“Slowly, hold tight, comrades. Here we go.”

A few days after the journey in the forest and the exhausting mountain climbing, the Latilian Army is now standing on the rocky Eastern Liston Plateau.

There is no idea why this particular place has the “Eastern” in its name, because the County of Liston is a solid flat area occupied by only highland, so a separation between East and West is absolutely unnecessary. In fact, there is no clear line to distinguish the Eastern and the Western Plateau from one another. Although people said that Liston, the town that is the heart of the County, is the point where the two regions draw the line, that explanation hardly convinced Aurora. Who uses a city to separate geological regions anyway? They can be moved, or be demolished, using those as landmarks can be very confusing.

Letting that aside, the plateau is truly something else compared to the Meadow.

“Like traveling to a whole ‘nother world.”

Despite the minor elevation from the vast plain down below, the climate of Liston dramatically transfers from humid maritime to dry continental, added extra by light breezes flow from the far away ocean to the desert upfront. This makes the weather in the plateau fairly cold and lacking in life, in contrast to the lively meadow and the dry desert bordering it from both sides.

And, as the description earlier, the plateau is rocky, the surface is covered in layers of endless stones, sights of soil can rarely be seen, and so do plants and animals, thus agriculture here is underdeveloped. There is no valuable resource in this region either as to make this poor area even more desperate. Liston is, truly, just a buffer zone between Latila and Carthagia, holding no other value than that.

All of that, plus the difficulties when trying to access this county from the prosperous Voyage, made the population here the fourth lowest in the continent even before the war began. Standing at ten thousand people scattering around an area the size of Israel, it would be hard to see any person here, much less receiving support from them.

They are on their own.

“Well, whatever.”

There is nothing to do here at least until they’ve reached Liston, so Aurora pulls out the two Holy Bibles and puts them side by side.

One of them being the Christian New Testament written in Russian of her old world, the other being the Kristian Collective Bible written in Latin she brought from Gerald. The two books combined weight half of Aurora’s belonging, which is quite an impressive thing to speak about:

“What is the book there?”

Some of her companions, including Belisari and Lily while looking back, asked about the Christian book, they know about the Collective (obviously, all people here except the fliers are Kristians, even then their religion also be included in their Bible), but not the New Testament. But, saying that she is comparing the two books about their contents might result in blasphemy and banishment, so:

“Just checking the translation, I am not sure if the version written in my hometown language is wrong or not.”

Luckily, the excuse works because her book is in Russian, not Latin or Greek, which both of them have a huge number of speakers in this world.

And why are there Latin and Greek here anyway? This is not supposed to happen. Perhaps the answer lies between pages of these books. Aurora flips a page, then two five seconds later. Her reading speed is so high everybody else thought she was jumping pages:

“What a person…”

Uttered Belisari, admiring such dedication the girl poured into those pages.

Though, he himself meanwhile is dedicated as well, not for the same job, but for brewing a hot drink for the men using a device called “On-road stabilized enclosed pocket kitchen” made by Aurora. It might not be as holy as a girl reading the Bibles, and his tool relies on the girl mentioned earlier, his act however, as seen by his comrades, is much more noble:

“Thank you, never thought one day Your Royal Highness would serve us hot coffee.”

Some of the fellow Marines and the pioneer cavalry were surprised by this act, they didn't mind having a warm cup of coffee though.

“It’s a normal thing to do.”-The Archprince humbly pours some into the empty cups-“Thank Aurora for the kitchen, Ma’am Liliya for suggesting me to do this and the daring Vinecians for the coffee beans, I am just a brewer.”

“We do appreciate your generosity, Your Highness.”

“Calling me Belisari is fine.”

The coffee is most pleasing.

But treating the Marines like this is so unfair for the others. Thus, far away, at the place of the regular troops and the calvary, the Cathedraller Knights with few other kitchens were tasked with heating up pumpkin pies and sharing them between the troops. The common soldiers, upon receiving the gift from the commanders, feel joy and gladly dine on their feet. This small celebration after the mountain climbing lifted the spirit of the army as they continued to march forward.

In this altitude, the smell of coffee and pies floats, trailing behind the caravan as they carve their way on the hard soil.

“How long will it take for an army to march to Liston, do you remember, Liliya?”

While still on track, the commanders continue to talk about the upcoming plans:

“Let me guess…”

As daughter of the previous Archduke of Voyage, Lily has paid a visit to several fortresses before. The Granisus line, the O’well frontier, and Liston as well, as it is the furthest east fortress of the country. Accounting on the Archduchess’s blurry memory, a trip from Voyage to Liston should take:

“A week for carriages at casual speed, so around a week and a half on foot at fast pace. We’ve spent a week on the road, so a few days left, maybe four.”

Or around 80 kilometers for the sake of distance. Not a long trip, but quite challenging for this environment. Not to mention at night, the plateau’s elevation makes this place quite cold, comparable to Latila’s winter, yet little woods to make campfires.

“Heating is a big problem.”

To help over nine thousand troops keep warm is not an easy task, for sure. They might have to use reserve fuel-

“I think I can help.”

Suddenly Aurora pokes her head out of the blue, though she was reading?

“I can help with heating. This will slow our marching speed a bit as it cuts the time for marching each day, but if you insist, then may you let me try?”

Okay, this is out of their plan:

“May you further elaborate?”

“Well, first of all, you know that air is important for the burning process, right?”

“Definitely, we know a thing or two about blacksmith despite not being one. They use an air pump to blow air into the furnace to enhance the fire, thus melting the metal into dense liquid.”

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“I was a blacksmith before.”-A Marine interferes suddenly, revealing his former job-”Burning logs alone hardly melt iron and gold, even for dried logs, coal is not cheap…so we tend to use many men to blow the air in for smelting. Are you trying to say that we should apply the same method to yield as much heat as possible?”

“Nice guessing.”

The war doctor closes her books:

“But no, we will do the reverse. Say, blacksmith guy, do you have to constantly add fuel into the furnace as it burns?”

“For sure, yes, that’s how it works.”

“Yes, using them like that only makes the wood burn out faster, the drier and more air dense the wood is, the faster they go out. In this scenario, the method is deemed worthless, we need not a very hot pot that lasts for an hour at best, we need something that lasts long.”

“Are you saying that…”

Belisari might’ve snapped out what Aurora was about to say:

“We use fresh logs and burn in low air, so it burns slower and longer?”

“Ding Ding! Correct, we have to build a chamber to keep the oxygen level low, at the same time heatening the wall with the highest efficiency possible. We will then have a basic heater for an entire army to use. Do I forgot to mention that they produce smoke as well? You can use it to smoke hunted meat…”

“What the heck is oxygen level?”-The blacksmith Marine feels dumb-”I swear I don’t even understand half of the words she says.”

“Me neither, but I gotta admit that Aurora is bright-minded and knowledgeable. If she found a company or something and used her knowledge to run the business, most blacksmiths and merchants would lose their customers overnight…”

“Are you even listening?”

“Yes, I am. Please continue with the explanation.”

“Okay then, we do have mining tools and specialists, right?”

Among the crews, there is a team consisting of two hundred workers hired from the mines across Latila. Their role is to clean up the path for the army to march over, and is also useful for resource gathering as well:

“I need them to collect stones and build a structure like a furnace, but with a narrow air entrance. The rest I will do.”

**

“Fwah…”

What a cozy feeling, when you gather with your comrades around a hot outdoor heater.

All around the camp, hundreds of columns of smoke rise up into the cold air, emitted from the exact same number of furnaces the mining team built according to Aurora’s blueprint for the sake of keeping warm. Underneath those clouds of black smoke, the men are having a good time in their life, smoking meat hunted from a few mountain goats scattered along their path:

“Soup here.”

To make the morale better, the top of some furnaces were made using flat stone, allowing the former chefs in the army to show their cooking skills. Several days in the Meadow wood provided them with plenty of spices and ingredients that was sealed carefully in Aurora’s airless barrels for preservation, making the meal expand in both quantities and quality:

“What a nice sight to see on an expedition.”

In fact, extraordinary, they are probably the firsts to ever cross the plateau with such optimism. In this land where even rats hardly choose to make home, an entire army of nine thousand holding a feast is a miraculous achievement:

“I agree. I never thought I would ever see this in Liston.”

Saying Lily watching them from afar, taking a freshly cigarette up to her mouth. The air is still breezy enough for a smoke, especially those who want to be just with her friend tonight:

“Want one?”

The Archduchess hands the Prince a box with a single cigarette left:

“You know what, maybe just this one. Just a try.”

Taking the cigarette from the box, Belisari put it into his mouth.

Unlike Earth’s cigarettes, those things here had no such modern treatment for the smoke. This also means that for the whole time, what Lily was smoking was closer to a cigar than an actual cigarette. Poor treatment, plus the leaves are still at their purest form, those cigarettes are far deadlier than Earth’s deadliest modern day equivalents:

“I heard that people who smoke will die early in their life”-Lily began-”They will suffer diseases in their lungs, they cough blood, their muscles will be loosened…What a terrible way to end a life, isn’t it? Maybe if I could redo my life, I would choose to stay away from these things.”

“Then why do you keep on smoking?”

“All those I mentioned are fine for me, I don’t plan to live any further than forty. I don’t care how I die either. Also…I am addicted, I can’t keep myself concentrated without those.”

The Archduchess clearly displays a regret, based on her voice:

“What about me then? Are you trying to pull me down the hole with you?”

“Maybe, perhaps I want you to die with me. I don’t want to be alone in heaven. Come closer- ah.”

Lily lit up her cigarette using a flint, but before she could lit Belisari’s cigarette, the fire was put out by a cold breeze. As the shards of flint extinguish their light, Lily laments:

“Sorry, let me-egh?”

!!!

Before the Archduchess has had any chance to relit the flint, Belisari, holding his unlit cigarette in his mouth, presses it into Lily’s.

!!!

No word was said between the two.

The light from the lit cigarette spread to the unlit, burning them both heads into ashes. Until then, the Prince withdrawal his cigarette from the friend that is manifesting a reddish on her cheeks:

“Ah”-Belisari reasoning-”I don’t want to wait for you to light up the fire again, so…”

“I…I…I understand…but that is…quite sudden…You were quite bold there…”

“Sorry…”

(Though it was worth it, seeing her in such a face.)

**

Humming

While all of that is happening, a girl is isolating herself in her own tent. She does feel hunger, and wants to join the fun outside with the soldiers, but there is a much more important thing that draws all of her attention to it. Burying herself into the notes on the two Bibles, Aurora found many odds in the records:

“The timeline is consistent…some maybe…around here…”

Each discovery came with a line on the books:

“Some can be deemed straight up unrealistic…while just a small portion of them are…possible with higher tech. Can I assume both worlds develop parallelly?”

“Excuse me ma’am Aurora.”

Just as Aurora thought of an interesting theory, in the middle of the thinking, however, someone intruded her private area:

Gun grabbing “Halt!”

Upon hearing the movement, the girl, with a very professional movement as if she was an expert combatant, summons a pistol on her right hand and points the weapon at the intruder, giving a warning. But to her surprise, it was a man from the Knights Cathedraller, on his hands bringing a bowl of hot soup:

“Whoa whoa…hold your fire. I am friendly, no worries. Just here to bring you dinner. You haven’t eaten, right?”

“Uhm…yeah.”

Taking a closer look, the man is a pastor, as his attire and the silver cross on his waist belt showed. He is young too, probably around 20-23. Before Aurora can react though, the man places down her dinner aside and approaches:

“Is that the Bible in your language?”-he asks, looking at the Russian New Testament, to which Aurora denies-”Not really my first language, but the language of where I was born. My mother tongue is Gree- Grecolatin.”

“Glad, I do too speak the language. Not many people speak it, only Her Grace, His Royal Highness, a dozen more people I know speak it. Such a shame, the language of King Konstantine being forgotten like this, such a disgrace for his deeds.”

“King Konstantine…the founder of the Kingdom, I heard…”

“Yes. He who rebuilt the city of Remes into the city of Latila and granted it the banner of Four Betas.”

The banner of Four Betas of the House of Latila. But there is another House with four Betas on their banners.

“Wait! Then-”

Something snapped out in the girl’s mind:

“I have…some theories.”-Aurora says in a whisper, then turns around-”Pastor, I want to ask you for a favor. I want to…convert into a Kristian. I want to know more about Kristianity, of its history and values. May you educate me about the book?”

Aside from that, there is another reason, but that should be kept only to herself:

“Missionary is a part of my job, ma’am. I suppose I ought to help guide a lost child back to the grace of our Lord.”

The pastor agrees easily-”Great!”-Aurora delights-”I’m looking forward to your lessons. Now come to think of it, may I know your name?”

“Pastor Daniel Borei of the Order of Soldiers of Crossroad Pilgrims and of Montgilsard Cathedral. Nice to meet you, Aurora.”