"You cannot be serious!" Landar shouted and was quickly hushed by her mother.
"Unfortunately. "
Her father sighed and continued, "the families are split evenly. The way both of you have lead the University makes them independent of your leadership. The amount of money you earn through your consultancy isn't enough to convince them either. I could ignore the opinions of the other families and just approve your marriage but that would be an insult to them and they will not be likely to aid you with Clan resources. "
"And I think that if that stuffy Clan council will not approve of our marriage, I'll get Minmay to marry us!" Landar huffed, "I don't need the Clan and if they don't like it? Well, I don't have to be a part of it. "
Yan added, seemingly having retreated back into his gruff persona, "Landar, it won't take much to tilt the balance. And the Clan is a useful shield. "
Cato looked at the ongoing argument over the sitting room. It was true that having the support of the Iris Clan did not translate into any business or reputation benefits. Yet, the Iris Clan did have a huge number of very disciplined casters who could afford to spend time testing training methods, as well as a cache of summoning stones.
Perhaps Landar had rubbed off on him, Cato had been ignoring the summoner clans himself.
"What sort of support could the Clan provide, assuming I gain the support?" Cato interrupted.
Landar gave him a betrayed look, but Cato pushed aside the guilty feeling to focus on Yan.
"The Summoner Clans have ancient artifacts of the Tsarians and special training methods to use them, the few we can," Yan replied, "I'm sure you can make good use of those resources. "
Indeed, lost artifacts, especially if they could not be used and thus might be amenable to more invasive tests, were of great interest. However, most such artifacts of the First were either blocks of inert material like crysteel or large broken structures.
"And what do you think needs to be done in order to gain the support? I heard military achievements but I'm sure everyone here knows I can't use magic. "
Cato expected his question to result in an awkward silence, implying the politics had set him an impossible task, but Yan had a reply ready too.
"Your achievements to date have already almost convinced the families to support you fully. If you can simply make another discovery like the overcharge training, it will not matter if the achievement is military or not. "
"But no one can guarantee a discovery will happen. " Cato added.
Yan nodded, "indeed. Which is why I would like you to join the northern expedition together with the summoners who are going as well. "
Cato was about to ask what Landar's father expected him to do in a battle, but Yan explained, "Landar and her brothers can go with you. A number of closer relatives and outer families friendly to me will also join the expedition. If they allow you access to study summoner practices despite the Clan not formally backing you, no one can say anything. Once you return, any discoveries that aid us in our magic or even just answering a question of our history will defintely gather enough support to quiet any grumblings. "
Heh. Of course, Yan would simply give him the resources the Clan's support was supposed to give, in order for Cato make the same advances to get that support. Using the northern expedition to send off a large number of summoners so that Cato could study them, while pretending to gain military achievements? An audacious gamble.
There was no guarantee Cato could discover anything about the summoning stones that the Iris had not already found out. They had the stones in their possession for the hundreds of years since the war after all.
On the other hand, getting the chance to study the summoning stones with more than just what Landar could write down was valuable. And the northern expedition was on a hunt for the population source of the zombies and might need a research team in support.
Hm.
Cato looked at Landar, who just scowled back. Well, persuading her to cooperate might be more of a challenge.
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Minmay set down his cup, going through the terms of the new agreement he was going to propose. Arisacrota had run off somewhere, the Iris clan had guaranteed her safety and allowed her to roam through the compound. A show of trust that Minmay would make sure to return.
It was not even three hours since he arrived at the Iris clan and Minmay had to prepare for the upcoming meeting with the King. No matter how much prior communication had improved understanding, the King always drove a hard bargain and Minmay had to be prepared to rebut his points.
He could almost wish his wife was here to take his mind off things.
This meeting was officially about the movement northwards and what Minmay city could provide to the Ektal Army. Carts, weapons and ammunition was the expected demand and Minmay could fully meet expectations.
On the other hand, what was more important was the backroom agreement to divide up the specialization areas by region, before an early Noble Summit. Chancellor Minmay was not going to give up his research and heavy industry specialization, the University and the closely associated Ironworker company would allow the Minmay region to take the highest value industries.
He would have to hold on to the military industry as well. It helped that the capital still could not make guns to the same standard that Minmay city could.
With a strong military and industry impact, Minmay was certain he could make the King recognize the region as autonomously governing. Retroactively legitimizing all his administrative appointments and allowing the Chancellorship to retain direct political control of the entire region instead of being sabotaged by capital politics. It would of course turn Minmay into an outsider in the influence game, but that was an acceptable price.
The pounding of feet outside made Minmay look up from his notes.
"Papa!" his daughter flew into the room, giggling and out of breath, "papa, the alchemists are here to see you!"
Minmay smiled at his daughter before sending her off to play once more. In the doorway was Cato and Landar, the two most influential academics in his territory.
"What can I do for you?"
Cato patted Landar's shoulder as she twitched irritably and Minmay decided to make a wild guess.
"The Iris want you to go north with the expedition. "
The utter astonishment was worth the entire trip here to see. Minmay chuckled to himself as the pair looked at each other.
"How did you know?" Cato asked finally.
"I am familiar with the Iris family's requirements for external marriage," Minmay explained, "one of the six main branches had asked me about Arisacrota after all. What else would you come to me for right after announcing your engagement to the Iris Clan? Though maybe you should tell me exactly what happened at the meeting. "
Minmay nodded to himself as they explained the political issues surrounding Landar's marriage. He would have thought Cato was famous enough for the Iris to accept him but it seemed that the Clan's conservativeness was deeper rooted than Minmay had first thought. They did not properly value the industrial technologies Cato was spearheading.
On the other hand, while Cato had done a huge amount of work into making sure the University could run in his absence and to instill his mindset of discovery, the only way to be sure they would function without him was to make Cato go away for a long time.
"Very well, this could be an opportunity," Minmay nodded again. "When you return to Minmay, if the two of you can arrange matters to continue while you go on a long trip, I shall arrange for you to travel with the last group of Minmay Guards to join the expedition. Let's see if the measures we have taken for the University to run without your presence have worked. "
Cato bowed his thanks and it took him some urging to get Landar to mirror him.
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"Are you leaving after only three days?" Landar's mother watched them pack the few things that they needed for the trip back to Minmay.
Landar shot her mother an irritated glance before Cato could stop her. His apologetic face got the woman to give him a wry smile, as if saying that she knew that was how Landar was.
"Unlike before, we aren't needed for the meeting with the King," Landar snapped, "and I am a little angry at the families right now. "
Indeed, despite listing the advantages of going with the expedition and the perceived low risk as they were non-combatants, Cato had not managed to persuade Landar to accept that following the expedition north was a good idea. Just the fact that they were going in order to appease the Clan put Landar into an unpleasant mood. Landar's non-stop pouting and whining was getting tiresome.
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True, Cato would not have gone with the expedition if it were not for ensuring continued relations with Landar's family, the merits on their own were not really worth the effort of many months. If the army found something significant, having scientific support along would be very useful, but there was no guarantee they would achieve anything beyond a reduction in zombie numbers and maybe finding whoever still lived up north.
But Landar's immediate dismissal of all arguments simply due to association with her family was rather immature of her.
"You could still stay the week," her mother tried futilely to persuade Landar not to rush off.
"Kupo is staying so you don't have to worry about your precious power training methods!"
"Landar!" Cato scolded her for the tone. No matter how much she did not like Iris Clan politics, she should not have snapped at her mother like that.
To her credit, Landar avoided her mother's hurt gaze before mumbling an apology.
"I know you have always wanted to prove your own worth, and not being recognized by the clan for your part in making a valuable discovery must grate on you," Ari said, "but you should know that your father and I both support and recognize your efforts. Your father is doing his best to ensure that your independence is accepted by the Clan, and joining us on the expedition will make it much easier. You don't even have to be part of the summoners' formation. "
Wait a minute... "You are going on the expedition too?" Cato asked.
The woman hid a smile, "of course. Frostfire will be going, and if my husband goes to fight monsters, how can I not? Half the clan and most of the experienced summoners are moving. The King's visit is to arrange the Clan's services after all. "
Landar looked conflicted. Her father was going on the expedition. That meant that if Cato and her went, they would have to put up with her father for a few months. On the other hand, if her father was there and kept up his current supportive attitude, he would manipulate events in their favour. Likely Cato wouldn't even have to do anything and Yan would somehow find a way to consider his participation in the expedition as sufficient.
They sat there in silence while Cato continued folding the clothes for packing. Eventually, Landar's mother sighed, "if you will not stay, then at least write to coordinate your travels with us. You will need to pass by the Clan here on your way to Fort Yang and your father will want to join you. "
Landar gave a reluctant nod and her mother rose to leave, still looking a little regretful. But her daughter said nothing and she left the room in silence.
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Bashal observed the chugging of the machine as it descended into the depths of the mine's corridors. Every revolution, the machine would puff a haze of mist from the exhaust vent onto the rails below. Each time the pistons pumped, the engine drove the wheels forward and dragged the line of carts along the rails.
A mine railway where the engine was self-propelled. Attempts to make a purely coal driven steam engine for railways ran into issues in mines. Chief of which was that the engine had to stay outside or it would consume all the air in the mine. Furthermore, mine rails were tiny compared to the proposed transport rails, the still new steam engine literally could not fit. This posed issues with how far and how deep mineshafts could run, as eventually transmissions and belts would fail or losses grew too heavy.
The huge iron-bearing stratas under the mountains near Selabia needed mines to go deeper to reach. The main productive mine was a cluster of vertical shafts through hard rock that hit a gently sloping iron ore layer, productive mining was slowly replacing much of the iron ore with cement support walls. Estimates placed the remaining amount of iron ore in the layer to be enough to feed Minmay's consumption for a hundred years.
The problem was getting it out of the ground in enough quantities to meet the demand.
Thus, the cold-air engine. Even though Bashal hadn't managed to solve the oil freezing issue when the temperature dropped too low, which limited the operational temperature difference, the cold engine was efficient and powerful for its size. It consumed magical power instead of fuel, making the problem of fires and fuel storage much simpler, as well negating the need for boilermen.
If this application was successful, Bashal's engine company would be certain to get orders from the coal pit downstream of Minmay. No one wanted the fire of a steam engine to escape control in a coal mine.
Unfortunately, until a better method of storing magical power became available, this cold engine was only feasible in mines where any vertical exploratory shafts could double as mana wells once re-sealed. The power consumption necessitated a mana well nearby to feed the engine and the contradiction of a engine meant for transport that had to stay in a fixed region severely cut its usefulness for regional transport. Magical power storage was extremely expensive to construct, compared to coal's simple metal bins.
"A marvel, isn't it?" said Selabia. The new mayor of the mining and logging town rumbled happily as he watched the workers haul empty ore carts back down the mine corridors.
"It is. " Bashal agreed. Privately, he thought that the new mayor, just as fat as the old one, was practically no different. Both were greedy, both were somewhat lazy and both had an eye for encouraging business. Only this Selabia had gotten his office through the very thorough execution of the previous and he was wholly owned by Minmay.
"Such wondrous things you make. I look forward to the improvement in the iron ore output. Perhaps we shall soon get a transport rail to Minmay?"
The inventor swept aside the flattery of the administrator and sighed, "perhaps. Though there are still many hurdles to be overcome first. Also, you have a perfectly suitable canal, do you not?"
"Given your record of engineering, I am sure you will meet the challenge. I look forward to the day when transport rails are laid across the country and beyond. "
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Kupo brought the sealed microscope slides under the focus again. The stained tissue trapped in preservative and glass swam into view.
Her prepared and labeled samples from people chosen in Minmay had not yielded many clues. Ever since the tissue magic content tests had been conducted on death row prisoners, Kupo and Landar had isolated the majority of magic power containment to the muscle tissue. True, every part of the body contained magic, but the muscle had nearly twice as much as per weight anywhere else.
Staining the cells with as many different treatments as she knew of and had invented, Kupo was bordering on a medical revolution. The ability to look at tissues in detail, see the disease causing organisms, and even culture them, was hugely important for the ever lasting fight against illness.
But here in the heart of the Iris Clan, Kupo was working to tease out the secrets behind the ability to cast magic at all. When she had asked for biopsies of muscle tissue from the Iris, they had first looked at her askance. When she explained what she was trying to find, they had fallen over themselves to provide samples.
Trust the Iris to chase after every possible thing that could lead to 'more power'.
What she was trying to puzzle out here was what made the tissues of the highly trained Iris different, compared to the alchemists in Minmay or even the untrained civilian population. The new overcharge based training program had not yielded the same benefits with those people who did not traced their maternal descent from the Tsarians. Kupo had acquired all sorts of stains of healthy muscle tissue from people from the First and people from the Tsar and there was little to show for her efforts.
No, what she was hoping to see different was in Yan's biopsy, he had undergone the greatest amount of expansion in magic power after all. From the admittedly inaccurate blood tests, Yan's body contained close to twenty or thirty percent greater in magic density per volume than the Minmay alchemists.
The various slides passed under her microscope to date had not yielded any secrets so far, but Kupo was confident of this one. The green dye showed little grains within blood cells, with long ropy bits in muscle tissue, and Cato's samples had contained half the number of anyone else's. It was little to go on but this dye was the only one that had shown such major differences that did not eventually trace back to one disease or another. Kupo still had no idea what the things were and Cato was no help either.
The slide came into focus and Kupo blinked.
That was unexpected. She quickly sketched her observations and pulled out the notebook, flipping to the pages from two months ago. Before the overcharge training program, Yan's cells had far less grains and ropes. Kupo's new slide was much greener.
Perhaps she was on to something.
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The New Deal
> A week ago, in the neutral ground of the Iris Clan, Chancellor Minmay met with King Ektal to create a New Deal for Minmay.
>
> All readers know the conflicts with the previous Chancellor Duport. This inter-regional fighting claimed the lives of many Guards and cost ammunition that could have been used to protect us from the monsters.
>
> Our Chancellor's agreement with the capital is called the New Deal due to the widespread changes that will affect every person in the Minmay Region. To this end, the Chancellor has engaged our paper to spread the news across the entirety of the Minmay Region!
>
> Having recognized the effective independence of the Minmay Region, both economically and militarily, the King has granted Chancellor Minmay special dispensation to conduct affairs in the region as he sees fit.
>
> Local nobles, town mayors and unlanded nobility titles will, in the future, be under the control of the Chancellor's office. Minmay will be able to more closely monitor the nobles and ensure harmony across the region.
>
> Furthermore, Minmay Region will be able to set its own laws, as well as a tax rate on goods and services provided to the rest of the country.
>
> To our brave Minmay Guards! The King himself has recognized your strength! As part of the deal, after the return of the Northern Expedition, the Minmay Guards will form the core of the National Defence Force of the entire country. This force, a collective defence of all people in our country against the monsters, will be the shield that ensures your safety! Our beloved Knights will thus take up the role of the law that our Guards currently perform.
>
> To that end, Minmay city will sell to the Kingdom first, the weapons, supplies and magic that the defence forces require. Your brothers, sisters and cousins in the National Defence Force rely on your work! They fight using the weapons you make, they shoot the bullets you make and they eat the food that you cook! Your contribution to the Defence Force helps protect us all!
>
> So say to our Chancellor, the brave men and women in the Guard and the King of our fair country... This is our New Deal! This is our future!
Special Broadsheet, Addressed To The Region,
On Request of the Chancellor,
The Minmay Newspaper
Bringing you the latest news; on time, every time!
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Ektal Letters
> King calls for Biyearly Noble Summit early! Minmay Region granted limited independence!
>
> Having seen the instability caused past fighting in the Minmay Region, and the efforts of its Chancellor to regain political legitimacy, our King has seen fit to grant the Minmay Region greater regional authority to help prevent the past problems from happening again.
>
> Minmay will have the power to set internal laws, set taxes and appoint lower nobility, as long as the country is informed of changes. This state of affairs will last until the Chancellor forms a regional government to take over the duties that the Chancellor cannot perform alone.
>
> The King informs us all that this is both a recognition of Minmay's efforts as well as his achievements. All know that Minmay city has expanded rapidly and quickly due to the University. Part of this agreement is for Minmay to establish an equivalent institution in our capital which is hoped to bring the wealth and arts of the brightest jewel in the Ektal Crown to ever greater heights!
>
> The Minmay Guards, now that they are no longer needed to fight the previous Duport's aggressions, have been recognized for their courage and service against the zombies at Fort Yang and at Wendy's Fort. From here on, the Minmay Guards have been recognized formally as part of the National Defence Force of all Ektal!
>
> To address this major change in affairs, King Ektal has called for the nobles of the country to gather for the Noble Summit six months early. In these tumultuous times, the great movers of our society must come together to discuss how this will affect us all. Ektal Letters diligently awaits their arrival and decisions, we bring the news far and wide.
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