly, far faster than wood or other things, because all its ingredients are eager to release their energy. It doesn't just burn as a candle does; it explodes. Just like the spell our cannons spew."

"Which is stronger?"

"Magic." I answered without hesitation, "But that doesn't mean this is useless! Not at all!" I quickly continued, not wanting her to think she made something useless. "What truly makes this powder special is the speed at which it changes. The fire travels through the powder, releasing all of its energy in the blink of an eye. This energy comes out in the form of heat and, most importantly, a sudden expansion of air—so fast and forceful that it pushes against anything nearby. If you put this powder in a closed space, like our cannons, the force has nowhere to go but out through the open end! This would drive whatever is in front of it forward with incredible power. It can launch stones or iron balls farther and harder than any man could throw."

"In simpler words, the sudden release of energy stored inside the powder causes an explosion, much like how a tightly bound spring leaps out of your hand when released…" She repeated, understanding my explanation, showing why she was our top alchemist.

"Exactly! Especially useful when magic fails us. Because this wouldn't."

"Magic failing?" She laughed, but seeing I was dead serious, she slowly stopped. "How could that happen, My Queen?"

"Via magic." I answered her question with a soft smile, "Magic's greatest enemy is magic…"

…

….

……

"It is gunpowder, alright." I nodded after listening to my wife and seeing the thing for myself. I had just returned from my trip with Mikan and Oleg, feeling slightly exhausted, but the news quickly made me forget my tiredness.

"Will you make some of those weapons you told me about?" she asked while sitting down in my lap, hand-feeding me the sandwiches she had made. It was already late, and only the two of us were in my office, enjoying a little time alone.

"No. That needs more than gunpowder. What I am familiar with and what I could just copy from my past life is way more sophisticated. I could recreate it, and we could divert the resources and time needed to develop them, but not with how we are right now. We are already stretched thin with all our projects. Plus… We have alternatives. What we observed previously is that against the monsters, I don't know if launching small projectiles would have any effect. Just think of their natural armor before we begin using it. In our tests, swords and hammers broke apart before their skin could even be scratched. Launching a bullet against it probably would shatter just the same."

"Are you saying it's useless?" She asked, feeling unsure if she agreed with me on that.

"Nope. I'm just saying I am not going to waste time and effort on developing small caliber guns when they are going to fail me facing against monsters."

"You are not even worried about the war!" She giggled, pecking my cheeks.

"I am, but I feel that the monsters are a more significant threat. If we are in a fight, our current technological advantage is already something that a regular human army would find hard to overcome. Even in a close-quarter battle, our elite soldiers' armors shrug off their arrows; their blades won't go through with a few strikes either. Yet, our bone-made weapons will penetrate their heaviest knights' plates. We are in a good position when it comes to facing humans. With new cannons, it will be enough to cement our lead and blast them from a safe distance, even if they use magic to cancel out our magic."

"Plus, if we build strong enough cannons, they could hurt even the monsters."

"Hopefully," I agreed, gently caressing her thighs and enjoying her sweet, natural scent. "We can use it to build defensive formations, make bombs, or excavate the mountain range. But first, before that happens, I need to know how much we can make."

"I sent her home to rest," she whispered, snuggling up against me while demanding me to hug her more tightly. I already knew she was in the mood, and I could feel it as her sweet scent became even stronger. "She will return tomorrow… We can talk about it then…"

"Understood." I chuckled, slipping my fingers down between her thighs before lifting her up and laying her on my desk, very quickly opening her clothes to reveal her naked body. "Were you planning on this~? Where is your underwear?" I asked while leaning forward and kissing her body, watching her shiver and goosebumps appear all around her skin.

"Maybe…" she answered with a moan, her fingers slipping into my hair as my tongue traveled further down. "Hauh… Okay… Ah! I was!"

"Good girl." I whispered with a grin, my head already between her legs. "Let me dig in then~! A good midnight snack is something I can't say no to!"