《It's a Revolution》


 Chapter 1

    They called it the Matter-Tool.


    A revolutionary item that could assemble and disassemble material objects with ease. It was the ultimate tool for construction and synthesis.


    Even after a dozen years passed, the Matter-Tool was still their most valuable object.


    It took 30 years and thousands of ultra-rare materials to build a single one. The bulk of the difficulty came from the creation of antimatter, as well as self sustaining reactions to maintain equal antimatter-matter pairings within the device. The power it could generate, despite being such a small tool, was astronomical, the principles that founded its conception unfathomable to all but a few. But the cost was worth it, as a single man armed with this tool could change entire worlds.


    And that¡¯s what they did with it.


    They were called Tool Corporation. And within this corporation was a secret society that held control over the Matter-Tools.


    This secret society chose one person every 30 years to wield each newly made Matter-Tool. And then, through a special portal, they would send those chosen to other worlds in order to establish a presence there.


    But these worlds weren¡¯t just any ordinary habitable planets through the galaxy.


    These were worlds in other dimensions. Other universes!


    It was the ultimate expansion plan for Tool Corporation. And that meant that their specially few chosen needed to be absolutely loyal to the corporation.


    ¡­


    My name is Number Six, and I¡¯m one of the special chosen.


    The Matter-Tool was prepared a months ago, and now, after decades of careful scrutiny and approval, I was cleared to become the next Controller, wielder of the Matter-Tool who could go on to take over an extra-dimensional world.


    In front of me was the Council. They were the old men who distributed the Matter-Tools and oversaw the dimension portal.


    I had fought for my entire life, against thousands of others raised from birth just like me, to receive this ¡®honor¡¯. I was the best, but also within their grasp. Quite the paradoxical position.


    ¡°Six, your place has been chosen. Now, the time has come. Step inside.¡±


    One of the elders waved, pointing to a large canister.


    I did as he said and entered it. At the same time, I glanced at the other two canisters that were to the left and right.


    I tried my hardest to keep my expression from changing as I saw the items.


    The first was the Matter-Tool. I wouldn¡¯t get my hands on it until I was sent to the other world.


    The other item though was quite sinister. It looked like a large robotic parasite, and it was the thing that would ensure that even the most loyal subordinates would remain that way until their death.


    It made you a minion of the Council, a way for them to control you even from another dimension. So when one of the elders was sent to the same world in order to live the life of a supreme ruler atop the kingdom you created for them, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about their loyal subordinates having turned against them in the time they were independent.


    In order to keep myself from inwardly cursing, I forced my mind to go blank. I refused to have any kind of emotional thoughts, just focusing on what was ahead of me.


    I stepped into the canister, after which it closed.


    ¡°Prepare the portal!¡±


    With those words, I could feel the space around me distort.


    These portal sequences didn¡¯t cost much less than creating an entire Matter-Tool. They took astronomical amounts of energy and force in order to tear open a dimension with the power of countless miniature black holes. And the equipment used in the process was all destroyed, meaning they had to build brand new equipment and prepare all that energy for the portal every single time.


    It would cost far more if they were transporting anything other than a single person and two items.


    I observed the Council as everything around me changed.


    ¡®Keep it together¡­ Just stay calm¡­¡¯


    I spoke to myself as my vision warped. And then, after a few minutes, the portal sequence finally completed.


    My body disappeared, and my consciousness faded.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    I regained consciousness and opened my eyes, seeing an unfamiliar ceiling. It was dark, so it was obviously night time.


    But despite the drowsiness that came over me, the instant I realized that the portal sequence was successful, I looked at my left arm.


    On it, I could see the parasite burrowing through my skin. It was miraculously painless.


    I reacted violently.


    ¡°Tool!¡±


    With a shout, my right hand raised. Within my grasp was the Matter-Tool.


    The Matter-Tool couldn¡¯t be used against the parasite, a function built into the tool itself. Under normal circumstances, that was.


    My preparations for this day ran deep. My endeavors were not executed by me alone. I had studied the tool extensively with help from insiders I had befriended over many years, and I had this particular tool specially engineered. It was identical to all the others, except for just a single missing program.


    The Parasite Integration Program. It was overseen by the Council itself and a select few engineers who actually understood the tech. They were screened just as extensively as everyone else, and yet I wasn¡¯t alone when I began my life of rebellion.


    The risks I had taken by making those friends were nothing short of lethal. They would have been, at least, if they hadn¡¯t paid off massively.


    Now, I was about to reap the fruits of my labor.


    ¡°Tool! Emergency emission protocol!¡±


    [Designate target.]


    ¡°The parasite crawling into my body!¡±


    [Confirmed.]


    ¡°Haha!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t stifle the laugh when the Tool¡¯s power actually targetted the parasite. The pain that followed was hardly worth the attention.


    I felt my hand change, but when I was going to take a look, all the power within the power source, the Antimatter Core, was emitted.


    My body was used as the conductor, the mediator for massive electrical currents. My nerves were directly fried, especially if the parasite had gotten to them already.


    ¡°AAAGGHH! HAHAHAHA!¡±


    My laughs came out with the screams. I was ecstatic even as my heart was stopped and restarted dozens of times over.


    This pain felt so damn good. I had never felt anything better.


    The faces of all the others I had been forced to fight flashed into my mind. The death games, the intelelctual battles, the constant subterfuge and backstabbing. The loneliness, knowing that despite someone being flawlessly loyal for decades even under scrutiny, it was always possible for them to turn around one day and stab you in the back. Because in the end, only one person could win.


    But I didn¡¯t win because I had been heartless. I hadn¡¯t betrayed everyone who ever followed me. I had been betrayed, I had almost died. But I was also followed by many. There were those who proved that they were loyal with their lives. And I had watched them die, let them die, without so much as a change in expression.


    It was all necessary. Every second of perfectly constructed personas and personalities was all necessary for the sake of being chosen. I had to admit that many things lined up perfectly for me. I was lucky no small amount of times.


    And yet I still felt all the same rage.


    The Council. Those old bastards who had killed my brothers and sisters.


    Someday, they¡¯d pay with their lives. Someday, I would return to collect.


    This pain was the first step toward that goal. And I couldn¡¯t fathom a better feeling than finally getting started.


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    At some point, the process stopped. My body stopped convulsing, relaxing into the bed I happened to be on.


    My arm, now a burnt mess of meat, fell limp. At the palm I could see the parasite no longer moving, its tail sticking out of my skin.


    I grabbed it and pulled, yanking out the skinny 4 foot long snake.


    ¡°Annihilate.¡±


    [Unable to Annihilate. Antimatter Core damaged. Cause: hostile reaction from designated target.]


    ¡°Shit. Then Decompose.¡±


    [Decomposing.]


    A beam shot out of my hand, deconstructing the metal parasite. It fell to the bed sheets as metal dust. Then I watched as the beam went over all the metal dust, scattering it into fine particles unseen by the naken eye, barely noticeable as an ashy substance like graphite.


    I let out a breath, blowing it all away. It felt like all of my life¡¯s problems were scattering with that ash.


    Then, I heard footsteps. Lights flickered on in the hallway leading to my room.


    I didn¡¯t know anybody here, not yet anyway. But I was also too tired to care. For the first time in my life I was allowed true respite. It would take time to get used to that fact, but for now, I was too exhausted to care.


    [Warning: Host heart failing. Taking resuscitating measures.]


    Oh, I guess that¡¯s why I felt like passing out so bad.


    [Shocking. Shock unsuccessful.]


    ¡°Audius?¡±


    [Shocking¡­ Shock unsuccessful.]


    ¡°Audius!¡±


    [Shocking¡­]


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    I was the son of Duke Charles Fawkes. My name was Audius.


    My father the Duke had five children. Three sons and two daughters. Of them, I was the third son and fourth child.


    Unfortunately, it seemed like I was a rather ambitionless child who never did anything to better himself.


    With no hopes of being my father¡¯s heir to the dukedom and no immediately apparent talents, I had become a ghost in the background, socially inept yet self aware enough to realize it.


    So while I didn¡¯t embarrass the family by being a no-good deadbeat who went whoring around and throwing money all over the place, I also wasn¡¯t doing their name any justice. I hid in the background, afraid to try anything for fear of failing to live up to expectations, or even worse, embarrass myself and my siblings.


    The other two sons, who were the first two children, were constantly competing for the position of Heir. The third child and first daughter was similarly competing, and she could do this because she had amazing talent.


    As for the fifth child and second daughter, well, her situation was a bit special.


    It was actually her special situation that ended up making us the closest to each other.


    That¡¯s also why she appeared beside my bed when I woke up.


    ¡°Huuhh¡­¡±


    I let out a long breath as my eyes took in their blurred surroundings.


    My head hurt due to all the new memories. They were merging with my original memories as Six.


    That also meant that, in a way, I had become Audius Fawkes.


    It was an incredibly odd experience. On one hand, I was feeling the new emotions that Audius did. On the other, there was the relief of a free man coming from Six.


    After taking a few minutes to think consciously¡­


    ¡°Audius. Are you okay?¡±


    I heard the language of this other world come from my sister¡¯s mouth. She seemed genuinely concerned for me as she sat beside my bed.


    When I looked at her, I felt the care that I always held for my sister. I wanted to smile, happy that she was there for me.


    So I did. It was half uncontrollable, and half allowed. My persona as Six was strong, but that didn¡¯t easily trump all the memories ingrained into this body. However, I also didn¡¯t fight it too much. I had to adopt this new character, else risk being exposed.


    ¡°Yes, Grace. I¡¯m okay.¡±


    ¡°Good. Can you talk? Who did this to you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    I easily lied. It wasn¡¯t like I was going to tell her about the parasite and the Tool.


    Turning my head, I observed my arm to assess the damage.


    It didn¡¯t look pretty, though much better than it should.


    There were horrible black scars across my arm along with some tender skin. Somehow, I seemed to have healed massively while I was asleep, because last I saw, my entire arm was charred black.


    Now there were only the scars remaining, things that wouldn¡¯t go away easily even given tens of years. My arm would be scarred for the rest of my life. It was a price I¡¯d pay any day for my freedom.


    As for the healing¡­


    I searched through my new memories.


    This world wasn¡¯t an ordinary one.


    Here, there were some people who were blessed with supernatural talents. I compared it to magic, but it was a little different.


    They were called Sorcerers, and a Sorcerer¡¯s supernatural ability was basically set in stone besides a couple of evolutions when they met certain conditions. Not much was known about the nature of the abilities.


    But there were many popular examples. For instance, healing. Those with healing abilities were sought everywhere. Many noble households kept one or two healers with them.


    My father kept a healer, a nice middle aged lady. It was no doubt her that fixed me up.


    Unfortunately, Sorcerers weren¡¯t exactly accepted by common society.


    Just about every kingdom and empire in this world either enslaved or outright hunted Sorcerers. There were only a few groups that supported them, and those groups were similarly hunted.


    Only healers were a protected minority, and even then, they had very little human rights. They were treated more as a resource, a tool.


    ¡°The guards searched your room, but they found nothing that would indicate an assassination. It just looks like your arm got set on fire. The whole situation is rather confusing. Are you sure you don¡¯t know anything?¡±


    I looked back at my sister. She was a cute girl a few years younger than me at around 18 years old. As the daughter of a Duke, she was naturally beautiful with exotic purple hair and black eyes.


    And although she seemed to be asking with suspicion, I knew she wasn¡¯t actually suspicious of me.


    I gave her the obvious answer.


    ¡°Do I look like I would set my own arm on fire?¡±


    ¡°Some are suspecting that you¡¯ve awoken.¡±


    ¡°We both know awakenings don¡¯t go like that.¡±


    ¡°...Yeah.¡±


    She nodded with a sigh.


    ¡°Get some rest. A maid will be in soon to tend to your wounds. Father also wishes to speak with you, but he¡¯s willing to wait until tomorrow if you¡¯re too tired.¡±


    ¡°Then if you can, tell him that I¡¯ll see him tomorrow. I¡¯d like a day to collect myself.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    After that, Grace exited the room, leaving me alone.


    I let out a long breath and organized myself.


    I raised my right hand.


    When I did, the Tool didn¡¯t appear in my grasp. The Tool was supposed to integrate with the body and manifest when summoned. It was a neat function that prevented it from ever being lost, stolen, or tampered with. In fact, the Tool had some biological functions that made us genetically reliant on it. If the Tool failed, we would die. If it was broken or lost in transit during the dimensional jump, we would die.


    These genes were given to us at birth, and the only reason we didn¡¯t die before getting the Tool was because they kept us alive with special devices. Those devices were also leashes that they could use to kill us whenever they pleased. They simply had to turn off the devices, and our bodies would kill themselves.


    Either way, it was immediately apparent that things had changed. I noticed some of these changes before, but had obviously been occupied with more important things.


    This time, when I called on the tool, it didn¡¯t appear. Instead, I felt something change with my left arm.


    My arm only had light bandages that exposed the wounds. So, following the odd feeling, I removed the bandages around my hand.


    And on my palm¡­


    The Antimatter Core, a pitch black orb with a bright sparking light in the center, the power source for the Tool. It was embedded into the center of my hand, and seemed to be connected directly to my body through black scars that spread from it and across my hand. I could tell that they were no longer flesh.


    Not only that, but on the tips of my fingers appeared metallic pads. These pads sharpened to a point over my fingernail.


    I faintly recognized the structure these physical anomalies were forming.


    ¡°The Tool¡­¡±


    It had integrated itself with my body, but in a non-standard way. It seemed to have taken on a new form using my arm as its body. Still, it retained the general shape necessary for it  to operate.


    Even this though had been talked about during my training. Tool Corporation knew that anything could happen in other dimensions. Not even the laws of physics may necessarily be the same.


    For now, I just checked its functions.


    Hopefully the parasite didn¡¯t damage the core too much.


    ¡°Run a diagnosis on the power core.¡±


    With that command, I felt a sting in my brain. The process of information being directly written into my mind wasn¡¯t nice the first time. It was like losing your virginity, but with biodata transfers instead of sex.


    [Diagnosis: Partial structural damage. Significant decrease in antimatter levels and reduction in power output and self-sustaining antimatter generation. No irreparable damage. Reserving majority of power output for antimatter generation and maintenance. Estimated time to return to equilibrium: unknown.]


    [Warning. Several functions of the Matter-Tool have been locked due to insufficient power.]


    [Warning. The laws of physics in this dimension are slightly different than normal. Complex blueprints are unable to be constructed. You must carry out research in order to rectify physical values.]


    A slew of lines appeared in my mind, outlining a standard diagnosis.


    I sighed while rubbing my temple.


    I wasn¡¯t given a schedule regarding repairs, and the Tool couldn¡¯t detect any irreparable damage. That was a very good sign, but it also meant that a full repair could take a while.


    It was working, at least


    As for the research part, that was standard procedure.


    Tool Corporation knew that other dimensions might have different physical laws. Thankfully, they could tell which dimensions had physical laws that were closer to ours, and those were the ones they chose to send us to.


    In this instance, I would need to rectify the informational values of the physical laws. Stuff like finding out if gravity was stronger or if the electromagnetic force was weaker. They could be infinitely small differences, but that stuff was necessary to know in order to carry out things like atomization or molecular reconstruction.


    This also meant that more complex blueprints couldn¡¯t be constructed. I would have to develop them after carrying out research.


    This physical law difference was also the reason for me taking over someone else¡¯s body instead of me being dropped into the world as if I were an alien.


    In order to adapt to the physical laws, the dimensional portal basically rewrote the code of the universe. At least, that¡¯s how I understood it. The reality of that technology was beyond me.


    Anyway, by doing this, they could spawn in objects and even overwrite existing ones. That¡¯s how my memories and will were inserted into Audius. We are now both the same person, with two merged sets of memories and emotions.


    It was also how the Tool could still exist. By being written into this universe, the physical laws were automatically applied to it, allowing it to function generally as it did before. The only problem was that the blueprints and knowledge on the Tool realied on information from the previous dimension and couldn¡¯t necessarily be applied here. It didn¡¯t actually know how it was able to function as it did before and therefore couldn¡¯t apply those solutions to its existing information. I would have to develop it personally.


    It was all a convoluted system.


    Either way, I was here in this new body. And I wasn¡¯t lying when I told Grace that I needed a day to collect myself.


    It was time to figure out what the hell I was going to do with myself in this new place.

 Chapter 2 - Territory

    Duke Fawkes was responsible for a massive portion of territory that comprised an entire quarter of the Verlenium Empire.


    There were three other Dukes of the Empire that managed the other three quarters. And within his own territory, there were smaller Countys that were managed by a few Counts and border territories managed by a couple Marquesses.


    As a Duke, Charles Fawkes was treated as superior to even the Imperial Princes and Princesses, of which there were a few. In that way, his children were only lesser than the Imperial children.


    At least, that was on paper. In reality, the status and treatment heavily depended on the Duke¡¯s own opinions on his children, as well as their own power within the family.


    The heirs obviously had more influence than those at the bottom of the barrel.


    For this reason, I suppose I wasn¡¯t surprised by the news my father had for me once I finally went to go and see him after recovering.


    Upon entering my father¡¯s study, I wasn¡¯t spoken to for several minutes.


    Instead, my father shuffled through a few large maps. When he finally chose one and laid it out on a table, he turned around, facing out a window behind his mahogany desk.


    ¡°You will choose a piece of my territory. A small city will be the limit, and a small town the minimum. What you choose is what you will travel to and rule over from this day forth.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I was silent.


    It was a sudden command, but I had a feeling that this wasn¡¯t something he just suddenly came up with.


    I was 22 years old, and I had made nothing of my name. I studied just enough and acted just enough to get by. I was neither amazing nor an embarrassment.


    I was invisible in the family. I hardly ever spoke to either my father or mother, both of them busy interacting with important figures and my older siblings who were fighting for fortune and favor.


    And my father didn¡¯t resent me, just like I didn¡¯t resent him. We were neutral to each other, more than strangers, but not much better than acquaintances, certainly not friends.


    What he was doing now was actually quite his style, and in reality, this could be considered a huge gift.


    It was his way of both kicking me out and giving me a chance.


    Not a chance to become his heir or anything of the sort, but a chance to make something of myself.


    If I managed a small piece of land well, then I could set myself up for the rest of my slow life, living relatively comfortably without having much to worry about.


    I could just sit on the sidelines, maybe marry a girl or three, and watch as the empire went through its various phases.


    Honestly, for one who wanted a peaceful and fulfilling life, this was the dream, even though it also meant a dead end. My father was being amazingly generous in this way.


    I was touched.


    Or, the me who was Six was touched. The me who was Audius wouldn¡¯t be able to realize the depth of this gift. He might even be flustered, scrambling to understand why his father was kicking him out.


    But now, we were both the same. I had enough time to process this merging of two people.


    But, I also had time to think about what I was going to do with my life.


    And this gift, this opportunity¡­


    I couldn¡¯t have asked for anything more.


    I was thrilled as I calmly walked over to the map, gazing upon its detailed lines and dozens of landmarks with an amazingly neutral expression. I wasn¡¯t acting exactly like Audius would, which would definitely be noticed. But I decided that I needed to establish the fact that I had changed a bit here and now.


    I analyzed the map.


    My father¡¯s Dukedom extended all the way out toward one border of the Empire, so he, along with the Marquesses under him, maintained a large standing army. Not just that, but his land was rich in resources, making him powerful even amongst the Dukes.


    The north of his territory was bordered by a mountain range, and the south was bordered by a Sea. To the east was the rest of the empire, and to the west were open borders neighboring another empire and one kingdom.


    There were all kinds of rivers, mountainous terrain, lakes, and rich forests. There were also countless villages and small cities operated by Barons, most of which surrounded the major cities operated by the Counts.


    I had to choose a spot to inherit. It was definitely difficult, especially since I hadn¡¯t studied the geography much.


    But, what I did know was enough to make an educated decision, meaning I wasn¡¯t just taking a blind shot.


    I had a few criteria. I needed hard resources, a water source, and the position needed to be advantageous both politically and militarily.


    Also, the place needed to have a good amount of people, meaning I wanted the largest established city I could get.


    With all that factored in¡­


    There were only two spots that I could choose from, and neither of them had significant enough mineral deposits to get marked.


    So, I asked.


    ¡°Father, may I ask a question.¡±


    ¡°That depends.¡±


    I could tell. He was evaluating me with every word I spoke. Recalling Audius¡¯ memories, I knew that he was always like this, though Audius didn¡¯t know it.


    If I didn¡¯t ask the right question, he wouldn¡¯t answer. If it were a stupid question, like asking why he was doing this, then he might choose a small town for me and send me out.


    But I wasn¡¯t worried.


    I pointed to two spots on the map, both spots on opposite ends of the territory.


    ¡°Do either of these places have unearthed or abandoned mineral deposits?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    After taking a few seconds, my father actually turned around. I looked him in the eye, not shying away from his sharp gaze.


    My father, despite only being in his fifties, already had greying hair. He was a hard working man, an upright one. He was someone that I respected, both as Six and Audius.


    He was cunning, smart, ruthless, yet generous. You couldn¡¯t ask more from a leader, it was why he was a Duke, though as a son, you might want him to be a bit more connected.


    Regardless¡­


    He looked at me before looking down. After taking a long look at the two spots, he responded.


    ¡°Why do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to do more than just get by as a small administrator. I was thinking that, at least with a mine, I could sell minerals to you and contribute to the family. Or perhaps, you could think of it as me taking care of Grace.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    My father was silent, but he didn¡¯t seem unapproving. Looking back down, he pointed to one of the spots.


    The spot was a small city, a place located near a mountain, yet also near the border. There was a major river there, and it was generally in a good position, hence why I chose it.


    ¡°This place has an average sized Iron deposit not far from it. Since it has been idling there for years, I will give you the rights to that barren land. In exchange, I shall send an administrator with you who will be responsible for managing the daily affairs of your new territory, and I will own 40% of all iron that you excavate and smelt. I shall also give you a small sum of money as a loan that will help establish the mine, one that you will be responsible for repaying.¡±


    Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    My father laid out a few additions to this little agreement we were making.


    In this way, he was giving me more of a chance to prosper. With an iron deposit, I could make far more money than normal. It held enough potential to make me a sizeable trading partner.


    Of course, that was if I played my cards right as a competent ruler. And this was the purpose of the spare administrator and the loan.


    My father wanted to keep tabs on me and my spending to see if I would really develop myself. This loan would be the tool he used to measure my ability, along with the administrator who would no doubt report to him.


    It was a form of surveillance, but I didn¡¯t mind.


    So, after he laid out the few conditions, he looked to me for confirmation.


    Normally this would be too complicated for Audius to grasp. But, I was no longer just Audius.


    I nodded to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best with what you give me.¡±


    ¡°Mm. I look forward to your results. I will give you four days to leave.¡±


    ¡°I understand. Thank you, father.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    With that, I turned and left the study. I could feel my father¡¯s gaze on my back as I did so.


    I headed back to my room. When I arrived though, I saw Grace outside my door.


    She looked concerned as she noticed me.


    ¡°Audius.¡±


    ¡°Grace.¡±


    ¡°What did father want you for?¡±


    Worry laced her question. Perhaps rumors of me awakening as a Sorcerer had her thinking that father was going to do something to me.


    But not even she could¡¯ve guessed the reality.


    ¡°Father has given me a small city to rule over. Within the next four days, I am to leave the house and take residence in my new territory.¡±


    ¡°New territory¡­¡±


    She was quickly shocked by my words.


    ¡°What?! Father¡­ he¡¯s kicking you out?¡±


    ¡°Yes and no.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you seem calm about this. You do realize what he¡¯s doing right? He¡¯s placing you on the road to a dead end.¡±


    Grace was a bit panicked as she tried to explain the implications. And it was true. Even with the mine, this was basically a death sentence to any kind of ambitious career I¡¯d ever hope to embark on.


    But she didn¡¯t know what I knew.


    ¡°Grace, it¡¯s okay. I mean, did I ever plan on competing with our brothers and sister for the seat of heir?¡±


    ¡°...No.¡±


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no reason for me not to take this offer. Besides¡­¡±


    Suddenly, I glanced around, making sure there was nobody in the hallway. Then, I pulled Grace close, putting my mouth near her ear.


    I whispered softly.


    ¡°Your guess about my awakening as a Sorcerer may not be off the mark.¡±


    ¡°...What?¡±


    I could feel her shake a bit.


    ¡°But you said¡­¡±


    ¡°I just didn¡¯t know how to explain it. It seems to be something with my mind. I don¡¯t know the details myself yet. Still, I¡¯ve made plans to explore this while in the territory father has given me.¡±


    I backed away with a small smile. This was the best way I could cover myself when the time came to develop things with my Tool.


    Grace stood there for several moments, processing the weight of my words. Then, she looked at me with a determined gaze.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming with you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but you should tell father.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Saying that, she immediately marched off to father¡¯s study.


    I knew father would agree. After all, Grace wasn¡¯t unlike me who blended into the background of the family. Normally she would be close with our mother, but our mother was always focused on the eldest daughter who was fighting for the position of heir. Grace wasn¡¯t spared a single glance. In that way, our mother was even worse than our father.


    We were the outcasts, and we stuck together. That was one thing I couldn¡¯t suppress when becoming Audius.


    I cared for Grace deeply. She was the most important person to me in this life.


    So I was happy when I heard that Grace was going to start packing.


    With that, we prepared to leave our home.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    Neither our father nor mother were there to see us off.


    There were only three carriages along with a small armed escort of knights. Grace and I were in one carriage while the administrator my father assigned was in another. The last was for a few guards.


    Other than that, it was quiet in the early morning. It was rather lonely. We really were being kicked out, and neither of our parents were even willing to pretend to care about our departure.


    Not that we needed their goodbyes. Grace and I had been on our own for plenty of time now. I was neutral with my father, and Grace was estranged from our mother, who was arguably worse than our father in terms of parental love.


    So perhaps this dull send off was appropriate.


    Without delay, our items were packed, and we were on our way.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    There are two ways to rule.


    As a tyrant, or as a lord.


    A tyrant retains absolute control of its people. Nothing happens without the tyrant¡¯s hand in the middle. Trade, production, military, education, development. All these things are managed directly by the tyrant and those that comprise his eyes, ears, and hands.


    A Lord, on the other hand, merely manages the general affairs of his people and leads them toward prosperity. While the Lord would have his place in the aspects of its society like production and trade, he would only be there for the purposes of facilitating it, establishing the channels and guidelines to go about trading with others.


    It was the difference between the people working for their leader and the leader working for his people.


    Of course, there were many other details one had to consider. Many specific laws and doctrines could affect these things and determine just how free the people were to do as they wished. The technological level of the society also greatly affected the modes of production and trade, creating and destroying industries, and changing how people needed to be managed.


    My dilemma was precisely over these particulars.


    As Six, I was educated for years and taught things from just about every field there was in education.


    From government, to science, to tactical combat. I was taught everything, and I would need to use everything in this other world.


    After all, we were sent here as agents who were required to establish not just a foothold, but an empire of our own. Preferably, we were meant to take over the world, but sometimes that wasn¡¯t entirely possible.


    Nevertheless.


    We special few had to choose the best system of rule to use in order to establish ourselves. This had to change depending on the factors the people of this world presented us, including things from the global environment to different genetic predispositions.


    Normally being a tyrant was the easiest and most effective way. By using our Tools and developing impossible technology on these often primitive worlds, we could easily take control of the masses and use them as nothing more than cattle to perform labor.


    Being a Lord was a bit harder, but its results had the potential to be far greater than that of a tyranny, especially when it came time for a Coucil Elder to come and inherit the Empire we created.


    While Grace and I made our way to my territory, I thought long and hard about how I was going to run things.


    And I immediately decided that I wasn¡¯t going to be a tyrant.


    There was no need to be. I was a free man. There was no parasite to control me and no Council to determine my fate. This was a new life for me in a new world. Although there would be depts to collect if and when I ever became capable of going back, for the time being, it was an impossible goal that I couldn¡¯t think about right now.


    If I was going to become a ruler, which I was, then I was going to make sure that my people were prosperous and grateful to their lord. None of us who were in the running for a Matter-Tool were ambitionless. We all had grand thoughts of vast empires that we sat at the top of. We all had our own deep philosophies.


    I wanted to enjoy my life even though I had grand plans, so my philosophy was that of unbridled fortune.


    But unfortunately, certain things that I would be doing had to be a bit tyrannical.


    For instance, technology. I controlled the endless knowledge of technology and science that was thousands of years ahead of this world. In that way, I was a tyrant who would be controlling the technological development of my empire. There would likely be nothing that happened without my intention.


    But, those kinds of things were unavoidable. I wasn¡¯t going to wait hundreds of years for things to advance naturally.


    As for the little details, those would be implemented as I needed them to be.


    ¡­¡­


    Our trip took around 11 days. My new territory was close to the border and the Duke Fawkes estate was not so close to the border.


    Luckily, just about every day we were able to settle at a village or city for the nights. This also allowed me to evaluate this world¡¯s technological era.


    The iron age was already long past, and this place was at minimum making its way beyond the middle ages.


    One major landmark in a civilization¡¯s development was the creation of cities. A large city meant that farmers had enough technology to not only grow vast amounts of food, but transport them to the cities.


    There weren¡¯t any vehicles beyond horse drawn carriages, but there were a few things I saw while within the cities that made me realize this world was headed in the right direction.


    For one, the cotton gin and the printing press. I personally saw these two items after searching for them in the two cities we passed through. I was pleasantly surprised. This meant that this place was at least on the verge of entering an industrial revolution.


    And this was just in the cities we passed. Neither of them were major capital cities, which would have the best technology.


    It was comforting knowing that this world wasn¡¯t in the middle ages and was advancing nicely. However, there was still one outstanding issue that I would have to decide on in the future.


    Sorcerers.


    These people were supernatural, and also represented another branch of technological, or magical, development.


    From my memories I knew that most global powers did not like these Sorcerers. They were seen as the spawns of what this world thought of as the devil, only, unlike witch trials and such which were unfounded power trips, these people really did possess amazing and exotic powers.


    It was something new, something beyond pure technology, that could vastly warp this world¡¯s future.


    Unfortunately, because of the conflict between the ordinary and the magical, this world was still in a kind of deadlock. They were beyond the middle ages, but they weren¡¯t quite pushing into the industrialized era.


    This world naturally had its religions, and there were three major religions that Audius knew of.


    The people of this world still needed to push into the age of reason, realizing that science didn¡¯t contradict religion, and work on wholeheartedly advancing technology.


    But the religions and the issue with Sorcerers kept that from happening. These two groups warped the public, hampering them from progress.


    It was likely an issue I would need to tackle myself, if I was going to play as ambitiously as I wanted.


    ¡°We¡¯re entering the city.¡±


    Suddenly, on the final day of travel, Grace alerted me.

 Chapter 3 - Archdruid

    I opened one of the windows of my carriage to look outside.


    Our escorts and their horses trotted into the city on stone roads. The city guards stood to the side respectfully and stiffly.


    I looked up at the sign we passed under.


    ¡®Northtown.¡¯


    That was the name of this place, a name that came from a time when this small city was much smaller.


    Many heads were turned as our carriages entered, dozens of citizens staring at our escort that was equipped with luxury well beyond the city¡¯s lord.


    Everyone made way as we headed to the city center.


    I looked around at my new territory as we passed by buildings and curious citizens.


    Most houses were made of brick and mortar and stone. All the buildings got progressively nicer toward the center of the city, which was natural. Weird enough though, this city didn¡¯t have a wall.


    Toward the east side of the city was a major river. To the north were mountain ranges.


    There weren¡¯t many farmers or farmland nearby. Those food growing centers usually became the foundation of villages, and this city was close to several that it received food from.


    Other than growing food though, this city had no major specialties.


    Production was minimal in all areas. It was only enough for citizens to get by and for the city to pay taxes. The person running this city simply didn¡¯t have the skilled labor necessary to prosper in any significant capacity.


    It was a normal small city.


    Still, I was curious as to how the current lord of the city would react. After all, he was basically being kicked out.


    Not that I didn¡¯t have my own plans for him.


    Thankfully, I was able to satisfy my curiosity soon.


    In the city center, besides the large City Hall, there was a notable manor. It was here that we stopped.


    ¡°Ugh, those are not fun rides.¡±


    I grunted while climbing out of my carriage. The comfort level of transportation needed plenty of work, even with the luxurious inserts of a Duke¡¯s carriage.


    Grace smiled at me before we both took up positions at the front of the escort. There, we saw the gates of the manor.


    The only person in this city with a manor was the city lord.


    And he was already there to greet us.


    This world seemed to have its own seasons, and currently, we were in the spring season. It was cool yet humid, yet the city lord who seemed to have been standing there for a while was sweating.


    I had researched this man prior to coming.


    ¡°Baron Hviral, thank you for greeting us.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Lord Audius, Lady Grace.¡±


    Baron Hviral. He used to be a knight, and through great merits in a war not long ago, he was granted the title of Baron.


    The man was tall and built like a wall. You could tell he wasn¡¯t the strong knight of his prime, but he still retained his strength through constant training. Even now there was a sword on his waist, no doubt a habit of his.


    Baron Hviral also had a wife and four children. All four children were presented in their best attire. Three boys and one girl.


    The oldest was 25 years old, older than even me. Then, each child was two or three years younger, the youngest being an 18 year old girl, same as Grace.


    The boys didn¡¯t seem to be happy in my presence. While their father bowed toward Grace and I, they weren¡¯t quite so giving. The oldest looked at me like he was going to kill me, while the other two looked at Grace with slight infatuation.


    I could understand why they weren¡¯t happy. I wasnt just taking their father¡¯s position, but they were no longer in the position to inherit the city when the father handed it down. I was taking everything from their family, all on the whim of my father.


    An insurmountable difference in status.


    I felt a bit bad, but I wasn¡¯t one to give much of a damn about guilt. I¡¯ve killed people for lesser advantages. This wasn¡¯t much.


    But I was still different from back then, and I would be more than a proper lord.


    After the Baron greeted me by bowing, I glanced up toward the sun. It was past noon, and in a few hours the sun would be setting.


    I smiled toward the Baron.


    ¡°Baron Hviral, why don¡¯t we head inside? There are many things we should discuss.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Lord Audius. Please, follow me.¡±


    With that, Grace and I walked with the Baron and his family. They led us into the manor while the knights of our escort sorted their affairs. There were only two people who followed us: My father¡¯s administrator and the head knight of the escort.


    ¡°Does the Young Lord wish to eat? We can have a meal prepared if you¡¯re hungry from your travels.¡±


    The Baron¡¯s wife offered with a sweet smile as we walked into the manor. I shook my head while observing the impeccably clean entry hall. I could also pick up on the scent of recently cleaned floors


    ¡°No, thank you. In fact, I would like to directly discuss a private matter with the Baron. If you have a study, we should head there.¡±


    I turned my head to the man, and his surprise and anxiousness were apparent. Though, even Grace glanced at me in confusion, so I guess this was a bit of a wildcard for everyone.


    Still, the Baron quickly acquiesced.


    ¡°Of course, Young Lord.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. Grace, if you could come with us.¡±


    I brought my sister as the Baron led with proper etiquette. After entering another portion of the manor, we entered the small study. On the desk were neatly stacked papers and some quill pens.


    Other than that, there was only a single bookshelf that was half full. This Baron obviously didn¡¯t have the vast wealth necessary to procure many books.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind how minimal this humble study is.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no matter.¡±


    I shrugged while the Baron closed the door behind us. I had left the administrator behind on purpose, though I guess it didn¡¯t matter too much anyway.


    The Baron stood before us, while Grace waited for what I wanted to say. After taking in the truly humble surroundings, I looked the Baron in the eye.


    ¡°I¡¯ll speak bluntly, Baron Hviral.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Those words made the Baron even more anxious than before. He probably thought I was going to evict him today and basically usurp the city. And I could if I wanted to.


    But I wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan on completely removing you from your position. I will admit that I feel a bit guilty about taking this city simply because my father wanted me out of his house. But disregarding that, I still plan on having you hold a leadership position. You know this city far better than I do, and I need someone who can help me with managing all the local affairs of this place. You are the perfect candidate. What do you think about acting as my assistant? I can ensure that you won¡¯t be living any differently than you already are, besides a few changes to your work schedule.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    The Baron opened his mouth, but no words came out.


    I could see his surprise, but that quickly turned to relief. His anxiousness began to fade before he bowed.


    ¡°I will gladly follow you, Lord Audius Fawkes.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. You won¡¯t regret your decision. For the next few days, I plan to rest and decide on my plan of action from here on out. I¡¯ll also have to trouble you for hospitality.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no problem, Young Lord. We have already prepared your rooms.¡±


    Baron Hviral couldn¡¯t help the smile on his face. The happiness over the situation was definitely great.


    I smiled as well.


    ¡°Good. Now, if you could give my sister and I a minute to discuss some matters. And you can go inform your family of the new arrangements. I¡¯m sure they¡¯re anxiously waiting outside.¡±


    ¡°Haha, of course. I take my leave.¡±


    The Baron left quietly, leaving Grace and I alone.


    She looked at me once the door closed.


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡±


    I glanced back at her with a smile. Perhaps she found it funny, because she smirked back.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you talk like this. Even during our travels, you were more curious and asking all kinds of questions. It¡¯s not a bad thing, but answer me truthfully.¡±


    Her eyes became serious as her tone fell.


    ¡°Did you really awaken?¡±


    ¡°...I did.¡±


    I answered suspensefully. Grace bit her lip as her head fell.


    ¡°...Maybe our father suspected this and sent you here. I think¡­ he knows I did too.¡±


    ¡°He does?¡±


    I asked surprisedly, but from all my memories, I was also able to quickly speculate.


    Grace Fawkes.


    The reason we were so close was because, several years ago during our teenage years, Grace had gone through an awakening.


    She was a Sorcerer, and by happenstance, I was the only one to witness her awakening.


    But I had kept her secret instead of ratting her out, and since then, she had stuck with me. We grew closer and closer, becoming inseparable.


    Through all the noble gatherings, through all the tea parties, and through the myriads of events our father brought us to, we weathered all the ridicule from the other noble children.


    We were the bottom of the barrel, far lesser than our three older siblings who were fighting to become the best.


    As they were building networks and forming influential alliances during a fancy ball, Grace and I were in the corner talking about food. While they worked with famous craftsmen and military leaders, we were focusing on our studies.


    I stuck with Grace because she stuck with me. Through time, we formed a deep bond.


    And we managed to keep Grace¡¯s secret hidden from the family.


    Or, at least we thought we did.


    Grace frowned.


    ¡°When I went to father¡¯s study and spoke with him, he said that he also planned on sending me with you. I hadn¡¯t even asked him yet. It makes me think that he¡¯s trying to hide us¡­ After all, if that mysterious incident that night leaked in any way, it would attract the Order. They would come and investigate you. And if they saw either of us, we could be executed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡±


    I pondered on her words.


    The Order.


    More formally called the Order of Terra, they were one of the world¡¯s three main religious groups. They were very prevalent in the Verlenium Empire, and they were most known for their hatred of the Sorcerers.


    They likened them to the devil, but this world¡¯s devil was imagined as a celestial being from the deep abyss of space and nothingness, one that sought to infect the bright world with filthy darkness.


    But this wasn¡¯t just some made up fantasy created by an ancient caveman who got high on some mushrooms.


    There was a legend surrounding the Devil of the Abyss, and the legend left a mark on the world, one whose effects could be seen to this day.


    It was a place I¡¯d have to visit someday, as it was a part of the supernatural phenomena that no doubt related to the Sorcerers themselves.


    Anyway¡­


    The Order was something we¡¯d have to watch out for. They executed any and all sorcerers they got their hands on. Their influence could even rival the Emperor, and he let them do as they pleased.


    If our father really did know about Grace, and considering I was mysteriously wounded and ended up charring half my bed in a night¡¯s fit¡­


    Perhaps I was the last straw, and as a way to save us and escape investigation, he sent us away.


    If that was the case, then he was even more caring for us than I knew.


    Grace and I looked into each other¡¯s eyes. We seemed to come to an understanding.


    Our father was a good man.


    And we needed to lay low.


    Now we were on the same page.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Duke Fawkes stood in the courtyard of his manor.


    His sharp gaze, as well as the gazes of a dozen guards to each of his sides, were all focused on the oncoming party.


    They wove white flags embroidered with gold and verdant green.


    At the front was a squad of cavalry, the horseriders wearing thick armor and carrying longswords.


    And behind them was a majestic carriage, one that beat out the Duke¡¯s carriage.


    This entourage clacked up to the gate, after which the carriage stopped and opened.


    Three people were let out, and under an armed escort, they approached the Duke.


    The two parties stood 3 meters away from each other. The soldiers all seemed ready to battle at any moment, and the Duke¡¯s men surely didn¡¯t lose out to the paladins.


    ¡°It is a pleasure to finally meet the Gilded General himself. Duke Fawkes, thank you for meeting me on such short notice.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s of no consequence, Archdruid Revan. Though, I¡¯m surprised that you yourself have made your way here. I know you¡¯re a busy man.¡±


    The Duke¡¯s gaze was neutral, not showing any hospitality nor hostility. It was clear he wasn¡¯t going to invite the Archdruid into his home.


    Archdruid Revan smiled. He was dressed in luxurious robes and had long navy blue hair that fell down to his shoulder blades. But his face was cunning, much unlike the husky Duke and his sharp beard.


    ¡°I am indeed busy, but I decided that I could take a trip this time. I enjoy travel every now and then. Still, I don¡¯t come here for festivities. Duke Fawkes, you must know why I¡¯m here.¡±


    The Archdruid¡¯s eyes narrowed, yet the Duke kept his straight gaze.


    ¡°I do. You suspect that my child has awakened as a Sorcerer.¡±


    ¡°Do you deny that he has?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    ¡°Be careful, Duke Fawkes.¡±


    The Archdruid¡¯s tone fell, and his paladins straightened their backs.


    ¡°Nobody is safe from the abyssal curse. Not even the Imperial children can escape the fiends that infect their hearts.¡±


    ¡°Well then, let¡¯s look at the facts, Archdruid.¡±


    This time, it was the Duke who lowered his tone. His guards became no less imposing than the paladins.


    ¡°My son, Audius Fawkes, is a man. We both know that male sorcerers are nonexistent, mere rumors and stories. Now, I realize that someone amidst my household seems to think that they are allowed to spread information without my approval. I will deal with that matter later, but right now, you must decide whether or not it¡¯s worth it to pursue this matter over a groundless rumor. Because Sorcerer or not, the Order is not permitted to encroach on my territories as they please.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Archdruid Revan hummed while gazing at the threatening guards beside the Duke.


    The Gilded General.


    It was a title earned after Fawkes received just about every merit in the book. The highest honors of Valor were given to him, and he was responsible for leading the strongest regiment of knights the Verleinium Empire had ever seen.


    Of course, that was several decades ago. He had long since faded from his shining glory, but that didn¡¯t mean he was any less of a lion than he used to be.


    And the soldiers around him were seasoned warriors, nothing less than the best who had earned their place amongst fields of corpses. They even wore their weathered armor, displaying their ability through the scars of battle. That said more than the pure armor of the paladins who now looked like mere decorations.


    In the end, the Archdruid took a step back.


    ¡°I understand, Duke Fawkes. I apologize. However, I¡¯d at least like to know. Where is your son?¡±


    ¡°Gone.¡±


    ¡°Can you elaborate?¡±


    The Archdruid¡¯s brow raised, and the Duke turned his back.


    ¡°My son seems to think that he no longer needs me, so he¡¯s left without warning, off to another place that I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Oh? One might think that he¡¯s escaping.¡±


    ¡°He only left after healing, but I suppose if that¡¯s the case, then perhaps my daughter has escaped as well. Those two have always been close and left together. But you must know about the fierce competition for the position of the Fawkes Heir. Those two are far behind, and I¡¯m sure they are also full of ambition like their siblings.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡±


    The Archdruid has a small smile as he watched the Duke walk back toward his manor.


    The Duke waved.


    ¡°Please, see yourself out. I have much work to handle.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The Archdruid watched until the Duke¡¯s guard approached, intending to escort their ¡®guests¡¯ out.


    Like that, they retreated, having gained nothing.

 Chapter 4 - Tiya

    Baron Hviral¡¯s family was naturally happy to hear that Grace and I weren¡¯t just evicting them before taking everything.


    In fact, becoming the assistant to a Duke¡¯s child, regardless of their position in the family, was far better than their current situation. So long as I was as open as I showed myself to be, they would be able to prosper much more.


    The name of a Duke wasn¡¯t to be taken lightly. Even a Duke¡¯s bastard child needed to be treated well, let alone a legitimate child who hadn¡¯t disgraced his family name. So my mere image was worth something to anybody who might deal with the city.


    Grace and I were set up within two of the largest bedrooms of the Hviral manor. It was a nice place, not very luxurious, but that was to be expected from a Baron.


    We ate every morning, afternoon, and evening. The few maids of the household cooked nice dishes, though they obviously splurged since we were here. Even the children of the baron were surprised by the amount of food.


    We were comfortable in the place, and the subsequent day after our arrival was taken to relax.


    After that though, my days of rule began.


    I invited Grace for a walk around the city. To which she happily obliged. After putting on modest clothing, we slipped out of the manor and took a stroll.


    There were many thoughts going through my mind, thoughts about how I should rule this place, and what steps I should take.


    More than that though, I thought about my goal in all this.


    I didn¡¯t simply want to rule the world. But it was impossible for me to settle for being a mere city lord. I was a man of ambition, and for years I had dreamed of building an empire. I had in fact formed something similar to one back at Tool Corporation, an Empire of the greatest minds I ever knew, or would ever know. That little Empire was the only reason I was here today, founded not on stone, but on the minds of extraordinary people.


    I was here because that dream continued to persist. I had fought for so long in order to get my hands on a tool that would help me escape the influence of the Council. Now, I could finally begin to build something. Something that I wouldn¡¯t have to sacrifice for some old man in a black room.


    But, this world also had its curiosities. Sorcerers, and the great mysteries of their power. The hidden dangers that I only had a vague idea about, ones heard from legends and stories.


    It was a whole other realm that I wanted to investigate, and I couldn¡¯t do that without power.


    So I had to start marching my way to that height from the humble beginnings of this small city.


    It was hard to know where to start, especially since my Tool wasn¡¯t fully operational. I couldn''t just start generating advanced technology and take the world by storm.


    So assessing that would be a top priority. But first, I needed to survey this city.


    Which was why I went on a walk with my sister.


    Grace and I both inherited the purple hair of our mother, something neither of us were too fond of. Either way, it made us stand out, especially considering we had driven through here on a fancy carriage only two days ago.


    Not that either of us minded. Our gazes drifted between the buildings and the people as we walked by, and I scouted all kinds of small technologies that helped me reaffirm my estimation of this world¡¯s tech level.


    My conclusion was that they really were about to enter an industrial revolution. If anything, at the very least, they were in what could be described as a Victorian Era, a time where science was beginning to boom and people moved away from religious and mystical explanations of various arts.


    Of course, this was all being hampered by the concept of Sorcerers and the hunt against them. People¡¯s fixation on the mystical was slowing scientific progress.


    Grace and I walked from the inner city to its outer bounds. Since we could walk the distance in no significant amount of time, it meant that the city wasn¡¯t large and there weren¡¯t many people here.


    And while I did see the signs of a slum zone, the city maintained a good standard across the board.


    There was only one thing that surprised me.


    ¡°Oh? Is that a gallows?¡±


    I stopped in my tracks as I entered a wide plaza. In the center of the place was a wooden structure with beams and ropes, several tied into nooses. It was obvious what they were.


    In the corner of my eye, I could see Grace¡¯s face darken.


    ¡°The Order¡¯s influence is great. City lords are required to hang any Sorcerers they find, or they face persecution. These are standard just about everywhere.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­ But why are they preparing them?¡±


    I asked while watching a few men tie the ropes and bring out stools.


    ¡°There must be an execution later today¡­¡±


    ¡°...What should we do?¡±


    My question caused Grace to look toward me with a conflicted gaze.


    As a sorcerer herself, she naturally hated the idea that she would be turned on and executed by all those around her if she were found out. It made her want to save sorcerers. She likely felt a form of hypocritical guilt since she was able to live lavishly while they suffered atrocities.


    But she also didn¡¯t want to take the risk. She would risk me and her family if she got caught. And she would die herself.


    I also knew all this of course, and yet I still asked the question.


    If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    She asked back.


    ¡°...What can we do?¡±


    ¡°We can just delay the hanging indefinitely. The sorcerer disappears, and over time everybody forgets. Nobody has the mind to remain fixated on it for long.¡±


    ¡°...Can we?¡±


    She asked hopefully. I answered by turning and walking back in the direction of the city center.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go ask.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°This is the only prison and it¡¯s not large as we don¡¯t get many criminals. Any sorcerers we find are also taken here, though this is the first one we¡¯ve ever caught.¡±


    I listened silently as Baron Hviral led us into an underground basement of the City Hall. It was basically a dungeon, and when we entered, I saw several small holding cells.


    It was run down and the air was stuffy. It obviously wasn¡¯t touched or entered very often, thankfully because of low crime rates.


    Within the dungeon was a single person.


    Grace and I stopped in front of the cell. I observed the girl inside, the person who was to be executed only a few hours from now.


    It looked like she was curled up in the corner, but having heard us, she sat straighter, her eyes glancing between us with fear and anger.


    She couldn¡¯t have been older than Grace. She was a petite black haired girl and her eyes flashed a bright blue even in the dark dungeon.


    There were several moments of silence before I spoke.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°...Tiya.¡±


    She spoke with a raspy voice. As she was about to be executed, they probably hadn¡¯t fed her since she was found. That could¡¯ve been a day or two ago.


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°17.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a family?¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    ¡°Who turned you in?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    She went silent for a moment, her throat choking up with emotion.


    ¡°My¡­ mother¡­¡±


    ¡°She saw when you awakened?¡±


    ¡°Mm¡­¡±


    She nodded with tears in her eyes. And I could see the conflict. She hated her mother for dooming her to death, but hated that she couldn¡¯t love her family. The betrayal tore at her.


    Glancing to my side, I could see Grace hugging herself, almost as if clutching her stomach. This kind of emotion and stress often made her stomach hurt. She threw up whenever it was unbearable, something I remembered from a few years ago when she had awakened herself.


    Back then, she had been so scared that I would tell our parents that she threw up whenever I wasn¡¯t around her in sheer anxiousness. I remember the maids speaking about it, how they would always have to clean it up.


    It only went away after a year or so, when she had finally realized that I wasn¡¯t going to rat her out.


    But it was now a reflex of hers, surfacing once more. I pat her shoulder before turning toward the Baron.


    ¡°Baron Hviral, this girl is set to be executed?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡±


    ¡°I see. Draw your sword.¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    The man looked at me confusedly. When I didn¡¯t respond, he finally drew his sword.


    I had the prison keys in my hand, so I went and unlocked the cell door. I then waved.


    ¡°Go ahead and behead her.¡±


    ¡°...Young lord.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to waste everyone¡¯s time. Your citizens have jobs that needn¡¯t be interrupted by a hanging. I¡¯m sure their time is more valuable than the sight of a worthless spawn of the devil. Isn¡¯t that right?¡±


    I faced the Baron with a neutral face. And his hesitation was obvious. He looked between me and the girl.


    He saw the girl and her pitiful appearance, and he heard how she was betrayed by her own mother. A mere 17 year old girl, and she was being hanged. Her death would be celebrated by the city.


    Or, it would on the outside.


    Just how many people couldn¡¯t bear to watch these events? Although the church¡¯s influence was strong, how many hesitated when they saw young girls being murdered and rethought just how just it was?


    They may hate sorcerers, but the image of a girl like Tiya didn¡¯t overlap with that of a devil¡¯s spawn.


    How many fathers and mothers lost their beloved children this way? How many were forced to watch as their child was brutally killed?


    In front of blood, what did the opinions of strangers matter?


    In front of blood, creeds fell apart, and principles crumbled.


    After many seconds of watching the Baron hesitate, I lowered my hand.


    ¡°Baron, could you kill your child?¡±


    ¡°...I would rather die.¡±


    ¡°So how evil must someone be to sentence their own daughter to death?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The baron was silent, his sword dropping, and his grip tightening.


    ¡°To have so much hate in your heart that it blinds your eyes and twists your mind. Priests that these people don¡¯t even know have filled their heads with so much fear that they turn on their own children in blinding hatred. They would allow strangers to manipulate them so thoroughly. Just think, if your child suddenly awakened one day, that all your citizens that praise their benevolent city lord would flip like a coin and call for the death of your blood.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°If you understand what I¡¯m saying, then I want you to do something for me.¡±


    I turned away from the cell, standing before Grace and placing my hand on her head.


    ¡°Have Tiya take up residence in your manor, and do it quietly. Don¡¯t acknowledge or say anything about the hanging, and let the citizens forget there was ever a sorcerer that awakened. Consider this your first assignment. Or, you can kill her yourself.¡±


    With that, I nudged Grace along, taking her out of the dungeon.


    Baron Hviral remained standing in the doorway of the cell, facing the girl who, only an few minutes ago, was going to publicly executed by his authority.


    For the first time, he was directly faced with the reality of his actions.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    After leaving the dungeon, Grace moved off to the side and fell to her knees.


    ¡°Hugh..!¡±


    She gagged before vomiting. I moved and grabbed her hair, pulling it back behind her head as she buckled.


    After a few minutse of that and coughing, she finally recovered enough to breath steadily.


    I took out a handkerchief, one that nobles customarily carried with them, and handed it to her.


    After she wiped her face, she stood and turned before lunging toward me.


    I was surprised by the sudden embrace.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what happened to you that made you change so much¡­ but I can¡¯t say I don¡¯t like it.¡±


    She backed away, and I could see her smiling with streaks of tears down her cheeks.


    I smiled back.


    ¡°I guess it was my ambition that finally awakened.¡±


    ¡°Heh, and your tongue. Since when could you talk so well?¡±


    She chuckled while straightening her purple hair.


    Then, she became somber.


    ¡°But that¡¯s just one¡­¡±


    ¡°We can only go one at a time. Besides, until we¡¯re prepared, we can¡¯t make any big moves. The church is powerful because they don¡¯t hesitate to enforce their ideals with swords. We can¡¯t handle that yet.¡±


    ¡°...Yet. What ideas do you have?¡±


    ¡°Many, and that girl may very well be the start of them. Come on, let¡¯s get you a drink. Your breath stinks.¡±


    ¡°Blegh.¡±


    She stuck out her tongue before striding ahead of me. I followed with a soft grin.

 Chapter 5 - Corrupt Rift

    Come night, I retreated to my room and took a seat at a desk.


    No electricity meant I had to light an oil lamp, which illuminated a blank stack of parchment and a quill pen.


    I didn¡¯t need the quill pen though. After activating my Tool, I could feel my left hand change.


    The burns, blisters, and raw skin had healed over by now, meaning I no longer had to cover my arm in bandages. Still, from my hand to shoulder, and across my left chest and back shoulder blade, everything was covered in scars. It was rather nasty.


    And my Tool really did seem to have integrated with my body in a special way. Perhaps the forces of this universe didn¡¯t permit it to operate in a conventional way, so it adapted and took on this new form.


    I could see the Antimatter Core show itself upon my palm, and from it extended black scars that ran up my fingers. Then, the metal pads that replaced my fingerprints appeared before growing into oddly shaped claws.


    The claws weren¡¯t actual claws though. They were the guidance prongs that the power of the Tool was supposed to be projected from.


    But they were still incredibly sharp. They could absolutely be used as a weapon.


    Though thankfully, they weren¡¯t always visible, only appearing when I called upon the Tool. Otherwise I really would get caught for having special powers.


    Anyway, I queried the Tool.


    ¡°What are the limitations imposed upon construction?¡±


    [Due to insufficient power, a majority of high level technology has been locked. Chemical Synthesis is unable to be carried out, so only blueprints utilizing low level principles and basic or raw materials can be used. This means only basic material reformation can be used in cosntruction. Research must also be conducted, so not all tech will match documented efficiencies.]


    The words of the Tool were written into my mind, giving me an idea of what it could still do.


    I slowly nodded.


    ¡°Well, I at least know what I want. And not everything needs to be built using my tool. I need to be able to produce things using general labor. I¡¯ll have to revamp material processing and introduce the concept of assembly line factories. Chemistry needs to be verified as well, since nothing gets produced unless I know how things react with each other. But there are no proper facilities and I doubt there are any pure chemicals available even in labs¡­¡±


    Too many thoughts crossed through my head as I questioned everything from what the general populace was capable of to if chemistry was even what I knew it to be.


    A slight deviation in the laws of physics would mean all chemical formulas were useless. I would have to start from scratch, finding bare materials and processing them using brutish methods and hopefully stumbling upon what I wanted.


    Even that would be difficult though. I wouldn¡¯t be able to shut myself into a lab and experiment all day, and I didn¡¯t have any tools that could help me in any significant capacity.


    Without my Tool¡¯s full capacity, things became far more difficult.


    But not impossible. For now, I simply needed to work with what I had, which was a new city.


    The key to gaining power, even without developing advanced technology, was making my people prosper. With prosperity, anything could be realized. I could crush opponents with money alone.


    So setting my city on the right economic track was important, and in order to do that, I would no doubt need to rewrite a great many policies.


    Grabbing a piece of paper, I began making a list of things to do.


    Check financial partners, count funds within the treasury, get a census on the cities population and workforce, check on the local militia, construct myself a manor¡­


    All kinds of things were written down onto the list. And getting to the end of it, I wrote down one last thing.


    Assess the power and potential of sorcerers.


    This was my most curious point, something I decided I would do in the near future. I knew that the Baron had already moved Tiya into the manor, so I could easily check on her. I could also ask Grace about it.


    Of course, we would need a safe place to allow the release of their powers.


    I pondered my questions for a little while longer before settling down for the night.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    The Baron was quiet the next morning. Even his wife was worried that something had happened.


    He didn¡¯t so much as raise his head, and I could practically see the aura of gloom around his body.


    I guess I hit him pretty hard with my words in the dungeon.


    Unfortunately for him, this was a necessary step. If I was going to save sorcerers, then I needed an assistant who aligned with my ideals.


    Thankfully, he seemed to be waking up. That slap in the face got him thinking long and hard, another ability my subordinates needed to have. It was also a good thing that he had never been faced with the dilemma of a sorcerer in his midst. Being at a crossroads, I was easily able to convince him down another path


    During breakfast though, I didn¡¯t see Grace. But I could guess where she was, so after eating, I took my leave and went through the house.


    I stopped at a room and knocked.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    I twisted the knob, revealing Grace and the new sorcerer.


    A small girl despite her age, she had deep black hair and a petite figure, along with a face of adorable beauty. It was said that all sorcerers were beautiful in some way, and the Order said that such beauty was nothing but a trap to lure in unsuspecting souls with lust and temptation.


    When she looked at me with her bright eyes, I could sense both gratitude yet conflict. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t sure what to think of me after everything I said.


    Grace seemed to have been feeding her, as if she were a malnourished child. But they both stopped in my presence.


    This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    ¡°How is Tiya settling in?¡±


    ¡°She needs time, but she will have that here. This is a safe place for her now.¡±


    ¡°Mm. And what about her power?¡±


    I asked curiously. I didn¡¯t even know that much about Grace¡¯s power since she never used it. So there was much to learn.


    Grace faced Tiya, who nodded before slowly lifting her hand.


    She grabbed one of the fruits on the platter beside her. And then, I watched as the skin of the fruit shriveled and withered, corroding before turning brown and releasing a deathly smoke.


    My eyes widened.


    ¡°Amazing. Truly a unique power. Corrosion, or entropy? I wonder¡­¡±


    ¡°Entropy?¡±


    Grace tilted her head at the foreign concept.


    ¡°It¡¯s a term that I only came to understand recently. Anyway, Tiya, I can¡¯t say that I¡¯m surprised you got caught. The phenomena your power induces cannot be matched by any ordinary substance or machine. I¡¯m sure that you caused quite the ruckus and left a great mark on your surroundings during your awakening.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Tiya was silent, but she couldn¡¯t help but nod.


    The power of corrosion could only be recreated by powerful acids, something this world was unable to create. So even by my standards, it was an extraordinary ability.


    It would surely have its applications should I put Tiya to work with her ability. But for now, I couldn¡¯t do that. That would make her feel like a mere tool, and Grace surely wouldn¡¯t approve. Plus, I didn¡¯t yet have any of the infrastructure I wanted in order to begin advancing the science of this world.


    I changed the subject.


    ¡°For now, I recommend that Tiya remain within her room. The most she can safely do is wander the house, at least for the next few days. After that she can go outside, but only with clothing that conceals her appearance. I don¡¯t want anybody recognizing her. Be wary of even the maids.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be taking care of her.¡±


    Grace gave me her guarantee, which was all I needed.


    That¡¯s when I turned my gaze, setting it on a table on the opposite side of the room.


    I walked over, picking up the collar atop it.


    It was a pitch black metal that was cold to the touch, designed specifically to be a restraint. But from my knowledge I knew it wasn¡¯t any simple restraint.


    A Sorcerer¡¯s Thorn. It was a special object forged of a special metal that could render any Sorcerer¡¯s powers mute. It reduced them to the level of an ordinary person, sometimes even lower.


    It was always used on sorcerers and was an extremely effective method of keeping them harmless and defenseless.


    How it was forged and the material it was composed of was a mystery to most, even the people who created it. Needless to say, it was something I needed to study when my Tool was more functional.


    There was also something I wanted to test with it.


    I grabbed the collar and the keys used to toggle the lock. Then, I snapped the collar on my neck.


    ¡°Audius?!¡±


    Grace jumped, shocked that I would do such a thing. Even Tiya flinched, her eyes widening in disbelief.


    I put up my hand though.


    In my mind, I called upon the Tool.


    And I smiled before casually unlocking the collar and tossing it back onto the table.


    ¡°I was just curious. Grace, keep the collar in a hidden place. As for today, I plan to speak to the Baron about the details of this city¡¯s governance. You can join me in his study if you wish, or tend to Tiya. And Tiya, please do take care of yourself. I also apologize for my harsh words in the dungeon.¡±


    With those words, I left the room, leaving the two girls to themselves.


    Then, I went to go find the Baron.


    We had many things to discuss.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    The small city of Northtown was south of a great mountain range.


    The snowfall atop this mountain range generated large sources of water, primarily a great lake as the base of the mountain. And this lake is what created the Ridge River that passed by Northtown¡¯s eastern side, providing it with a bountiful canal and making its land fertile.


    But this mountain range that was thought to be merely barren, unusable land was actually home to a small and hidden group of people.


    A militia of Sorcerers that traveled in the harsh environment of the mountains to escape the genocide of the Order of Terra.


    Composed of only 23 females, their leader¡¯s name was Helva. Together, this group constantly traveled the mountains like nomads to sustain their small population.


    But they also worked to gather other persecuted sorcerers, gathering intelligence from nearby towns and cities, and raiding them when there was a sorcerer to save, taking both the girl and supplies.


    And what should have been yet another standard raid was shockingly called off.


    ¡°Gentle Snow, is what you say true?¡±


    Helva asked with both surprise and suspicion in her voice, her scarred face and ruthless voice filling others of the militia with slight fear.


    Gentle Snow, the young woman before her, nodded plainly. Around them was the eerie silence of the cave that served as one of their hideouts.


    ¡°My words are correct. Not only did a Duke¡¯s child take residence within the town, but the sorcerer¡¯s execution was also called off. I was unable to investigate further, but I suspect something deeper has occured with the situation. I was also unable to find the sorcerer within the dungeon of the city.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Helva¡¯s face tightened, as if angry with Gentle Snow. Gentle Snow merely stood there, a soft expression on her face.


    Gentle Snow, as her name implied, had a very gentle complexion, one filled with beauty. With short hair and a lithe figure, she was armed with a skirt, tight clothing, and several knives, giving away her identity as an assassin.


    ¡°...We cannot save that sorcerer. Cancel the raid.¡±


    ¡°Matriarch?¡±


    Some of the other sorcerers were confused.


    Helva huffed before explaining.


    ¡°Under ordinary circumstances, we could continue with the raid. But those are a Duke¡¯s children, and since they have moved the sorcerer to another place, we can¡¯t risk getting into a direct conflict with them. It seems we were too late this time.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    All the women looked down in sorrow, except for Gentle Snow and Helva, who had their own complex thoughts on the matter.


    ¡°Matriarch!¡±


    Suddenly, everyone heard a shout. Their heads turned to the entrance of the cave, seeing a small figure flying through the air.


    ¡°Matriarch!¡±


    ¡°Raven?¡±


    Helva urgently approached, the little girl coming to a rough stop. Her black hair was disheveled and her large eyes were wide with fear and excitement.


    ¡°Matriarch, I found something!¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I saw a Corrupt Rift! It was coming from between the mountains!¡±


    ¡°A what?!¡±


    Everyone jumped in shock.


    A Corrupt Rift.


    Some like the Order called them the gates of hell. It was supposedly a massive fissure in the ground, one that released clouds of black fog that tainted the surrounding land.


    These abyssal fissures often became active during the summer time, and with the black fog came hordes of corrupted monsters that sought the flesh of all living beings.


    There were several Corrupt Rifts that regularly attacked cities around the world, and they could appear anywhere. But this mountain range wasn¡¯t supposed to have any, which was why this band of sorcerers had established themselves here in the first place.


    It was catastrophic news, and not just for them.


    Northtown, which was near the base of the mountain, would be the first place those corrupted monsters would attack. And for the small city that had no defenses or military of its own, it would undoubtedly be utterly massacred.


    But nobody was thinking about that city. Instead, they were all terrified of standing in the way of the hordes of monsters that would come in the future.


    ¡°What do we do?¡±


    ¡°We have to leave!¡±


    ¡°But where do we go?!¡±


    ¡°Quiet!¡±


    Helva shouted, causing the cave to go silent.


    ¡°We will discuss this, but for now, we¡¯re safe. In the coming days we need to prepare to move all our supplies. Our destination shall be decided later. In the meantime, everyone needs to go and rest. Night is already upon us.¡±


    With that command, everyone had no choice but to bury their worries and prepare for bed.


    Except for Gentle Snow.


    When night graced the world in darkness, her body transformed by her command, turning into a flurry of white snow that drifted in the wind.


    And she disappeared from the cave, not so much as making a sound.

 Chapter 6 - Gentle Snow

    My talk with the Baron went rather simply.


    Because it was a small city, there wasn¡¯t much in the way of law and policy. The people of the town lived by basic rules like no stealing or killing, and other petty crimes were either dealt with personally or became a legal case heard by the city lord who would deliver his judgment.


    Other than that, everyone lived lives that weren¡¯t complicated by any kind of extensive legal system.


    And beyond the city, the Baron had a single trading partnership with the nearest city called Silk Valley, a place known for their silks and fabrics as per the name.


    The Baron traded food with them since Northtown was home to vast fertile farmlands. They had enough surplus food to sell to and feed another city, generating passive income and allowing Northtown to slowly develop itself.


    This also meant that farmers within the city were very successful, and since food was cheap, it allowed other citizens to prosper in industries like hunting and stonecutting.


    Speaking of, stonecutting was another small industry within the city, though it was painfully underdeveloped. With the nearby mountains, there were plenty of resources like granite and limestone. But because there weren¡¯t enough modes of transportation, the few stones that made their way down the mountains were forced to stay within the city, only being used for local construction. There was no way this small city could sell any significant amount of stone to other places.


    But I didn¡¯t mind that. If anything, it allowed our city to build itself on a stronger foundation. Instead of hard mud or wood houses, they were using stone.


    And in the future when I expanded industry, those sources of stone would present many opportunities.


    Stonecutting and farming. These two things basically summed up the entirety of this city¡¯s economic situation. I couldn¡¯t really expect much from a small city, but it could definitely be worse.


    As for any kind of armed presence, there were apparently only 40 guards that were responsible for securing the entire city. And even they didn¡¯t do much.


    The city¡¯s current population was about 23,000, which was both a large and small amount. In this world it was large enough population to be called a small city. But compared to the visions I had for the future, it was a pitifully small amount of people.


    I had been trained to manage billions, let alone a few thousand.


    Anyway¡­


    The situation was decent, but there was much left to be desired.


    If I wanted to build this city into something greater, I would need lots of money, labor, and technology. And it would only take getting over the initial curve to begin growing explosively.


    That reminded me¡­


    I would need to speak to the assistant my father sent. I had ignored him since we arrived, especially with the situation with Tiya.


    But getting my hands on my father¡¯s investment and using him in order to manage the installation of an iron mine would be one of the foundations of my future. The iron, or more specifically steel, that I would produce from that mine would pave the road of my envisioned industry.


    However, even before handling the assistant, it seemed there was another issue I had to tackle first.


    And that was the intruder who greeted me within the Baron¡¯s study, which I inadvertently requisitioned.


    My body suddenly tightened within my leather seat as another presence revealed itself in the room.


    But I didn¡¯t panic nor retaliate, simply sitting there.


    There was only one possible suspect that could enter a room while escaping my senses.


    A Sorcerer.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to meet yet another sorcerer so soon.¡±


    ¡°And I didn¡¯t expect you to notice me so quickly. I guess a Duke¡¯s son can¡¯t be underestimated, no matter how pitiful the rumors are about you.¡±


    ¡°Rumors?¡±


    My brow raised at the soft voice that graced my ears.


    Then, I saw the culprit take a seat on the edge of the desk, her lithe figure pleasing to the eyes.


    Short white hair and crystalline white-gold eyes. She was an exotic beauty I had never seen anyone like before. Truly a unique woman.


    But what rumors could possibly be circulating so widely about me that even a sorcerer knew them?


    She crossed her legs while looking into my eyes.


    ¡°Why, the rumors about you being the poorest son of the Duke Fawkes Family. A child who¡¯s been nothing but a leech to the household, incapable of fighting for the position of heir, and has done nothing but embarrass the name with mediocrity. And you were so mediocre that you escaped the household and used your position to take a random city in the mountains for yourself in a pitiful attempt to make something of your name.¡±


    She smiled while laying down all the slanderous rumors, as if amused. But I only smiled back.


    After all, the rumors were almost entirely true.


    I was a leech to the Fawkes family, a no good son who couldn¡¯t hope to fight his siblings for the position of heir, and has truly embarrassed the family name after sitting at home for years and doing absolutely nothing.


    Only the last line was incorrect, but, considering the circumstances in which my father sent us off, I had a feeling things weren¡¯t as simple with my parting gift as they seemed.


    Nonetheless¡­


    I was surprised that even a sorcerer knew these things. It seemed news traveled fast, even in this primitive world. Or perhaps it was the doing of someone who didn¡¯t wish me well. Or precisely the opposite.


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The sorcerer before me seemed to find my smile interesting.


    ¡°Are you not angry, young lord?¡±


    ¡°Well, I can¡¯t be angry at the truth. The only thing I refute is the fact of taking the city for myself. While I am now the ruler of this city, I didn¡¯t strip the former city lord of all his duties. He is now my assistant. After all, he knows this city and his people better than I do. But enough of that.¡±


    I tilted my head slightly.


    ¡°What business does a sorcerer have with me?¡±


    ¡°Well, at first I came to make sure that you weren¡¯t using the girl who was to be executed a couple days ago as a mere toy for your own pleasures. In that case, my business with you would have been conducted by the blade of my knife. But¡­¡±


    Her gaze turned, looking to another portion of the household where Tiya¡¯s room was.


    ¡°I see that I misjudged you. And it seems your sister is more than meets the eye¡±


    ¡°So you can actually see if someone is a sorcerer?¡±


    I was surprised, because I wasn¡¯t aware that sorcerers could detect one another. I hadn¡¯t heard Grace speak of it even when she saw Tiya.


    The woman turned back to me and smiled.


    ¡°I can, but that doesn¡¯t mean all sorcerers can.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re a special sorcerer?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you could say that. But, which sorcerer isn¡¯t special?¡±


    ¡°True¡­¡±


    I smirked before settling back into my seat, taking on a more casual pose.


    ¡°So? Now that you know my sister¡¯s secret and that I saved Tiya, what are your plans?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not so sure now. I can¡¯t say I expected anything that¡¯s happened. However, I think I¡¯m going to take the girl off your hands.¡±


    ¡°Take? Why?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t say that I was happy with her proposition. Knowing the power of the sorcerers, I absolutely had plans for them. They were invaluable human resources that had the abilities to bend the laws of physics. In this primitive world, they could be the key to getting my hands on complex technologies that my Tool couldn¡¯t yet build, or synthesizing materials that my Tool couldn¡¯t handle.


    I didn¡¯t plan on just letting the one sorcerer I had be taken away, or any others that would take refuge under my wing for that matter.


    It seemed the woman could see my displeasure with her suggestion.


    ¡°I want to take her to our hideout. A small militia of sorcerers in the nearby mountains. We take care of each other there, and it''s a safe place where she can be free, unlike in this place.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recall there being any settlements in the mountains. So you all are just a group of nomads, hunting to survive in the barren mountains. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s any place to send a girl who just experienced the trauma of having her own parents sentence her to death.¡±


    ¡°...Just about every sorcerer has had that kind of trauma. I think we would know best how to help her.¡±


    ¡°Then, maybe you should do so here.¡±


    ¡°..?¡±


    The woman was surprised by my words.


    At that moment though, we heard a knock on the door.


    We were silent for a moment before I answered.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    *Whoosh*


    The woman disappeared in a flurry of snow, nothing of her presence left behind. I glanced at where she used to be before facing the door.


    I saw Tiya enter, now dressed in some of my sister¡¯s clothing. It was a bit big on her though.


    ¡°Tiya. What brings you here? And where¡¯s Grace?¡±


    ¡°...She went to go buy clothes for me.¡±


    ¡°Well, you do need some.¡±


    I nodded while Tiya seemed to muster some conviction within herself. She was tyring to keep her focus on me, yet was also deep in thought.


    I let her process things. Perhaps she had come here after making a sudden decision, and at a time when Grace wasn¡¯t there to say anything about it.


    I wondered what she wanted.


    ¡°...Young lord¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid to say what you wish.¡±


    ¡°...Yes.¡±


    She took a deep breath, lifting her head and looking into my eyes.


    ¡°I¡­ I wish to serve you, young lord. You saved my life, and I have nowhere to go. I no longer have a family, so I hope I can stay by your side. My power will be yours to wield. If that¡¯s what you wish¡­¡±


    Although she started by looking into my eyes, her head slowly bowed as she spoke more and more.


    And honestly, I was surprised by this sudden pledge of allegiance.


    In my silence, Tiya continued.


    ¡°Your words in the dungeon¡­ Young lord, there was no need to apologize for them. I understand that what you said was for the sake of the Baron. And¡­ I believe in you. The Baron is a hypocrite. Everyone who kills sorcerers is a hypocrite. But you aren¡¯t, and you saved me.¡±


    ¡°...Tiya.¡±


    I stood from my seat, walking around my desk and standing a few feet away from the girl.


    ¡°I can accept your loyalty, but I don¡¯t want you to make too quick a judgment. You only know me by the few minutes I was before you in the dungeon. So instead of pledging your loyalty, I want you to observe. Listen to my words, scrutinize my actions. Understand the person I am before dedicating yourself to my cause. Don¡¯t trust me until you trust what you¡¯ve seen. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°...Yes.¡±


    Tiya nodded, her eyes full of determination. She even had a small smile.


    I gave her a small grin.


    ¡°Go on back to your room. I wouldn¡¯t want Grace to be worried when she doesn¡¯t see you there.¡±


    ¡°Yes, young lord.¡±


    ¡°And call me by my name at least. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m much older than you.¡±


    ¡°...Yes, Lord Audius.¡±


    She gave a curtsy before leaving the study.


    I walked back to my chair, taking a seat before sighing.


    ¡°I guess she won¡¯t be going with you.¡±


    ¡°Well, now I¡¯m curious about what you said in the dungeon.¡±


    The woman reappeared, this time right beside my chair as she sat on the desk.


    I brushed my purple hair back, giving her a glance.


    ¡°I never did get your name.¡±


    ¡°Gentle Snow.¡±


    ¡°I guess the origin of your name isn¡¯t a mystery then.¡±


    ¡°Not quite.¡±


    She giggled a bit, but then her smile turned somber.


    ¡°What you said¡­¡±


    ¡°About bringing your militia here? I meant it. I plan to save whatever sorcerers come my way. I¡¯ll make sure they won¡¯t be persecuted in my city. Of course, I can¡¯t have the Order on my ass, so keeping your presence here hidden would be a temporary measure. At least until I have the strength to protect us.¡±


    ¡°...I see.¡±


    She looked at me suspiciously but hopefully. And perhaps my words were a bit too optimistic. After all, within the Verlenium Empire, who would dare to do something that earned the ire of the Order?


    But my sister was a sorcerer, and she had seen how I saved Tiya.


    I gave a bit more reassurance.


    ¡°I¡¯m planning on building my own manor. It¡¯ll be even bigger than this one, but I¡¯m going to place it beyond the public eye. When it gets finished, all the sorcerers can live there.¡±


    ¡°All of us? Sorcerers may not be plentiful, but two dozen of us is still a lot.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be a big manor. Still, I¡¯m serious about saving sorcerers. When you go back to see your militia tonight, you should let them know.¡±


    ¡°...It¡¯ll be an interesting discussion.¡±


    Gentle Snow hummed before sliding off the desk.


    ¡°For now, I¡¯ll take my leave.¡±


    ¡°Alright. And please let Tiya choose for herself when you go visit her. I don¡¯t enjoy having my people kidnapped.¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    She smirked, then disappeared with a gust of snow.


    I sighed and laid back. It wasn¡¯t fun knowing a random girl could move around completely undetected. It made me think about various protective measures that I would need to enact in the future.

 Chapter 7 - Sir Campbell

    Tiya stood before a mirror, twirling the new dress she had on.


    When Grace said she would go shopping, she really meant it. As Northtown frequently traded with Silk Valley, they naturally had a lot of fashionable and comfortable clothing available for sale.


    And Grace didn¡¯t skimp. She bought Tiya an entire wardrobe. And after playing dress up for a few hours, Grace finally left her alone to go talk to Audius.


    Now, as night settled, Tiya tried a few dresses on for herself, seeing which ones she liked.


    She wondered what Audius would think of them, and she thought about how she never had nice dresses like these at her old home.


    Nobody in the city was rich enough to just buy clothes as they pleased. Clothes were often patched if torn and used for a long time. The nice clothes were only taken out for special occasions, and only during birthdays or holidays did a family go out to buy more.


    Tiya and her family were a normal farming family within the city. Laborious days were normal for them, as it was for everyone else. Tiya still had all the rough calusses on her hands that she occasionally picked at as they healed.


    If not for her awakening, she would still be living that normal life.


    Or, if not for her mother cursing her name and ratting her out to the city guard¡­


    Tiya¡¯s smile turned to a somber frown.


    Her days recently had been filled with vast internal turmoil.


    Thoughts of her family and if she hated them stirred in her mind for hours every day. Only Grace was able to pull her focus away from those dark thoughts with her chatter.


    And whenever she saw Grace, she thought about how lucky she was that they came when they did.


    If not for them, she would have already been hung.


    To think that a Duke¡¯s children had come so timely, and that they were also intent on saving sorcerers. Two miracles that led to Tiya¡¯s life being where it was now.


    It was why she went to Audius.


    The young lord who had such a sharp eye and profound mouth. In the dungeon, his words made her chest tighten with emotion. And in the study, the sight of him made her eyes flutter.


    He carried such charisma, and it was all the more reason that Tiya had pledged her loyalty right then and there.


    She no longer had a family that loved her, and in front of her was a man willing to save her and protect her.


    His actions proved that he was the one she wished to follow.


    And his words in the study confirmed that conviction.


    Don¡¯t trust me until you trust what you¡¯ve seen, he said.


    To actually tell someone not to trust them, and to instead scrutinize their actions.


    That was a leader worth giving your life for.


    In her heart, Tiya had already made her decision.


    Casting away thoughts of her family, she focused solely on what she might be able to do to serve her Lord Audius.


    Perhaps discovering more about her power would enable her to do so. But practicing was tricky given the nature of her power, so she would need to wait a while longer before going outside to try things.


    These thoughts pervaded her mind as she tried on a few more dresses.


    But, when she went to go take one of the dresses off, she saw a figure in the mirror.


    She spun around in shock, her power unconsciously leaking out and causing a black smoke to rise up around her hands.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Tiya. I¡¯m not here to hurt you.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Tiya asked while backing away. But in her mind, she had a faint suspicion.


    Gentle Snow stood and presented herself, looking at Tiya with her golden eyes.


    ¡°My name is Gentle Snow. I¡¯m a sorcerer, and I¡¯m here to extend an invitation.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Tiya flinched when she heard the word sorcerer. Not unlike everyone else, she associated that word with that of the devil.


    And she had never seen another sorcerer before, especially not one with the mysterious powers of Gentle Snow. She felt both threatened and curious.


    ¡°What invitation?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from a militia of sorcerers, and we live in the mountain range north of this town. I¡¯m inviting you to come with me, to join other sisters just like you, one¡¯s who have escaped the persecution of the Order. There, you¡¯ll live free and help rescue other sorcerers who might be in trouble just as you were.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Tiya was surprised hearing that there was an entire militia of sorcerers. To think that there were many more just like her, all of them hiding in the mountains.


    She wanted to see just what this militia looked like.


    But¡­


    ¡°...I can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°No? Just so you know, I can bring you out of here without that Lord Audius knowing anything about it. You are completely free to make your decision, and nobody can stop you.¡±


    Gentle Snow approached Tiya who had lowered her guard. She reached out her hand.


    ¡°You can come to our home, where you won¡¯t have to hide. We all take care of each other there. And you will become one of our sisters.¡±


    ¡°...I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Tiya didn¡¯t think for very long before giving her answer.


    ¡°I wish to stay here. Lord Audius saved me, and I¡¯ve pledged myself to him. Besides, he wishes to save sorcerers as well. Perhaps, you all could come here instead. Lord Audius would welcome you with open arms.¡±


    ¡°...Isn''t that a thought.¡±


    Gentle Snow gave an odd smile while retracting her hand.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s okay even if you don¡¯t join us. I will be visiting this place often as our business has not yet concluded, so if you change your mind, just tell me when you see me. And¡­¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Gentle Snow tapped Tiya¡¯s nose.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re supposed to offer refuge for an entire militia of sorcerers without your lord¡¯s command. That could cause him lots of trouble if we were to all suddenly appear on his doorstep without prior notice. Don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Oh, y-yea. Sorry.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s okay. Just be sure to know what your lord wants before carrying out actions in his name. Now, do enjoy the rest of your night. And stay safe, Tiya.¡±


    With that, she disappeared, leaving Tiya in a small daze.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°You win.¡±


    ¡°Told you.¡±


    I smirked while glancing at the figure who appeared beside me.


    Gentle Snow smiled playfully and sat on the edge of my bed.


    ¡°Now I¡¯m really curious as to what you said to that girl in the dungeon. She¡¯s hung up on you.¡±


    ¡°I made her realize that I don¡¯t save sorcerers simply because they¡¯re sorcerers. I do it because they¡¯re no different from everyone else, just children and young women who had a bad day. Still, my words then were more so for the Baron, who has since realized the error of his ways. When faced with your hypocrisy, half decent people tend to rethink themselves and choose a side. The Baron chose correctly.¡±


    I fiddled with the book in my hands, a book on the nearby geography and its features. And I could feel Gentle Snow¡¯s eyes on me as I did so.


    ¡°...I¡¯ll be returning soon.¡±


    ¡°Get some rest before you do. There are empty rooms throughout the manor that you can use. I know a hike through the mountains isn¡¯t easy.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll accept your generosity.¡±


    ¡°Not that you had to ask me anyway.¡±


    I smiled and lifted my gaze.


    For a moment we just stared at each other, until she stood and bowed toward me just slightly.


    ¡°Thank you, Lord Audius, for saving Tiya. You have the appreciation and gratitude of the entire Sorcerer¡¯s Militia.¡±


    ¡°No need for the formality, Ms. Snow. As I said, I don¡¯t do this because you¡¯re sorcerers.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Then, I wish you a good night.¡±


    She left with those words, leaving me to myself.


    I had a small smile as I continued reading my book.


    ¡­¡­¡­


    ¡­¡­


    I heard nothing from Gentle Snow the following day.


    And although I didn¡¯t attain much information from her, I still considered our encounter valuable.


    Now I knew that there was a militia of sorcerers in the mountains next door, and I had also sown goodwill with them. If they considered settling within my city, then I considered our relationship a success.


    Still, I would need to give it time. Not only would those sorcerers need to wait and see before making such a big decision, but I would have to let my image grow within Gentle Snow¡¯s mind before being able to ask for information on the nature of sorcerers.


    It all came down to time.


    So I focused on other tasks.


    Right now, construction on my new manor was top priority.


    Currently I planned on building it on the western side of my city.


    I didn¡¯t want to build it toward the east since that¡¯s where the river was located and by extension, all the farmland. The south wasn¡¯t viable since that¡¯s where all the trade and production was.


    As for the North, that¡¯s where all the stonecutting, hunting, and quarrying occured. Again, too many people.


    So, the most unoccupied and out-of-the-way region was the eastern region that faced the border.


    I was going to build my manor there, in a place within a small forest that wasn¡¯t too far from the city yet out of the public eye.


    But I didn¡¯t have the proper materials to build my ideal manor. It wasn¡¯t that my manor was going to be a castle, just that I wanted it constructed out of something a bit more modern than poorly cut log and uneven stone.


    And my solution was actually incredibly simple.


    In the morning, I called upon the Baron. Compared to when I first arrived, he was quite a bit more somber, like he had come back from a war. Considering he was someone who earned his noble title in battle, the inner turmoil he faced must have been great if he had been hit so hard.


    But he looked better than a couple days ago.


    ¡°Baron.¡±


    ¡°Lord Audius. You needed me?¡±


    Baron Hviral entered the study where I had yet another book in my hands. I looked up at him and closed the book.


    ¡°Yes. I was wondering about the stonecutters in this city. Are there any companies or organizations that specifically handle stonecutting and its transportation?¡±


    ¡°...Yes, I believe so.¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°They¡¯re located in the northern region of the city. I believe they¡¯re called the Rock and Stone Foundation. They handle everything related to stone processing and trading in the city, also working closely with a construction organization as they built most of the houses and buildings here.¡±


    ¡°I see. I want you to call their manager here. Tell him I have business with him, and that he¡¯ll want to bring a chemist.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll send one of my men right away.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    The Baron left. And as he exited through the door, another figure appeared within it, the two passing by each other.


    I smiled at the entrant.


    ¡°Ah, Sir Campbell. I apologize for the last few days. I¡¯ve been awfully busy getting settled in.¡±


    I stood and shook the man¡¯s hand.


    My father¡¯s assistant that he sent with me.


    He was a skinny man one might associate with a wimpy scholar sheltered by the white walls of luxurious mansions.


    But Sir Campbell was the furthest thing from wimpy. Sure he was skinny, but he had a deep and ruthless gaze that could make one quiver. He was the kind of man who could take a life without a second thought, one who could order thousands to battle and not so much as flinch when most of them died.


    And that¡¯s exactly what he did. None of the people who stood with my father were ordinary, especially since he was a war general. And while Sir Campbell wasn¡¯t near the top of the list of most accomplished or renowned when it came to my father¡¯s assistants, he definitely wasn¡¯t low.


    I hadn¡¯t heard much about him other than he was one of the commanding officers who took orders directly from my father, and he did so with unwavering loyalty and dedication. He also handled some form of logistics, so when the war ended, he became a financial moderator who worked for my father.


    Now, he was here with me as my ¡®assistant¡¯. How much I could actually tell him to do, however, was the big question.


    Still, I only needed him for one thing.


    The iron mine, and the reason I chose this city.


    Sir Campbell nodded back to me, giving some professional courtesy despite his stoic disposition.


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Have you settled well in the manor? I know it isn¡¯t as spacious as my father¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s enough. The escort has also begun their return to Fawkes City, besides two of my own trusted men who will stay here with me.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Fawkes City was named after my father when he took up residence there.


    And I was surprised to hear that Sir Campbell had his own men, because as far as I knew, everyone who was a part of the escort was a highly trained guard, someone who could serve as the guard of my father¡¯s personal estate. Nobody there was ordinary.


    Sir Campbell sure had his cards to play.


    But that wasn¡¯t one of my concerns right now.


    ¡°So, has my father given you more information on the iron mine? I don¡¯t wish to delay the establishment of something so profitable.¡±


    ¡°He has.¡±


    Sir Campbell grabbed a small bundle of papers that he carried inside a bag.


    He laid them out on a table between us.


    ¡°The iron mine is a large surface formation to the east along one of the major branches of the Ridge River.¡±


    ¡°The east. Great¡­¡±


    I sighed while thinking about my manor. Was I going to have to hide it in the mountains?


    Sir Campbell continued.


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been touched due to the river branch being an obstacle for easy excavation. And, there are no other nearby cities that can take advantage of it. So it¡¯s been sitting there untouched. Now, your father has granted you jurisdiction over it. If you take his loan, you will be responsible for not only the excavation, but paying him back.¡±


    ¡°Has my father given me a deadline for this loan?¡±


    ¡°He has not.¡±


    Sir Campbell¡¯s voice lowered.


    ¡°The Duke has given me no information regarding repayment. Should you take the loan, you only need to worry about using that investment properly. And the Duke has given me full authority to manage the finances he has entrusted to this endeavor. And, my first stipulation is that not a single coin will be utilized outside of the business of iron mining. Should you violate this rule, Lord Audius, I will not hesitate to repossess everything and leave. I will not allow the Duke¡¯s money to be wasted.¡±


    ¡°I understand, Sir Campbell.¡±


    I raised my hand with a smile, prompting the ruthless accountant to back off.


    ¡°Rest assured, my father¡¯s investment won¡¯t result in a loss. I¡¯ll consult you before spending. But, I ask for at least some flexibility. I don¡¯t want you to misunderstand my spending and deem it a misuse. For example, if I desire to build a bridge over the river near the mine, and that requires stonecutting and processing, then I need to make sure that I can allocate the funds accordingly. You may manage the finances, but I still make the decisions as to how the money is used to further our goal.¡±


    ¡°...¡±

 Chapter 8 - Mining

    Sir Campbell was silent for a moment, perhaps processing my words, or perhaps surprised that I was actually talking back.


    The only way in which I was going to use Sir Campbell as an assistant would be pertaining to the iron mine. In regards to everything else, he was just an employee. In the end, I was the lord of this city now.


    This could be called drawing a clear line between us. I would easily admit that I needed my father¡¯s investment. Without it, the establishment of my industry would take far longer. But I wouldn¡¯t allow this accountant to hold ultimate authority over that money.


    I didn¡¯t need him to prematurely think that one of my projects, ones that he surely wouldn¡¯t understand, was a waste of money.


    Sir Campbell, who had been leaning forward, relaxed and sat back with a deep gaze.


    ¡°I understand, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Now, how much has my father dedicated to this operation?¡±


    ¡°...This much.¡±


    He took out a note, a commonly used form of payment.


    On it was the royal seal of the Verlenium Empire. And a single number.


    My eyes widened.


    ¡°Two hundred thousand Coin¡­¡±


    It might not seem like much, but in this world where there weren¡¯t many units of currency in circulation, nearly a quarter of a million units of currency was a significant amount.


    Based on my guesses after observing the technological state of this empire and seeing its geography, there shouldn¡¯t be more than 100 million residents under the Verlenium Empire. It could be around 60 million.


    And the amount of currency in circulation shouldn¡¯t be more than one billion coin, especially since more bank notes were in wide circulation rather than hard metal tender.


    So in short, two hundred thousand coin was a lot. So much that I¡¯m shocked my father would invest so much.


    ¡°...Sir Campbell, what¡¯s the average weekly wage for a labor worker? Perhaps a farmer?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a hard question to answer precisely. But, for just one week, it should amount to no more than 50 coin.¡±


    ¡°So a yearly salary shouldn¡¯t be more than 2500 coin. 200 thousand coin would amount to a year¡¯s pay for 80 people. So long as we¡¯re actually producing value, that money will be more than enough.¡±


    My mind ran through the numbers. Only employing 80 people for a year wasn¡¯t enough to make any sizeable dent in the mining process. I would need hundreds of people, especially when it came to logistics and startup construction.


    So two hundred thousand, if going with Sir Campbell¡¯s generous guess, wouldn¡¯t last me that long.


    But if we are able to produce value, like smelt the iron and turn it into tools to sell, then we would be able to turn a profit and sustain our operations.


    Well, that¡¯s how every business was run. And all this was nothing more than just that.


    I leveled my gaze at the accountant.


    ¡°Sir Campbell, I think its safe to begin operations. So long as we have the money to begin paying wages immediately, then we should begin hiring people. We need to establish a headquarters near the site, which takes construction, and we should start digging samples to survey and evaluate the land. We also need a road that allows for quick and easy hauling, so more construction. Thankfully, I¡¯ve called the local construction crew. When they arrive, we¡¯ll be discussing business with them. But until then, start posting notices for employment, and get in contact with the city hall to let them know of the situation.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Sir Campbell silently stared at me as I gave out a list of orders. Only after a few seconds did he close his eyes and stand.


    ¡°I will begin work immediately, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    I nodded, and the accountant took his leave.


    I waited around in the study for a while. My conversation with Sir Campbell wasn¡¯t short. And since the city wasn¡¯t expansive, the people from the Rock and Stone Foundation didn¡¯t take much longer to arrive.


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Baron. Please, bring in our guests.¡±


    I smiled as Baron Hviral ushered in three people.


    Two of them were rough middle aged men, both with beards and nice clothes that didn¡¯t fit their disposition.


    The third was undoubtedly the chemist, a short man with a monocle and dressed in a leather coat.


    ¡°Gentlemen.¡±


    ¡°We greet the new City Lord Audius.¡±


    The three bowed. Although I was the city lord, I was also a Duke¡¯s son. To these people, I was no different from the Imperial Prince.


    The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.


    I motioned for them to sit, and they sat on chairs in front of the desk of the study. Baron Hviral stood to the side, as my assistant.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get straight to the point, since time is money for all of us here.¡±


    I didn¡¯t beat around the bush, and after plucking a page off the desk, I handed it to the chemist.


    He took the paper and examined it.


    ¡°This is a new formula for a special material called cement. Take limestone and clay, crush them down and mix them in the right way, add some heat, and you get a fantastic compound called cement. When combined with water and mixed with sand or gravel, it becomes a moldable mixture that hardens with time, resulting in the most versatile building material you can imagine. I want you to help me develop this and start production.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    The chemist was silent as he scanned the page. I had written out that basic diagram for cement production in the morning, and it detailed everything from the mixture ratios to the kiln temperatures and manufacturing process.


    After looking at everything for a bit though, the chemist lifted his head with a weird smile.


    ¡°Lord Audius¡­¡±


    ¡°Is there something wrong? Perhaps the names of the materials are unfamiliar?¡±


    ¡°No sir, on the contrary, this is a very familiar process. We use a similar limestone mixture in order to create mortar and paste bricks and stone together for our constructions.¡±


    ¡°So you already have an established production process for this?¡±


    ¡°Sort of.¡±


    The chemist scratched his head.


    ¡°The only difference are the small details. For instance, you say this needs to be heated in a kiln at a minimum of 1400 degrees. But, we only cook ours at 1200 degrees at most. Any more and fuel costs tend to get too high. Also, the mixture ratios with clay are a bit different. We don¡¯t use as much clay as this.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I see the issue then.¡±


    I smiled back at them.


    ¡°This method is for a stronger material. The resulting mixture sets much harder than any mortar. It can replace bricks and stone. Still, I¡¯m happy that you already have an established supply for this. That means my job will be easier. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    I turned my head to the man beside the chemist, one of the two with a beard.


    ¡°I¡¯m Gerald, and this is my brother Fenten. The chemist is called Reduct, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Gerald. If you can produce this cement mixture in mass quantities, then I¡¯m going to place an order with you. You see, I plan on establishing an iron mine nearby, and I have a large investment backing me. As you¡¯re the only construction company in the city, you¡¯ll be the profiteers of this operation. Get me what I want, and you¡¯ll be working with me at this iron mine.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Although I was offering a tempting proposition, Gerald responded with silence. He glanced to his partner, one that told me something was going on.


    I sighed.


    ¡°Gerald, is there something I should know about?¡±


    ¡°Well, you see Lord Audius, I believe there¡¯s already a small mining company working on the nearby iron deposit. I happen to be a friend of the owner as we frequently do business with each other¡­¡±


    This time, I was a bit befuddled.


    But after thinking about it, I smiled.


    ¡°Hahaha! One step too late! Well, I can¡¯t say I¡¯m surprised. It was unreasonable to think that an untapped treasure would stay that way forever. Very well then. Change of plans.¡±


    I could only take things in stride.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to trouble you to send a message to that owner. Tonight, if he can, tomorrow if not. Just tell him to find me here, and we¡¯ll discuss a deal.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Lord Audius. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be eager for such a great business opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Mm. As for you guys, well, my offer is on the table. Take the ratios for cement and run some tests. I¡¯ll come visit in four days to see the progress. If you succeed, then we can move forward.¡±


    ¡°We will do our best.¡±


    With those assurances, Gerald and his brother Fenten left with the chemist.


    And sure enough, it wasn¡¯t long after that Sir Campbel came back with news.


    ¡°Lord Audius, it seems someone has already established a small outpost on the mine.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I heard. I¡¯ve already dealt with it. We¡¯ll be talking with the owner of that outpost soon.¡±


    ¡°What did you have in mind?¡±


    Sir Campbell asked with curiosity. I had no doubt shown myself to be much different from what he¡¯s heard. The rumors about me being an ambitionless leech didn¡¯t match what I was doing now.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to handle this like business men. Just be ready to fork out a large sum of money. It won¡¯t be long before we start putting that investment to use.¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    With that, I began the first steps toward establishing my industry.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Gentle Snow. I don¡¯t recall permitting you to leave, let alone go back to Northtown.¡±


    Helva stood tall within the dark cave. In front of her was Gentle Snow, who stood as an equal.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, matriarch. I needed to make sure that the girl was okay. Although she wasn¡¯t hung, there are fates that are worse than a quick death, especially for sorcerers.¡±


    ¡°But that does not mean you can put the rest of us in jeopardy on a whim!¡±


    Helva shouted, her shrill voice echoing reverberating across the surrounding stone walls.


    The nearby sorcerers ducked away in fear, as if they were the ones being yelled at.


    ¡°Do you not understand? That city lord is the son of a Duke! Trash or not, he only needs to say a word and we would have an entire army hunting us! We would be eradicated in mere weeks! And you didn¡¯t even come back with the sorcerer, so that means she knows of our existence and is still in the possession of that city lord. What gives you the idea that he won¡¯t use her against us?!¡±


    ¡°...I spoke to him.¡±


    Gentle Snow cautiously said those words, yet the reaction she was afraid of still came.


    ¡°You what?!¡±


    ¡°The girl currently resides within the city lord¡¯s manor, and after I scouted, I found out that the city lord saved her because he doesn¡¯t believe in the lies of the Order. So I spoke to him.¡±


    ¡°To think you actually revealed yourself¡­¡±


    Helva shivered in anger, but Gentle Snow insisted.


    ¡°He offered to house us. He said that the entire militia could go and take refuge in his city. And¡­ he didn¡¯t lie.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense! We both know that your ability to see truth is only a gut feeling. Do you remember the last time we believed in that ability of yours?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Gentle Snow bit her lip as her hand clenched.


    ¡°Nearly half of us were killed, all because you thought you could trust the wrong person. Now you want to throw us into the lions den that is that city? You actually think we can be safe there? That sorcerer is only bait to lure us out! To think that after everything you¡¯ve been through, you¡¯re still able to be so naive.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Helva walked away, leaving Gentle Snow to shake in emotion and rage.


    But, after only a few moments, she stilled. She raised her head, her visage now calm and cool.


    She walked deeper into the cave, ignoring Helva¡¯s sharp gaze on her back.

 Chapter 9 - Deals

    I met with the owner of the mine when he showed up at the manor the following morning.


    And I must say, my first impression wasn¡¯t that great.


    A tall yet chubby man, he sweat all over as he appeared before me in the study. His red face tried to smile as best he could, but with his hair that was pasted down and thin mustache, I could only see him as an underground swindler.


    He wasn¡¯t the most presentable, but I really only had one rule when it came to people I made business deals with.


    Speak with your assets, not your mouth.


    ¡°Lord Audius, it¡¯s a pleasure to finally meet you. My name is Kork, and I¡¯m the owner of the Kork Mining Outpost.¡±


    ¡°Welcome, Kork.¡±


    I barely held back a weird gaze. He sure had a special name. But it fit his appearance, as odd as that was.


    He took a seat with my insistence, and after he led me through a few pleasantries, I jumped to the point.


    ¡°Mr. Kork, I¡¯ve invited you here to discuss your outpost. You see, my father not only gifted me this city, but he also plans to invest in a mining company to be established on the iron deposit. Now, I had planned to begin hiring people and commence operations as soon as I could, but then I heard about you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m terribly sorry, Lord Audius. I had no idea¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Kork.¡±


    I waved my hand, stopping the large man from apologizing. And I could swear the sweat on his body doubled with my words.


    I just smiled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t intend to take away everything you¡¯ve worked for. You found an opportunity and took it. I commend the effort. So I¡¯m extending an invitation. I¡¯d like to buy a majority share of your outpost, taking ownership of it in the process, including all your equipment. And if you¡¯re up to the task and have the necessary knowledge required to run a successful company, I¡¯m willing to make you the manager for my mining operations.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡±


    The man¡¯s eyes widened, his folds rippling in delight and surprise.


    ¡°Lord Audius, you are a generous city lord! If you find me worthy, I will do everything in my power to take on the responsibility. You see, I had worked with my father at another shale mine, and I came here seeking the opportunity of iron after confirming a rumor about the deposit. So I may not be the best, but I can promise that you won¡¯t find a harder working man!¡±


    Kork straightened his back, his face turning even redder than before. His excitement couldn¡¯t be contained by his large body.


    And contrary to his appearance, I was pleased with his attitude and standing. If he had tried to take advantage of my fat wallet, I would have bought the oupost and kicked him to the curb. But he seemed very genuine.


    And it wasn¡¯t as if he were holding onto a treasure anyway. Such a mine could only be taken advantage of by those with the capital. It wasn¡¯t as if he retained ownership of the entire deposit, and he only had a small outpost that likely didn¡¯t generate much anyway.


    But that wasn¡¯t the point of my deal.


    I couldn¡¯t manage everything by myself, so I needed competent people who worked underneath me. A man who managed to establish an outpost on a barren deposit with an investment more than likely far smaller than mine had to not only be a hard worker, but an opportunist. He was someone who built something out of nothing.


    That was precisely the kind of person I wanted working for me.


    So I extended the invitation.


    Standing, I walked over and pat the man on the shoulder.


    ¡°Then I suppose we have a deal, Mr. Kork. This man over here is one of my directors, Sir Campbell. He¡¯s going to take a trip with you to your outpost for an evaluation. When he comes back with an estimation, I¡¯ll write the note and you¡¯ll have your money and position as my manager of iron mining operations.¡±


    ¡°Of course! Pleasure to work with you, sir Campbell.¡±


    Kork shook the accountant¡¯s hand, earning an apathetic nod.


    And after sending that duo on their way, I settled back into my seat.


    It was nice, being able to simply send people to get work done. But it wouldn¡¯t be so easy for long. As operations actually began, I couldn¡¯t be so relaxed. I needed to personally make sure that things developed how I needed them to.


    But I had time, so I allowed things to develop slowly but surely.


    *Knock Knock*


    After thinking in silence for a while, I saw Grace enter the study.


    I smiled at my sister.


    ¡°Grace. How are you?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t complain.¡±


    She smiled back, sitting relaxedly in a chair in front of me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just been tending to Tiya. She¡¯s gotten much better over the past few days. She¡¯s a strong girl. Stronger than me¡­¡±


    Grace let out a small sigh.


    Standing from my seat, I went and pat her head, combing and straightening out a few strands of her hair.


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t ever have to go through something like that. It¡¯s fine so long as you stick to your beliefs and fight when the time comes. Our future won¡¯t be peaceful the way we¡¯re going. There will be wars and no small amount of blood. Your job is to prepare for the future.¡±


    ¡°...Well, it seems you¡¯ve been doing more than I have. What¡¯s all this about business deals? It hasn¡¯t even been a week.¡±


    She lifted her head and smiled at me.


    I leaned back on the desk while shrugging.


    ¡°I¡¯ve just been laying the groundwork for this iron mine. Nothing has happened yet.¡±


    ¡°Right. Still, I¡¯ve only been shopping and caregiving. I feel like I¡¯m wasting away. Is there anything I can do that you haven¡¯t?¡±


    ¡°...Work on your powers.¡±


    I thought for a moment and realized the perfect place for Grace.


    ¡°Sorcerers are going to have their place here, but only if they can use their powers. I want you to work on yours, study it. Same with Tiya. Both of you need to develop your special strengths and discover their secrets.¡±


    ¡°And what about you?¡±


    She asked curiously. I hadn¡¯t explained much about my awakening and Grace only knew that it had something to do with my mind. And the immediate effects were obvious. I naturally didn¡¯t act as Audius did only a couple weeks ago. I changed greatly.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    But the subtle effects were unknown, at least to her.


    ¡°My powers aren¡¯t like a normal sorcerer¡¯s. Mine are more internal.¡±


    I tapped my head.


    ¡°Still, I¡¯ll naturally discover more about mine too. And that reminds me, I have something to ask you. Have you told Tiya that I¡¯m a sorcerer?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    I nodded in relief.


    ¡°Keep it that way. Don¡¯t tell anyone, not even other sorcerers.¡±


    ¡°...Why?¡±


    Grace looked at me weirdly. It seemed like I wanted to keep this secret a little too much.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I just feel like its not something that should be said. After all, the common knowledge is that only females can become sorcerers. And I can count the amount of rumors about male sorcerers on one hand. I don¡¯t want to be one of those rumors, so don¡¯t tell even the sorcerers we¡¯re going to save. I don¡¯t care if they find it hard to trust me because of that. Can you promise me that you¡¯ll keep that secret?¡±


    I looked Grace in the eyes, conveying just how serious I was about this. And although she was surprised, she still nodded.


    ¡°Alright. I promise you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks. I mean, if dad sent us away after that incident because he was really worried about the possibility of me awakening, then male sorcerers might not be the rumors we think they are. And just what do you think the Order would do to get their hands on a male sorcerer? I couldn¡¯t imagine.¡±


    ¡°...Yea.¡±


    Grace suddenly looked horrified, not having made that connection.


    Female sorcerers are all over the place, and the Order hunted them with undying determination  as if they were actual devils. So just what would happen if a male sorcerer popped up?


    Although, that was only part of the reason I wanted to keep my secret.


    In my mind, sorcerers were both the most versatile tool and the biggest threat. They had amazing powers that would undoubtedly have their place in this world¡¯s industry, capable of doing things that only future machines could.


    But, as I had seen with Gentle Snow, they also had the power to surpass the physical world and put my life at extreme risk. That meant that my own abilities and special status as a sorcerer would be an important card to play at the right time. My enemies couldn¡¯t know that I was anything more than an ordinary human.


    At least, not until I had the ability to protect against sophisticated threats.


    And that reminded me of something else I needed to start.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m off.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been meaning to do something since we got here. Joining me would also be good for you.¡°


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    Grace hummed and followed me out of the study.


    After I went and changed into loose clothing, I stepped into the backyard of the manor.


    The entire manor was fenced off, and on those fences grew thick vines and plants, creating a natural barrier.


    And there was a hidden gate leading out of the back. I walked over to it and opened the rusty metal hatch.


    It led out onto a back street that revealed a plaza of the city center. This was one thing I abhored about this manor.


    ¡°Why did he have to build his home in the center of the damn city¡­ Anyway, I¡¯m off.¡±


    ¡°Off?¡±


    Grace followed me as I walked onto the street. Then, she watched me weirdly as I did a few stretches.


    ¡°I¡¯m gonna run.¡±


    ¡°Run?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the act of using your legs in a manner that exerts your energy and moves your body at high speeds.¡±


    ¡°I know what running is.¡±


    She rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Are you training your body?¡±


    ¡°Precisely.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Because it''s good for you. More stamina to do more work. And more muscles to look better.¡±


    I smiled while flexing my nonexistent arm muscles. Truly, the state of my physical body was quite pathetic considering Audius had never trained throughout his entire life.


    But that would change.


    ¡°Have water ready for me when I come back!¡±


    ¡°Wait¡­¡±


    Grace wasn¡¯t sure what to say as I broke off into a run, taking turns to enter the side streets of the city.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    I ran until I was beyond the bounds of the city.


    The place I chose to head toward was the small forest where I planned to build my manor. It was around 3 miles from the city center, so it made for a good run.


    Of course, my body thought that running so far was the worst thing in the world, but I had more than enough mental fortitude to endure the pain.


    I picked a tree to sit against, catching my breath.


    Then, I raised my left arm.


    I always wore the long sleeve garments in my wardrobe in order to cover up the scarring of my arm, as well as a glove to cover my hand. And being who I was, nobody asked about it.


    But that was beside the point. I decided to come to this place for more of a reason than just running.


    I called upon my Tool.


    My hand transformed, the black circuitry appearing across my skin and my fingertips turning metal. After the power core appeared, it sparked before activating.


    Although the power core was damaged, it still had marvelous abilities. The most important aspect of the core was its nigh infinite power. The only thing that was damaged was the throughput of that power. So instead of being able to terraform entire landscapes and synthesize any element out of mere air, it was now restricted to basic construction.


    Looking at the floor nearby, I pointed my clawed hand. A rock then rose from the grass, floating over and atop my palm.


    And with a thought, the rock was ground and crushed with a few arcs of lightning, turning to small chunks that fell through my fingers.


    Nothing more than rough pulverization, yet using the deepest laws of physics. It seemed like although there were slight deviations in the laws of this dimension, it wasn¡¯t drastic enough to affect basic functions.


    There was still gravity and electromagnetism, and all the myriads of principles like tensile strength, pressure, and density still applied.


    And the Tool tapped into these forces all the same, allowing it to break a rock apart bit by bit.


    One issue though was how the Tool had adapted to this universe.


    The Tool contained a repository of just about all the knowledge I could possibly ask for. It could be said to be an archive documenting every significant aspect of a civilization¡¯s development from beginning to end.


    And I had already tested recalling this knowledge. This archive was where I found the information about cement.


    But even just gathering that information took an odd toll.


    The Tool directly wrote all manner of information about cement straight into my mind. All different types of cement, their endless lists of properties, all their different ingredient lists and proportions, all the different ways to process them¡­


    Everything was shoved into my head, giving me a horrible migraine. And from that expanse of information, I had to sort through everything and grab what I wanted, ending in that single page of information about cement.


    Thankfully, when the Tool gave me the information, it resulted in an odd awareness of everything, as if I could ¡®see¡¯ all the information at once. It made picking things out very easy, but for that duration, my mind was still under a lot of stress.


    For what reason the Tool had resorted to this method of accessing its archive, I had no idea.


    And after the process ended, all the vast amounts of information gradually faded away, my brain only remembering the things I focused on.


    It was weird.


    But that function was easily the most important function. The knowledge of technology and science was monumentally valuable in this primitive world. Even more than my tool¡¯s ability to use it.


    After sitting around for a bit, I set my sights on a nearby tree.


    Like with the rock, I brought up my hand and pointed. From the claws came sparks and light that shot toward the tree.


    That¡¯s when my vision changed. I could see all the energy of the Tool as it was projected across the rough bark of the tree, energy that nobody should be able to see, and my mind was filled with the Tool¡¯s operation.


    Its functions were like code in my brain, making me totally aware of every action I could and couldn¡¯t take, as well as the energy consumption at every moment in time.


    It was like my brain had become a part of the computer, in a way.


    And I knew that I needed to operate it personally. Things wouldn¡¯t happen without my input, so I expressed my desires.


    And light shone.


    *Zzt!*


    Sparks flew, and some rays of light shone on sections of the tree. These rays slowly sliced through the bark and wood without burning or harming any of the material in the process.


    It was slow, far from the true power of the Tool. But after less than a minute, the tree fell.


    And when it hit the floor, it didn¡¯t just crash with a thud, but fell apart in segments.


    I saw the cleanly cut wood planks crash among each other. They weren¡¯t treated or even dried, but they had been shaped perfectly.


    Then, I pointed my hand, and the planks rose. Their ends were cut into varied shapes as they floated in the air and pieced themselves together.


    Their cut ends merged perfectly, and before long, all the planks had been used to form the edges of a wooden cube.


    I smiled.


    With this Tool, although I couldn¡¯t warp the earth like a god, I would still be able to bring about precision construction. Factories that this world couldn¡¯t make would all be possible under my hand.


    Of course, so long as I kept it hidden. Otherwise I¡¯d be the target of an unprecedented witch hunt.

 Chapter 10 - Carbon

    Grace placed a keg of water out in the back garden of the manor for Audius, whenever he decided he would return.


    Since she wasn¡¯t interested in waiting forever, she strolled through the manor and found Tiya¡¯s room.


    Entering, she saw the small girl who had recently been regaining her health at breakneck pace.


    She hadn¡¯t been horribly malnourished in the dungeon before her execution, but she never ate as people like Grace might have. Having full meals at least twice a day wasn¡¯t normal. Normal people would eat two small meals a day, and that¡¯s if they lived with decent income. Even wheat farmers wouldn¡¯t be able to make flour and indulge in bread. After all, there was only so much yield a single farmer could harvest, requiring them to be frugal.


    Tiya was gaining a supple layer of skin over her bones, making her seem less like a little girl and more like a woman. It was generally agreed upon that sorcerers had an average level of beauty high above normal women. And Tiya, like Grace, was shaping out to be a gorgeous young lady.


    Grace enjoyed buying clothes for this girl, but recently, Tiya had nothing of the sort on her mind.


    Perhaps Audius had told Tiya to practice her powers like he did Grace, because recently Tiya wanted to do nothing but test her magical abilities.


    Thankfully they had worked out a system. Grace brought items to work with to Tiya¡¯s room, and together the two would play around and try to classify their abilities.


    And they had discovered interesting things. Particularly about Tiya¡¯s ability.


    *Knock Knock*


    Grace tapped on the door while entering, prompting Tiya to lift her head from her task.


    It seemed she was testing her abilities, as expected.


    ¡°Hi Grace.¡±


    ¡°Good afternoon, Tiya. I see you¡¯re hard at work again.¡±


    Using abilities came at the cost of energy, though not necessarily bodily energy. It was unknown where a sorcerer¡¯s powers came from, but a sorcerer could clearly feel when they were tired from using their powers.


    Yet, Tiya was working whenever she could.


    And right now in particular, she looked to be deep in thought.


    Grace walked over to the table she was sitting at. In front of Tiya was a pile of black dust.


    ¡°...Lord Audius said something about my power being corrosion?¡±


    ¡°Hm? I think so¡­ But that was just a guess.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡±


    Tiya scratched her black head of hair.


    ¡°Whenever I use my power on items like fruits or paper, I always get this black dust. And I looked at what comes out from the black dust, and it¡¯s usually a liquid or colorful dust. Still, I feel like my power turns things into this black dust. It¡¯s really messy too.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what it could be¡­¡±


    Grace pondered while looking at the pile of black dust. It was a fine powder that Tiya had placed on top of a piece of paper.


    ¡°Can you do anything with the dust?¡±


    ¡°Not really. I can only move it around.¡±


    Tiya waved her hand, and a portion of the black dust rose.


    It floated above her palm after forming into a smooth black ball. But as soon as she lowered it back down to the pile, it returned to its powdery form.


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Grace wondered even more. Was her ability simply to control this black powder? It seemed like extracting it from an object was only a byproduct of the main ability, if that was the case.


    But what was the black powder?


    Both of them were asking this question in their minds.


    ¡°How fast can you move it around?¡±


    ¡°Kind of fast, but not far.¡±


    Tiya captured another ball of the powder, and pushing it out, the ball hovered away from her body.


    It moved halfway across the room, which was about 3 meters away, before stopping and faltering. It seemed that was her limit.


    Then, bringing it back to her body, Tiya made the ball spin around her person. It wasn¡¯t incredibly fast, but that seemed to be because of her own ability to keep up with it instead of her power¡¯s limits.


    So in the end, Tiya¡¯s power was simple.


    She could control the black powder, whatever it was. That included turning objects into it, perhaps by burning them in some way. After all, burning things often produced black residue.


    ¡°Maybe Audius might know what this is.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Is there something wrong?¡±


    I asked Grace and Tiya who came to me in my study.


    I had finished my workout for the day, and evening was dawning.


    The two girls approached me with a small wooden container. After placing it on my desk and opening it, I saw a pile of black powder.


    I looked at it before nodding.


    ¡°That¡¯s a wonderful pile of powder. I¡¯m so glad you¡¯ve shown this to me.¡±


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Pfft.¡±


    Tiya held back a giggle while Grace rolled her eyes.


    ¡°We¡¯re wondering what this is. Do you know?¡±


    ¡°Well, not many things can form a pure black powder such as this. It looks like someone ground up some coal. In which case, this is carbon.¡±


    I touched my finger to the powder, and sure enough, it returned a thin black film over my fingerprint. I then rubbed my index finger and thumb together and felt the smooth texture.


    Graphite, and by extension carbon, was a great lubricant, so it could be identified simply by feeling the way it reduced the friction between one¡¯s fingers.


    But knowing that, I was a bit confused.


    Simply grinding up coal wouldn¡¯t produce a powder as deep black as this. It would have to be graphite, as coal had several other elements within it that diluted its color. But where would these two girls find graphite? Did this city have another mine that I didn¡¯t know about?


    I looked at them with a questioning gaze.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you get this?¡±


    ¡°This is the product of Tiya¡¯s ability.¡±


    Grace motioned toward Tiya, who was scratching her hair with a smile.


    And hearing Grace, something clicked in my mind.


    Tiya¡¯s demonstration a few days ago, where she corroded a fruit and produced a black smoke.


    Or, at least I thought it was corrosion. If this pure carbon was the product, then her ability could be even more extraordinary.


    ¡°You mean, her ability to corrode items produced this?¡±


    ¡°Yes. That pile of black powder is the result of her corroding several items like foods or paper. We didn¡¯t know what it was.¡±


    ¡°...I don¡¯t believe it¡­¡±


    I looked between the black powder and Tiya several times, wrapping my head around the implications.


    In that time, Grace motioned to Tiya, who waved her hand. I then saw a small ball rise from the powder and float around her.


    Tiya¡¯s ability¡­


    ¡°Carbon manipulation¡­ Hehe¡­¡±


    I chuckled before catching myself. Still, it was obvious that I was happy.


    I approached Tiya and pat her head.


    ¡°Tiya, you have no idea how amazing your power is.¡±


    ¡°R-really?¡±


    Her lips twisted as she smiled cutely.


    ¡°Yes really. And I¡¯d like to teach you about it, but unfortunately there¡¯s a lot of knowledge that isn¡¯t so common in this city that you would need to learn. I guess that means I need to start my new job as a scribe.¡±


    ¡°Scribe?¡±


    Grace wondered as I sat back down and closed the container full of carbon powder.


    ¡°That just means that I should start writing some books that can be used for education here. Knowledge is man¡¯s most valuable resource. The more we learn, the greater we prosper. Besides, if it might help Tiya understand her ability, then that¡¯s all the more reason.¡±


    I handed the container back to them.


    ¡°Keep working on your ability, Tiya. If you can, try and see if you can turn this powder that you produce into something more solid, like a rock. And when I start writing the books I want, I¡¯ll make sure that you get them.¡±


    ¡°Of course, Lord Audius. I¡¯ll work hard. And thank you.¡±


    ¡°Mm. And what about you, Grace? Any progress?¡±


    I looked at my sister, who smiled wryly.


    ¡°Sorry, Audius. I¡¯m still working on it.¡±


    ¡°No problem. Take your time.¡±


    I waved at her concern.


    Then, the two took their leave. I sat back for a little bit while thinking of Tiya¡¯s ability.


    Carbon was an extremely valuable resource. It was needed to make steel, and coal was important for generating heat that could be used as a way to power industrial machines, like steam engines that operated machinery.


    Tiya¡¯s powdered carbon could be used for many things, and I wasn¡¯t sure if it was possible, but if she could learn to synthesize materials out of that carbon¡­


    The possibilities were endless.


    But right now, there was something I needed to devote time toward.


    Education would be the foundation of my future prosperity. I needed a population of knowledgable people if I wanted to go far. Now, teaching adults was limited since their worldview was already constrained by their experience. But children were still malleable, and they had the free time.


    Children were always the future, and they were my targets, as bad as that sounded.


    But surely there were some adults who were open to learning new things, especially the industrialists and entrepreneurs. They would be the ones who actually applied my knowledge.


    But before any of that happened, I needed to write the books that would serve as the source material for all this education.


    ¡°I need to find the Baron. Maybe there¡¯s a print shop in this city. Otherwise I¡¯m going to have to buy material from another city¡­¡±


    *Knock Knock*


    I heard a tap on the door, and lo and behold, the Baron walked in.


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Baron, so good to see you. And Sir Campbell.¡±


    I waited as Sir Campbell took a seat in front of my desk. I also stopped the Baron before he could walk out.


    ¡°Baron, I have something for you to do.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    I raised a sheet of paper.


    ¡°I need more of this, and empty books. I would say that a thousand pieces of paper and 50 empty book bindings should suffice for now. Do you know where you can find a place that can supply me with this?¡±


    ¡°...That¡¯s a large order, but it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to fulfill. We have a library and printer store that I¡¯ve ordered books from in the past.¡±


    ¡°Good. Go to them and place this order. I don¡¯t care if they have to buy things from another city. I just want those two things. And bring me any sheets of paper we already have.¡±


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    The Baron left with his new task, and I focused my attention on Sir Campbell.


    The accountant placed a small stack of paper on my desk, which I picked up.


    It had descriptions of all the equipment that Kork, the owner of the mine outpost, owned. It also detailed the infrastructure already in place there, as well as a list of all the employees.


    It was basically everything I needed to know, and at the end, there was a value estimation made by Sir Campbell.


    ¡°The outpost is worth no more than 4 thousand coin, even after considering all the salaries of the workers throughout its lifetime. And it isn¡¯t very developed. All mining operations thus far have been shallow, and there is a single processing facility that can make iron. The only valuable part of the outpost are the few buildings and paved road, as well as a small bridge across the river.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I was silent as I pondered. It didn¡¯t surprise me that Kork¡¯s outpost was small. Even if he had been working at it for a few years, his growth rate was likely that of a snail. Without capital, it would be impossible for him to go anywhere.


    So it was obvious why he was so eager to work with me. I was his golden ticket.


    I quickly made my decision.


    ¡°I will buy his outpost for 6 thousand coin, which you will pay Kork. What did you think of his administrative ability?¡±


    ¡°...Sufficient.¡±


    Sir Campbell thought about my decree before spitting out that answer.


    ¡°In that case, he has the option to sign a contract. He can work for me as the on site manager of mining operations. His yearly salary as the manager will be 8 thousand coin. Also, I will pay bonuses based on how much he produces. As soon as you write up the contract and have him sign it, we will move forward with establishing a proper facility.¡±


    ¡°8 thousand¡­ I understand.¡±


    Sir Campbell nodded simply before standing and leaving.


    I had no doubt that Kork would sign the contract, so it was only a matter of time before we began operations.


    I would also need to draft up plans and start allocating funds from my father¡¯s investment.


    Then we would need to hire people, buy tools, set up the processing facilities¡­


    A lot of work that might take a month or so with my help, but it wasn¡¯t like I was pressed for time.


    I just sat back and waited for things to develop.


    ¡°Your paper, Lord Audius.¡±


    And a maid brought me a batch of blank paper.


    So with my many priorities laid out, I did what work I could.

 Chapter 11: Pointe

    It wasn¡¯t a surprise when Kork personally visited to express his thanks.


    Not only did he receive the massive sum of money equating to nearly three years worth of salary, but also scored a job that would earn him even more annually.


    It was the offer of a lifetime, and it seemed like he was on the verge of tears as he shook my hand with profuse gratitude.


    But now that Kork was officially the manager, Sir Campbell was merciless in making him earn those riches.


    Large scale hiring began immediately with Sir Campbell offering a starting wage of 20 coin per day with payouts happening weekly. Only 100 people were hired, however, and of the hundreds of applicants, only the most able-bodied were chosen.


    Working with the Baron, he also found a merchant who would be able to fulfill a large order of tools. Until those tools arrived, we wouldn¡¯t be able to hire more miners.


    As for the processing facility, I had my own plans for it.


    But those plans could only wait until my next order of business.


    After a few days had passed, it was finally time for me to go and check on my stoneworkers.


    Grace wanted to come along, so we boarded a carriage and made our way to the northern region of the city where the Rock and Stone Foundation was headquartered.


    The place was basically a big barn. Entering said barn, I found the two brothers and the chemist overlooking a block of grey-white stone.


    I perked up while walking over, and they naturally noticed my presence.


    ¡°Lord Audius!¡±


    ¡°Ah, its the lord.¡±


    The three greeted me, and it was the chemist who announced their progress.


    ¡°Lord Audius, we¡¯ve had great progress in these past few days. Truly, that formula of yours, while costly, does indeed create a strong product! This is one of our final tests that we were going to show you.¡±


    He pointed to the block of concrete. It definitely looked like what I wanted. The chemist also handed me a sheet of paper detailing its specifications, including its strengths.


    ¡°This cement of yours hardens with great speed and strength, and it took a formula only slightly different than ours. But the only issue as I stated before was the heating requirements. We¡¯ve gone through a great amount of fuel, so much so that I can¡¯t imagine this product being too profitable.¡±


    ¡°...What kind of fuel do you use?¡±


    I pondered a moment before asking, and the chemist led me to their kiln where they cooked the cement.


    ¡°We usually use coal and have a cycling method that allows us to constantly insert new fuel and remove waste.¡±


    The chemist picked up a small piece of coal, and I became curious.


    ¡°Where do you get this coal?¡±


    ¡°Yamaha City, to the east along the mountain range. They have a coal mine there, so we buy their coal while we often trade the products of our stoneworking, like our inferior cement.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    I smiled while my mind roiled with ideas.


    ¡°If only I could build trains over there¡­¡±


    ¡°Sorry?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. Anyway, I have a suggestion.¡±


    I pointed to the coal.


    ¡°If you grind up the coal into a powder before burning it, it¡¯ll greatly increase the efficiency. The only problem is that coal dust is dangerous if not handled correctly¡­ Oh!¡±


    My eyes widened as I remembered something. I couldn¡¯t help but glance toward Grace with a smile.


    ¡°I know what to do, but it¡¯ll have to wait. Gerald and Fenten.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°You two have fulfilled your end of the deal and have successfully cooked my concrete. Now, we can officially begin construction. I¡¯m going to build a manor for myself, a very large one, and I want it to be built out of this cement. Here are some of the details.¡±


    I retrieved a few sheets of paper from my jacket and handed it to the brothers.


    On it I had diagrams of the overall manor. And they were rather shocked.


    The place was nothing short of a castle. It was a massive mansion with three dozen rooms, huge bathing areas, several auxiliary rooms for office use or meeting areas, a grand kitchen, recreations rooms, and more.


    It would have everything I needed and wanted, but of course, the reason it was so big was because it would serve as the primary housing for all the sorcerers I planned to harbor.


    Of course, I also planned for it to be expandable. In case I decided to build offshoot buildings, I planned out space to allow that.


    But when factoring in the grand and artistic aesthetic I designed it with, the construction project was no doubt a daunting undertaking. And by the end, it would be a palace fit for a king, a place that dwarfed my father¡¯s estate in comparison.


    Which was by design, of course.


    I reassured the brothers who were looking at my diagrams with bulging eyes. I suppose the fact that I designed every detail myself had them equally as shocked as its complexity.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, you two. I don¡¯t plan to have everything built in a short amount of time, and I plan to pay you handsomely for this. But there are several preparations you¡¯ll need to make beforehand regarding the cement and material specifications. I¡¯ll have lists for you. And I naturally expect to have many workers hired. So, take those sheets I¡¯ve given you and calculate the estimated costs. There are numbers for the materials that I¡¯ve drawn up as well to help you. Take however long you need to run tests and give me a bill.¡±


    ¡°...We will live up to your expectations, Lord Audius.¡±


    The brother Fenten lifted his head with a serious nod.


    While it was a colossal project, it was also a big opportunity to make some big money. Craftsmen out in these rural towns never got opportunities like this. Only the royal craftsmen who worked in the capital of the empire ever got to see these large scale projects.


    So these two brothers would naturally do their best.


    ¡°Oh, also, Sir Campbell wil be coming to you to talk business about the mining operations. We¡¯ve reached a deal with Kork, so everything is about to start soon.¡±


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s great news, Lord Audius. I¡¯m sure Kork is very happy.¡±


    ¡°Haha, happy is an understatement.¡±


    I laughed while remembering Kork¡¯s enthusiastic thanks not long ago.


    After that, I settled a few more things with the brothers before leaving.


    Grace, who had been standing to the side the entire time, looked at me oddly as we rode in the carriage.


    ¡°How much crazy knowledge did you get, exactly?¡±


    ¡°Hm, it¡¯s hard to estimate. But if I had to say, I would say everything.¡±


    ¡°Everything?¡±


    She tilted her head, causing me to smile.


    ¡°Yes, everything. I know about everything there is to know. About science, about architecture, about war, about inventions that you can¡¯t even imagine.¡±


    I sighed in wonder as I thought about the grand scale of what I knew about.


    ¡°Grace, I know about all the stars in the sky, exactly what they are and how they were birthed from the darkness of the great beyond. I know about how our bodies are composed of countless small buildings blocks that carry out countless functions to keep us alive. There are so many things that I couldn¡¯t possibly begin to recite everything, and it overwhelms me just thinking about it all. So truly, my power is that of the mind¡­ But¡­¡±


    I turned my head toward her, and saw her face which wasn¡¯t sure how to feel about all this.


    I really was different from before. I was an entirely different person, incomparable to the Audius that Grace had known for her entire life.


    Now, I was bold, I could look someone as fierce as Sir Campbell in the eye, and I could make business deals and take control of a city. I also had vast knowledge that Grace couldn''t even imagine.


    There were only two things that remained the same as before.


    First, my face.


    And second, my love for Grace.


    She was the one always by my side. At first it had only been because of her awakening, but over time we grew an unshakeable bond.


    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.


    She was there to defend me even as I got berated by our older siblings, or when I was ignored by my father. And I was there for her when she was ignored by our mother and had a hard time making friends with other noble girls.


    The me who was Six was, without question, the dominant ego during the merger. Audius couldn¡¯t even slightly compare to Six¡¯s sheer force of will, intelligence, or otherwise.


    But if there was one thing that Six couldn¡¯t keep out, it would be Audius¡¯ love for his sister Grace.


    Audius, I, didn¡¯t want Grace to think of me badly.


    I didn¡¯t want her to be put off by my change.


    And I expressed that feeling.


    ¡°...I hope that this doesn¡¯t change your view of me. I know I¡¯m different, but you¡¯re still my sister, and my partner. After all, I didn¡¯t design that manor just for myself.¡±


    I nudged her with my shoulder, causing her to smile.


    She leaned her head on me.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you earlier? If anything, I think I like the change.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Besides, we¡¯re both freaks now. You didn¡¯t leave when I awakened, so I¡¯m never going to leave you either.¡±


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Over the next several days, I continued to work on my rapidly growing list of priorities.


    Most of my time was spent simply writing.


    I worked on the precise architectural diagrams for my manor, began writing basic texts on science, created a list of everything that needed to be carried out at the iron mine.


    I also started creating diagrams of basic technologies that I would soon need to develop in some way.


    Of course, things that I wanted to keep confidential, like the technological blueprints, were written out in my own language. That way, even if they were stolen by certain sorcerers that could turn invisible, they wouldn¡¯t be able to be used.


    There were two main technologies that I planned to focus on.


    The steam engine and firearms.


    The steam engine is the most pivotal technology when it comes to industrializing. Mechanized power was the way of the future, and the steam engine is the simplest iteration.


    By simply boiling water, one could produce steam that spins a turbine. Attach a shaft to that turbine, and you have a source of rotational energy.


    Of course, there were several key improvements that I could skip to that would make my steam turbines far more effective than the standard.


    For instance, high pressure turbines. By boiling water in a container with only a single tiny hole for an outlet, the steam would shoot out at high speeds and pressures, giving far greater power to the turbine.


    And there were too many applications for steam engines.


    Trains, industrial machines, electricity generators¡­


    Until I got my hands on oil or natural gas deposits, coal and wood driven steam engines would be the key and first step toward my envisioned industry.


    As for firearms, it would be the key to building an armed force that surpassed anything else this world could throw at me.


    Conflict was inevitable, so building myself a powerful weapon was important if I wanted to keep not just my life, but maintain any kind of rule over my territory.


    Of course, guns were just the start. But anything more complex would have to be created after I found a reliable method of machining and production.


    For several days, things moved forward at a good pace. With my detailed guidance, things like the mining operation and cement making proceeded with very little complications.


    Until an unrelated but important incident was brought to my attention.


    ¡­


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    While scribbling lines down on a paper, I was suddenly interrupted by the Baron.


    The grizzled knight barged in unannounced, but he seemed to be in a hurry.


    ¡°Something has happened that I feel you should handle.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Tiya¡¯s father¡­¡±


    The Baron seemed conflicted.


    ¡°He¡¯s been arrested.¡±


    ¡­


    Within Northown¡¯s city hall was a single small courtroom. It was very often left unused, and only when significant crimes happened was it brought alive.


    This could be considered one such significant crime, but its nature was more complex than that due to who was involved.


    When I entered the courtroom, I found three guards who had restrained a single man. They had tied him to a chair, but it didn¡¯t look like he was struggling much.


    ¡°The City Lord has entered!¡±


    One of the guards announced, causing the man to lift his head and look at me.


    Tiya¡¯s father.


    I was curious as to why he was here.


    While walking in, I whispered to the Baron.


    ¡°Are these guards of yours trustworthy?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord Audius. They are my closest confidants, and I have personally discussed things with them.¡±


    ¡°A dangerous thing you did, Baron.¡±


    ¡°Rest assured, it is also my life on the line if something goes wrong. I confided in them because our brotherhood was forged on the battlefield. And I was not wrong to trust them.¡±


    ¡°Very well. But you¡¯ll let me know of things like this in the future.¡±


    I decided to let it go this time and focused on the matter at hand.


    As the Baron knew the sensitive nature of this man¡¯s identity, nobody else was present in the courtroom besides the three guards.


    I approached and looked at one of them.


    ¡°Tell me what happened.¡±


    ¡°Sir, this man was arrested after having beaten his wife. Bystanders had tried to restrain him, but he injured them as well. His wife is now being treated by the local doctor. She¡¯ll live, but the wounds are bad.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I nodded and bent down so I was eye level with the man.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°...My name is David Pointe.¡±


    ¡°David Pointe, why did you beat your wife?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I watched as he raised his head, his eyes boring into me with hate.


    And that gaze confirmed my guesses about the situation.


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t remember, do you? You probably didn¡¯t even care to hear her name¡­¡±


    His rage spilled forth with every word. Many days of pent up hatred and grief were being unbottled.


    ¡°My daughter was no demon! She was a good girl who just wanted to help on the farm! And yet, you monsters killed her! You monsters killed a young girl because of some curse that she couldn¡¯t control!¡±


    His body bulged against his restraints, his red eyes glaring into me with nothing but the desire to kill me.


    ¡°You want to know why I beat my wife within an inch of her life, city lord?! Because she¡¯s an actual demon! To think that the woman I married would send her own daughter to die! A woman who would kill her own child is nothing more than a heinous devil! I only regret that I couldn¡¯t send her to hell, so that she may beg my daughter for forgiveness! But go ahead and kill me anyway! At least then I¡¯ll be with my baby girl!¡±


    His breathing was rough as he finished screaming.


    And I looked him in his eyes with a gaze that didn¡¯t falter.


    For a while there was silence, until I glanced behind me.


    The Baron saw my gaze and nodded, opening the door he was standing by.


    *Click*


    Two girls walked in.


    ¡°David Pointe.¡±


    I spoke as Grace brought the center of this conflict forth. Both of them were crying, having heard everything from behind the door.


    David¡¯s eyes widened in sheer shock.


    ¡°I happen to have the same thoughts as you. Which is why I had Tiya take refuge within the Baron¡¯s manor. Guards, release the father.¡±


    With my word, one of the guards hesitantly undid the restraints.


    David slowly stood, reaching toward his daughter in disbelief. She walked forward as he did.


    ¡°Tiya..?¡±


    ¡°Dad¡­¡±


    Tiya spoke through sobs.


    And without being able to bear it anymore, she wiped her face and ran into her father¡¯s embrace.


    ¡°Dad!¡±


    ¡°Ah, my baby girl, I¡¯m so sorry¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡±


    Both of them let their pent up emotions flow as they clutched onto each other.


    As I stood to the side, Grace came to my side, wiping her own tears with a smile.


    ¡°Thank you, Audius.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me for something that should be a given.¡±


    I spoke as the father and daughter separated.


    ¡°Tiya, are you okay?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, dad. Lord Audius has taken care of me.¡±


    She smiled and looked at me, her father¡¯s gaze turning with her.


    I just smiled.


    ¡°Mr. Pointe, I¡¯m sure I can confide in you. I don¡¯t believe in the lies of the Order. All they are is a people who fear what they don¡¯t understand. But I don¡¯t currently have the ability to face their wrath, so I was forced to keep your daughter within the confines of the manor. I do apologize.¡±


    ¡°...No, Lord Audius. I apologize.¡±


    David suddenly knelt and placed his head against the floor.


    ¡°You have saved my daughter, so I give you my life in exchange. I will accept any punishment and command, nothing short of giving my life.¡±


    ¡°Dad?¡±


    Tiya was shocked by her father¡¯s declaration, her worried face pleading with mine.


    But I just shook my head.


    ¡°Please, there will be none of that. Stand.¡±


    David slowly climbed to his feet, presenting himself with a rigid salute.


    My brow raised.


    ¡°Were you a knight?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord. I served shortly in the Heart¡¯s Blood War and left as a knight.¡±


    ¡°I see. You must have been an accomplished warrior.¡±


    ¡°My father was also a great hunter who has killed demon beasts.¡±


    Tiya couldn¡¯t help but speak out, and her words made me curious.


    ¡°Is that right?¡±


    ¡°He was also my captain during the War, Lord Audius.¡±


    This time, it was Baron Hviral who spoke.


    David scratched his head in embarrassment.


    ¡°That was only for a short time, Baron Hviral. You far surpassed me not long after, and I¡¯m surprised you even remember me.¡±


    ¡°So everyone knows each other? That¡¯s makes this easier then.¡±


    I clapped.


    ¡°David Pointe, from now on, you will be one of the guards under the command of Baron Hviral. For reasons I¡¯m sure you can understand, I won¡¯t be sending you back to waste away as a farmer. You¡¯ll take up a new residence and will engage in regular training as you did when you were a knight. As for where you¡¯ll be stationed, I¡¯ll leave that up to the Baron. But I suggest you remain out of the public eye for some time and let the commotion you caused die down.¡±


    ¡°...Lord Audius, will there be no punishment?¡±


    David asked.


    ¡°I have broken the law and have disrespected you with my words. Allow me to atone.¡±


    ¡°Atone? David Pointe, you haven¡¯t actually done anything wrong.¡±


    I smirked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve spoken words almost exactly like yours. The woman who sentenced her own daughter to death is the one filled with true evil. To think that parents would turn on their own children because of the words of strangers they don¡¯t even know¡­ It¡¯s harrowing. So I won¡¯t be punishing you for anything you did. Instead, your reward for standing up against evil will be reuniting with your daughter and becoming a knight whose purpose will be to protect her and other girls just like her. And the hateful woman that is your former wife can be left to fend for herself. She threw away her family. Let it remain that way, while you live on in happiness.¡±


    David was silent, before suddenly falling to his knee.


    ¡°I thank Lord Audius for his graciousness.¡±


    ¡°Rise, Sir Knight. As I tell my sister, don¡¯t thank me for something that should be a given.¡±


    I smiled and pat the man¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Now, I believe this court has been adjourned. Baron Hviral, please arrange accommodations for Sir Pointe. And Tiya.¡±


    I looked at the girl, who looked back at me with bright blue eyes.


    ¡°If you can keep your head low while outside, go ahead and spend time with your father.¡±


    ¡°Y-yes! Thank you, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Now, I¡¯ll be off.¡±

 Chapter 12 - Militarize

    Night came.


    I looked out the window of the study, seeing the moon that was high in the sky.


    My hand was rather sore from writing so much. I sure did miss the conveniences of technology. Showers was another convenience. The bathing here, even with the Baron¡¯s luxury, was painfully subpar.


    Well, that would be fixed once I got my manor.


    I leaned back, relaxing against my chair and sighing.


    ¡°You know¡­¡±


    Then, I heard a soft voice. My right hand reflexively shot toward my left, grabbing the knife underneath my sleeve.


    But realizing who it was, I settled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t enjoy waiting for an hour in your room. Can¡¯t you go to bed earlier, like normal nobles?¡±


    ¡°What can I say? I do some of my best work at night.¡±


    I spun around, seeing Gentle Snow sitting on my desk. She plucked a paper that was laying out, one that contained some blueprints.


    She waved it.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? I can¡¯t read it.¡±


    ¡°Good. That means I can keep my things safe from invisible women who go sneaking into my room at night.¡±


    I smiled while snatching the page back, causing her to chuckle.


    ¡°Huhu, I guess so.¡±


    ¡°Hm, so, to what do I owe the pleasure?¡±


    I asked, and Gentle Snow¡¯s smile turned. She became solemn and silent, as if pondering something.


    I waited until she spoke.


    ¡°...There¡¯s something I need to tell you. Are you aware of Corrupt Rifts?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve heard of them.¡±


    I nodded. Corrupt Rifts were hell spewing fissures of unknown origin. It was said that these rifts were the source of a sorcerer¡¯s power and the tides of monsters that annually threatened cities around the world.


    Demon beasts were the proper term for animals that were corrupted by the rifts and their power. And naturally there were different types of demon beasts, each more powerful than the last.


    I frowned as she continued.


    ¡°Well, recently, one of the sorcerers in the militia spotted a Corrupt Rift in the mountain range. We aren¡¯t sure of its exact location¡­¡±


    ¡°But that means Northtown is going to be attacked. Shit¡­¡±


    I cursed at the horribly bad news, instantly piecing things together. Any city that was near a Corrupt Rift was fortified with walls and a standing army to combat the annual tides of demon beasts.


    Northtown was not equipped in the slightest to deal with such monsters.


    There was only one comfort.


    ¡°The Months of Darkness come during the summertime, so there are still around two months before the tides come. Thankfully¡­¡±


    I muttered while seriously pondering what I was going to do.


    And after a quick thought, I suddenly wasn¡¯t so anxious.


    In the Verlenium Empire, nobody was allowed to maintain a standing army besides the Marquesses and Dukes who were in charge of national security.


    If it was found that anybody was forming an armed force, especially in secret, then it could result in accusations of treason and horrible punishment.


    I had debated how I was going to go about forming my own army with these restrictions. But, if I had the valid excuse given to me by this Corrupt Rift¡­


    This would either be a great blessing or a disastrous curse.


    I looked at Gentle Snow.


    ¡°Ms. Snow, I can¡¯t say how thankful I am for this information.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡­ saw what happened with Tiya¡¯s father.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    My brow raised.


    ¡°Not that I¡¯m angry or anything, but just how long have you been lurking around?¡±


    ¡°You can never be too careful, Lord Audius.¡±


    ¡°That means you¡¯ve been around for a while.¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    She chuckled, confirming my guess.


    But then her smile faded. I couldn¡¯t help but feel like she was struggling with something.


    ¡°Snow.¡±


    I called to her directly, catching her golden gaze.


    ¡°I can imagine that your militia will be finding a new place to live. Leaving the mountains entirely might be the best move. But I¡¯m not going to insist that you come here. I just want you to know that your militia will always have a place here. Whether you simply need shelter or you¡¯re being chased by the Order, if you show up on my doorstep, you¡¯ll find refuge.¡±


    ¡°...Thank you¡­ Audius.¡±


    She slowly smiled before jumping off the desk.


    Then, she bowed a little.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave.¡±


    ¡°Alright, but the next time you come snooping around, at least say hi.¡±


    I waved as she disappeared, and soon, my study was filled with silence.


    I decided that to be the end of my night and retreated to my bedroom.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    The next day was filled with urgency.


    With sudden key information, I couldnfoundation ¡¯t be so relaxed. I had a two month schedule to either turn my city into a fortress or lose this foundation for my future empire.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    If I wasn¡¯t smart about this, there¡¯s no telling how many years I would be set back.


    So my first order of the day was speaking to Sir Campbell.


    The accountant was rudely awakened by my summons, but my words quickly sobered him up.


    ¡°Sir Campbell, what are the laws pertaining to building an armed force beyond local security?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He was silent, shocked by the implications behind my words. But I was being dead serious, so he had to answer.


    ¡°...According to my understanding, anything greater than a single guard per 200 residents is in violation of imperial law that restricts nobles underneath a Marquess from forming an army. That means this city isn¡¯t allowed to have any more than about 150 guards enforcing security.¡±


    ¡°150 guards¡­ That¡¯s actually not a bad number, but I¡¯ll need more.¡±


    ¡°Lord Audius, I hope you aren¡¯t thinking of doing anything treasonous. Disregarding yourself, doing such a thing would stain the Fawkes name.¡±


    ¡°...I happened to receive some intelligence not long ago.¡±


    I mumbled with a low tone.


    ¡°A Corrupt Rift was spotted in the mountain range to the north. I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t need to explain what that means.¡±


    ¡°Corrupt Rift? Impossible¡­¡±


    Sir Campbell was stunned, going silent.


    ¡°With this new threat, I have about two months to fortify this city. I¡¯m going to need a wall, guards, and weapons to fight the tides of demon beasts that are going to spill forth from the mountains. Tell me, Sir Campbell, are 150 guards enough to combat those beasts?¡±


    ¡°Wait, you mean you plan to fight?¡±


    He was shocked yet again.


    ¡°Lord Audius, building a wall and training a military force big enough to fight demon beasts isn¡¯t possible in just two months. We might be able to draft some residents now and give them basic training, but building a proper wall can take half a year!¡±


    ¡°Sir Campbell, I understand your concerns. But rest assured, it can happen in a month, let alone two. I¡¯m not asking whether the defense of this city can suceed. I¡¯m asking about the legal ramifications of militarizing this city.¡±


    I looked the accountant in the eye, causing him to go silent.


    And for a moment, he seemed to understand what my goal was. It was understandable from his perspective.


    Grace and I were the youngest children of the Fawkes family, and from birth we had next to zero chances of fighting for the position of Fawkes Heir.


    Now my city was about to be attacked. If I handled this correctly, I could build a significant foundation of power and might for myself that would launch me into the competition for Heir.


    Sir Campbell was probably thinking that I was taking advantage of this chance for that reason.


    But of course, I couldn''t care less about the fight for Fawkes Heir. I just wanted an excuse to build a standing army.


    ¡°...It¡¯s a dangerous game, you¡¯re about to play, Lord Audius.¡±


    He spoke with a deep tone. But his words only caused me to smile.


    ¡°Well it wouldn¡¯t be fun otherwise, now would it? So, what legal moves to I need to take?¡±


    ¡°Sigh¡­¡±


    The accountant sighed, seeming to age a few more years.


    ¡°Well, a letter to the Duke is top priority. You need to brief him of the situation. I will also write a letter. After that, you must keep news about the Corrupt Rift from leaking. The Marquess to the south cannot know about this by any means, otherwise he will personally lead an army here to establish a stronghold, and you will lose your hold on the city. As for the legal ramifications of having your future army discovered¡­ allow me to give you a piece of advice the Duke often operated by.¡±


    He smiled just a bit.


    ¡°In this world, there¡¯s no such thing as asking for permission. Take what you want now, and ask for forgiveness later. So long as you have the power to lay claim, they won¡¯t force your hand, and you¡¯ll have the authority you want. Doing otherwise simply forfeits your chances.¡±


    ¡°Heh, that¡¯s exactly what I wanted to hear.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help a chuckle.


    ¡°Very well. Let¡¯s have these letters sent by tonight. And you¡¯re the only one who now knows of this information, so my trust is in you.¡±


    ¡°...I understand, Lord Audius. I have a question though.¡±


    He narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Where did you attain this information?¡±


    ¡°Let me worry about that. If you want, send one of your trusted men to the mountains and scout the area. He can confirm it.¡±


    ¡°...No, I suppose I¡¯ll just take your word for it. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me.¡±


    The accountant left to work, and I had no time to spare either. Grabbing a sheet of paper, I quickly scribbled down a message to my father.


    In it, I gave him the details, but intentionally left my thoughts on the matter vague. It could be summarized simply.


    A Corrupt Rift has appeared, and I¡¯m going to begin forming an army in order to protect my city.


    I¡¯m sure my father would reach his own conclusions, which is what I wanted. I also ensured that, just in case this letter was intercepted and read, nobody would be able to blatantly assume that I was doing something unlawful.


    I even drafted a letter that could be sent to the Marquess down south who was the nearest authority that could amass and control a military.


    I left myself ways to escape in case something backfired. My identity was also a failsafe.


    After all, who would expect the ambitionless son of a Duke, who had been kicked out of his own household for being a deadbeat, to suddenly attempt to do something treasonous?


    ¡°I just want to protect my city. Do I need another reason?¡±


    I smiled and tapped my pen.


    And after summoning the Baron, I quietly began preparations.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Gentle Snow watched as Audius wrote his letter, reading every word with curiosity.


    After many days of observing this young man, she had reached the conclusion that he was far more complex than he showed himself to be.


    He was cunning, able to flavor his words with finesse, and smart enough to prepare for myriads of outcomes.


    Well, he was a noble. Such attributes weren¡¯t surprising for nobles.


    But Audius was supposed to be the no good runt of the Duke¡¯s children, one with no fire or spine to push him to fight his siblings for the glory of being the Fawkes Heir.


    The situation with the Fawkes Heir was so widespread that even the Sorcerer¡¯s Militia in the mountains had heard of it. In the Verlenium Empire, they were causing the biggest stirs, bigger than anything the Imperial children were kicking up.


    So where did all this ambition come from? Or was Audius just that good at concealing his nature?


    But even beyond that, Gentle Snow felt that there was something different about Audius. Something that made him different from other nobles.


    She had observed many nobles in the past. She had watched as Counts would sneak out of their manors to enjoy the depraved flavor of their local red light districts. She watched as Barons would work their citizens to the bone for just a bit more profit.


    She had seen a lot, from good nobles who wanted nothing more than to live a peaceful life with a village that was just as peaceful, to nobles filled with incalculable rage, ambition, and the desire to take over the world.


    And yet, Audius didn¡¯t fit in with any of them.


    He was too calm, too smart and level headed. He could be cunning, but he was also genuine.


    Their talks under the midnight moon weren¡¯t fake. She could see it. He genuinely cared, and his offers of hospitality and refuge weren¡¯t merely formalities.


    She knew that if she showed up with a group of fugitive sorcerers, he would take them in and keep them safe.


    He was hardworking enough to outline all kinds of precise instructions for his workers, generous enough to buy the outpost of a lowly miner and offer him the position of a manager with amazing pay. Other nobles might simply pay the man a few hundred coin and kick him to the curb. Years of work would be for nothing.


    And above all, the moral mind he held in order to take in a poor father who only wanted to be with his daughter.


    Seeing Audius appoint David Pointe as a knight, and hearing his words of morality, confirmed everything for Gentle Snow.


    What kind of a man was Audius?


    She wasn¡¯t sure she could ever possibly understand all the things that went through his mind and form a conclusion. She had seen many different sides to him.


    But she did know that he was the one.


    The one who might bring true justice to sorcerers.


    Because unlike others, he knew why he was good to sorcerers. All of his decisions and morals came from deliberate belief, not blind faith in an ideology like all those who hated them.


    And unlike others who might just hide sorcerers away in a basement and call it helping, he had a plan. He had the plan, the vision, and the intelligence necessary to move toward a world where he could keep sorcerers safe.


    She could see the first steps toward that plan.


    As Audius moved to begin building the wall and to recruit soldiers, she knew that it was all for the purpose of something greater than just protecting his city.


    He wanted power, but that ambition was exactly what they needed if they ever wanted to fight against the genocide of the Order.


    It was much unlike her Militia, a mere tribe of thieves that constantly hid away in the mountains, living a life no different from the bears and goats.


    Gentle Snow watched Audius leave the study with large strides. His sharp gaze always moved with purpose. Not only was he smart, but he was hardworking. What other noble worked out every day, running themselves toward exhaustion and pushing their muscles to the brink of collapse, only to do extensive logistical work right after?


    When she thought about her militia, about Helva¡­


    ¡°...What¡¯s so wrong with wanting to trust someone?¡±


    She mumbled and left the manor, her steps leading her back toward the mountains.

 Chapter 13 - Rachel

    The letters were sent, so now everything was up to me now.


    The Rock and Stone Foundation already knew how to make my cement. That meant, in order to construct the wall in a timely manner, we only needed to scale production.


    Through my own urgency and the fact that I delayed the construction of my manor, the two brothers of the company understood that the new wall needed to be built quickly. I gave them a deadline of a month to have everything laid out. I also drafted every detail of the construction, leaving no room for error or confusion.


    Sir Campbell was similarly urgent. Working with Kork, he quickly hired as many miners as possible while streamlining iron and steel production.


    But I knew it wasn¡¯t enough. While the steel production in this world was good enough, it didn¡¯t come in large quantities since it was only used in weapons and high grade tools.


    If I wanted more, I needed a proper factory containing crucibles and steel forging machines.


    But such things could only be made by my Tool.


    Even to mass produce cement on the scale that I wished for, kiln technology would have to jump, and I would need to develop other fuels like coal slurry to be used for firing.


    The scale of this city¡¯s production was tiny. Granted, it was enough for what it needed, but now that I was here, my vision far surpassed what this place was capable of.


    I wanted to use my Tool and build the facilities we needed, things like industrial crucibles and rotary kilns. And it could be done, even if it would take some time.


    But there was much risk in doing so. Nobody beyond a select few people within the Baron¡¯s manor knew about our cooperation with sorcerers. So if I were to suddenly introduce a brand new piece of industrial hardware that defied comprehension, there would be questions and suspicions.


    Primarily, I worried about Sir Campbell. I hadn¡¯t seen any of his ¡®trusted men¡¯ since we arrived. That meant they were out and about in places that I couldn¡¯t keep an eye on. And I didn¡¯t know if I could trust him, or his thoughts on sorcerers.


    If he weren¡¯t here, then perhaps I could use my father as an excuse, saying he shipped me the hardware and dodge responsibility. But that wasn¡¯t possible.


    And, there was the risk of me being seen. I had to remain eternally vigilant for worry of Gentle Snow watching. I couldn¡¯t be hasty and reveal my Tool, not even to sorcerers.


    So in short, I wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything but personally guide the expansion of existing production.


    Over several days, I had the brothers at the Rock and Stone Foundation hire many more workers and build several more kilns to make cement. With that, production quickly multiplied, setting us on track to complete the wall before the two month deadline.


    And with dozens of workers at the mine under the guidance of Sir Campbell and Kork, iron and steel production was underway. We also found a few blacksmiths who worked within the city repairing farming tools. Employing them, we placed orders for weapons, shields, and other much needed gear.


    So, even without mass industry, we were on track to have ourselves fortified before the Months of Darkness came.


    However, there was one overarching issue that could only be solved with a key piece of my knowledge.


    Military training.


    Soldiers of sword and shield couldn¡¯t be made competent in only a couple of months. It took much longer to become proficient with the sword and spear and increase general fitness.


    That meant I likely wouldn¡¯t be able to build a strong enough force to fend off whatever enemies may come our way, even with walls and weapons.


    That¡¯s where my knowledge came in.


    I had planned to build revolver weapons after getting my hands on brass and developing smokeless nitrocellulose powder. But with new time constraints, I was now forced to develop the more primitive flintlock weapons.


    Getting my hands on the ingredients for black powder was easy. I could easily produce charcoal, and after some discussion with Reduct the Chemist, I was able to contact a merchant that could quickly bring me a large supply of potassium nitrate, otherwise known as saltpeter, and sulfur.


    These were the only essential components for black powder, so once I got my delivery, I would only need to synthesize the black powder and use it in the flintlocks.


    The hardest part though was the creation of the gun itself.


    Boring barrels wasn¡¯t easy with this world¡¯s technology, and if I were trying to make weapons that used nitroglycerine-based gunpowder, then it would be impossible since I would have to use the much stronger steel barrels, which couldn¡¯t be manufactured yet. But because my flintlock guns only needed to handle black powder, I quickly found a feasible way.


    Simply boring iron barrels with steel bits would do the trick. And iron barrels could handle the force of black powder. It worked out.


    All I needed to do was work with one of the blacksmiths directly, and I would be able to produce the components I needed to build flintlock weaponry. Thankfully I wouldn¡¯t need that many, so hand making each one was fine.


    It was with all these plans that I moved forward.


    And so, two weeks passed since the start of my militarization efforts.


    This was also when yet another incident was brought to my attention.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Lord Audius!¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    I lifted my head at the sudden call, seeing David Pointe, Tiya¡¯s father, enter the study. He looked both happy and concerned.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Sir, the citizens have found another sorcerer. They¡¯ve brought her to the front gate of the manor.¡±


    ¡°The front gate?¡±


    I raised my brow and stood from my seat, walking straight out of the study.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Hey, let go of her!¡±


    Grace¡¯s shouts echoed toward a young girl being restrained and poorly handled by a couple of men, around which were a dozen or so spectators.


    Hearing Grace¡¯s demand, the two men only threw their prisoner to the floor.


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Grace panicked as the girl tumbled across the hard stone floor. She hurried down and grabbed her, picking her up and looking at the large bruises and broken skin across her body.


    This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.


    However, she was shocked as those purple bruises rapidly changed color, returning to a healthy supple pink before fading to pale.


    All her wounds were like that, closing up in a mere several seconds.


    The sight caused one of the men to snicker.


    ¡°She¡¯s a healer! There¡¯s no need to treat well a sorcerer who can¡¯t even get hurt.¡±


    ¡°What, you think she can¡¯t feel pain?¡±


    ¡°Is there a reason I should care?¡±


    He questioned back, causing Grace to go silent. She didn¡¯t forget that she wasn¡¯t supposed to be publicly supporting sorcerers.


    ¡°There is, actually.¡±


    But suddenly, another voice caught everyone¡¯s attention.


    Grace looked back, feeling a wave of relief as Audius walked out.


    He nodded to her before looking back at the men, who were excited at his appearance.


    ¡°City Lord Audius! We¡¯ve brought you a healer!¡±


    ¡°Yes, and a disturbance. Did you think it was acceptable to do any of this?¡±


    ¡°...Sir?¡±


    The men were confused as they were berated instead of praised.


    Audius looked down at them with a half disgusted face.


    ¡°Instead of carrying on with my work, I¡¯m interrupted by a mob outside my door! And I come out to see a young girl being thrown around! Do you think people being thrown across my stone roads is acceptable?!¡±


    ¡°...But she¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°What, a sorcerer? I don¡¯t care!¡±


    He stepped up to the men, causing them to take a step back.


    ¡°I have guards for a reason, don¡¯t I? Doing this is their job, not yours, because they know how I like incidents to be handled! And this is not it! So from now on, if any sorcerers are reported, they are to be handled and brought to me by my guards. And if this happens again, or I hear that a young girl has been abused before recieving proper judgement from me, then I¡¯ll be throwing you into the dungeon!¡±


    Audius¡¯ voice reverberated across the plaza, catching the ears of everyone nearby.


    The two men, the targets of his reprimand, had their faces twist in humiliation and anger.


    ¡°...Hmph, you puny fucking child.¡±


    One man who had been put on the back foot mustered up his rage and took a step forward, as if to confront Audius.


    ¡°Halt!¡±


    But he was stopped as Sir Pointe stepped in front and launched out his leg, kicking the man square in the gut and sending him to the floor.


    He drew his sword, pointing it at him.


    ¡°You are in the presence of the City Lord and the son of Duke Fawkes of the Verlenium Empire! Attempt anything, and I will relieve you of your head!¡±


    ¡°Agh!¡±


    The man groaned as pain wracked his body, the hard stone floor merciless against his soft body.


    Audius tore his gaze away from them, looking back toward Grace. Inwardly she was sneerring, wondering how the man enjoyed feeling what the girl just had been.


    He smiled a bit, guessing her thoughts, and motioned to the nearby guards.


    ¡°Take her away.¡±


    ¡°Sir!¡±


    Two guards saluted and grabbed the sorcerer, and the Baron followed them to a secluded area within the manor.


    Grace watched as Audius turned back to the man who was regaining himself on the floor.


    He stepped forward, calling off Sir Pointe and standing over the man.


    He looked around.


    ¡°The citizens of my city are not to dirty their hands with the responsibility of handling sorcerers. They are powerful, capable people that may retaliate if you try to harm them. That is why you are to report their presence to me first and foremost! For your own safety, allow my guards to handle the danger. I don¡¯t wish to see blood on my streets, especially not the blood of my own people.¡±


    With that, he put his hand out toward the man on the floor. The man looked up at him, still angry, but not unwilling to accept the gesture.


    He took Audius¡¯ hand and was pulled up. Audius dusted the man¡¯s shirt a bit before patting his shoulder and smiling.


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason to interrupt our lives with unnecessary work and worry. Let me take care of everyone while you all worry about what to have for dinner. Here.¡±


    He reached into his jacket, pulling out two notes for 100 coin each.


    He placed it in the two men¡¯s hands.


    ¡°If you successfully report a sorcerer and we catch her, then you will be rewarded with 200 coin. Consider it a thanks for keeping the city safe.¡±


    ¡°Ah, thank you, Lord Audius!¡±


    The man quickly changed his demeanor, nodding in thanks.


    All the bystanders were also surprised. 200 coin wasn¡¯t a small amount, being a few weeks worth of pay for the average person.


    And with that, everyone was sent off and dispersed, Audius retreating to the manor.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Grace questioned me as we walked.


    ¡°Why were you so nice? And what¡¯s with the reward?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need my citizens hating their city lord. And if we want to find more sorcerers, why not pay the people to do it for us?¡±


    I smiled at her, and she just sighed in acceptance.


    ¡°A small expenditure that helps us immensely, not that sorcerer awakenings are common. Now, let¡¯s get the details on our new guest.¡±


    Walking through a few halls, we found the sorcerer in one of the empty rooms. As we discovered that she naturally healed herself, there was no need for treatment.


    Tiya had already arrived, and seeing us walk in, the guards took their leave. All that was left were myself, Grace, the Baron, Tiya, and her father Sir Pointe.


    I took a seat on a chair near the bed, Grace standing behind me. Tiya was sitting on the bed with the new girl.


    ¡°Her name is Rachel.¡±


    Tiya spoke her name, and I took a moment to observe her.


    She had blonde hair and what seemed like green eyes. Her tattered clothes also revealed a large bust despite her shockingly toned body. It was like she was a dedicated athlete, which didn¡¯t exist in this world quite yet.


    The dirt that covered parts of her body, primarily her hands and bare feet, indicated that she was either homeless or on the run.


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°...24.¡±


    She responded with a young yet dull voice, seeming more youthful than she was.


    I looked her in the eye.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ve been in this city for long. Where did you come from?¡±


    ¡°...I was told that you¡¯d know the name Gentle Snow.¡±


    ¡°She sent you?¡±


    My eyes widened a bit as Rachel nodded.


    ¡°She found me in the mountains, told me to come here.¡±


    ¡°Hm, well I¡¯m quite flattered.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help a smile. It seemed I had earned Snow¡¯s trust if she was sending people to me instead of having them join her militia.


    Grace looked at me questioningly though.


    ¡°Who¡¯s Gentle Snow?¡±


    ¡°A friend I made a while back. Tiya met her too.¡±


    I pointed to Tiya, who flushed a bit.


    ¡°Y-You know about that?¡±


    ¡°Of course. She wasn¡¯t particularly happy when she wasn¡¯t able to take you away from me.¡±


    ¡°O-oh¡­¡±


    She lowered her head with embarassment, earning a weird gaze from Rachel.


    ¡°Anyway¡­¡±


    I turned back to our guest.


    ¡°You must know that I harbor sorcerers here. Tiya is one, as is my sister Grace. So long as you stay within the manor, you¡¯ll be safe. Not many people know your face, so you could probably go outside so long as you keep your head down. Still, give it some time to let everyone forget about your arrival. Though, besides that¡­¡±


    I looked at her curiously.


    ¡°How did you get caught anyway?¡±


    ¡°I let myself get found.¡±


    Rachel answered simply.


    ¡°I found someone who needed help, healed them in front of some men, and they took me to you. I knew I couldn¡¯t just walk up to the manor, so this was the best option to keep your involvement a secret.¡±


    ¡°Well, I appreciate the thought, but that¡¯s also a dangerous move. What if someone had tried to kill you themselves?¡±


    ¡°...I¡¯m not exactly afraid of getting hurt.¡±


    She answered back with eyes that made me curious.


    In those pupils, the expression, and the body language, I could sense a high level of apathy. There was no indication that she cared about anything pertaining to her situation. Not even news that I harbor sorcerers earned surprise or relief.


    She shrugged as I pondered.


    ¡°Besides, healers are valuable. If any other noble found out that a healer had been killed, the offender would be executed. Sure we¡¯re sorcerers, but healers are too useful.¡±


    ¡°...Mm, that¡¯s true.¡±


    I nodded before standing.


    ¡°Well, welcome to Northtown, Rachel. Tell Grace about anything you need, and Baron Hviral will brief you on everyone who does and doesn¡¯t know about our secret. And if you have any questions for me, I¡¯ll be in the study. Now, if you¡¯ll excuse me.¡±


    With that, I left the room. There was still loads of work to be done.


    I heard Grace begin discussing things with everyone as I left.

 Chapter 14 - Burn

    Over the next couple of days, Rachel never came and found me for anything. And since I had the looming threat of complete annihilation hanging over me, tending to her was lower on my list of priorities.


    Besides, I was intending to leave the affairs of the sorcerers to Grace. I wasn¡¯t someone those girls could easily connect with, simply because of the fact that I wasn¡¯t like them, and I was a man who they couldn¡¯t be sure to trust. Even though Rachel was willing to risk herself to come to me, she always looked ready to run away.


    I¡¯m sure her powers of healing gave her much confidence. No wounds could stop her, and I was sure that her powers went deeper than just healing superficial injuries.


    What did it mean to be able to be capable of cellular regeneration? It wasn¡¯t as simple as sealing lacerations. It was the body¡¯s ability to restore itself to its most optimal and prime condition.


    Rachel¡¯s body kept itself perfect at all times. This means she was physically without flaw and blemish.


    I could see it in her pale skin. Melanin within the skin was only created when the radiation from the sun damaged your cells, being protection against UV rays. .


    But she had no need for that, so her skin was perfectly pale besides her genetic baseline level of melanin. So her skin was only the slightest bit tan, and yet not unhealthy in the slightest.


    And she had none of the blemishes that might come seemingly naturally, like freckles or moles.


    The proportions of her body were also perfect. From the symmetry of her face to the shape and size of her large bust.


    And the only reason I wondered about her bust was due to the fact that her body was spectacularly toned. Women who worked out often had smaller breasts since their body burned its fat. But hers didn¡¯t do that.


    Instead, perhaps because she was constantly on the run or fighting off enemies who might wish her harm, she had constantly exerted herself. But because of her regeneration, her body always immediately healed itself.


    Imagine being able to workout and recover during the exertion. Imagine what that would mean for your muscles, to build more muscle mass by the minute. If she were a man, she would be a monster with strength and stamina incomparable to any ordinary human.


    But due to her genetics, she wasn¡¯t allowed to build more than her genes allowed, resulting in the toned yet feminine body she had. And since her powers of regeneration came from the mystical energy source of sorcerers, it didn¡¯t sap at her bodily energy or resources, meaning she wouldn¡¯t become emaciated from recovering tissues or burning tons of energy.


    The implications of her power were numerous and definitely something I wished to know more about. And with the more sorcerers I encountered, the more I wondered about what their power was.


    But, it wasn¡¯t appropriate to study it, at least not now. Not only would I have to earn a reputation among the sorcerers, but I would need more information on their origins, something I couldn¡¯t get without more power.


    And currently, there was one thing standing in my way.


    The threat to my city.


    A couple days after Rachel joined us, I decided to take a trip to the wall and see its progress.


    I had given very precise and explicit instructions to the brothers at the Rock and Stone Foundation. If they were competent managers, then I expected things to look as I told them.


    Grace decided to come with me, and so the two of us rode to the northern region of the city.


    We met up with Fenten and Gerald, who took us to the site.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been following your directions to the letter, Lord Audius. And truly, it did answer many of our questions during the process. Without your guidance, I¡¯m afraid things would have turned out much worse. Here.¡±


    After walking a bit across a dirt trail, we arrived at the location.


    Dozens of men worked laboriously for miles in each direction. Currently, the wall only covered the northern region, and it would prevent anything in the mountain range from coming into the city.


    The deep trenches had been dug long ago, and by now they were finishing the concrete foundation.


    The wall was several meters thick, and it wasn¡¯t being constructed of cinderblocks. No, this wall was going to be made of huge concrete blocks, sturdy enough to protect the city even from sieges.


    It was for this reason I didn¡¯t bother finding information on demon beasts. If a wall that could protect against organized military sieges wasn¡¯t enough, then there was nothing I could do to protect this city in the first place.


    The plan was to build the foundation and mount the concrete blocks on afterward. After all the cement mix was prepared back in the city, the concrete blocks would be manufactured at an outpost built nearby and placed at this site. Those blocks were even built with iron bars in them as an alternative to rebar, giving them improved resilience


    This was the most efficient and effective method of construction I could devise with the technology and time we had. Even as the trenches were being dug, Fenten and Gerald were making the blocks. Now, there were already huge stockpiles nearby that simply needed to be hauled over and placed when the time came. We even had the necessary equipment like cranes that would allow a tall wall to be built.


    With all the manpower we had and our preparations, the wall was set to be completed in only a few more weeks. It would be well established by the time the Months of Darkness came.


    Grace and I toured the construction site while the two brothers briefed us on everything. I also checked to make sure everything was going according to plan, and it seemed like it was.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    It naturally wasn¡¯t perfect, but there was a margin of error that wouldn¡¯t affect the final product. This fell into that range, so I was satisfied.


    ¡°It looks great.¡±


    I gave the two brothers a nod of approval, causing them to smile.


    ¡°Thank you, Lord Audius. We know this is important, so we¡¯ve been making sure to personally oversee everything.¡±


    ¡°Good. I¡¯m counting on you two. If this project succeeds, you two won¡¯t lack opportunities in the future. You¡¯ll be free to take the formula for the cement, produce it, and sell it wherever you wish. I¡¯m sure you can see how high the demand for a product like this will be. The quick, easy, and cheap material that can build strong structures.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, Lord Audius. Your formula is truly revolutionary. I¡¯ve never seen a mixture that sets so fast and has such strength, even early on. I¡¯m sure once a month or so passes, it¡¯ll be even stronger than now. But, we can¡¯t simply take the fruit of your knowledge without recompense.¡±


    Gerald looked at me with seriousness, combing his beard with his fingers.


    ¡°As business men do, we wish to offer you a deal. We¡¯ve already engaged in correspondence with other merchants who are interested in facilitating distribution. Particularly, we¡¯ve gotten into contact with the biggest merchant who dominates the Ridge River shipping lines. He plans to visit Northtown soon and build a dock here, and he¡¯s interested in the cement, as well as meeting you. But since you are the creator of this formula, Lord Audius, we wish to make you a partial owner of the Rock and Stone Foundation and bring you into our business with those beyond the city.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    I was surprised by their offer, as was Grace who stood beside me.


    I questioned.


    ¡°Why are you offering to give up so much? I hadn¡¯t actually intended to take any ownership in regards to your use of the formula. You could¡¯ve had it all.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    The brothers glanced at each other with weird smiles.


    ¡°We¡¯re business men, not thieves or a charity. We don¡¯t intend to give you nothing for your knowledge, so we initially decided to give you a portion of the profits. But we¡¯ve realized how wise you are in regards to matters of business, so in the end we wished to make you an owner on par with us, where myself, Fenten, and Reduct own 25% each, while you own the last 25%. A four way ownership of our company.¡±


    ¡°In this way we can help each other. You can use our company and you¡¯ll get a major share of the revenue, money that can help you personally or with the city. And we can benefit from your guidance.¡±


    ¡°My guidance¡­¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help the cheeky smile.


    I could truly say that these brothers were smart. There was nothing better than becoming a direct partner with a City Lord, better yet a Duke¡¯s son. After all, the government was where the riches lay.


    Through me, their company would score deals and opportunities that they wouldn¡¯t be able to get otherwise. For example, this merchant who dominated Ridge River. They said he was coming to meet me. If I struck a deal with the man, which I absolutely intended to, then they would benefit from it directly. Especially if I was going to sell the cement.


    Sure, I would take a not so insignificant portion of the profits and ownership from them, but a small portion of big riches was better than a large portion of little wealth.


    I was their golden ticket, and I didn¡¯t mind that. The company would become another tool, and they were valuable and competent partners to have.


    I turned to them, and put out my hand.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re willing to trust me so much, you won''t be disappointed. I¡¯ll take your deal.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that¡¯s great! We¡¯re glad to be working with you, Lord Audius. Tomorrow we¡¯ll come with a contract that will make you a quarter owner of the Rock and Stone Foundation.¡±


    ¡°Understood. Well gentlemen, this has been a worthwhile trip. Continue the good work on the wall.¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    With that, Grace and I took our leave. She sighed on our way back in the carriage.


    ¡°So now you own two companies?¡±


    ¡°Well, own one and partially own a second, but yes.¡±


    ¡°Hm, to think so much would happen in such a short amount of time. To think that only a few weeks ago we were wasting away at father¡¯s house. Now you¡¯re mining iron, producing cement, building a wall to protect against demon beasts¡­¡±


    Her voice drifted.


    I had long told Grace about the Corrupt Rift, and while she had been shocked at first, she soon went along with my plan.


    Even if I failed to build up a defensive force, there would be time to evacuate the city. My plan was to bail if things weren¡¯t ready within two weeks of the Months of Darkness.


    But things were proceeding at lightning pace. The wall¡¯s foundation was already laid and setting, and weapons were being manufactured.


    Of course, my flintlock weapons weren¡¯t being worked on yet, but that would come later.


    Grace had confidence in me, especially after seeing my changes ever since my ¡®awakening¡¯. It made me feel weirdly nice, as if I¡¯d accomplished something.


    ¡°By the way.¡±


    She changed the subject.


    ¡°I talked to Rachel. Apparently she¡¯s a wanderer. She goes from city to city, stealing clothes and food to get by. She¡¯s been like that ever since she awakened 2 years ago. Apparently, she had been caught not long after her awakening and¡­¡±


    Grace¡¯s voice faltered a bit, catching my attention as her hands clutched her dress.


    ¡°...Some of the people of her city decided to take things into their own hands and burn her. But her power kept her alive. It was only after they tossed her and the ashes of her bonfire into the dump that she crawled out and left.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I was silent, contemplating the horror of that experience.


    To be burnt alive, feeling the utter agony of pain for every second, and unable to escape it even by death.


    I can¡¯t imagine what it would have been like to have your skin burned and regenerated, only to be burned again. For your nerves to be so horrifically overloaded because your body refused to let them die.


    It could take hours for only ashes to remain in a bonfire and be thrown out. So for hours, she sat there within fire and cinder, within the unending heat.


    I suddenly remembered the apathy I saw when we first met in the room. The total lack of care for what was going on around her.


    She had no doubt been twisted by that experience.


    ¡°She¡­¡±


    Grace struggled to say her next words.


    ¡°...We found her hurting herself yesterday. I guess she had taken a knife from the kitchen, but¡­ She was carving herself up. There was a lot of blood¡­¡±


    I saw as a few tears fell down Grace¡¯s cheeks. She continued through her sobs.


    ¡°She said that it didn¡¯t matter since she couldn¡¯t die anyway, but¡­ I can¡¯t believe something like that happened. It¡¯s not fair! For her, her power is nothing but a curse. If she just hadn¡¯t been caught like that¡­ If anything else had happened¡­¡±


    I held Grace as she started to break down.


    As she cried, I looked at her while feeling great affection.


    To think she could be so empathetic. To cry for another person¡¯s plight. I understood that it was a horrible situation, but I held a certain level of detachment that didn¡¯t allow me to feel as she did for someone else.


    But seeing Grace cry like this made my chest hurt in an odd way. It reminded me that I wasn¡¯t who I used to be.


    I let out a short breath.


    ¡°I¡¯ll talk to her tonight.¡±

 Chapter 15 - Immortal

    After the sun set and I was afforded a moment of reprieve, I made my way to Rachel¡¯s room.


    She had been living luxuriantly, considering her lifestyle beforehand. She got to eat as she wanted, was able to clean herself, and was dressed in clothing that wasn¡¯t torn to shreds and stained with blood.


    But none of it seemed to matter, considering her eyes that continued to look at everything with carelessness.


    Lounging around on the bed with an assortment of fruits by her bedside, she looked like a spoiled noble woman who only sought the pleasures in life, unable to bother herself with any kind of laborious task. She seemed slothful, detached, bored.


    But as I looked at her from the doorway of her room, I was able to see the issue that lied far beneath her stunningly gorgeous exterior. Her perfect shell hid the truth well, but not well enough.


    ¡°It¡¯s interesting to think how no fear equates to no survival instincts. Since even if I plunged a knife into your neck by surprise, it wouldn¡¯t bother you much.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    Rachel finally turned at my voice, yet still continued to chew on a fruit with dull eyes.


    ¡°Oh, Lord Audius. Thank you for saving me before.¡±


    ¡°Saving you?¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the irony.


    ¡°Please, we both know you didn¡¯t need any saving. I mean, it¡¯s not like you can die anyway.¡±


    ¡°...That¡¯s true.¡±


    Perhaps because she didn¡¯t expect my words, she responded with a bit of emotion.


    I nodded to the fruit she was eating.


    ¡°So? Do you really need to eat to survive?¡±


    ¡°No. My powers keep me from starving or thirsting. But I still get hungry and thirsty, so I like to eat. Plus, food like this tastes good.¡±


    *Crunch*


    She took another bite while I pondered.


    The depth of her powers truly were great. She could burn, starve, thirst, and nothing would kill her. She could be thrown into the barren desert and live indefinitely. She was likely the most resilient creature in this world. Only by trapping and sealing her away could you disable her.


    Without knowledge of her powers, it would be impossible to do anything to her.


    After a few moments of silence, I changed the topic.


    ¡°I heard that you were hurting yourself with one of the kitchen knives.¡±


    ¡°Oh, do you find that weird too?¡±


    ¡°Actually, no.¡±


    I surprised her with my answer before leaning forward and looking into her eyes.


    ¡°Tell me, what did it feel like? Was it perhaps, like scratching an itch?¡±


    ¡°...Yeah.¡±


    She brightened up just a bit, her focus turning away from her fruit and toward me.


    ¡°Sometimes it feels good. I do it every once and a while, otherwise I start feeling weird.¡±


    ¡°Weird how?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Everything just starts to feel¡­ itchy. My skin gets uncomfortable and sweaty, and sometimes I cry a bit.¡±


    She casually listed off her symptoms, perhaps happy that someone was interested in her reality.


    And in my mind, I confirmed some of my thoughts.


    First was that, for her, pain was like a drug. Having received so much of it after her awakening, her mind became severely desensitized, even if her body didn¡¯t.


    She needed it in certain intervals, like doses. As she said, things became itchy. It was uncomfortable, sweaty, and she experienced emotional distress.


    That was her mind going through a form of withdrawals. The emotional pain was a way to tell her that it needed to experience acute physical sensations. Mutilating herself was a way of feeling something, satisfying her mind and scratching that itch.


    But at the same time, since pain was like a drug, in order to make her healthy she would need to get off of it.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t planning to just lock her away in chains and force her through the withdrawals. She didn¡¯t deserve that kind of treatment.


    Instead, it would be a long process of weaning her off. She would need constant convincing, teaching, and motivation. She would need to discipline herself, understanding why she couldn¡¯t keep going this way and take her life into her own hands.


    But therein lay the problem.


    Her motivation.


    Or lack of it.


    ¡°You know¡­¡±


    I sat back and grabbed one of her fruits, taking a small bite.


    ¡°There¡¯s an interesting philosophical topic that some nobles like to discuss. We ask ourselves, what would an immortal man do after living for hundreds or thousands of years?¡±


    ¡°Immortal?¡±


    She looked curious while I continued.


    ¡°Someone who can¡¯t die, who lives forever, who watches the rise and fall of kingdoms and empires. He learns everything, does everything. Perhaps one century he might rule a kingdom, and the other he might be a humble farmer with a family. With so much time and nobody able to harm him, there¡¯s nothing he can¡¯t do. But at some point, when he has done everything there is to do, and has felt everything there is to feel, what might he do to pass the limitless time in front of him? What do you think someone like that would do?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    For the first time, I saw Rachel focus on something. She pondered, perhaps using her own experiences to place herself in that hypothetical man¡¯s shoes.


    And at some point, she came to a conclusion.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    She answered.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing he can do except repeat what he¡¯s done. There¡¯s nothing new in the world for him. Even if he has a family, they would just die. So what¡¯s the point of anything?¡±


    ¡°Right? He¡¯d probably go insane. To know that everything you do will all mean nothing. To know that you will outlive your grandchildren and their grandchildren. That you can only sit there and watch as the world lives on without you. And to think, you might just be the same way.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°...What?¡±


    Rachel looked at me with both concern and confusion.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Well, with your regeneration, you¡¯ll never get old. Old people die because their bodies wither and decay. But yours doesn¡¯t. So as far as you¡¯re concerned, you¡¯re immortal, just like that hopeless man. You¡¯ll live on for thousands of years. You¡¯ll watch as the Verlenium Empire fades and dies, all its people spawning generation after generation that¡¯ll build new empires. But none of them will outlast you.¡±


    ¡°W-wait, but I¡¯m not immortal¡­¡±


    ¡°No? But you can¡¯t die. I mean, you carve yourself up for fun, can starve and thirst for days and weeks, but your power as a sorcerer won¡¯t let you bite the dust. You¡¯ve even been burned at the stake! Is that not immortality?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    At my words, Rachel couldn¡¯t find it in her to respond.


    As someone who couldn¡¯t fathom any more horrific and thorough way to die than through fire, she was realizing that there truly wasn¡¯t any way she could possibly pass away. And if she couldn¡¯t die, then she really was just like that immortal man.


    Hopeless and without purpose. Sure she hadn¡¯t lived for more than a few decades, but her nihilistic attitude didn¡¯t care about that fact.


    She could only sink into the thought that she had no way out, that she was trapped in her body forever. Perhaps she had been hoping that in time, she would still die due to old age. That was her last hope, and why she decided to not care about anything except going day by day in limbo.


    But with even that gone, she had nowhere to go. The hope that she had an end was suddenly killed in her mind by my words.


    And her thoughts became so thorough that she began to silently cry while sitting atop her bed.


    Then, she began looking around frantically, whipping her head around to her pillow before reaching underneath.


    She retrieved a knife to my surprise, and before I could do anything, began plunging it into her body.


    The sight of blood spraying from her neck and legs was jarring even for me. And even more disorienting was how she didn¡¯t stop.


    No amount of stabbing or cutting inhibited her ability to operate. Her wounds closed fast enough for her to keep going, and not even suffocating would stop her.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    It was only when blood had poured onto the bed that I finally stood and tackled her. Restraining her proved to be shockingly difficult though with how freakishly strong she was.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t want¡­ that!¡±


    She shouted while spitting out blood and flailing against me.


    ¡°I just¡­ want to be¡­ normal! I don¡¯t want¡­ immortality¡­ I don¡¯t want the pain¡­¡±


    She continued to sob and struggle, but with joint locks, I was able to restrain her.


    Blood poured over my own body and clothes, so much that I felt like I was soaked. The overwhelming smell of iron caused my nose to burn.


    ¡°Hey! Stop it with the useless harm and listen to me, dammit.¡±


    I yanked her head back, putting her ear near my mouth. I could hear her erratic sobs in intimate detail while whispering.


    ¡°You and the rest of the people in this world don¡¯t seem to realize that fire is not the most devastating way to die. But I do. I can kill you. Normal people might think you¡¯re immortal, but only gods are truly immortal, and you¡¯re no god. You have limits, and if you work with me, I¡¯ll find them. Only I can give you the sweet release of death that you want. You understand me?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ It¡¯s my power¡­ nobody knows about sorcerer powers¡­ you couldn¡¯t stop my power¡­¡±


    She stopped struggling, but in exchange, it seemed like she was collapsing.


    And her words were true. Not even I knew anything about the true nature of sorcerer powers.


    But I didn¡¯t need to know anything about it in order to kill it. I already had multiple avenues that could guarantee killing her, but none of them could be carried out without developing technology.


    So I refuted while her body fell limp atop mine.


    ¡°No, I know things that you couldn¡¯t possibly fathom. To explain the depth of my knowledge would take years. I know of multiple ways to kill you so thoroughly that not even your soul would remain. But if you want to be there when I create those things, then you¡¯ll have to trust me, and you¡¯ll have to stay with me.¡±


    I loosened my grip, but in that moment of reprieve, Rachel spun around and stabbed down with the knife.


    I was still as the blade was buried into the bed by my head.


    Rachel cried as she looked down at me, but in her eyes were no longer the apathy I had seen before. There was emotion and hope, the two things I wanted to see most.


    ¡°How do I know you¡¯re not lying? How do I know you¡¯re not just fucking with me so that you can use me?¡±


    ¡°If you want reassurance, there are two things I can give you. I can give you information that can end my life, and in time, I will show you a weapon that I plan to build, a primitive weapon that¡¯s one step toward the death you seek.¡±


    ¡°...Tell me. What can end your life?¡±


    She gritted her teeth and pulled out the knife, pointing it at my neck.


    I spoke just as calmly as always.


    ¡°The Order hunts sorcerers. All sorcerers happen to be female. However, I happen to be an exception.¡±


    ¡°You mean¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a male sorcerer. An anomaly, and a specimen that the Order would do anything to get their hands on. If you were to release that information, it would lead to my death. So now, you hold my life in your hands.¡±


    ¡°...Prove it.¡±


    With a bit more hope, she cautiously pushed for more.


    I let out a sigh.


    ¡°Goodness, you¡¯re asking for a lot. But, here.¡±


    I lifted my left hand and took off the white glove.


    Rachel was shocked at the horrifying scarring across my fingers and palm.


    But her eyes widened even more when my hand transformed, revealing the metal clawed fingertips and the orb in my palm.


    It was only visible for a moment though before I recalled the Tool and put my glove back on.


    ¡°Satisfied? And if you want to see my weapon, you¡¯ll have to wait until I build it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Rachel was silent, her grip loosening.


    And in that weakness, I pushed, flipping her over and swapping our positions.


    I pinned her arm with the knife down while looking into her eyes. Our faces were close, our hot breaths hitting each other.


    ¡°My knowledge isn¡¯t something you could understand, and the weapons I plan to build won¡¯t come until the future. So you¡¯re going to have to wait by my side until then. But I also don¡¯t do things for free. So until I kill you, you¡¯re going to have to do some work for me. At least that way you¡¯ll be able to see that I¡¯m not lying about my knowledge. So¡­¡±


    Taking a breath, I grabbed her and pulled our bodies into a sitting position. The wet blood on our clothes and bedsheets served to make the scene a bit more nightmarish.


    I grabbed her hand, gripping it forcefully between our chests.


    ¡°Trust me for a while. Watch me from up close or from afar. After all, what do you have to lose? If I¡¯m right, then you win. And if I¡¯m wrong, well, you can just kill me yourself. Sound good?¡±


    I smiled with blood smeared across my face.


    And my words seemed to open the floodgates as Rachel smiled and released her tears, letting all her pent up emotions pour out.


    She grabbed my clothes, hugging my body while sobbing uncontrollably. I held her tight in return.


    And when she finally calmed down, I lifted her chin with my finger, smiling at her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Rachel. I know you¡¯re different, but you¡¯re still just a girl. There¡¯s no need to be so detached. You¡¯re not yet that immortal who has lived for thousands of years. You¡¯re a girl in the prime of her life who deserves to live as such. And I don¡¯t like it when you have that dull look in your eye. So at least let me give you some excitement that doesn¡¯t involve soaking us in blood.¡±


    ¡°Hm, I think the blood is exactly what gives it some thrill.¡±


    She smirked while wiping her face. It only served to smear the blood around though, so I got up and pulled her off the bed, motioning to the bathroom with my chin.


    ¡°Go on and clean up while I find someone to clean this mess.¡±


    ¡°...Well, we¡¯re both dirty. Why don¡¯t we both clean up?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I jolted a bit as Rachel turned her face away, clearly embarrassed by her bold statement. And I couldn¡¯t say I wasn¡¯t caught off guard.


    But after thinking for a moment, I walked over to her. She seemed flustered as I placed my hand on the side of her face, wiping her cheek with my thumb.


    ¡°...When you clean yourself and go to sleep tonight, you¡¯ll wake up and the rush from this whole fiasco will be gone.¡±


    ¡°I-I know that. That¡¯s why I want to do this now.¡±


    She grabbed my shirt with pleading eyes, and I was reminded again of her most glaring issue.


    Her mind desperately craved stimulation. Usually that came in the form of pain, but now, she was feeling something new.


    This rush of emotion as she allowed herself to be vulnerable and felt the embrace of someone who was willing to take on her burden. It filled her with a new kind of ecstasy, and she wanted more.


    But I didn¡¯t need to become her addiction. It wasn¡¯t good for her, and it wouldn¡¯t help me. On the contrary, shutting off her avenues of escape would start her on the path of recovery and development. That would build her into a capable ally in the future, and if she still decided that she was interested in me, then at least it would actually mean something instead of being a twisted fling.


    I removed my hand from her face, grabbing hers with it and placing it against her bountiful chest.


    ¡°Go clean up, find another room, get some rest, and come see me tomorrow. Okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay..?¡±


    She almost seemed confused as I turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me softly.


    After that, I sneakily made my way through the manor, cleaning up myself after arriving at my bedroom and going to sleep not long after.


    It was quite tiring, dealing with poor psychotic girls who liked it when I promised to kill them.

 Chapter 16 - Combat

    The next morning was filled with pain and agony as I pushed my body during a workout. I had far more stamina than I did when I first started, but I still had a long way to go in order to reach my goal physique.


    Even putting that aside though, I enjoyed my runs that were graced with the cool air and morning dew. I also got to get a better read of my city.


    As my training had become regular, I often passed by a select few routes, and I would often see the same people as I went.


    Being the new city lord, my appearance was already well known. Like Grace, I had deep purple hair inherited from our family that made me stand out. That feature of mine practical screamed city lord, so it wasn¡¯t a surprise that I was recognized while running through the city.


    But that came with its perks. I came to meet several people who would graciously offer me water, and those who owned restaurants would sometimes offer me a breakfast meal when I was on my way back.


    I accepted more often than not, getting to know the nice people and receiving freshly cooked food.


    Sowing goodwill with the populace was always good. By seeing how hard I worked and how nice I was in conversation, any bad rumors about me would wash away in time.


    Truly, I don¡¯t know how the bad rumors Gentle Snow told me about came to pass, but I didn¡¯t intend to let my image remain that way. Everything I did would naturally create a better reputation, especially as my plans bore the fruit of prosperity within this city.


    After that morning workout, I was back to work.


    There were many things I had to do, and lately with the mining and wall operations in full swing, I had been traveling often to consistently check in on things, as well as sneaking out at night to engage in some special operations.


    Cement production was expanding rapidly as the number of kilns and workers multiplied, and we were beginning to bring in mass amounts of raw iron ore to be processed.


    And this is where my new position as a partial owner of the Rock and Stone Foundation came in handy.


    After receiving a contract from the brothers of the company, I signed and attained the right to manage operations alongside them. And using that, I quickly had them work with Sir Campbell to build iron processing infrastructure.


    Kork, who had attempted to develop iron mining and processing before, already built one smelter that was used for all his iron processing needs. However, the smelter itself was low quality and inefficient, even though it was also surprisingly big.


    This led to a series of redesigns on my part. Doing plenty of studying using the Tool¡¯s repository, I quickly designed the perfect smelter that we could build with what we had.


    It wasn¡¯t as efficient or scaled as an industrial blast furnace, but it could be built and it was far better than what we had.


    The smelter was quickly queued for modification.


    Beyond that, there were only two more things I needed to settle in the near future.


    One was the deal with the merchant the brothers at the Foundation told me about.


    A merchant who dominated the Ridge River supply lines. As a river, it was naturally a very popular and important trade route that facilitated business between several cities. Being the behemoth of this river would naturally make you a big name.


    It was one I didn¡¯t know about until I discussed it with the Baron.


    He was known as the Iron Horse. Apparently he was an accomplished military officer before he went his own way and established a merchant company. After settling at Ridge River, he quickly dominated it with his connections and ruthless generosity.


    He was someone who brought wealth to all, yet utterly destroyed those who intended to interfere with his interests.


    He let other merchants operate all the same, not interfering with them if they didn¡¯t do so with him, even when he became the behemoth that he is now. This led to his organization becoming the effective leader of all trade along the Ridge River after all the other merchants bowed to him and merely supplemented his business. And god help anyone who intended to harm anybody associated with that guild. They all protected and supported each other, even against the Verlenium Empire.


    Basically, he was a big deal. And apparently he wished to meet me.


    When he would arrive exactly, I didn¡¯t know. But it wouldn¡¯t be long. And I hoped that it would be soon, because with him, I would be able to establish a much needed supply line that would help me through the Months of Darkness.


    But even the connection with that merchant was secondary to a big piece of business I needed to handle.


    It was the Baron who came to me at night the day after my enthusiastic conversation with Rachel.


    He seemed expectant in a way as he announced the good news.


    ¡°Lord Audius, we¡¯ve assembled the troop you wanted. They¡¯ll be prepared for you tomorrow morning in the northern region of the city.¡±


    ¡°Oh, very good.¡±


    ¡°Though¡­ I have a question.¡±


    The Baron spoke his unexpected concern.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read your documents pertaining to the training of these soldiers, and I¡¯m worried.¡±


    ¡°About?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like they¡¯ll be prepared when the time comes to face actual demon beasts. You only intend to teach them all kinds of commands, formations, and what seems like endless conditioning. I see very little about fighting with spears and shield formations, and nothing about archery.¡±


    ¡°Ah, about that.¡±


    I realized the Baron¡¯s concern, responding with a smile.


    ¡°In time you¡¯ll realize why I¡¯m doing things this way. Let¡¯s just say that this training is designed around a set of tactics and weapons that you¡¯ve never heard of. Still, I¡¯ll be there to oversee everything, so there¡¯s no need to worry. I¡¯ll be up at dawn tomorrow to head over with you. Until then, get some rest. A long day awaits.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡±


    He simply nodded and took his leave, deciding to wait and see how I would conduct things.


    And after he left, I quickly got another guest.


    I lifted my head just as I put it down to do work, looking at the beauty who walked through the door.


    Rachel flicked the door closed and approached my desk, leaning over its front to face me at eye level.


    ¡°I¡¯m itchy again. And I know of a few things that¡¯ll scratch it.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re here-¡±


    ¡°So you can scratch it.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    I was silent as I looked her in the eye. She looked quite heated. She needed something to stave off the hunger of sensation. And it seemed like she hadn¡¯t forgotten what she wanted last night.


    Of course, it seemed she came here with multiple options as well.


    She threw a knife onto my desk, looking at me with expectant eyes.


    ¡°Pick.¡±


    ¡°Between?¡±


    ¡°What you walked away from last night, or what I¡¯ve been doing that drenches my beds in blood. And I want you to do it. It¡¯s better with someone else. Someone who understands.¡±


    She practically crawled on the desk after grabbing the knife. And when she looked at me, she stuck out her tongue, running the blade down it and drawing blood.


    The wound healed quickly, leaving her to taste the bit of red liquid in her mouth.


    It was erotic in a dangerous kind of way. Yet, all it did was cement in my mind how much help she needed. Still, at least she was coming to me.


    Taking a few seconds, I eventually stood up. With one hand I took the knife, and with the other I grabbed her hand.


    Like that, I pulled her along as we left the study. But it wasn¡¯t a bedroom that I walked to.


    Instead, I headed to the garden behind the manor. It was a small field filled with a few trees and plenty of pretty flowers. It was also where I did strength training.


    ¡°Outside? That¡¯s rather embarrassing¡­¡±


    ¡°You wanted me to cut you with this knife?¡±


    I asked, overlooking her comment. She nodded weirdly.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Right, because being hurt scratches that itch. In that case, let¡¯s do something that¡¯ll help me as well.¡±


    I spoke while stripping off my jacket and boots, leaving me in a shirt and pants. Then, I began jumping around on my toes, swinging my arms around and loosening my body.


    She looked at me confusedly, until suddenly, I came at her.


    And I lifted my leg, swinging it while using the rest of my body as a source of torque. My foot swung around, and before Rachel knew what was happening, she was slammed right in the arm by her side.


    I could hear a distinct pop as she was sent to the floor.


    ¡°Ugh¡­ What was that?¡±


    She groaned while standing. Then, she lifted her arm.


    There was already a big red bruise on it fresh with blood. I had no doubt fractured her arm.


    But in mere moments, the blood was washed away, and her arm seemed to realign its bone.


    I watched for a short amount of time as she healed completely.


    And the entire time, she looked totally unbothered. It was more surprising than anything.


    I nodded before bringing up my arms.


    ¡°You want to be hurt, right? Well, I need to teach myself how to fight. So in order to kill two birds with one stone, I¡¯m going to scratch your itch for you whenever you need it through hand to hand combat. And there¡¯s no reason you shouldn¡¯t be learning to fight either, so it¡¯ll help both of us in more ways than one.¡±


    ¡°...I don¡¯t mean to offend, but that only hurt a bit.¡±


    She pointed to her arm.


    ¡°How will you scratch my itch when only knives have been able to?¡±


    ¡°How about you trust me and watch? Given time, maybe you¡¯ll be thanking me.¡±


    I smiled before diving in again.


    And she just stood there as I threw a right hook into her gut.


    My fist drove through her tight abs, and she couldn¡¯t help but cough as all the air rushed out of her lungs.


    After the punch, I followed by throwing up my elbow, striking her in the chin. Her hunched body rose right back up.


    And as she unsteadily teetered, I grabbed her arm, turning my body and using my momentum to throw her over my shoulder.


    Her body shook the soft ground as she violently landed flat on her back. After that I backed off, watching as she laid there without breathing.


    And after a minute or so, she smiled.


    ¡°Heh¡­ Hahaha¡­¡±


    I could hear her strained chuckles as her wounds healed completely. She climbed back to her feet, looking almost perfectly fine.


    ¡°That was kind of fun. I¡¯ve never been thrown like that. Made me a bit dizzy for a second.¡±


    ¡°Then your power is just as monstrous as I thought it was.¡±


    ¡°I was burned alive for what seemed like an eternity. Even now I can still feel my skin melt as I recall it. I¡¯ve had my hands torn off by wolves in the forest, and guards have driven their swords through my chest. A few hard hits won¡¯t do much.¡±


    ¡°Good to know. Then let¡¯s continue.¡±


    Diving in again, I started throwing out more kicks and punches.


    And Rachel responded in kind. She started fighting back, using her superior strength and dexterity, not to mention her pain tolerance, to deliver her own blows. Joint locks had almost no effect since she would actually break her own bones and tear her ligaments to get out of them. She was disgustingly resilient.


    And her wounds healed in seconds, minutes at most for the worst ones. It took all Ihad to keep up, when after several minutes she should¡¯ve died several times over.


    It was incredibly tiring on my part, even damaging for my own body. I received bruises on my legs and hands from dishing out the blows. But I continued through the pain and the exhaustion.


    I ¡®fought¡¯ Rachel for over an hour. Only then did I finally stop as my body refused to move anymore.


    Rachel was left on the floor, but given about 2 minutes, she completely healed.


    She walked over to my sweaty and bruised body with a smile.


    ¡°Hey, that was nice. I¡¯d say it actually worked despite being different from the usual remedy. I feel good.¡±


    ¡°...Yeah.¡±


    I waved, still heaving for breath.


    She chuckled before helping me up, guiding me into the manor where she got me a cup of water.


    After drinking it, I finally started to feel good enough to speak properly.


    ¡°...I will do this once a day. Either in the morning or at night.¡±


    ¡°You sure? It seemed to hurt you more than me.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a workout, so it helps me. And so long as it helps you, I¡¯ll continue.¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not exactly what I wanted, but yes, it helps. And I must say, your skills are rather impressive. You broke quite a few bones.¡±


    She smiled while getting me another cup.


    I just drank the water without responding. My skills were minimal, my body barely moving as I wanted it to. With greater strength, and as my body adapted to this kind of movement, I would hit far harder. My muscles just needed to catch up to what was in my mind.


    And Rachel was the perfect one for the job. I had no issues basically trying to kill her since she was practically begging me to mutilate her. Plus, it would teach her valuable combat skills, which would no doubt come to help me in the future.


    Granted, I had to admit how extraordinarily odd and messed up the situation was. But drastic conditions called for drastic and creative measures.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to bed. You also need to get rest.¡±


    ¡°Not that I sleep, but okay.¡±


    ¡°No sleep either? What a hot mess you are.¡±


    ¡°Just noticing?¡±


    She giggled as we walked back into our rooms.

 Chapter 17 - Hope

    Not long after I was notified of the Corrupt Rift, I had the Baron begin hiring guards under the pretense that we needed to expand our local security force.


    It had taken longer than I wanted, but now, we finally had enough men.


    Previously, Northtown only had 40 guards that maintained order for the city. Now, that force had technically been expanded.


    There were now 240 guards, but of course, the new 200 weren¡¯t actually guards.


    When I arrived at a field in the northern region of the city with Grace by my side, I could see 200 men of prime age standing casually in a huge group.


    At their helm was Baron Hviral and a helmeted knight whose identity was David Pointe, Tiya¡¯s father.


    I couldn¡¯t have Sir Pointe walk openly yet because after he decided to nearly kill his wife, he had become a hot topic that wouldn¡¯t disappear for a while. But I could still use his expertise, so I made him work under the Baron.


    Those two would be the head drill instructors.


    ¡°Attention! The City Lord has arrived!¡±


    ¡°Attention!¡±


    Shouts rang out through the field, but because it was morning and these new recruits were untrained, everyone was dull as they quieted down.


    I stepped up to a platform that allowed me to overlook everyone. All 200 recruits looked back at me with curiosity, a bit of anxiousness, excitement, and some suspicion.


    Ever since I had become the City Lord, I had stayed out of the public eye for the most part. The majority of my days were spent in the study filling books worth of pages with information and plans. I was guiding every detail of the new operations within the city.


    I had only been seen a few times, and the most obvious time was the recent incident when Rachel had been brought to my doorstep. That and when I went on runs.


    But other than that, only faint rumors had been going around about me. Of course there were the bad rumors, but because nothing had changed within the city itself, nobody paid much mind.


    Until now.


    My eyes went between the many faces of those who stood before me.


    ¡°...All of you are young men, given this opportunity by Baron Hviral. All of you have come here to become guards, those sworn to protect the city from threats both foreign and domestic. I can imagine the generous pay was what brought most of you here. And truly, through this line of work your status in life will be elevated, your families rising along with you.


    ¡°But do not make the mistake of assuming that your work will be anything like the previous 40 guards of this city! You all will be specially trained, systematically pushed to your limits, and educated in what it means to be a real soldier! I have personally planned every single day of the next month of your lives. And I promise you, you will be earning the generous pay I have stipulated in all your contracts.¡±


    I had a charismatic smile as I finished my short speech, and contrary to my seeming glee, the 200 men below didn¡¯t seem as excited to be here as before.


    My final words brought them a bad omen in a weird way.


    I had made a standard contract for everyone here. In it was their salary, which was 80 coin weekly. That pay could only go up as they were promoted through my system of ranks.


    80 coin was nearly double what the standard citizen normally earned. And as I had stipulated the salaries for each rank above the lowest, everyone was motivated. Who wouldn¡¯t want to become a Knight Captain and earn 250 coin weekly?


    I looked down toward Baron Hviral.


    ¡°Baron, please open the first page of your guidance book and begin the first day of these recruits¡¯ regiment.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord Audius.¡±


    The Baron nodded and opened the book he had on him. It was one I had personally written, consisting of nearly a hundred pages that detailed every single day of the next month.


    The Baron was required to understand the day¡¯s plans in advance so that he could properly train these future soldiers.


    ¡°We will begin with a 10 mile march along the length of the wall! Now group up into 5 groups of 40!¡±


    The Baron began yelling and instructing the mass of recruits. At the same time, I stepped down from the platform and caught David Pointe before he walked off.


    ¡°Sir Pointe.¡±


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    He bowed. Despite being older, it seemed he didn¡¯t have any qualms about displaying his complete and utter servitude.


    I pat him on the shoulder, glancing at the recruits.


    ¡°You were a soldier, Sir Pointe. And you must realize that I am not creating this troop for nothing. A great threat is going to befall this city, and these people will be the ones who determine whether all of us live or die. Understand this as you push these people, as you train them and educate them. Work with the Baron and raise these young ones so that they may be capable of protecting everyone when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°A great threat? Of what nature?¡±


    The knight asked a valid question. So I fed him what he needed to know.


    ¡°Demonic beasts. Mutated monsters. You were a hunter, Sir Pointe. That means your knowledge will be valuable, conducive to preserving the lives of these young men when this threat bares its fangs. Still, know that the training program within that guide book is of the utmost priority. I am training them for a very specific purpose.¡±


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°I understand, Lord Audius. You have my word that these recruits will be shaped to your will.¡±


    ¡°Mm. Now go help the Baron.¡±


    I let him go, the knight saluting me before running off to assist the yelling Baron.


    After that, Grace moved to my side.


    ¡°Are you sure that these people will be ready when the time comes? The Months of Darkness are only 6 weeks away. You might have a window even then, but that¡¯ll give you at most two months before demonic beasts arrive outside the city. Can you really prepare an armed force in that time? It seems impossible¡­¡±


    ¡°Normally it would be impossible. But with my weapons, the difficulty of this endeavor will be dramatically reduced. Trust me. My confidence is not unfounded. In hopefully only a couple more weeks, I¡¯ll finally be able to show you all the wonderful tools I have been boasting about.¡±


    ¡°...I hope they¡¯re as great as you say they are.¡±


    She sighed while turning her gaze back to the recruits who were beginning their march.


    It was hard to believe that all those kids could be turned into a military force strong enough to combat invasions of demonic beasts.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    ¡°Prepare to move! Get those animals chained to the wagons!¡±


    Gentle Snow watched as her sisters of the Sorcerers Militia packed all their items.


    There wasn¡¯t any one place they could call home. They were little better than nomads, wandering the harsh mountain range while occasionally taking what they needed from the towns and cities nearby.


    This was an event that happened very rarely, however. For the first time, they were migrating out of this mountain range.


    Staying near a corrupted rift was far too dangerous. They would be easily overrun by demonic beasts when the time came. There would be no place for them, so they needed to find another place where they could wander and sustain themselves.


    It made Gentle Snow feel conflicted.


    There was a reason she sent Rachel to Audius instead of recruiting her to the militia. As she thought more and more, she seemed to convince herself that Audius and his leadership was the best thing for the sorcerers.


    For some time, she thought that it was at least good that Northtown was close by. But now that they were leaving, she felt insecure.


    She didn¡¯t want to leave, but she was also one of the veterans of the militia. She protected her sisters, and that duty took precedence over her own desire to be comfortable with Audius.


    Though, she also wished it were possible to convince Helva, the Matriarch, to give Audius a chance.


    But because Northtown was on track to be besieged by demon beasts and because Helva trusted nobody except herself, such a thing would be impossible to rationalize.


    She watched as her sisters packed everything in the hideout. They had been making preparations for days, and now, it was finally time to set off.


    When the sun was high in the sky, Helva finally gave the order.


    The animals chained to the wagons began moving under the command of one sorcerer. The rest were either huddled within the wagons or walking.


    From the entrance, Gentle Snow gazed into the distance.


    Near the horizon in a place she couldn¡¯t see was Northtown.


    Only twice was she able to return ever since she broke contact, and each time, she checked in on the situation.


    And it from everything she saw and heard, Audius was proving himself to be far greater than she initially expected.


    She saw the 200 soldiers he had recruited, and had read the manual he had written for the Baron.


    Within his desk she had found blueprints as well, designs for what she could only assume were the weapons he intended to make. But she couldn¡¯t make sense of them since they had been coded in a different language.


    Then there were his designs for the iron smelter and cement kilns, his business deals with the Rock and Stone Foundation, and the progress with the wall. It seemed Rachel was being taken care of as well.


    In her eyes, he was doing everything right. More than that, he was getting so much done that she couldn¡¯t believe so much progress was possible in such a short amount of time.


    Audius had so many secrets that Gentle Snow wished to know. After all, those rumors she had spoken of didn¡¯t come from nowhere. He was supposed to be incompetent, a nobody within his family as opposed to his siblings who were vying for their father¡¯s throne.


    And then there was his esoteric knowledge.


    Gentle Snow, although holding great love for her sisters, felt great resentment at the inability to work with Audius. She could only imagine how much more she could be doing.


    But instead, she was being forced to live like a rat, scurrying away when a threat bared its fangs.


    ¡°You want to leave that badly? Despite the years of hell we¡¯ve been through together, you would still think of choosing some noble over your sisters.¡±


    She heard a sneering voice, which she responded to with a bite.


    ¡°No, Helva. I would choose him for our sisters. Yet I stay, in spite of you.¡±


    Gentle Snow glanced at the leader of the militia who bore a frown on her sharp face.


    ¡°You¡¯ve lost all hope of something better. All you do is hide and survive. Years have and will continue to go by, and you will change nothing. I suppose that¡¯s the difference between us.¡±


    ¡°Please. I see reality, unlike your naive self. Its why all of us are alive today, including you.¡±


    ¡°You call it naivety, and I call it hope. I want something better for us and am willing to fight for it. But you¡­¡±


    Gentle Snow couldn¡¯t help but scrunch her face in disgust. As she thought about it more, she was able to see the repulsive nature of Helva¡¯s philosophy.


    ¡°All you¡¯re going to do is lead us to our deaths. One thing goes wrong and everything will come crumbling down, because you do nothing to give us a strong foundation. What should be a strong militia of powerful sorcerers is nothing but a fragile shell that you¡¯ve surrounded yourself with. And that¡¯s the only reason I¡¯m here. To make sure that when everything breaks, my sisters at least have someone they can turn to. A blanket to protect them.¡±


    ¡°Excuse you? Are you saying that I can¡¯t fight?¡±


    Helva suddenly flared in anger, baring her fangs and exposing the poisonous powers that she dominated the militia with.


    It was a power that had saved the sisters no few amount of times from the Order and city guards who tried to kill them.


    But Gentle Snow stood unfazed, her naturally cold gaze seeing through Helva¡¯s rage.


    ¡°Watch yourself, Helva. Don¡¯t give me a reason to challenge your authority. Because we both know that you can¡¯t win against me.¡±


    ¡°And you can¡¯t kill me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to kill you to win. I just have to take everything from you. So unless you want to lose your militia, I suggest you back off while I still feel like following along.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Helva was silent, yet faintly quivering in rage. Gentle Snow didn¡¯t need to glean the blade of her knife to threaten her.


    So she backed down first, storming off with hate spewing from her face.


    When she disappeared from view, Gentle Snow turned back to facing the distance, imagining Northtown in her mind and all the silent machinations that Audius was enacting.


    Now more than ever did she wish she could take her sisters there. But she was walking on thin ice within the militia, making her indecisive.


    She held hope for the future, yet couldn¡¯t seem to find the way there.


    She hated that about herself.

 Chapter 18: Bastion

    Three weeks before the Months of Darkness.


    I stood within a small lab at the Rock and Stone Foundation primarily used for chemistry.


    It was there that I stood before heaps of materials.


    Bags upon bags of saltpeter and sulfur laid before me, with more inside of a warehouse. I had spent a rather small amount of money for all this material, but that was only because this world had yet to find any use for such things. They were somewhat cheap, used in only a few special applications.


    I even intended to buy more, but there was only so much I could process in a given period. This would be enough for now.


    ¡°Good, very good. Now, we can begin. Tiya!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Tiya jumped with a smile. She, Grace, and Rachel had followed me to this lab. I needed Tiya¡¯s help, and the others wanted to see what I was doing.


    And on a table beside me was the first prototype for my new line of flintlock rifles.


    It wasn''t much more than a long barrel secured to a wood body. The inner machinations of the flintlock mechanism had all been specially manufactured under my guidance alongside a local blacksmith. So long as it had the fuel, it would be able to fire.


    I just had to make the fuel.


    Recently I had also created charcoal, the third of the materials necessary. However, there was an underlying issue that I had identified in secret.


    Not all charcoal was created equal. Different types of trees and their wood created charcoal that was more or less suitable to making black powder.


    The reason for this was found in the organic components, primarily the nitroglycerin found within the wood. More of this reactive chemical would create more powerful black powder.


    But using my Tool, I was able to identify the concentrations of these chemicals. I quickly found that the concentration of nitroglycerin wasn¡¯t optimal.


    This meant I would have to reduce strictly the carbon content to increase the concentration of the chemical.


    And who better for that job than Tiya.


    I gathered some of the charcoal, dumping a pile of it on the table.


    My eyes focused on hers as I explained.


    ¡°Your power is that of controlling Carbon. This pile right here is called charcoal, and it''s created by burning wood and leaving behind carbon. However, there are some other chemicals in there besides carbon. What I need you to do is pull out carbon, and only carbon, from this pile. We¡¯re going to do some tests in order to see if your power works the way I need it to.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    Although nervous from my expectations, Tiya rose to the challenge. She looked at the pile of charcoal and lifted her finger to it.


    Her power was invisible, so all I saw was the pile shift around a bit as particles flowed out. They gathered beside it, forming an almost pure black pile.


    I nodded, already seeing how her power was working. The charcoal was gray, naturally because it had things other than carbon within. But this pile was black, making it nearly pure carbon.


    ¡°Stop.¡±


    I grabbed her hand after a small pile was formed. I didn¡¯t need too much to be taken out.


    She froze and her power deactivated. After I let her go, I gathered some of the other materials and some tools.


    Within this chemistry lab were some measuring devices, so I grabbed them and started throwing different amounts of these ingredients together.


    What made black powder so easy to create was the fact that every ingredient was easy to find and mix. Smokeless power or guncotton required sulfuric and nitric acid to form nitrocellulose or nitroglycerine from different compounds. Even primers for cartridges require these acids to fulminate mercury.


    But black powder didn¡¯t need any of that. Of course, the only reason I was stooping to this primitive compound was because of the looming threat to my city.


    With these thoughts in mind, I successfully and easily created the mixture of powder. I also created a mixture with the unaltered charcoal.


    Then, I took a match to them both.


    *Woosh!*


    The flame rapidly ignited the modified line of powder, burning through it much faster than the unmodified line. This clearly showed the distinction.


    Tiya¡¯s powers had increased the ratio of organic nitroglycerin to carbon within the charcoal. While it was never a significant problem, it would give better performance and efficiency. And with a little standardization, we could mass produce the better powder.


    So with Tiya¡¯s help, I spent an hour or so creating a basic system for charcoal purification. Basically, given a large box of charcoal, Tiya was required to pull out a certain amount of pure carbon that could fill a small box. The remaining charcoal would be the final product that could then be mixed to form black powder.


    Tiya¡¯s power made this whole process shockingly easy. Since she could only control carbon, she just had to remove a bunch of the dust. It came rather easily to her, though it still consumed her energy.


    However, I also taught her about the dangers of this process. While the creation of black powder wasn¡¯t chemically sensitive, it was dangerous thermally.


    Over time, the room we were in started to fill with a hint of carbon dust. I grabbed Tiya¡¯s attention.


    ¡°You see all this dust in the air?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Well, this dust is extremely dangerous.¡±


    I grabbed a handkerchief and covered my mouth with it.


    ¡°One small spark can ignite this dust, causing a massive explosion. It would kill everyone inside the room. That¡¯s because carbon is flammable, especially so in that dusty form. Breathing it in can also be dangerous over time, leading to sickness.¡±


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°That bad?¡±


    Tiya was surprised by its danger. It was hard to believe that all this dust could blow the roof off this building with but a single spark.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yes, its that bad. Right now its not so dangerous since its light, but any more and everyone¡¯s lives are put at risk. That is, unless you are able to pull all the dust out of the air. Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°I can try¡­¡±


    She looked around for a moment before waving her hands.


    With them, I could see the air shift, the dust swirling while congealing above her palm. It formed a small ball of black carbon.


    But only the air in the vicinity was filtered, and Tiya seemed to be strained while grabbing it. While she could do it, it wasn¡¯t as easy as controlling a pile of the stuff.


    She walked around, filtering the air as best she could while moving. And after a few minutes, most of the dust had been captured.


    But Tiya seemed tired. I pat her shoulder when she came back, causing her to smile through a bit of perspiration.


    ¡°Good job. The production of my black powder is important, but so is keeping my workers alive. And your ability happens to be perfect for this job. So I have a proposition.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind working here. It¡¯ll help me control my ability more anyway.¡±


    ¡°Good to hear, but I don¡¯t intend to have you work for nothing.¡±


    I turned back, looking at two boxes of black powder we had sitting on the floor.


    ¡°I¡¯ll write up a contract for you. You¡¯ll be in charge of purifying the charcoal and mixing the black powder. I¡¯ll be sure to detail every step you need to take and for the first week or so I¡¯ll also be watching you. It¡¯s not difficult, so I¡¯m sure you can pick it up easily. You¡¯ll also be paid generously for your work.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t have to pay me¡­¡±


    ¡°Please, as if I would let such valuable skills go unrewarded! And besides, I hope that you can continue to help me in the future. Dare I say, this contract is a way to keep you by my side.¡±


    ¡°O-oh¡­¡±


    Her lips quivered as I gave her a smile. She mumbled after brushing back her silky black hair.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need a contract to keep me here¡­ I¡¯ve already decided to stay with you.¡±


    ¡°All the more reason to give you something for your help. I won¡¯t take no for an answer. You will have your money, whether you like it or not!¡±


    ¡°Hehe.¡±


    She giggled while I turned away.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Rachel had a raised brow as she watched Audius and Tiya get along so well.


    Grace had left while the two were working out a system of purification for the charcoal, but she had stayed since she had nothing better to do.


    She observed from a corner of the room, seeing how happy Tiya was whenever Audius interacted with her.


    Subconsciously, she started scratching her arm with her long nails. Each scratch left red streaks which promptly faded back to a healthy white.


    This lasted for a while, but eventually, they finished everything regarding the coal and moved on to the meat of the topic.


    Audius called back Grace as he brought his prototype weapon to an open training ground near the northern edge of the city.


    In the distance, they could see all the soldiers being trained ruthlessly. Some of them weren¡¯t even moving, having been so thoroughly exhausted.


    Audius paid them no mind as he tampered with his weapon.


    It looked like nothing more than a long metal tube. She was confused as to how such a thing could be a deadly weapon over something like a sword or an axe.


    She watched as he loaded some of the previously made black powder into the barrel before taking a stick and slamming down a pointed metal projectile into it.


    Then, he loaded a dash of powder into a pan before cocking back a few levers.


    When all was said and done, he raised his arms and took aim.


    About 30 meters away were a few wooden planks sticking out of the ground in a row.


    Then¡­


    *BANG*


    An explosion rang out, a plume of smoke bursting from the barrel. The wind carried the smoke away as Audius lowered his arm.


    The girls nearby were shocked. Even Rachel couldn¡¯t keep her normal apathy.


    They walked over, seeing the leftmost plank completely blown apart.


    Grace grabbed a large nearby chunk of wood in awe as Audius explained.


    ¡°Basically, the powder we made explodes and pushes the lead bullet out at really high speeds. That bullet carries vast power that can kill even armored knights, at least at short distances. And if you have dozens of soldiers carrying these weapons, you can kill entire armies before they so much as touch your walls.¡±


    ¡°Amazing¡­¡±


    The three girls marveled at the gun, as Audius called it. It could make a wooden plank explode. Just imagining what it would do to soft fleshy targets was horrific.


    And it took no more than a pull of the trigger. To think that you could so easily kill someone without any form of training or skill.


    Grace also felt enlightened.


    If it were dozens, hundreds of these weapons against those monsters¡­


    No wonder Audius had confidence.


    She gazed at him while he observed the mechanisms of the gun.


    Whatever knowledge he gained from awakening as a Sorcerer was far more amazing than she thought. She wondered just how much more he knew, and if he would be able to create any other amazing things like this gun.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    ¡®Satisfactory.¡¯


    I nodded pleasantly as I felt the wooden handle of the rifle.


    There was no rifling and no sights. This was a primitive weapon that was open to many improvements.


    But even this was enough to buy me a ticket into the highest echelons of power and influence.


    As of this day, this world had officially stepped beyond the age of sword and bow. A new type of warfare had just been introduced, one that would flip all preconceptions on their head.


    And it would afford me the power to fight off any army that decided to intrude onto my territory.


    Of course, any army that wasn¡¯t formed of supernatural humans.


    I had seen the powers of sorcerers, and I wasn¡¯t naive enough to believe these guns could protect me from or kill everything.


    There were deeper powers out there that capitalized on the abilities of sorcerers, that much was certain. They were the true threat to my rule. I was not the first to imagine the vast potential of sorcerers, and I was many steps behind those that had.


    But I had knowledge, which took precedence even beyond securing capable sorcerers. With knowledge and tact, nothing could stop me.


    I had these thoughts while running a few more tests.


    I fired a few more bullets, exploding a few more wood planks. And when I was done, I packed up all the black powder while taking the rifle with me.


    I stashed it within my room, particularly a spot only I could find easily. After all, I didn¡¯t need Rachel seeking it out for some tests of her own.


    Now, I had a definitive foundation for my army. This weapon proved that, even though this world was different with its supernatural laws, those laws didn¡¯t render my knowledge useless. And being able to fire that weapon was the golden ticket out of this mess known as the Months of Darkness.


    Everything now came down to production and construction.


    I wasted no time in working with the local blacksmith. He was a man not usually concerned over his smithing business. He usually only had to repair broken tools for the farmers of the city. He was one of the few skilled metalworkers with the tools.


    But ever since I enlisted his help, he was busy. And he wasn¡¯t the only one. I had brought over another pair of blacksmiths that worked together, using all their resources and skills to expedite the production of the flintlock rifles.


    Production wasn¡¯t fast, even while pooling their resources under my authority and providing financial incentives. In fact, I wasn¡¯t sure we would have my desired amount by the time the Months of Darkness came about.


    The wall also wasn¡¯t finished, even with the level of cement production we had achieved.


    These facts would normally make one anxious. The looming threat was right around the corner, and even if I did manage to secure everything in time, it would be cutting it close.


    But I was confident. The stakes were high, and I was putting almost everything I had on the table. If I needed to bring out my trump card, then I would.


    But I would have my victory, no matter what it took. This city would be my foundation, the bastion of my rule, when the Months of Darkness ended.

 Chapter 19: Gordian Bollun

    Two weeks before the Months of Darkness.


    Time passed uneventfully.


    For an entire week, the only things going on were construction. Everything had been laid out. All plans were being acted on. They just needed to finish.


    And now that my biggest development had finally passed in regards to the flintlock rifle, I only had one more matter to take care of.


    I spent a few days preparing for this moment, and it had finally come.


    I was standing at the gates to the manor, my gaze forward with the Baron and Grace by my side.


    There was a carriage approaching us. It was adorned modestly, but there was no mistaking the fine craftsmanship that had gone into it. I could imagine the comfortable interior.


    The driver stopped the horses before the gates, and the side door was opened.


    A man stepped out.


    He was tall, valiant, with a cleanly shaven face, brown hair, and bright green eyes. He wasn¡¯t sharp like many business men, but carried an air of leadership and respect.


    He wore the standard business attire of this world, which resembled a suit, and had a leather coat draped over it. The leather was worn, but it clearly displayed experience.


    He was a wildly influential and rich man that I didn¡¯t think I would meet anytime soon with my status. The fact that he was standing here was a miracle, and I could only think of one reason why he would even bother wasting his time in this place.


    The Iron Horse.


    Gordian Bollun.


    ¡°Sir Bollun, I welcome you to Northtown.¡±


    I had inherited my father¡¯s height, so I stood at around 6 feet tall. Yet I was still shorter than this man. That wasn¡¯t a factor though as I carried myself as I always did.


    I stuck out a hand in greeting, which he took promptly and shook with a smile.


    ¡°Audius Fawkes. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet the third son of The Gilded General. Likewise, to the second daughter.¡±


    ¡°A pleasure, Sir Bollun.¡±


    Grace curtsied in greeting.


    Bollun also greeted the Baron before we all headed to the manor.


    The place was spotless, having been prepared for Bollun¡¯s arrival. We headed to a meeting room that was already prepped with a small table of snacks and tea.


    We all took a seat, and pleasantries were exchanged. These kinds of things were normal for meetings between nobles, but Bollun wasn¡¯t a noble. That fact was one that made him popular with the merchants who divided themselves against the nobles of the Empire.


    So I didn¡¯t allow these meaningless conversations to carry long. After talking about the Fawkes family a bit, as well as the state of Baron Hviral, Grace took the Baron and left the room.


    I was left with the Iron Horse, sitting across from each other in silence as the door clicked shut.


    There were a few moments of tense silence until I took the initiative.


    ¡°What do you think about the Fawkes Heir Wars?¡±


    I asked, causing Bollun to smile.


    ¡°I think its something that will shift the Empire¡¯s dynamic in a bigger way than most think it will.¡±


    ¡°Right. I don¡¯t know much, being the fourth child of my father, but I know its become a catalyst for several other machinations of the royal family.¡±


    Audius Fawkes didn¡¯t know much about the Heir Wars because he wasn¡¯t directly involved. But he had heard many things within his father¡¯s household, and he had been to no small amount of events that the Fawkes family had been invited to.


    Balls, meetings, tea time, and annual holiday events. There were dozens of small and big affairs that he had gone to, and there was no small amount of eavesdropping.


    He had heard much, and knew that these Heir Wars to take his father¡¯s throne weren¡¯t as simple as just that.


    They represented a dynamic change in the Empire¡¯s power structure. The Emperor was getting old, the royal children wanted power, there were many nobles who wanted a slice of the pie, and countless resources were invested into these silent changes.


    These were all recipes for either revolution or disaster.


    To say that I was a bit behind was a monumental understatement. It was definitively impossible to squeeze my way into this whirlpool. No amount of money or otherwise could change that. Too many alliances had been cemented, and nobody would invest into a lost cause, the fourth child of General Charles Fawkes.


    I knew this long ago, and back then I had decided on what I would do.


    I didn¡¯t need to squeeze into the small cracks of a crumbling castle.


    I would just build my own.


    My visage turned neutral as I continued.


    ¡°Sir Bollun, I can take a guess as to why you¡¯ve decided to grace Northtown with your presence. But does my name carry that much weight?¡±


    ¡°...It didn¡¯t.¡±


    He took a moment to respond, and I could see his gaze turned a bit colder.


    This reaffirmed something in my mind.


    Gordian Bollun, at his core, was a business man. Beyond the valiant exterior lay a calculative and purpose driven mind.


    He continued.


    ¡°You, the fourth child of Duke Fawkes, have no chance at the Heir Wars. But that doesn¡¯t mean there isn¡¯t opportunity to be found. And already, I have realized a valuable piece of information.¡±


    He leaned forward, looking me in the eye.


    ¡°You¡¯re not the nobody that the rumors say you are. I can see it. You hide very deep ambition. Not that you¡¯re hiding it either. After all, walls aren¡¯t built around a city in order to keep people inside. And large groups of strong young men aren¡¯t trained just to keep order in a small city.¡±


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    ¡°You¡¯re well informed. As expected of the head of the most massive monetary network in the Empire. Which merchant told you? There are only a few here.¡±


    ¡°It would be more appropriate to ask which merchant didn¡¯t. The merchants who don¡¯t have a hand in my Guild are the minority.¡±


    We both smiled, a few of our cards having been played.


    I moved on.


    ¡°So, I was told about your pending visit by the brothers of the Rock and Stone Foundation.¡±


    ¡°Yes. I had correspondence with them, intending to enlist their help. You see, I plan to build a port here in Northtown, and they are the most convenient people I can hire.¡±


    ¡°You plan to take over the Ridge River for good. Are you looking for the wood from the forests here for ships? After all, the water flows down from this place. It would make a good production center.¡±


    ¡°That, among other things. Anyway, I also heard about you not long after our talks, and then I heard of some curious movements you were making. This all piqued my interest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad. I can say with certainty that your trip here will not be wasted. And so, I offer you the first piece of our deal.¡±


    I reached toward the table.


    Beside the snacks and tea, there was a bundle of paper stacked to the side.


    It remained untouched and unquestioned until I moved it in between us, taking the top sheet and handing it to Bollun.


    On it was the recipe for my cement, which the man quickly understood.


    ¡°The value of a versatile building material is incalculable. It¡¯s the foundation on which kingdoms are built. The stronger the material, the stronger the foundation. And this cement and concrete is more than capable of changing the landscape of construction as we know it. More than that, it will persist well into the future. That piece of paper in your hand is nothing short of the recipe for eternal revenue.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ve allowed me to lay an eye on it. Is there a reason you¡¯ve given this away for free?¡±


    ¡°Why do you think?¡±


    I leaned back and smiled, waiting for him to ponder.


    ¡°...You obviously don¡¯t intend to take advantage of your monopoly on this. It certainly is very similar to existing recipes, besides a few key differences. Nothing that couldn¡¯t be developed given more time. More importantly though, you don¡¯t have the ability to take advantage of this. While others do.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    I nodded, his thought process heading down the right track. He smiled as he figured the rest out.


    ¡°And yet you want to use it. So you¡¯ll just let others develop it for you. Let everyone else¡¯s capital build the market for you, at which time you can just buy it for cheap.¡±


    ¡°Correct. Except for one small detail. I don¡¯t necessarily have the time to wait years for the market to mature. I¡¯m already producing some. My wall will be the first monument to my cement¡¯s strength. In an ideal situation, I¡¯d become the center of this cement¡¯s production and take advantage of this knowledge. But then I¡¯d have to devote all of my resources to it, which I don¡¯t want to do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve other goals. But what could possibly trump, by your own words, eternal revenue?¡±


    ¡°Plenty of things, actually. Question is, will you help me control it?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    He sat back, smiling at me. We were coming to an understanding.


    ¡­¡­


    The Baron¡¯s manor was filling up, so Sir Bollun chose to stay on his ship in the nearby river.


    It was quite impressive when I got a look at it. 150 meters long with sails and two long rows of oar openings on the sides. The river was certainly wide enough to accommodate it, but going against the current was impressive with such manual labor, even if the current was slow.


    When I developed steam engines, Sir Bollun would likely be my first customer. His personal boat would be a form of advertising for my machinations.


    For now though, I had to focus on other things.


    My nights hadn¡¯t been spent merely scribing. Although I had received more paper and book bindings, my top priority had always been on mounting a defense.


    And although many functions were limited, light energy operations were still capable of being carried out on my Matter Tool.


    I used this, almost every night, to perfect the imperfections in my fortifications. Tonight was another of these nights.


    I told nobody when I snuck out, and even then I treated my trip to the front walls as a workout.


    Once at the walls I¡¯d run a verity of operations. One of the most important was hardening the concrete and perfecting the mixture.


    Although the Tool couldn¡¯t yet synthesize any element I wanted from mere hydrogen, it could still analyze chemical concentrations. It took no more than observations utilizing the variety of bands from the electromagnetic spectrum, penetrating every micrometer of space, mapping out the atomic configuration of the material, and giving me a report on its chemical makeup.


    Things like too much or too little water added to the mixture of concrete could ruin its properties, more often than not ruining it and reducing its ability to adhere to the other parts of the wall, like the rebar within.


    So what I did was remove any excess. If there was too much water I would atomize some of it. There being too little water was very rare, and often times nothing to worry about anyway.


    Then, after the concrete mixture was perfected, I¡¯d accelerate the hardening. This took a lot of time because there was a slight amount of roundabout atomic synthesis to be carried out, which required more power that the Tool didn¡¯t have a lot of. But it could be done, on a shallow level, bit by bit at a time. It would take hours just to do one small section of the wall, which is why I had to come out here and work frequently.


    Tonight, I was finishing up the last of the wall. Only the edges had yet to be completely formed. The rest was finished. Technically it was battle worthy right now.


    The wall was 40 meters tall and 10 meters thick. It also sunk about 10 meters into the ground. It had two gates as well as towers dispersed across its length. It was perfect for a siege of ground based demon beasts. While I¡¯d prefer to have two or even three layers for the wall, this would have to do.


    Financially, we were not doing well. I had dug into my loan as well as the Baron¡¯s savings to get it up and make sure those working for me were paid. Thankfully I owned both the iron company and a part of the Rock and Stone Foundation. That eased costs rough to get by.


    Now, the only issue was the weapons, which I was about to solve tonight.


    I had told anybody concerned that the other batches of flintlock rifles were being worked on. By who they didn¡¯t know, and thus couldn¡¯t know that it was me.


    If I wanted things like rifling and precision barrels, then I needed my Tool. Thankfully atomizing some iron wasn¡¯t difficult.


    Once I was done with the wall for the night I ran my way over to a storage warehouse near the Rock and Stone Foundation that was used for black powder mixing and cement storage.


    There, I found stacks of barrels and trigger assemblies. About half had been formed to my specifications, while the other half had yet to be touched and still sat around as iron rods.


    First, I picked up one of the mostly-formed barrels. Then I lifted my left hand.


    ¡°Scan for life forms within this warehouse.¡±


    [Scanning¡­]


    Different wavelengths of radiation shot through the area. I couldn''t be too cautious, so I had started to scan around for other people before operating my Tool in any significant or noticeable capacity.


    It quickly finished scanning.


    [No lifeforms detected within the structure. No lifeforms detected within line of sight.]


    ¡°Thank you. Now¡­¡±


    The Tool manifested and sparked with power when I brought it up to the barrel assembly in my hand.


    ¡°Atomize.¡±


    Light beamed across the barrel, sliding across it from back to front. In my head I could see the blueprint that it was following. Rifling was being added while the internals were perfected in shape. Anything that wasn¡¯t needed was atomized into dust.


    In only 5 minutes, the barrel and trigger assembly was perfect. All it needed was to be mounted to a wooden stock, which was being made by a local carpenter.


    I moved on to the others, even the iron rods, and formed them all into working rifles.


    After another few hours, I gazed upon 50 flintlock assemblies.


    I could arm a quarter of my small army with this. Even with just that many, and perhaps a bit of magic on my part, I could successfully defend this city so long as I armed the rest with spears. But my plans went beyond that. I¡¯d be having the blacksmiths with overtime to make more barrels. They would be crude, but so long as I perfected them, there would be no issues.


    For now I still had to put on the airs of an ordinary man, making it seem like I was attaining everything through legitimate work. And for the most part I was, but things would be better off with my personal touch, so I didn¡¯t spare the effort. I wouldn¡¯t take any chances with this new foothold in this new world.


    With that, I went back to the manor. I arrived drenched in sweat, and just as the sun started to rise.


    Well, I wouldn¡¯t be getting any sleep today. I still had to monitor the soldiers and construction on both the wall and our iron facilities. Training with the rifles would come soon too. There were only two weeks left until the Months of Darkness started. While the monsters wouldn¡¯t necessarily come right then, I still had to prepare as if they would.


    I washed up before going back to my study, starting another page and scribing some educational content within.


    Things were coming together nicely.

 Chapter 20: Demons

    ¡°I¡­ I can¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°Emery, you can do this. We only have a few more miles before we rest.¡±


    A girl turned and went to her friend as she kneeled, mud coating the pants around her knees.


    Emery¡¯s breaths were shuddering, a single tear falling down her cheek as she clutched her ankle within her boot. Once she stopped walking, it became clear she wouldn¡¯t start again. Gentle Snow appeared next to her, putting her hand over Emery¡¯s.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°M-My foot¡­ It hurts so much.¡±


    ¡°Take your boot off. I¡¯ll take a look.¡±


    Emery sat down with a nod, gritting her teeth as she gently pulled the boot off.


    Then, when she went to go take the sock off, she let out a whimper.


    Gentle snow slipped her finger underneath, gently pulling and watching as some skin lifted with the sock.


    Discolored, probably infected, with some blood dampening the sock. Gentle Snow realized that this girl was walking on a completely shredded sole. How she managed to last this much, she wasn¡¯t sure.


    Emery was only 19, yet could bear so much pain. There was only one reason she was being forced to though.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are we lagging behind?¡±


    Helva looked back from the front of the pack. She could see Gentle Snow¡¯s eyes go deadpan when the two caught each other¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°This girl can¡¯t walk. We need to rest.¡±


    ¡°We rested yesterday, and thanks to you, we took far too long to even leave in the first place! The Months of Darkness are almost upon us, and demon beasts could start flooding down any day! We have no time to stop!¡±


    ¡°I delayed us because we needed to hunt for food! All the animals are disappearing! Do you expect us to relocate without anything to sustain us?!¡±


    ¡°I am not arguing with you about this, Snow! We are 5 miles from our next stop. Either keep up, or get left behind! The choice is yours!¡±


    Helva snapped before turning and continuing to walk. After yelling some more, the rest of the sorcerers continued walking, only a few staying behind with Gentle Snow and Emery.


    Gentle Snow gazed at Helva as she left. The summer was approaching, the air getting humid, the floors muddy in this mountain, and the trees becoming suffocating. Yet it was still generally cool because they were so far north.


    Gentle Snow felt that chill when she watched Helva. She felt the blades across her body, feeling like she needed to act. Helva was nothing but poison for these girls. She would drive them to their deaths.


    She had managed to delay the evacuation for over a month because not only did they need to stockpile food while animals still existed in these mountains, but she wanted to continue checking on Audius. She needed to see his progress. She had to know that he was still someone they could return to, that Northtown could protect them if they ever had to fall back.


    And he didn¡¯t disappoint. More than ever Gentle Snow wanted to return, to simply bring her girls to him for refuge. Someone as smart as he could surely find value in them, and would honor his promise regardless.


    Simply gazing upon that wall instilled faith. It was surely unbreakable, and such things were what she and the other sorcerers needed.


    But this foolish, venomous woman refused to see anything but her own position at the top of their militia. Anything that threatened her control was something she refused to stand for. The only reason Genelte Snow was still there was because both of them were exceedingly dangerous to one another, and neither wanted to test the other.


    But day by day, Gentle Snow found herself questioning whether it would be worth it. Even if she died, if she could lead her militia down a better path, it would probably be worth it. But, if she were dead, could she make sure that they held the same faith she did? Having been oppressed by Helva for so long, did they have the same hope she had?


    It was a dangerous chance to take. For now, she could only keep wrestling with herself. Perhaps one day she would find the chance, an opportunity to change things around.


    Gentle Snow stayed behind with Emery, peeling off her sock and doing what she could to clean it up. It was surely infected, and would require a healer to fix. Otherwise she might have to lose the foot, or risk dying altogether.


    About half an hour passed before Gentle Snow was able to wrap the foot with something dry and clean. Then, she gave Emery her back.


    ¡°Climb on.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to burden you¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You¡¯re our gardener. You¡¯ve fed the entire militia for months on end, and I can¡¯t even repay you by letting you ride my back? Climb on.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Emery went quiet, sniffling one more time before climbing onto Gentle Snow¡¯s back.


    ¡°Thank you, Snow.¡±


    ¡°We gotta stick together. I¡¯m not leaving any of my girls behind.¡±


    Gentle Snow smiled, waving the other couple girls along and beginning to walk again.


    They didn¡¯t last 5 minute though before something happened.


    Gentle Snow suddenly stopped her steps, eyes squinting before she bolted forward. She went around a few trees before finding one of her sorcerers.


    She was missing an arm and was skewered through the chest, pinned against the ground.


    ¡°...No.¡±


    Gentle Snow shuddered before setting Emery down nearby.


    ¡°Stay here.¡±


    ¡°That was Claudia¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t move from here! Just stay quiet until I return.¡±


    With that instruction, Gentle Snow vanished, turning to the rest of the forest.


    All color faded from her view, the atmosphere turning into a fog that she jumped into. She rode its power, every step taking her several meters with lithe precision.


    She jumped across slick boulders and thin branches, traversing more distance and seeing several of her girls dead along the way, the sources of their power reduced to nothing.


    Her eyes glistened, but she continued until she reached a small clearing.


    There, she found the rest of the militia, Helva at their helm fighting off towering humanoid beasts.


    There was a barrier on the other side of the clearing where the fog became deathly black. From there, Gentle Snow could feel some other beasts stalking them, warrily circling the militia.


    Demon beasts, and what she could only assume were demons. They held solid metal spears which they used to cut down any and all attacks and defenses mounted by the sorcerers.


    It was only when another sorcerer was cut down that Gentle Snow shot in, drifting around and finding the tendon of one of the demons, slicing it with her knife.


    Her blade glided through, but met with shocking resistance that dulled her blade. Still, the tendon was severed, the demon falling to a knee with a guttural roar. Helva yelled, her body bloody as poisonous whips lashed out from her hands.


    ¡°Snow! Kill them!¡±


    ¡°Retreat, Helva! We need to go back!¡±


    ¡°No! We can kill these beasts if you all just hurry up and do something! Are you sorcerers?! Or are you powers worth nothing?!¡±


    Another whip lashed, skewering a beast which crumbled under the acidic, poisonous power that was infused directly into its bloodstream.


    Gentle Snow gritted her teeth, dashing around and continued to do what she could to protect her sorcerers.


    She used her full strength, killing several beasts by her lonesom as well as two demons. She disabled anything she couldn¡¯t immediately kill, allowing her militia to clean up.


    Occasionally, rocks jutted out from the ground, skewering beasts. That was Tessia. Sometimes, little rocks would zip past at sonic speeds, thrown from one girl named Garnet. Another girl, Innia, tended to the wounds of a few others in the backline.


    They were using their powers, but Gentle Snow knew that their use was crude. None of these girls got many opportunities to utilize their powers beyond the labor Helva would occasionally have them do. They certainly didn¡¯t have the experience Gentle Snow or Helva herself did.


    But their combined powers, given their variety, were able to put up a fight against these demons.


    The beasts were soon killed, and most of the demons fell to accumulating wounds. Only after many minutes did the survivors abandon everything and flee, though not before attempting to steal a few sorcerer corpses.


    Gentle Snow tried to stop them, but she was tired. She finally allowed herself to manifest when all the enemies were gone. When she did, the smell of blood and iron stung her nose.


    She looked around, seeing 18 sorcerer corpses. They were all her girls, her friends, and memories of them surfaced when she saw their bloody faces.


    Her chest constricted, a few tears falling before she turned to the others.


    ¡°...We¡¯re going back. Right now.¡±


    ¡°No we¡¯re not!¡±


    Helva yelled from the side, wounded and just as exhausted.


    ¡°We¡¯ve come too far! We need to keep pushing on! This is a trial that we must conquer!¡±


    ¡°No! I¡¯ve had enough of this, and I will not allow you to march my girls to their deaths any longer!¡±


    Gentle Snow practically screamed, more tears falling with every second that she remembered her dead friends.


    She pointed to Helva.


    ¡°You can either follow us, or get left behind. You are no longer our leader. If you wish to go out there and take more risks, then do so. But you will do it without the militia.¡±


    ¡°You bitch! I created this militia! You would be nothing without me!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t give a damn anymore, Helva. I will not cast you out, but you will no longer lord over us. So fall into place, or leave us. Should you threaten any of my girls, I will personally put you down.¡±


    ¡°You fucking¡­¡±


    Helva shuddered, the blood on her face painting a nightmare.


    Gentle snow turned to go help those still alive, yet her senses remained primed.


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    And sure enough, she saw one of Helva¡¯s poisonous whips lash out, threatening to skewer her.


    She dodged, her agility on full display before she vanished into the surroundings.


    But someone as advanced as Helva could still sense her. She continued to lash out, Gentle Snow dodging for a few seconds before suddenly shooting forward.


    A sharp whip stabbed through her arm, but in exchange, Gentle Snow drove a knife into Helva¡¯s ribs.


    Gentle Snow looked into her eyes for a split second before dodging another whip and planting another knife in Helva¡¯s back.


    She did this three more times, four blades stabbed into her chest before Gentle Snow arrived in front of Helva once more.


    And then, she slashed her neck, blood flying, Helva¡¯s eyes widening in shock as she collapsed.


    Gentle Snow cried as the life faded from Helva¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°May you be the first and last sister I ever kill. May you find peace, somewhere, you rotten woman.¡±


    Gentle snow sheathed her blade, leaving the other knives behind as she collected the surviving sorcerers.


    And they turned back with but one destination.


    Northtown, what would be their one and only refuge.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    .


    It was but 3 days before the Months of Darkness began. Ironically, as the day approached, I got less and less busy.


    We almost had enough flintlocks to arm every soldier. We also had more than enough spears to do the same just in case. The only issue was the amount of ammunition.


    Lead was expensive, even more so when I had to pay to have most of the bullets shaped by a smith. I could do a lot by myself, but I still had to take precautions. Churning out so many flintlocks was already pushing it, and so I had to keep my smiths busy with bullet work instead.


    As for black powder, we had plenty for our troops to be shooting all day, every day, for the next month. Sir Bollun was able to help us procure some, though only after I showed him our flintlock rifles.


    That¡¯s when I learned something interesting.


    Flintlocks had already been invented.


    They weren¡¯t widespread by any means, and turns out, knowledge of them was being hidden by the Order. That meant that the Order had some, probably a lot, and were trying to hold a monopoly on them.


    Whether their powders were as perfect as mine or not, the fact that black powder weapons had already been invented was a bit of a game changer. It hinted toward a lot of other technologies being available as well. But if the Order was using their influence to stifle the technology from spreading, then it was no wonder these people weren¡¯t yet industrializing despite being primed for it.


    It was quite malicious, though I couldn¡¯t say it wasn¡¯t effective. Firearms represented a monumental change in the dynamic of warfare. If someone could keep a monopoly on them, then they would dominate all battlefields. It was clear that the Order knew what they were doing. I wondered what other conspiracies they were behind, especially their hatred for sorcerers. I had a feeling there was much more behind that detail than most knew.


    Well, that would be an issue for later.


    Sir Bollun stayed for over a week. He apparently enjoyed the atmosphere of Northtown and given who he was, he was more than capable of ignoring work for that duration. Either way, every day he stayed was another point scored for me. Our relationship was growing, though it was unfortunate that I couldn¡¯t spend as much time with him as I wanted. I was still busy with my own affairs, most of which were still a secret.


    Northtown still had yet to know anything about the nearby Corrupt Rift. I had built a wall and trained an effective small army, but not even the soldiers knew we would be getting attacked very soon.


    It was too late to back out now though. I was investing everything into this, and I wouldn¡¯t fail, even if I was forced to act myself.


    At some point, Sir Bollun left. I was honestly glad when he did because I was getting worried about the scrutiny regarding the sorcerers.


    Tiya was getting more comfortable, and Rachel had no issues making herself at home. This was all fine except for the fact that both of them enjoyed being in my presence. This was a problem when many in the household were watching.


    The Baron had to let go many people, including maids and guards. I also didn¡¯t allow him to take any more risks by informing people of Rachel and Tiya¡¯s identities, fidning out whether or not they sympathized. It only took one wrong chance to ruin everything, and I wasn¡¯t keen on earning more enemies while we were battling demon beasts.


    As for the Baron¡¯s wife and sons, only the wife was informed while the sons were left in the dark. All they knew was that two very pretty girls were now lingering within the manor. They tried to seek them out frequently, but thankfully Tiya and Rachel knew how to make themselves scarce by sticking around my claimed spaces. Those sons weren¡¯t keen on running into me.


    Unfortunately for the girls though, I was being even more scarce than they were. I had too much to do and thus ended up neglecting them for up until now. Grace informed them of what was coming, so they understood why. Tiya could handle it, and I tried to talk to her whenever I could. But Rachel ended up hurting herself a few times, relapsing basically.


    I did feel bad, but for now, I couldn¡¯t be holding her hand.


    And so a couple more days passed. Things were going good, and everything was in place.


    I finally found some time to relax, lounging back into my chair in the study.


    I wondered where Gentle Snow was, how the sorcerers militia was doing.


    ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    I heard Grace¡¯s voice as she walked in. Thankfully she was alone, because I¡¯d prefer not to put on a face for Tiya or Rachel at the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling alright. Perhaps a bit tired. I might sleep for a few more hours tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I think you should. You¡¯ve done more than enough to earn it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll have earned laziness when I solve the issues threatening to wipe us out. Including the Order.¡±


    ¡°That would be many years from now at best.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ve got my work cut out for me.¡±


    ¡°Jeez. If you¡¯re not careful then you¡¯ll be the one vomiting from stress.¡±


    Grace walked around to my side, looking at the papers on the desk.


    ¡°More academic material?¡±


    ¡°Something like that. Sometime after the Months of Darkness, I want to reformat the local school. Education standards need to rise, and it starts with the younger generation. We¡¯ll need more skilled labor in the future if we wish to generate a great economy.¡±


    ¡°That would also take many years, if not decades to realize.¡±


    ¡°It all starts somewhere. What¡¯s that saying? The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    Grace hummed, pondering, eventually shrugging.


    Then, the door in front of us flew open.


    The Baron stepped inside, a girl I had never met before with him. She was dirty and a bit bloodied.


    My face sharpened.


    ¡°Lord Audius-¡±


    ¡°Take me there.¡±


    ¡°Y-Yes sir.¡±


    I stood and ran out with Grace. We left the Manor, getting graced with the cool night air.


    From there we went and found a local stable, the Baron taking some horses which we rode to the walls.


    I had yet to establish patrols, though I¡¯d be doing just that soon. Either way, there were no soldiers manning the walls, so nobdy was there to see the sight.


    A militia of sorcerers, much smaller than what I was told, and most of them ding in some way.


    I spotted Gentle snow, who came running over with blood across her clothes.


    ¡°Audius!¡±


    ¡°Snow, what happened?¡±


    ¡°We were attacked by demons and demon beasts in the mountains. Over half of us were wiped out¡­¡±


    Tears threatened to fall. She was physically and mentally exhausted, her short white hair dissheveled and speaking to the battle she went through, not to mentio the mounds on the rest of the sorcerers.


    After taking a glance back at her dying militia, she looked toward me, practically begging me with her eyes.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    I put a hand up to her face, wiping her grimy cheek with my thumb.


    ¡°You made it, Snow. Let me help you now. I¡¯m going to take care of you all, like I promised.¡±


    ¡°...Thank you¡­¡±


    More tears fell as she tried her best to pull herself together. Then, I walked over to the other sorcerers.


    There were 8 of them, as well as 3 corpses. They had been dragging along a cart with some food scraps in it to carry the injured.


    I went to them before subtly touching my left hand to their bodies, having my Tool scan them one by one.


    [Subject 1: Evisceration across the lower left quadrant of the abdomen. Kidney contusion and intestinal laceration. Infection.


    Subject 2: Degenerative Trench Foot. Infection. Early signs of septic shock.


    Subject 3: Major blood loss. Stab wound through the right quadricep. Femur fracture. Internal bleeding.


    Subject 4: Linear skull fracture. Cerebral Spinal Fluid leakage. Concussion. Blunt trauma to the left chest and lung.


    Subject 5: Extreme fatigue.


    Subject 6¡­]


    The Tool listed out all the life threatening injuries of each girl. Some were okay, many were not. It was clear that all those wounded needed advanced treatment, and fast. How they made it this far and still managed to live, I had no idea. They should¡¯ve died a while ago.


    Well, although I couldn¡¯t just fix them up like I normally would, I could at least keep some of the from getting worse.


    I went over to those with infections, subtly activating the Tool once more.


    ¡°Atomize.¡±


    [Atomizing infections¡­]


    The Tool used radiation to target the infected material and bacteria within their bodies. Because organic material was much easier to atomize than pure iron was, the process was quick.


    I spent no more than a minute or so both diagnosing them and ridding them of the infection. Even the girl who was about to enter septic shock was stabilized. Now we just had to keep them from dying any more than they had.


    ¡°Baron!¡±


    ¡°My Lord!¡±


    ¡°Hitch the cart to a horse, and let¡¯s get them all to the manor. These girls are dying, and if we don¡¯t treat them fast, most won''t survive past the night.¡±


    ¡°Understood! Pointe, help me!¡±


    The Baron brought Sir Pointe with him. The man had been brought along for this very erason.


    They tied the cart to a horse, which was easy since the cart was built for that in the first place. And before long, we were riding back to the manor. Thankfully it was night, otherwise we¡¯d be attracting a lot of eyes.


    We rolled straight to the front doors before stopping the cart and offloading the girls. Those who were able started picking them up and carrying them to my room, which was the biggest room in the manor.


    I shoved the bed out of the way and made mats with blankets before starting to triage each girl as they were brought in. None of them were actively dying. With me having killed all infections on the atomic level, so long as we could get them any half decent treatment, they¡¯d recover given time.


    The issue was that I didn¡¯t have the tools for half decent treatment. I had no surgical supplies to repair internal organs, nothing to clean them properly, nothing that could numb their pain.


    I received scans of each girl, quickly figuring out who needed treatment first. Then, I asked the Baron.


    ¡°Is there a doctor somewhere in this city?¡±


    ¡°There is. Should I bring them here?¡±


    ¡°No. Take me there. I need supplies if I¡¯m going to treat them.¡±


    I stood and started walking out, giving one last order.


    ¡°Grace.¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Start cleaning them. Wipe down the wounds, get their clothes out of the way. And Rachel.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    I looked toward Rachel, who stood in the corner of the room watching.


    ¡°Can you heal them?¡±


    ¡°I guess.¡±


    ¡°Then do so. These girls need your help. Do what you can until I get back.¡±


    I left with that, running out of the manor before jumping on the horse. The Baron was right behind me as we started galloping down the streets.


    He led me to the doctor. Once there, I didn¡¯t politely enter like I should have. Instead, I atomized the lock and threw open the door.


    ¡°Stay out here.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­¡±


    The Baron remained outside as I went through the place. There was nobody home, so I was able to use my Tool to identify every item within the shop, from herbal remedies to more proper medicines and medical equipment.


    I grabbed everything useful, snatching a box and filling it before running back out and closing the door behind me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    The two of us hurried back. Once we made it, I had the Baron clear out the horses and cart with Sir Pointe before I went in.


    I got back to the room, seeing Rachel kneeling over one of the girls. She had her hands hovering over an abdominal wound, but there was nothing happening.


    Rachel looked at me with a small frown.


    ¡°It¡¯s taking me longer than normal to heal them.¡±


    ¡°Probably because the wounds are bad. Thank you though. Now¡­¡±


    I kneeled down beside her and looked at the girl. Then, I brought out some sutures and a mild numbing agent.


    I looked around, seeing everyone working except Gentle Snow. She paced anxiously.


    ¡°Snow.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡±


    ¡°Come here.¡±


    I waved her over, letting her kneel down beside me before speaking softly.


    ¡°The numbing agent isn¡¯t strong, so this is going to hurt. I need you to hold her.¡±


    ¡°...I understand.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. Grace, once you¡¯re done, I need some water over here.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s start.¡±


    I looked at the girl¡¯s abdominal wound in front of me. The dirt and blood was cleaned away, so I could clearly make out the flesh wound. The Tool also gave me a full scan, allowing me to see the internal laceration. I had to repair that first.


    So I applied some of the numbing agent around the area before opening up the wound a bit, taking a look inside. It wasn¡¯t pretty, but it was fixable. The weapon that inflicted this was just a spear, nothing like the wounds caused by the advanced weaponry I was used to.


    Memories of pulverized flesh and ground organs surfaced in my mind while I hooked one of the lacerated intestines with my suture needle. With some atomizing, I sharpened the needle on a molecular level, allowing it to pierce flesh with buttery ease. It still caused the girl pain though, and she started groaning after waking up.


    I sutured quickly. The most pain was coming from me opening up the abdominal wound. I needed to get in and out.


    Before long, the intestine was sewn up. I got some water from grace and washed out the area. Definitely not sterile, but that¡¯s what atomization was for.


    After that, I simply sewed together the muscle and flesh. Soon, the girl was fixed up, though not after plenty of pain. It was a good thing Gentle Snow was there to hold her.


    ¡°Just one more bad night. Everything¡¯s going to be fine after this.¡±


    I muttered while moving on to the girl with the broken femur. While the girl with the skull fracture wasn¡¯t doing well, the fracture wasn¡¯t bad, and thus didn¡¯t need my immediate treatment. There wasn¡¯t much I could do to fuse a broken bone anyway.


    So I fixed what I could. Once these girls were repaired and set up right, it would just take some time to heal. Perhaps later I could find a healer to take care of them.

 Chapter 21: Trust

    After some hours, all the survivors of the sorcerers militia were taken care of. They at least wouldn¡¯t die, even if their recovery would take some time. Thankfully, infection was a non-factor with my atomization. I didn¡¯t have to worry about sterility or things getting into their bodies through the wounds that I couldn¡¯t clean out properly. Any contaminants left behind were also atomized.


    By the end of it all, my clothes had blood and grime on them. The ground was littered with rags and clothing and medical supplies, making quite the mess.


    But they were safe. It was only after that was certain that I finally let out a long breath and relaxed.


    ¡°All good now. They¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Audius.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the 14th time you¡¯ve said that.¡±


    I looked back at Gentle snow standing behind me. She had multiple dried tear streaks on her face, her complexion screaming exhaustion.


    I pat her leg.


    ¡°You should go rest. All of you need rest. Baron, are there any more clean sheets?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, we¡¯ve used them all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Rachel, can you help me clean the fabrics tonight? And Grace, if you could start helping those who are conscious drink some water. Baron, if you could bring some food for those that can eat.¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    I stood while making a list of plans, the others moving to get things done. I didn¡¯t mind working overtime tonight since preparations for the Months of Darkness were just about complete. When the day came, we¡¯d be ready. I just had to keep doing what I¡¯ve been doing for the past several days and train the soldiers with the rifles. That wasn¡¯t that difficult to keep up with


    Gentle Snow tapped me as I started to walk.


    ¡°Audius, I can help wash the sheets.¡±


    ¡°No, you need to rest.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Her voice fell as I turned to look at her. She was exhausted, but it seemed like she had something to say.


    I looked back at Rachel.


    ¡°Actually Rachel, if you could help Grace or the Baron.¡±


    ¡°Hm, alright.¡±


    ¡°Then Snow, if you could.¡±


    I started gathering dirty rags, sheets, and clothes, Gentle Snow doing the same. Once we had our hands full we walked to the backyard of the manor where there were some tubs and a water well.


    We set things down and I started gathering water into tubs. Once all that was finished, I dumped the sheets and started scrubbing with Gentle snow.


    I remained silent until she spoke of her own volition.


    ¡°...I killed our leader.¡±


    ¡°Hm. Was that during the battle?¡±


    ¡°It was just after. I wanted to turn back, and she wanted to continue on. But she was killing the others, marching them to their deaths. I refused to let her lead us any longer. And she tried to kill me for it.¡±


    ¡°It sounds to me like your doing was justified. But is that how you see it?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ never wanted it to end like that. None of this should have happened¡­¡±


    Gentle Snow dipped her head, pausing her washing for a moment. That¡¯s when I suddenly had a thought, activating the Tool and doing a scan on her.


    I figured she got injured too, but she seemed to be doing fine. Turns out she wasn¡¯t.


    [Subject: Laceration to left arm. Poisoned by Epibatidine.]


    My brows raised. Epibatidine was a powerful chemical that acted as a potent painkiller. It could cause paralysis in high enough doses. It seemed Gentle Snow wasn¡¯t poisoned with a lot, just under the lethal threshold.


    When I looked at her though, I noticed her hardly using her left arm, along with a bit of a blood stain on her sleeve.


    I asked.


    ¡°How long did it take you guys to return here?¡±


    ¡°About 2 days once we left the mountains.¡±


    ¡°How did you all manage to stay alive? Most of those girls should¡¯ve died within hours.¡±


    ¡°We have a healer. She worked herself to exhaustion the entire time, barely keeping us functioning.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    My head bobbed before I gave the command to atomize. The Tool cleared out some of the poison, enough to keep her safe, but not enough to kill the effect entirely. That poison was acting as a painkiller and was probably one of the only reasons she was continuing to function normally despite being so worn out. Plus, I didn¡¯t want her to notice the sudden change.


    We were silent for a little while longer. It was only when I ehard a whisper that I finally raised my head, the water in my tub completely colored red.


    ¡°Can we really stay here? Will you help us?¡±


    Her motions paused again. We looked at each other, her eyes full of hope. She was painfully vulnerable.


    She lost her leader, most of her sisters, and was traumatized and mentally drained. Now she was pleading. She was putty in my hands.


    I took my hands out of the water, drying them off on my shirt before reaching over and lifting her arms, pulling her up to stand with me.


    I spoke gently, giving her the relief of my soothing voice.


    ¡°My goal isn¡¯t to make a refuge for sorcerers. My goal is to give them a home to live in, a city to protect them, walls to defend them. They will live here not as demons or thieves, but as people. They will grow, they will learn, they will have families and food and money. That¡¯s my vision for this place, and I will do what it takes to manifest that vision. If I must wage war, then I will. And all I ask of you is to hand me your burden. Relieve your heart of your worries and allow me to shape that future for you.¡±


    ¡°...But why? Why must you take on so much?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m an ambitious man, Snow.¡± I smiled and lifted a hand to her face, ¡°Even before I decided to protect sorcerers, I always knew that my destiny in this life was to lead. I have visions, dreams, that I will make a reality. Visions of countless peoples striving for greatness within a kindom of my design, and dreams of endless prosperity, of triumphant progress and technology! There is so much humanity is capable of, and yet they¡¯ve been stifled and oppressed by twisted and ignorant doctrines, by rulers who reject what they cannot control. And I¡¯ve had enough of the idiocy. I¡¯m prepared to create my own empire, with a people that know no oppression, with a people who are empowered to create, inspire, and prosper! And this includes all people,¡± I tapped Gentle Snow¡¯s nose with a grin, ¡°like pretty women with special powers.¡±


    She scrunched her face with a smile, ¡°Hm, are you saying you¡¯ll only keep me around for my looks?¡±


    ¡°All I¡¯ll say is that I¡¯m certainly not a man who doesn¡¯t appreciate beauty, even if that beauty occasionally vanishes from my eyes and sneaks through my drawers.¡±


    ¡°Well I wouldn¡¯t have to if you didn¡¯t make your drawings so interesting.¡±


    She snickered a bit, the mood lightening enough for me to finish this conversation.


    My smile dropped a bit, ¡°Snow, I¡¯m going to tell you what I told Tiya. I don¡¯t want you to listen to what I say. I want you to watch what I do. It¡¯s never enough to give grand promises. I want you to look around and make sure that I¡¯m the kind of man I say I am. I have full confidence in myself, in my dreams and visions. But I want you to have that confidence as well. I want you to believe in me, completely and utterly. But let me earn it from you. Your trust isn¡¯t something that should be given easily. You¡¯ve saved your militia, and because you now lead them, you should be scrutinizing in who you place your faith in, for their sake. Do you understand.¡±


    ¡°...I do.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then with that in mind, you should go rest. Take my room, wash up, and get to sleep. The Months of Darkness are coming, and we¡¯ll need all the rest we can get.¡±


    I pushed her along. I never intended to make her help me clean. I just wanted her to get what she needed to off her chest.


    Gentle Snow acquiesced and retreated to my bedroom. After that I stayed up during the night and continued to wash sheets and clean up all the dirt and blood. With atomization, it was as easy as speaking the words. I also did my best to erase the evidence of the militia¡¯s arrival.


    When all was done, Grace and I went to her room. Since her bed was big enough and she insisted, I joined her and slept there. At least I wouldn¡¯t sleep on the floor.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡­


    Morning came. Today was the day that I had to handle a big dilemma.


    The sorcerers of the militia were beginning the recovery process. Besides Gentle Snow, there were 8 who were alive when they arrived. Three were dead, and unfortunately Gentle Snow and I could only bury them on the outskirts of the city in the area I had designated to build my mansion.


    Otherwise, the girls were all in the clear. Some of them were about to take on an illness of some sort, but with atomization I was able to prevent that. None of them would die, not that they were all on the verge of death.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    5 of the girls had life threatening injuries of some kind, while 3 of them were either battered of just exhausted. The healer was the most worn out. She ended up sleeping for a full 18 hours. The other two just needed some rest and fuel to recover.


    At some point though, the recover of the sorcerers dropped on my priority list. I knew that I couldn¡¯t hide them from everyone, especially from those living within the manor.


    And so came my dilemma.


    ¡°Sir Campbell.¡±


    ¡°Lord Audius.¡±


    I greeted my dilemma, having him take a seat across from me in my study. I adjusted my overcoat within my seat.


    I remained silent, forcing him to speak first.


    ¡°May I ask why you''ve called me at this time?¡±


    ¡°Well, I like to make sure that the people who have any significant influence in my life are trustworthy enough to allow their autonomy. Now, both of us could have tactfully ignored the subject before. I was generally careful about what I allowed you to see. But now that¡¯s not possible. Recent events haven¡¯t gone unnoticed by you.¡±


    ¡°...No, they have not. Though I must admit I was surprised. I didn¡¯t think you were in contact with an entire group of sorcerers. Is that where you got information about the Corrupt Rift from?¡±


    ¡°It is. One of them was generous enough to inform me. She saved the lives of all those within this city. Would you agree?¡±


    ¡°...I suppose I would.¡±


    Sir Campbell measured his words, and me. We were both scrutinizing each other, but one thing was clear. I was giving a group of sorcerers refuge in my own home. The side I was taking was clear, and he had to decide what to do with the situation.


    It could be said that the ball was in his court. He held the cards. There was nothing stopping him from acting like he supported my position before leaving later and exposing what I¡¯ve done. If that happened, I¡¯d be screwed in more ways than one.


    So I had to truly determine his position before trusting him. There were a few tactics to do such a thing.


    I stood from my chair, walking over to the front corner of the desk before looking down at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re a smart man, Sir Campbell. You¡¯ve served my father as a skilled officer, you supported me when it came time to militarize. I¡¯m sure you even suspected the presence of a sorcerer when I told you about the Corrupt Rift. Now, I¡¯m not sure if you learned about Tiya before now, but her presence here was another variable that you could¡¯ve suspected me for. This is all to say that I¡¯m inclined to believe your words when I ask,¡± I looked directly into Campbell¡¯s eyes, watching them as my Tool activated from beneath my coat, hiding the transformation, ¡°Do you believe in the innocence of sorcerers, or do you believe they are of the devil?¡±


    I watched Campbell while simultaneously receiving information on his vitals and bodily systems from my Tool. He wasn¡¯t outwardly moved, an excellent poker face. But there were indeed fluctuations within, including increased brain activity and stress levels.


    But they were within acceptable levels, dropping when he formulated his thoughts and spoke.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe in the doctrines of the Order. I was never a religious man. But I¡¯ve never been faced with determining the life or death of a sorcerer before either. Even without that experience, however, I don¡¯t believe that sorcerers are inherently innocent.¡±


    ¡°Do you believe they are inherently evil?¡±


    I continued to pressure him a bit. It was fine to believe that they weren¡¯t inherently innocent. That was a realist approach, understanding that all people had a certain capability or inclination to what some may consider evil. It was the primal instinct of every human that Campbell had seen enough of during war.


    But if he believed them to be inherently evil, then we¡¯d have a problem.


    Thanfully, he shook his head.


    ¡°No. How evil a person is most often comes from their environment, or so I believe. Very few people develop inclinations beyond what they¡¯ve been taught or exposed to.¡±


    ¡°So you believe sorcerers, beyond their special powers, are no different from normal people inherently?¡±


    ¡°If we are also ignoring their common environments created by their persecution, then yes. My only concerns would stem from their reactions to being hunted. Like cornered animals, they may harbor emotional tendencies stemming from desperation. They could be dangerous, especially given their esoteric powers. How reliable they are despite that can only be known on an individual basis. I would never explicitly trust one simply because they¡¯re a sorcerer.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I nodded, feeling a tap on my cheek.


    I smiled, smirking to the air in front of me before turning back around.


    It didn¡¯t seem like he was lying, but there was always the possibility of him simply being a good talker. There were plenty of people like that, plenty of people who could easily lie without the slightest change in vital signs. No matter what, I wouldn¡¯t trust his words.


    So I played another card.


    ¡°Sir Campbell, I want you to know this. Sorcerers will continue to come under my banner. They will find refuge here, a home free from the oppression of the Order and anyone and everyone who may seek their demise. And I truly mean everyone. If my father were to march into this manor and demand that I kill these sorcerers, I would reject him. If he sought to kill them himself, then I would kill him myself. I will protect this place, and my people, from all that may come to harm them. And those who are not of like mind are threats to my security that I won¡¯t refrain from putting down if they are unable to be convinced. I¡¯m sure you of all people understand how important it is to have homogeny among a single functioning unit, especially when dissent or disaccord means death.¡±


    ¡°...Yes, I do.¡±


    His eyes narrowed at me. I was telling him that I¡¯d kill him should he do anything that threatened me or mine. He had to understand that I wasn¡¯t spineless like the rumors made me out to be. If he was against me, then my words here would drive him to a corner, and eventually force him to leave. If that happened, I¡¯d know for sure.


    Under normal circumstances I¡¯d just plant a parasite on him. Then his life would be in my hands and I wouldn¡¯t have to worry about correctly deducing his thoughts on the matter. But unfortunately my Tool wasn¡¯t there yet.


    I¡¯d have to do this the old fashion way. I knew people who were much better than me at deducing someone¡¯s true nature, but I was no slouch myself. I couldn¡¯t be, otherwise I would¡¯ve died a long time ago.


    For now, I¡¯d bet on Sir Campbell being on my side. I would prepare for him to betray me. I would hope that he didn¡¯t.


    After some silence, I smiled and sat back down in my seat.


    ¡°It seems we have no conflicts, Sir Campbell. Your philosophies are sound. It¡¯s no wonder my father trusted you. You know what you believe and why. It¡¯s unfortunate, but people with weak principles readily succumb to challenge or temptation. I don¡¯t believe you¡¯re one of those people. You¡¯ll operate as you believe and won¡¯t allow others to sway you in the wrong direction. I appreciate that, and sincerely hope it stays that way. I too will strive to meet your expectations. I intend to utilize your management skills completely while guiding the mining operation in the right direction. Given all this, I imagine our future endeavors will be quite profitable.¡±


    ¡°Yes¡­ I think so too.¡±


    ¡°Then I have nothing further. Please let me know if you need anything or if there are any issues.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    Sir Campbell stood, as did I. The two of us shook hands before he left.


    When he closed the door behind him, Gentle Snow appeared.


    ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°I sensed no lies. But I ask that you don¡¯t completely trust my judgement.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°This ability of mine is relatively new. I¡¯ve¡­ been burned before after mistakenly trusting the wrong people despite me sensing truth.¡±


    She dipped her head, her pearl white strands of hair falling past her ear.


    I looked at her, appreciating her exotic beauty while responding.


    ¡°Lying is a complex thing. I¡¯m not sure how your ability works, but there is little, perhaps none, that can truly detect a lie. You can only observe the changes to a person¡¯s body, both on the outside and the inside, in order to guess based on the changes whether someone said something true or false. But something as simple as being nervous could come across as stress caused by lying, so we can¡¯t know for sure. That¡¯s why we don¡¯t rely on observation.¡±


    ¡°No? What do you rely on?¡±


    ¡°You must try and dictate their actions, force them to react one way or another. I told Sir Campbell about what I was doing explicitly and that I¡¯d kill those who didn¡¯t align with my principles. That means, if he were lying about what he said and id he believed in the doctrines of the Order, he would do what he could to escape and expose what I¡¯ve done. So now, we will watch him and see if he tries to escape. If he does, then we obviously know whether he¡¯s on our side or not.¡±


    ¡°...That¡¯s risky. What if he stays and decides to lie in wait, only to stab you in the back later?¡±


    ¡°That would be a problem to deal with when that time comes.¡± I sat back and sighed, ¡°All I can do is ensure that even if someone were to backstab me, it wouldn¡¯t hurt too much. For some time I won¡¯t delegate any particularly vital functions to Sir Campbell. But if he proves himself trustworthy, then I will continue to use him.¡±


    ¡°Still. It¡¯s impossible to know for sure¡­¡±


    Gentle Snow frowned in uncertainty. I agreed with her too. It was impossible to know for sure, inmpossbile to know if someone was simply waiting for the right moment to strike. The smart ones knew how to bide their time and act. They were incredibly dangerous, increasing unease all the more.


    I tilted my head, still staring at her. I particularly liked her eyes.


    ¡°Snow, don¡¯t let yourself be overwhelmed with uncertainty. You¡¯ll never be able to know with absolution. It¡¯s possible that everyone around you could be an enemy. Sir Campbell could wait for years in wait, garnering power within my retinue before ultimately sabotaging me when it would hurt me the most, possibly resulting in my demise. Going even further, maybe I¡¯m your enemy. I could be feeding you lies about my goals and ambitions. I could be a member of the Order, creating a city that would collect sorcerers who heard my name and my deeds, who came to me for refuge.¡± Her eyes trembled as I continued to speak, ¡°I would gather them all, and then years later when the time was right, allow the Order to come in and slaughter every last one of you, this city being nothing more than a death trap. It¡¯s entirely possible.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    Gentle Snow was quiet, looking at me with wide eyes and slight aversion. She ever so subtly tilted her body back as I smiled at her.


    ¡°Snow, do you understand that technically, that is possible, even if the chances may seem abysmally small?¡±


    ¡°...Yes.¡±


    ¡°Good. Then I want you to take this as a lesson in what it means to get a grasp on your enemy.¡±


    I stood, walking until I was face to face with her. My face became dead serious, my eyes inches away from hers.


    ¡°If you want to conquer your enemies, then you have to understand exactly what your enemies might do to destroy you. You have to be capable of conceiving the most vile, cunning, and evil tactics they may employ to decieve you. You have to understand that anybody can be broken, and many people can be bought or tempted. You have to think about who your weakest and strongest allies are, and have to judge them, scrutinize them, understand who may give in to bribery or temptation, how likely they may give in, and prepare against that. And most of all, you have to accept the fact that you can never know if someone is an ally or not. How you operate with these understandings is up to you. The most important thing is that you¡¯re aware.¡±


    She muttered after some seconds in critical silence, ¡°...How could I ever trust you if you could be an enemy? If I can¡¯t believe that someone is an ally, how do I trust them?¡±


    ¡°That is something you must rectify yourself. Snow, I¡¯ve been betrayed by people who were so paranoid that they betrayed me because they thought I might betray them first. I¡¯ve also been betrayed by those who I thought were my closest confidants, people who were by my side for years, lying in wait the entire time, only to turncoat when their presence mattered most. But you know what? I was okay with that.¡±


    I gave her a smile, recalling those bitter memories underneath the council.


    ¡°I¡¯ve chosen to believe. Many years ago I decided that I would rather trust both allies and potential enemies rather than trust neither. This means that I could have enemies in my midst. But it also means I would have allies in the same place. This isn¡¯t to say that I blindly trust either. It¡¯s a balance that you must find for yourself, a balance of trust, scrutiny, and caution. I¡¯m willing to accept being vulnerable for the sake of those who truly are on my side, and not push everyone away simply because I can¡¯t find it in myself to be open.¡±


    ¡°...I think I understand.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I could be saying this to trick you too. Who knows?¡±


    ¡°Alright, no more teasing!¡± She shouted and kicked my shin, making me take a step back, ¡°I came to this city because I wanted to believe in what you said. And people like our leader Helva are exactly the kind of people who are incapable of trusting others. That¡¯s what got my girls killed¡­ so I don¡¯t intend to make her mistakes. Still, some people will need to prove themselves. For now, I¡¯ll watch Sir Campbell for you.¡±


    I smiled at her, ¡°I appreciate it. Dont stress yourself out though. He need be only monitored when he¡¯s away from the manor and during times like the night when he could sneak away. And if he¡¯s going to escape, it¡¯ll be within these next couple days.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Because the Months of Darkness are coming. I¡¯m sure if he sees us as enemies, then he¡¯d want to get out before monsters show up on his doorstep as well. Either way, watching him will have no purpose once the attacks start.¡±


    ¡°But if he escapes, he could alert the Order. Then this entire city would have to face their wrath. We can¡¯t survive that.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ That may not be entirely true.¡±


    I thought about the contingencies I had in place for such an event, smiling.


    ¡°It would certainly place more pressure on us, but don¡¯t think that we are any less capable of defending ourselves. There¡¯s much more where those weapons came from, and unless the Order makes generational jumps in technology, they won¡¯t be capable of catching up to us.¡±