《Bellum Aliú Orbise-Renovatio Imperii》


 Prologue

    Russian Federation, year unknown


    Kleng!


    ¡°Who is it!?¡±


    The voice echoed deep in the cold taiga forest, near a port on the Arctic Ocean in Siberia, far from the outside world. A lone inspector patrolled the port, holding a dead fluorescent lamp.


    ¡°It¡¯s so dark.¡±-The inspector reached into his pocket in annoyance-¡°What idiot would come out here at this time of day? And even if it was a thief, couldn¡¯t he find a better time? Let this old man out in this weather.¡±


    The old man grumbled, then pulled out a new battery, replaced it in the fluorescent lamp, threw the dead one into the snow and turned it back on. But¡­it didn¡¯t work much. The fluorescent lights were completely blocked by centimeter-thick snowballs, so thick that it was hard to see half a meter in the almost windless sky, making it hard to distinguish a grizzly bear from a log cabin, but fortunately there were no grizzlies here, only polar bears.


    The only light left in the darkness was the North Star, the last star still shining in the sky. The rest was pitch black, cold and ominously gloomy. The old steward''s feet were freezing from the ice. If it weren''t for that damned noise, he would have been warm and cozy in his log cabin by now:


    "If I catch him, he''s dead to me. If I''m imagining things, I should bang my head against the wall. Damn it."


    Being a steward near the Arctic Ocean is a cold and boring job. The only requirement of the job was not to let anyone steal the ship during the winter. ¡°No idiot would take the train from Yakursk to Northern Siberia to steal any ship in the winter¡± - that was what the old inspector thought before signing the contract - ¡°I will work there to enjoy my old life¡±. Unfortunately for him, right now there is no chance to regret that decision anymore.


    Kleng!


    Another noise, a metallic sound, there was definitely something out there.


    ¡°Stop there! I have a gun!¡±


    The gun had actually been left in the cabin, the old man said that only in the hope that if the thief heard it, he would be scared and retreat away from the scene. Actually going back now to get the gun would be a shame, and besides, the damn thief might have already pulled the anchor by that time.


    The inspector stood still, ready to ¡°draw his gun¡±, then moved silently. The quiet sound of the night really made him shiver a little.


    ¡°Uhh¡­do I need this?¡±


    Suddenly, a voice came from behind the falling snow, hoarse, hard to distinguish male or female, old or young, maybe not even Russian because the old man couldn¡¯t catch a word. And the thief spoke loudly, loud enough to be heard from a distance, as if he wanted to confirm his presence.


    ¡°Idiot.¡±


    Stopping for a moment to get his bearings, the old steward turned his feet to one side, walking towards the dock. In this weather, he was the one with the better sense of direction, not the thief. He was definitely at the docks, struggling to untie the mooring rope, and even more certain that he was just a rookie, if he dared to speak so loudly while stealing. If so, then there was no need to worry, it would take a long time for that inexperienced guy to untie that cold rope from the mooring.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    Anyway, his hands were quite cold. After beating the thief up, he had to press his hand against the coffee pot at home.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    But¡­why did the snow suddenly stop falling?


    The snowstorm suddenly became smaller and then stopped, all in less than 10 seconds, as if the Snow Spirit was so tired that it stopped snowing and rested? How could that be? This phenomenon had never happened to the old steward in his entire life, even though he had lived for more than 60 years. This was a strange occurrence, he was sure that there would be a news bulletin tomorrow about this-


    ¡°Hey!¡±


    Suddenly, an LED light shone on the farthest sailboat from the beach, without saying anything, it was the thief. The thief himself was standing on the top of the mast, both hands holding a rope pulled the sail to pop out of the reel. He was about to sail the ship away:


    ¡°Damn it- oh damn!¡±


    Hearing the noise, the thief turned his face to the steward, then used all his strength to jump down and cut off the rope connecting the sailboat to the dock, and the boat began to slide on the ice and into the water at a speed that was hard to believe it was just a simple wooden boat. Seeing this, the old steward panicked and ran toward the ship, at the same time gaining momentum, hoping to jump onto the sailboat before it went too far¡­


    A green light flashed from the sky in the corner of his eye


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Northern Lights¡±-Aurora Borealis-people often call it that. The phenomenon occurs when solar radiation collides with the earth¡¯s magnetosphere, creating a magnificent scene at the North Pole, which can be seen in Russia, Canada, Finland, America or anywhere the radiation reaches. That phenomenon is happening right in front of the old steward, he has seen it dozens of times in his life, living in Russia, who hasn¡¯t seen this?


    Except it didn''t look like an aurora at all:


    ¡°What the hell is going on?


    The aurora he saw behaved differently from the ones he had ever seen in his life. Rather, it was not one aurora, but dozens of them gathered together to form a giant mass of light shining in the sky. The light from the core of the aurora shone down on the ground, melting all the ice and snow in its path, shining on the old shipmaster''s face, making it abnormally hot. Frightened, he knelt down, unable to lift his feet and ran, as if the end of the world had come. This was absurd, utterly absurd, how could an inanimate light have life to have intelligence to behave against the laws of nature like what he was seeing? He stood there rooted to the spot, asking himself that question. It was not until another sound struck his mind that he woke up from his fear, it was the sound of a ship leaving the port:


    "Hey!" ¡°Is he crazy?¡±


    ¡°He¡± is the wrong pronoun to be used here. The long, disheveled hair and the small figure, from a distance you could tell it was a girl, a child at that. Anyway, the thief didn¡¯t seem to stop, and might even be accelerating. The wind suddenly picked up, fiercely, pushing the sail and along with it, the stern of the boat closer to the aurora, which was weakening on its own.


    ¡°Dammit.¡±


    The old man used all his strength to push himself up, staggered towards the wooden hut. He had a landline there, he needed to report this phenomenon immediately, take some pictures with his Soviet-era camera if they didn¡¯t believe him, and then call the navy to come and catch the ship and the thief on it, if the navy were willing to help him.


    ¡°Tsk¡±-he took a breath after entering the house, panting, shaking off the snow that had accumulated on his coat and leather shoes. The phone was right there, he ran to it and dialed. 863 240-93-91, he pressed the call button, but it didn''t work.


    "Ah"


    Outside, there was a piece of abandoned wire and a pair of pruning shears.


    **


    The light from the aurora gradually faded, leaving only a faint green tint.


    The wind that had pushed the boat here suddenly stopped blowing.


    On the sail, the thief lit a fire with a match, then threw it into the sky. Less than a second later, the aurora returned her light with a blinding flash that swept down, engulfing the boat and its only crew member, and both disappeared into the night.

 Introduction

    The Kingdom of Latila


    Population: 238 thousand


    Capital: Latila


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    The Elestovakian Empire


    Population: 27,28 million


    Capital: Levantia


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    The Maritime Federation


    Population: 102 thousand


    Capital: GaneoUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


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    The Kingdom of Vlenna


    Population: 73 thousand


    Capital: Vlenna


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    The Kingdom of Milishila


    Population: 18, 6 million


    Capital: Ethanolin


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    Map of the new world (According to the Latilian Geographical Institution)


    Cities with red text: Elestovakia


    Cities with blue text: Latila-Vlenna coalition


    Cities with green text: Neutral


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    Distance from Latila to Levantia: 2416km

 Unexpected Visitor

    -Project Aurora, Act 1-


    ¡°What is the worrying look on your face, Caesar?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Sitting in an armchair behind his working table, Klein Caesar Voyage, an expert officer of the Latilian Army, glanced his eyes up from the piles of military reports. He gazed through his glasses around, from right to left, seeking for the individual who spoke to him.


    Being one of the youngest high-ranking officers in the state, thanks to his family, a bloodline standing behind only the royal family, but also because he has become commander of an independent legion in the military. Klein Caesar is arguably a highly esteemed individual in the army. His commanding skill is undoubtedly one of the most capable in the kingdom.


    And along with him in his office, is a person by the name of Belisari Flarius Latila, who¡¯s sitting with both legs hanging on the window right in his office. Belisari is another officer in the Latilian Army. Just like his friend, Belisari is also an aristocrat, who found his way into the military of the country they are living in.


    Two people, aside from the fact that they were both a man, both have the same nationality, nothing about them are similar. Their eye colors are different, Klein has a grayish pair of eyes hidden behind his metal glasses, while Belisari has for himself deep dark black eyes, which he inherited from his mother. Their races aren¡¯t similar either, both are human, yet Klein came from an Eastern race of people called the Grecolatina, just as most of the members of the Voyage family do, while Belisari represents the Remenus people of the Western region, people who once mastered the art of seafaring and held multiple colonies across the known world.


    Even their characters are not alike, with Klein usually being the serious person, who always criticizes anyone who does not take things seriously, a characteristic that can be found in Belisari in everyday life. And not to be biased, but even Klein himself admitted it, Belisari is more handsome than him, probably because Belisari is a bit taller, but as Klein once called it, Belisari looks more reliable than he does.


    Yet, they, quite unbelievably, are friends, Klein is Belisari¡¯s childhood friend. Grown up with each other for their entire life, never before, that their friendship was disrupted just by their differences. But there is a thing that Belisari has, that made a distance between him and Klein. His surname is Latila, also the name of his father and the dynasty that is and has been ruling this nation for over a millennium.


    Belisari Flarius Latila, the oldest child of the Latilian dynasty, is the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Latila.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°If you want my answer¡­Your Highness¡±-Klein coughs, clears his throat


    Their status is the thing that really separates Klein and Belisari. Being next to a future king, one must be careful with their words. So even when Voyage and Latila were friends from their childhood, and Klein is brother of the highest ranked aristocrat in the country, he still tries to remain a certain distance between him and Belisari:


    ¡°...I am worried that there is nothing we can do to change the outcome of the incoming war against Elestovakia, where we are on the losing side. Generalizing every war is not a smart move, Your Highness, especially the one in which we have to face a giant who had beaten us badly before.¡±


    Briefing a bit about the recent history and geography of this world. Elestovakia is an empire, the largest nation in the known world,which has expanded its territory over all of the continent of Atlasia. Ten years ago, that same nation had defeated Latila and many more nations in the continent in a series of various decisive battles. Their army, the Expedition Imperial Army, had pushed the Latilian Royal Army away from the plain of the County of Flemton to the desert of County of Liston, then to the forest of the Archduchy of Voyage. In the final act of the war, they marched to the capital region of Latila, where the Latilians made their final stand, to which they barely made it victorious. But the damage was beyond repair, for the Latilians lost too much of what they used to have.


    The Kingdom of Latila, from a regional power, lost 95% of its territory in just three months, many more lost their status as independent nations. After the war, the Elestovakians annexed every bit of land they captured, establishing various governor states across the continent in the control of their imperial command.


    And with that, the Second Empire of Elestovakia was founded, they continued to pursue their territory expansion ambition. Three years after the defeat of Latila, with the defeat of almost every kingdom, republics and smaller empires in Atlasia, Elestovakia left only three independent states in the entire continent, including their own empire.


    Ten years forward, after being unable to expand further into the continent, and losing a portion of territory to a nation nearby, the seafaring Kingdom of Milishila, and the steam of their war machine, the eyes of Elestovakia now again fixated on Latila and another nation, which is named Vlenna, the two final independent states in their influential geopolitical zone. Having acknowledged the danger they were in, the Latilians seeked for every international aid possible to arm their country. With war at their doorstep, they had prepared everything, national treasure was almost drained, to build their army to compete with the overwhelming force the Elestovakians were about to unleash on their territory.


    However, while that sounded like the Latilians are ready for a victory, that is not the case in this situation:


    ¡°Latila and Vlenna are merely cities, city-states, Elestovakia is a whole powerful nation, Your Highness.¡±-Klein answers him, with a bitter tone in his voice-¡±We lost the previous war, don¡¯t let me start with that. We were a powerful nation back then. Now we¡¯re hard to detect on the map, and so is our closest ally.¡±


    With the balance of power favoring the Elestovakians, even with foreign support from the enemy that has defeated the Empire, a victory is hard to secure.


    ¡°So you just say we have no chance in this war.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean that, Your Highness. But unless we could find more allies, which we cannot, the known world nations are either already on our side, or it is Elestovakia, there is no more nation to for us to exploit-¡±


    Belisari makes a point-¡°We have other races in our war.¡±


    Elestovakia is a great empire, as an empire, they¡¯ve conquered a massive landmass across the continent, including nations of different races. From blood-thirsty intelligent vampires of the old Nosfeturan Empire, to long-living wind-bending expert elves, and fast flyable and maneuverable fliers, citizens of the Aeropostale Republic. In other words, humans of the empire had decimated every other species and became the dominant race. However, they did not perish, but still living in many hidden regions, or simply not in the Empire, and they are waiting for chances to return to their homeland. For a nation like Latila, they are possible allies to say the least:


    ¡°But their loyalty is questionable, Your Highness.¡±-Klein argues


    Indeed, they are potential allies. However, not to mention the fact that the vampire community has been unheard of for a decade, because they simply do not exist in Latila as the other races do, but just like Klein has said, aside from the elves originated from O¡¯well, a duchy located in the northern part of the continent, which was part of the kingdom before its downfall, the rest have uncertain loyalty to the state.


    "I place my trust in them however."


    Belisari moves himself closer to the window, eyes glaring down below.


    Latila is as colorful as the paradise itself. Thousands of golden rays sprayed on the sealine,  reflecting the light back to the sky. The whistle of wind moving along with the wall of the tower, before blowing away on the wings of the seagull. Peaceful, for the last city of the once mighty Kingdom of Latila, this is heaven.


    But Latila isn''t just the paradise for humans, but for other highly intelligent creatures in the continent as well. On the streets, among a quarter million Latila inhabitants walking down there, over a fourth of them came from various arcane races in the world. 2700 years after the first flier made his first landing in the coastline of the city, when it was just a small town, not even named Latila yet, this city has rapidly turned itself into a place where non-human and human can live without making conflict. And, along with Vlenna:


    "We are their final fortress in this continent.¡±-Belisari speaks-¡±It might be a little over-confident for me to say this on behalf of all humans, elves and fliers in Latila, but they will fight along with the country to protect their final homeland from the enemies¡­"


    Said done, declared proudly, Belisari switches off his serious attitude and chuckles:


    "Am I sounding like my father now, Klein? Ridiculous, right?"


    "Yes, my sister would say so.¡±-Klein takes a sigh-¡±But I don¡¯t. Say what you want, Your Highness, we have a higher chance to lose this war, even with the intervention of other races. It is a harsh truth, but truth nonetheless."


    Klein is finally done with all of his paperwork, he places them into a sheet and stands up-"Though I do hope that we could win, just like you, that small chance of us being the victors, I will try my best to grab my hand on it¡­"


    "I understand what you want, Klein. Now you heard my confession about the plan for this war. Your job is to somehow drag the vampire kind into our side or win more foreign support."


    Klein comes to Belisari''s right side:


    "That''s impossible, nobody can do that. But I will try my best."


    The flute of cold breeze still blew across the wall, being warmed up by the golden bright light rays from the sun, before flooding into the office where they''re standing. So calm, how long could it still be like this, Klein questioned himself, though he already knew the answer.


    "Do you have any wishes, Your Highness?"-he suddenly asks the prince on his side


    "I wish the vampires could join our ranks as well...What''s yours?"


    "After the war ended, I wish I could enjoy this city more than I am. That if we win the war"


    Klein declared to himself, fully aware that that dream can hardly be true. Even if they actually win, can he live to see that day? He does not know.


    "Well, not necessary about the part "after", let''s go out then."


    "Huh?"


    A seagull landed on Belisari''s hand, before he gazed his viewpoint at Klein-"The war won''t stop coming because you work today, nor come sooner because you spend a day resting. I suggest a visit to the city to clear our mind before continuing working, right Voyage?"


    ¡°Really? Right now?¡±


    ¡°Yes. By the way, I have seen quite a beautiful lady down there. Don¡¯t you think you should get yourself a wife now?¡±


    ¡°Wait- Haizz¡­fine. You got me there- Wait, shouldn¡¯t you too?¡±-Klein can¡¯t help but let out a long sigh to avoid chuckling upon hearing those words-¡±You just want to hang around,right?¡±


    ¡°You understand me so well, Voyage¡±-Belisari releases the seagull out of his palms-¡±Alright, time to go. See you soon bird.¡±


    Belisari and Klein left the room. Leaving the office empty.


    Moments later, a sailboat arises from over the horizon.


    **


    ¡°The weather is a bit windy..."


    On the sailbeam of the cruiser, a person-the boat thief-in her lab coat stretches her vision out far, to the port of Latila through a telescope.


    ¡°I see it.¡±


    Putting the scope back on her backpack, she clung on to the rope connecting the pole of the ship to the bottom and jumped down-Splash!-A loud watery noise came as her legs touched on the sinking hull of the boat. She quickly rolls up her trousers and splashes out the water from the ship, one bucket after another:


    "I should¡¯ve taken a better one¡±-She said to herself, while readjusting the sail and continuing to work on repairing the holes.


    The ship is still sailing on its own, being pushed by the violent force of the wind and waves toward the bay naturally. Bad news is, water leaking through holes is filling up the boat. Yet, the girl stopped repairing, she began to grab everything back in her backpack and climb back to the pole, again using the telescope to view the coastal city.


    ¡°2 kilometers 005¡­, wind at 21 mph. I should reach there within ten minutes¡±


    Klock klockLove this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    The sound of wood dragged her attention-¡±Who¡¯s there?¡±-The girl turned back with a handmade pistol in her hand,only to find a wooden shipwreck resting by the side of the sea.


    ¡°You scared me to death¡±-She shoved her gun back into the pocket and sailed closer to the ship-¡±Resting here for a long time, didn¡¯t you¡±


    The old shipwreck broke its sails to answer to her. Suddenly, a very old flag flew out from the flagpole by a wind, before it was towed out and fell into the sea. An armorial banner with a golden eagle in which she recognized immediately:


    ¡°Glad to see an old friend here¡­.May you rest in eternal peace¡±


    She salutes and continues with her ship moving forward to Latila, leaving behind the broken shipwreck and the old Eastern Roman flag floating on the surface of the ocean.


    **


    ¡°Vlennian apples here! Freshest and cleanest apples on the continent!¡±


    The sun shines upon the harbor of Latila. Ships docking side by side, loading and unloading their cargo full of goods and machineries. In the Age of the Merchant Sails, the port was built to keep up with the demand for docking space from foreign merchants that came from far away nations.


    ¡°May I try one?"


    ¡°Yes, sir, take this then¡±


    After a long time, the port had grown independently into a massive maze-like structure and become a major trade site on the continent. Therefore, more and more ships across many nations began to bring fruits and spices that were once very rare to be seen in the city-state, making them available in large quantities, including Vlennian apples that Belisari is in love with.


    And while Klein was wandering around, Belisari is having a good time trying out apples in the market.


    ¡°Hmm¡­fine.¡±-Belisari mumbles with a full mouth-¡±I will take two kilograms. How much does it cost¡±


    ¡°Four Denarii, sir¡±


    Putting down four silver coins with his free hand-¡±Here¡±-Belisari takes the bag of apples and joins in the crowd of merchants and buyers.


    At the same time, he saw Klein walking toward him, with a disappointed expression:


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t find anyone, really. Or you might¡¯ve lied to me.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t lie to you or anything.¡±-Belisari chuckles-¡±Anyhow, stay there, I want to buy some Milishilian coffee beans.¡±


    Coffee, for quite a long time coffee plants were growing across the continent, yet it wasn¡¯t until fifty years ago they found a way to extract a drink from seeds of this plant. From then, the coffee sale across the known world had boomed and thousands have made their living out of selling coffees.


    ¡°Hey, shouldn¡¯t we return to your palace now? They¡¯ve probably sent out some men to search for us-¡±


    But Belisari turned right toward the dock anyway, comforting his friend:


    ¡±It would take just a few minutes. Eh, don''t you see that Elestovakian coffee sucks? They have a bunch of dirt, barely tasty. Unlike those grown in Milishila, the taste is gentler by the exact amount of sunlight applied¡­"


    ¡°You sound like a merchant now. Dammit. Fine, I see your point. Go for it by yourself, please, I want to have a rest.¡±


    The prince hung his head in disappointment-¡°Fine, wait for me here for like ten minutes¡±-then he handed the apple bags to Klein-¡±Keep this for me too.¡±


    ¡°Wait! First, promise me that you won¡¯t leave me here okay?¡±


    Klein was referring to many times that Belisari and him hung out, only for them to split up, mostly because of Belisari, and fell to find each other in the crowded port.


    ¡°Okay. Stand there, I shall return in ten minutes or so.¡±


    ¡°God knows if you won¡¯t get lost in Latila Port."


    Klein said, as he saw Belisari joining the crowd of the bay.


    Being a massive port on the continent, probably the biggest, Port Latila is always busy and full of ships. Skipping the central circle bay, which is only available for warships and such, Belisari walks toward the second dock bay just right next to it.


    ¡°Here¡­¡±


    On the left of the port, is the dock space of Elestovakian and Vlennian ships, so the prince skips them again and turns right, following the sign which hung on the ceiling of the inner port to the dock bay of Latilian. Going through another swarm of merchants, a small light ship is waiting with a blue navy-crimson red flag with a golden cross flying high on its pole appearing in the corner of his eyes: Latila. Knowing that the destination is very close, he takes a sprint and jumps to the next bridge. At the end of the bridge, stood a white and blue flag of the merchant cruiser from Milishila mainland.


    ¡°Cereus?¡±-Belisari waves his hand at the captain of the Milisilian ship, who¡¯s standing in his cabin and recognises his customer immediately:


    ¡°Yo, Flarius, glad to see you here¡±-Cereus nodded-¡±One kilogram as always, right?"


    ¡°Yes, and please make it quick, I don¡¯t have much time¡±


    ¡°Okay okay¡±


    Cereus walks to the coffee cargo on a side of the ship, opens it and begins to shovel coffee beans into a bag, which Belisari would use to bring back on land. Belisari, while waiting, sits on the chair of VIP customers:


    ¡°Doing good in business, Cereus?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,indeed. Oh,by the way, for some reason my ship is free of tax. I don¡¯t know why, perhaps one of my customers is a high-ranking royal member who loves my coffee so much that he decided to give me some special treatment. Wait, that means I¡¯m a VIP in this country now? Ahaha, sounds ridiculous, right?¡±


    ¡°Indeed¡±


    Belisari always hides his real identity from people outside of his inner circle, including his favorite shop¡¯s keeper.


    ¡°So¡­how things going?¡±-the merchant suddenly asked


    ¡°Still okay, I think so, though recently I can¡¯t really sleep well.¡±


    "Such be it, young man. Heh, unlike me, I¡¯m going to retire soon, this ship will soon be sold¡­¡±


    "Yeah...hey, what do you think about me buying your ship? Does seven thousand Denari sound good?¡±


    ¡°Seven thousand!?¡±


    Getting a sudden ridiculous deal with Belisari, the captain of the ship can¡¯t help but laugh:


    ¡°Funny talking there youngling, this ship is worth less than that when it was brand new. Let¡¯s think about that later. Here you are, extra 0,2 kilogram as you made me laugh-¡±


    Cereus handed the bag of coffee to Belisari, but then his hand suddenly stopped moving. His attention was dragged to a dock space close from here. And around him, the other sailors also looked in that direction as well. As if there was something that had caught them, and there really was.


    ¡°Alright, thank you¡±-Belisari stands up-¡±Cereus?¡±


    Noticing the look on the ship¡¯s captain and the sailors, curious, Belisari turns around to see what the captain is looking at:


    ¡°What are you¡­What the-¡±


    As the prince looked in that direction, he saw the same thing that the entire harbor was seeing: A sailboat, or at least what¡¯s still floating off it approaching the land harbor.


    And on the sail-frame of it, standing a single person¡­no, not an ordinary person-a white hair woman-clinging on the pole, waiting for her moment to step down on the port.


    ¡°Cereus¡±-Belisari stands up and jumps off the ship-¡±...I have to go there¡­.sorry¡±


    **


    ¡°Here I am¡±


    Right before the quay is higher than her standing point, the white hair girl makes a jump onto the wooden dock:


    "Warm¡­just like in Greece¡­Rhode? I can¡¯t remember¡­.¡±


    The weather is peaceful, with warm sunlight and clean zero-snow ground, adding to that is a light cool breeze from the sea, completely on a different page compared to where she started the adventure.


    But if the description is right, then here is it, the city of Latila that was noted in her ancestors¡¯ book. Cozy and peaceful, with a brand new harbor, she supposed, since the description said that the city used to have a small dock.


    ¡°Woo!¡±


    A strong wind blew her silver hair strings into the air, covering her vision with its reflection of sunlight.


    ¡°It¡¯s windy here.¡±


    The girl gathered her hair back and tied it to the back, before it dragged too much attention to her. Little did she know, her white silver hair is enough for people to start to notice. A few gossips could be heard far away from where she¡¯s standing, but when the girl looks in that direction, the people pretend like nothing happened.


    ¡°Huh¡­I remember hearing something over there¡­forget it.¡±


    Deciding to ignore that, the girl turned her step toward the mainland.


    But:


    (Latin) ¡°Hold on there you.¡±


    Out of the sudden, from behind her back, a loud voice called out for her, making the girl startled:


    ¡°It¡¯s a Denarii to tie your boat up on the dock.¡±


    (Denarii? The Roman currency?)


    The girl turns around and sees a person, most likely a ship keeper approaching her with a note in his hand. Fortunately, he speaks Latin, modern Latin to be specific, a language she mastered:


    ¡°Phew¡­¡±


    Letting out a sigh of relief, she turns back to her sailboat. It¡¯s not like the boat has fully sunken, the pole is still above the water line, and the small flag to know which direction wind flows to is still on it. Yet, it would be over exaggerated if one person called this thing a boat by now.


    ¡°And I need to know your name. Nationality even.¡±


    But it seems like the ship guard doesn¡¯t care about that anyway. There will be tax for that. Being not a collector, the girl has no Denarii to pay, but there must be at least one thing in her backpack that could serve as a payment:


    ¡°How about this?"-She places down a talent of silver on the note and winks her eyes-¡±And we forget my name, and nationality?¡±


    (That¡¯s one among many lines I¡¯ve always wanted to say some day)


    The ship keeper looks up at her with a glare, but as an unsurprisingly result, he puts down the talent into his bag and turns away.


    ¡°Welcome to Latila port, Mrs. Helen.¡±


    ¡°Heh, bribery always works no matter which world we are in¡±-She said with a light smirk- ¡°Whatever¡­.¡±-the girl decided to ignore it and explore the city first. Shoving the compass back to the backpack, she sets her foot aboard the shore port, to the Elves District of Latila


    **


    ¡°Hah¡­hah¡­¡±


    It has been two hours since the last time Belisari saw that mysterious ¡°vampire¡± blend into the city.


    At first, the idea of finding a vampire, a creature unique with their silver hair sounds easy for Belisari. They have a unique trait: their iron-carbon hair, created by hundreds of years of drinking blood with high iron levels. With its outstanding silver color, unless she blends within the elf community, which all individuals have light golden hair color, finding that girl should take little to no time.


    Unfortunately, it seems like she did go to the Latilian habitant zone for elves.


    Maybe, there would still be a chance, better that ¡°vampire¡± was kept just within that region so he could find her-¡±God¡±-He said-¡±Please let her be there.¡±


    The prince stepped into Elves District, where he stopped and asked every single person on the street whether or not they saw any white hair person with a strange looking coat lurking around the area, but they all replied with a ¡°No¡±. Can¡¯t blame them, their hair and vampire hair are almost in the same color, it would be hard to notice between the two, and the long coat is Latilian Elf traditional clothes, finding specific one is impossible, and Belisari also has no description for it. To make matters worse, due to their earlier distance, Belisari can¡¯t tell if that girl has other unique traits for it is easier to find her. So, with just two pieces of information, there are not many things that could help the prince to find that vampire.


    Belisari needs a vampire. With that, his way to negotiate with the vampire Nosfeturan community, which has been rumored to still remain in the Alpsles Mountain Range within territory of the Empire, would be much easier. That girl is his key to achieve that. Whatever the price be, he would have that girl, there is just no better option.


    But it seemed like it was a difficult task.


    ¡°Damn it!"


    The Latilian prince kicks a random rock on the street at the witness of many elves and humans, but he isn¡¯t in the mood to care about that. Thinking of wandering all around Elves District alone is a nightmare to begin with, much less finding a single person there that looks like 96% of its population.


    ¡°God and Saint Morgan, don¡¯t give me false hope please¡­¡±


    Belisari looks up, takes another look. The Latilian elves¡­their hair color didn¡¯t help¡­


    And, over the horizon, the clouds had begun to gather. It is getting dark.


    At this point, Klein, if Belisari guessed it right, had returned to the palace to alarm his missing, and they''d probably sent out a few units to capture him back. They may haven''t found him yet, but just for now.


    It is better to return there before being captured than listening to Klein scolding him all day long, Belisari thinks. Maybe it¡¯s time to go home. What if he tells them about that vampire? Then maybe they might send a whole army looking for her to him. That is a preferable option¡­


    ¡°Maybe next time¡­.¡±


    Belisari turns around and drags his feet toward the Latila palace. He would find her later then-


    BAM!*


    ¡°What the-¡±


    Suddenly out of nowhere, a deafening noise like cannon fire echoes throughout the entire street, dragging the attention of everyone, including the prince himself. What might cause it? Is that a parade? No, this street is too far from the White Square, but the sound is still awfully loud like it occurred at the next street which is furthest, and if he remembers it right, then there should be no parade today.


    That must be something else, Belisari can say for sure. He quickly rotated his head around as fast as he could, trying to locate where the sound came from, by looking at the signal:


    There, a column of black smoke began rising over the neighboring street, along with the scent that smelled like¡­yellow stones around a volcano hole flooding the atmosphere. Drawing out his decorative sword hanging around his waist, Belisari sprinted to the neighboring street through a tight valley at the corner:


    ¡°What happened here?!¡±


    To his surprise, he found the remains of a compact explosion at the end of the street, surrounding a group of people lying around it, possibly being blown away by that same blast-¡°Who caused this havoc?¡±-The prince quickly ran to comfort the injured men-¡±You¡¯re going to be okay, just minor damage, I will call help-¡±


    They were mildly wounded, nothing severe enough to endanger their lives. The culprit is merciful, they are not intended to kill anyone, more like just to scare of those people:


    ¡°They are raiders, no need to help them. My backpack was almost stolen, there is no mercy needed.¡±


    Suddenly, a female voice came from behind the prince


    ¡°Oh ... .whatever, why don¡¯t you report them to the police?¡±


    ¡°It would be too late by then."


    ¡°Fine, but-¡±


    Belisari turned around, and he was stunned by what he was seeing.


    Standing in front of him is a woman, who is carrying a metal tube to aim it at the injured raider.


    That girl has a long white coat, with a strange headwear made out of leather hanging on the head. She is short, around 1m5, so small that the tube she is carrying is a fourth of her size, that the coat she is wearing almost touched the ground despite it was made for a normal height person to wear, and the bag behind her back was the same size as her. Her face looks young, not even eighteen yet, and it was even younger when it came to her personally judging by the look on her eyes.


    Her hair is very long, however, almost a meter, and it is reflecting a gentle, not really intense silver light.


    ¡°It¡¯s you. You''re that vampire!"


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The prince made a cross symbol on his chest (May Saint Morgan protects my sword) before sprinting up forward, leaving behind the injured and charging at the ¡°vampire¡± standing there with a sword drawn out on his hand.


    Caught by total surprise, the ¡°vampire¡± dropped the tube on her hand and reached for something that looked like a gun. But because of being panicked, adding to that is the ridiculous weight of her backpack, her gun dropped to the ground:


    ¡°Wait, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°You little¡­¡±


    Belisari continues advancing, the distance becomes shortened, but the girl is still looking for her gun. She found it lying just behind her legs,and picked it up.


    ¡°Sto-¡±


    The white hair girl picks up the gun and points at the man approaching. However, she was staggered: Belisari had had his sword drawn on her neck, merely a centimeter from cutting into her throat:


    ¡°Stop right there you little vampire frick...¡±

 Successful Mistake

    ¡°Eh?¡±


    ¡°That hair color¡­.You¡¯re a vampire- Hey!¡±


    In an attempt to break free from Belisari, the white hair girl tries to rotate her pistol on her hand toward Belisari. But the prince quickly realizes it and grabs her wrist with his left hand and holds it tightly-¡±Do not do anything stupid. I just want to negotiate."


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    Mumble*Mumble*


    More and more people flock around them and start talking, creating a huge crowd surrounding two people. Normally, Belisari would not mind it. However, he fully knows Klein and the Royal Servicemen who are searching for him. It''s not a good time to drag so much attention to himself, Belisari needs to find somewhere else.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go¡±-Belisari said to the girl, before dragging her to a less crowded, dark, dead-end corner. No one dares to bother them as Belisari is wearing a high price tailored suit, and no one wants to have any trouble with prosperous people . In that valley, the prince notices a stinky smell coming from several boxes scattered all around, probably rotten fruit or fish. Whatever, that doesn¡¯t matter, Belisari picked up a few larger boxes to block the road between the alley and the street, all in one hand, with the other still holding the ¡°vampire¡±. Just in time, a few seconds before the mounted police came and disbanded the sea of people right where they had just stood.


    ¡°Phew, we¡¯re safe, for now¡±-Belisari said as he peaked out through the gap of the boxes to survey the polices¡¯ movement, which are away from where they¡¯re standing-¡±Now, may you answer my question?¡±


    ¡°Please release me first."


    ¡°Not until I receive your answer¡±


    ¡°Please¡±


    The ¡°vampire¡± said with both of her hands making a sign of begging at Belisari


    ¡°Okay fine¡±-Belisari sighs and eases his hand-¡±Just don¡¯t think about escaping, I will not refrain from using my sword to stop you from running away from me. And do not think about screaming for help either¡±


    That said, if she attempts to attack Belisari, he won¡¯t stand a chance. Not many humans with melee weapons could solo a vampire, he knows two people like that, but not himself. But maybe if he fights here and makes loud noises, the mounted cavalry will arrive and help to restrain her again.


    Being released from the hand of the prince, the white hair girl slowly retrieves her right hand back. Then, she reaches out for something in her bag.Belisari also takes a step back and raises his sword, preparing as if she was about to attack.


    But then it turns out that she just takes out a bottle of some strange liquid that he doesn¡¯t know in the slightest. The girl poured out a dozen into her palm, then drank the whole. The liquid looks strikingly familiar to alcohol to be honest:


    ¡°What is that?¡±-Belisari lowers his guard for a moment while approaching her. It looks like she has no intention of attacking him anyway:


    ¡°Just some minor treatment, no need to worry. By the way, should you not do that while trying to negotiate?¡±


    ¡°Fine, it was my fault. Sorry for being aggressive.¡±


    At the same time, the white hair girl was done with her treatment. Putting back the bottle back to the bag, she walks toward the crate where Belisari¡¯s is sitting, brushes off the dust and sits down right next to the prince. She said:


    ¡°Okay Mr.Aristocrat. Would you be so kind as to tell me your name, my good sir?¡±


    ¡°Belisari Flarius Latila, yours?¡±


    ¡°Umm¡­¡±-She thought.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t tell me that you forgot your own name-¡±


    ¡°You could refer to me as Aurora Borealis.¡±


    She says, winking her right eye as if she was a superheroine who has just revealed her secret identity to a common citizen.


    ¡°That is for certain is not your name.¡±


    ¡°Please refer to me as such, please.¡±


    Aurora said, and smile, a smile that made Belisari can¡¯t reject, he surrendered:


    ¡°Fine, fine, Aurora Borealis, right? I¡¯ve generously called you Aurora Borealis, so now please me by saying that you are an elite vampire aristocrat, I¡¯d say that shall lift my spirit.¡±


    ¡°Huh? What vampire?¡±


    ¡°I know you are one, so don¡¯t-"


    Suddenly, Belisari realizes something that he couldn¡¯t recognize earlier due to their distance.


    Vampire has another unique trait that can¡¯t be disappeared by mixing races because it is not important whether or not that individual is pure blood. It is the secondary trait to see if a person has any vampire blood flowing within their veins along with their silver iron-carbon hair: Their red, bloody eye color from the lack of pigment, instead of any color, their eyes have the color of the blood flowing in their veins.


    Yet, the girl who¡¯s sitting in front of him, looking directly into his eyes, has dark brown eye color, nothing related to a vampire. Aurora, as much as Belisari wants to say that she''s a vampire, is just an ordinary human.


    "You...are not a vampire, right?¡±


    Aurora shakes her head.


    Belisari''s voice suddenly became smaller:


    ¡°Haiz!?¡±


    The prince stretched his entire body along the length of the box, followed by a long sigh of exhaustion and disappointment. For a split second, Belisari was filled with hope of being able to recruit a vampire ambassador to his country. Now that plan lay in ruin, the white hair woman that he was looking for isn¡¯t a vampire at the slightest, but a human just like him.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    "Why do you need a vampire anyway?¡±-Aurora asked with pure innocence. She doesn¡¯t realize how much trouble she has caused for Belisari.


    Belisari looked at Aurora through a small open gap between his fingers, said:


    ¡°Nothing¡­it¡¯s just¡­I want to¡­well, you don¡¯t know who I am,right?¡±


    ¡°An aristocrat? I guess so. And a military officer as well¡­Oh! Maybe you want to draft vampires into your army? Their stamina and raw strength are better than humans. Am I guessing that correctly?¡±


    ¡°Well, at least I could say I found a smart one instead. Yeah,that¡¯s kinda the point. Now thinking back, why would a vampire come to Latila in the first place?¡±


    Latila is a city of multi species, mostly human, but also two out of three other creatures on the continent: Elves and Fliers. Their arrival is the result of Elestovakian expansion toward the north, forcing the Duchy of O¡¯well and the Aeropostale Republic to evacuate their people to either the further northern forest, or seek refuge in Latila and Vlenna.


    However, there is a single creature, whose original homeland was too far from both friendly cities: Vampire of the Nosfeturan Empire. Thus, after losing ground to Elestovakian, they began a mass scale retreat to a mountain range named Alpsles, where they had probably established several small scale colonies to fend off the Empire. But also because of that, they have absolutely no method to escape the continent to the sea, where they could flee to any country that was friendly to them. So despite being open for any vampire to come, among twenty thousand non-human that came here since the Elestovakian Northern Campaign, none of the arrivals were vampires.


    And so, there is no reason, or any possible method for one to visit this nation. Belisari had wasted his time chasing not the person he needed without considering the logic. Now the man is mocking himself for acting without thinking much:


    ¡°I thought you guys- sorry, I meant the vampire kind has finally escaped. It¡¯s just disappointing to see I wasted too much time finding a random person.¡±


    ¡°Hey, at least you found a smart person, as you¡¯ve said earlier.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t really help anything. I don''t really need intelligence now. Can you fight in the military-¡±


    Wait, then what the heck she used to blow up those raiders?-a realization crosses his mind-Muskets nor matchlocks do not create such mass havoc. The cannon of the field artillery unit and garrisons certainly cannot create an explosion,and it was too big for one to carry.


    And for the Milishilian¡¯s newest invention, the hand grenade, the special equipment for the Fliers and frontier troops, for as imitating as its name is, their explosions are not that big, mostly it would just be flame and fragments and required to be used en masse to create actual damage. In this case however, he only heard one explosion, and the result is, as mentioned earlier, quite devastating for an individual weapon:


    ¡°Aurora¡±-He decides to ask her directly-¡±What did you use to injure the raiders?¡±


    Without a word saying, Aurora reaches back to her bag and pulls out a long metallic tube, which emptied inside, and shows it to Belisari.


    ¡°Huh? A large caliber gun?¡±-Belisari said surprised-¡±That does not explain the explosion site.¡±


    ¡°It has an explosive tip, it is explosive.¡±


    ¡°Explosive shells!?"


    Belisari says in surprise, because the technique of using explosives for artillery shells was just introduced by the Kingdom of Milishila less than a year ago, during the naval campaign in the Milishilian-Estovakian War. Their armed rigged-ships superior firepower is unrivaled, they shredded through the wooden frigates of the Elestovakian like a hot knife against butter and destroyed those ships from the inside, causing much more devastating damage for each engagement. Those armed ships sank the entire Elestovakian navy within four battles, before the Milishilian landed on the continent''s soil.


    And on a small campaign to support their troops on the Elestovakia mainland, those ships equipped with explosive shells have bombarded and decimated a legion worth of personnel, in just one day, which is one of the factors forcing the Elestovakians to yield. If only Latila got some of those shells in her arsenal, things would be at least twenty times easier for Belisari. And, unexpectedly, the girl in front of him told him that she had brought it with herself, with a straight face staring directly at him, showing no lie underneath:


    ¡°Explosive shell? For real? May I see how it works?"


    ¡°Umm¡­no.¡±


    ¡°Fifty Denariis.¡±-Belisari takes out a bunch of coins out of his bag.


    He does not know whether it''s an illusion or not, but Belisari thinks that he saw Aurora¡¯s eyes suddenly sparkle when he brought out the coins:


    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking.¡±-Aurora claps her hands together-¡±Let me find a less crowded place first.¡±


    Taking the silver coins from Belisari, Aurora then shoves her hand into the bag, and pulls out a cone shaped object, to which Belisari can¡¯t recognise it, because as he remembers, the Milishilian shells were round cannon balls. Is Aurora lying to him? He doesn¡¯t know, but if she¡¯s lying, then Belisari would know it by the second she shoots that gun in her hand.


    Meanwhile, Aurora is taking her time loading the shell into its launcher. She stands up,looking for the seaside, and when she sees it, Aurora raises her gun toward the blank ocean, all while Belisari is still in disbelief.


    Over the sky, the dark clouds are coming to the city. It¡¯s going to be raining soon, so Belisari told her:


    ¡°Hurry up Aurora.¡±


    ¡±Don¡¯t tell me to hurry up, this weapon is dangerous, I have to wait until there¡¯s no more people out there first. Now.¡±


    As the last person gets out of her vision, Aurora pulls the trigger.


    Out of the handcannon, a thunderous loud noise came as the shell was being released from its chamber, the same noise that Belisari heard back when he was about to return to the palace.


    BAM!


    ¡°Holy!¡±


    The shell contacts the surface of the ocean, sinking into a few meters, before detonating beneath the waves and lifting a massive column of water into the air, creating a small tsunami following it.


    No doubt, it¡¯s really an explosive shell that Belisari has been looking for.


    The explosion has dragged the attention of the people at the port and the naval patrol ships, and they are coming to the explosion site. The navy is looking for the culprit behind that blast. Therefore, Aurora quickly hides away so that she won¡¯t be detected if someone looks over there:


    ¡°Come on,let¡¯s get out of here.¡±-Aurora says to Belisari, but the prince at this point was already stunned, speechless, he didn''t even move an inch.


    "That''s ....what I need¡­¡±


    ¡°What you need- Hey!¡±


    Suddenly, Belisari turns around, at Aurora, and grabs on both of her shoulders, caught her by total surprise:


    ¡°Aurora¡±-he said,trying to calm himself down-¡±Do you have any more of this? I shall buy it at your given price.¡±


    ¡°Eh? But I don¡¯t have that much, I only have four left.¡±


    ¡°Damn it!¡±


    Belisari releases Aurora from his hands, walking left to right, his face is in anger, but deep down, that¡¯s a calculating face, and Aurora knows that. However, what she does not know is what Belisari is having in his head right now, but when she¡¯s about to ask:


    ¡°Belisari-¡±


    ¡°Aurora.¡±-Belisari stopped walking, turning to her. With their eyes locked on each other, he said-¡±Do you know how to manufacture them in mass numbers?¡±


    He speaks, while maintaining a straight look at her, the look when a person is staring at what they desire, and for Belisari, that is Aurora¡¯s knowledge and her explosives. Aurora, like that she knows exactly what Belisari needs, and wants to say, she honestly replies:


    ¡°Sure, if every resource is given, I am an engineer after all. Hey, you want to hire me, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really a smart one, I must say. Please, Aurora¡±


    Belisari stands in front of her, hand raises. It¡¯s now or never, probably the only chance to hire this mysterious person that he thought was a vampire, but it turned out to be even better, into his nation¡¯s army. Two hours of searching has not been in vain, but absolutely worth it, the only mission left is persuading this prize to be his. Throwing off every dignity of a crown prince, Belisari knees down, head lowered:


    ¡°Aurora Borealis, or whatever you want me to call you. I want you to be in my army.¡±

 House of Voyage

    ¡°?¦Ó¦Á¦Í ¦Ö¦Ó¦Ô¦Ð?¦Ò¦Å¦É ¦Ï ¦Ê¦Å¦Ñ¦Á¦Ô¦Í??, ¦È¦Ô¦Ì?¦Ò¦Ï¦Ô ¦Ì¦Å¡±


    **


    Tonk¡­. Tock


    It¡¯s raining in Latila.


    The raindrops splattered all over the windows, falling and colliding with other raindrops, before accelerating and hitting the ground, creating numerous pondles all along the now-muddy streets of the city. Light candles could be seen shining behind the curtains of many windows, some situated on a table, many more moving from one place to another, adding to that a gray color of gloomy weather, creating a city of ghost-like scenes right off the window.


    The trees situated between the path to the palace are being tilted along the wind. Leaves are falling by the hundreds, landing on those small puddles of rainwater scattered all along the gravel-covered road. On the watch tower of Voyage Palace, a handful of lights could be seen moving from a distance. That¡¯s the Border Guard units changing their shift, from one to another. One could tell from far away.


    Bang!


    A thunder struck right close to the balcony of the palace. The rain gets heavier and doesn¡¯t seem to stop anytime soon. The wind becomes stronger and stronger, blowing away all the leaves on those bushes out of the balcony, leaving behind only those thin, lifeless branches.


    ¡°Ah¡­they are back¡­¡±


    From a room inside the palace, where a fireplace is burning and filling the room with its warmth, Lily Sobieski Voyage-the only daughter of the Voyage family, or as people refer to: Archduchess of Voyage-watches through her right eye, as the Royal Servicers entered her residence from the front gate, along with her younger brother, who¡¯s riding on his horse, soaked wet by the rainfall, after a failed attempt to find the prince.


    ¡°Fool¡­¡±


    When Klein¡¯s view gazes in her general direction, Lily closes the curtain and leaves to the other side of the room, where she sits down next to the fireplace and picks up her half-drinked tea cup from the table.


    ¡°Whatever¡­.what¡¯s the matter, Alice?¡±


    Lily said and glared up at the door of the room. Just behind it, the maid named Alice was just about to knock on the door-¡°Uhmm¡­Your Grace, your father has just called you for the annual family meeting. You haven¡¯t joined any lately-¡±


    ¡°Tell him that I won''t give up my title as the Archduchess of Voyage as long as I am alive. Do not waste my time any further.¡±


    ¡°Madame¡­¡±-Alice finally opens the door and steps in-¡±...father noted to you that:¡±You must know your place-¡±


    ¡°Quite bold of him saying so in my house, my birth parents¡¯ house. I remember having said that clearly that I will not go, you are the one who must go if you don¡¯t want your lifeline to be shortened.¡±


    With a heavy and threatening tone from the person in the room, the maid steps back and closes the door. However, before leaving for good, Alice said into the keyhole:


    ¡°If you change your mind, please come to the meeting room on the third floor.¡±


    Then, the hall went into silence.


    Bang!


    Another thunder struck down. This time right by the window.


    ¡°Haizz.¡±


    Snap!* Frr*


    Lily takes a deep breath, she stands up from her chair, picks up a piece of wood from the pile, snatches it into two halves utilizing the strength of her hands and throws it into the fire. The fire, fueled by dry wood, blew up with a white shade of orange, releasing a cloud of ashes and hot embers into the air, before it returned to its normal state. A warm feeling filled the rest of the room, a bit hot in fact, but Lily doesn¡¯t bother changing it back either, she just leaves it there, going to the other side of the room, and sitting down on the armchair.


    Knock! knock!


    Then, another knocking sound came from the door.


    ¡°Come in, brother¡±-saying Lily-¡±If you want to complain that I didn¡¯t help you to find Belisari, then please leave. Or I will kick you out of the room by myself.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re aggressive and loud as always, Big Sis¡±


    Klein Voyage, after changing his clothes with a new attire, steps inside the room and sits next to her-¡±I could hear your voice all the way from the hall. Father is there too, and I could say he¡¯s not very comfortable with it. Here, catch¡±


    Klein picks up an apple from Belisari¡¯s bag and throws it at Lily, in which she catches it midair and puts it onto the table:


    ¡°Heh, he better hear it loud and clear, consider that as a message to him. Anyhow, aren¡¯t you and Belisari supposed to be at Latila Palace right now doing your work? Let me guess, he begged you to go out with him, and you lost his trace.¡±Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly what happened.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s Belisari¡¯s¡±-Lily said while pointing at the apple bags Klein¡¯s holding in his hand.


    ¡°I will pay him later, so this is mine for now. Also, don¡¯t address his Highness with his first name like that¡±


    He said, while holding an apple in his hand, spinning back and forth looking for the best place for the first bite. Meanwhile, his sister takes out an unopened cigarette box and puts one in her mouth, while striking a flint into the side of a piece of iron to get fire:


    ¡±New Milisilian cigarette, want to take a try?¡±-the Archduchess asked while her brother was taking bites on the apple. The flint on her hand has caught fire and lit up the head of the cigarette.


    ¡°No thanks, it would ruin the apple¡¯s taste. Besides, it does not even smell good.¡±


    ¡°Correct, it¡¯s tasteless.¡±


    Despite saying that, Lily still puffs out a cloud of smoke, seemingly enjoying it.


    ¡°Smoking feels like the sensation when you stand up too fast you feel dizzy, but for a longer duration. Once you are used to smoking it will be addictive¡­To release stress, one has many methods, this is mine, and I don¡¯t see any downside to it.¡±


    Klein shakes his head:


    ¡°Damn you chainsmoker, your mouth smells like burned herb at any time.¡±


    ¡°...so?¡±


    ¡°Big Sis, you¡¯re the patriarch, yet is also truly the weirdest member of the entire House of Voyage. Why don¡¯t you come out and seek a new hobby, rather than withering your lungs here inhaling literally smoke?¡±


    A brief about the history of the House of Voyage. The family line is a long noble house in Latila, born and fought along with the Latila family since the dawn of civilization, started with James Fortius Voyage, the first true member of the House after he pledged to the first king of Latila to be the protector of the city. All the way since, along with the House of Flemton, Voyage had held responsibility for being the military power of the kingdom. If Flemton was the shield and spear of Latila, Voyage would be the sword and their banner, and now are both the sword, the spear, the banner and the shield. Under their command is half of the infantry, the navy and all cavalry and aerial units of Latila. Without any doubt, the loyalty and leading skill of the Voyagers is the only thing that keeps Latila still being an independent nation until nowaday.


    ¡°I have a duty of living with my name and honor, brother. I have to take responsibility for this entire House of Voyage. Then I shall continue this tradition, by passing it down from my generation to another¡­¡±


    ¡°As if anyone would dare to be your husband to give you a child-¡±


    Bonk!*


    ¡°-sorry¡±


    Receiving an apple into his forehead, Klein shouted it out like it actually hurt and quickly covered his head with both hands, while looking away somewhere else. Seeing that, Lily assemblies her hand into a fist, her mouth curves a wicked, annoyed smile:


    ¡°I know that didn''t hurt my brother, or I must let you taste what actually hurt.¡±


    ¡°No I¡¯m sorry Big Sis, don¡¯t punch me.¡±


    Klein removes his hands from his forehead, chuckling.


    ¡°Stop acting like a clown¡±-Lily releases her hand, her face clearly expressing a confused emotion -¡±I don¡¯t remember you acting like this around His Highness Belisari nor anyone else, as if you only want to mess up with me. You know that if I die you will be the Archduke of Voyage, right? Hence, don¡¯t act like that to stain the name of the House. Also, I like cigarettes, is that a problem?¡±


    ¡°No no¡±


    Klein turns back with an apple in his hand. However, his visual attention was not entirely on it, but on his sister, more specifically her face and her body, which had not been going unnoticed by Lily. She responds by puffing a cloud of smoke into his face:


    *Cough cough*


    ¡°What¡¯s up, Klein? Your look is not innocent¡­Don¡¯t tell me you are attracted-¡±


    *Cough*¡°No, you are mistaken, I have no such interest in an aggressive golem like you. But I gotta admit, you are beautiful, very beautiful. I am saying this as your brother, men and women fell for you alike if you actually want them to. Someone would gladly take you as his wife.¡±


    ¡°That kind of complement is no use to me.¡±


    ¡°Of course it won¡¯t. Aye, do you want another apple?¡±


    ¡°Sure¡±


    Lily takes the apple while throwing the burned out cigarette out of the window. The room fell into silence again,only interfered by the cracking coming from the fireplace.


    It is still raining outside. Rain water leaked through the windows, dropping on the frame, before vaping and mixing into the warmth of the room.


    It¡¯s turning cold, Klein reaches out and adjusts the fire. He silently watches, as the fire bursts out cracks of ember from it and burns the carpet a bit. It¡¯s¡­peaceful here. Rarely returning to his home, Klein seemingly forgot the quiet, because of having Belisari all day long, even at night, Klein never had any personal space since he joined the army for so long.


    Yet, despite Lily still sitting by his side, chewing the apple he has just given her on the table, and the noise of raindrops echoes around the room, it¡¯s just like there is no sound here, he is all alone, lonely and peaceful in this room. Lily had fortified this room to be a place for her relaxation.


    ¡°Klein, are you loyal to Latila?¡±


    Suddenly, it was the room owner herself who broke the silence:


    ¡°Why are you asking now?¡±


    ¡°I have the right to know, brother. Tell me. Let us say one day I point my sword at Belisari, will you be on his side or mine?¡±


    With a serious tone, Klein says:


    ¡°Belisari, obviously, I will protect this country and the House of Latila with my life. Because I was given the responsibility to do it.¡±


    ¡°I see¡±


    The conversation ended with five sentences exchanged, but that was enough to make Lily feel her pressure lifted for a bit. She fixes the eyepatch over her left side eye, stretching her muscles all along the length of the chair. At least there¡¯s still someone in this family she can entrust the army of this country with, Lily whispers to herself in mind.


    ¡°Well¡±-The archduchess places both hands on her hip-¡±It¡¯s good to know that you are a reliable person. In time of war, trust is the most important factor out of all, I trust you and your army. Should I repay you by finding His Highness-¡±


    ¡°You are looking for me, eh?¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Out of the sudden, a voice came from the other side of the door ,while both Lily and Klein were off their guard. Following that, the door opened, and a right hand of the prince of Latila came in, waving with them. And on the left hand, Belisari was carrying the hand of another person:


    ¡°I have one to introduce to you two.¡±

 I Have a Plan

    A few minutes earlier


    ¡°So this so-called umbrella is really helpful.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Under a blue umbrella, shielded from the heavy water droplets from the sky, Aurora and Belisari are walking toward the closest palace to their position: the Voyage Latilus Palace. Although Aurora is mildly concerned whether or not she is going to be welcome there, Belisari assured her that she would be treated as a guest. Added to that is the heavy rain tapping all over the blue umbrella, they would be wet if unable to find somewhere to stay soon, Aurora¡¯s decision was to listen to Belisari and follow him to Voyage palace.


    Besides, Belisari looks like an aristocrat to her, and his surname is Latila, sharing the same name with the nation. Aurora guessed that he¡¯s a high class aristocrat, definitely had some monarch blood flowing in his veins, or at least something like that.


    ¡°Say¡±-Aurora speaks-¡±There are two stand out palaces in this city, one belongs to the Latila Royal family and one belongs to the House of Voyage. Am I right?¡±


    Aurora was referring to what Belisari told her earlier on the street. Latila has had three aristocratic family lineages that at least once took this city as their headquarter: Latila, Voyage and Flemton. House of Voyage-the offensive militarism faction of Latila-had the largest, most ambitious building standing right close to Latila port, overshadowing even the Royal Palace itself.


    Meanwhile, amidst the rainfall beyond their visual range, Latila Palace of the House it shared name with stands proudly in the middle of the city. From the highest tower of the palace, in the clear weather, one could see the entire nation of Latila, and even an Elestovakian village from afar.


    House of Flemton, less noticeable, but they used to have a castle near the coastline of the city; one could over watch any ship that approached Latila from the south. It was abandoned after the entire family line was killed in the Elestovakian War.


    ¡°Yes. And we¡¯re heading to one. Voyage, I expect it should take five minutes before we arrive at the gate.¡±


    Belisari points toward a weak orange light source on top of the outside wall. The gate of the palace is relatively close, they could determine it even in the rain.


    ¡°By the way, Aurora¡±-Belisari asks her-¡±Where did you come from?¡±


    ¡°Ehh¡­Russia.¡±


    ¡°Russia? Never heard of it, is that a region in the Further North?¡±


    Nodding¡±Yeah, very far from Latila, I had to risk my life to get here.¡±


    ¡°Glad that you made it. Why did you come here? Is there any particular reason?¡±


    ¡°I want to become a saint.¡±


    ¡°...That was¡­ambitious to say the least.¡±


    Still a bit of time left before they arrive, Aurora speaks out a question that she should have asked earlier:


    ¡°I know I would be mainly responsible for the manufacturing progress, but can you please tell me about Latilian industrial capability? No bias, I need to know everything as correctly as possible.¡±


    Belisari stopped walking, his face turned to her, both arms crossed, seemingly serious:


    ¡°As far as I know, we could mass produce black gunpowder, but just that, maybe welding guns and cannons, but not in large quantities-¡±


    ¡°Knowing how to produce gunpowder is enough, that means your nation could produce those chemicals that I need. Hey, it¡¯s your turn to hold the umbrella.¡±


    Taking the umbrella from Aurora, it¡¯s now his turn to hold it for them. They then continue to walk toward the palace, but Aurora doesn¡¯t concentrate on Belisari anymore, but something else:


    ¡°Please be careful with your steps Aurora, what can I do if you¡¯re injured?"


    ¡°I could still draw with my hands, you know, just follow the recipes and things shall be done rather correctly and efficiently. Oh, by the way, could I rebuild your arsenal as well?¡±


    ¡°As long as you can make it in four months."


    While still chatting, Belisari and Aurora have stood right outside Voyage palace. A few guards came from the room by the wall to confront them. However, when they saw Belisari under the umbrella, they all kneeled, and let the two enter freely. Although that does not come without a guard came and offered escort, but Belisari rejected it:


    ¡°But¡­the woman next to you is¡­¡±


    ¡°No worries, just consider her as my friend, you should return to your mission.¡±


    ¡°I get it.¡±


    The guards still have some concern about Aurora, still, if Belisari told them to have no worry, they could do nothing but return to their post. After ensuring that no one was following them, Belisari and Aurora continued on their walk.


    ¡°Aurora.¡±-Belisari said while looking around-¡±I will introduce you to two of my friends, both working within our military rank, I suppose that they would know what they need to enhance those units under their command. Both of them are Voyage, their name is Klein and Lily.¡±


    ¡°Say,what branches are they working for?¡±


    ¡°Klein is the Close combat and Siege Infantry Corps, called the Legionary Army, while Lily, you can call her Liliya, holds a unit called Winged Husaria, we also call them Charge Cavalry Brigades. But honestly, we lack heavy firepower, that¡¯s why I desperately need your explosive shells.¡±


    Aurora nods her head frequently.


    ¡°I see¡­so there is room for some major upgrades.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make anything too crazy, the logistic chain has its own limit. Latila might be able to mobilize all of its manpower to fight, or build a cannon so big that it could penetrate any wall, but when there is no food to sustain such a large army, or horses can¡¯t tow that cannon because it was too big, that version of the Latilian military will be unable to succumb more than one month into war.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re surprisingly good at understanding the war of resources, unlike a certain nation that once invaded the Soviet Union- I mean Russia but failed to realize that, so they poured their money into big war machines that turned out to not work at all. They lost the war in the end, eventually.¡±


    ¡°Then we won¡¯t make that mistake then¡±-Belisari laughed-"Just make things simple, we appreciate that. After all, it was I who needed your help, not you who needed mine.¡±


    Suddenly, Aurora stops walking:


    ¡°You could ask a bit more, you know? What if I told you that there is a weapon that could be very light, that even a person could carry, yet so powerful that it could penetrate any wall? Do you love that concept of weapon?¡±Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the weapon you have just shown me? That¡¯s why I hired you.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    The two continue to walk to the palace.


    Fast forward


    ¡°Belisari¡±


    Having kneeled down on one leg, Lily and Klein had their heads bowed and closed their eyes. But surprised over the presence of another person by Belisari¡¯s side, Lily couldn¡¯t help but glance a bit. An unidentifiable person, but she could know that that person is an aristocrat, judging by the quality of the shoes she saw with her right eye. Nevertheless, that was a woman, she can tell.


    Belisari, gently pulled the hand of that girl behind the door, then said:


    ¡°Aurora, this person is Lily Sobieski Voyage, Archduchess of Voyage and he is Klein Caesar Voyage. You two could raise your heads."


    ¡°It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you,my name is-.... Lily Sobieski Voyage.¡±


    Trying to contain the urge of asking about Aurora¡¯s hair color. Lily steps forward,hand raised, as a formal meeting procedure.


    Aurora, at first a bit concerned thinking of shaking hands with any real aristocrats aside from Belisari, after seeing Belisari out-rank both of the two individuals in front of her, she gathers all the remaining confidence and steps up, shaking hands with Lily, then withdraws back side to side with Belisari.


    ¡°I¡­I am Aurora Borealis. Nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not your real name, for sure. But anyhow, Klein Voyage, sorry for my manner. Your Highness.¡±-the man named Klein called Belisari-¡±May you kindly introduce me to the individual you brought along?¡±


    ¡°Eh? You¡¯re-¡±


    Your Highness-that¡¯s what the aristocrats of the Voyage family call Belisari, which only meant one thing: Belisari is not just a noble, but a monarch member, a prince, crown prince even.


    (Thank God I am very lucky!)


    Upon this realization, Aurora feels like the weight of the atmosphere was lifted. On her side is one of the most powerful individuals in the state, and he seems to act friendly to her. That means there won¡¯t be any problem that might come to her in the future. Good. Aurora lowers her head down, prevents anyone from seeing the exciting expression her face is making, because that would be embarrassing-


    ¡°Hello¡±


    Suddenly by her ear, the woman named Lily calls for her. And also suddenly like that, her excited expression escapes from her face, leaving only a worry of how to speak with an aristocrat like Lily.


    Aurora glances at Belisari, the prince however didn¡¯t notice that and he¡¯s still on the other side of the room having a chat with a person so called Klein. Aurora is alone here with Lily:


    ¡°You¡¯re not a vampire, aren¡¯t you.¡±-the Duchess of Voyage speaks, with her face and Aurora almost touching each other.


    Repetitively nod


    Lily¡¯s face has two scars, a large one that might¡¯ve claimed her left eye, and another smaller one on the right. Aurora can say that there are definitely more scars hidden behind that attire she is wearing right now. She is muscular in comparison to any woman, and also very tall, taller than even Belisari and Klein, 1m90 at least, and her hair is half of that length, jet black and silky. That is the part that makes her look imitating, what is not however is her eye, which looks very gentle, in opposition to her outside look.


    ¡°Yeah,I can tell, you have no red eyes despite those silver hair.¡±


    Withdrawing her face from the newcomer, Lily turns away, she heads toward the pile of apples on the table, picks one and hands it to Aurora-¡±I¡¯m not hostile, no need to be that cautious, have one.¡±


    ¡°Ah¡±-Aurora takes it with both of her hands-¡±Thank you.¡±


    Aurora takes a bite to the side of the apple. Sweet, with a bit sour, delicious, she loves it, and it is clear to see that in Aurora''s expression. Seeing that, Lily smiles, she gave her another:


    ¡°Here, just buy a few for Belisari when it stops raining.¡±


    ¡°Hey, Lily, may we take a seat?¡±


    At the same time,Belisari had finished talking to Klein, he began moving his attention to the sofa placed right next to the door. Realizing this, Klein and Lily, each carrying a side of the sofa, move it up and place it to the opposite of the armchairs they already have around the fireplace, and get back to their seat.


    ¡°Thank you, now Aurora¡±-Belisari turns back to the girl-¡±Shall we begin the formal introduction?¡±


    **


    Surrounding the only table in Lily¡¯s room, door locked, isolated from the outside world, Belisari, Aurora, Klein and Lily sit back on the chair, watching each other in silence while waiting for the tea to be finished.


    The eyes glanced at Lily and Klein, checking their reaction. However, most attention came to Aurora. Klein is curious at how Belisari suddenly managed to bring up a ¡°vampire¡± out of nowhere from this city devoid of such creatures.


    While on the other side of the chair, fully knowing that Aurora is just a human like her, Lily wants to know why he brought this ordinary girl along with him. Maybe he mistaken her for a vampire- ain¡¯t no way that happened, right? Lily told herself, no way Belisari would make such a silly mistake, she knows him well, they grew up together.


    And so, the archduchess asked, but not directly-¡°May I ask where you came from?"-but instead of Aurora, it was Belisari who answered it:


    ¡°Russia¡±-the prince glares at Aurora-¡±She¡¯s a foreign engineer that I hired earlier, eh¡­on the trip to Milishila capital of Ethanolin.¡±-he lied-¡±Just consider her as a business partner.¡±


    ¡°I see, but where is this Russia that I¡¯ve never heard of?¡±


    ¡°Russia as I heard it is in the Further North region. I don¡¯t know too much about the details, but the country was described as a cold vast land. But don¡¯t bother about it, I found her at an institute in Milishila working for them.¡±


    All of those were straight up lies that Belisari prepared earlier so that he wouldn¡¯t have to admit that he picked Aurora up from the street, and to convince Klein and Lily to put their faith in her, and Aurora knew that in advance. Therefore, her only job is to agree to any fact that Belisari told these two people about her. No matter how ridiculous it might sound, Belisari looks like a person who can pursue people into believing whatever he says:


    ¡°Still, mysterious origin, I might say¡±-Klein intervenes in the conversation, as he has a little suspicion-¡±How much had you considered before tagging her to Latila, Your Highness?¡±


    ¡°Just enough for me to decide that it was a wise decision, Klein. No need to question me that much, I know what I am doing. You know that.¡±


    Better finish this quickly before they grow any question out of her profiles:


    ¡±If it¡¯s your decision, then fine.¡±


    Good! Just as they intended!


    ¡°If Klein does not suspect anything, then I won¡¯t, as well.¡±


    The Voyage aristocrats had accepted the fact that Aurora was selected by Belisari in a trip to Milishila quite easily. Aurora and Belisari can sigh in relief already, if not for them to pretend that they weren¡¯t lying to them. Still remaining a straight face, Belisari told them:


    ¡°As I said, Aurora was hired as a technology assistant all the way from Milishila. So in short, we would be able to have some access to their technological advancements.¡±


    Milishila, as Aurora gathered its information throughout her conversation with Belisari, is a developed nation in the southern continent of Gaullia. Their technological advancement had been proved in their victory over Elestovakia in the recent war, and her signature weapon, the explosive shell, was first known as Milishilian war gear. That¡¯s why Belisari chose her this nationality, to make his words further convincing, and Aurora needed less to deal with possible questions about her home nation.


    ¡°But Your Highness, you haven¡¯t told me this¡±-Klein stands up-¡±We were supposed to be the ones who knew about this sooner. And isn¡¯t this too late for any change in the military system? Further modification might not work in the time we need them. Our infantry stood at seventy thousand men, how can you upgrade them all in such a short time, much less reorganize it?¡±


    Klein really did point out a problem with this plan: the deadline is tight. Just three months for preparation, any further than that would make Vlenna and Latila vulnerable to the Elestovakian army. What he didn¡¯t know is that Aurora and Belisari had a plan on their own:


    ¡°Actually, the project would be divided into two separate parts.¡±-Belisari presented the idea-¡±The first part shall be focused on the cavalry units, especially yours, Lily¡±-He said, looking at the Voyage archduchess-¡±And Arlin¡¯s, and our Elf Archer Cavalry. That means, by the time the war has started, we would have the cavalry ready for war, and an infantry that was ready in the first place.¡±


    ¡°Yes .Time-¡±-Aurora said,she was about to say more,but she forgot about its context. So she tries to find an escape by looking at Belisari. Belisari, glaring at Aurora sitting next to him immediately understands what she wants, so he speaks up to drag Klein¡¯s attention to him-¡±Time isn¡¯t a big problem, as long as it takes, at most it would take two months for the first half of the development plan to be done, so that we could be ready for the war.¡±


    ¡°Quite a bold assumption there, Belisari¡±-Lily said-¡±But I believe you can comprehend time. If you said it was two months, then two months it would be.¡±


    Receiving the agreement face from Lily, Aurora and Belisari can have some room for breath. Lily is done, now it¡¯s Klein:


    ¡°I would place my trust in my sister¡¯s judgment. But what is the second part of your and Aurora¡¯s plan of military reform?¡±


    (Huh?)


    Klein might not have noticed, but Lily did, there was a grin on Belisari¡¯s face, before it turned back to normal, as he continued:


    ¡°Some of the few selected infantry units shall receive their upgrade, alongside with the cavalry. And after that, we would love to have some of our own surprises for the Elestovakians. About the detail¡­I will tell you later¡±

 Heads of the Army

    "Ah...hot water¡­¡±


    Several hours after the talk between Aurora, Belisari and the Voyages, Belisari has returned to his palace after a chariot arrived and brought him back, but he can¡¯t bring Aurora along. Under Lily and Klein¡¯s pressure, and Belisari''s personal request of giving Aurora a place for tonight''s sleep, the Voyages family was forced to prepare a room for her. A room close to the rooftop which previously was a storage was cleaned up by the maids in order for Aurora to stay in.


    Meanwhile, after stripping off her belongings in Lily¡¯s room, Aurora was exhausted. But there is one more thing she has to do: taking a bath, before the cold from the rain hits and turns her sick. Wandering around the hall of Voyage palace, Aurora searches from room to room looking if there is any bathroom there.


    As she walks aimlessly around the building, her hair color dragged the attention of many people, some nobles from Voyage family that she was introduced to by Belisari, a few maids as well, but there was a hall where several men wearing chainmail armor and black fabric, with white cross armbands could be seen trekking from one place to another. Their eyes were hidden behind their metal helmet, so Aurora can¡¯t tell if they were staring at her, but for certain, to Aurora, they were the most uncomfortable ones for her to encounter.


    Luckily, her journey doesn¡¯t take long. Right below the first floor of the palace, walking to the extended part into the front field, Aurora saw a cloud of steam coming from a vent right by the wall. She followed it, and it turned out that there is not just an ordinary bathroom, but a massive size one, dwarfing any bathroom she has ever seen in her life. Equipped with a hot water system and all kinds of towers to clean the body after a long day, it was the ideal bathroom that Aurora expected when visiting a modern palace.


    However, in opposition to the massive size of it, there was only one person in this room aside from her. Lily, who is having her body washed in the large hot bathtub glared at Aurora the moment she entered the room, and she is smoking a cigarette?


    ¡°Ah,sorry¡±-Aurora panicky said, while trying to close the door-¡±No means to disturb your time here, I could wait outside.¡±


    ¡°No need to, come, this bathroom is big enough to serve a dozen people at the same time, but usually it''s just me here all alone, and you must been cold from the rain, I suppose"


    ¡°Can I?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    Receiving a nod from Lily, she entered the room. A cloud of steam leaked out of the room as Aurora opened the door.She then closed it firmly, locked the door up following Lily¡¯s guidance-¡±I forgot to lock it.¡±-the Voyage said, before she rested her body to the side of the bath. Aurora, who can''t resist the desire of having a soak, takes off her clothes and puts them aside into a basket. She grabs a tower from the pile next to the entrance, wraps it around, then joins into the bath with Lily.


    ¡°Haizz¡±-Aurora let out a small voice as she slowly soaked into the bath. The warm water surrounding her body, washing out the remaining dirt and rainwater. Heat began to rise,the steam emerging from the surface of the water blended into the air obscured Aurora¡¯s vision from seeing Lily, despite they were just five meters away from each other. So satisfying, Aurora rested her back on a wall of the bath and looked over the glass ceiling, where she could see as the raindrops collided and flowed down along the rooftop.


    ¡°It has been a long time since I bathed with another person.¡±


    The one who said that is Lily, she has moved from her place toward Aurora, and lies down next to her:


    ¡°Usually I would have waited until nighttime¡±-she said-¡±It is much better seeing stars while having a bath as well. But I want to sleep early tonight.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Those Knights Cathedraller who designed this are truly amazing. Who would have thought that those muscular tall weird-looking guys love bathing as we do? As it turned out the cathedrals banned people from going in without having themselves cleaned.¡±


    Lily took a soap and began cleaning herself, then tossed it to Aurora:


    ¡°Here. This thing called soap, you said you came from a northern continent nation, so probably you¡¯ve never seen it, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen several in Milishila.¡±-Aurora said while catching the soap Lily threw to her-They are a bit expensive tho. By the way, what is the ¡°Knights Cathedraller¡± you were talking about? They weren¡¯t really popular in my country.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen.¡±


    ¡°That explains. Things just happened ten years ago. Anyway, they are just our allies, who sought asylum in Latila after their holy land fell into Elestovakian hands. Since then they¡¯ve been working in an effort to build an army to regain it.¡±


    Lily uses her finger to draw something midair-¡±Their insignia is a two-stripes cross with a small circle,you can see several in the eastern part of the city, on their public churches. Actually you don¡¯t have to go too far, one third of Voyage palace is their headquarters. You must have met a few of their members on your way here.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Digging back her memory, Aurora realized that those black armored men she met earlier had a white cross on their armband:


    ¡°So they were knights.¡±-she nodded-¡±Yes, I¡¯ve met them back on the second floor. They seem scary, I would say. Must be a crusade enthusiast to realize that they were knights in the first place.¡±


    ¡°What is a crusade?"


    ¡°Nothing. May you tell me more about them?¡±


    ¡°Well, they were an international knight order formed in a cathedral in the city of Montgilsard, also where they got their name from. The clan was founded with the sole purpose of escorting pilgrims to the Cathedral safely. That is until the Elestovakian declared that the Cathedral was theirs and drove the knights out of their operating territory by forces. Their leader ,a middle-age man- an old man now I guess, went to Vlenna and sought help, but the king of Vlenna rejected them, so they sailed to Latila, where we fought together and halted the Elestovakian while they were assaulting the city.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a wild adventure.¡±


    ¡°Sure. By the way, if you have time, you should go to visit their other temples and churches in the city. I usually pray in the Northwest cathedral on Sunday. My mother got this from their commander, and now it is mine¡±


    Lily held out the necklace around her neck, between the silver chain is a cross,the symbol of the Knights Cathedraller,on it carved a sentence:


    "Laudate nomen Domini"(Praise the name of the Lord)-Aurora reads it out quietly


    On the outside, the rain has stopped falling, the cloud being gusted away by the wind and replaced by twilight reflecting down below. The two women stopped for a few minutes to watch as the moon appeared behind the layers of clouds.


    A sound of wind whistled into the few cracks on the wall, followed by a cold breeze. From far away, fliers from the air base took off and began their annual patrol. Lily stands up from the bath, she takes another tower, drying off the steam remaining on her body, then she reaches out for the eyepatch, then her clothes, putting them on and prepares for leaving. However:


    ¡°Lily"-Aurora said-"May I ask you another question, why is your left eye gone? And why are there so many scars on your body?¡±


    A moment of soundlessness filled the atmosphere, before Lily broke it with a long sigh:


    ¡°War¡±-she said, before closing the door-¡±I will tell you sometime in the future, but not today.¡±


    In the meantime, on the other side of the palace


    ¡°Klein? Why are you here?¡±¡±


    ¡°Am I not supposed to return home, Arlin?¡±


    When Klein was on his way to his room in the palace, he bumped into a person. That person, indistinguishable from Klein, if not thanks to the fact that he does not wear glasses as Klein does, is his twin brother Arlin Alexander Voyage. He was walking toward the living room upon hearing that Belisari and another guest visited his home.


    Arlin Alexander Voyage is the captain of the Latilian Companion Husaria, an elite melee cavalry legion which along with the Elf Archer Husaria served as ranged cavalry units of the Latilian army. He is one of the two brothers who Lily pays respect to.


    ¡°Not that, long time no see, but aren¡¯t you supposed to work at Latila palace?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but¡­you know, I have some jobs at home. Besides, it was his Highness who went here, so I just kinda followed him.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s because of him again, huh? Speaking of Belisari, have you met the guest who came along with him? I heard from the maid that she was a vampire or something?¡±


    ¡°Yes she i-¡±


    "She is not.¡±


    Suddenly behind them, a voice came, along with the footsteps of a figure appearing from a room. That figure in full chainmail armor looked at Arlin and Klein, the armored man then cleared his throat and said:


    ¡°She¡¯s not a vampire, as far as I could tell, she has dark brown eyes, not red. I feel like your observation ability has gone down quite a bit, Klein.¡±


    The knight walks toward them, hands placed on the helmet and opens it, revealing an old man in his late 60s, with a few scars all over his aged face skin. His name is Gerald de Payens, a noble knight from the country of Milishila, and the head of the Order of Soldiers of Crossroad Pilgrims and of Montgilsard Cathedral, famously known as the Knights Cathedraller. He and his clan are mainly responsible for religious activities in the city of Latila.


    As a cathedral knight, he has several encounters with vampires. To talk about the relation between the Knight Cathedraller and the Nosfetura vampire community, the knights weren¡¯t hostile to vampires like many orders westward, but one never said they had a good relationship. But at least Gerald still knows everything about how to set apart vampires from normal people:


    ¡°We have two simple characteristics to identify a vampire.¡±-Gerald sits down on the wall-¡±Silver hair and-¡±


    ¡°Red eyes¡±-Arlin continues his words-¡±Lack of one then it¡¯s not a vampire. So, say old man, our guest is just a regular human?¡±


    ¡°The first one is correct, but the later one, if she¡¯s just a ¡°regular¡± human she won¡¯t be invited by his Highness here. That said, I have to question myself when I first saw that girl too, she¡¯s so young, younger than my granddaughter, even. By the way¡±-The knight looks at Klein-¡±You know her name,right?¡±


    ¡°She told me to refer to her as Aurora Borealis, even his Highness doesn¡¯t know her real name.¡±


    It¡¯s true, Klein asked Belisari about Aurora¡¯s actual name, but all he received was a head shake and the reply:¡±She and her colleagues have already referred to her as Aurora Borealis since I first met her.¡±-¡°Now thinking back, every fact I know about Aurora came from my conversation between his Highness and I.¡±-Klein concludes.


    ¡°A silver-haired human who calls herself Aurora Borealis, weird. Honestly, I¡¯ve never seen one like this before, and I remember every single pilgrim who came to the Cathedral.¡±


    ¡°Me neither, that¡¯s gir-¡±


    Loud voice¡±Laudate nomen Domini¡±


    Out of the sudden, a knight from behind them shouted out the motto of the order, the specialized communication method of the Knights Cathedraller to announce an emergency meeting between the high ranking knights. Seeing that, Gerald quickly stood up, but before he went away:


    ¡°In whatever case it is, I believe we must put our faith in God and his Highness.¡±-He pats on Arlin and Klein¡¯s shoulders-¡±Their encounter must have some meaning, and I believe it shall lead to our victory. Anyway, I have several more jobs to do, sorry for not being here any longer with you kids¡±


    Gerald waves his hand, before disappearing after the door leading to the knight''s headquarters.

 Morning

    ¡°He who conquered Latila¡­will have the world¡±


    **


    ¡°Long live the Elestovakian Empire!¡±


    A charting voice of a thousands men army awakened Latila while the citizens were in their slumber. Bells ringing across the street, calling for men, women and children to take shelter in Voyage and Flemton fortresses or Latila palace. Those who were lucky enough to live close to the port aboard ships to escape from this city before the chains were fully tied to protect the port from the invaders'' warships. One thing every mind in Latila knew at that day: war had come to their land.


    In front of Flemton wall, the outer defense line of Latila city, the guards were in fear, as they saw an army of fifty thousand men marching toward where they made their stand. Holding the banners of Elestovakia flutter high in the sky, the invading army trampled on burning flags and corpses of the fallen Flemton defenders.


    Offshore, forty warships with catapults are bombarding their beloved city. Hellfire is raining down, but they can¡¯t do anything about it. Latilian warships, despite being equipped with flamethrowers, are very short range, they were easily outmatched by their Elestovakian counterparts. Half of their fleet were sunk without leaving the port.


    Outnumbered twelve to one, demoralized by the horror of a defeated army, the remaining force withdrew to the rear of the garrison. They could hold off the Elestovakians for months but eventually this garrison will fall and Latila will be captured.


    Yet, command was given, those men were ordered to not abandon their position.


    Standing on a wall over the fortification of the city is a young female aristocrat, sixteen years old Lily Sobieski Voyage, who has been waiting here for this moment since when the news of their army¡¯s defeat reached Voyage fortress. She is here, along with her parents and relatives, the entire remainders of the Voyage bloodline and the Flemtones fighting to protect the capital of their country:


    ¡°Lily, adjust the gunpowder in your matchlock, don¡¯t let it be faulty.¡±


    Lily¡¯s mother takes the gun from her, inspecting the gunpowder inside before giving it back.


    ¡°Thanks, mom.¡±


    ¡°Here they come¡±


    As the invaders bring out their siege engines-the infamous 778 pounder cannons that had decimated Carthagia¡¯s fortification last week-to destroy the garrison¡¯s gate, the defenders on the wall load their guns and ready to fight back. On the opposite, the Elestovakians are having their guns preloaded from far away, so that they could fire them all at once when the fortification gets well within range. The invaders had no cavalry, they were busy dealing with force from the Knights Cathedraller far away from the city, but with the overwhelming force from sheer size of their foot troops, it would be a matter of time before they break through this garrison.


    And so, they began laying siege. The Latilian gunners waited for command.


    ¡°All units! FIRE!¡±


    From their barrels, hundreds of ammo shells glided into the air. The Latilian force fired wave after wave of bullets upon their enemies. The Elestovakians expected that would happen, they deploy a heavy metal shield to cover the cannons. With their guns fixated on the wall, they began the bombardment on the garrison.


    ¡°Hold on something!¡±


    The heavy cannonballs smashed into the city¡¯s defense, crushing numerous men behind these walls and staggered the fortress. The Flemton wall was a marvel of technology, but for ancient times, it wasn¡¯t designed to hold off any modern weaponry like cannons. The wall shakes violently, dropping gunners of their standing points. Yet, the Elestovakians show no mercy, they will keep on bombarding the wall until it submits.


    Then, a short moment of silence, the guns need to be reloaded and loaders are rushing to do it. Seizing that rare opportunity, Latilian melee assault cavalry charged at the cannons. From the middle gate of the city, the Konstantine gates, a group of a hundred armed riders take off toward the Elestovakians.


    ¡°Good god..."


    Overlooking the chaos battlefield created by their horsemen from behind an arrow slit, Lily gazes her vision around at an incoming cannon, a gunner standing side by side to it loading a cannonball into its barrel. Drawing out her matchlock, Lily carefully aims at that man, and pulls the trigger.


    Bang!


    The ammo released from the rifle barrel flew into the head of the invader, pierced the leather helmet and splattered his blood to the ground. Lily temporarily disabled a cannon with that kill, but not for long, another one came and the cannon continued to fire. Fortunately, a cavalryman cuts him down. The enemy¡¯s position has been broken. Good, she has to keep the momentum by continuing covering the cavalry. Loading her matchlock again with fresh new ammo, Lily exposes her head right a little bit¡­


    Sling!


    Suddenly, out of thin air, a bullet came, slicing right into her left eye.


    ¡°AHHH!¡±


    The archduchess Lily wakes up from her nightmare, breathing heavily. Looking around her,it was just her bedroom.


    The fireplace has long gone off. The rain has stopped since yesterday, and birds are singing outside.


    Still sweating cold and shivering, Lily tries to stand up from her bed. She grabs on her eyepatch, carefully placing it onto her left eye to cover the scar on her eye. At the age of twenty-six, it¡¯s hard to accept the fact that Lily could be considered an experienced war veteran, but she is one. The war ten years ago, when the Elestovakians unleashed their power upon the northern land, Lily joined in the defense of the city, two months before Latila was relieved by the Milishilians.


    On that fateful night, when the Elestovakian army attacked the city, Lily lost her left eye, and then, became an orphan, before being adopted to this family. Long time has gone after the war is over, yet, many nights, the memories of these nights still find their way back in her dreams.


    And every time when Lily wakes up from those dreams, she kneels down, making a cross sign with her hands and prays, silently, in the hope that the men and her parents who fell on that day could rest in peace. The prayer lasts until the Knights Catheraller order rings the golden bell on their temples, when the sun illuminates its light on top of the Order''s highest flagpole. Then, the prayer stops, Lily stands up and heads to the dining room, if it is just an usual day.


    But today, she went to another place. Open the door of the storage close to Voyage palace¡¯s rooftop, Lily looks into it, where Aurora is slumbing, with sheets of papers and tons of strange-looking devices lying everywhere on the floor which has just been cleaned off dust yesterday. As a fastidious person, plus this is also her domain, Voyage can¡¯t help but find it extremely uncomfortable:


    ¡°Geeze¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Hearing noise coming from the door, Aurora opened her eyes, she looked all around,realizing that this is not her house. Then, she saw Lily looking at her:Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Good morning.¡±-Aurora said, then fell back to her bed, continuing to sleep.


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    ¡°She hasn''t awakened?¡±


    Suddenly, a familiar voice is calling Lily from her right-¡°Your Highness.¡±-she turns around and greets the approaching figure, Belisari-¡±Why did you come here so early?¡±


    ¡°To accompany Aurora back to my palace. By the way, Liliya, I told you to skip the ¡°Your Highness¡± part, Belisari is fine, you¡¯re older than I am anyway. And it feels rather strange when seeing one that has been always called you by name suddenly changes to calling you by title.¡±


    ¡°Klein would scold me for a while if he found out.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely he would.¡±


    The two look at each other, giggling:


    "Ahaha...Belisari, then. Only if Klein is absent. Anyhow, Aurora, wake up, His Highness is here for you.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    No answer


    ¡°You stay here. Let me wake her up.¡±


    Lily entered the room, carefully choosing places to land her feet so that she would not accidentally step on and crush anything important. Now looking closer, those papers lying on the floor were not just any random papers, but blueprints,and there is still a fresh ink smell mixed with burned out scented candles filling the room. She did all of this while I was sleeping? Lily questioned herself. However, no excuse is now good enough for Aurora to continue dozing while Belisari is here for her:


    ¡°Hey there¡±-


    Lily chooses the soft method, she pokes at the pile of blankets-"Wake up, it¡¯s morning already. His Highness has come.¡±


    ¡°I am here.¡±


    Aurora slowly awakes, brushing off the dust buildup on her eyes-¡°Belisari?¡­¡±-she noticed Belisari is looking at her from the door-¡±I¡­I mean Your Highness, why are you here for this sole individual?¡±


    ¡°Belisari is fine, just consider me as your friend, I don¡¯t mind it, unless Klein is here. Hey Liliya, can you grab me something in the kitchen? I haven¡¯t had anything in my stomach.¡±


    Belisari did have breakfast at home, but he wanted to have some private talk with Aurora. Understanding that intention, Lily nodded:


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    After Lily has gone away from his eyes, Belisari turns back to Aurora, the girl is trying to straighten her messy hair with a comb before going off the bed. Walking on the same path Lily took to enter the room, he arrives at the table close to the window, where most of Aurora¡¯s personal stuffs are located, then picks up a small fragment of glass from the table and takes a look:


    ¡°This one¡­''''-Belisari shows it to Aurora and asks-¡±The glass is very clear. I''ve seen many high quality panels in Ethanolin when I was there two years ago, but this one is on another level. How did you obtain it?¡±


    ¡°From Russia, we know a thing or two about making glass.¡±


    ¡°It looks incredible.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­¡±


    After having been excluded from monarch rules, Aurora seemed to have returned to a normal altitude to speak with Belisari.


    ¡°You really speak to me like we are friends.¡±


    ¡°Ahh¡­sorry Your Highness, am I not actually allowed to do that?"


    ¡°No no,if I say I don¡¯t mind it then it means I don¡¯t mind it. You can call me whatever you want.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­¡±


    Aurora stopped for a moment, thinking:


    ¡°Belisari Flarius¡­May I call you Belisarius?¡±


    ¡°Fine for me.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Belisarius for your hospitality hosting me in this comfortable palace.¡±


    ¡°Okay okay. Enough.¡±


    Belisari found himself a comfortable place to sit down. A chair was there at the end of the bed,but it was occupied by Aurora¡¯s backpack, and fully aware of how dangerous those explosive shells inside of it could be, the prince decided not to mess with that thing.


    A wooden plank protruding out of the wall has only a few metal plates on it. After having those things carefully placed aside, Belisari brushes off the dust and takes a seat:


    ¡°So, sorry for yesterday, I have to go home early.Is everything okay here?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t complain about anything except the food.¡±


    The steak Aurora had last night was disgustingly thick and tough to chew, and made her stomach hurt. That¡¯s why she couldn''t sleep and had to distract herself from the pain by working instead. It was so bad that although she should be grateful for the food, Aurora¡¯s honest opinion about the meal overcame her etiquette:


    ¡°Well, sorry about that, I will ask if they could improve it. Hey, how about Liliya, is she good?¡±


    ¡°Liliya? Lily? She seemed like a good person, unlike her scary appearance, although she saw me as a child. Not that I am bothering with that though¡­How about you? What do you think about her?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a reliable senior, I guess so.¡±


    At the same time, Aurora has done with preparing herself to get off the bed. She takes the backpack, burying her hands into it trying to pull out something. Belisari looks with some curiosity, he never saw what Aurora got with her since they first met. Is there anything more interesting than those explosive shells in that bag?


    ¡°Anyhow¡±-he decided to ignore it-¡±It¡¯s breakfast time, if you don¡¯t hurry up soon the Knights will occupy all the seats in the dining room. Go to the first floor, you should see it around the stairs."


    ¡°Uh huh.¡±-Aurora nodded, hands and face still grinding into the haversack-¡±I will be there in a moment, you should go first.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything I can help with?"


    Belisari wants to help, but at the same time he wants to have a glance at the things inside the backpack.


    ¡°No, please just go first.¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Fine, be there soon.¡±


    Said done, the prince turned away and left.


    Thirty minutes later


    Aurora, Lily and Belisari are now in Voyage¡¯s dining room. The breakfast here is simple, just bread with vegetable soup, which according to Aurora as she later described, is an absolute nightmare to swallow. The bread is hard like hardtack and the soup even has a rotten taste in it.¡±-Just like British food.¡±-Aurora complained quietly-¡±Better to cook by myself next time.¡±


    However, for some reason, Lily and Belisari seemingly enjoyed it like it¡¯s good. Sometimes it¡¯s hard to know what medieval people are thinking when they eat something, Aurora concluded, she will note that later in her diary.


    Nevertheless, Aurora still tried her best to finish the meal, risking all the possibility of vomiting the whole breakfast in the dining room. Fortunately, she didn¡¯t. Throwing the empty bowl to the side with a disgusted face, she looks at Belisari, who¡¯s sitting opposite her, saying-"Now may you tell me why you came here so early today?¡±


    ¡°As I said¡±-to which he replied-¡±I want to accompany you to my home, the Latilus Latilae Palace and meet my father, King Justinius the First, His Majesty, remember to call him so, and ask for his approval to execute our renovation project. Just simple like that.¡±


    ¡°May I come tag along?¡±


    Said Lily while she was trying to cut bread, she just wanted to have a visit. It has been a long time since her last time in Belisari¡¯s palace:


    ¡°I guess it¡¯s okay, the carriage is enough for four people, Aurora, I, you and a bodyguard, though it¡¯s unnecessary to have any guard when you¡¯re onboard. No raider would even dare to come close¡±


    ¡°Is that a compliment?¡±


    ¡°We all know that you¡¯re reliable.¡±


    ¡°Reliable she is, indeed.¡±


    A big and rough hand, covered in a metal gauntlet suddenly placed on Aurora¡¯s shoulder:


    ¡°Lily is surprisingly trustworthy to be a personal guard. Anyway, Your Highness, may you introduce me to this particular individual?¡±


    A person appeared behind Aurora, and she almost jumped out of her seat, if it wasn''t for her to be frozen by fear. Judging by the shadow of the figure alone, a rough estimation of him is two meters tall, with heavy armor and a matchlock musket. Added to that is a scary low tone voice, this voice is familiar to one of the voices she heard when coming across those black armored men. When combining all of those elements, there only meant one thing: The person who¡¯s standing behind her is a Knights of the Cathedral:


    "Take a seat first, Gerald. Don''t scare our guests."-Belisari ordered. As an instant effect, the knight releases the girl from his hand. He draws out a chair beneath the table and settles. Aurora takes a glance, this man is double her size at least, what makes him look scarier is those battle scars covering the area of almost half of the elderly face just like Lily, and of course, that black, dirty metal armor:


    "Aurora"-Belisari speaks-"This person is Gerald de Payens, commander of the Order of Soldiers of Crossroad Pilgrims and of Montgilsard Cathedral, you might call them..."


    "The Knights Cathedraller"-The knight named Gerald cut short his words-"It was an honor knowing you, Aurora Borealis.¡±

 The Latilian Monarch

    After having finished their breakfast, Belisari, Lily, Aurora and the knight began their journey to Latila Palace.


    The distance between Voyage and Latila Palace is around one hour by carriage, or to put it into geographical perspective: half of the city of Latila, and a sixth of the entire nation. Aurora did expect the nation to be relatively small, but she was frightened to see how small it is compared to any state in the region, aside from Vlenna, or course. But to Elestovakia¡­even in the impossible scenario of the Elestovakian Army suddenly disappearing and Latilians could just march straight to their capital, Aurora is not sure if they could make it.


    That said, she¡¯s not a tactician, while Belisari is. Who knows if he is having something in his mind. She intended to ask, but seeing the man and Lily are having a conversation, Aurora decided it is wise not to interrupt them.


    The girl looks outside of the windows. The dwellers in this city, as she had observed yesterday, are very diverse in races, both human and non-human. Elves, of course, look just like descriptions from any kind of fantasy books or mangas people could find in a cheap store uptown, with pointy ears and bright hair color. Their attire however resembles a modern version of toga instead of green maneuverable and camouflage costumes, probably to blend into urban society. The Fliers, on the other hand, are more explicit in their style of clothing. The airborne creatures whose home is located in the further north of the continent tend to wear a light tunic, with exposed back and flexible shoes to support their flight ability. At first, Aurora pictured them to have bird-like wings, with feathers and peaks even, like any bird she had ever seen in her hometown. What turned out to be is that these people have very geometrical wings, as if they were planes, specifically B-2 or something similar with human form, 75% human 25% plane. Nevertheless, as their name suggested, they can fly, unlike any other race in this world aside from pure blood vampires.


    ¡°Latila is open to all kinds of creatures who are willing to be its citizens.¡±


    Behind Aurora, the knight in the black armor spoke. He seems to has been looking at her from the beginning, and noticed how Aurora glaces at non-human people with a look of curiosity:


    ¡°It¡¯s not like there were no other native arcane creatures in Milishila¡±-he continues-¡±If I remembered it right then there were dwarfs. But they primarily live in mountain regions, I heard, so encountering one is almost impossible, and I had only met one in my entire life. I guess you had no chance to encounter one before, right?¡±


    Aurora nodded, although she had no idea about whatever Gerald said.


    ¡°Well, why don¡¯t we reintroduce ourselves a little bit¡±-the man continues-¡±My name


    is Gerald de Payens, a Knight Cathedraller as I said earlier. I¡¯m also from Milishila, from the city of Belkut to be specific. Again, nice to meet you, Aurora Borealis. I have a granddaughter around your age, hope you two can be friends.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you too, Mr. Payens. And I am looking forward to seeing your granddaughter as well.¡±


    The knight raises his gloved-hand for a handshake. He is smiling, with the kindest face expression Aurora has ever seen in her life aside from her parents. People in this world are weird, they might seem very scary, but they are very gentle. Lily and this person for example, Aurora thought of that for herself, but did not speak that out loud.


    The girl again looks out of the window, she gazes at the houses and infrastructures. The road they were moving on right now was covered by a layer of flattened large stone, unfit for carriages like this chariot, but very well made and durable. Other buildings such as houses and churches are made from stones and wood logs, some luxurious buildings even possess marble walls and pillars. And there was the port she arrived at yesterday¡­a marvel of construction¡­If there is any ancient civilization on Earth that was capable of building houses like this, it must be the Romans, or to be fair, Hellens and Carthage as well. Nevertheless, they speak Latin here, modern Latin. This nation is more Roman in its core-


    ¡°Woo!¡±


    Aurora was caught by surprise, the chariot had just taken a tight turn on the road. Her view changed from a row of home establishments to a public street. As the descriptions said, buildings here mainly serve public needs, such as public baths and churches, taverns and storages of a union of countries named the Maritime Federation. Aside from Milishila and Vlenna, the Maritime Federation, a Western nation consisting of four major trading port cities: Ganeo, Vineci, Milin and Nakoli, is also an ally with benefits of the Kingdom.


    The Latilus Latilae palace is now within a short distance. From the carriage, Aurora can tell that it is really smaller than the Voyage Latilus palace:


    ¡°Hey Aurora, how do you see this country?¡±-asked Payens the noble knight, to which Aurora replies-¡±Something worth to discover and deserves being protected¡±


    The chariot stopped right in front of the Latila palace, where it was surrounded by soldiers equipped with shields and crossbows guarding from every side of the wall, their armbands carrying the insignia of Latila and the Maritime Federation mercenary corp. Already familiar with the knight order¡¯s men, the crossbowmen look not so imitating to Aurora.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Aurora.¡±


    Said Belisari, as the prince opens the gate for Lily to come out first, then Payens, then himself. Aurora steps out. In contrast to what she imagined earlier, there was no one greeting them with red carpet or guards playing trumpets, the entrance of the prince was just as quiet and humble as the entrance of a normal guest.


    No, not really, there was a person that is waving at them from the palace, someone that look like Belisari:


    ¡°Your Highness Aurelian, long time no see.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Good morning, Aurelian. How is father?¡±


    ¡°He is okay. And is that the woman you told me earlier?¡±


    The man points at where Aurora is standing.


    Aurora, later being told, that person is Aurelian Dominitate Latila, the second prince of the Kingdom, brother of Belisari. And behind him:


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    Justinius Sabbarius Latila, or Justinius the First, king of the Kingdom of Latila and father of both princes. He is here for Belisari and the special individual he brought along. Taking a few steps forward, the king meets up with the visitors.


    ¡°Archduchess of Voyage, Sir Payens, Belisari¡­¡±


    The King looks quite old. Although he is just forty, Justinius¡¯s appearance, adding to that is his tiredness makes him look like he is around Payens¡¯s age. The labor of managing this mid-crisis nation for ten years has worn down the person once the master of a great kingdom:


    ¡°...and you are Aurora Borealis, if I was right.¡±


    Justinius glances at Aurora, his eyes show a sense of suspicion, like a true wise emperor looking at his enemy, but he still welcomes her to his palace as a foreign guest. After all, it was his first trustworthy son who introduced this individual to him:


    ¡°I am King Justinius of the Latilian Kingdom. Aurora Borealis, welcome, and you may enter my palace.¡±


    Said done, the king turns and walks away. It was not exactly a warm greeting, but that means Aurora was approved:


    ¡°Alright¡±-Belisari claps his hands-¡±Let us enter, Aurora. Hey Aurelian, would you mind spending some time with us?¡±


    The first prince turns his attention at the second, the one that is staring at Aurora, especially her hair, and makes her extremely uncomfortable:


    ¡°Okay, I will see what this woman used to interest you.¡±


    **


    Walking along the hall of Latila palace with her companions, Aurora can¡¯t help herself but turning all around to capture as many things into her eyes as possible. She wishes she had some independent moving eyeballs to see for more, because her pair is not even enough to witness the magnificent of this palace.


    The palace was built on marble structure, with walls and the ceiling supported by granite pillars covered with fabrics in many colors, even purple, something that should be considered luxury pre-19th century on Earth. A main large entrance-not the entrance they used to enter-in the middle of the building made of fine wooden planks and plated with silver., serving for ceremonies or triumphs.


    Paintings covered half of the ceiling, half of which were mosaic, showing the imperial history of Latila, and an old map of the country when it was a great kingdom. Aside from some states that are still existing, a few old nations are there as well, the Empire of Nosfetura, the Kingdom of Carthagia, the Aeropostale Republic, the four Maritime Republics before they united, etc.


    Soldiers and guards moving around, not just the crossbowmen, but musketeers and halberdiers as well, and they are all wearing shining steel armors and shoes, and all of them are looking at Aurora as they journey through the hall. Her hair color again is the spotlight of everything, but she is used to it already.


    ¡°Here¡±


    The six stopped in front of a small door, this is Justinius¡¯s office, where he would stay all day long managing the country from there, but today it is being used to welcome guests:


    ¡°You may take a seat.¡±


    Aurora sits down on the wooden long couch, on her side there are Lily and Payens. It feels like they were her bodyguards. Belisari and Aurelian on the other hand lie down on the ottomans in the corner of the room, and the king himself is in his usual position, behind the table and the tower of paper scrolls.


    ¡°Aurora Borealis, welcome you to this country of Latila. I¡¯ve heard that you were hired by Belisari to support this nation. And although you look like a vampire with that hair color, you are not.¡±


    ¡°Correct, Your Majesty.¡±


    The king nods his head, he goes on:


    ¡°But Belisari said that you are capable of producing explosive shells and may help expand our military arsenal with a renovation plan. Is that right, Belisari?¡±


    ¡°Yes father¡±-the prince says.


    ¡°You are correct, Your Majesty.¡±


    ¡°That is somewhat hard to believe, I must say, but my son told me that he witnessed you perform the capability of that weapon per his request. If that was true, then it is amazing. We¡¯ve asked Milishila to share that technology, but they refused to. Your help would be vital.¡±


    The relationship between Belisari and Justinius, it is hard to describe it, but it seems like Justinius placed his belief in his first son, no matter how disbehave he is, running around the country without protector, without informing his father or anyone else, even, he still trust his son. The king might not be a person that is good at speaking with others, but he is excellent at trusting the right people at the right time when it is needed. Knowing so makes Aurora feel relieved.


    ¡°In spite of our lack of finances, I will provide funds and workplaces for the plan if it is necessary. Of course, Belisari- no, Aurelian will manage the budget, to avoid any risk of corruption.¡±


    ¡° Thank you for your cooperation and generousness, your Majesty. But the budget need not be supervised, since I will personally provide finance for this project.¡±


    ¡°You will pay for us?¡±-Justinius surprises-¡±We would be delighted to receive any support. But what can you offer-


    ¡°What!?¡±


    What followed made everyone in that room shocked. The monarchs and the knights almost jumped out of their seats.


    Aurora, while the king was still speaking, took out a bag full of large pieces of gemstone, specifically white diamonds, out of her backpack and poured them onto the table, where everyone could take a look. They are not ordinary big, but extremely huge, cutted, and are shining the most shiny light they¡¯ve ever seen. Each one of them outshine any gems in a Milishilian king''s treasure room, even the smallest one can be more expensive than the most valuable real estate of the richest Maritime dye traders, and more valuable than every gems casted into the crown of the monarch of the old Nosfeturan Empire combined.


    (Hehe, that did the trick)


    Of course, they are all synthetic diamonds, they are not valuable, and cost much less than steel back on Earth, where these gemstones originate from. But in this world, where nothing is known about synthetic diamonds, to these medieval people, these are real, biggest, shiniest diamonds in the entire world. And the amount on Aurora¡¯s right hand alone can buy a whole small kingdom:


    ¡°H- how?¡±-Justinius stuttered, so did Belisari and Aurelian-¡±Where did you have this!?¡±


    ¡°It does not matter, I brought it from home¡±-Aurora speaks-¡°I¡¯ve heard of the Maritime Federation. Your Highness Aurelian and Your Highness Belisari, may you contact them for me. I want to have a deal with their merchants.¡±

 A Generous Gift

    ¡°There was a dream, a dream called a greater Latila¡­¡±


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    In the White square, the largest open space in the city of Latila, a column of trebuchets and catapults are working tirelessly, firing burning stones after another to the outer wall and enemy naval warships. Cooperating with them is the Flier Reconnaissance Corp, with the task of measuring the distance to the targets, then report back to the operators working below:


    ¡°Vitta 1 to headquarter Latila, reporting enemy cannons in the north east, the Ganeoese holding the line are in struggle. Request fire support immediately.¡±


    Words from a flier notify about an incoming attack. Seeing that, the Latilian defenders quickly get to work.


    ¡°Headquarter Latila got it. Withdraw Vitta 1, incoming projectiles.¡±


    Two people from each gear throw a large stone covered in oil onto the sling of each war gear and set them afire. Then, the controllers fire them into the night sky by moving the level and letting gravity swing the swing arms to launch projectiles onward and release them from their launchers. The stones covered in burning oil lighting up the paths on their way to the enemies. It is very hard to score a hit with that ballistic trajectory of the weapon, but that is the only way they could use these trebuchets now.


    BAM!*


    A large explosion followed as the ammunition hit the ground, shattering into thousands of burning debris. If it hits, it would cause great damage to the invaders, if not¡­then they¡¯ve wasted another bucket of oil for nothing. Better let a flier to go there to check:


    ¡°How is it, Vitta 1.¡±


    ¡°I am coming closer¡­No¡­Emergency situation! the Ganeoese are abandoning their position! I repeat¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    For whatever reason, the crossbowmen mercenaries they bought from Ganeo are running from their position on the wall. Amerius Luscusius, called Vitta 1, the commander of the 2nd Fliers corp flies closer for a clear look:


    ¡°They are fleeing, still maintaining their weapons¡­where is their commander- oh God. Vitta 1 to headquarters Justiniana is dead. This wall needs to be reinforced as fast as possible. Vitta 1 to headquarters, Flier Melee Centuria XII and Flier Aerial Centuria XI will hold them, but we will need more than that.¡±


    At that moment, a few projectiles from the ground come, almost shoot down Amerius if it wasn¡¯t for her to dodge them in advance:


    ¡°They have anti-air ballistas to deal with us too, we the Fliers cannot hold them off for too long.¡±


    ¡°I got it. Keep firing into that general direction, I will go to support the Maritime mercenaries.¡±


    ¡°No your Highness!¡±


    Among the operators that were working at the White square that day, Belisari, the fourteen years old crown prince of Latila was the only monarch member. Taking a crossbow from the stock left by the army, with a Ganeoese mercenary uniform, the young prince jumps from his position and rushes across the street, searching for a way to arrive at the wall as soon as he can.


    The city is full of people with their belongings packed to leave the city, they are leaving his country. Fine, as their prince, Belisari must help these people, by buying them more time to leave.


    **


    ¡°Here.¡±


    Lily, returning after a trip to the nearest firm of the Maritime traders, throws a chest full of gold coins onto the table.


    Aurora, the receiver of the money, was in total shock. Although it is unclear how much this would be in dollars or rubles, this is without a doubt the largest amount of fortune she has ever seen in her life, came from just selling the smallest out of the large pieces of diamond she used to donate to the Latilians.


    And she is not the only one either. Belisari, Aurelian and pretty much everyone there, aside from Lily because she was already shocked a moment ago, opened their mouths widely. They don¡¯t know how the Maritimers gathered the money so quickly, nor how much the diamond was valued to them. They just know that they now had a lot of money that needed to be exchanged.


    ¡°Twenty million Denarii, they said¡±-Lily places on the table a note-¡±This is more than enough to pay salaries for our army for five months, including the mercenaries. And this is¡­just one. How many pieces do you get there, Aurora?¡±


    ¡°Fifteen, minus one, fourteen. Assuming they would buy with the same price in the worst case, we would have two hundred eighty million. That is¡­amazing¡­¡±


    All of a sudden, Aurora stands up. With sparks glowing crazily in her gray eyes and a large smirk on her face, she opens her arms wide:


    ¡°Your Majesty¡±-she says-¡±I will keep one of these gems for myself, the rest can be exchanged and expropriated into Latilians warchest. Ahaha, be grateful to receive my charity.¡±


    Aurora starts laughing like a maniac in front of everyone, she entirely forgot that she is meeting the monarch. However, neither Justinius, Belisari, Aurelian nor anyone here could care less about that, their attention is entirely on the amount of fortune being shown in front of their eyes.


    ¡°This¡­this is incredible-¡±


    ¡°Hey¡±


    The door suddenly opened, stepping in Klein Voyage and Arlin Voyage, the two people who followed the team just a moment before the chariot left, they opened this door because of the weird noise coming out of the room. Seeing Aurora in a weird pose while everyone else are sitting, Klein walks toward her and raises his fist:Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    *Bonk!*


    ¡°Ouch!¡±


    ¡°Aurora Borealis¡±-he says, while cleaning his hand with a towel after using it to knock on Aurora¡¯s head-¡±You might be His Highness¡¯s guest, but you cannot do so in front of him nor His Majesty-¡±


    ¡°Hey hey what is over there-¡±


    Arlin, the other Voyage at the door points at the chest on the table, a second before him joining the rest of the Latilians here stunning because of that amount of treasure:


    ¡°Klein¡±-Justinius stands up from behind the table-¡±Don¡¯t harm Aurora. She gave us that money- no, she gave us more than that. She deserved being treated as an aristocrat, no, more than that.¡±


    Said done, the king walks from his place to Aurora, she has calmed down a bit, though still hurt from the knock:


    ¡°The Kingdom of Latila thank you for your generosity.¡±-the king places his palms on her shoulders-¡±This nation owns you and the donation you gave us, we will repay you someday. I promise I will support you with everything I could if it is within my possibility. You may leave.¡±


    **


    ¡°Just who are you exactly?¡±


    The Voyages, Aurora and Gerald decided to stay in Belisari¡¯s domain for tonight.


    It is just the middle of the day, the sun has not even reached its highest place, almost, but not yet. Though there are still ponds left after the heavy rain yesterday, it is basically sunny now, an opportunity to go around the city. However, as much as Aurora wants to do it, she has to sit here, on the highest tower of the Latila Palace, being questioned by Belisari, the person who dragged her here:


    ¡°I am an expeditioner.¡±-she said, gazing beyond the window-¡±Is there any wanderer who does not bring some money with them when they go somewhere?¡±


    ¡°That does not explain the amount of treasure you brought along with yourself. You are richer than any person in this country- no, in the entire known world. I knew there is something in that backpack¡±-Belisari points at the thing hanging on the back of Aurora:


    ¡±In the grace of God, you are no more fit for the role of being an ordinary engineer who was hired by me any more. Your action broke that role, why?¡±


    ¡°Ehehe¡­¡±


    Aurora points her fingers against each other. She seems to be regret, although there is not much of it:


    ¡°Sorry about that. But I guess they don¡¯t care about it, they just see me as a generous donor. That would also keep them busy for a while finding people to purchase these gems.¡±


    Klein and Arlin were tasked with finding customers to exchange the diamonds into coins. They took more time than they should have, considering that not many individuals could spend that much money just to buy these valuable stones. Meanwhile, the King himself had just contacted the Milishilians, in seeking for a deal with them:


    ¡°It would be at least a week before we could gather sixty million Denariis, I¡¯ve predicted.¡±-Aurora elaborates, trying to switch the topic to something else-¡±Most of the money will come from the Maritime merchants, a small portion from the Milishilians, the rest from the neighboring region in the Elestovakian Empire.¡±


    ¡°The Elestovakians¡­Why?¡±-Belisari asks.


    ¡°What, aren¡¯t they the enemies? Lily told me so.¡±


    Aurora tilts her head a bit, she does not understand why Belisari switches his tone when speaking about dealing with the Elestovakians:


    ¡°They are enemies, you know that, why do you still trade with them?¡±


    ¡°Huh? Isn¡¯t that good? By draining their funds in the neighboring regions with these gems, their army bordering Latila will shrink in number, without Latila losing any men.¡±


    ¡°Wait-¡±


    ¡°And we have money from them to build our strength. That was a fine strategy to say the least.¡±


    ¡°That was all of your plan?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Diamonds, they are extremely valuable according to the market, Aurora fully aware of that. However, she also knows that they are not suitable to be used to pay salaries for troops, or purchase weaponry, gold coins are much better in that role. By trading these carbon-based stones for coins, Aurora has got money she can use, and binding her customers a fortune in which they can hardly use for exchange, nor can be smelt into weapons.


    Or course, whatever happens to these diamonds is unknown, the Elestovakians might pass them over with higher prices, which would make the money draining plan go spoiled. But that is a gamble worth to play, and:


    ¡°Is that nation maintaining nobility ranks, if that is the case, we are lucky.¡±


    With a nobility system like the Holy Roman Empire, the local army will be drained, since they are entirely dependent on financial support of the local lords, the targets in Aurora¡¯s plan:


    ¡°Ah¡­I see the mind behind this. Their lords will purchase these gems and to have the money, cut the militia¡¯s fund. They cannot call for imperial nor foreign support either without paying them.¡±


    That was how the Battle of Vienna would¡¯ve worked out if not thanks for donation from the Roman Catholic church. History can be applied from one world to another, Aurora thought so. Hence the plan was drawn out to avoid mistake of the Ottomans:


    ¡°Exactly, I¡¯ve researched carefully before my expedition.¡±


    The girl takes a look beyond the border of the city, outside of the wall.


    An Elestovakian village is there, so close, it was a Latilian village just ten years ago. Stones and missile remains are still left in the field, never being cleaned up or harvested. The place where the Fliers Centuria XII made their last stand now emerged a lavender field. The Elestovakian War was a devastating blow to the Latilians, and now in hard time they have to use gems to scam resource from their once righteous territory:


    ¡°It is not necessary we have to target the Elestovakians, but it is worth a try. Do you think so?¡±


    Belisari, taking a long sigh, agreed:


    ¡°I guess so.¡±


    The two do not say anything for a while, they just silently look beyond the window, at the Latila port, at the walls, at the abandoned Flemton fortress, and think about many months ahead, what change may occur¡­


    *Stomach growling noise*


    ¡­maybe later, it is time for lunch. Medieval foods tend to not carry so many nutrients to make a person full for a long time.


    ¡°I will make some food¡±-said Aurora, as she stood up from her seat-¡±Do you want some as well?|


    ¡°You will?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡­can¡¯t rely on other people when it comes to cooking.¡±


    She lied, Aurora cooks not exactly good, but compared to anything she had eaten from yesterday, it is better to make herself a meal, and Belisari and Lily as well. Maybe that would change the overall eating habits of this country, if she could¡­.


    **


    ¡°It¡¯s good! So good!¡±


    Both Belisari and Lily say after having just a spoon of soup which Aurora cooked. Compared to what they¡¯ve eaten this morning, this is like a feast of the angels. The two aristocrats, after experiencing such a high quality dish, cannot go back to their old way of eating. That is exactly the Russian girl expected and hoped for:


    ¡°You are a really great chef, Aurora.¡±-Lily wiped her mouth with a towel-¡±Are you willing to teach our chefs how to cook like you?¡±


    ¡°Of course, with my pleasure¡±


    Aurora smirks a little. The main key for a good modern dish is some spice.

 Antiquity Kingdom

    The renovation project happened, not a week later, but just three days.


    ¡°I got the ships.¡±


    For some odd reason, Aurora, the head of the project ordered Belisari to purchase at least twenty ships, and she also noted that they must be large and fast and big enough to carry goods and people. Not taking a minute to consider, the prince headed straight to the port, to the Milishilian docking space, and:


    ¡°He was kinda surprised and frightened at first, but the deal was quick.¡±


    Cereus¡¯s cruiser, once a coffee delivering vessel, is a high quality full-rigged ship, which was built in Vineci, capital of the Maritime Federation. That is one fine ship for their fleet. Belisari takes another trip to the Maritimer bay, where he buys the rest of the ships on Aurora''s demand. The ship-building technique of the Federation, as their name suggested, is superb. They were the naval dominance power in the known world until recently, when the Milishilians invented explosive shells for their wartime vessels.


    However, for trading ships, which prioritized transport weight over armaments , merchants would still favor the Maritime over Milishila, and so does Aurora.


    ¡°Good, that is pretty much all of it. Although all of them need to be retrofitted, they might be able to both carry out naval combat and logistic missions.¡±


    The Great Expedition, a plan which was drawn out by the Latilian Army to repeal the Elestovakians as well as reclaim their empire, had three objectives that require a naval force:


    Firstly, keeping Vlenna fighting for as long as possible, to keep the imperial force of the Empire far from their army, better in the south of the Granisus river, and to do so, supply ships are a must to deliver weapons and grains to Vlenna.


    Secondly, to resupply their army far in foreign land. Food and water can be seized from captured territory, but not ammunition or gunpowder, and on some occasions, even food cannot be harvested, they need to be delivered from the homeland.


    And last but not least, defending the city of Latilia from the Elestovakian navy. The imperial fleet was significantly reduced after the war against Milishila, almost all catapult ships were wiped out, but they were still able to threaten Latila if they were not prepared for it.


    ¡°Is twenty enough?¡±


    ¡°For coastal defense that is more than enough. Watch this.¡±


    Aurora, the girl is sitting on a cliff by the shore. And Lily is helping her to place a large tube into a mechanical complex using two iron rails to stabilize the tube. Belisari sees, although he is not sure what is happening.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be ashamed to admit it. I have no idea either¡±-said Lily to Belisari, putting her cigarette aside. Aurora meanwhile is adjusting the receiving end of the rail-based machine:


    ¡°Adjust to 07 degrees, wind 04. Ready¡±


    Suddenly, Aurora says some unusual words to Belisari, while at the same time igniting something. Then, the girl covers her ears, and tells Belisari and Lily to do the same. It is better to listen to advice from this girl, the two have decided a few days ago, and so they did.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    From the tube, a cloud of hot orange air sprayed out, pushing the tube forward into the sky, into the direction Aurora aimed it into. The ammunition travels a massive distance, further than stone launched from trebuchet, beyond their biological eyes vision:


    Bang!*


    Then, before it makes an impact on the ocean floor, the tube flashes a light of fire and disappears. Without needing an explanation, that is definitely an explosion.


    ¡°Test success, black powder worked fine, no need for nitrocellulose. I guess that should be the best option considering the cost effectiveness.¡±


    Aurora takes out a note she brought with herself and writes these words into it-¡±That is how we are going to arm the ships by the way. It would give our fleet an advantage against the Elestovakians¡±-she adds-¡±Hey Belisarius-¡±


    In contrast to her, her two companions are stunning. This is only the second time Belisari ever saw a blasting shell, while for Lily it was the first. It is understandable how they are like this. Black powder rockets were not new for them, the Fliers had been using them for a century, but their true potential only exists after being fused with blasting warheads.


    Putting back the note to her backpack, Aurora uses her fists to knock these two people from their own world and back to reality:


    ¡°Ouch.¡±-both say, clutching their heads.


    ¡°That should make you less distracted. I have more things to show, don¡¯t be surprised by the first one.¡±


    ¡°Aha. sorry about that¡±


    Belisari rubs his head, looking at the launching platform. With that, the smaller Latilian fleet should be able to outmatch their Elestovakian counterparts in range and firepower. Aurora really made it to her promise: she gave them explosive shells. With blueprints and mass producing method notes being delivered across the nation, into every blacksmith houses and military complexes, soon, Latila would be flooded with these types of weapons.


    ¡°I could imagine how the Elestovakians would feel when we showed them this. They might just surrender in an instant.¡±


    Lily says with a joking voice, giggling-¡°Yep¡±-to which Belisari agrees with her.


    ¡°If you two think that is enough for a war, then you are absolutely wrong!¡±


    A voice suddenly comes and makes Aurora, Belisari and Lily startled. Behind the three, off the cliff, three figures are running at them. One of them was Klein, the two others probably guards. Klein is in rush, for some reason:


    ¡°What do you mean by not enough?¡±-asked Lily, her brother immediately replies:


    ¡°I said not enough is not enough. I¡¯ve seen that weapon, it is impressive. However, the Elestovakians are not willing to give up a bunch of land out of fear¡­in fact, none did, or is going to do so. They are going to win us by an attrition war if that happens.¡±


    ¡°I know I know. I was just kidding, don¡¯t take my words seriously.¡±


    Klein flaps his right hand-¡°No no, it is hard to distinguish between you and His Highness joking and being serious, no matter how satire it may sound.¡±-At the same time he drags Aurora closer to him with the other hand.-¡±And may I borrow her a bit.¡±


    They walk out of the hearing range of the others:Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Hey Aurora, sorry for yesterday¡±-The Voyage whispered to her-¡±I lost my control and punched you, sorry about that.¡±


    ¡°No no, no problem, I did the same to Her Grace and His Highness just a few minutes ago¡±


    ¡°You did what!? Geeze¡­Gosh, your nation has no hierarchy? Is your country ¡°Russia¡± a republic?¡±


    Aurora nods-¡±Probably, I guess?¡±


    ¡°Well, now you know that you are in a monarchy state, you should learn how to behave with an aristocrat.¡±


    ¡°You dragged me here just to say that?¡±


    ¡°No of course, though it is still important- Anyhow, I am here to give you this. James, give it to her.¡±


    One of the two guards takes out a thick metallic tube and throws it to Aurora. This is not a frame for a rocket, for obvious reason, it is too heavy to fit that role, not mentioning the mechanical part which is too complicated for a projectile in this era. There is a handle, even.


    The blueprint of this particular device was sent to only one institution of the entire nation, the only one capable of producing such a complex weapon: This is the handheld rocket propeller, one would enable launching rockets on horseback and in the infantry, without relying on artillery support:


    ¡°This is for you, Liliya- Your Grace. And your cavalry unit, the Winged Husaria¡±


    The Winged Husaria, one of the most formidable cavalry units in the entire known world, probably even the best, is a unit consisting of 1500 personnels. They were all horse riders, armed with light black leather armor with extra breastplate, a matchlock, a 6,2 meter lance and a melee weapon. What is special about this unit is that their cavalrymen were decorated with wings, to create an illusion about their height and distance. Another thing, their horses, despite already carrying so much of an arsenal, has not reached their weight limit. Hence it is why Aurora chose this unit to renovate first:


    ¡°Put a rocket into the tube¡­.like this?¡±


    Now, Lily Sobieski Voyage, the commander of that unit is testing the weapon that was designed for them. It is far heavier than a conventional matchlock, but smaller than a ship cannons. Belisari realized that its design resembled the gun Aurora used to demonstrate the explosive shells to him.


    ¡°Yes, and ear plugs as well¡±


    Aurora puts two ear plugs for Lily, before her and the rest run out of the site as if they are running for their lives, leaving Lily alone with that launcher.


    With a projectile ready in the barrel, the archduchess pulls the trigger. This is¡­more familiar to a gun that she thought.


    ¡°Fire!¡±


    Just like the repeating of the explosive shell test, the rocket again exploded when it flew out of their vision.


    **


    ¡°Your Majesty, it was a pleasure meeting you here.¡±


    ¡°Sit down, Sir Khaliz. I know you are not here for a mere visit.¡±


    While the young generation of the Latilian monarch is spending their time testing weapons on the shore for the incoming war, the older one is managing the Elestovakians on the diplomatic battlefield.


    Justinius had received a letter from Levantia, saying that a consul from that nation is going to arrive at the city, and now that consul is here. Khaliz, Consul and Duke of Rashid, was sent by the empire to receive tribute from Latila. It has been a practice for a long time, since the Latilians were defeated by the Elestovakians. Milishila did manage to help Latila to hold on its independence, but cannot prevent Elestovakia from forcing them to pay tribute yearly.


    ¡°Yes, you got the point. So, may I receive it?¡±


    The Latilian king places a small chest full of gold coin onto the table, his face having a sorrow expression:


    ¡°Sorry, but we¡¯ve only managed to gather tribute for two months ahead. Please take it, we will try our best to gather money to pay you later.¡±


    It was a lie, obviously. The expression is also fake. The money Latila had from exchanging the diamonds is forty times this amount. Justinius, if he wanted to, can easily pay tribute for another decade. However, it is unwise to send more money to their future enemies, when there will be an inevitable war. Justinius, both of his sons and the House of Voyage thought of that, hence they just offer these as minimum:


    ¡°I see.¡±-Khaliz nods his head, saying-¡±I will take it, or course, and negotiate with the empire. Let''s see if I can give another exception this time. May you leave us for a moment?¡±


    After Khaliz raises his hand, all of his guards withdraw from the room, leaving only Khaliz and Justinius:


    ¡°My friend¡±-Khaliz says-¡±Justinius, give up Latila, there is no point in existing as an independent nation anymore.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean when you say that?¡±-asked Justinius


    ¡°I mean, your nation has a population of a quarter million, that is a lot, a lot for a tiny country. I know, the Latilian monarch had done many things to avoid that huge population being starved: selling artifacts, heavily taxed the Maritimers and Milishilians, borrowing a huge sum of money¡­to buy grain, but it has the limit.¡±


    Khaliz looks at the map on a wall, this map, unlike the one that Aurora had seen on the ceiling of the palace, this map shows Latila not as a big kingdom, but as a depressing small city, so small, and lacking arable land. The vast plain of the Duchy of Voyage was claimed by the Elestovakians, those silver mines in Flemton, forests in O¡¯well,...were lost. Nowaday, that depressing Latila cannot survive on its own, always relying on Milishila and the Federation to keep its running, from food to water, to even military defense. Ten years, that time should be enough to show this country and its people that there is no way they can survive for any longer if there is nothing to change. Elestovakia had been merciful and extended the tribute period, but time is getting tighter, Latila is again on the brink of collapse both economically and politically.


    ¡°Let the kingdom die to release its people. I am saying this as your friend, Justinius¡±-Khaliz looks at the eyes of the king-¡±Being king of a dying kingdom is not a viable choice. I promise, if you agree to be part of the empire, I will help you to be a count or something, I can do that.¡±


    Justinius was shaken by these words. This has not been the first time he was offered to give up his kingdom, he was already facing these requests from the very first day after the Elestovakian War ended, and he rejected them all. Latila had never lost its independence, never.


    But as time went by, his willingness became more and more weakened. The palace Justinius is in, the Latilus Latila palace, was much more prosperous than it is right now, with gold and silver shining on the throne, in the armors of the guards, marble sculptures came from ancient time, before this city was even rebuilt¡­but they¡¯ve all gone now. Anything that had not been attached to the wall was sold to the Milishilians, and now had gone forever. All for the money to rebuild their military strength, yet compared to fifteen years ago, the Latilian Army is just a small presentation of its former glory, the one that was defeated under the hand of the Elestovakian Imperial Army.


    The Latilian Port, the port that made the face of this country, the masterpiece of the Latila and Voyage family built from a hundred years ago, half of it was now owned by the Maritimers, not as a rented place, but as a colony, for Latila to receive some annual financial aid from Ganeo and Vineci. A kingdom that was already small, being colonized by merchants, that cannot be more humiliating, but it is a price they must pay because the Latilians still want to renovate their kingdom after the devastating Siege of Latila. And although they¡¯ve not been starved, overpopulation is also endangering the city. A single disease can wipe out ten, twenty, thirty thousand in a week. He had seen it, just eight years ago, a disease had swept across the street of Latila, spreading rapidly due to its population density, killing one sixth of its population, including Justinius father:


    ¡°Justin¡­¡±


    That should be enough reasons for a wise king to submit, knowing that resistance is certain death for this nation, that Elestovakia is the master of this continent, that Latila is not a threat to them, and will never return to its glory days. But:


    ¡°I am not willing to give up Latila¡±


    Justinius casually places his hands on the table, his vision of a wise emperor met with the look of his old friend. He is a king, king of a nation which had survived many wars, survived through the test of time, through all attempts to vanish it. This time, Latila will not give in either:


    ¡°This country is ancient. Tell the Elestovakians, as long as I am the king, there will be no province of Latila, Latila can only exist, as either a kingdom, or an empire.¡±


    With Aurora, her innovation and her charity, things would change, they would not be defensive anymore, they would invade Elestovakia. He and his family, the Latilian monarch, could change the fate of this country. That is the gamble Justinius is willing to play, for the sake of Latila.


    ¡°So, that was your decision. Goodbye, then¡±


    Khaliz shakes his head, he turns around and intends to walk away, but the consul stopped right by the door:


    ¡°Vlenna has also rejected us. We will invade that country in less than months, the imperial army is being ready in Levantia. I don¡¯t know which time, but Latila is definitely the next target after Vlenna.¡±


    The Elestovakian consul then leaves the palace.


    ¡°This is the last time we will ever meet, perhaps.¡±

 To Vlenna

    Amidst the high towers of Levan castle, the Emperor looks down upon his army with pride. This is the army which he had founded twelve years ago, the army which had fought along his side, the same army that had conquered Nosfetura, Aeropostale, Carthagia, Vlenna and Latila ten years prior, the army by the name of ¡°The Expedition Imperial Army¡±.


    ¡°Ave, imperator Kaval¡±


    Behind the emperor, the door opens, and a man steps into his room.


    ¡°Good day, Sir Khaliz, may you take a look at our army.¡±


    ¡°I can see that, I was on the street just a minute ago. As people said, we might not be the brightest star on the sea, but on land we rule.¡±


    The count sits down on a chair near the emperor:


    ¡°But that is not why I am here today. I¡¯ve returned from Latila with the tribune. Let me get this quick: they only gave us tribune for two months, and demanded that I and you extend the period to a few more months.¡±


    ¡°Quite an arrogant request, I dare say. I believe that they rejected joining the empire as well, otherwise they wouldn¡¯t pay the tribune.¡±


    ¡°Your excellency is formidable, Your Majesty. They¡¯ve turned down our offer. It seemed like Justinius wanted to lengthen his time for something.¡±


    Khaliz says to the emperor, his eyes meanwhile looking at the army assembling down the street. There are at least 70 thousand men down there, all in high moral before marching into the fight:


    ¡°I get it¡±


    Emperor Kaval stands up and walks out of the room. His legs were weakened by time, being an old man and ruling a vast nation had worn down a wise emperor like that. But still, he will not rest until his duty is completed, to unify this continent under the banner of Elestovakia.


    ¡±Let us call the man in charge. The Latilians are definitely preparing an army¡±-He said to Khaliz-¡±Respond by doubling our troop number. After defeating Vlenna they will immediately march to Latila. I want to take that city before I rest.¡±


    **


    ¡°I¡¯ve been sailing a boat, but a long trip like this¡­is not what I¡¯ve been trained for.¡±


    Two weeks have passed since the beginning of the project.


    Usually, this time should be the busiest time in the entire work, having done all of the easy parts, and now placing the first bricks for the real challenge. However, with things being settled in Latila, plus this time of the year is full of trading ships arriving at the port due to the last harvest season, which is not a nice time for testing new weapons, Aurora is now heading to Vlenna, a strategic ally of Latila, to provide them aids and help fortifying the city before the war. Following her is Belisari, as usual, Lily is somewhat considered the Minister of Defense of Latila, so her going along is completely understandable. In addition, the granddaughter of Gerald, the one who is said to be around Aurora¡¯s age, is also said to be living in this city.


    The ship had been sailing for three days, along the coastline of the continent, but very far for the Elestovakians ships nor their navy to see them from the shore. According to the Maritimer navigator and star patterns, they were just hours away from the city. They¡¯ve met some vessels on their way, so that information should be correct. Nonetheless, Aurora is getting a hell of seasick, she is lying somewhere underneath the deck, like a dead corpse.


    Right now, Belisari is the pilot of the ship. Having the best spyglass in the entire known world given by Aurora, the prince can see a dozen of miles ahead, compared to just a few miles from the best sea navigator the Federation could offer.


    ¡°I see sails¡­. A lot of them¡­Blue-white stripes¡­red angel¡­yeah it is Vlenna. We are very close.¡±


    The port of Vlenna is within a short distance.


    **


    ¡°Thank god it is dryland.¡±


    Immediately after being towed ashore by two sailors, Aurora quickly returned to being lively, as nothing had ever happened. She takes a brief gaze around the city harbor. Vlenna harbor is the fifth largest harbor in the known world, only being surpassed by the harbor of Latila and a few Maritimer ports in Ganeo, Sacili and Vineci. In fact, in this continent, Latila and Vlenna own two largest strategic warm water ports, there is no wonder why the Elestovakians are desperately preparing to take them both. Vlenna is going into the fight first, then Latila the second:


    ¡°It has been quite a long time since my last visit here with Lily.¡±-Belisari suddenly says-¡±Must¡¯ve been five years, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°Six actually, and it was on a diplomatic trip.¡±


    That diplomatic mission was a step toward the Vlennian-Latilian alliance. Belisari, who had just turned 18 that year, was sent along with the Archduchess of Voyage to the city to meet the king of Vlenna and establish a mutual defense pact. Upon their arrival, the Vlennian king had welcomed them with open arms and befriended Belisari as soon as they met. Vlenna, a human-majority nation once a colony of the Vampire Nofeturan Empire, has had its first ally like that.


    ¡°It brought back many memories. The Vlennians couldn''t afford the budget for our trip back then, so Latila had to pay for themselves. I remember having been given just enough money for food and rent.¡±-Lily reminds Belisari-¡±Saying food, but if I included the rent it was barely enough for bread.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I shared with you my room and the cost of meals instead, so you could use your money to treat yourself¡­with Vlennian cigarettes. You seemed to be happy when returning to Latila at least.¡±


    ¡°That is correct, and I really appreciate that you made the trip much more like a vacation to me.¡±


    Lily¡¯s face blooms with a light smile, whispering to Aurora-¡±His Highness is really a nice guy.. Although it does not look like that, he is kind and is a very reliable person to depend on, if you managed to get close to his side obviously.¡±


    (They seem to trust each other a lot¡­)


    Aurora thinks so in her mind, then she finds a way to submerge somewhere else.


    ¡°This time however, hehe¡­¡±-the archduchess giggles loudly, back to Belisari, shoving her hands into pockets full of silver coins-¡±Budget unrestricted, I will treat you this time, Your Highness. And we should buy something for Arlin and Klein too.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡°Really~¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡±-Belisari looks around-¡±¡­wait¡­where are you Aurora?¡±


    ¡°I am over here Belisarius.¡±


    Aurora is now on the pole of the ship, it is not clear when, or how did she climb up that fast, what is known is she is using her spyglass to have a sight of the city¡¯s wall.


    Vlenna¡¯s defense line, unlike the one in Latila, is much more well-engineered. The wall also has two layers, but instead of a straight line hugging tight to the city border, a design that was outdated for a long time ago, this wall has characteristics of a star-shaped fortress, allowing cannons and trebuchets to focus their firepower on the enemies when they are being funneled into some marked area. Trenches and shallow ground works filled with water are also another excellent feature, helping the defenders to go outside attacking the attackers while still retaining their defense, as well as slowing down the enemies. Whoever built this was a capable engineer, if not quite excellent.


    Nonetheless, there is room for renovation, this city should be able to hold off an army twice the size of its population at least, and Aurora is here for it.


    ¡°There should be more obstacles in front of the wall to slow them down to be honest, and materials, and gun distribution,...too.¡±


    ¡°Glad that you get to work immediately, but we should meet the king first.¡±-the Latilian prince was about to say that, but then he hears a voice behind him and Lily:


    ¡°Welcome to Vlenna, it has been so long, Belisari, Lily¡±


    The one who spoke is Leopol VI, a handsome man, the young King of Vlenna and former Grand Duke of Lower Granisus. After the death of his father, Leopol V in the Elestovakian War, Leopol Charles Lorrine, by that time just thirteen years old, had become the new king of this nation, and he has been ruling it for the last ten years.


    The king of Vlenna is said to be very busy, having to manage Elestovakian raiders and pirates (Vlenna is on the highway of maritime trade), to negotiate with the empire, diplomatic work with the Kingdom of Milishila, attempting to communicate with the vampire community in the Alpsles Mountains Range, and rebuilding their army. However, when he received a letter from his ally in the north saying that the prince of Latila would come to this city, Leopol, without any hesitation, abandoned his office work to the parliament  to come here greeting Belisari:


    ¡°Glad to see you are fine. I heard that you were married, how is your wife?¡±


    Despite them being on the same age, with Belisari is even slightly older, he has no affair, but his Vlennian friend does:If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    ¡°She is fine, and please by the next time you are here let me say that line too.¡±


    Leopol says to Belisari, but his eyes sometimes move to somewhere behind his friend. Belisari did not notice that, he tells the king:


    ¡°It''s not like I am going to get married anytime soon, at least let me enjoy my life first¡­Wait, we are not here for that.¡±


    ¡°I can tell, and¡­that is ¡°Aurora Borealis ", the person you mentioned in the letter, if I recall.¡±


    ¡°Yep¡±-Belisari turns around.


    Aurora is running everywhere around the port, like a child discovering a newly built playground near her house and getting overly excited with it, looking at everyone with eyes of curiosity and touching everything she has never seen before. She must be corrected, if Klein was there he would say so, fortunately he is in Latila.


    ¡°Get back here, His Majesty and His Highness is waiting for you¡±


    Lily screams out loud, hoping her voice could reach the girl that is touching a Maritimer ship, and it did. Aurora after hearing the voice immediately rushed back to her team:


    ¡°I am sorry Your Vlennian Majesty, I was too excited, this is my first time here.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. Welcome to my country, Aurora Borealis. Come with me, we have more things to discuss, let¡¯s go back to my palace first.¡±


    **


    ¡°So, this is what you¡¯ve got from selling resources?¡±


    In this voyage to Vlenna, the Latilians decided to bring some financial aid to their ally.


    On the roundtable, which is surrounded by important figures from both countries, Lily Sobieski, the Latilian archduchess, puts down two massive barrels of gold coins, each worth roughly fifteen million denarii. At first, the Latilian monarch was unsure how much they should share their wealth to the Vlennians, or should they at all. The more money in Latila, the better armed the coalition¡¯s overall army would be, since Latila knows how to produce advanced weaponries, while Vlenna still has to rely on the usual matchlocks, crossbows and swords. However, if Vlenna is ill equipped and unprepared, they might fall before the Latilian army could arrive, so not aiding them is also not an option.


    After a careful discussion between Lily, Belisari, Justinius, Aurelian, Klein, Arlin and Aurora, they¡¯ve come to a decision of sending around a sixth of their fortune to their southern ally. The coins were sealed in barrels, and were towed onto the ship. At this moment, they are being given to the Vlennians:


    ¡°No, that is just a portion of it, we cannot give you everything, obviously.¡±


    ¡°I understand, if I were you I would¡¯ve prioritized my country over yours as well. Nonetheless, we really appreciate your help, at this point every coin is essential to this city¡¯s defense line. We now have more money for mercenaries and cannons.¡±


    The Vlennian king orders his subordinates to carry the barrels away.


    ¡°Again, thank you for your help. Your Highness¡±


    ¡°No problem Your Majesty, helping an ally is one way to strengthen our survivability.¡±


    ¡°I  suppose it would be like that.¡±


    Leopol and Belisari say to the other with respect. They understand each other well, no wonder how the two could be friends so easily.


    With the financial aid settled, it¡¯s time to move to other important matters. The renovation plan of the Vlennian¡¯ walls:


    ¡°I am back.¡±


    Aurora pushes the doors to enter. Leopol VI had earlier ordered his men to help find blueprints about the construction of the walls, measure everything and give Aurora a horse ride to the outside of the wall. In less than two hours of waiting, the immigrant Latilian engineer had returned with a fresh reconstruction concept in her hands:


    ¡°I am not an architect, therefore it is impossible for me to actually design one, my time here is short too, so this is very brief of what has to be done to protect Vlenna. The real plan must be executed with help from Milishilian engineers.¡±


    ¡°I get it, just please tell us what to do.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Taking a deep breath, Aurora spread the blueprint of the new wall onto the table, with the city on the side of Leopol VI, and the wall facing Belisari. Her finger shifted, drawing along the outer line of the city border:


    ¡°First and foremost, we have to mobilize some cannons to protect the open water. I¡¯ve read about the previous siege of Vlenna, the city has a shallow wall surrounding the city from all sides, with a steel chain watergate allowing ships to pass, and raise up when the city is threatened from the sea. That design was also used by the Latilians, is that correct, Your Highness?¡±


    The girl glances at Belisari, who nodding to her words:


    ¡°Correct, this is not an uncommon design, as the Ganeoese had popularized them in the past hundred years, both Latilia and Vlenna protect their port that way.¡±


    The Ganeo Republic, one of four republics of the Maritime Federation. With most of their cities laid by the shore, this method was cleverly invented to protect their harbors from foreign invaders and pirates.


    ¡°Yes, that is what I wanted to confirm. Your Majesty¡±-Aurora turns back to Leopol-¡±When the Elestovakian fleet attacked, your father had ordered the chain to be raised to prevent their ships from entering the port of Vlenna, protecting the city from all sides.¡±


    ¡°True, that side was impregnable because there was no method to go through the chain from the outside once it was raised, no in or out, and the wall was too slippery for their men to climb up. So placing cannons there was unnecessary, having guards patrolling around is enough.¡±


    Vlenna, having walls so thick that ship cannons cannot penetrate, and chain that could sink any ship that dares to go over it, is invulnerable by sea once the city turns on its defensive mode. That is what the Vlennians had away been proud about, that is until:


    ¡°That siege ended up with half of the city starving to death¡±


    Hearing that, the Vlennian king freezes.


    ¡°The chain is fully shut for the entire duration of the siege, which prevented the Elestovakians from attacking via sea route, but it also stopped Milishilian ships from supplying the city when the grain stock dried out.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is the greatest problem¡­


    Leopol¡¯s eyes turn into a grim look.


    In the siege of Vlenna ten years ago, Leopol V, the previous king of Vlenna had accumulated grain in the city behind the wall to last for at least three months. However, when the city was attacked, an Elestovakian ship-based catapult had struck a hit on the grain warehouses complex, which resulted in a massive fire that rampaging around the street of Vlenna for four days


    The fire only claimed half a thousand deaths, but 80% of the food was gone, and the city had faced the largest hunger from its entire history of seven hundred years, including the time under rule of the vampire.


    Leopol VI had seen it, he was there when it happened, when he was thirteen, he saw from his palace children his age then eat rats and birds just to survive another day. Most of them did not make it through the week. Vlenna, from a city populated by 150 thousand people back then, after a month this number dropped down to just 70 thousand, and the population hasn¡¯t yet to be recovered, not in another 50 years:


    ¡°...that is the cruelest thing once the war breaks out¡±-the king continues his sentence with a bitter voice-¡±And I am finding a way to prevent it from happening ever again, otherwise this city will be populated by only rats and living corpses. Say, what is your idea?¡±


    Aurora answers, smiling:


    ¡°No worry Your Majesty, we, the Latilians, had dedicated several warships to deliver weapons and grains to the city this time. Our fleet will help supply the city during the siege, but in order to do so we need the Vlennians to open their watergate. You now probably understand why we need cannons there.¡±


    ¡°A plan to supply the city? I can see, when we open the gate, Elestovakian warships could also seize that opportunity to attack and slip in. We have to prevent that from ever happening.¡±


    ¡°Glad that you figured that out so quickly.¡±-Aurora claps her hands together-¡±Let me move to another thing: material for the wall.¡±


    ¡°What material?¡±


    ¡°Wood, the outside wall should be covered in layers of logs, as many as possible.¡±


    ¡°No need for logs, we can do that with stone-¡±


    ¡°No Your Majesty, the Elestovakian cannonballs cannot be halted with stone nor wood. I was talking about what will happen after they¡¯ve penetrated the wall. Stone, while they are durable, when being broken apart, creates a nice road for men to walk over, wood, on the other hand, creates splinters and wattles, they are much harder to move men over¡­¡±


    ¡°...Hence they are the best material, if you expect your wall to be fired upon in the first place.¡±


    Leopol draws out the conclusion gathered from Aurora¡¯s explanation. That way of thinking did surprise him. Normally, people would prioritize making the walls as durable as possible, and defaulting that they cannot be taken down. However, this plan did included an extra protection for the walls, saying if the Elestovakian cannons cannot be stopped:


    ¡°That is¡­a clever assumption to be honest, I¡¯ve never thought of that. And they are easy to set up as well, you¡¯ve really put your mind into this, thank you.¡±


    ¡°I am grateful for your compliment, your Majesty.(Thank God I¡¯ve read the Battle of Vienna enough for this) Let us continue.¡±


    For the rest of the day, Aurora points out every part on the wall that needs to be fixed, troop deployment, blindspots around the wall, etc, to the Vlennian king.


    By her side, a young assistant is noting down everything he heard, this would later be passed down to the Vlennian and Milishilian builders, then the project can begin.


    ¡°Once the Elestovakians have arrived, send a flier to inform us, we will take action and come for relief as soon as possible.¡±-Belisari prompted his friend, before the Latilians departed from the palace. The prince and his companions would stay in an accommodation near the port and the open market instead for a few days, waiting for the direction of the wind to turn for them to sail back to Latila.


    **


    ¡°Hey Your Highness.¡±


    Lily says, while she is carrying a box of Vlennian apples on the way to her and Belisari¡¯s abode. The prince claims that he bought those fruits for Klein and Arlin, but obviously he would eat them all before arriving home.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Belisari is also busy taking cigarette boxes with him. They were Lily¡¯s, and for her. The only difference is that the archduchess does not try to hide it with any logical reason, she just straight up admitted that it wasn¡¯t for anyone but her.


    ¡°I heard that Aurora is calling you Belisarius.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­yes, as soon as I allow her to speak with me without any hierarchy law.¡±


    ¡°You really let her be as childish as she wanted.¡±


    ¡°She is not childish, she is in fact a child.¡±


    Belisari takes a long sigh of worryness, the girl would be lectured by Klein if he ever knew about it. But then he hears Lily tells him:


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, you allowed her to be childish. If that is the case, may I be childish and call you so as well? Belisarius?¡±


    ¡°You want to?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, if I let you call me Liliya then you should allow me to call you Belisarius. That is a fair deal.¡±


    ¡°That is what the word ¡°childish¡± really mean¡±-the prince takes another sigh. If it can¡¯t be helped-¡°I guess it¡¯s fine.¡±


    Belisari chuckled, then Lily as well:


    ¡°Just don¡¯t let Klein find out.¡±

 To Vlenna(II)

    The city of Latila, a major point, the key city of the Atlasia trade network, is experiencing its greatest change for over a millennium. The main road network, which was only partly repaired after the Siege of Latila due to the lack of finance, is now being renovated with concrete and sand-¡±For military purposes¡±-they said, but clearly the city dwellers are enjoying benefit from the work as well. Alongside is the reinstall of the coastal defense line, with most of the guns being towed from the land wall and placed directing the sea. Many guard towers grew like shrooms, hugging along the city border, armed with musketeers and ¡°rocketeers¡±. About the ¡°rocketeers¡±, they are a new unit which was introduced earlier, but they will enter service sooner or later, rumors said, they use ¡°explosive rocket launchers¡±, a new invention of the Latilian Defense Institution as their primary weapons.


    In addition, many ships from Milishila had come to the city for the last few days, carrying not grain, but processed metal, weapons like matchlocks and field cannons, and horses. Even an idiot could know that the price for those things is not something a foreign-dependent country like Latila can afford. The civilians of Latila are circulating about a mysterious nation in the north that has lent them a huge sum of money in order to manipulate this country both politically and economically:


    ¡°They weren¡¯t fully wrong about the ¡°lent a huge sum of money¡± part¡±


    Arlin says, and his words were agreed upon by his twin brother:


    ¡°Exactly¡±


    While Lily, Belisari and Aurora are having their time in the city of Vlenna, back in Latilia, the two Voyage brothers are testing new weapons:


    ¡°So this is the ¡°enhanced repetitive crossbow¡± she gave us?¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡±


    The Companion Husaria, the semi-ranged melee cavalry unit of Latila under the command of Arlin Alexander Voyage, was gifted with a modified crossbow designed for rapid fire, or in other word, a ¡°Chu Ko Nu¡±. This weapon was designed to fire arrows one after another by fusing the firing mechanic with reloading, thus increasing the weapon¡¯s firing rate. According to Aurora¡¯s final words before she left, this weapon was said to improve the strength of the current Latilian melee cavalry.


    ¡°But why did she give us this?¡±-asked Klein inspecting the arm.


    However, unlike the rocket launcher which was given to the Winged Husaria. This time, there is likely a mistake.


    Repetitive crossbow is not something new to them. A Ganeoese merchant had first introduced this weapon when he returned from his expedition to the continent of Orietinus, and popularized it across the known world. Soon after that, the Milishilian monarch ordered him four hundred samples of that weapon to arm their land army. The idea of an army armed with rapid firing crossbows was born on that day, when the kingdom established a cohort using only crossbows as their main armament. There is one issue however:


    ¡°Call me wrong, but that thing fires very awfully.¡±


    After the first shot, every shot after it fires extremely weakly, weaker than even bow. In the Nosfeturan-Milishilian conflict fifty years ago, the ¡°modernized¡± crossbow cohort was deployed in an island landing mission. However, they were annihilated by a centurion of vampire garrison guards protecting the beachhead, because their arrows cannot penetrate the vampire¡¯s shield in long range before the Nosfeturan legion arrived. In close combat, humans are no match to vampires, the crossbowmen were defeated easily, many of whom captured. That incident alone shattered every attempt of building an army using these crossbows as their main weapons. Arbalists, from Ganeo to Belkut, Voyage to Levantia then sought for refined conventional crossbows, Slower in reload, but fired much further and deadlier, able to fight in tense combat situations, and it has been the standard ever since.


    But why did Aurora give them this thing now? Is there any intention? If they were armed with these weapons, not just the Elestovakians, but other units in their army would laugh at them as well, being so weak in long range while possessing a weapon built for that purpose.


    ¡°Give me that.¡±


    Arlin takes back the weapon from his brother, and he loads a few arrows into the chamber.


    ¡°Let us see¡­¡±


    Aiming to the target 25 meters from his standpoint, the cavalry commander turns off the safety switch-*Click!*-the weapon can now be fired. Arlin takes a long breath, then pulls the trigger:


    Phew! Phew!*


    Both bolts scored a hit on the targets, punching holes through the wooden shields that were supposed to protect it. Arlin is an excellent maskman, for sure. But that is not what caught Klein¡¯s attention:


    ¡°Wait¡­the second shot did not become weaker¡­¡±


    He says in surprise, then speechless, then his mouth opens wide, as more and more arrows are fired, with exactly the same speed, strength and direction. The bolts are no longer weakened by shooting rapidly like how it¡¯s supposed to be. Aurora, with some magic fused into the chamber of the crossbow, has made this weapon much deadlier.


    Meanwhile, Arlin are bursting out a large laughter, the cavalry commander knocks on a small box attached to the crossbow, saying:


    ¡°So this is the key. Borealis mentioned that their cocking mechanic needed to be fixed, and one can mitigate that issue with a"gearbox ". I guess she did manage to resolve that issue.¡±


    **


    *Having a nice rest there Belisarius?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you too Liliya?¡±


    Fifth day since the Latilian diplomatic corps arrived in Vlenna.


    The prince and the archduchess are spending their time on the seawall of the city, partly to check its condition since the Vlennians are focusing their manpower on renovating the land walls complex, but mostly for taking a sunbath and relaxing.


    The past few days had been a series of nonstop working, traveling around the city on the behalf of Leopol to negotiate with the Maritimers and Milishilians, helping the Vlennian army to reform their defensive lines, and consulting decisions to their monarch. Lily, for sure, but even Belisari did not rest well enough, having to stay up late if Leopol ever needed his advice. But today the weight of work was partly lifted, thanks to the fact that the Milishilian engineers and advisors had finally arrived. The two aristocrats finally have their free time after such an intense working period. Aurora is still working however, and knowing her too well, she would actually cry if she has to work when her friends do not. So, Belisari and Lily still have to go here, pretending that they are busy.


    ¡°Come here Liliya, take a seat.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even need to tell me to do so.¡±


    Lily hops on the wall, legs hanging into the air, just like the prince next to her. Her left hand¡¯s fingers carried an expensive Milishilian cigarette.


    Haizzz*


    The sky is clear, without sight of any cloud, seasonal southward wind blowing lightly into fresh breezes, flowing into the city over the walls and the watergate, into the wind vane making it point south, bringing a new life to Vlenna for a long promising day ahead. Peaceful it is, at least to this part of the city, the other side are working day and night, fortunately they did not get dragged into it.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Around them, cannons are being placed and moving around, just as Aurora¡¯s plan had drawn out earlier. She also mentioned something about throwing stones around the watergate, unsure of its purpose, but the girl ordered that as soon as she heard about the shallow depth of the seafloor.


    ¡°How many days left until the war?¡±-asked the prince to his companion.


    Belisari was about to say something else, but he did not manage to think out a good sentence for it, so he had to resort this dialogue:


    ¡°You told me to sit here so you could ask about that?¡±-saying Voyage-¡±Why are you questioning that now?¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­then¡­more than a month¡­no, less than that, that is a safe number. In the late summer, probably. The Elestovakian Imperial Army probably had assembled in Levantia, waiting for the logistic line to be set up. Then they will march here, then to Granisus, then Latila.¡±


    ¡° They are coming, I see.¡±


    Belisari draws out a conclusion. Lily meanwhile sighed:


    ¡°And we are wasting our time here like this.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, resting is important too, you can¡¯t expect an army marching ten hours straight, you need to let them rest for them to actually fight. The same can be said for an individual, in this case it is you, Liliya.¡±


    ¡°I know. The value of an army does not rely on just numbers, individual¡¯s skill and technology, but morale as well, that¡¯s just basic things.¡±


    ¡°Hence, you cannot force yourself to overwork, resting is a necessity of mankind. You can¡¯t expect your body to function properly with such little relaxation.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and you have to make sure your subordinates rest well too. Never expect or make them exceed their working capability, am I right Belisarius?¡±


    ¡°You are right, but don¡¯t say that, I am feeling guilty for Aurora.¡±


    ¡°She will be fine ... .I guess¡±-Lily laughs off-¡±She is still young and lively, unlike you or I.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you still young?¡±


    ¡°I am already 26¡­I am getting old¡­Soon I will be 30¡­¡±


    The archduchess moves herself closer to Belisari-¡±You are getting old too, in a blink of an eye you turned from that fourteen years old kid who cannot load an arrow, yet still charging into the enemies without any fear that yourself might be turned into deadman¡­ into the Mercenary Prince.¡±


    ¡°Who called me by such name?¡±


    ¡°Me, Arlin, Payens...¡±


    ¡°Me as well, for obvious reasons.¡±


    Suddenly from behind, there was a voice of a woman:


    ¡°Long time no see, Your Grace, Your Royal Highness.¡±


    Belisari and Lily turn behind. The voice they heard was from the granddaughter of Gerald Payens, 19-years old Katherine, recognizable although it was distorted by the layers of her heavy helmet and armor. She, as her grandfather, father and mother, is a member of the Knights Cathedraller.


    ¡°No need to be so formal¡±-Belisari stands up greeting the knight-¡±You are our friend, and I don¡¯t want to call you Your Majesty either.¡±


    ¡°The Knights Cathedraller¡± allowed marriage for its military members. The purpose was to quickly increase the number of the order, since many parents who were knights also encouraged their children to become knights as well, and also extend the inner circle of the order to noble families across the continent, thus expanding their influence and varying their source of financial support..


    Of course, that along with some exceptions including non-believers, criminals, children under 18, etc. However, Leopol VI is none of that, the Vlennian King is a good person, a devotee, and clearly over 18. Marrying him also guarantees probably the second highest place in Vlenna, to be on the side of the king deciding the fate of a whole country and possibly mother of a future king. The seat is only for one person however, and the one who was lucky to be the Queen of Vlenna is Katherine de Payens, now Katherine Lorrine, daughter of a noble in Vlenna, granddaughter of the head of the Knights Cathedraller and former Countess of Marcial.


    ¡°Belisari and Lily then¡±-the woman named Katherine says-¡±Sorry I didn¡¯t pay a visit, I was quite busy earlier. But I did see a Latilian ship arrive at the port with an imperial symbol, I guessed that you two are here, and I was right.¡±


    The knight queen walks toward them, sits down. She takes off her helmet and puts it on a side, revealing a brown, short hair woman that was oversized by their combat attire. Seriously, that armor is double the size of her entire body, many plates were pure steel and joints made of hardened cowhides. It is questionable how any human could actually wear that amount of weight and still properly walk and fight with it.


    ¡°The last few days were so confusing¡­¡±-Katherine began complaining, trying to make herself stable while still holding the weight of her plates-¡±a 15-16 year old child, I thought she was a vampire but she isn''t, popped up from somewhere, introducing that she came from the Latilian diplomatic corp and announcing that we will rebuild the walls¡­.¡±


    ¡°Uhh¡­¡±


    ¡°...Then came the Milishilians and the Maritimers, they tore down the outside stone wall and replaced it with wood logs and earthworks, and the Knights Cathedraller joined in the effort as well. I¡¯ve been carrying a solid ton of logs, and now my back is hurt.¡±*Haizz*¡± ¡°I have no idea what is going on, but I am really tired.¡±


    Hearing that, both the prince and the archduchess look at each other, almost burst out a laugh, but they managed to suppress it:


    ¡°We are the same, this is the first time Liliya and I have taken a break since we arrived in this city. Tell Leo to hire some real advisors, we are not always available here.¡±


    ¡°I will take note, but this time it is hard to find enough competent people. The previous parliament had gone along with my father-in-law. Vlenna is lacking competent governors, so we have to rely on Milishila and Latila to make strategic policies for us. I would appreciate it if you and Lily could accompany my husband here.¡±


    Belisari rejects-¡°We cannot, we will leave as soon as our ship can go north. The preparation stage is in a hurry. I¡¯ve ordered a few hundred wagons with horses from Milishila, can''t let Aurelian pay for it on my behalf.¡±


    ¡°Why would you need so many wagons and horses?¡±


    ¡°It is a flexible component in an expeditionary army, you would not get it ... .that is not the main point, Vlenna has its own government. This country is not the County or Duchy of Vlenna, but the Kingdom of Vlenna, a country should make decisions on its own if it is and wants to be independent.¡±


    The prince is right, Vlenna is an independent state, not a colony of Latila nor Milishila. They should not interfere with its inner politics and policies in the first place, keep doing this makes Vlenna less of a country than it already is. Belisari and the rest of Latila needs Vlenna to stand on her own as long as possible to buy time for them.


    Katherine nods:


    ¡°I see your point and decision. I shall notify Leo later, but on the behalf of Vlenna, I appreciate your support for the last few days. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°You are welcome. Latila is willing to assist Vlenna by any way we can.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for that. Anyway, I gotta go¡±


    ¡°But you were just here for two minutes.¡±


    ¡°I have work to do, I¡¯m just here to say hello, then I have to return to my palace. So bye¡­Woah!¡±


    Katherine stands up, trying to stretch her body a bit, forgetting that she is wearing armor and almost tripping over. Luckily, Lily rushed there fast enough to prevent the queen from falling:


    ¡°Ah, thank you. I was a bit clumsy.¡±


    ¡°Be careful¡±-Lily says, releasing her arms from the girl to make her standstill-¡±You are no more a child nor my subordinate, you are now the queen of this country. Don¡¯t be tripped at any cost.¡±


    ¡°A life lesson? But to me it is tripping and stand up by yourself, that is what my grandfather told me-¡±


    ¡°That was when you were a knight¡±-Belisari came to them, adding:


    ¡±Being a queen, you only had one attempt to impress other people. They will watch every step of yours, you must keep your image in front of them as an invulnerable commander, that way you will make them follow you anywhere. In contrast, seeing your leaders trip, whether because of the enemies or natural causes, results in demoralization. Henceforth, do not make yourself unstable. ¡±


    ¡°I¡­.I got it.¡±


    ¡°Good, remember that, we are not going to be here for much longer, you and Leopol will have to take care of this country from then on. Only a month left before they come to you. Be wise.¡±


    ¡°Thank you again, and goodbye.¡±


    The knight puts on her helmet, waving her hand to her Latilian friends, then she leaves. Waiting for the silhouette of that knight to fully disappear from his range, the prince then turns to his archduchess:


    ¡°Katherine hasn¡¯t grown much, that is concernable¡±-he takes a long sigh-¡±Anyhow, do you want to go somewhere, Liliya?¡±


    ¡°If you want to, then of course.¡±

 The Prince and the Archduchess

    The two Latilians wander around the Vlenna open market. Due to its rather low population for such a massive city, the open market here is not crowded and more prosperous in quantity, contrary to the image of everyday Latila. A good space to hang around and not worry about being crushed by tons of people, even for a small child.


    ¡°What did you buy there Belisarius?¡±


    On Belisari¡¯s hand there is a mysterious glass bottle, one covered with wrap to prevent people from seeing what is inside. It looked heavy to say the least. With some curiosity kicking her urge, Lily asked her companion such.


    ¡°Just some sugarcane syrup. I guess this would be a fine gift for Aurora, considering how much she asked for some sweet cooking ingredients.¡±


    Few days ago when they had just arrived at Vlenna, Lily did mention buying gifts for Klein and Arlin, her two brothers in homeland, and Aurora. Probably this much syrup might be enough for that child, they should depart and really look for something that would fit the Voyage brothers:.


    ¡°And I remember you said that you will treat me as well¡±-saying Belisari, smiling while looking at his companion on his side-¡±Would you be so kind as to give me something good?¡±


    **


    ¡°Good morning, Sir Payens¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, did not expect to meet you here.¡±


    ¡°Here¡± is the Voyage Latilus Palace, also known as the headquarter of the Knight Cathedraller in Latila, a place where is filled with military personnel walking from here and there, a place where only 2-3 rooms for family members are comfortable, the rest were just like an actual training camp, a place where aside from Belisari no one in the Latila monarch want to stay there. King Justinius despite all of that decided to pay a visit to this place while the first householder and her brothers were not present:


    ¡°Where¡¯s Zenos¡±-asked the king about the second householder-¡±Is he here?¡±


    ¡°You want to call me Your Majesty?¡±


    From behind Gerald a middle aged man walks forward and kneels down to his king. Zenos Servus Voyage, second in-line of inheriting the title of Archduke of Voyage, one of the elite members among the elites of the Knight Order, the most powerful man in the House of Voyage, and¡­


    ¡°...so you are the adoptive father of Lily and father of Klein and Arlin. This is the first time we meet face to face like this.¡±


    After Lily¡¯s parents died in the 1453 Siege of Latila, Zenos stood up and took the responsibility of adopting the girl into his family. That is why despite calling each other brother and sister and considering them so, Lily is not blood related with the two brothers of Voyage, nor the person she refers to as ¡°father¡±.


    And in spite of being a noble, the man had never been in contact with Justinius. At best, the king would send a few letters to him when the Archduchess is busy, but because Zenos almost never shown up at the Latila palace, nor Justinius been here, the two surprisingly never been this close:


    ¡°Yes, and please address me as Zenos, Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Sir Zenos, okay. May I enter?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Highness, I will tell the maids to prepare some tea.¡±


    ¡°Good. Sir Payens, may you go with us.¡±


    **


    ¡°The tea is nice and has a light apple scent, I like this. Is that true that Aurora made this?¡±


    Justinius places down the tea cup to the table. Just like the king said, the tea, a drink which was introduced by a Vinecian merchant after his journey to the Oriente, aside from its usual taste, added a tender smell of apple. Aurora earlier had cut apples into multiple slices, spread some sugar on their surfaces and dried them, which resulted in cuts that could be added to the progress of making tea to make it have the scent of apples. The girl planned to introduce this product to the Maritimers to make a profit, but she went to Vlenna earlier. The Voyagers with that had the chance to have a sample of this product before anyone else, and for sure they really love it:


    ¡°Yes, and we do appreciate that. It makes tea much more pleasant to drink. I wonder if she would make more of this, but with different fruits. Your son, His Highness Belisari had brought us a wonderful person¡±


    Zenos finishes his drink and places his cup aside:


    ¡°So, Your Majesty, may you be pleased to tell me why you are visiting this domain? You usually exchange words with my daughter or send letters. The King being here today meant that this is some emergency matter, I believe.¡±


    Justinius answers him:


    ¡°You are correct. Yes, Vlenna is on the brink of being invaded, the schedule is put to around a month, now we have a fixed date for us to prepare in advance, I am here to discuss that matters. You might¡¯ve heard of it from Lily, I¡¯ve informed her I recall? I trust that she has informed both of you about that¡­¡±


    ¡°Not me¡±-Zenos raises his hand, complaining-¡±She never informed me anything, it was Sir Payens here who told me about that.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.I see¡­ my son was right, the relationship between you and her is not exactly warm. You should resolve this conflict as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t end anytime soon. It has been like this for eight years when I first asked her to give me the title of Archduke¡±-he says, smiling, yet his voice contains a bitter tone-¡±I tried to be casual at first, but when that didn¡¯t work I became more and more aggressive. Before I realized I was wrong she had truly hated me.¡±


    ¡°Why did you ask for the title anyway? You are an aristocrat already, and unlike Lily you take no responsibility.¡±


    Justinius asked honestly. The aristocracy system in this kingdom gives a heavy burden to the patriarchs of every House. The Archduke of Voyage and former Count of Flemton were somewhat Ministers of Defense of Latila, with family members being advisors and can help consult decisions of their patriarchs via vote. Now with House of Flemton exterminated in the Elestovakian War, the responsibilities solely lie on the patriarch of Voyage. And unknown to the king, it was those responsibilities Zenos was aiming for.


    The House of Voyage had existed for 1448 years up to this point. In its entire history, rarely has there been any patriarch younger than 30, if excluded those ¡°temporary patriarchs¡±, a title which could be appointed by another patriarch before his or her death, or before heading to battle, to give the House one that could lead them before appointing someone better. Those can be in various ages, official patriarchs however weren¡¯t young, since elder members tend to have more commanding experience than young ones. Yet, when the title of patriarch of Voyage was descended from Lily¡¯s father, to her mother, then to her, or course just temporarily, the girl took over the House and claimed herself to be the official patriarch of Voyage when she was 16, which at that time the Voyage family was in a crisis so nothing could be done to prevent it from happening. Nonetheless, after the House is stabilized, the question of whether Lily could be the Archduchess is now a topic discussed not just between the members of Voyage, but the Knights Cathedraller and other military factions in the country as well. After all, with the current seat, Lily is the head of the Latilian Royal Army, and Zenos doesn¡¯t want that happen:


    ¡°My daughter¡¯s fighting capability is undeniable, her charisma is even greater, though her decision making ability and self-control is problematic. Not me being overconfident, but I should be the one who claims the title instead of her.¡±


    Zenos said confidently. It might be true that he is weaker than Lily, no one in this kingdom nor anyone he knew can fistfight, sword fight or gunfight her and win, and with that people are willing to follow her into a fight knowing that they are fighting on the side of an omnipotent warrior. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    However, Lily herself is easily triggered and hardly controls her temper, and that attitude can barely command an army:


    ¡°In order to protect this nation, I should be the Archduke.¡±


    ¡°I understand¡±


    The king pours for himself some more tea, then continues:


    ¡°That makes more sense when you hear it. I thought you were just greedy, hungry for power, like how Lily described you to me. It truly takes a visit to truly understand people, by looking at them and listening to their stories and thesis. Of course, if that is your true intention, Sir Zenos.¡±


    Zenos raises his hand to make a cross:


    ¡°I swear in the name of God, Joshua Krist and Saint Morgan, all I¡¯ve just said is my true thought.¡±


    ¡°I trust you. Nevertheless, I cannot help you, my son Belisari will not be pleased with that. Your daughter is within his inner circle, perhaps the person he is closest to, more than his own father¡­.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. They have been joined at the hip since that day ever.. .¡±


    **


    ¡°So some fine wine for Klein, a sharp sword for Aurelian and necklace for Arlin, do we need anything else?¡±


    Finding gifts for the two Voyage brothers and Aurelian is a rather simple task. Aurelian likes something practical in combat, a light sword would fit that description. Klein meanwhile enjoys something nice to show off his aristocratic status when meeting with other people, wine is the finest choice for that. As for Arlin, because the guy can consume any type of alcohol, jewelry is arguably the better option:


    ¡°Nothing I guess¡±-Lily checks her pockets-¡±I still have plenty of money. As I said I will have you something. What would you like?¡±


    ¡°Something you think that would fit me well.¡±


    ¡°That answer makes it harder to pick. Is a crimson scarf okay? I find you look great with that color.¡±


    **


    ¡°As for Belisari¡±-Justinius switches the topic to his son-¡±Unlike Aurelian, he was born earlier and received a better education, and wiser I dare say. And although you may find my son not being serious about anything, it is just because that thing does not affect anyone within his circle¡­¡±


    The king speaks, to which Payens agrees with him. Like Justinius here, the knight has witnessed Belisari grow up, how he interacts with everything, everyone surrounding him. Gerald is a person who knows exactly what characteristics the crown prince of Latila had, and he can easily tell:


    ¡°...the closer a man is to him, the more care His Highness puts to that person¡­I¡¯d say it has both merits and demerits. For one he can focus his time and emotions entirely on just many people, but on the other hand his carelessness to the other makes his charisma rather low in a large group ....¡±


    ¡°That is something he would learn later on. Besides, at this age he should care more about people on his side¡­¡±


    ¡°Especially Lily, these two people can fill the weaknesses of the others, I believe¡­¡±


    **


    It¡¯s time to give this archduchess something. Belisari wants this thing to be a bit more special than gifts for the others, something meaningful¡­and also fits her look. Having an idea in his mind from the beginning, he leads his companion to a flower shop nearby, and:


    ¡°Here¡±


    Taking a bouquet of flowers from the florist, the prince immediately hands it to Lily.


    ¡°Flowers?¡±


    The flowers, ones large, fragrant, with flora purple color tepals spreading out like a bunch of trumpets, contained within it a light smell of sweetness of citrus and gentle touch of spice. If there is a word to describe this flower, it would be ¡°fancy¡±. What is even fancier is the name of it:


    ¡°A bouquet of lilies for you, one that is as pretty as these flowers.¡±


    Belisari speaks with a confident voice, with every word in his sentence being honest words from his heart. He knows that he had chosen the right thing to buy, seeing how his archduchess be so delightful and blushed taking it from his hands, saying:


    ¡°You know how to flatten a woman.¡±


    The girl takes it with pleasure, smiling brightly-¡°My name really makes it easier for you to choose a gift, am I correct?¡±


    ¡°You are right, but truly, you fit those lilies very well¡±


    ¡°If you said so¡­then I should put more effort into taking care of these flowers¡­¡±


    (Not sure if they can survive the trip back to Latila, better carry some extra water on the ship)


    ¡°Hey¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Belisari was looking at his companion, but a voice snapped him back to reality, and it came from behind the two. A voice that could be described as voice of a teenager, yet has some childish it it, which both the prince and the archduchess recognize immediately:


    ¡°What are you two doing?¡±


    It is Aurora, she might¡¯ve done all the work and is walking around to see the city. He didn¡¯t expect them to meet her here though:


    ¡°Hello Aurora¡±


    The prince and the archduchess turn back to greet the girl who is coming at them.


    ¡°Good afternoon, and that scarf looks great on you Belisarius.¡±


    ¡°Huh¡­o¡­okay¡±


    ¡°And that bouquet is beautiful too. Lilies, eh? Belisarius really knows how to treat you, Liliya¡±


    Aurora shows them a necklace with a silver cross, the same one Lily had on her neck:


    ¡°I got this from the Knights Cathedraller, they thanked me for my help, we have a pair decoration now, right Liliya? Anyhow, I suppose you have a present for me too, Belisarius.¡±


    She said so because on their hands there are gifts for other people as well:


    ¡°Ah, yes. This is for you, Aurora¡±-Belisari hands her the syrup bottle.


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...huh?¡±


    ¡°You call this a gift?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    As the girl takes the bottle from the prince, she displays a clear oblivious expression on her face. Having expected a grateful attitude from Aurora given how many times she has been asking him to have her syrup, Belisari and his companion were caught in total surprise and confusion when Aurora¡¯s face manifests dissatisfaction:


    ¡°This is a gift?¡±


    ¡°You told me to-¡±


    ¡°I cook!¡±-the girl starts screaming-¡±I cook for you and Liliya, hence why I asked for sugar syrup to make better food for you and her. This cannot be considered a gift for me, because it is actually for you.¡±


    (Like a child screaming at their parents for receiving an unwanted gift, except this time the child is right)


    ¡°I thought-¡±


    ¡°What do you think I need cooking ingredients for?! Give me something else. a real gift for me, otherwise¡­ eh¡­eh¡­.¡±


    Aurora¡¯s voice turns sobbing as if she was about to cry, or probably she was actually about to cry over having this as a gift. This girl must be spoiled too much at home, Belisari thought, that is such an inconvenience.


    ¡°Is having a child also like this? If it is really like this then I ain¡¯t have one soon¡±-Belisari thought for himself, although when he looks at Lily, he feels like that she also think the same as he does


    ¡°Hey-¡±


    ¡°Fine!¡±-the prince decided not to escalate this further. He walks toward a store nearby, picks up a random item, gives the shopkeeper fifty denarii (That¡¯s costly) and throws it to Aurora, all under a minute-¡±Is this okay?¡±


    What Belisari gave Aurora is a silver face mask, which could cover the entire face of its user aside from their eyes. He honestly asks himself why didn¡¯t he choose a leather one, a way cheaper alternative, nor if Aurora is even interested in this thing considering that she is a girl after all. What he knows is that he has seen children wearing masks back in Latila before.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Aurora tries the facemask on. Her normal face is kinda pretty, which is a fact agreed by Belisari, Lily, Klein, Gerald and many person who has seen her before, but with the mask on, that beauty completely disappear, leaving a gruesome gray blank, creepy expression fixed by the mask:


    ¡°Okay sorry Aurora I didn¡¯t-¡±


    ¡°I accept this.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    Belisari as well as Lily thought they heard it wrong. Aurora seems to really like his ¡°gift¡±, although her emotion frankly is unknown behind the cover of that mask:


    ¡°I like this one, I will keep it.¡±


    The tone of her voice changed, seemingly expressing excitement. The girl finds herself a good place on the shore wall to sit down, one leg crossed fully over the other. Her right hand lifts up the mask a bit, revealing half of her face unmasked, the other side still hidden, saying:


    ¡°Ehehe, do I look like a background villain?"

 Master of Logistic+The Prophecy

    Levantia


    King of cities, outmatched any city in the continent with its buildings carved from thousands of tons of marble, towers reaching up to mountains of the Alpsles range and houses, even of the least privileged of the city, decorated with an expensive purple imperial flag, as to show of people from other city the wealthy level of Levantia. As if they needed to do so, for the truth that cannot be denied, this city is capital of the largest empire in the known world: The Elestovakian Empire.


    ¡°Attention, we are about to exit the city within an hour. Ready your weapons, men.¡±


    Today, that city is drunk on celebration. Men and women drinking, children cheering across the streets, throwing flowers to the soldiers walking in the line.This isn¡¯t a triumph, they did not win a war yet, there wasn¡¯t a festival either. It is just that the Elestovakian Expedition Imperial Army is about to depart for a journey to the north to invade the Kingdom of Vlenna.


    ¡°Most of us are going to return home alive, so don¡¯t let the fear of death make you waver¡­¡±


    On the stage close to the front of the army, emperor Kaval is moralizing his army with an arousing speech. After this, their destination will be the County of Vlenne Exterius, where they will gather with the local army and with them conquer Vlenna. The journey shall cost them a month and a half at least. That would also be the time countdown before the war begins.


    **


    ¡°I have returned¡±


    The Latilian full-rigged sailboat rammed ashore the harbor of the capital city. After a week in foreign land and another three days stranded offshore heading northward, the Latilian diplomatic corp has just returned to their home, which had changed much when they left the city to Vlenna.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to be home.¡±-Belisari says, stepping on land while together with Lily carry Aurora back to the shore. Unfortunately no one is here to greet them, nor carriage to deliver them home, they would have to walk. In addition, Aurora seemingly sicker than normal, the girl can¡¯t move by herself and must be towed back to the Voyage Latilus Palace to rest:


    ¡°Aha, it will be a long trip.¡±


    After another twenty minutes, the three had arrived at the gate of the palace. Awaiting them is the usual guard patrol team, who Belisari greeted with some dried fruit he brought from Vlenna-¡±Thank you for your kindness, Your Highness¡±-They appreciate the gift, then let the prince and the archduchess and Aurora to enter.


    ¡°Arlin, Klein.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, Big Sis and¡­Aurora¡­that girl is like that again.¡±


    Klein lets out a long sigh, before he comes to them to help Lily lift the sea sickened girl to the nearest bedroom. Meanwhile leaving the prince and his brother standing outside, talking:


    ¡°Long time not here.¡±-Belisari opened the conversation with his friend¡¯s brother-¡±Is there anything I missed?¡±


    ¡°Nothing really¡±-to which Alexander answered-¡±Aside from a few Aurora¡¯s tools for us to renovate the army, nothing new. Probably the most exciting thing is that the fliers had remastered the continental map.¡±


    The man takes a scroll around his waist and opens it for the prince to see. As he previously mentioned, this map has a greater level of detail compared to the old imperial map. Thanks for the support of Aurora¡¯s scope and mapping methods, the task of drawing map became much easier for the Latilians:


    ¡°That is great news. Have you checked its reliability?¡±


    ¡°I did, it is much better than what we had¡±-Alex hovers his finger on the map-¡±And I made a logistic map out of it. That way we can ensure that our army will march with full stomachs and with finest weapons. Water might be the issue for your and my sis¡¯ expeditionary force though¡­¡±


    ¡°I can see why. While the main army is going to be situated by the river of Granisus, my and Lily¡¯s army will travel deep inland and have to look around for water sources. There are several lakes that can be considered however¡­¡±


    With this map in their hands, traveling for them would be far easier, it¡¯s like having an eye over the sky. Even excluding the difference in size and war gear, the Latilian Army would still be able to travel at greater speed than their Elestovakian counterpart everyday to maintain their schedule. Not to mention that in hostile territory, where food might be deficient, this map will locate far more than what they needed to continue the journey without a supply line for a long time:


    ¡°By combining sea lanes, airborne and carriage delivery, we can sustain an army of thirty thousand 150 kilometers away from Latila. Not to mention that our territory got rapidly expanded once the war began, many people would come along with the army for settlement outside of the kingdom.¡±


    ¡°Thus shorten the line in non-friendly land and make supplying even easier.¡±


    ¡°You got my point, Your Highness. By constantly having intel on the battlefield combined with the accuracy of this map, we can surely sustain such an army for several years without running into any major issue.¡±


    Alex rolls back the scroll and hands it to Belisari:


    ¡°Tell Aurora to me, this thing is very useful. We need at least three of these for three separated fronts, two if we count this one as well¡­¡±


    ¡°Five actually, for our seafaring force. We cannot cooperate with them unless they have the same accuracy as we do.¡±


    ¡°Well said Your Highness. By the way I think we should enter the domain, standing here isn¡¯t a good idea, the sun is getting high and hot.¡±A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Okay¡±


    The two then step into the palace. It looks no different from when Belisari left. ¡°Perhaps I should go to see what these three are doing¡± he thinks. But then he meets Lily walking down the stair, who greeted him and Arlin with a puff of smoke into the face of her brother:


    ¡°You¡¯re back Liliya.¡±


    ¡°Enough Big Sis.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s fun. Right Belisarius?¡±


    Belisari discreetly nods behind Arlin so the man cannot find it out.


    ¡°We already have a sickened Aurora to deal with¡±-Alex says-¡±A heavy smoker won¡¯t make anything better. I can stand your smoking habit, but Klein has been complaining about it a lot. Belisari here does not like it either.¡±


    (I didn¡¯t say so though?)-Belisari thoughts.


    ¡°Fine¡±


    Then Lily puts out the burning cigarette in her mouth, but instead of throwing it away, she puts it back into one of her pockets, intending to light it again when Belisari and Arlin have left. Seeing so the prince is now regretted having bought her too much cigarettes back in Vlenna, although when he remembered how much Lily enjoyed those cigarettes, his guilty feeling simply disappears:


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too strict on her, Alex. Liliya, just restrain yourself from smoking everywhere-¡±


    Almost immediately after says so, Belisari sees Lily with the cigarette lighted again. He didn¡¯t even notice when she takes that out and puts it in her mouth, and does not know how she even lit it that fast, beyond his ability to acknowledge changes of the surrounding:


    ¡°Seriously, you are addicted to it.¡±-Arlin shakes his head in disappointment.


    ¡°Correct.¡±-Lily speaks as if it is a thing to be proud about-¡±By the way, haven¡¯t you wasted too much time here with me. Don¡¯t y¡¯all have more things to do?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and it included you as well Big Sis. Sir Payens, father and Caesar too. Where are they?¡±


    ¡°Calling for us?¡±


    Gerald and Klein appear behind Arlin and Belisari all of a sudden. Zenos was absent though.


    ¡°Good enough¡±-Alex pulls Belisari along with him-¡±Aurora and father can be notified later. All follow me to the war room.¡±


    **


    County of Rashid, a territory situated between the Alpsles mountain range and the County of Vlenne Exterius. Its northern border is naturally created by the Granisus river, while the south faces a Lordship named Danuvii. This is the territory founded back two hundred years ago by the Nosfeturan Empire as a territory ruled entirely by the human race. Nowaday, Rashid is under the control of the Elestovakian Empire. The current Count of Rashid is Khaliz al Walidis, a former general of the Empire, who supported Kaval in his northern expedition.


    ¡°Hey Khal¡±


    Khaliz is about to enter his castle after a long trip from Levantia back home, when he heard voice of one of his closest friend calling for him:


    ¡°It¡¯s you¡±


    Greeting him is a sickened man, quite old, Kassem, a famous prophet who lives in the countryside of the County of Rashid. He was a friend of Khaliz when they first met twenty years ago, and usually has a visit to the castle any time his friend invites him, or to deliver him prophecies about himself. This time Khaliz did not ask him to be here because he was just returned home, so the latter scenario is more likely:


    ¡°Another message of God for me? Come in, Kassem.¡±


    ¡°Thank you my friend.¡±


    Kassem was about to walk on the stairs, but he almost tripped over, so Khaliz come and walks him:


    ¡°Sorry for bothering you too much¡±-Kassem says, breathes heavily-¡±I cannot live for much longer, God is calling my name.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say such, you will live for a hundred years.¡±


    ¡°What good is that? Living long isn¡¯t a privilege, but a curse, knowing that God has forgotten you for so long¡­¡±


    ¡°Yeah yeah I get it.¡±


    Khaliz puts his friend down a chair with one hand, the other hand pours some water into two cups, one for him and one for Kassem:


    ¡°So, what are you here for today?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen my last prophecy.¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    The count was surprised, because in his memory he remember that Kassem told him that he will be a prophet as long as he is still alive:


    ¡°God told me in my dream that this is his last message I need to deliver, and it is for you, Khal. I just have a few moments left¡­¡±


    ¡°So you weren¡¯t joking about not going to live much longer¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Stops for a while to grab some air, Kassem then continues:


    ¡°In that dream, God¡­I don¡¯t know why, either because this is the most important prophecy I shall give to this world, or because this is the last time he grants me the chance to deliver his message, but he placed his hand on my shoulder. He said that the Atlasia continent will be watching a great change in its history. You will be a part of that great change, in a war sparked by a conqueror¡­¡±


    ¡°What conqueror? Isn¡¯t Kaval-¡±


    ¡°...let me finish saying...not the Empire, but a kingdom. A kingdom strikes back from ashes and shall conquer the empire¡­This kingdom is going to be ruled by a wise benevolent emperor, the conqueror I mentioned earlier. He and his army will eventually come to this land.¡±


    ¡°Then what should I do when that happens?¡±


    Kassem looks into Khaliz in his eyes, saying:


    ¡°For you Khaliz you must submit to him, be under his command. He is the conqueror chosen by God to change history, obey him and you will write your name into history for eternal. Resisting only results in your death and destruction of the people. I believe that is enough for you to decide which path you will choose¡­¡±


    ¡°But I am loyal to the Emperor-¡±


    ¡°But you are also loyal to God, am I right, Khaliz?¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°Yes-¡±


    However, as Khaliz was about to answer, Kassem closed his eyes and lay peacefully on the chair. The count thought his friend has dozed out, so he tried to wake him up:


    ¡°Kassem, Kassem¡±


    No response.


    The body of the prophet turned colder and colder, the glass of water on his hand fell down and shattered, but that didn¡¯t wake him up from his sleep. Kassem had stopped breathing, and the skin became purple, not receiving any air from the lungs that had withered so much it ceased to work. He lay there, having a deep sleep, a sleep he never had before in his life, one that he will never be able to wake up from, but he sleeps.


    Up to this moment, Khaliz realized that his friend was dead. He died before receiving the answer from Khaliz, before Khaliz had the chance to understand the meaning of what Kassem had just told him. But he can say for sure what is the kingdom in the prophecy God had given to Kassem for him to deliver it to him in his last minutes.


    ¡°Rest well, my old friend.¡±

 Expeditionaries

    ¡°Settle down, and light out your cigarette, Big Sis.¡±


    In the war room of the Voyage Palace, Arlin is taking preparation to brief about the incoming war frontiers.


    Around him are a few of the most elite military personnel in Latila. Gerald de Payens, commander of the Knights Cathedraller Order in Latila, unofficially Legion KC. Klein Caesar Voyage, commander of the Legion I Legionary Corp, the most crowded branch of the Latilian Royal Army which consisted of seven thousand personnel. And himself, Arlin Alexander Voyage, is the leader of the Companion Husaria, Legion II Melee Cavalry Unit of the Royal Army.


    Lily Sobieski Voyage, patriarch of the House of Voyage, the (somewhat) Minister of Defense of Latila. The infamous Legion III the Winged Husaria is under her command.


    Finally, Belisari Flarius Latila, the Crown Prince of Latila, will as well join in the expedition. His army is the Latilian Marine Corp, Legion M, the same unit that Aurora saw guarding around the Latila Palace with crossbows earlier when she first visited that place.


    ¡°Let us begin.¡±


    Arlin rolls out the map on the table.


    ¡°We¡¯ve collaborated with the Latilian Aerial Reconnaissance Unit, the Milishilian Institution of Geography and the Maritime Federation Hall of Cartographers to create this map. There are still errors, but at worst it would be around a kilometer and considerably acceptable, better than anything we¡¯ve had before.¡±


    The map displayed almost everything that is necessary for a standard modern map, from settlements to forest, lakes, rivers, mountain passes. Roads included several signs for travelers to follow without fear of being lost, paddy fields with details about yield and population of nearby villages. Obtaining a map with such high quality can be considered having unlocked the entire battlefield, which in turn significantly helped the Latilians to draw out a war plan for their expedition, which is what they are doing right now.


    ¡°Our force will be divided into three separated armies.¡±


    Arlin takes out three mini flags he made to represent the armies:


    ¡°First, we take a look at the northern army, consisting of thirty thousand men, which would be under the command of my father Zenos and His Highness Aurelian. This army will exit the city via the Remenus Gate in the north, and move in to liberate the Duchy of O¡¯well, then continuing¡­¡±


    Gerald and Klein listen carefully to everything Arlin says, while Lily and Belisari couldn¡¯t care less about it. After all, the movement of the northern army will not affect their front as that army shall move in ways that differ and are unrelated to the others.


    ¡°Want to try?¡±-Lily hands a cigarette to Belisari, which he declines.


    ¡°Stop dragging me into your hobby. I don¡¯t need smoke to cope with stress.¡±


    ¡°Pay attention you two over there.¡±


    Arlin¡¯s voice reaches out for them-¡±Damn it was because of you¡±-whispered Belisari to the archduchess.


    ¡°Come on you two¡±-Klein speaks with an expression on his face, which can be translated to annoyed-¡±At least listen to what Arlin says, as this is real serious intel that can''t be overlooked.¡±


    ¡°We know, sorry and please continue, Alex.¡±


    Arlin nods and again looks down the table, focusing entirely on it:


    ¡°Now we come to the second front, the southern army, consisting of again thirty thousand people. Klein and I are going to be the commander of that front.¡±


    ¡°Which means the Companion Husaria and the Legionary Corp¡­¡±


    ¡°Will be in the south, yes¡±-the man finishes what his sister says and continues-¡±And many more legions, as well as 80% of the Knights Cathedraller, who are familiar with that region. This army is planned to exit via the Bosphor Gate, and will be tasked with the mission of conquering our former territory of the County of Flemton. After that, we will build a defensive line along the river of Granisus.¡±


    ¡°Because after hearing of our attack, the Elestovakians will redistribute their force to the north. By making defense behind the Granisus, they will not be able to cross that river to enter Flemton.¡±-the prince added.


    ¡°By far they are considered the largest and most well supplied force, considering the fact that we will be stationed in one place. In the meantime waiting for the third army to show up, we would establish a logistic line from there to Latila as well¡­¡±


    Arlin then places the last flag onto the map:


    ¡°Finally, the third army, under the command of my sister Lily and His Highness Belisari¡­¡±


    Unlike the two previous armies, this force only consisted of ten thousand troops, and will be the force with the longest journey. Their job will be the least comparing to the other two at least:


    ¡°You two will exit via the Konstantine gate, marching to Voyage, the Aeropostale Republic, then Carthagia, creates a rebellion there and seizes control over that region. The army will then move to Nosfetura to negotiate with the vampires.¡±


    The task of this army is not fighting, at least it is not their main mission. They hold the responsibility of seeking allies in foreign territory, triggering revolutions on their paths and destabilizing the empire internally. In addition, their plan included a visit to the vampire community in the Alpsles Mountains Range, in which they might be able to invite them into the war. Knowing well that their seventy thousand men alone cannot defeat the empire, Arlin, Lily, Belisari and Justinius had discussed and considered this as an official strategy in their expedition east:


    (I wonder if my friend is still there?)


    ¡°Alright, so that is basically the plan of our armies. Now, I think there is one question we should answer right away¡­¡±


    Arlin becomes silence for a moment, he inhales, exhales, before continues:


    ¡°Which army should Aurora follow?¡±


    This question is crucial for many reasons: Aurora is a great planner no doubt, excellent at managing technology and I besides, their arms were made by her, she knows how to use them the best. Her presence will significantly boost the strength of an army, increase the frequency of new weapons being used, which is important considering how outnumbered they are.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    ¡°Obviously not the Northern Army since she has no relation with any of the legions in it, so either she would follow my brother and I, or His Highness and my sister.¡±


    With Arlin saying so, they¡¯ve narrowed it into two answers. Still, it is worth being discussed between all important members of the two armies.


    ¡°I opine her going with us¡±-Klein raises his hand, trying to gain the girl to his army-¡±Our legions are large and require plenty of supply. Aurora is needed for us to quickly set up the routes, establishing bases and fortifying our positions. Additionally, I heard from her that she can help make ¡°rapid float bridges¡±, which I guess by its name will be vital for us when we cross the Granisus.¡±


    ¡°I agree with your vision¡±-complementing Arlin to his brother-¡±Also, my cavalry had just received repetitive crossbows from her. They were amazing. If she stays with us a little longer, she might figure out how to improve their quality even further.¡±


    The strategic points of Aurora staying in the Southern Army are quite clear, and overall having Aurora in this front shall increase their national army strength. If they want to build a strong coalition though, the Eastern Army is perhaps preferable:


    ¡°Disagree¡±-Lily opens her counterargument-¡±Our army is significantly inferior in numbers, so quality is a must, having Aurora on our team shall ensure that. Not to mention that our job is to create internal problems for the Elestovakians, Aurora can further strengthen the Carthagians and Aeropostians rebels by arming them with her weapons.¡±


    To Lily, Aurora would be better arming a huge number of militias. By doing so, the difference between the total sum of coalition¡¯s fighters and Elestovakian troops would dramatically decrease.


    ¡°So you say that we have to choose between a professional thirty thousand men army and potentially half a million to a million armed citizens.¡±


    ¡°You get my point Klein. A powerful standing army is valuable, but infecting a nation with funded rebellions can weaken them even faster.¡±


    While the Voyagers are discussing their ideas, Belisari and Gerald are still silent-¡±Let the professionals execute it their way¡±-said the knight to the prince, because he is fully aware that when it comes to warfare, no one can say they are better than a Voyage:


    ¡°No, I think I should start joining war conferences like this from now on.¡±


    Belisari says, then moves toward the table:


    ¡°We need Aurora to negotiate with the vampires.¡±


    Upon hearing what the prince spoke, the three Voyagers suddenly stop. Aurora and vampires, what relate in that?


    ¡°The vampire community became extremely closed after the Elestovakian War. Latila, Vlenna and Nosfetura did have a good relationship before their country was destroyed, but have we received any contact from them since? No.¡±


    Belisari elaborates, but that make Klein and Arlin even more confused:


    ¡°So why Aurora?¡±-Lily asks, she should be on his side since they are going to be deployed into the same army, but now even she can¡¯t understand what the prince wants to achieve by doing such.


    ¡°Well, I can see by their behavior that they are now forbidding humans to make contact with them. Humans, like you, your brothers, Sir Gerald here, me and of course, Aurora. However, when y¡¯all first meet her, how many thought that she was a vampire?¡±


    In fact, all of them thought she was a vampire at first glance, and it usually takes more time before they recognize her brown eyes. If Aurora¡¯s appearance can trick humans into thinking she is a vampire, to real vampires, it should work the same:


    ¡°So, we can use her appearance to at least be welcomed into their colonies, after that there will be talking. Otherwise we would have no choice but just stand there in front of their gate begging them to open the doors, and I doubt that it could work.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just dismiss the idea of inviting them into war?¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me not to recruit the remainder of what used to be considered the strongest army in the continent?¡±


    Indeed, the Nosfeturan Empire once had the strongest standing army in the world, which helped them to seize control of half of Atlasia under the banner of theirs. It wasn¡¯t until the Elestovakian War that they were defeated for good, but that is all the point needed for Klein to throw a counterargument:


    ¡°We are about to wage war against the very same army that had decimated them before. They will not make that much of a difference.¡±


    ¡°I do not think so, their force might be dwindled and defeated, but they are still stronger than most of our legions. And under our command they will have a chance to repeal their old enemies, they have determination to do so, and that would ensure their loyalty. Another fine legion into our army, a gamble worth playing.¡±


    Both Belisari and Klein have the right in their ideas. On the one hand, Belisari and Lily need Aurora to help arming a huge number of militias and being the catalyst for the talk with the vampires. On the other hand, Klein wants her to focus entirely on building logistics and increasing the strength of the national armed forces.


    ¡°What is your opinion, Sir Gerald?¡±


    Asked Arlin to the knight, and he replied:


    ¡°Me? I will definitely go with His Highness and Her Grace. They will meet up with the vampires, right? The Cathedrallers need an ambassador to represent the vampire, I will be the one to do that job.¡±


    ¡°I see¡­¡±


    ¡°No worry, as I said, most of the Order stay with you two.¡±


    ¡°I know¡­but if that is the case, then Aurora should go with Belisari.¡±


    ¡°Wait! What?-Gerald says in surprise-¡±I thought you were going to say that the third army has me so Aurora should stay in the second army?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t even have that idea in mind. No matter how we see it, this is war, it has every type of risk you can think of that might kill you if you are being careless. Aurora meanwhile is a valuable person, we cannot let her risk her life. Hence, it is better to have her by the side of you, His Highness and my sister, you three can supervise her to prevent any harm toward Aurora¡­¡±


    ¡°So you are leaving us the responsibility of siting Aurora?¡±-said Belisari


    ¡°If you want her, Your Highness, then that is the case.¡±


    ¡°Now to think of it.¡±-Klein added-¡±You are the closest person to her, you must know how to protect that child from harm. But for such simple work, I can too, hence I am not giving up on the idea of inviting her into my army though. My Legionaries need her more than your Marines do.¡±


    ¡°How about doing things like back in two thousand years ago? De-mo-cra-cy?¡±


    Klein stunned for a second upon hearing that word, then he smashes his fist down the table:


    ¡°Agh! Fine!¡±


    Democracy, like how the Republic of Remes, the former state of the Kingdom of Latila did to resolve every conflict in their life. Without hierarchy, the votes would be counted fairly and systematically, and always in favor of the majority of the people. It was a stable system and was used for three hundred years until the Republic dissolved and changed to monarchy. The idea of it still lives on among the people of Latila however, and is still being used when people want to de-escalate a conflict, not with weapons and ranks, but with their voices and ballots:


    ¡°Damn it! You betrayed me brother.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I am not going to choose a side.¡±


    The topic for the conflict today is ¡°Should Aurora follow the Third Army?¡±. And in this case democracy was brought up again, and Belisari won by a landslide. Klein is the only person who opposes him, Arlin goes with a blank vote, the rest are on his side. Three to one, Klein cannot oppose it.


    ¡°Okay, Aurora is ours, then.¡±


    The prince declares, though he cannot be so happy about it seeing his friend be disappointed in the background. Nevertheless, the archduchess by his side claps her hands together, continues:


    ¡°So we settle, Aurora will go with His Highness, Sir Gerald and I. Arlin, deliver this message to Aurora for me. Be ready everyone, the war will begin in not much longer.¡±

 Library of Lvina

    ¡°May you find your book in this place¡±


    After the meeting in the war room, Klein and Arlin are now on the street of Latila. Escorting them is a certain short white hair girl, who has just awakened from her bed after recovering from sea sickness.


    When Aurora woke up from her slumber, she was informed about her expedition to the East with Belisari and Lily. At first, the girl was confused and flustered, but then suddenly, she agreed to the deal, with a condition of a trip to the city¡¯s library.


    ¡±To learn more about the world¡±-she explained the motivation behind her request, the sentence which handed her confusion to Arlin, who said-¡°Well at least it was easy to accomplish. Though I don¡¯t know why she even needed to go to the library, while Aurora herself is one already.¡±


    ¡°No, nobody knows everything about the world¡±-his brother objects-¡±Maybe spending some time in the library to sharpen your knowledge is not a bad idea. I would go as well.¡±


    Skip for ten minutes, they are now standing in front of the city¡¯s largest library, the Library of Lvina. Despite being called the largest library in the city, even comparable to the Latila Palace in size, the number of visitors here is surprisingly low, at only 2-3 people per day. Maybe the main reason is that this library looks old, very old, as if it was abandoned for at least a decade. In addition, it is also quite far from the city center, where most people know how to read live.


    Aurora takes an overall look at the library. Surrounding the main sector of the building are a few branches-like structures, they were balconies for the visitors to relax in the sunlight reading books, but due to the lack of usages, they look very old and stained in black, creating a creepy look for the place. To be honest, this place looks like the remains of a giant burned tree being turned into a building for storing books rather than a proper library, as Aurora later wrote.


    But then, when stepping in, the girl¡¯s attitude changed as she was stunned by the amount of books in this place. Towers of shelves reach all the way up to the roof, while the place itself is five stories high and¡­eight stories deep. Between each shelf there are places shaped like two to three floors-benches for readers to settle and finish their reading under the light of lanterns and chandeliers hanging on top of the shelves, except for several places being shadowed by¡­flat wooden balconies? Nonetheless it is still magnificent. For a library in medieval time, this place surpassed every place Aurora had ever gone to, and she had gone to the Library of Congress in the United States once before.


    Upon their arrival, they were greeted by the head librarian, her voice come to them from behind her working desk:


    ¡°Long time since your last visit, Arlin, Klein, and who is the new guest today?¡±


    The head librarian is an average height woman, still much taller than Aurora though. Her hair is quite unique with the combination of aqua, a bit grayish and silver, and short, with a pair of eyes matching the color of her hair. What she is wearing is a long black coat, with white shirt and shoes casted of steel. However, that is definitely not the strangest thing about her outlook, it is actually the fixed wings on her back that stood out the most and claimed entirely Aurora¡¯s attention:


    ¡°This little one is Aurora Borealis¡±-Arlin pushes the girl forward a bit-¡±You may address her as Aurora. Aurora, this is the director of the library, and also is the head librarian, her name is Angela.¡±


    ¡°Angela Lucius. Welcome to my library Aurora, may you find your book in this place. What are you looking for?¡±


    Aurora, still focus her mind analyzing the wings of Angela, stuttered when the librarian talks to her:


    ¡°Well-¡­well-...I want to read as much as possible.¡±


    ¡°If that is the case¡­¡±-the woman named Angela walks from her table toward Aurora-¡±You are a foreigner right? Then better study history first. Wait for me for a second.¡±


    ¡°Ah right, here we go again.¡±-Arlin drags Aurora back to where he is standing.


    The librarian steps toward a marked floor area, surrounded by nothing, no book, no table, no chair, absolutely nothing, well, aside from a few walls that have the purpose of protecting whatever behind it from whatever going on in the area:


    ¡°Eh¡­what is going on?¡±


    ¡°You never saw a flier take off before?¡±You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    While Aurora and Arlin were talking, Angela lowered her body, making her fixed wings become parallel with the floor¡¯s surface.


    ¡°No, this is the first time.¡±


    ¡°Well, then let me explain.¡±-Klein jumps in-¡±Flier is a creature born to be skyfarers, blessed with their wings and ability to control wind to fly. Unlike birds which take off by flapping their wings, Fliers use their wind bending magic, fire conbursting spells and their wings to create a force called ¡°lift¡± under their wings, helping them to fly.¡±


    ¡°So like planes.¡±


    ¡°What is plane?


    ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    Aurora turns her attention back to Angela, the woman is running fast and accelerating in the area. Fiers are fast, very fast, not many humans can outrun them. As Aurora later read from a biology book, they are fast in order to generate enough lift for their flight.


    And Angela, she is close to the end of the runway, 50 meters isn¡¯t a long area after all. Aurora closes her eyes in fear that the librarian might crash into the wall at this rate, if she can¡¯t make it. Fortunately, that is not a case:


    ¡°Take off.¡±


    Just moments before hitting the wall, Angela lifts her body off the ground, into the dense compressed air surrounding her wings.


    ¡°Wooh¡­¡±


    The librarian flies up and turns another way, crossing a section on a shelf. Seconds later, Angela¡¯s arms are carrying several heavy books, then another book, then another, before she departs and makes a gentle landing back on the runway on the floor. What an amazing performance there:


    ¡°Here. Titu Levy¡¯s From the Founding of the City volume one to five, Polibius¡¯s The History volume one to six, Procop¡¯s On Build summarized edition¡­¡±


    The list of books needed to read is quite long¡­is there anything very interesting here?


    ¡°...this and this¡­and Lily Voyage¡¯s The Finest Hours.¡±


    ¡°Lily Voyage?¡±


    The Archduchess of Voyage wrote a book?


    ¡°Yes, She was a part-time librarian here after the war, when she first wrote this book¡±-Angela hands the books to Aurora while saying to her-¡±I am her only reader until now though, no one had ever looked for a book like this here so I didn¡¯t have a chance to introduce it to any other. What a wasted gem.¡±


    ¡°Part-time? And who taught Her Grace to write a book?¡±


    ¡°On the Language Section, although she only knows Grecolatin and Reman. Fortunately His Highness usually comes to help her sort books in other languages. As about the book¡­ I knew her father when I was a child, he was a journalist before the war. Perhaps he taught her a thing or two about writing.¡±


    The librarian said, her eyes looking somewhere far away, remembering some distant memories.


    ¡°That is the story of the past. Now go study. May you enjoy your books.¡±


    Angela says, then pushes Aurora to corner of the library where sunlight concentrate the most, giving her a glass of mead (fermented honey, a type of alcohol, though Aurora is forbidden to drink at this age) and leaves to the two Voyagers brother in the reception area:


    ¡°What about you two? Which book may satisfy your desire for knowledge?¡±


    **


    ¡°First chapter, the foundation of Latila¡­¡±


    Opening her book, what Aurora sees the first is the date which according to the Latilians is the day this city was founded, 20th April 753 AKN:


    ¡°20th April¡­21st April¡­753 AKN, A for Ante, N for Natum, then ¡°K¡± here is Jesus Christ in this world? 20th April 753 BC¡­a day prior to¡­ If that is the case, then this is very coincident¡­a frightening coincidence¡­¡±


    Putting that matter aside, Aurora flips to another page. This particular page contains the map of the entire known world, for people to understand where an event occurred, and how impactful it was for the countries in that region. Despite not being as accurate as Aurora¡¯s map, this thing still holds a geographical and historical value to it.


    In the Southern area of the map is the continent of Gaullia, where located the Kingdom of Milishila where Aurora was supposed to come from. The country stretches along the coastline of the continent, with some areas invaded further inland. Aside from the colonies chain of the Maritime Federation, there is no existence of another large nation on that continent except Milishila.


    Two islands on the upper left of the map are the mainland of the Maritime Federation. Being founded by Milishilian and Latilian traders back in 247 AKM as the Trade Confederation, no wonder why this nation chose trading as the core of their economy. Their colonies appear everywhere, from the continent of Atlasia to the continent of Gaullia, to an Eastern continent named Yuropa (Europe?). The Maritimer trade network no doubt rivals every nation in the world combined.


    And, the largest continent on the map, Atlasia. Latila, Vlenna, Nosfetura, Carthagia, Aeropostales, Elestovakia, aside from those nations there were many more, yet they vanished after the Elestovakian War, erased from history entirely.


    ¡°That is a sad truth¡­¡±


    The girl whispers to herself, then flips a page. Well, it¡¯s time for actual history. The information here is usually about major events, wars, noticeable rulers and technological advancements, like every common history book on Earth. History might be different, but the mindset of recording history is the same everywhere, even in another world.


    ¡°Year 1 AD, the end of the Second Arcane War, the extermination of¡­¡±


    Aside from countries, some occult races also disappeared throughout history due to various conquests. That is a thing that also happened on Earth, but on a much smaller scale, concerning to say the least, but it does not seem like a problem nowaday.


    In the corner of her eyes, Aurora sees Arlin and Angela talking to each other, while Klein reads a poem collection, seemingly from an elf author, and enjoys a cup of fine wine made by Milishilian dwarfs in his hand. It looks like after such a long time, people from races different from another had adapted to each other and chose to live in harmony, an act of peace which ensured no other highly intelligent species were wiped out from year 1 until this day.


    Aurora spent another few hours reading history books. Her reading speed is fast, so completing a book in less than half an hour is normal. It is very helpful that many books were written far into detail, very clearly in two Latin variants, antiquity and modern, hence understandable. More interesting than I thought, she said, it was like reading lore for a fantasy novel, maybe because this world contains many fantasy elements on its own. Very soon, the girl had thrown Procop¡¯s book aside, ready to absorb the final one on her table, the Veteran Diary:


    ¡°Alright, here we go, let¡¯s see what Liliya wrote¡­eh?¡±


    Unlike any other book, this one was written in Greek. Not a translation problem though, Russia is Aurora¡¯s homeland, Russian borrowed many words from Greek. Aurora had learned to understand Greek since she was young. What surprised her is the fact that the language of this book stood out from any others.


    ¡°I hope I can read this¡­¡±


    ¡°Say, Angela, are you willing to join the army again?¡±

 Recruit the Veteran

    ¡°Alex¡±


    Before Klein, Aurora and him left for the library, Arlin was called back by Belisari:


    ¡°If you meet her- well you will certainly meet her there¡­then¡­help me do something.¡±


    **


    ¡°May you repeat what you said?¡±


    ¡°I said, are you willing to join the army again?¡±


    While Aurora and Klein were sinking into the content of their books on the tables far away, and Arlin and Angela were telling the other about their life during the time Arlin was absent from the library, out of the sudden, the Voyage¡¯s second son staggered the head librarian with that question.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to hide me Angela.¡±-Arlin elaborates-¡±You must¡¯ve heard about our expeditionary plan from someone.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡±-Angela denies, speaks-¡±But I am sure that the monarch is up to something. The library has windows looking over the port, you know.¡±


    From the third floors of Lvina, thanks to the fact that the surrounding area was full of low-rise buildings, the vision of an individual can be extended quite far, capturing even the harbor of Latila within its view. Angela, who spends her days wandering around the floors of the library, couldn¡¯t help but notice the sudden change in frequency of foreign ships entering the port and unloading their cargo, a sign of a preparation for something massive. Yet although knowing all of that, Angela can¡¯t properly explain the motivation behind this change, at least not until now when she has heard Arlin himself confessed to her about that matter, when he was trying to recruit her back into the army:


    ¡°Well, at least now I can confirm that y¡¯all were preparing to invade Elestovakia with what you said. Quite a bold and risky move there I must say.¡±


    Arlin nods, then saying:


    ¡°Your mind is as sharp as how I remember it was. Yes, we are about to invade a superpower, and in order to win, with such a small population compared to the empire, we need all available hands, especially experienced people, like you Angela, or should I call you Amerius Luscusius?¡±


    Hearing that name again, the wings behind Angela flap a bit.


    Angela Lucius, Amerius Luscusius, Vitta 1, the commander of the 2nd Fliers corp. The  solitary librarian was in fact fought as an aerial scout/attacker during the Elestovakian conquest and the Siege of Latila. After the war, the woman retired from the army and changed her name to work here as a director of the librarian. Since then, her life became much more peaceful, at least until this time when Arlin decided that he would drag this woman out of her retirement:


    ¡°So, are you willing to help us?¡±


    ¡°Of course no, are you an utter idiot?¡±


    Angela replies to Arlin, placing one hand on her cheek. The answer is reasonable, who wants to fight in a war in the first place? Unless that person is driven by madness, or is being encouraged by patriotism, or money.


    However, none of these cases can be applied to Angela. The librarian is totally not insane enough to go to war for her liking, nor want to kill people. As for nationalism, her original homeland was the old Aeropostale Republic, not the Kingdom of Latila, there is no existence of loyalty between this librarian and the kingdom for Arlin to exploit to have her recruited.


    Money, that is even less of a problem for Angela. This library they are sitting in right now was a fortune left by her relatives in Latila. Therefore, Angela could just sell the entire library away, move to Milishila, build a brand new palace and live in luxury for the rest of her life, that is if she didn¡¯t find it boring in the first place. To put it in perspective, even if we included the profit from selling synthetic diamonds and shared it evenly between the House of Latila and the House of Voyage, Angela would still be one of the most prosperous individuals in the entire city by owning the library and every book inside it alone. It is not ideal for one to hire someone who is even richer than they are to be a mercenary with something as simple as money, especially when that person is already a billionaire to begin with.


    Additionally, the librarian is completely out of the conscript age. In Latila, the mature age for fliers is twelves and the optional retirement age is twenty-two, Angela is twenty-five, or fifty fliers years old. For reference, the official service age for humans is 16, for elves is 32, for dwarfs 20, and vampires 40. Of course, she could choose to serve until the age of 35, but it is entirely dependent on her decision, not Arlin¡¯s, and she chose not to do so.


    ¡°I thought you would like the idea of adventuring?¡±-Arlin claps his hands into a begging pose-¡±Come on, please help us Amerius¡±


    ¡°Again, why would I?¡±-Angela sighs-¡±Unless you have something that could convince me to play the game of war with you, and I am certain you can¡¯t find anything like that.¡±


    She utters with confidence. After all, for a person who had everything like her, what could Arlin and the Latilians pay for her service?


    ¡°Here¡­¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Just as Angela thought Arlin was about to give up, the man reached out to his waist, then drew out¡­a pistol? But instead of pointing it at Angela and forcing the woman to accept his offer, Arlin simply shrugs his head, then places the gun gently and elegantly on the table in front of Angela, as if the gun was made entirely for the show off purpose:


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°This is not an ordinary one like many you saw in the army¡±-the man turns his head to the corner where Aurora is sitting while explaining-¡±That girl said this one can fire multiple times before needing to reload with the help of a thing called ¡°percussion cap¡±. She also told me that if you throw this in front of an intelligent, knowledge-hungry person, that person will-¡±


    Angela picks the pistol up and inspect before Arlin has a chance to finish his sentence.


    ¡°Sound queer, I am interested. May I try it?¡±


    The librarian says, then not waiting for the answer but stands up from her seat immediately to test the weapon. The design looks 70% like any ordinary musket in the armed forces around the known world, but according to what Arlin told her, it should be able to fire more than once at a time. Switching off the safety mode of the gun, Angela aims its head at a general direction and pulls the trigger:


    Bang!*


    After the first bullet was released from the barrel, the gun emitted a flash which almost blinded Angela if not for her eyes to react fast enough to close and prevent it from happening. Then, something was rejected out of the chamber. Something like a copper cap, and was smelting hot on the wooden floor of the library.


    Bang!*


    Another shot came out of the barrel.


    ¡°Hah¡­hah¡­¡±


    Angela rests her arms down and breaths heavily, shocked. She can confirm for sure that it did fire twice, but¡­.how? The librarian wants to do it again when staring closely at the gun:


    ¡°Hold up.¡±


    However, Arlin grabs back the pistol from her hands:


    ¡°Enough testing¡±-he says-¡±Percussion cap bullets haven¡¯t been mass produced yet, they are still limited in number. Two is enough, you¡¯ve just thrown forty denarii into the wall.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter¡±-Angela seeks under her table and throws a bundle full of silver coins in front of Arlin, and then reaches out to the pistol-¡±Take the charge, I will take this gun and break it down into pieces, no, just to fire two more bullets-¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not¡±-Arlins steps back-¡±This is a valuable war asset, equipped only by the airborne army of Latila, and only for high rank individuals who will fight head on into battle. This thing is not for anyone to buy¡­¡±


    Tch!*


    Angela clicks her tongue.


    As it turned out, she has one weakness, only one thing that could be exploited.


    There is a reason for Angela to be a librarian, is the joy of diving into the content of the books on shelves, finding wisdom and knowledge hidden within pages of books. And it is not just books either, it applies to anything surrounding her. Something new and unordinary like the multi shot pistol Arlin has just shown her would absolutely seduce her desire for knowledge without any effort:


    ¡°Unfortunately¡±-Arlin changes his speech tone to a teasing voice-¡±In just a month every pistol like this one will go with us to Elestovakia, we can''t leave any advanced weapon behind in such an ambitious war, right? You will not see them return any time soon¡­unless¡­¡±


    Unless Angela joins the aerial force, where she will be trained with that gun and living with it. But that idea do make Angela hesitant, she does not want to go to war:


    ¡°Alright, I think it¡¯s time to leave. It is very unfortunate that I have to bring a gift home, but what can I do now if you reject it? Anyway, bye-¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...Now to think of it, being in the expedition army, I might learn how this thing even work, or how to make one like this from Aurora, that kid also join the army-¡±


    ¡°Agh! Fine, fine, I get it.¡±-Angela screams-¡±I will join the army, okay? Now give me that!¡±


    ¡°Not yet. I have one more request.¡±


    Taking advantage of the situation, Arlin has another demand. Now he might¡¯ve gone too far, but this is for the good of the nation:


    ¡°What do you want?¡±-said Angela out of frustration.


    ¡°Write invitations to all of your old friends, tell them to gather at the Voyage Palace within a week. That¡¯s all. Say it ¡°I agree¡±¡±


    Tch!*¡±Fine, I will.¡±


    ¡°It was a pleasure working with you~¡±


    Then, the man gives the pistol to Angela. It is hard to describe the expression displayed on her face after having received the pistol. Happy because she got what she wanted, but also worried that she might¡¯ve traded too much just for it. Nevertheless, Angela is now unofficially back to the army:


    ¡°Alright, see you soon¡±-Arlin pronounces-¡±If you don¡¯t mind, we will borrow some of your books home. Come on Aurora, brother, let¡¯s go.¡±


    **


    ¡°Are you sure that would work for her?¡±


    At the same time when Arlin and Klein were at the library to do their job, Belisari, flanked by Lily and Gerald were going out to the training camp supervising the preparation of the armed forces:


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it''s worth a try, and we know her well enough to try it and have a higher chance of success. Let Alex do his job, he is a master of negotiation after all. But hey, we are not here for that.¡±


    They are here to see their army.


    On the field, the magnificent Winged Husaria, Lily¡¯s unit is training with their new rocket propellers. Knight angels with bazookas, the scene here best matches with that image. A wild combination it is, but that¡¯s just how the Winged Husaria looks right now in the eyes of a modern person.


    Far from the place where they are standing, riders of the Companion Husaria are machine gunning with their crossbows. It doesn¡¯t take a question to know that they love their new weapons, repetitive crossbows are no more a joke, more precisely, even considered deadly. Klein¡¯s Legionary, which is thought to be a perfect unit with no room for improvement, are training assembling what Aurora called ¡°Rapid Assembling Bridges¡± and ¡°Fast Setup Camps¡±. Other units in the army are also transforming dramatically. Since Aurora¡¯s arrival in Latila, more and more Belisari confidents about victory of his kingdom:


    (I don¡¯t- no, I cannot regret mistaking Aurora for a vampire on that day anymore. This is far more than what I¡¯ve asked)


    His private army, the Latilian Marine Corp, are testing new tactics with their carriages purchased from Milishila and the Federation. Finally, at last, the plan for a rapid react infantry unit is being executed, thanks for Belisari¡¯s vision for this kind of force, and thanks for Aurora¡¯s donation to make the plan more than just an idea:


    ¡°I hope in history books in the future my name would still be there around that child¡¯s name, maybe being written smaller, but still there.¡±


    The prince speaks to himself silently, chuckling, unknown that the archduchess by his side heard it:


    ¡°I doubt your name will not outshine us all.¡±

 Final Preparations

    There are three main entrances connecting the inner part of Latila to the outside world.


    The Remenus Gate in the north, named after the founder of the city of Remes and the Republic of Remes, predecessor of the city of Latila and the Kingdom. With a road leading to Elves Duchy of O¡¯well situated not too far from the city, Remenus holds an important position in the kingdom¡¯s relation with elves communities in the north prior to the Elestovakian conquest. By far, this is the only gate that was still able to keep its original design from the time it was built, unharmed by any war or natural causes.


    The Bosphor Gate in the south, named after the very strait close to where it stood. Being a strategic line connecting Latila to Voyage, Flemton, Upper Granisus and Liston, no wonder why this is the largest and most fortified gate in the entire kingdom. It was also the first part of the city to make contact and be attacked by the Elestovakians ten years ago, and was also where members of the House of Flemton and the House of Voyage successfully repealed the invading army. The Latilians could have had their city intact, if not for a disaster occurring in another place.


    ¡°Here¡±


    The Konstantine Gate, named after king Konstantine the Great, first king of the Kingdom, who rebuilt the city of Reme from ashes and renamed it to Latila. It has no important value compared to the two other gates mentioned earlier, but on that fateful day in the Siege of Latila, the gate was unexpectedly breached, and the invaders came and swarmed into the city. Latila was vandalized and plundered for three days before the Elestovakians were pushed out through the very way they used to enter. Still, damage was done, the Kingdom lost many commanders, soldiers and civilians to the invaders.


    From then, the gate gained more attention from the Latilian monarch and their Voyager allies, and was hastily repaired, and then renovated entirely new after the war. However, the renovation was useless, or at least its whole original purpose was thrown aside.


    The gate which was supposed to welcome the invaders, is now preparing to release an army that would soon conquer the enemies. They are still in the preparation phase though, the final stage of the preparation phase:


    ¡°Ave Caesar!¡±


    ¡°I am kindly asking you to stop saying that, and good morning, Aurora.¡±


    While overseeing Elestovakian territory from the top of the wall, Klein Caesar bumped into a hurrying Aurora, who was from the Konstantine Gate hasting go to the camp of his army in Bosphor:


    ¡°And why were you in such a hurry? Is there anything emergent?¡±-asked Klein to the girl. She is breathing heavily, as if her lungs are dying from exhaustion. Behind her is the usual oversized backpack stuffed with something looks like white bricks:


    ¡°No ...hah.. .I meant  ¡­hah¡­perhaps? I want to deliver this.¡±


    Aurora throws a ¡°brick¡± at Klein¡¯s face, luckily he catches it with his hands. Then, the girl collapsed on the wall, letting all of the white bricks scattered around her in a circle. Now seeing closer, as it turned out, those white bricks are just¡­soaps¡­


    ¡°What the-¡±


    ¡°Yeah, soaps....¡±-Aurora recovered from where she lay down after a sip of water-¡±Synthetic detergent might be a better term to call them, but soap is fine¡­¡±


    Having recovered from the tiredness, Aurora picks up the bars scattering on the ground and puts them back in her backpack. While doing so she not forget introducing this type of soap to the man who is looking at her in confusion:


    ¡°Soap, yes. You know it well. They can be used for cleaning clothes and your body¡­but hey, that was not a deep case study about soap. Soaps can be used to prevent diseases by washing hands regularly¡­¡±


    ¡°Which is vital for an expeditionary army, I see your point. Usually at least 1/4 of the army would die from disease before they even had chances to see the battlefield.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that is why I think soaps are important¡­and this one (synthetic detergent) can be used in hard water ... .well I meant water from every river and lakes, and not just a few specific clean ones¡­I guess this would help us tremendously. It¡¯s not like we could find a freshly tranquil water source if we want to¡­¡±


    In the antiquity and medieval time, excluding neither Earth nor this world, infectious diseases had always been a headache problem for both civilians and the military, especially for an expeditionary army where thousands of armed men were crammed into a limited space moving force. That and the lack of hygiene and clean water were responsible for at least half of the casualties or any army prior to the modern era. This is the reason why soap is such an important luxury the Latilians must have to maintain their already small army in foreign territory.


    ¡°That was clever¡±-Klein cracks a compliment-¡±Who was behind this idea in the first place?¡±


    ¡°Your sister.¡±


    Lily, of course. The person who values tidiness and likes to bathe. There is no surprise if the archduchess asks Aurora to make her some soap, and this girl would end up industrializing the whole process to make enough of these items to supply a whole army in years to come:


    ¡°At least this time it is good when you overdone it¡­¡±


    ¡°Heh heh, I¡¯ve calculated everything carefully this time, feel free to admire the great Aurora Borealis for being too useful!¡±


    ¡°Now that is not appreciated, restrain yourself.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±-Aurora nods, but herself was looking for something else-¡±I got this for you as well¡±-She pulls out something manifest a pipe with weird substances in it from the bag-¡±This thing is called a water filter, which help you to clean dirt from your water sources¡±-and another thing resemble papers-¡±And eh¡­just throw a piece into water, if it barely change color then it is safer to drink¡­¡±


    And many more things. Aurora seems very cautious, which is good, but her precaution is too overwhelming even for a careful person like Klein, as if she is excited for the war. That makes Klein wonders, what is Aurora¡¯s true intention:


    ¡°Who are you exactly?¡±-Klein asked, the question made Aurora tilt her head with stupefaction before replying-¡±Aurora Borealis.¡±


    ¡°I know, but- whatever, why did you come to this land?¡±


    ¡°I remember having told His Highness before I met you¡±-the girl packs her belongings back in her bag-¡±I want to become a saint, when I am alive of course.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s-¡±


    ¡°And if I help His Highness to achieve his dream, do you think he will help me with my dream too?¡±


    Speechless, judging by her attitude and words, Aurora is not lying, she might actually want to become a saint, but it makes Klein even more perplexed. Wartime saints are nothing too extraordinary in Kristianity, but a girl at this age wanting to become a saint by that method, seems unthinkable.


    Also, among many people he could¡¯ve brought from Milishila here, why did Belisari choose this dreamy girl to be his advisor and engineer in the first place?


    (It is not my duty to question)


    Though, if his prince chose Aurora, he would accept it, and he would accept everything about the person Belisari trust:


    ¡°Quite an ambitious, but ideal dream you have¡±-he speaks-¡±Being titled a saint while still alive, eh? I¡¯d say good luck.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, I wish you the best luck too.¡±-Aurora says with an adorable smile of a child-¡±Anyway, can you help bring these things to the army in the south? I have to go to Konstantine Gate now, bye~¡±


    As her bag was thrown to Caesar, Aurora immediately without delay sprints back toward the direction where she came from, disappearing before Klein even noticed:Stolen story; please report.


    ¡°Perhaps that energy is the reason Belisari chose her?¡±


    Klein thought for himself without saying into words. He picks up the backpack from the ground (quite heavy to say the least), then turns around and returns to his army camp.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    From the backpack, a letter fell out.


    **


    Earlier


    Knock! Knock!*


    In the foot of each gate, there would be a series of office rooms built inside the wall, not only serving as places where commanders and officers of the army discuss their tactics and strategies, but also provide safe travel routes from gate to gate. Konstantine Gate is no different. In fact, because the compact stone layer of the gate was destroyed before, Konstantine was rebuilt entirely with this half-wall half-headquarter format. It is also the gate where it was decided to situate the secondary office of the head of the Latilian Army, in other word, Lily Sobieski Voyage¡¯s office.


    And now, Lily in that very office, with a lighted cigarette on her left hand, is working with piles of report papers from the Flier Scout Unit. Convenient, because her old librarian friend Angela, who has just rejoined the army, was an expert navigator. Words said that Elestovakian militia forces around Latila are getting thinner and thinner due to the loss of a huge finance for an unknown reason, but whatever the cause is, it is great for Latila and her army. At least in the first phase of the war there will be little bloodshed:


    ¡°Greeting Liliya.¡±


    Unexpectedly, while doing half-way the report, Lily sees prince Belisari sneaking his eyes into her office:


    ¡°Morning Belisarius. Come in¡±-she says-¡±What brought you here today?¡±


    ¡°Am I not able to visit my dear friend now, Liliya?¡±-the prince shakes his head-¡±Also, I see you¡¯ve taken care of these flowers well.¡±


    On the only window of the room, stood a ceramic flower vase filled with white lilies, the gift Belisari gave his archduchess earlier in Vlenna. The flowers flourished in sunlight, blooming beautifully:


    ¡°They made nice decorations for my office. I¡¯ve never been given flowers before, but at least I know how to take care of one.¡±


    The Archduchess answers, then continues with the contents of the report. Driven by his curiosity, Belisari comes closer and sits next to Lily to read with her:


    ¡°What made you think so much?¡±


    ¡°I got papers from our espionage agents in Elestovakia¡±-Lily hands the sheet to Belisari-¡±The Imperial Army has arrived at the border of Alysiae Occident, right underneath Vlenne Exterius, waiting for the supply force to catch up to them, and in the meantime establishing camps. I dare say they will attack the city in less than three weeks.¡±


    ¡°Coincident¡±-Belisari takes out a letter from his pocket-¡±From Leopol to me, written yesterday arrived this morning thanks to fast aerial delivery.¡±


    Among twenty ships purchased by Aurora, two of which were converted into flier carriers and docked on the sealane between Latila and Vlenna. They serve as checkpoints for the Latilian Navy, as well as bases for fliers taking off from Vlenna landing in Latila rapidly without the need of rest and resupplying in the continent where the Elestovakians have full control of. Arlin and Angela are the masterminds behind this mail delivering tactic:


    ¡°He says a Milishilian patrol galleon had reported encountering the Elestovakian Navy sailing along the shoreline from Levantia, a week before this letter was written. By now it is likely they''ve been stationed somewhere close to Vlenne Exterius, and might even arrive in Vlenna earlier than the army.¡±


    ¡°They will probably assault the city with naval force first. How did Leo respond to that piece of information?¡±


    ¡°He reserved the Vlennian Navy behind the wall already, and put cannon mounts on high alert¡­.and he sent me this letter, saying that he needed help as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I see¡±-Lily sighs-¡±The war is crazily near. Say, Belisarius, how long until we depart from Latila?¡±


    ¡°According to the original plan, two weeks, according to the recent development ...I say a week? Should we adjust the schedule?¡±


    ¡°By doing so morale would be harmed a bit, and our force might be underequipped, but the sooner we take off the sooner we arrive at Vlenna to help them.¡±


    Morale and equipment versus time, choosing between one is critical. This is a problem that cannot be resolved with just Lily and Belisari:


    ¡°Should we consult with Klein, Arlin, Aurelian and your father?¡±


    ¡°I hate Zenos, but we cannot ignore the importance of this topic and let only two people among many to decide.¡±


    The archduchess crosses her arms


    ¡±Personally, I would choose to depart immediately, risking the fall of Vlenna is not favorable. Not only that would make us lose a great ally and create more difficulties for our army, but also severely damage our reputation to civilians in territory we will occupy.¡±


    ¡°That is a great point, I can see.¡±


    ¡°As for morale and equipment, I don¡¯t think there will be much of a difference between a week and two weeks. I don¡¯t expect any major combat at least until we reach Carthagia. Look.¡±


    The woman hovers her finger on the report earlier talking about the demilitarize of Elestovakian Army bordering Latila:


    ¡°Oh¡­so it really went into effect¡­¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°The diamond strategy¡±-Belisari explained-¡±Aurora¡¯s diamonds we sold earlier were hunted down by Elestovakian aristocrats around here¡­¡±


    The prince then elaborates the plan to Lily exactly how Aurora elaborated the plan to him months earlier, which at the end made Lily chuckled-¡°A very brilliant move there. I didn¡¯t see that coming.¡±


    ¡°I was surprised when Aurora suggested that idea too. That girl is quite clever, I must say.¡±-said the prince.


    ¡°I understand why. Anyway, that said, we still need opinions from other commanders. I will get some papers, ink, and envelopes.¡±


    Back to present


    ¡°From Arlin:¡°Klein and I have carefully analyzed yours and His Highness¡¯s new plan, and to some extent we do agree with you judging by what we¡¯ve understood about the current situation. Your brothers will cooperate and continue preparing the army to be ready in a week. We are currently announcing this development to officers under our command.¡±


    Within twenty minutes after sending the letters, Lily and Belisari have had the answers from their colleagues. Aside from Klein and Arlin¡¯s approval earlier, the northern army did not object, Aurelian and Zeno said the same thing the archduchess told Belisari earlier about the pros and cons of taking off within a week, and they eventually decided to follow the new plan. The only force hesitated is the Knights Cathedraller, which delivered their concern via the reply of Gerald via mail, arguing that their militias might not feel comfortable from this change. Nevertheless, they said they will follow the Latilian movement no matter what:


    ¡°I think we can conclude now.¡±-said Belisari, to which Lily agrees with him.


    The schedule is now set in a week. In other words, the Latilians will invade Elestovakia two weeks before the Imperial Army arrived at Vlenna¡¯s outskirt. After hearing news of the Latilian invasion, the force attacking Vlenna shall be divided into two groups, one to attack the Vlennians as they¡¯ve planned, the rest will have to move immediately to confront the Latilians under Arlin and Klein¡¯s command, thus lifting the pressure on Leopol and his troops in Vlenna.


    ¡°Your Grace, Your Highness¡±


    The office door opens, standing in front of it is Angela, who had flown from the Latila Palace here to bring news from King Justinius-¡°His Majesty has just called the Elestovakian ambassadors to arrive at noon, there he will hand them the war declaration.¡±


    ¡°Excellent.¡±-Lily nods.


    The clock was set. From now, there will be no more time to lose.


    ¡°I gotta go for a while.¡±


    The archduchess stood up from her seat and hit the ground running. Her first task is to announce this change to the army under her and Belisari command, the army of Konstantine Gate:


    ¡°Deliver this message to the officers¡±-Voyage hands a dozen letters she prepared prior and a gold coin to a bodyguard by the door of her office-¡±Make sure every one of them receive and read it at least once, if needed, stand there until they¡¯ve finished reading. If they dare to ignore you, show them this¡­¡±


    Lily then takes the silver cross necklace off her neck and gives it to the man:


    ¡°...and tell them this is an emergency order from Archduchess Lily Sobieski Voyage, that alone will ensure they will read. I expect no less than everyone receiving this message within five hours, now you may go.¡±


    The guard, without needing his commander to finish, rushes out immediately for his mission.


    Meanwhile, Belisari, still sitting in Lily¡¯s office, writes letters to administrators of Latila Port and Maritimer/Milishilian firms across the city, asking them to evacuate their valuable traders away from Elestovakia and Vlenna before the invasion commences. By doing this their allies will not be caught in the flame of war, and their alliance will be ensured safely. They only have them as allies, cannot lose them by idiotic mistakes:


    ¡°I¡¯ve included addresses here¡±-Belisari gives the sealed envelopes to Angela-¡±Deliver them to the Milishilians and the Maritimers.¡±


    ¡°Okay, do you have anything else?¡±


    ¡°If you do go by the furnace center, tell them to hurry and finish our orders.¡±


    ¡°Roger¡±


    Angela takes mails, puts them into her bag and jumps out of the window, it is the shortcut to the runway of the wall.


    ¡°Hey no need to be that hasty-....


    Purrr


    The flier has long taken off before he even finished.


    ¡°Haizz¡­.I guess that is okay.¡±-the prince scratches his head-¡±Time is no longer an abundant resource after all¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°...¡±


    ¡°I must also hurry for the preparation.¡±

 Diplomatic Shifts

    ¡°Are you okay?¡±


    These were the words Lily heard when she was lying next to a collapsed wall.


    That moment, a reddish gloved hand was given out to her. That hand was injured from pulling the crossbow string repeatedly without any training, without proper protection, scratched and was dripping blood.


    The owner of that hand manifested a painful expression while giving his hand to her. But the important thing is, he reached out to help her.


    **


    In Latila, there is a specific building in the city dedicated to house ambassadors coming from the Empire of Elestovakia. The employees serve there with the purpose of delivering messages from Latila to Elestovakia, resolving potential conflicts between the two countries, managing Elestovakians living in Latila and providing a broad service for diplomatic missions. In other words, this is the Elestovakian Embassy in Latila, the first and currently the only one in the known world.


    ¡°Take a seat.¡±


    Having arrived at the Latila Palace, the Elestovakian ambassadors from the embassy, led by an expert negotiator named Narsieh, were welcomed by Justinius with an order for them to sit down.


    ¡°That is unnecessary Your Majesty, please answer-¡±


    ¡°I said sit down.¡±


    Justinius says it with a calm voice, de facto flat, emotionless.


    ¡°Fine¡±-a man in the diplomatic corp quietly sits down on the bench, following suit by his colleagues.


    Currently they are in a state of confusion and chaos as this morning. When they were just woken up, a letter was sent to the embassy saying that all Elestovakians, following an order from the House of Latila and King Justinius, were expelled from Latila, as if they were going to be at war. Narsieh, responsible for all Elestovakian problems in Latila, whether he likes it or not, takes off to meet Justinius anyway to know why he did that.


    ¡°You might¡¯ve known why I called the Elestovakian diplomatic corp, all of you here.¡±-The kings speaks


    ¡°No we don¡¯t¡±-Narsieh replies, smashing his right hand onto Justinius¡¯s table-¡±First, you must explain why Latila is expelling Elestovakians from their domains in Latila. This act severely violated the 1453 Treaty of Nova Voiaiologos (New Voyage). We the Elestovakians need an explanation for this barbaric act of your country.¡±


    ¡°Speak calmly sir Narsieh.¡±-Justinius clears his throat, his eyes glares down upon the men-¡±And it was always Voiaiologos, there is no need for an extra ¡°Nova¡±. As for your question, may I say that I am providing them safety.¡±


    ¡°Safety what?¡±


    ¡°Because once we are at war against your nation, it will be hard to restrain our people from harming innocent Elestovakians.¡±


    ¡°What? At war-¡±


    The Latilian king claps his hand twice. Simultaneously, the marine guards standing behind them raise up their muskets and halberds and point them at the Elestovakians. The diplomatic corp was caught in total surprise, they jumped from the bench and stepped back, still confused:


    ¡°What do you mean!? What is the meaning of this!?¡±


    ¡°Here.¡±


    With a swift move, Justinius gently places a scroll of paper onto Narsieh¡¯s palm:


    ¡°This is the Latilian War Declaration against the Empire of Elestovakia. I have prepared a ship for you and your men to depart from the city and deliver this message for those who are in Levantia and especially, your Emperor Kaval. From this moment, our two nations are officially at war.¡±


    **


    ¡°Loyal to God, you said¡­.¡±


    A few weeks after Kassem¡¯s death.


    From a distance, Khaliz on horseback is watching mortimers bury his friend into his grave. The prophet was buried far from Khaliz¡¯s castle and his hometown, as far as in the furthest point in the south of the County of Rashid. This was done following his death wish, to be buried directly eastward of the Montgilsard Cathedral. Fortunately for Kassem, that was a thing Count Khaliz can grant him, in honor of their friendship and for Kassem for helping him many times in his lifetime as a prophet.


    ¡°You never predicted anything wrong¡±


    Khaliz whispers in the afternoon breeze.


    ¡±That is a concerning thing¡±-he continues-¡±If you made just one wrong prophecy then it would¡¯ve been much easier for me to decide, knowing that you might be wrong this time as well¡­but you didn¡¯t.¡±


    The Count of Rashid stops talking for a moment, thinking about Kassem¡¯s last words for him before his death.


    Kassem mentioned something about a conqueror of a reborn kingdom who shall conquer the empire, and he, Khaliz ibn al-Walidis, must submit to that conqueror.


    And by doing so, Khaliz will have to betray the emperor.


    ¡°You know, betraying Kaval and his empire was and will never be a good idea¡­¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Betraying Kaval, meaning betraying Elestovakia, a grand superpower unrivaled in ground fight by any nation in the known world, a superpower once decimated the entire continental army and forced them to submit under their feet. Maybe they were not the bright stars when it come to naval warfare, but on land, they were the total dominators.


    Khaliz once fought for the Elestovakians, he fully understands what the empire is capable of, and the consequences for resisting or betraying Elestovakia.


    Besides, seeing the might of the Imperial Army, he cannot make himself not waver. That army is literally camping just a distance from where he is standing at this moment, waiting for their supply lines to catch up with them.


    The land where they¡¯ve encamped bright in a bright yellowish light like a whole city. That army is, frankly said, a war machine built by Kaval for his dream of unifying the continent, one that could wipe out any force daring to oppose it. Khaliz knows that, and he fears that. He asks himself a question: what force did Kassem mentioned could wipe out such a magnificent army?


    ¡°The Latilians.¡±


    The Vlennians are preparing for a defensive war, only the Kingdom of Latila left as a possibility. Still, as he recalled it, the Latilians cannot pay their own annual tribune, much less funding an army to go to war against Elestovakia. Simply impossible, unless¡­the Latilians, his old friend Justinius was planning something. To be honest, this king has been known for being a clever ruler.


    ¡°I should rally my army, just in case.¡±


    The count says, then hurry his horse back home.


    **


    Ethanolin, capital of the Kingdom of Milishila.


    Being located right ashore of the Ganeo-Latila-Belkut-Ethanolin quadrilateral trade hub, center of the colony network of the Kingdom, connecting Milishilian inland territories with their island-based counterparts, this capital of the Milishilians is without any doubt one of the most privileged regions in the known world, and homeland of multiple great seafarers, rivaling even the Maritimers on their own sea. In fact, before the Milishilian-Elestovakian War, this only city in the Kingdom alone and the Federation were economical nemesis, and usually encountered in various wars indirectly against each other¡¯s benefits. It wasn¡¯t until the war against the Elestovakians they teamed up and finally resolved their conflict. With the two powerhouses being allies, Ethanolin and many Milishilian metropolitan areas became much more prosperous than they used to be, benefitted from the flow of supplies from the Maritimers.


    However, after 4 years of flourishing, the economy of Milishila is now again under threat of destabilization. Around one week ago, a Milishilian warship patrolling close to Elestovakian sea territory reported having witnessed fifty vessels of the Imperial Fleet sailing north, toward Vlenna. This action of the Elestovakians was mailed to the Milishilian monarch, with the King being the leader of, obviously.


    King Edmund IV, the thirty-years old king of the Milishilians, upon hearing of this development, immediately called for a consultation among many elite members of the feudalism system and ambassadors from the Maritime Federation, and now they are arriving in the meeting room where he is waiting.


    ¡°Settle down, ladies and gentlemen.¡±


    After the order, everyone in the room sat down, except for the guards standing by the door.


    ¡°As you might¡¯ve acknowledged from my letter.¡±-The king takes an envelope and holds it in his hand-¡±The Elestovakians are making their initial move by targeting the city of Vlenna, do you have any comment?¡±


    ¡°That would be an uncomfortable problem¡±-speaks the Minister of International Trade while he stands up-¡±Vlenna is a vital point situated between Latila and Belkut. If the Elestovakians dare to blockade the city¡­the route from Latila and Belkut would be unusable-¡±


    ¡°I am not talking about that¡±-The king flaps his hand to order the man to sit down-¡±I was talking about the risk of supporting Vlenna, and furthermore, Latila. Should we help them by sending a fleet, the Elestovakians might be antagonized. That is a thing I want to discuss with you, about whether or not supporting our two little allies that way.¡±


    After the king finished his words, the room turned dead silent. It seemed like even the wisest minds of the nation needed time to think.


    Finally, the Minister of Foreign Affair raises his voice-¡±As you might know, the relationship between us and the Elestovakian monarch couldn¡¯t go any lower, and yet their traders cannot obey their government and continue making deals with our merchants because working with us is too beneficial. So I don¡¯t see this as a problem.¡±


    ¡°I can see your point. The navy, what about you?¡±


    ¡°Our fleet is ready for foreign deployment¡±-the Milishilian Grand Admiral says-¡±Though I recommend you, Your Majesty, do not use them to support the Vlennians. Helping them might risk another war, the previous war was costly enough.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d say the difference.¡±-The War Institution speaks otherwise-¡±Even if we risk another war against the Elestovakians, that would be less costly than fighting them AFTER they¡¯ve conquered Vlenna or Latila. These two nations will provide a stable beachhead for our force to land in the continent-¡±


    ¡°Sorry sir, but you are missing the key factor, we are not here to go to war with them, we are here to drag them down as deep as possible.¡±


    Yes, this is the true reason why the Milishilians and the Maritimers helped Latila and Vlenna in the first place, to keep their power status topped all in the known world. By weakening the Elestovakian Empire, Milishila would ensure her influence in the Atlasia continent as a trade powerhouse. Conveniently for them, Latila and Vlenna were great pawns for them to exploit. And conveniently for Latila and Vlenna, they are interested in helping them. However, there are limitations to consider:


    ¡°We don¡¯t want another war, we help Latila and Vlenna barely enough to weaken the Empire, we are not willing to go to war to help them.¡±


    ¡°Remember, the decisive idea is we do not go to war.¡±


    ¡°No war? I have a plan. How about sailing to Vlenna and surrounding the city with our ships? That might stop their fleet from having a clear field to fire upon Vlenna without risking hitting our ships. We no shoot, they no shoot, and no war either.¡±


    ¡°Even if we start moving now, by the time our fleet arrives, the Elestovakians must¡¯ve established not only the blockade, but also a harbor near Vlenna to dock their vessels. The only way to surround the city by then would be destroying a couple of Elestovakian ships to create a hole for our ships to enter, but again¡­no.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, financial support is enough, they must figure it out on their own how to protect their nation. The Empire won¡¯t declare war against us for just aiding Latila, that is where the line draws.¡±


    ¡°I agree, their determination and our aid will surely make them fight until their last breaths. They will definitely decimate a portion of the Empire¡¯s might, exactly what we are interested in. Just pour more money, don¡¯t pour the navy in.¡±


    ¡°A total war against Elestovakia equals the loss of 60% of our customers, so no, we are not interested in another war.¡±


    Those arguments make sense, by supporting Latila and Vlenna with their budget alone, all Milishila wants on their checklist would be already fulfilled, and is the most cost-efficient and the least diplomatic-risk option out of all. Besides, maintaining a fleet in foreign land ain¡¯t cheap at the slightest, might even surpass the cost of financial aids by multiple times.


    King Edmund has had his decision, so he smashes down onto the table to retain order:


    ¡°Take twenty million denarii  from the National Treasure and send them to Latila.¡±-Edmund commands-¡±We will keep aiding the Latilians and Vlennians for their defense to maintain pressure onto the Empire, but we will not interfere with forces. That will be our policy for this war, at least it will be so until the next major development.¡±


    Unknown to them, the Latilians are about to pull the most ambitious plan ever.

 A war, Far from home

    The night before their journey, Belisari sits alone in an abandoned watchtower on the Voyage Wall.


    Klein, Arlin, Aurelian, along with several officers and elite soldiers by the afternoon had come to the gate of Konstantine, drinking wine, laughing, and then finally, saying goodbye. The goodbye ceremony wasn¡¯t such a teary and emotional one as portrayed in multiple war movies in our world, where there are flowers, letters, family-gathering meals and people crying all around hugging those who will go to the front. Instead, the ceremony was rather simple, with just some alcohol, and juice exclusively for Aurora (no matter how desperately the girl begged for a cup of wine), and finally, a visit to Lily¡¯s mother''s grave. The ceremony party ended with the Archduchess declaring there will be a promise, a promise that they will meet again someday. For Arlin and Klein, that would be around 60 days, for Aurelian, it might take years, but what matters is that they will not die before the next gathering.


    Of course, there will be people Belisari will see face for his entire journey. Gerald for example, the knight shall be the Cathedraller representative in this army. His place is simply here, that can be said for sure.


    Angela, Americus, a former librarian of a library where Lily used to work there and Belisari usually pays a visit. That flier woman is going to be their scout commander, their valuable eyes of the sky, one that can hardly be replaced.


    To state the obvious, Aurora, who the prince had fought to get her into his army. That girl told him earlier that she has to bring her gift for him and Lily, and has disappeared from the party in the middle of it.


    Finally, Lily Sobieski Voyage, the true commander of this army and his dearest friend:


    ¡°Belisarius?¡±


    Speaking of which, at that moment when Belisari was thinking about her, the woman suddenly appeared behind him:


    ¡°Care to explain why you are here?¡±-said the archduchess comes and sits down next to him-¡±Shouldn¡¯t you go to sleep? We will go tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t, I keep thinking about the incoming journey. Besides, I can sleep in the wagon tomorrow instead.¡±


    ¡°I see, privileges of a Marine, it is. I wish I could do that as well, but to be frank, I can sleep on horseback fairly easily.¡±


    ¡°Ahaha, knowing you for so long, I bet you can actually do it.¡±


    The Prince and the Archduchess, at the same time, gazing their eyes toward the window, toward the green plain field beyond the border of their country, for the last time:


    ¡°We are living in the final moment of peace in Latilian history.¡±-Speaking Belisari


    Tonight, the sky is clear. Moonlight reflecting on their hair and clothes through the gap of the windows, on their combat attires, on the slumbing Marines and Husaria riders gathering below the wall where they are standing over, undisrupted. The midnight wind blew lightly into their faces, raising smoke on the cigarette Lily is smoking and the Latilian imperial banners hanging on poles over the wall fluttering. Peaceful it is, as if the whole universe is watching in silence as he Belisari, Prince of the Latilians, is about to change the world, for better or worse it might be.


    This is it, the final moment before the war:


    ¡°It has been ten years, time surely flew.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time to recall memories, huh?¡±


    Ten years ago, the Elestovakian Imperial Army laid siege to this city.


    Ten years ago, Belisari found Lily lying by a collapsed wall, and gave his bleeding hand to her and together, they fought arm in arm in the street of Latila for their lives, and for the survivability of their Kingdom.


    Ten years ago, after the Elestovakians had retreated from the Voyage Wall and the Latilians were recovering from the shock that had just swept over their land. Lily made her eternal promise to Belisari, and for the first time, Belisari called Lily as Liliya.


    **


    ¡°Do you have any wish?¡±


    In a dark night ten years ago, a peaceful night similar to tonight, Lily suddenly asked to Prince Belisari that question, while they were seeing the Ganeoese mercenaries and Latilian Legionaries removing bodies from the debris that was once the Gate of Konstantine after the Elestovakians had withdrawn from the city.


    ¡°Huh? What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°I want to do you a favor. Speak to me about your desire, I will help you to achieve it. You helped me once after all, and I cannot live with the burden of owning someone something¡­¡±


    ¡°I see, but I just help you to get up-¡±


    ¡°You¡­.actually helped me much more than that¡±


    Embarrassed by thinking of how to continue her sentence, the soon to be Archduchess shook her head-¡±Forget what I said. Say it. I will not repeat. I, Lily Sobieski Voyage, in the name of my parents Theodosius and Konstantina, Saint Morgan Voyage and Joshua Krist, promise to help you to achieve your harboring dream no matter what. Now, please confess it to me, if you will.¡±


    ¡°Hmm¡­¡±


    Belisari placed his cotton-wrapped hand on his head and made it look like he was thinking of something important, but then he spew:


    ¡°Then¡­can I address you as Liliya?¡±


    ¡°What sort of payment is that? Is that a joke?¡±


    Lily confusingly spoke. She couldn''t understand why Belisari said so to her, risking the only time she might do this favor to him.


    ¡°Haiz¡­.fine, you may call me Liliya¡±


    ¡°Thanks-¡±


    Seizing while Belisari was off guard, the girl quickly drew out her sword and pressed its dull tip into his chestplate-¡±As a friend, but not as my favor to you. You still must confess to me about your wish, and don¡¯t hide it, Your Highness, you clearly want something, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Hey hey¡­be calm Liliya.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Just tell me and I will be calm¡­¡±


    The 14-years-old prince stepped back, half-afraid, half-surprised considering the positions of their titles. He was hoping if anyone who sees this might come help, but with all people around him were already busy, and as Lily applies more pressure on the sword, Belisari, with a hesitate voice, let out a sigh and said:


    ¡°Well, then¡­.fine, I do have one, that is¡­


    To restore Latila back to its former glory, to create the Empire of Latila, and he, Belisari, will become its emperor.


    ¡­.


    ¡°I was actually terrified when you pointed your sword at me.¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t forgotten it?¡±


    The prince shakes his head-¡°Never did I, not even when I slept. It haunts my dreams from time to time, how could I even forget? And even if I could, I will not forget that an Archduke¡¯s daughter once dared to point her weapon at me, yet I still supported her to be the next Archduchess.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about the former, but if I didn¡¯t do it it would take me a million years to know about your dream.¡±-The archduchess smiles lightly-¡±And thank you about the latter.¡±


    Ten years after that day, they are about to make that dream come true. This kingdom is going to strike back from the ashes the Elestovakians had burned them into. Once they go, there will be no step back. Either they go and win, or would die together in a battle. Whatever the possibilities are, they will not live to regret it.


    ¡°May God bless us and our army, for us to make this ancient nation flourish again...¡±


    This time next week, they might sleep together in a camp, probably close to the city of Voyage, and far away from Latila, and will not return until their dream has been fulfilled.


    ¡­


    ¡°Ah, you are here- what the heck is that?¡±


    While the prince and his friend were going down the stairs, they encountered Aurora. That girl, for whatever the reason is, is carrying a black great sword as massive as her body with both hands, and on her back is a crossbow- no, something that resembles both a crossbow and a musket. The sword is for Lily, and the crossbow is for Belisari, that is for sure.


    ¡°Good evening¡­ you two¡±-Aurora lowers the sword showing them an expression of exhaustion on her face-"Luckily¡­ they arrived¡­.on time¡­.Hey, may you be¡­.kind enough¡­.to¡­help me¡­¡±


    Right before the girl trips over, Lily has rushed out to prevent Aurora from falling down and during that short extension of time, takes the sword from the girl to relieve weight.


    (Huh?)


    As Lily grabs the blade with one hand, she realizes something odd. This sword, despite its property as a great sword, is surprisingly light for one, just around half of a sword this size, if made of steel. In fact, she can hold it, though it might be a bit tiring, with just three fingers as fulcrums. It can be carried by horse riders, one thing that would be impossible for a conventional giant blade:


    ¡°I know what you want to ask¡±-Aurora says, winking one eye-¡±I made this with Ceramic Matrix Composite, a material tougher yet lighter than steel, but extremely complicated to work with, so I just made one for you, as a favor.¡±


    ¡°Ceramic¡­what?¡±


    ¡°You will not see one like this in¡­eh¡­.the year is 1463¡­.at least five hundred years later, I guess?¡±


    Seeing the prince and the archduchess¡¯s face turns incomprehensible from what she just said, Aurora can¡¯t help but chuckles, and she still chuckles a lot while handling the crossbow to Belisari:


    ¡°And this is for you, a pistol crossbow. The second one will not be available in three hundred years.¡±


    Unlike Ganeoese crossbows, the universal weapon of the Latilian Marine Corp, the pistol crossbow Belisari is holding is significantly lighter, with a handle to help the albalist to has a better grip on the crossbow, and a fire mechanic just like a musket, allowing scope and protection to be equipped onto the weapon:


    ¡°Hope this will fit your combat style.¡±


    Needless to ask for the price, Belisari is fully aware that the crossbow he is holding and whatever Lily is swinging over there are extremely expensive. These things might be as valuable as a whole fleet, but Aurora just conveniently gives these to them. Where did she have the money to make those in the first place?


    ¡°Well, the last diamond I sold gave me a lot of money, so I decided to spend a portion of it to make them for you two.¡±


    That explain a lot.


    ¡°I guess¡­.thank you? Can I do anything to repay your deed?¡±


    ¡°Praise my brilliance more, and if you can, nominate me to become a saint, please.¡±


    Some sort of bribery, it is, though Aurora smiled so adorable for either of them to detect that truth beneath those words.


    **


    Ding!....Dong!*


    Night past, as the first ray of sunlight illuminates the highest tower of the Latila Palace, bells rang in a beautiful harmony. On the churches, the military watchtowers, the harbors, the lighthouse, the two palaces of Voyage and Latila and the abandoned castle of Flemton, the people across the street join the resonance of ringing bells by clapping their metal tools together. This sound echoes around the city, scaring away birds from their nests and flying all over the city to fly side by side with the Latilian Flier Corps and independent fliers performing over the city. Had they won the war? They haven¡¯t even fought yet, but the scene of Latila at this moment feels like they were victorious, as Aurora later wrote in her diary, perhaps because she hadn''t seen any Latilian victory ceremony. Nonetheless, for one moment in Latilian history, after thirty years, they again were the conquerors. Though it was not as brightful and luxury as the Elestovakian Imperial Army with their purple flags and color papers, this event surely marked a turning point of their country, no matter the result it is:


    ¡°Hey, stop throwing flowers! You too, pals!¡±


    Gerald angrily shouts underneath his armor as his stallion he mounted on stops to eat those flowers lying on the ground. Can¡¯t help, the horse needs a lot of food carrying such a heavy person with such armor, a grant of 110 kilograms, on its back.


    ¡°How could yours behave so well, Lily?¡±


    By contrast, despite carrying much greater weight (125 kg in total), Lily¡¯s horse keeps moving in the line, seemingly nothing that might distract it, well fed and elegant when combining with the wings and the new sword of its horseman. Looking at the contrary of the two riders, Aurora and Belisari watching from a wagon nearby can¡¯t help but laugh at it, and several of the Marines join their laugh as well:


    ¡°No one beats Lily when it comes to fighting skill.¡±


    But then, right before exiting the gate, the entire army halts, Belisari immediately shuts his mouth, and the others follow suit. Aurora is curious, she looks out to the front of the carriage. On top of the gate of Konstantine, there was a shadow, king Justinius of the Kingdom of Latila, his hand holding a speaker made by Aurora for this moment:


    ¡°I could not have blamed you for being the first to lose heart¡±


    The king begins his speech


    ¡°The enemy is a strong, powerful empire that once defeated our nation. They swept an apocalypse across our land ten years ago, took away our prosperity, our grace, and lives of many Latilians compatriots¡­while we, the Kingdom of Latila, is no more powerful as we were before¡­¡±


    Another quiet moment, then Justinius continues:


    ¡°But be not afraid just because of that. We are the Latilians, sons and daughters of King Konstantine the Great and mother Licelia. Our kingdom is blessed by the grace of God and the light of heaven shines directly above us. That light will guide us to victory, to the victory we the Latilians deserve¡­¡±


    From the front of the army, drummers are playing the Latilian Battle Hymn. Aurora looks around, few of the men joins the singing, though the remains be silent to hear the rest of the speech:


    ¡°Now, as all of you have prepared your mind, as the king of this country, I wish you the best luck. Let us the Latilians be bathed in glory once again.¡±


    With a quick switch of a lever, the doors separating between Latila and the outside world wide opened. The Konstantine Army, along with their brothers in arms in the north and the south, begins moving. The Winged Husaria go first, then the Latilian Marines, the auxiliary troops will leave the city last.


    ¡°Wait!¡±


    Walking in between the Marines, Aurora rushes to the end of the carriage and unveils the cotton cover. Latila, the first city she arrived in after coming to this world, is slowly shrinking in her eyes.


    -Project Aurora, Act 1 end-