Whoops. To me, One Tin Soldier is, well... childhood song, basically. To Katherine, however? I honestly did not mean to make the princess cry, but here we are!... Wait, what, just... WHAT? Klaus, what the fuck. Why do YOU of all people turn up tearworks? It's WEIRD! WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD WEIRD!

 

"Such... tragedy." - he finally manages, accompanied by Katherine nodding at each word and sniffling at the end of the sentences - "All because of people speaking to each other but not hearing what the other is saying. Yes... yes, I see the parallels clearly. If only... If only someone stopped for a second and thought, really thought what the others are concerned about... Gods above."

 

Jeez. They are getting emotional over this. I don't really know how to handle emotional, to be honest. I pretend to get it, because it creeps people out of I'm honest about not getting it, but... I don't understand anyways. For example, Katherine is clearly maudlin right now. So why is she asking for - "A wistful romance, khaverte¹friend of female gender Alyssa! A song about heart's longing!" No clue. Wistful romance, jeez. Do I even... wait. Wait. I think I do know just the thing.

 

"...I'm here and waiting for you, where are you, I can't find you... I'm here and waiting for you, I'll wait forever for you..." - somehow, within myself, I have a feeling I am cheating with this song. This world has a long way to go until it has it's very own Akira Yamaoka. Until then, my pale imitation will have to suffice. As I steal a glance at Katherine's wet face, I do realize HOW I am cheating here. It might sound like a love song at first, but if you actually listen to it, it's a song from the viewpoint of a child longing for a mother. Which probably punched Kathy in all her emotions at once. ALL of them. She does have very valid reasons to be exactly the child longing for mother "gone to heaven".

 

Since Katherine is checked out right now, I am waiting for some other suggestions. Didn't exactly plan on it going like this, but now this is gonna be a request concert, I guess. Well... any suggestions? Anyone? Ahh, thank you, Falstaff. "A glimpse of the future!" is his request, and I think I can oblige... Oh, i-dea! Why not mix it up a little? English is all fine and good, but how about some German for a change? Might as well surprise them with some old tongue. Not gonna try for modern Kraut sensibilities, though. Can't really think of any songs on Yiddish I'd care to repeat. Ok, but... Hrm. I need some extra stuff for this. Copper, hrm. Yeah, that should work, now add some water and heat it up... Yep, that works! Now I just need a bell... 

 

"Steig ein zu mir in die Eisenbahn, Die Signale stehen auf Grün. Endlich geht die Reise los, Doch wo führt sie hin?" [Come join me on railway, the signals are all greens. We're starting on this journey, who knows where this road leads?]

 

Steam whistle makes an impression, I see. Why, yes, I have railroad on my mind. This is the big advance I am currently pushing through, and it tends to crop up a lot right now. The industrial lines between the mining district and Grand Forge proper had been in operation for about three weeks now, and by now, dwarves are confidently enthusiastic about country-wide lanes. The track starts in Grand Forge, loops south-westwards to pass by Parsee and then goes east-south-east into Ashenvale. Once through the valley, it will loop northwards to terminate in Berlinger. For now. The offshoot to Nornberg will be likely next - and through Nornberg to Zirich and further south all the way to Genoa. In Champagne, several different lanes are currently being planned. One will connect Grand Forge and Kalos and then loop southward to Parsee, Haver-Parsee will be another, and there will be two pioneer lanes going southwards - one from Parsee through Grenwille and into Mersaille, other from Ashenvale along the eastern edge of mountains - both northwards and southwards. The north lane will pass through Bakarat and end in Grand Forge, while the south will pass through Nisa, loop east and connect with the other southern lane in Mersaille. Once that is done, I'm pretty sure local nobles and merchants will see the benefits of mass transit well enough to invest in further infrastructure in their neighborhoods.

 

Now, who's next...

 

___

 

A couple hours and a couple dozen assorted songs later, things are getting wrapped up. Klaus made a public announcement using my speakers about an hour ago, after having had vanished for a while. He basically confirms the story we agreed on, retroactively labeling the exterminated nobles as traitors to the realm and/or victims of the most immoral of magics in need of final mercies. Much to my amusement, due to the utter lack of more qualified people, a bunch of ritters ended up being jumped up in their titles. Mostly assorted castellans, burgmeisters and captains. For example, burgmeister Zimmer ended up becoming baron Zimmer, charged with overseeing the lands formerly under Hansliches AND Ambercrombes. The awesome mustache castellan, whom I learned is named Ferdinand von Flotow, is now graf von Flotow. In a way, this is logical, because with Norn being a venal moron, the actual running of the county fell to his castellan by default, but von Flotow himself is clearly... discombobulated with his sudden promotion two ranks upwards. Nonetheless, he steps up with an aplomb and decorum. What can I say? Insofar as I could find out, he actually deserves that and I have a hard time thinking of someone better for the post. I sent him a flower pot enchanted with a truth-or-lie indicator as a congratulatory gift. The pot is porcelain, so it does count as a "rare and expensive gift" even without enchantment, because apparently the only current source of porcelain is Divine Empire. While this is on my mind, I send off the copy of truth-or-lie pot schematics to Rory along with generic instructions on what the fuck porcelain actually is so they'd add it to the ware roster once they get the hang of it, and drop off another pot at Elaine's rooms back in Academy along with a note to pass it on to her father as a belayed new year gift. I did promise to let him know when I've got the manufacture of those downpat, so... yeah.

 

And that wraps things up for me. Klaus is busy sorting out loose ends, Falstaff and Anne-Marie are busy helping him with that and it is high time for me to depart. Katherine is officially announced as "taking a tour" along with me. Hiram had me teleport a letter from Alphonse permitting this much to Katherine. There was also some kind of note included that I didn't bother peeking on. Kathy looked kinda subdued after reading it, but since she burned the note after reading and did not volunteer anything about it, I decided not to bother her about it. If it's something she wants to talk about, she will do it on her own time and terms, I guess.

 

"Right. So... we're done here?" - I query my current coterie. We all gathered up in the lounge on my airship to touch base and make sure there were no loose ends.

 

"The larders are fully restocked, mistress." - Bridgit sounds off immediately - "All our assorted purchases have been collected and stored aboard as well. Unless someone has last minute requirement, I believe we're good to go."

 

"I'm good." - Moon Unit confirms absentmindedly. For some reason, she is braiding Cy's hair, who simply gives me a thumbs up along with Moon Unit's answer.

 

"I am ready to leave too." - Roxolane confirms. She bought a huge carpet for some reason, apparently as a gift to her parents. Making sure it is on board and stowed securely had taken up most of her time this morning, the thing is hefty even for me.

 

Lily-Anne and Katherine had been talking in whispers meanwhile, but as everyone sounds off, they turn around and give us resolute nods. "Let's leave." - Katherine proposes then - "I'm DONE with Nornburg like you wouldn't believe."

 

"Take us off, captain!" - Lily-Anne giggles... And since we're good, I shrug and nudge the bits of me near the capstans to reel back the anchor cables. Buoyancy to lift - sharp enough to give everyone "we're in the lift" feeling, but not too hard, because I have no particular desire to collect pots and cups off the floor after.

 

___

 

The following two days are pleasantly uneventful. Katherine is getting used to the airship and our assortment of board games. And learning how to make pizza. I thought Hiram was jesting, but Kathy was dead serious about learning how to make it. And not just "this is dough, this is cheese", but she wanted to see and do everything from scratch to know exactly how it works. Explaining that pizza by it's very nature is a super-customizable meal just led to her asking to be shown every sauce and topping I can think of and how they combine. We spent most of the first day just baking and eating all sorts of pizza. And the second day in food comas, because nineteen different pizzas between seven girls is... a lot. I have put my foot down after a while and instituted no pizza diet for a while simply so we all don't get sick of it.

 

"...Gunununu." - Kathy is trying to figure out how to adapt Scrabble to Pharosian Imperial and having trouble figuring out the value of separate letters. This is due to the fact that classic hebrew, which Pharosian Imperial actually is to me, tends to skip the vowels in writing. Modern Kraut (which is Yiddish), on the other hand, does include the vowels. Apparently, there are two accepted ways to write in Kraut - the "old way" where they use latin alphabet to spell things out phonetically and the "high way" where they use hebrew alphabet adapted for yiddish. I'd suggest her to give it up as a bad job and try old Kraut, aka German, but that would introduce the headache with umlauts and whatnot. Oh well, so long as she has the concept, I'm sure she'll figure it out eventually. Or find someone to farm out the task to. I'm reasonably sure Kraut court has a bunch of scholars for that sort of thing.

 

I'd help, but I'm kind of busy. I'm fondling Roxolane. Moon Unit and Lily-Anne are deep in the cards right now - apparently there is some kind of stakes riding on the game results. Wonder what it's all about. Bridgit and Cy are napping.

 

"...NN!" - aand I find a particularly sensitive spot on Roxolane's neck. She's weak to nibbling, it seems. It is pleasant, to have the time to take to properly fondle and nibble and caress every wife in detail. Not the "throw you in the bed now", mind. Horny is horny is horny and I am not denying that, but there is something equally special in just plain old making out and being sweet to one another.

 

"I believe we have just crossed into the Kraina proper, dear." - I whisper in her ear - "About... four more hours, give or take, and we're going to see your parents. Ready?"

 

"...Sssort of..." - she moans quietly - "Oh gods and stars, Alyssa, if you keep fondling me like this, I will not be ready, mark my words!"

 

"If a certain phone conversation is of any indication, dear, your father clearly approves of you feeling hot and bothered about me." - I tease her, making her shiver momentarily.

 

"...NN! Not fair!" - she whines, twisting around to face me better - "Really, Alyssa?"

 

"Well, I am kinda possessive, you know?" - I offer back - "I might not care for forcing someone to be with me, but I am very much in favor of showing who's mine strong and often."

 

She smiles at me - "So we saw, my love. I daresay, the whole Nornburg is going to remember that message loud and clear."

 

___

 

There's some kind of commotion on the ground. Wonder what is going on. A whole bunch of people with bows and pikes... Wait. Dammit, not again! Seriously, those first impressions at the pike point are starting to grate at me lots!

 

"Now why are you scaring our neighbors, Alyssa?" - Roxolane asks from behind my shoulder with bemusement, snapping the looking glass shut.

 

"Neighbors?" - I repeat after her - "Ok, which house is yours then?"

 

"The one over yonder in the village across the river." - she chuckles.

 

I facepalm. Steer the airship into a slow turn over the river.

 

"This area is way more densely populated than I expected." - I grumble - "It's like the whole place is covered in villages fence to fence."

 

"More or less." - she agrees easily - "Kraina does not really have much in the way of cities the way Champagne does, because pretty much everyone farms. So less towns, more villages is how we roll here."

 

"Really? I would have thought you'd set up towns as trade hubs, at least." - I muse, as I slow the airship down to a crawl, following Roxolane's pointing - "How do you usually do the commerce, then?"

 

"Well, there are trader caravans moving all over the country, for one." - she explains - "Also, villages that host horunjy usually also host a fairground. Caturday's the usual day for trading."

 

"Sounds a little nomadic, but I guess it works?" - I hedge - "Say, would there be a big issue if I decide to buy some coast and build a port here?"

 

"A... Erm... Maybe we should ask dad about it before doing anything?" - she hedges - "Gods, Alyssa. You say 'build a port' the way people'd say 'weave a basket'."

 

"Shoggoth here, honey. We BUILD, it's our thing." - I shrug - "Honestly, my big problem is not how to build, it's how to talk people into using what I build."

 

The situation across the river is markedly different. While there is also a collection of people, they are more interested in gawking and less in fending me off. We did call ahead, obviously, and Taras did say the meadow would be kept clear of livestock so I could park there. Now, which.. Aha! Let's settle this down and see what is what. Since the visit is going to be for at least a week, I do go through with the actual landing.

 

"Alrighty then. Roxy, it's your show." - I suggest as I gesture towards the door - "I think starting with the familiar face should be for the best for your folks."