Steel and Mana

Chapter 210 – People Matter

In the city of Lothlia, Yuri's girls were keeping track of everybody who came in contact with the 'merchant' from Westland. She wasn't the only one who arrived in the city from a different part of the Empire, but the rest were, at best, from the Silver Region and not further away. Still, even if there were others who tried to learn more about this increasingly weird region, no other caravans alerted the guards of smuggling, bringing in magical items without disclosing them.

In his castle, Elliot was standing before his bedroom window, holding multiple parchments, reading the latest reports about the rats in his city, while he couldn't help but smile confidently. To his relief, all those whom he personally put into power refused the bribes, most of them even reporting it directly to him the next day it happened. Those who accepted Miss Winefield's donations were people of barely any importance or merchants from other lands.

Still, the names have been recorded, and he had a list of who would be further promoted later, given opportunities, and who would be left to their own devices. As for Leon's plans to set a trap, Elliot had already notified a few of his most trustworthy people to make contact with Miss Winefield. They were ordered to show signs that they were indeed up for a bribe, finally giving her the breakthrough she was looking for. They would then hire her and her 'workers' for the most advertised project in the city, which will require ample manpower. Of course, instantly sending them to Avalon would have been way too suspicious, so at first, they would genuinely do nothing but work, building the train station next to the city before beginning to extend the railway outwards.

It will also make it much more accessible to mix Nora Winefield's workers with loyal soldiers and their own spies. When the trap they are laying closes around Miss Winefield, they will have no chance to escape—not even with a witch at their helm.

"I wonder what kind of face she will make..." He whispered, giggling to himself.

His confidence was not unfounded. A package arrived from Avalon a day earlier and was sent to their counter-intelligence troops tailing the Winefield company. When the girls got and opened it, their new instructions lying next to their new weapons were clear, detailing everything they needed to do when it was time to catch the fox.

All four of them got a bracelet, a one-time-use version of a Trojan Spell, to counter whatever their target may throw at them. Besides that, as a last resort, they all got four small bags of grounded CC dust to poison and kill the witch if capturing her becomes impossible. It wasn't all, though. As a last gift, they were delivered a shrunk-down version of the newly developed repeating crossbows with a four-shot magazine size and a few dozen smaller bolts as ammunition. They had everything to assassinate, even a mage, no matter what kind of personal artifact they may have to defend themselves.

As for the rest of this Nora Winefield's people? Kill on sight.

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When Yuri woke me up, telling me our son was impatient and decided to come out, I felt that it was a bit early. The snow had just melted, but I didn't need to worry for long because when Mikan lifted my son, she smiled as happily as Yuri, hearing our baby cry healthily, as he should.

"He is fine! He is fine..." Mikan repeated, exhaling, placing him into his mother's arms, silencing Lancelot immediately as his hungry mouth latched onto her nipple.

"He is healthy, but I bet his first words will be naughty." Sasha mumbled, letting her shoulders relax because she was just as nervous as all of us.

"If Yuri's thoughts travel down to her tummy," Luna giggled while wiping Yuri clean with a hot towel, "he already has a foul mouth!"

"Sorry..." Yuri mumbled, on the verge of tears, holding our son in her arms, unable to take her eyes off his face at first, "But I couldn't help it! It hurt, okay? I am used to pain, but this was... This wasn't like usual! The words just kept... coming out!"

Bet. I even heard some curses that I had no idea what they meant. Maybe they were not even actual words. Or they were ancient spells. Who knows! Well, the main thing was that my son looked just as healthy as when Arthur and Leyla were born, even if he was indeed a bit smaller.

When the twins finally got to see him, Lancelot looked at them curiously, not afraid of their touch or hearing their excited voices. I wondered, even if he was magicless like his parents, would he still be like his siblings? I mean, they did learn quickly... Huh... Well, whatever! He will have a complete, pleasant life even if he is just an ordinary boy. Lucky son of a bitch, so to speak!

"You thought of something improper." Sasha elbowed me, noticing my grin.

"Maybe."

"It wasn't sexual." Luna added, grabbing my crotch and checking my 'status.'

"Haaaah..."

As we all turned towards the voice, the long sigh came not from Sasha or me but from Mikan. She was looking at Yuri and Lancelot as if she had become lost in some kind of fantasy. Then, we saw her eyes traveling from Lancelot to Arthur and Leyla, sighing once again. We didn't need to be geniuses to guess; she was filled with the desire to hold one of her own. Unlike Luna, who was happy to remain as she was, childless, out of all my wives, Mikan was the one who wanted to become a mother the most.

"What?" I whispered after Sasha elbowed me, "We all thought she would be holding triplets by now!"

"True..." Luna agreed, making Sasha also look at Mikan worriedly.

"Being magical has its drawbacks..." Mikan mumbled, turning towards me with a warm but somewhat sad smile, hearing us whispering about her. "We can only hope."

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"I have read your report and examined the samples you brought back. There are records of this monster once breaking through the wall. Not here but in the land of the Kingdom of Markoth."

"Never heard about it. I know where they are, but the last thing I read is that they are in a century-long civil war." Mirian answered, meeting with Pascal after her return to the capital.

"They are, but that is not important. These things came through once, resulting in the weakening of their Kingdom. It is what allowed the civil war to erupt later on. These things are highly dangerous because they breed like crazy! Are you sure they were exterminated?"

"Yes. 100%."

"Good... they are nasty monsters, and they eat CC."

"What?" Mirian flinched, blinking her eyes rapidly, making Pascal smirk at her.

"To be precise, the beasts eat magic. Raw magic. Thanks to the Emperor of Magic burning most of our priceless and invaluable records, we no longer have any proof to present. But this part has been collaborated by others everywhere in the world every time they broke through. They have always migrated towards where we mined CC and began nesting there. Same in the Kingdom of Markoth! Their mines were infested, and they burrowed deep down, causing their output to fall so low that the rebellion had a chance to exhaust the loyalists' backups and carve out a land they could call their own and defend to this day. We don't need that to happen here... Especially not now, not unless you are looking to incite a rebellion that has the same effect."

"You know my plans, and you know what type of rebellion we are looking forward to. Or are you doubting me, my Ancestor?"

"I am doubting your foresight because you are still young!" Pascal smiled at her while also insulting Mirian.

"Isn't that why you are here? To guide me?" She shot back, not backing down, and this time, she made Pascal's smile turn genuine.

"Yet you are going to marry that boy and push through laws that make the nobles anxious and angry. Even if I agreed to your plan for cleansing our Empire, I don't want to end up like Markoth."

"That won't happen. Everything is going according to plan, and I am meeting with Queen Nuen this year. That alone will pump the paranoia of our two angsty neighbors to the ceiling."

"Mhm. I don't mind if you fan the flames." Pascal hummed, leaning on his cane, looking like an ancient, old man, yet his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. "If everything is aflame, that is the best. When everything burns, including our neighbors, there are no greener pastures to flee toward. Continue as planned! But I need monthly reports."

"Yes, Ancestor." Mirian nodded, but Pascal called out to her one last time before she could leave.

"Also, next time, you tell me in advance if you leave the city. With the nobles getting more and more distraught with your radical edicts, the chance for assassination grows. We can't risk it."

"Assassination..." She whispered, feeling that if anyone would try to kill her now, it was for sure one of Pascal's men. "I understand, Ancestor. It will be as you wish." Keeping up her respectful attitude, she exited the underground library and left the old monster behind, already calculating what she would need to do to find those families that were infiltrated by Pascal's agents.

"Why do you need to find them?" Milan asked when she shared her worries with him, enjoying how her soon-to-be husband massaged her back.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"You told me that you like how Leon does it... I understand that it can't be copied at the size of Ishillia. We are too big and need nobles who work for the throne and control the different, massive territories. But... Who says we need the current ones?"

"Continue..." She moaned softly, listening to his voice while his hand was pushing out all of the exhaustion from between her muscles.

"Your new orders are making nobles angry... but not the people. They already looking at you differently. I think that is the most significant change. Previously, regular people didn't care about the royal bloodline because they were far too removed from them. Now, you directly speak to them, instead of your nobles, who then interpret your words as they want to and do whatever they want with them. I heard that many times, new laws never even reach the ordinary citizens."

"So... I should replace... the nobility."

"Pretty much." Milan nodded as Mirian drew the conclusion he did while thinking about it. "It doesn't matter who is with you or who isn't as long as the people are with you, Miri. What are the nobles' armies made out of?"

"People, of course..."

"Who will they fight you with if the people are standing with you?"

"This is why I love you!" Mirian chuckled, turning around and hugging him before giving Milan a long, passionate kiss, "You complete me~! I already feel much better, fufufu!"