Steel and Mana

It took us an hour or two to finalize everything, and we decided that Matilda's three sons would be sent to the Black Lands for multiple reasons. First, we need to see if the Tobrok family would be up for a rebellion. They will try to persuade them to get support from the Tobroks and use their remaining army to march against their mother, initiating a coup. Other than that, it was to let them mature a little. With that, we can either have a legitimate reason to break and replace them or...

If they do not fall for it, that would also mean they survive and can keep their land. For now. With that in mind, I already told Yuri to send her troops out in advance, infiltrate the Black Lands, and monitor their movements. As for the other regions under Matilda, they should easily fall in line after seeing what happens to the Black Lands.

When everything was done, it was time for the fun part, letting her read about trains and my plans to connect our territories, introducing a much faster way to get resources from one place to the next. She had a lot of questions at first, being skeptical of my projections, but then again, by the end, she was on board with it all. Actually, she offered to build her part on her own, including the station described in my plans.

I was aware that Mirian had released control over the construction guilds, publicizing many previous 'state secrets,' shocking the masses, and angering some of the dukes who were in charge of overseeing them for the throne. Still, more people were praising her for it than not. Matilda was also eager to try it out and start building without the need to constantly apply for permits and assistance from the royal family.

I wasn't going to say no to her willingness because it would take a good amount of workload off our shoulders. I will gladly let her build it. We just had to provide our specifications and dimensions. I warned her that we used utterly different, unified units of measurement, and if she wanted to work with them, she would need to reeducate her people. We won't pay for any mistakes they make; I made sure she understood that.

In the end, Merlin provided her with all the necessary books and instruments to bring back home, and we had a nice lunch. I introduced her to the rest of my family, including our kids, and it was then that she mentioned something that struck a chord with me.

"Two more mages? Teaching people from an early age... You could combine it and make an academy just for wizards!"

Although it was said in a humorous manner, I couldn't shake it from my head. What if I took her idea and expanded on it? Would I be able to gather mages with it? Still... It couldn't be done just like that because my next thought was that we would probably get a ton of spies here to steal our knowledge. But... But! We could start early and have a magic academy that not only accepts mages but also welcomes ordinary people. Its goal would be finding those geniuses who could see the logic behind formations and work with them, even if they couldn't sense mana. Then, if time had passed, maybe we could expand it... who knows. I even considered naming it Hogwarts, but then again, I think I would cringe whenever it came up in conversations, so it should be called something else. Hah, I will consider it when we build it!

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In his massive library, Pascal was sealing off himself in the capital city, drawing a complex magic circle on the stone ground and placing fist-sized CC crystals down at the four cardinal directions. With his staff in hand, after more than an hour of preparation, he stood in the middle, chanting under his breath, bringing the formation to life. The moment the bluish light began expanding from under his feet, everything else disappeared, placing him in a fuzzy, ocean-like void.

Without a change in expression, he continued chanting, watching as four columns of light lit up before him. After the blinding light slowly disappeared, four figures materialized, like transparent ghosts of old men, looking at him, bowing.

"Did something happen, our Emperor?" Asked one, making another snort.

"It did. Why else would there be any reason for him to call upon us?"

"You are still a pain in the ass." Pascal chuckled, silencing the four, "It did. Ishillia is in a pinch. I screwed up."

"Huh?" This was the first time they had heard Pascal say something like this, and it shocked them to their core as they waited for their Emperor to continue.

"I have chosen two problematic empresses, one after the other. The first died, bringing most of our current aces to the grave and releasing a master-level spell. The second one is now beginning to reform Ishillia, changing something that has been unchanged for the past thousands of years! What I am afraid of is that she may have excited the Spear..."

"The Spear of Death reacted?!" They exclaimed once again, seeing Pascal solemnly nod his head.

"It very well may be her who did it... She needs to be stopped before this gets out of hand, but I alone can't do it... And she will need to become a martyr to unify Ishillia. She wants a reform, so we will give her one, and I will retake the throne when everything settles! It seems fate wants to tell me not to pick puppets but to do it myself."

"We are listening, our Emperor." The four answered, bowing towards him again, ready to receive their instructions.

"I am going to let her do her thing, but in the meanwhile, you four go out and start waking up the rest of our people. I have already selected noble families from every echelon. You must send our men to infiltrate their ranks." He continued, tapping his staff as his thoughts began flowing into the fours' minds without uttering a word. "Fan the flames and create a civil war. We will eliminate Mirian in it, turning her into a symbol that unites the Empire. I will use her name and ideals to retake the throne, and we can then crush the rebellion when they outlived their usefulness."

His four subordinates already understood everything. Their Emperor gifted them the opportunity to cheat Death in the past, something that was unheard of before. They were old, but all four were among the greatest mages alive in their time. When Pascal hatched his plan to overcome Death himself, he collected his loyal and most trusted men, using magic to seal them away in secret, hibernating them for when he needed their service once again. When it was time to enact the last phase of his agenda, he would become the Emperor, known as The Everlasting. Pascal wanted to do what the Emperor of Magic failed to do: rule as an undying figure, but to achieve that, he needed one last thing... The Spear of Goddess Ariana.

"Now that the Spear churns, I have the last piece." He stated that after he knew his men were clear about his intentions, "It wants ambition and a show of power... so we will give it that. Avoid the southern regions!"

"Yes, our Emperor." They bowed once again, understanding that what they were going to do would doom the Empire's southern domain to invasion. But if it would excite the Spear, then it was worth it... because eternal life was awaiting them, and to achieve that, no sacrifice was too costly in their eyes.

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"Huh, so, you want me to utilize these?"

"Yes, Countess." I explained, showing her the dozen or so formation disks that were ready to install. "Burning coal is a hazard in itself, ruining not just the environment but the lives of our citizens. Sick citizens are bad for everyone. We will supply you with as many of these as you need and also deliver you enough CC to repair them when needed. All of that at an agreeable price."

"I don't even want to know where you got CC from..." She mumbled, smiling while watching the wonderful devices. It was her first time seeing so much magic, and all of it was being utilized within the lives of Avalon's citizens... and I was taking advantage of her wonder to its fullest.

On her second day, she had a chance to visit Avalon's water purifying system and watch how water gets delivered back to the city to use in factories and local blacksmiths or just how it ends up in the multiple fountains we had around the city. Then, there was the heating system, and she even got to see how the same disks I was showing her were turning the burning coal smoke into nothing but water vapor. I made sure she experienced it herself because to sell it the best, she had to understand it.

After that, it was no longer challenging to persuade her to use them, and we agreed that after the Black Lands' issues were settled, we would also implement them there, cleaning up the region and changing people's perceptions of coal.

After her five-day visit, I think she left with a lot on her mind—maybe a bit too much because she began negotiating with me to send a group of soldiers with her so I could be sure she wasn't trying to do anything funny. It was the first time that someone asked me directly to spy on her, and what can I say? I relented.

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"Sooo... Pion, yes?" Matilda asked, leaning out of her carriage window, watching the man riding his horse right next to her.

"Yes." He answered calmly, looking down at her, having a perfect vision of her cleavage that was suspiciously out on display.

"I heard you are a top soldier?"

"I am just good at following orders."

"Hmm... How long have you been in Avalon?"

"I was born here." He answered without hesitation or frustration, finally looking away from Matilda and focusing on the road instead. "I was part of the army since an early age, like many of my comrades. We trained under the leadership of Lord Kalash before being transferred to be under the command of our Sovereign. I finished my training there and became part of his army. Every brother of mine would be able to do what I do, Countess Zimmermann."

"Maybe... but I already noticed that they look up to you and follow you. No wonder you became a captain of your own team!"

"Major." Polo interjected all of a sudden, riding not that far away from them, making Matilda chuckle.

"My bad! Your army's ranks are still foreign to me!"

"It is of no issue." Pion answered, throwing a look at Polo to not do it again. They had to look professional, and it didn't make a difference if the Countess knew their rank or not. "Captain or Major, I am following my orders, and so do my brothers."

"Well, with you around, I will feel safe, even if we don't expect trouble, ahaha!"

Even Pion knew what she was talking about because when Leon sent them on this mission, he especially warned his twelve soldiers to be aware of the Countess's goals. He didn't forbid any of them from pursuing the head of the Zimmermann family... but they were told not to take her lightly because it was as clear as day that she wanted one of them for herself.

"I'd like to learn more about what it was like seeing Avalon being built from the ground up. Why don't you join my carriage? It would be much more comfortable to talk about it in here than doing it like this!"

With a quick exchange with Polo, who couldn't help but roll his eyes, Pion finally stopped, climbing off his horse and giving its rein to him. Entering the carriage, it visibly shook a little because of his size and weight, but Matilda couldn't help smiling, closing the curtains as she began her 'interrogation.' She was asking Pion so many questions that he felt like he was being interrogated once again, traveling back to the days when he was nothing but a scout infiltrating an occupied city to find Lady Yuri...