Steel and Mana

Chapter 104 – Elena

It was a calm, quiet morning while I sat in my study with a map of the old mine before me. While Merlin and Minister Paxon were arranging and organizing the workers for the job, I was drawing up the basics. First, I marked the area where they would need to cut down every tree, flatten the land, and prepare the place to be built up, just like Avalon was. Of course, it would not be at the same scope, but again, it would be at least the size of my palace.

There would be space for furnaces to melt iron, create steel, and process all the raw materials we bring in. Then, there would be the blacksmith's area, where it gets worked and morphed into the correct shape and another site where everything is assembled. The problem I was facing was who I should place there as their leader. Should I appoint Kraus, my Forgemaster, for the position? Or do I keep him in Avalon? I was leaning toward the latter.

Let him work on the more delicate parts privately, things that also need my and Sasha's full attention, while those who will one day aim to challenge his spot can take over leading my new industry complex. I will inform the current leading blacksmiths first, and after the construction begins, I will post news throughout the city and in the newspaper about the new possible jobs opening up within. With the amount of gold we have been hoarding from the mines, I will be able to finance it. With how closed off we are, it was way easier to switch from the imperial coinage; they barely even noticed it. The only people who are keeping up to date with the original currency are my traders, who, in the past years, have been going back and forth within the Empire.

What was interesting to see was that they began raising the value of our coin for the simple reason they regarded anything coming from Avalon to be worth more than the items from other regions. Be it clothes, products, or knowledge, it didn't matter. I was a bit worried at first, thinking that they would be swayed by different parts of the Empire, thinking of a new life in a more 'advanced' region and going AWOL. Maybe it was a good decision to leave it to Mom to train them as they turned out to be kind of... zealous, especially when they finally came face-to-face with how much we are looked down upon in other parts of the Empire. It made them even more proud to be from Avalon. They may look down on us, but they don't even know us. At least, that was what I felt when I inspected them in the past three years. All of them were proud and dangerous because they were doing everything to bring home what I needed of them, with profit to boot.

"Mmmh!" With a stretch and a moan, I put down my quill, looking at my finished drawing and seeing the first industrial zone of my territory before my mind's eye. After finishing building it and reopening the flooded mines to access the ores within, we will begin making our very first tractor. I will field-test them here as our soil is way harder than what is on my uncle's side, and if they work, I can sell them to him. "Not to mention, it will be a good exercise for my people to get experience working on a bigger machine before I ask them to build me a mech~" I added, glancing at my wooden, painted model.

Walking to the window and enjoying the sunshine, I felt refreshed at once. Because it would be a waste to begin planning anything further before the place was even built, I was kinda stuck on what to do. Still, I knew I had to work on something different. I could continue studying magic, its runes, and formations, but it wouldn't have felt right without Sasha. We had everything we needed, so introducing something new would make things messy. Especially for Merlin, who was still fiddling with the 'loudspeakers' and was trying to put the natural laws we discovered into words. After learning that magic was acting like a wave and me telling him about radios, he zeroed in on replicating it.

"I need some music." I murmured to myself as I was missing listening to it while working. Something was always playing in the background while I worked or studied, so it became a habit I was sorely missing right now.

Thinking about it, I couldn't help but sigh, sitting back at my table and picking out a new, blank sheet of paper. As I began drawing, half an hour later, the plans for a basic dynamo were taking form before me. Even if Merlin successfully creates a magical replica of a walkie-talkie, it would require CC. A resource I still have only limited access to and wouldn't be able to make everybody have one. Plus, using it for this would feel like a waste when I have so many bigger plans I will need it for. Maybe I am hoarding... Anyway, I did need an alternate. We could make a dynamo work via water or wind, turning mechanical energy into electricity. That could be it. From there, I could demonstrate the workings of electricity and magnetism and show Merlin what I truly meant about radio waves and magic being similar. Maybe it also helps him understand it more.

But the real advantage is that I could then introduce Morse codes into the equation. If we build something strong enough to transmit it, I could install one within my uncle's castle and make it so we can communicate almost instantly. More than that, I could make him and, of course, our soldiers build sentry posts, having their own installments and keeping an eye on the land for us. I have to start thinking about being discovered by the Empire, and it is never too early to begin preparing. These outposts could warn us way ahead of time, and because it wouldn't be through magic, their occult devices or mages would not pick up on it either. They would have no way of listening in; even if they do, I don't think they could understand Morse code.

"Even if I can't make something that plays music for me in the background, I can still start on it." I whispered with a chuckle, leaning back from my newest drawing. "I will have to give my traders a new directive to bring copper home when they venture out. It will most likely be expensive, but oh well... if I want to connect Elliot's castle to mine, I will need a lot of it. I just hope that people on his territory won't ask why are we building poles and why do wires hang off of them."

I was about to move on to a different part of the work, beginning to sketch up a telegram machine, when knocking interrupted me, and it was Oleg who walked in.

"Sorry to interrupt you, My Lord, but Forgemaster Karus is here, wishing to see you."

"Oh? Okay, no problem. I was just doodling around anyway!" I moaned, standing up and cracking my neck while I followed him out, meeting a super excited Kraus in the throne room.

"My Sovereign! We are finished! It is marvelous! I wanted to come and tell you at once!"

"Finished... of what?" I asked, getting a bit confused, but the moment he opened his mouth, it finally clicked for me. Of course!

"A gyroscope, My Lord!" he continued, not losing his excitement. He looked like a little kid on Christmas day.

"Fantastic! Show me!" I answered with a clap, as I had already forgotten that Sasha had entrusted them with making one.

Heading to his forge, the prototype was already in use as the workers were amused by how it could spin and balance itself on the thinnest ropes or on the top of their tools. It wasn't big, only fist-sized, but it was exactly what I was looking for.

"Ah!" They flinched when we arrived, and I watched Kraus turn angry. Before leaving, he probably told them to not screw around with it until I saw it, but I just laughed, waving their worries away.

"Fun, isn't it?"

"It is a fascinating toy, My Lord!" One of them agreed, a young boy, maybe a few years younger than me. I was about to answer when Kraus scolded him with a stern look.

"It is not a toy, Aren! It is a sophisticated device! Continue acting like this, and I will send you home!"

"Sorry, father." He murmured, looking down, and I realized they did look similar. Huh... so he was his son? Hopefully, he will be just as talented as his father.

"Kraus is right," I continued, taking the gyroscope off from the tip of a chisel it was balancing on. Let me show you why it is incredible and necessary for future projects! Did you make the gimbal, too?" I asked, turning toward Kraus, who simply nodded and brought the gimbal out. I watched as he assembled it, making the gyroscope sit in its middle.

"We did it, following your plans, my Sovereign; it should match every detail!"

"Good, it rotates on the three axes..." I hummed, testing it, and was pleased with how smoothly it moved. "You all did a good job! Look closely... I will mark it so we can see." After marking the gyroscope on one side with a bit of paint and spinning it, they were amazed to see that it kept facing the same way, no matter where I rotated the gimbal.

"It's like magic..." Aren murmured, and I couldn't help but widen my grin.

"It is, in a way," I answered, turning the gimbal, but the gyroscope always kept pointing in the same direction. This will help us build something marvelous. "If you want to understand why, make a bigger version and put it in a box while spinning. Then, pick up that box and try walking with it; you will understand it immediately! This is the greatest balancing machine known to men. Great work, Kraus. Great work! You can keep this prototype and use it to teach future disciples on how to build it."

"Thank you, My Lord!"

"Mhm, it is me who should thank you for bringing my ideas to life! This will help us stabilize our machines in the future... I know it does look like a toy for now, but when it gets implemented for real, you all will realize just how incredible it is." I explained, looking at them with a satisfied grin, making them know they did a good job.

...
....
......

"Father. You called me?"

Elena asked with a slight bow after entering her father's room. Gazing at his back, standing at the window, looking out to their courtyard within the largest and most prosperous city in the Empire... no, in the whole world, she couldn't help but feel mixed emotions. On one hand, she was happy that their family was okay. She didn't know what truly happened, but she knew there was a chance they might lose everything. Yet, instead of that, they came out on top, becoming Dukes, part of the highest-ranking nobles within Ishillia.

But, on the other hand... Her father was now crippled, needing a stick to lean on or walk with, while her position became something she didn't want to think about. Elena was quick on her feet; her mother always told her that... and she ensured she lived up to the high praise. She knew well that right now, she was one of the most important assets the family had. Yes. Asset. Marriage between noble houses was always a chess game where girls like her had no say, only until they led the family, which was rare.

Since growing up and becoming an adult, she knew she would one day marry someone whom she probably didn't even know. The only thing she may influence the decision with is her own beauty. She was relatively tall and slim, with a good and athletic figure, not to mention her silky-smooth black hair with a tinge of pink if focused lighting fell on it. An exquisite look that was accentuated by her pink-colored eyes, inherited from her mother's side. It was her only trump card, which she could use to nudge her future and maybe able to choose a husband for herself. Maybe marry upwards... but now? Her only options remained the current Dukes, and from those, anyone she knew was a horrible pick.

"How are you, Elena?" Kustov asked, turning around, walking closer with a substantial limp, gently stroking his daughter's head, noticing the change in her eyes. She was already guessing what was coming next.

"Everything is fine, Father!" She smiled at him, while inside her mind, she was constantly coming up with arguments that would at least give her the option to shop around the other Dukes and their sons.

"I have a mission for you."

"I know." Elena sighed, already continuing her words before being interrupted by her father. "At least we should first see which-"

"You are going to travel to the far North and take over a small county under our banner."

"..."

"..."

"What?" Elena gasped, frozen in place, trying to read his father's eyes, but she couldn't. Something changed... that was what she felt. "I... I don't get it..."

"Sit, my dear... There is a lot to talk about."