There were petitions to be reviewed and acted upon, but William was off visiting Theo. Sometimes he had to take a break from political maneuvering… but this time he wasn’t. He already knew what he was going to do with the petitions. He also knew what he wanted to do with them, but coating them in pitch and slapping them on lords’ faces before setting them on fire was inappropriate.

Some lords would never be happy. Even if they had more wealth and control over larger territory, the fact that they couldn’t do absolutely anything they wanted grated on them. They couldn’t get over the times where might was the absolute ruler of the land. Such memories were still fresh in most of their minds. They thought those were better days… but they were mistaken.

Because of his obsession, the Demon King had mostly left the lords to their own devices, only calling upon them for war. The freedom was what they remembered- choosing to ignore that he would completely wipe out any who disobeyed him when he did choose to give orders. Now, William was the Eternal King, and had kindly chosen not to arbitrarily kill people he didn’t like. If things really went back to the old rule by force… they would be dead. Perhaps that would happen to them anyway, since the previous examples hadn’t gotten through to them.

Not that all of the lords were bad. In fact, a majority of them were content with the power they had and appreciated the improved economy. One of them really liked trains. Possibly too much, but it was nice to have someone who contributed so much to improving the transportation system.

“Alright Theo,” William asked, “How are things going?”

Over the years, Theo had grown into an adult- and he would look pretty much the same for an indeterminate period of time. Forever was impractical, but at least until an accident happened. They was in a position where there were many more dangers- but only if proper precautions weren’t taken. Dangerous lab accidents were at an all time low with his help. “Well, things are… going.” Theo shrugged, “I don’t have anything to do with the train operations anymore. Mostly I just plan out things I already know are possible and set people to work on them. Oh, wait, come look at this!” He motioned William over to one corner of the lab. “Recognize this?”

“Umm… it’s an engine?”

“Yeah, but what kind of engine?”

William shrugged, “A combustion engine? I’ve seen a bunch of these lately.”

Theo wagged his finger. “No no no, look closer. There’s something special about it.”

William looked closer. There were a bunch of bits and pieces. Cylinders. Fuel intake. Not much to say, really. “I mean, we haven’t used this style much but I thought we had something similar? Except…” William frowned, “This one doesn’t have any magic.”

“That’s right!” Theo grinned, “It pure tech! It took a lot more careful engineering of the components and-”

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“William!” When he turned to see who called out to him, William was met with the blue face of his sister, Sarah. “I see Theo’s showing you his pet project? Did he mention it’s less than half as efficient as a magic engine?”

“I-I was getting there.” Theo cleared his throat. “A-anyway, its an e-example of non-magic engineering. S-so even people who can’t use magic could re-replicate it.” Theo stammered through his explanation, “It’s not much good for g-gevai but I thought maybe… humans could… use it.” He cleared his throat again and took a deep breath, “And it’s made out of more common materials! It just takes… extra precise machining… which is pretty expensive right now. B-but I’m sure efficiency will improve! In the years to come!”

“The dwarves might like it as well,” William nodded, then turned toward Sarah, “I missed you last time I visited here. Have you… heard anything from Stefan?”

Sarah shook her head, “Not much. He said he was trying to start up an independent research firm, but he didn’t say where. “

William shook his head, “Does he think I’ll kill him or something? It’s not like I wanted our parents to… Well, at least he’s fine.”

“Yeah…” Sarah sighed, “He’s not in favor of the nobles in general, and you sort of represent that idea… even if you butt heads with them all the time. Well, I have work to get to… maybe we can meet up for lunch?”

“Sure,” William nodded. As she walked off, he turned back to Theo, “So, anything else?”

Theo shrugged, “Hmm, not really. Everything should have been in the reports. The trainyard on the border with Ostana is making good progress. It’ll be the first international rail line… though maybe Ustil would have beat us to it if they had better terrain. It’ll only be a couple years before the line from Liaoyang connects up to Domaro. Assuming they don’t have a civil war before then.”

“I’m betting on a big one, though I wouldn’t mind if they just settled their differences peacefully.” William stroked his chin, “Nobody’s going to ask for our help if there are any problems though. Too bad. And Eclea is still being isolationist. So anyway about Sarah-”

“Hmm? What? I, uh…” Theo looked around nervously, “I haven’t been thinking about… she’s your sister, and I’m technically much older, and um…”

“Relax.” William’s voice wasn’t just a suggestion, but a command. Theo needed all the help he could get. “Look, I’m not going to tell you what to do, if anything. Let me just say this… she can make her own choices. Also, in a couple dozen years your age difference will be irrelevant. Maybe even already. She’s already a few dozen years old, you know? At some point age matters less. Do you know how much older than me Lorelei is?”

“No?” Theo tilted his head. “I don’t think I do.”

“I don’t either.” William shrugged, “Just that it’s… a heck of a lot. There might be a few issue to work out, but that will be true of any relationship.” William shrugged, “And maybe it will go nowhere but sometimes that happens. I would suggest not rushing into things.”

“W-what if she doesn’t like me?”

“Then she’d say that. Then you can get over her and everything will be fine.” William patted Theo on the shoulder, “You’re not a bad guy, even if your feelings are blatantly obvious. I’m sure you’ll find someone else even if things don’t work out.”

“T-they are? You think s-she might have noticed?”

“Are you kidding?” William raised an eyebrow, “You don’t stutter at all anymore except in the context of her. Women notice that kind of thing.”

“D-do you think I should wait before going to talk to her?”

“Depends on how much you’ve actually thought about things. Are you prepared to face whatever happens?” William shrugged, “Besides it’s not like she’s going to throw a fireball at you.”

“Does anyone do that?”

“Lila… Headmistress Lorenz has been known to do that, in the past.”

Theo nodded slowly, “Oh, I can see that, yeah.”

William clapped Theo on the shoulder one last time, “Anyway... think about things, don’t rush, and make a decision that will make people happier in the long run.”