Steel and Mana

Chapter 60 – People’s Future

From snow to rain... that would summarize how spring worked in here. I was already thinking I should introduce a new calendar, but with everything going on, it was one of the least noteworthy things right now. The Empire, and I guess the rest of the world, split the year into two segments: Dawn of the Year and Dusk of the Year. In a few weeks, we will be fully in the 'dawn' and be out of this cold and wet season.

"Oh well..." I shrugged, sipping my coffee while I stood before the window of my study, watching the grey skies and the heavy rain that had been pouring down without stopping for the past three days. "The drainage is at least being washed out."

That was when knocking came, and Luna entered, staying next to the door.

"The Forgemaster has arrived at the palace. He asks for a meeting with you, Leon."

"Hmmm? That is unexpected... Directly to me and not to Paxon...? Did something happen?" I murmured, and Luna was unsure, but she still continued.

"He brought along multiple iron... things. Like the stone tablets Sasha makes. She is there with him, inspecting them, and she looks really excited. I think whatever it is, she really likes it!"

"Oh! I know what it is!" I snapped my fingers, surprised as I thought it would be pushed back with how I dumped the task of making iron pipes onto them.

Arriving at the throne room, Sasha had already laid out the tablets on the table, and there was a pile of tiny metal blocks she was rummaging through to put them on and secure them in a place like playing with a giant puzzle. I wasn't wrong; it was the finished, metal movable type I was waiting for. I almost forgot about it!

"Forgemaster Kraus!" I laughed, greeting him, watching as he saluted and bowed towards me.

"My Lord! I apologize for my intrusion; I was just too excited and immediately came when I finally finished it!"

"It's fine, let me see!" I walked close, watching my wife immersed in her little 'puzzle game' until she finally put together a whole page's worth of text.

"Then all this needs to be inked up and... it can print out a page multiple times... I see!" She murmured, nodding her head, finally noticing me.

"Exactly. It would make creating books extra fast and make them uniform. You no longer need to try and read someone's lousy handwriting, and there won't be two different versions of the same book."

Of course, I knew this was already happening in other parts of the empire, but here? Not a chance. No wonder Luna was wholly uninterested in it and didn't really bother with its importance. It was normal for her to find printed books.

"My Lord," Kraus continued, looking excited, "I finally understood it after studying the plans for the purifiers! It gave me inspiration on what I will need to make there. This interchangeability will be very useful there, especially for maintaining the magic formation!"

"Oh?" Now, this was even better... Did he understand the formation? "Continue. I am interested in what you understood from it."

"I know no magic, My Lord; I can't tell what that sorcery within the blueprints means, but I realized it has an interchangeable part. I am already in the work of creating a way for whatever it is; it could be swapped out easily and quickly!"

"Yes, that place is for the CC; that is going to be its energy source."

"CC?" He repeated, unsure of it. He is good... Then, I should not wait.

"It is a precious resource, my Forgemaster. It is something that only mages can use."

"I see... it is that rock that has been inserted into our creations, no? The thing on Priestess Mikan's wrist?"

"Exactly!" I grinned, clapping happily, "I chose well when I named you my Forgemaster! Now I am even more happy! Listen, explaining it would take a long time... I guess the printing machine itself is already ready. Hmm? It is easier to put together than creating these tiny pieces."

"Yes, My Lord! The rest have already built six machines. I did not forget about the very first task you gave us, so I instructed one of the blacksmiths to continue making these metal parts. I think, in a few weeks, we should have enough to operate all machines at once."

"Very good... managing the guild like this is what is needed of someone in your position. I am more than pleased!"

"It is my honor, Your Lordship!"

"Tell you what! Gather your apprentices when it's done, and Sasha and I will create the first printed book. It will be the manual explaining all that we know of CC, and it will be something exclusive for only your eyes."

"For... me?"

"Yes. I already decided that only the best will be allowed to work with and understand what CC is. It is something that is rare, irreplaceable, and already the core building block of my plans. I can't have anyone, but my most trusted people work with it. Only the Forgemasters will have the knowledge of how to do that, so that book will be your inheritance. If you are no longer my Forgemaster one day, you will pass it down to the next. You can't teach it to others, do you understand?"

"Yes!" He saluted seriously, vowing that he would not fail me.

"Don't worry. If someone comes along who replaces you as Forgemaster, you will not be gone. You will work directly under me!"

"My Lord?" He flinched, looking at me questioningly.

"The role of Forgemaster is not to hog knowledge. At least, not all of them!" I chuckled, "You will share it with the others and look for talents who later on have the aptitude to replace you. When that happens, you will have two choices. Retire or come under me and work directly with me, handling CC. For now, don't think too deeply into it, my First Forgemaster. Focus on the now, as the future will undoubtedly become the present."

Later that day, I called upon Merlin, showing him what had been completed, and of course, he was way more excited than I thought it would be possible.

"We need to use it to print out my books!"

"Your books?" We asked, looking at him, surprised, watching as he blushed, getting embarrassed.

"Yeah... I have written a lot already... Like, you know... The ones I use when teaching others... Um... And I have more. I... I have not shown anybody yet... uuu..."

"Ahaha! Don't get shy now!" I laughed, rubbing his head, making him smile happily, enjoying it immensely, "Compile them, and we will print them out! I plan to establish the first printing works in the city to give some job opportunities. My own press will make the books I want, but I also plan to let my blacksmiths make more machines available to the public. Then, those could be leased out to people or let them buy it so anyone who is interested in it can start up their own businesses."

"They will... need to be looked after, My Lord!" Merlin spoke loudly after thinking it through, "What if they print something bad about you?"

"I do not plan to introduce censorship. But lies and intentional sowing of dissonance will be punished. Oleg is already finishing the first round of training; the City Guard will soon begin to roll out, so I will have to print out the first lawbook, too. Haaah... I have too many things to do!" I smiled, shaking my head.

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"Did you see the new building Francis and the others had been ordered to build?" A man asked, spending the early evening in one of the first taverns that had been opened in the city.

"Yeah, we did!" Sitting at the same table, his friends nodded and hummed, voicing their displeasure. "A temple... why do we need it? Damned church! We are better off without them!"

"But... where do we go if we are sick then?"

"Perth!" The others berated him, "Did you forget already? They charged a lot for a 'blessing' that didn't even work! Wasn't it Marca and her brews that helped your kid when he was sick?"

"Y-yes... that's true..." He mumbled, burying his face in his mug.

"Speaking of Marca, what is she doing now? I hadn't seen her since moving to the city! Sorbo, do you know anything? You were neighbors!"

"I do!" The first guy who brought up the temple topic nodded, "She finished school and supposedly scored really high on the final tests. Last I heard, she wants to expand on her remedies and start selling them! I think she presented something to the boy Merlin... but I don't know much."

"Selling them?" The other few mumbled, remembering how the church was asking a high price to treat illnesses, yet they usually never worked.

"Why not?" After a few sips of beer, Perth asked again, regaining his courage, "You said it just now; she was good with it! I remember Otto coughing and having a fever; her brews helped him get back to his feet and may even saved his life! Why is it wrong if she wants money for it? We do earn it now with our work. It is the same thing... no?"

"Eh, whatever!" Sorbo grunted, "The thing is, we don't need a temple! Not in our city! I don't know what the King is thinking!"

"Sovereign." Perth corrected him, making the others look at him weirdly. "It is in the sample of the Book of Laws that you can read, nailed to the News Post on the Main Square. Didn't you read it?"

"What are you on about, Perth? Are ya drunk already?" The others laughed at him loudly, thinking he was speaking nonsense.

"Haahh... There was news of the... what was it called? Consti... consta..."

"Constipation?"

"Idiot!" The way Perth snapped at Sorbo surprised the rest. He was usually way more restrained, but maybe the minor fame he managed to score got to his head? "Just because you learned that word, don't use it willy-nilly!"

"He is drunk, alright!" He laughed, waving him off, but Perth did continue, ignoring Sorbo.

"Constitutions! That's it! In it, King Leon used the term 'Sovereign' when he was talking about himself! So, he is not a king or emperor but The Sovereign!"

"Whatever!" The others waved his words away, not bothering with it, "It is the same thing in the end! Inviting the church back to our lives will have nothing good come out of it! You will see, mark my words!"

"Yeah!" The others nodded in agreement, voicing their own ideas on ensuring nobody goes into that temple when it's done. There was even some drunken sentiment that they should speak with Francis and make it so that the temple's construction would drag on and may have some additional problems... to make it undesirable to finish... but that was very quickly shot down.

After leaving the tavern, Perth returned home alone, welcomed by his wife, Nara, who had just put their kids to bed, helping her husband undress.

"What is it, dear? You look troubled..." She whispered, caressing his face.

"I don't know. I... I feel I no longer recognize my friends. There are so many options for us in this city, and they are not seeing it."

"Did you tell them?"

"No..." he answered, lowering his head, letting his wife pull it into her bosom. "I think it is useless to tell them anyway; they wouldn't leave the construction job with me."

"Then just leave. You already got the letter; leaving them behind is not your fault. The words of our Sovereign are true: we do have the opportunity to better our lives! If they don't see it, we can't help them!"

What Nara was talking about was the open letter on their kitchen table, which Perth received three days ago. It was written by the Minister of Architecture, Rennar, promoting him and placing Perth directly under him. He was to take up his new position in a week's time and began his official training to become an official within the ministry.

The whole thing started when the city was being built. The competition that he had won and how his name was forever encased on the fountain's wall he designed. Perth always liked making things. Items, be they from clay or wood, anything that looked nice and evoked the feeling of pleasure when looking at them. It was the most liberating thing he ever did, and when he had the freedom to carve out statues, he couldn't help but let all his imagination fly through his fingers. He just couldn't shake it out of his mind, and since that day, he wanted to be more than a construction worker. Here, in this city, it turned out to be possible... their Sovereign did not lie. Their future was theirs to make.