In the end, however, only one out of the four provided Datapoints contained readable data.
Lightly shaking his head at the sight of the cluster of glaring red particles swirling above the projection table, Meteos then let out a faint sigh before ejecting the final exhibit from the reader device. After failing on the first and succeeding in obtaining a passing grade on the second one, the last two Datapoints' readings revealed severe data corruption, leaving nothing useful to be extracted.
Nevertheless, even a single, coherent piece of information would be a treasure trove for the MOASEC researchers. Their understanding of the Ravernal Empire could be said to be still in its infancy, and any new data, no matter how limited, could be a crucial puzzle piece. That's why, along with other reasons, Meteos wasn't too disappointed, although he did feel bad for his eager colleagues.
"...Oh well, as much as this isn't ideal, I think it's to be expected given how ancient those fragile-looking things are," Legiel airily remarked amidst the air of disappointment that filled the meeting room after their poor luck.
Ashera sitting beside him gave an exaggerated shrug with a begrudging look on her face.
"Yeah... I get it. That doesn't make it any less lame, though. Now those things are just glorified paperweights," she grumbled.
The guests, Princess Lugiel and her companion Matoya, looked more composed but couldn't completely hide their somber feelings.
"We do still have many such Datapoints stored in the Ancient Ministry," Lugiel spoke up. Her gaze swept across the room, meeting the eyes of each person in turn. "It's just given the state of the ones we've examined... I fear that the likelihood of finding readable data in half, or even a quarter of them, is a real possibility."
Matoya agreed. "The recovery teams do encounter these Datapoints in random places. It's quite possible that those in more exposed locations suffered greater damage."
Meteos shrugged.
"Don't worry about it too much. It's not like Datapoints are the sole data storage devices the Light-Winged People used," he said in a reassuring tone. "They are but enlarged 'memory cards' the guys at Aikon are developing. There are also ancient computers and other storage mediums that the Ancient Ministry has yet to analyze or even find."
Ace, who had been observing the scene without saying a word since the first viewing, finally decided to open his mouth and address his younger brother.
"Then, are we going to just toss those corrupted devices aside?"
Catching the intention behind Ace's words, a small smile tugged at the corners of Meteos' mouth. "Actually, no," he replied calmly. "It's possible to attempt recovery on corrupted data. Depending on the extent of the damage, we might be able to salvage some more information."
Lugiel blinked in surprise. "Oh. So you can do that."
"Yes, Your Highness," Meteos nodded, placing his hand on the reader device. "You have my word that the Mark 2 of this device will be able to do that."
"If that's the case, why didn't you mention this earlier?" Matoya asked.
"I know, curious, isn't it?" Meteos quipped with a tilt of his head. "This reader device was created based on the Ancient Ministry's official requirement, right? The demonstration and the device are meant to show that the device works to 'the world outside the White Lotus.'"
Having fulfilled the minimum requirement of his official workplace, the White Lotus Leader was saving the full potential of his future visions for their covert activities.
"Heh. You are quite the stingy one, White Lotus Leader," the elven princess chuckled, a bit sarcastically with the rolling of her eyes.
"Guilty as charged."
Turning his attention back to the reader device, Meteos' voice took on a more serious tone as he continued.
"...Anyway, if there is anything that even my future visions can't illuminate, I will tell you about it."
"Hm. Then, if there are no more issues, the next step would be handing the device over to the Ancient Ministry researchers. Robin and Arthur will help in that regard."
"Yes."
With the matter regarding the demonstration concluded, Meteos proceeded to switch the topic.
"Now, on to a different matter... We've made significant progress on many fronts, but after the first report around one month ago, the intel on what's really happening down south remains woefully lacking," he prefaced.
In other words, he was really worried about sudden, unwanted developments from the Annonrial Empire happening while he remained ignorant about them until it was too late.
A collective shift in the room's atmosphere was palpable as the boy transitioned the discussion. The light banter and air of disappointment that had previously filled the air dissipated, with even Legiel whose smug demeanor was usually a constant falling silent to listen to the White Lotus Leader.
"Given this situation, I'd say it's time for us to further expand our gains. Strengthening the Seventy's ranks is imperative," Meteos continued as he turned to the Princess. "Speaking of which, Your Highness, when is the Holy Empire planning to send another delegation to Bushpaka Latan?"
With prompting from the White Lotus collaborators in the Foreign Ministry, the Holy Empire's government adopted a policy to try and quickly conclude the discussions with Annonrial about establishing trading posts to facilitate more trade between the two countries as proposed at the last World Conference. However, since the evasive Annonrial had not given a clear response, a diplomatic delegation was organized to visit the country's diplomatic window in Bushpaka Latan to pursue the matter. Meanwhile, with the burden of carrying out the Holy Empire's technological reforms no longer resting solely on his shoulders in this Third Timeline, Meteos planned to delegate the development efforts to his siblings and hitchhike the delegation in a scheme to try expanding the White Lotus' presence in Annonrial.
Lugiel nodded at Meteos' question before replying, "It's scheduled for around the end of this year."
Meteos pursed his lips. "That's still quite a while, but we cannot afford to wait that long. But other than that, there's no precedent of someone from the Holy Empire visiting that island independently in the modern era. The visits have been strictly diplomatic."
"Are you concerned that deviating from this could be viewed as intruding?"
"Yeah. Zarathostra of the Messiah is already wary of the Holy Empire's movements. For now, making such a blatant move will potentially worsen the situation."
"If you can't go directly to Bushpaka Latan, you might start by strengthening the White Lotus' foothold elsewhere, then," Adonis remarked, eliciting nods from his siblings.
"In that case, the alternative is..." Matoya trailed off, glancing at Meteos with a concerned look.
The boy himself swiped his hand over the projection table, idly commanding for a world map to appear. He then zoomed in and highlighted the three islands located between the First Civilization Area and the Southern World in a vibrant medium-pink hue with a slightly purplish tone.
"The Gynamo Kingdom," Ashera read the label aloud.
"This place is where one of the Seventy is currently operating as a spy from his country, his name is Dagded Dujardin," Meteos explained.
"Yes. The informant who is in contact with our Zelmoda branch and works to pass intel about Annonrial's real face to us," Lugiel supplemented.
With furrowed brows, Rachel Giles asked for clarification, "Is it just him who belonged to the Seventy over there? No one else?"
Meteos nodded. "Correct. Apart from him, the only other person with broader access than the rest is Karl Krunch. But even then, there's not much sensitive information a senior diplomatic officer is privy to. The rest of the Seventy were just ordinary crew drafted from Bushpaka Latan. The people of Annonrial see being sent to this island as pretty much a form of exile by the regime, and they're not entirely wrong."
The White Lotus was fortunate to cross paths with Dagded during the World Conference, where he was serving as an Intelligencer attached to the Annonrial delegation. However, there's only so much a single person can achieve, especially under the constant threat of being exposed and executed as a traitor to the Annonrial regime.
"Let us make Mr. Dujardin's burden easier," Meteos leaned back and crossed his arms. "Therefore, I'm thinking of using the free period before the Exam's Tournament Phase to pay Gynamo a visit and pull the same feat as what we did in the previous World Conference."
"For how long?"
"Hm... Based on Mr. Dujardin's intel and given the need to maintain appearances, I believe I will need a week to execute the plan," Meteos stated.
There was also an option to withdraw from the Imperial Board's Exam and try again next year in order to focus on his White Lotus work, but now that Meteos Roguerider had progressed to such an extent with his baffling performance during the opening stage, carrying the expectations of the Ancient Ministry and everyone else with him, it seemed that such an option no longer became an option. It seemed that this boy still believed that he didn't need to sacrifice anything as long as he played his cards right. Reflecting on this, Legiel chuckled to himself.
Glancing at the Princess, the blonde-haired elf seemed to be pondering something herself and exchanging glances with her companion Matoya before turning her attention back to Meteos.
"...In that case, White Lotus Leader, extend your mission time by one more week," she called out, softly but firmly. "On my part, I'll see that the Imperial Board extends the free period to a full two months. That way, Meteos Roguerider will have enough time to rest and recuperate."
"Oh, Your Highness is very generous..."
The Princess returned the boy's wry smile with a proud chuckle.
"Engineering convenience is the Order of the Ancients' specialty for generations."
"Bet."
Meteos turned to Adonis, Cyrus, and Ace, who had been largely quiet throughout the meeting. In particular, his gaze lingered on Cyrus, who hadn't spoken even a word since the meeting began.
"Is there anything else to add?"
His eldest brother was the first to respond.
"The White Lotus Leader seems to have the things planned out, so I'll just defer to the directives. Just make sure to be mindful of your own well-being, Fifth Brother," Adonis plainly remarked.
"Same here."
Still quiet, Cyrus simply nodded in agreement.
"If that's all, I thank you for your time," Meteos stood up, concluding today's session.
When Lugiel returned with Meteos' Datapoint reader device, she handed it over to the Illustrator and a group he formed to feast upon the precious resource shown to them by the White Lotus Leader's 'future visions.' The flow goes like this: after this White Lotus-collaborating group completed their analysis, the secrecy level would be lowered to the Order of the Ancients level, handled by Magister Enepsigos the Revealer. After that, downgraded further to the MOASEC Secret Department level before being disseminated to the regular Ministry members and the government before finally to the Holy Empire's general public.
As usual, for thousands of years, the Holy Milishial Empire has operated while putting up layers upon layers of façade not only for foreigners but even for its own citizens. What's one more layer to the whole conspiracy? At least it provided the reincarnator with all the help he can get with almost no backlash as long as it's managed right.
----------------------------------------
September 26, 1616 Central Calendar; Morning
This Monday marked the approach of the fourth week of the first semester in the Holy Milishial Empire. The bustle during the early days of the new academic year had given way to a more concentrated environment, with students old and new progressing further into their studies in their new classes and the myriad of initial emotions about returning to school starting to subside.
Kaios Ashmeyer van Deventer is a boy belonging to a lineage tied to the inhabitants of the Parpaldia Empire's oldest colony, a native of a civilization area just a step above being labeled as savage by nations of the known world. Yet, fate somehow granted him the opportunity to receive an education in said realm's most powerful nation. As a result, he now stands as one of the youngest second-year students at the High School Department of the Runepolis Magic Academy, an institution that happened to be among the most prestigious not only in said country's capital but across the entire Middle Lands.
It was Monday morning. However, despite the fact that it was time when a high school student like Kaios was supposed to go to school, here he was, seated in a plush armchair while the scent of freshly baked pastries and a certain brew of tea signature of his benefactor's household wafted around him.
"Thank you very much for inviting me to your house, Meteos."
"Make yourself comfortable. You've got nothing to do in your apartment anyway, right?" the silver-haired friend of his lightly waved his hand.
As they talked, seamlessly linking even the most random of topics to pass the time, one of the household's maids, a young woman not much older than Kaios, with slightly freckled pale skin and short brown hair, approached the trio with a tray laden with more pastries and a porcelain teapot.
"Do you want seconds?" she asked.
"Ah... Thank you, Mila, I think I'll have some more," Kaios replied with a slight hesitation, but managed a smile.
"Help yourself, then."
The maid returned his smile with a friendly nod and set the tray down on the low table in front of them. Compared to what the young Parpaldian often imagined about maids in rich people's residences, this maid named Mila Pedrosa spoke in a tone of voice that was a bit too casual for the role. It felt less like she was addressing Meteos as her Young Master and more like she was speaking to a friend.
Sitting with Meteos Roguerider and Walman Falkenhausen who were also enjoying their snacks this morning, Kaios couldn't help but conclude that within just a year, he had finally become something of an oddball himself.
After sipping the white dragon bush tea, Kaios blurted out without thinking. "—It still feels like I'm skipping class."
"'Feels like skipping class,' he said..." Walman snorted with a pastry halfway to his mouth.
Kaios couldn't quite decide the intent behind his hushed tone. But with his ears hearing it, the blonde quickly replied, just in case.
"Well, sorry..."
While his two friends proceeded to exchange light banters commenting on the situation they were in, the Young Master of the household merely listened and observed them from the sidelines in silence while occasionally bringing a random confectionary into his mouth.
That's until Walman tried to drag his silver-haired friend in.
"Hey, Meteos."
"—Leave me out of it..."
"Oh, come on, can you do something about this guy?"
Kaios, who had been trying quietly nibble on a pastry, looked scandalized at the brunette's words.
"My man's acting like we're doing something illegal, sitting here and chilling," Walman continued, pointing his thumb at the Parpaldian who looked like he'd just got caught pilfering something from a convenience store. "Look at him."
Instead, Meteos first regarded Walman with a pointed look.
"Fine then, first of all, let's stop bothering Kaios, okay?" he sighed, before turning to the other boy. "And you... once again, it's already a regulation from above, so it's there's nothing wrong with it. Just... try getting used to it."
"Right, right, right! Yesterday's announcement from the Imperial Board! The free time before the Exam's next phase has been extended to the entirety of the next month because they wanted to finalize some issues!" Walman snapped his fingers, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. "Who would've thought, huh? We're basically on an extended vacation."
As informed before, the participants of the Imperial Board's Exam who had passed the first phase like the three of them were given one and a half months before the next phase started. While this break was officially intended to allow participants to prepare, it was also a common practice for them to use this time to unwind in their own ways. This was made possible by government regulations that granted participants a dispensation during this period.
Kaios had passed the Exam's Qualification Phase. To himself, it was a feat in itself to score a passing grade considering his modest origins. As a result, the Runepolis Magic Academy granted him an exemption from attending classes until the end of the exam period, as per the regulations set forth by the government. Meteos and Walman, having skipped many grades and secured positions at the Ancient Ministry, were also enjoying a similar break from their jobs. Despite their differing circumstances, they all ended up in the same boat this time.
Meteos nodded with a sense of satisfaction at their situation, but for quite a different reason.
"Vacation, huh... that sounds about right."
Finishing the rest of his tea and crossing his arms with a contemplative look crossing his face, Meteos murmured in a voice audible to his two friends.
"I don't suppose you two have some sort of vacation plan before the main event, do you?"
Walman hummed. "Oh, actually, my dad mentioned something about a family trip. Said it'd be nice to spend some time just between the family now that I've got this extra break."
"I... haven't really thought about it that much," Kaios admitted with a sheepish chuckle. "But actually, my father said that he's going to plan a visit to Runepolis."
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
"Oh. That's wonderful news. You must've looking forward to it, huh?" Walman commented with raised eyebrows.
"Ehehe..."
"It's always nice to spend some quality time with family."
And so, while his friends were anticipating vacations and family reunions, Meteos alone was preparing for a task that would take him far from home.
The distraction had been set: the White Lotus Leader had requested that William Falkenhausen distract his son during his absence, a task that Walman's father had readily agreed to. A similar arrangement had been made with the Good Duke, Annette's father. And now, with Kaios confirming what his collaborators in Parpaldia reported about Ashmeyer van Deventer planning to visit the Holy Empire, the pieces were falling into place with an almost uncanny precision. It was a happy coincidence that he was eager to capitalize on.
'If he can just accept us for who we are, he wouldn't have been so lonely and I won't have to do this... The Messiah's machinations are going to tear these tender moments apart if he's allowed to come to us all...'
Once again, Zarathostra of the Messiah and his incompatible justice came to his mind...
Ignorant of Meteos' suddenly somber train of thought, Walman picked up another pastry and wiggled it at his silver-haired friend as he pointed at him.
"Now, what about you, Meteos?"
"Dad's planning a business trip to the Gynamo Kingdom next week, and I asked him to accompany him," Meteos readily answered.
The brunette snorted at that.
"Huh, a business trip. Can't say I'm shocked if you're going to be 'busy' too."
"Give me a break. At least I'm finally going to go abroad like my older siblings."
"What are you even going to do over there, collecting shellfish on some random island country?"
"You do your thing, I'll do mine, Walman," Meteos huffed.
"Eh, fair enough."
Kaios looked curiously at Walman. "Aren't you interested in going abroad too, Walman? I mean, if you had the chance..."
The boy considered it for a moment, then shook his head with a lopsided grin. "Maybe if there are things that are interesting enough..."
"Hee... I wonder what Walman sees as interesting."
"Steel battleships, more likely," Meteos quipped. "Mu has those."
"Too much smoke..."
"So picky, make your own, then."
"Hey! You do your thing, I'll do mine. Right back at you, Meteos."
Meteos smirked. "Touché."
Eyeing Walman for a moment, the silver-haired boy then blurted, "...Just don't miss me while I'm away or something."
With his expression immediately turning deadpan at Meteos' words, Walman sniffed and nudged Kaios with his elbow, unironically repeating his earlier gesture.
"—Kaios, look at this guy..."
Feeling the flow of the conversation shifted yet again with the two's antics, the blonde Parpaldian let out a hearty laugh.
…………
As he entertained his guests and issued directives to the White Lotus in preparation for his upcoming absence, the following week unfolded without complications. And thus, on the early morning of the first day of October, the time has come for Meteos Roguerider to venture outside the Middle Lands for the first time in his new timeline. In addition to the seemingly arbitrary nature of Meteos' decision and the equally random choice of destination, the journey lacked the fanfare typically associated with a vacation, making it feel rather underwhelming for a supposed milestone in a child's life.
----------------------------------------
October 1, 1616 Central Calendar; 19:00
Eyes of the Order, Holy Milishial Empire
That evening on the day of Meteos' departure, Adonis, Legiel, and Ace convened yet another meeting session with Princess Lugiel and two of her entourage in Magister Sorath's office somewhere in the Holy Milishial Empire. The Rogueriders took their seats on the sofas opposite the desk across the room where Lugiel was accompanied by a standing Matoya, while the sizable space between them was now occupied by a newly added magical 3D holographic projector. Roughly the size of a stool and shaped like a truncated pyramid with connection ports on all four of its faces and a pad to control it, it was essentially a portable form of the projection table equipped with its own battery, whose design clashed heavily with the office's classical library décor like a sunflower in a slaughterhouse.
None seemed to mind the murder on the established aesthetic, however, especially one blonde-haired man better known by his epithet the Illustrator, who took an immediate liking to it over the old 'magic lantern-style' 2D projector that had been in use for so long.
Connecting it with another Cauldron-manufactured Datapoint reader device based on the design prepared by Meteos, the Illustrator inserted a functioning Datapoint that showed the meeting participants a globe of planet Ars Goetia as it looked like during the Second Epoch. In particular, the man's review this time focused on a landmass roughly equivalent to the Central World occupying the space between the known world and another continent far to the east.
In the current Epoch, this place should be filled with nothing but water. However, it used to be the place the Light-Winged People call home amidst this unforgiving world.
Latistor Continent of the Ravernal Empire. The myth, the villain, the Audience's latest victim yet.
"—To summarize what we've learned so far, the Ancient Sorcerous Empire's mainland could be said to be a massive continent-spanning city that was repeatedly targeted by their enemies' high-powered attacks, suffered from destruction and had their mainland reduced to ash each time, but after some time, the Light-Winged People managed to rebuilt while their enemy went extinct one by one. One takeaway from this is their ability to absorb such shocking losses when they have the numbers for continued force regeneration without collapsing..."
Listening to the Illustrator's summary of what they learned from the collected Datapoints so far, Ace sighed.
Continuing with his presentation, the Illustrator operated the pad to show the native species documented by the Light-Winged People, all of which were disparagingly labeled as 'Unidentified Lifeforms.' Whenever the icon of a species appeared next to another, each immediately turned bright red with a depressingly glaring EXTINCT label overlaid. Meanwhile, the projection of the winged man on the other side of the globe's projection remained and grew larger instead. Because the data was retrieved from the Datapoints they analyzed so far, the species the Ancient Sorcerous Empire defeated numbered at least a dozen.
"Furthermore, their eventual success in these wars was also attributed to a system of thorough elimination of the opposition to ensure their enemies' total eradication and obliterating any chance of their return."
With a pensive look on her face, Lugiel lifted her gaze and turned to look at the other participants.
"Given what we've learned, it seems clear that the Light-Winged People were relentless in their warfare. Do we know how many of those were initiated by them and how many were defensive?"
The Illustrator adjusted the projection to show a reconstructed timeline of the conflicts. "For now, the Light-Winged People often took a proactive stance. Many of these wars have been started by them. But I admit that our data is still lacking, it's difficult to discern the full context of each conflict solely from the Datapoints."
Lugiel nodded before asking again. "And are there any indications that there were dissenting voices within the Empire? Their mainland suffered from devastations too. Anyone who might have questioned or opposed their endless wars?"
"Hmm... there's no direct evidence in the materials, but I'm considering the possibility that there used to be dissenters that were suppressed and then expunged from the records. Such elements were considered a hindrance after all. Either that, or the Light-Winged society was uniform in its beliefs that opposition was minimal."
"Come to think of it, that latter theory is consistent with the core doctrine of Annonrial's theocracy..." Matoya mused.
It was possible that Annonrial's religion centering on the worship of a deity called the "All-Wielder," along with the national commitment to the Reclamation and the Divine Mandate to bring His creations, Man, into their proper place, may actually stem from an earlier doctrine of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire. The Seventy revealed that this was the founding ideology of Annonrial, but it was under Zarathostra's regime that the Reclamation was pushed to unprecedented levels, becoming perhaps their most significant national policy. He did style himself as the Messiah, after all.
"Justice..." Ace muttered to himself. Their ideas of justice were so incompatible that if mankind were to survive, the Ravernal Empire must go.
When the keen hearing of all other participants drew their attention to him, he continued with a louder voice. "...We should also prepare for the eventuality that they cannot be reasoned with."
Lugiel's expression grew bitter. The implication was clear.
"I know. But to be frank, I loathe it. Are we going to have no choice but to resemble the Light-Winged Devils?"
While Ace and the others shared the Princess's sentiment, Legiel chuckled in his heart.
It made sense that they would be alike. The Ravernals created mankind, after all. In their image.
Some among the Civilization Annihilation Game's Audience get their kicks from watching a season that forced two sides to play a zero-sum game, that one side cannot survive without utterly exterminating the other.
Adonis suddenly chimed in. "Do you think that if we gather enough Revival Beacons, we can prevent the Ancient Sorcerous Empire from returning at all?"
"Hmm... a better ending than letting mankind dirty its hand, huh? I like the idea of tampering with those devices. But suffice to say we need more analysis of the Beacons for us to be sure of that," the Illustrator smiled sheepishly. "Not to sound like an ungrateful bastard... but if the White Lotus Leader's future visions are clear enough to tell us about that part—"
The mischievous-looking brother—Legiel—smiled wistfully and nodded to himself. The poker-faced brother—Adonis—remained poker-faced.
Then he heard the brother with shoulder-length half ponytail—Ace—snort in displeasure.
Oh no, he's an ungrateful bastard, isn't he?
"Hehe, that would be interesting," Legiel remarked. "We tamper with the Revival Beacons, and instead of reviving on Ars Goetia, the Light-Winged People somehow appear on let's say the Pale Orange Dot or the Snowball. Both are harsh, not exactly conducive, but the Light-Winged People, being the relentless creatures they are, manage to sacrifice one or two hundred million of their people to somehow survive. Then, after years of struggling in their new world, they look up at the night sky, and guess what they see? Ars Goetia, shining like a beacon of life and warmth. It wouldn't take long for them to figure out what happened and launch an invasion across worlds to reclaim what they believe is rightfully theirs."
"........."
Barring Adonis, the other participants were stunned into silence before Ace managed to utter a contemptuous "Fucking content creator," under his breath.
"I can't even—" Matoya struggled to say.
"No, it's okay. Legiel, don't derail the meeting."
"Oh, come on, Eldest Brother. It's just a thought experiment."
"Shut up, nerd!"
"What...? The Fifth Brother is even more a nerd than all of us combined," Legiel started to whine.
"We do not speak ill of Meteos," Adonis stated. "Kyrie Anchis, please continue."
"Huh... yeah, sure. Heh."
The Illustrator was caught off guard by the mischievous one's rant, but managed to eventually compose himself and allow himself to be amused that a civilian still bothered to remember his official rank. Though, the way he was addressed was one of the valid but rarely used abbreviations.
Lyon Arkland, 45 years old. As is the usual case with the Milishians in the upper rank society, this man looked no older than his nephew, Arthur, and even his grandnephew Tristan initially called him 'uncle.' Before joining the Imperial Guard and being posted as the chief of Princess Lugiel's security detail, Lyon was an Imperial Army Lieutenant Colonel. His rank's equivalent in the Imperial Guard would be 'Antisyntagmatarch(is),' but rarely people are willing to twist their tongue with the proper title unless necessary. While respectful, Adonis Roguerider addressed him in a way that was similar to calling the Illustrator "Ser Lt. Col."
Even he's lazy!
Glancing at his subordinate, Tagmatarch(is) Matoya, an Imperial Air Force Major, he saw her already stopped from reeling in surprise.
Taking advantage of a break in the discussion, Lugiel reached for her drawer and downed a small bottle of water before speaking up.
"Is that all, Illustrator?"
"Yes, Magister. That's all for the overview."
"Alright, thank you."
After the Illustrator bowed and stepped aside, Adonis glanced at Lugiel. "I, too, share your apprehension about lowering our dignity as civilized people to that of the Light-Winged Devils. Still, I agree that we should prepare for all eventualities. That's why we're here offering our service and technology on the White Lotus Leader's behalf, isn't it? At least our Roguerider Foundation has a vested interest in staying alive."
The Princess's lips quirked upward slightly. It was a completely deadpan remark, almost sarcastic.
"Kyrie Anchis, may I borrow the pad?" the young man continued as he stood up from his seat. When the Illustrator handed him the device, he nodded in gratitude.
With Adonis channeling his desire to the projector, the device started displaying what appeared to be an elaborate arrangement of pale green hexagons, each one was marked with texts such as MAIN MENU, ARCHIVES, SETTINGS, FACTORY, and so on. Adonis seemed to browse through what he saw in the projector before gesturing with his hand to point to the one titled CAULDRON.
'Fascinating. Is this how Adonis Roguerider visualizes his memory palace?'
A standardized user interface was in development as computer technology advanced to reduce individuals' strain in having to manage the projections. However, Lugiel was still intrigued with how every person who could do it possessed different styles of interface that made them unique. Meteos Roguerider's looked somewhat like a tree of light with individual branches leading to a specific knowledge, which was why people called it a "technology tree." Her own visual representation of knowledge, on the other hand, looked like a cyan-hued collection of bookshelves, each book symbolizing a distinct piece of knowledge. And so forth.
Adonis took a deep breath.
"Our next step involves the construction of more Cauldrons of primarily three categories: land, sea, and air. To review what these Cauldrons are capable of, they are unlike the traditional factories which are specialized and rigid in their output. All you need is design data, raw materials, and mana, then the Cauldron will materialize it for you. It can produce different types of equipment with almost no reconfiguration, and the size of the items being produced is the only constraint."
Confronting a threat like the Ravernal Empire, which can shrug off enormous casualties and manufacture an obscene quantity of weapons enough to drown the world in it, necessitates something like the Cauldrons to forcibly level the playing field. Although it is sinful to create engineered monsters, given how the Light-Winged Devils seem to design them out of pure malice, using drones to match their numbers seems more justifiable.
Furthermore, Overhaul and Cauldron were reverse-engineered from Malakh sorcery, the ancestors of the Ravernal Empire. Beating their corrupted forms with tools learned from their angelic predecessors seemed poetic, like a long-sought redemption—a salvation from their suffering, even if said salvation unfortunately meant they had to die for good.
It seems that the lack of clearer information and a deliberately vague vision of the future on Meteos' part had caused the White Lotus collaborators to perceive the Ravernal Empire as an even greater threat than they actually are. If Legiel were to say something about it, it's less like the Holy Milishial Empire was being prepared to confront the Ravernal Empire and more like curbstomp the entire modern-day Earth or duke it out against the freaking Galactic Empire.
'Oh, my. The Winning Formula to the Audience Problem... is still spite, huh?'
Back to Adonis, he mentioned three categories, but even then Cauldrons specialized for "land" and "air" didn't look any different from each other in the projection. The only one that looked distinct was the so-called Configuration M, which was envisioned to be a shipyard-shaped Cauldron. Next, when he sorted by size, it was not the gigantic Cauldrons that took Lugiel's breath away. The smaller ones ranged from the size of a household cooler to a handheld!
The princess didn't know if it was even possible, or if it was allowed to be possible.
"...C-can you do it...?"
Although Adonis' expression remained unchanging, his blue eyes gleamed in a way familiar to Meteos' as he replied with confidence.
"We learned a thing a two from our younger brother for the past week. Cauldron Laguz was built in ten months, but if we work together, we can construct a new one with an even shorter timeframe."
"But—"
"We're going to allow a dip in quality, then we learned nothing."
At that moment, Lugiel laughed. If Meteos were here, he would say "This is the Way!"
"Alright, I'm sold. Sign me in, dammit!"
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October 2, 1616 Central Calendar; 03:00
Zelmoda, Gynamo Kingdom
Meteos Roguerider appreciated being able to see from a high vantage point, as it granted him a sense of control and awareness. From there, he could track the progress of whatever he was focusing on at that time, allowing him to anticipate the comings and goings of the world around him, and to plan his movements with additional information. It is also a well-established concept in battle that the group that occupies the highest terrain has a distinct advantage. Having the high ground provides people with a sense of security because it's difficult to sneak up on or ambush these positions. While the primary advantage of the high ground is physical, it is accompanied by a psychological advantage that is likely of equal, if not greater, value. Leaders who seize and maintain the high ground in this psychological sense can create an environment where their subordinates feel secure and free from fear of judgment or ad hominem attacks, thus enhancing their ability to contribute effectively.
One of the first things Meteos did after crossing the ocean south of Cartalpas to this peripheral island thousands of kilometers from home was to seek out a vantage point, which he found at the very top of Zelmoda's clock tower.
New Harbor to the north, Royal Castle to the south. Apparently the only major change between the Second and Third Timelines is that the New Harbor in the latter is slightly expanded to the west. In any case, now that he had verified this era's version of this city, Meteos is confident when asked to draw a map from memory.
"—Given how this city is located right on the confluence of all realms of the known world, Zelmoda could've been a thriving trading hub even richer than that of Le Brias," he murmured, glancing over his shoulder to find a pair of companions leaning on the tower's needle-spire. A man and woman who served as local contacts for Lugiel and now him as well.
Although these two were born within the Holy Empire and thus held her nationality, their appearances differed noticeably from the cultural groups inhabiting the continental Middle Lands.
The redhead Dalisay Levin from the eastern island province of Malayo has a light brown skin color different from the mainland desert-dwellers. Her partner and alleged husband Gira, while having the hair color and build of a Middle Lander, has hints of Hinomawarian genes being a mixed blood. Flanking Meteos' either side from behind, the Levins were the ones who greeted his father's entourage and now accompanied the whimsical White Lotus Leader in scouting the area.
"Too bad it's too close to Cartalpas and had all the limelight robbed away from them," Dalisay airily remarked.
Gira nodded and spoke in a more serious tone, "And then there's the matter of enemy submarines. They're dangerous enough on unlucky days that they even sank ships way outside their Absolute Kill Zone."
"Hn..."
Which was why he came here using a flying boat. It was a nonstop flight from Runepolis that took an entire day thanks to the Boudica 213's exceptionally long range, being a flying bahamut of a plane intended for intercontinental flight and all.
Meteos ran a gloved hand through his hair that waved gently in the blowing wind.
Currently, the Annonrial Empire deploys nearly a dozen Rahab-class cruiser submarines, which are long-range boats primarily used for commerce raiding outside the Empire's Absolute Kill Zone—a region guarded by over a hundred smaller submarines. Were it not for the Holy Empire's so-called Dinosaur Fleet beginning to patrol her territorial waters with sonar-equipped ships "against sea monsters," these underwater monsters might be operating even closer to the Middle Lands. As a downside, this serves to heighten the Messiah's vigilance towards the August Star of Heaven. If they make a correct judgment, they should also deduce that the Holy Milishial Empire has incorporated or will incorporate submarines as part of its military, which is already true with the U-boats.
It seems that gaining some advantages comes with its own set of trade-offs. And there's the matter of what countermeasure Annonrial will deploy to maintain an edge...
Meteos' gaze zeroed at a certain building where an Annonrial spy in Zelmoda as reported by Dagded Dujardin is operating.
"If we don't want to end up like the poor Gynamo, then we must know what happens, probing the enemy's secrets, even if it's one feather at a time..."
"Alright, sounds like a plan," Dalisay said. "When are we going to start?"
"Dilly-dallying isn't a luxury I can afford. I want to bag a result right now while our target isn't expecting it."
"Okay, right now—wait, right now?"
The couple did a double take at the white-haired boy's announcement. Didn't this kid just arrive a few hours ago?
While the Levins watched him in disbelief, Meteos started to equip his mask and raise his hood. Checking his gear and pedanium necklace, he confirmed that the mana he had stockpiled within the latter would allow him a bit more leeway in managing his resources.
"I'll need your sensor magic as support while I'm on it. Can you do that?"
"Well—yes, no problem..."
"You can count on us," Gira finished.
"Right. Then I'll be off. See you around—"
Mere moments after turning to face them, Amon backflipped and leaped down from the clock tower. Correcting himself as he fell and expelling a jet of air from the soles of his boots, Amon changed course midair and landed on a rooftop before dashing toward the target's location, freerunning with ease all the way.
"That was something," Dalisay shook her head.
"If the White Lotus Leader is in such a hurry, then it's an urgent matter. Let's do our assignment."
"Yeah, let's get to work."
By dawn, the Seventy turned into the Seventy-Two.
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[Beyond] Ars Goetia Secret
ARS GOETIA AND ITS "YOUNGER SIBLINGS"
Ars Goetia (Ror II) is the second planet from the sun and so far, the only astronomical object known to harbor life. It is a terrestrial hollow mana-producing planet with abundant water and a moderate temperature on the surface, allowing various species to live on it. At least a dozen species were recorded to be sentient until the Light-Winged People came and started to slaughter everything in sight. At present, the number of known sentient beings in this world dropped to only seven—one native, five created by the Ravernal Empire, and the last one originated from the interbreeding of the Light-Winged People and their own creations. It has two moons, Luda and Kyra. Most importantly, it exists.
Beyond Ars Goetia's orbit lies its smaller siblings, each with their own unique characteristics but always living under the shadow of the grand, life-harboring planet.
Siaion (Ror III) sits at an average distance of 1,4 AUs. Often referred to as the Pale Orange Dot, its most striking feature is its thick, hazy atmosphere, rich in methane. The constant presence of this gas gives the planet its characteristic orange hue. Like Ars Goetia, Siaion is a terrestrial hollow mana-producing world, though measuring only half its size. The planet has a single moon, Baltoh, which is a cold cratered world locked in synchronous rotation with its parent planet.
Further out, at 1,7 AUs from the sun, lies Dorphal (Ror IV). Known as the Snowball, Dorphal is a frigid world with its surface perpetually covered in ice. Like Siaion, it is also around half the size of Ars Goetia, making it another small terrestrial planet in this solar family. The planet has one moon, Toatar.
Special mention goes to Maasi (Ror I, ~0,6 AU), an even smaller rocky world that is somehow excluded from being called Ars Goetia's siblings, probably because there's nothing interesting there; Zire (Ror V, ~26 AU), a ringed blue gas giant with 88 moons; and Diyu (Ror VI, 350-550 AU), a dark blue gas giant so far away it isn't even discovered yet. It has a name similar to a certain mythology's realm of the dead and is practically Planet X of the Ror System. It's only mentioned here because of Meteos who is a time-traveler, so maybe go thank him for the additional infodump you don't need or something.