The next few days after my proposal were spent with Anna, but we couldn't publicly announce our engagement because it would undermine Lydia's own. Anna didn't care that much, but I disliked having to hide my affection for her like it was some kind of dirty secret. Neither Lydia nor Idyia interrupted our time together nor did they voice any disagreement. They were simply too busy rooting out the remnants of demonic activity throughout Altanova and Lydia was personally leading those efforts.

Meanwhile, I helped Anna tidy up the castle. My high Attributes made physical labor a breeze and I was one of the few willing to deal with the myriad of dead bodies littering the hallways. I would strip the bodies of anything worth using and toss them into a thick pile in the courtyard where Renala would incinerate them. I knew I was violating several dozen ethical laws and theories, but after seeing the depravity these bastards inflicted upon themselves and others, my pity well bottomed out.

In the evenings, she and I went over the schematics I could remember. I projected them into Anna's mind and she would draw them on a canvas to the best of her ability. She was a fantastic artisan, I quickly learned. Anna's expertise reminded me she was the best seamstress in the kingdom and that required a myriad of skills including sketching. My job was mind numbingly dull. All I had to do was keep the images and videos firmly in my mind and telepathically send them to Anna. That meant replaying the same image or video in my head for hours and hours. It felt more strenuous than days of combat. Whenever my mind would drift, Anna shot me the coldest glare. To her, it was like having her model suddenly stand up and walk away. I guessed that was infuriating for any artist.

I was eating a meat-laden pizza while she drew the final image.

"That should be enough," she took a step back to survey her work.

"Looks good," I confirmed, with my mouth half-full.

"That's over 200 sketches in a week. If the dwarves don't get it by now, then it was all a lost cause."

Anna organized each sketch and rolled them up to be packed into the Bottomless Dufflebag.

"Those videos, you called them? They were very easy to understand, even for me."

"You’d be amazed at how much more I learned from those videos than any formal education,” I chuckled ruefully. “And now I won't have to remove anyone from the Squad." That was my major concern. I could just remove someone from the Squad and add them back after I returned from Akeroyd Peak. That would allow me to send telepathic messages into the minds of the dwarves I was going to meet, I didn't want to run the risk of losing contact with any of my lovers for an extended period of time.

Lydia, Anna, and Idyia all relied heavily on Telepathy (Group) and my Map. Lydia and Anna were still in great danger; Lydia was an autocrat, which meant she had as many enemies as she did friends. Assassination attempts were a simple fact of her daily life. Anna would converse privately with Lydia and vice versa to save time and energy. It was like having a cellphone. You could live without it, but your life would grow very inconvenient. Removing them from the Squad simply wasn't an option I was willing to take even if it was the more optimal choice when transmitting data from my mind into someone else's.

Most importantly, I trusted less people than I had fingers. I wanted to play my cards as close to my chest as possible. Most people still mistook Select Fire for Triple Shot. My Map and my Telepathy (Group) Skills were my trump cards. The less strangers knew about them, the better for me in the long run. So, revealing either of them to the dwarves was a non-starter if I had any other option.

It was still early in the night, so Anna and I left her room and made for the castle barracks where General Belmond trained the champions I dubbed from Dolor Keep. He had a personal, vested interest in seeing them grow because his two kids were in this group, so he ran them ragged every single day. He bowed at the waist and swept one hand over his chest when we approached.

“Your Majesty, the King,” Belmond bellowed, catching the attention of all the trainees. They also bowed and curtseyed.

“As you were,” I motioned for them to relax and return to their respective drills. Some were sparring, practicing archery, or working on general fitness. My visit must have motivated them, because all of their exercises grew in intensity.

“I’ll be leaving in the morning, General,” I explained as we took a small stroll around the training ground. Anna fell in step behind us both, looking like the ever-faithful maid servant.

“So I have heard. It’s a secret project that will elevate the kingdom to greater heights than has ever been seen in the history of Valeria,” Belmond chuckled. “The Queen neglected to inform me of the details, but I must obey everything that the dwarves say.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right. I wanted to share our plans with you since you’ll be in charge of this region. If you know ahead of time, then you’ll be able to deal with problems as they emerge. I’m a firm believer in flexible, on-field leadership.”

“Very well then, Your Majesty,” Belmond led me into a small office within the barracks. Anna pulled the sketches from the Bottomless Dufflebag and I explained the meaning behind each one. Watching Belmond’s expression turn from confused, to skeptical, to shocked was entertaining.


“So this ‘Industrial Revolution’ will shape the course of history, not just for Renalis, but for all of Valeria.”

“Yeah but one thing does bother me: why hasn’t anyone thought of this before?”

Belmond folded his arms and closed his eyes. “If I had to guess, it would be because of the God of Knowledge, Toth. It is more accurate to call it the keeper of knowledge. It determines how far technology advances for the mortal races.”

My brow twitched. The gods again?

“Will Toth stop us?”

“Hm, this eldritch knowledge you possess, if the gods deemed it as a threat, you would already be smote. I doubt it shall act if it hasn’t already done so.”

I wonder if Seras and Bahamut have something to do with that. Seras needs me to kill the Demon Gods and Bahamut wants me to make Renala grow stronger with my Subclass. The two of them together should keep Toth at bay for now.

“I wanted to organize as many military engineers as possible to work on this project,” I focused on the railroad sketches. Building a railroad from the ocean into Renalis would take massive amounts of manpower, just like it did in America, although Renalis and Altanova were several times smaller than the continental United States, it was still going to be a logistical nightmare for Renalis. The transcontinental railroad took over 40,000 workers six years to build, with an ambitious rate of 10 miles per day. Luckily, only forests and flatlands separated Renalis and Altanova, so overall, it would be easier.

“I am going to have the dwarves start building from Renalis while you and your men start from Calais. We’ll meet in the middle, on the Renalis-Thaysil-Altanovan border. That should halve the time required.”

Belmond stroked his chin.

“It will take us at least two years, at best. Maybe three or four if problems emerge with this new technology.”

I nodded. “That’s fine. It falls within the kingdom’s threshold.” At the rate the churches were draining our coffers, we had about five years before the kingdom went bankrupt. Lydia and I were gambling hard on this to work. If this backfired, Renalis would be at the mercy of the churches and the Primaries. Right now, Renalis was balanced upon the knife’s edge and it was my desire to help the Dark Elves that led to this situation. I had to do everything in my power to rectify it.

Once the meeting was finished, Anna and I returned to her room and shared a quiet meal then spent the rest of the evening making love for the last time in a while. This trip to Akeroyd Peak I would make solo. Idyia and Lydia were occupied and Anna had her own duties leading the servants and staff working for the royal family. Lydia was rushing her conquest in order to meet with King Arthur in a timely manner. She already postponed the trip - making another ruler wait any longer would be seen as extremely rude. The Kingdom of Avalon was the strongest member of the Alliance in terms of pure military strength. Renalis could not afford to lose favor with Avalon.

Anna and I were having breakfast before dawn the next morning. God, I was going to miss her cooking. I watched cooking shows and videos and could emulate them if I tried, but when someone you love cooked for you, it added a layer of taste that no ingredient could ever hope to match.

She handed me my military fatigues, freshly cleaned and Mended. I changed quickly, abandoning my crude, medieval clothing in favor of smooth, modern stitching. Even my boots were restored to a pristine state.

“Much, much better,” I stretched my limbs and equipped the armor Anna crafted for me. Using her skills and my memories, she made a plate carrier with metal inserts for the breast and back along with a pair of arm and shin guards. The set emphasized ease of movement over defense, which was something I personally valued.

“It fits great, thanks so much, Anna,” I said after some experimental movements. “Tell Derek I said thanks.”

“I will give your regards to the royal blacksmith,” she said, then handed me my new, castle-forged longsword. “He also said try not to break this one. It reflects badly on his proficiency,” she shot me a small smirk, gave me a final kiss, and left the room first to attend to her morning duties. Now that the Calais castle was free of death and debris, she was responsible for coordinating its restoration and interior decoration. I watched her go with a sad smile and clutched the necklace where her engagement ring and Rebecca’s locket lay close to my heart.

I found Renala napping outside the city and after a short greeting and a bit of spoiling, we were soaring back to Renalis and Akeroyd Peak, Goldfire Renala’s final resting place and home of the dwarves who built her tomb.