“Watch it! Be careful with it at the corner!” Karla barked out instruction after instruction. “Take it over there, in a corner! And what is that?!”

“It’s, ehm, a potted plant?” A maid had just put down a potted plant.

“A potted plant here? We don’t even get sunlight here. Take it away!”

Startling, the maid dashed out of the room. “Y, yes, ma’am!”

It was not official yet, but Princess Heiga was to arrive soon along with the finalized marriage contract for signatures. Karla, being the head maid of the Fenchel manor, had been tasked to furnish a room for her. Since she had no idea when the princess would arrive, she had to rush. It could be tomorrow or days or weeks; it was completely unknown. She simply had no idea. Additionally, the princess was to stay at the Fenchel manor for the time being to … consummate the marriage. Kamil had a distant look on his face as he watched Karla doing her work from a distance. Interestingly, Flora was right beside him.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake…,” he muttered as he face-palmed with a long sigh. “Can’t believe that this is actually happening…”

Flora patted his back gently, comforting him. In a way, this was a very strange sight. The roles were reversed. Flora should have been the one complaining, not the husband.

“You really didn’t have a choice,” she told him softly, and that was indeed true. She also knew that he was fully committed to her, therefore she was taking it much easier. “At least, we got along well. I don’t think there is going to be a hostile environment,” she added.

“Easy for you to say,” he retorted. “You won’t get to share a bed with her.”

“Ehm, well…” She trailed off, unable to mount a response. He really did not like the idea of sleeping with Hegia. Not only did it feel surreally sudden, he felt it was simply awkward that a man and a woman who barely knew each other would get it on. He spent years with Flora before finally making a move on her in Tantan. Even then, it took a year for him to finally sleep with her. He took it real slow, not because he cared for Flora but that was his way of romance. He was a shy man when it came to romance.

“I am sorry.” He apologized as he held her by the waist.

“It’s okay.” Smiling, she leaned her head against his arm.

Karla was still barking out orders from a distance.

“Is the carpet clean? Let me take a look. It’s not! Go get that dusted off! No, no, don’t put that over there! Why would you do that?”

He was somewhat amused by the sudden change in her attitude. He had never seen her raise her voice like that. In his mind, she had always been a quiet and obedient maid.

“Has she always been like that…?” he wondered.

“You didn’t know? She is quite a disciplinarian,” she replied. “She is the head maid, you know. She has to be.”

He didn’t really know what the job of being a head maid was about. All he knew was that she would be a boss to all other maids within the manor. Anything more specific, he had no idea. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he turned around, dragging Flora with him.

“Let’s go see our daughter. I don’t want to think about this, for now,” he muttered.

After spending some quality time, which was changing Cecilie’s diaper with Flora, to get his mind off his impending second marriage, he paid a visit to Nestor.

“Any update on the former deadland?” he inquired Nestor in his study where he was working with Rose at the moment. It would in fact be his first time ever visiting him in his habitat after the Vogels took over completely. The room was a mess, to put it lightly. Scrolls were everywhere, and shelves were already full to the brim.

“Oh, Duke.” Nestor showed his respect at once. Rose followed swiftly.

“At ease, Lady Vogel, how is life treating you so far?”

“It’s been very busy,” she replied earnestly with a smile. “Better than being bored.”

For many noblewomen, boredom was a real issue indeed. This was especially true for ladies-in-waiting who would be told not to stand out and just stay quiet. Some opted for small jobs to kill time which was precisely why Rose chose to become a librarian in the first place. Some had no problem becoming a pretty doll in a room. She wasn’t such a type apparently since she chose to work.

“I see. How is your daughter?”

Her daughter, who he hadn’t met, was named Rosetta. He wouldn’t be allowed to until she would be able to behave herself in front of their liege.

“She is doing fine.”

“As you know, Flora has recently had a baby girl as well. Why don’t you visit her with your baby?”

Rose’s eyes lit up as if she wanted such an opportunity. However, Nestor was seemingly against the idea.

“Milord, you don’t ha-” He was quickly interjected by her.

“Would I be allowed to?”

“Certainly. Don’t you feel lonely just taking care of the baby? Let new mothers enjoy some casual conversations. I am sure that you have things to talk about, yes?”

Truthfully, it was exactly what Rose wanted. She was a socially active person and, ever since being barred from visiting Lux to visit her family, she had indeed been feeling a bit down and lonely. Work had been keeping her busy, but she wanted company. This was a good opportunity for her to have some social interaction. Conversely, it was probably better for Flora as well who had a very limited exposure to social activities. Thus, both women had something to gain from this.

“I will gladly take up the offer, Duke,” she replied with glee. Her husband was powerless to stop her.

“Good, Sir Vogel, how is the deadland now?”

“Ah, yes. I’ve received the first report from a scout. Vegetation is slowly growing on the land. I’d say it is certainly cured at this point.”

“Good, good.” Kamil nodded along. “And the refugees?”

“It’s my understanding that most have left. Some have insisted on staying and trying to get a job to settle down here.”

“If they wish to go through such a length to settle down, then so be it.”

Nestor nodded in agreement and added, “As long as they don’t cause troubles, I intend to let them be.”

Once he was done with the Vogels, he visited the barrack, which had become a small castle due to its low stone walls and a rather imposing barrack which stood taller than pretty much any other structures in the city. The separation of the barrack and the lord’s manor wasn’t originally intended so. It naturally occurred as the manor was being built inside a mountain where real estate came at a premium, and soldiers needed ample space for training and fitness workouts in addition to a secure place to store equipment. As a direct result, this small pseudo-keep structure was built by the entrance to the underground settlement. Consequently, this was where Raem, Lara, and Wiara worked. Wiara’s all female squadron occupied a watch tower and made it their own base of operation. The watch tower wasn’t originally meant for the women, either. It just happened.

“Duke?” Wiara and her squadron were doing a lap and ran into him. “Fancy seeing you here.” The women were wearing what looked like sweat pants and loose shirts - It was a rare sight for women to dress lightly outside under normal circumstances.

“Just figured I’d pay a visit,” he replied casually. “Don’t mind my presence.”

She nodded along and resumed running while the rest of the women seemed a bit uneasy. Nevertheless, they eventually chased after her.

Upon entering the barrack which looked more like a large tavern instead of a military installation, he was faced with a large hall full of tables and stools where soldiers were having their meals and conversations. The hall was surprisingly full. Apparently, it was still breakfast time for many. Kamil generally woke up when the sun would peek its nose above the horizon due to his old habit as a hunter. He woke up pretty much the first in the whole manor.

Nice wooden floor, good stone walls … Not bad at all.

The interior was certainly better than he expected. The floor was a bit dirty due to hundreds of soldiers coming in and out daily. Overall, however, the place could pass as a decent tavern.

Is Raem eating here as well? Let me see…

Squinching his eyes, he started scanning the hall. As he took his time trying to find Raem, several soldiers started to notice that the Duke of Ceres was present in their barrack. Since he didn’t declare his presence out loud, everyone knew that it was an unofficial visit. Thus, nobody made a fuss about his presence. Still, a few ran upstairs to inform Raem, their captain, that the duke was present. Soon enough, he rushed up to Kamil who was still looking for him at the door.

“Duke,” he spoke swiftly as he approached.

“Captain,” Kamil replied back.

“This way please.”

He led him to his office upstairs which had a view of the courtyard where Wiara and the women were still running. The room itself was modest with just a desk and a bookshelf. Once the door was closed and, when there were just the two of them, they spoke more freely.

“So, this is your office, Raem? Not bad. Cozy,” he remarked while walking and looking around. There was a map of Ceres on a wall which covered the entire top half of the wall.

“Yes, Duke. What brings you here? This is the first time you’ve visited the barrack, isn’t it?”

“I think I did visit here before when it wasn’t quite complete. But you are more or less correct on that. I’ve been taking a walk around the city, visiting places.”

“Some sort of inspection then?”

He simply felt like doing so. It wasn’t even an inspection. He decided to go with flow, not wanting to bring up an excuse.

“I guess you could say that.”

“Would you like tea?”

“No, that’s fine.” He stood before the map of the city. There were lines around the roads which he assumed to be patrol routes. It didn’t look like the map was hung there for just the look.

“Anyway, Raem.”

“Yes?”

“Do you plan to have any kids?” He asked out of blue which made Raem tilt his head a bit in confusion for a brief moment.

“Well, that’s sudden. What a change of topic.”

“It’s a genuine question, though.”

Raem sat down in a chair behind his desk and relaxed a bit before answering. “We decided to wait until she hits or is close to twenty.”

Since they weren’t nobles, Lara had much more time than noble women. Additionally, there was no one to pressure her to bear any children anytime soon. Kamil rubbed the bridge of his nose with a crooked grin.

“You know, Raem. I just cannot imagine her being a mother. I just can’t…”

Raem chuckled weakly. “I don’t disagree with that feeling but, as a married woman, she will be a mother sooner or later.”

“Where is she by the way?”

“Patrolling,” he replied while making a quotation hand gesture.

“Oh?”

“It’s her way of saying that she’s going to slack and hang out of Esther.”

“Do they get along?”

“Surprisingly so. I didn’t think Esther would get along with someone like her.”

“Interesting…”

Kamil did not think the two women would get along, either. At a glance, he thought that they had completely different personalities although both did have tempers.

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“I might as well visit the market to see how they get along,” he said with glee.

“A market inspection, then.”

Turning around and waving his hand, he casually replied, “More or less, yes. See you around, Captain.”

The central market in the early morning was always jam-packed with miners trying to get their breakfast in a rush before checking in for work. This morning was no exception. There were two long lines in front of Esther’s market stall where she was selling loaves of bread, jerky, water, and some other snacks and fruits. What had changed since he visited the last time was that there were a lot more children around. He didn’t recall seeing children at her stall, and the presence of children meant there were mothers around. To sum it up, her stall was insanely crowded and busy. He couldn't even see Esther from afar. Looking around, he spotted Lara by the statue of Sir Martin who had already noticed his presence and had her eyes fixed at him.

“Yo, Duke,” she greeted casually as he approached her.

“Yo, Mad cat.”

Mad cat was her nickname among locals. Apparently, her erratic behaviors didn’t go unnoticed.

“ACK! Who told you that?!” Shrieking and embracing herself, she shivered, her eyes filled with horror. She clearly didn’t like the nickname.

“I ain’t telling ya.”

Pouting and sagging her shoulders, she replied, “Fine.”

He stood next to her, leaning his back against the foundation of the statue.

“I was told that you were patrolling.”

“I bloody am. I am keeping my eyes on the crowd. Should anyone commit a crime, his balls will be gone.”

After a brief moment of silence, he dared to ask, “You seriously don’t do that, do you?”

“I do hit balls, yes. It’s the most effective method against men in general.”

And you sound proud… Mad cat, indeed.

“Anyway, why are there so many kids around?”

“They are after the red head’s special treat: the sour candies.”

The red head? I assume she is talking about Esther.

“Sour candies?”

“Yep, kids can’t get enough of them. Since she brings out new batches every morning, they have to get them now because they will be gone by noon or even before that.”

“I thought candies were supposed to be sweet. Sour candies? I can’t even imagine.”

She dug her hand right into her chest through her tunic and then pulled out a green translucent round object that was the size of a thumb nail.

“You can try this.”

“Were you holding it between your boobs?”

“I’ve got no pockets on my pants.”

Is that even a valid excuse?

He glanced at her chests. Her tunic was barely wide enough to properly contain her breasts. It looked really tight down there. As far as he was aware, Lara had the largest breasts of all the women he had met. Anyway, he took the candy off her and threw it into his mouth, only to immediately spit it out onto the ground.

“BLEH! It’s so sour!”

“Well, duh. Didn’t I say it's sour candy?”

“You did! I just didn’t think it would be this sour. Kids like this?”

“Like? They love’em. What a waste, Duke.” She clicked her tongue in displeasure while looking down on the candy that was covered with dirt. Then they watched the crowd slowly being reduced. He figured that the crowd would be gone soon but he had other plans for the day. He wasn’t going to waste too much time at the central market.

“Well, I will get going.”

“I thought you came here to see the red head?”

“Not really. I came to see both of you. This is enough. Say hello to her for me, will you?”

“Sure thing, boss. I guess I will see you later.”

“Yep, see you around.”

Waving to her casually, he walked toward the Northern gate. His next destination was Seaside Retreat, a restaurant managed by Brian the guildmaster. This would be his first time visiting the restaurant in spite of being aware of its existence for a long time. He simply didn’t have the time and leeway to make a visit although he had ordered deliveries before.

“Hmm…, how should I put it…”

Seaside Retreat was probably best described as a large cottage. It had a reddish brown color on its log walls and a dark gray roof. The color theme stood out which was probably a good thing for a restaurant. When he opened the door, a bell attached to the top of the door rang itself, notifying staff within.

“Oh? Duke,” said Roseline in a maid-like dress with a white apron. She didn’t look half-bad.

“Roseline? You work here?”

“Well, I am on a break and was too bored. Might as well work a bit.”

That isn’t being on a break, though.

But he wasn’t going to argue. The place wasn’t packed but wasn’t quiet, either.

“Hey, I need a hand over here!” Another woman’s voice was heard from deeper inside.

“I will be there!” Roseline replied back. “If you are here for a meal, have a seat please.”

“Get me a small plate of boiled shrimp, will you?”

“Got it,” she said as she hurried inside.

The restaurant represented a place for those who had a bit more disposable income than the others. Those included wealthy farmers, merchants, and lastly nobility. Now, the raw number of nobles within Ceres was comically low because there were only three houses: The Fenchel, the Vogel, and the Waszak. And none of the noble houses was large in its family members. Regardless, he did spot some people who were dressed in noble attire which likely meant that they were visitors who came specifically for the restaurant.

“Here you go.”

“Thank yo-”

He blinked his eyes as he looked up to see who brought his order.

“Meizei?? You are working here, too?”

She, too, was dressed in a maid-like uniform. It was clearly shorter in addition, revealing her bare knees.

“Figured why not. New experience and all that,” she replied casually. “Anything else, Duke?”

“Can I get a menu actually? I have no idea what you guys sell.”

In his knowledge, he believed originally that the restaurant would sell only shrimp. On second thought, however, that wouldn’t make it exactly a restaurant. They had to offer something else in addition.

“Sure thing. Here you go.” She pulled out a piece of paper from her belt. She had a stack of them wedged between her belt and the uniform. Then she rushed to deliver another order.

“Let me see…”

It had a small list of items, five of them. One of them was obviously boiled shrimp. Another was grilled shrimp. The other three had an oyster and two fish related items.

Oh, they are able to import oysters and fishes as well? They are making it work somehow, I guess.

He recalled that they would go bad by the time it’d arrive in Ceres. What Brian ended up doing was import live oysters and fishes. The guild was essentially maintaining an aquarium. This was actually Roseline’s idea and was one of reasons why she was working here in the first place. She became involved in the project so to speak and, with her involvement, Meizei joined up also since they were friends. Of course, Kamil had no way of knowing the inner workings of Brian’s operation. All he could do was enjoy his meal and carry on with his “inspection”. Having finished his meal, he paid the bill of 12 iron coins which was a lot for a meal. In comparison, a loaf of bread at Eshter’s stall would have cost an iron coin. But he accepted the cost since he knew the monumental challenge Brian had to overcome in order to provide seafood in a landlocked city that was far away from the sea.

“Thank you, come again!” Roseline and another waitress he didn’t recognize exclaimed in his direction in unison as he took his leave.

“Alright…, where to next?”

As he walked casually into the city walls, he realized something he had never really thought about before.

Where are airships made anyway?

He vaguely recalled Cezary telling him that he was using a temporary barrack as a workshop, but they had long been demolished. He approached a gate guard who saluted upon noticing the Duke.

“Do you happen to know where Sir Waszak works?”

“He should be in his workshop, Duke.”

“Where is the workshop?”

“It’s underground, Duke.”

He was confused for a moment. The workshop being underground was fine on its own. However, given the size of an airship…

How would they get a completed ship out through the entrance?

The entrance to the underground settlement was at best a large cart wide, and that was just the entrance. The passage became narrower inside.

Okay, no point in trying to rack my brain. I will simply visit and see how it works.

He rushed over to the entrance to the underground settlement which was not far from the barrack to the east. And, to his mild surprise, it was easy to find the workshop because signs were posted properly on walls.

This shows how infrequently I have visited the city itself.

It became abundantly clear that the city was developing at a fast speed. The last time he visited the underground settlement was when Ravas asked him to visit an underground cavern they discovered where he discovered the memories of the holy queen Maco. The underground settlement started as a quartz mine and it was no longer just a mine at this point. Walls were properly bricked along with the ceiling, and there wasn’t a hint of dirt on the stone floor.

Oh, I recognized that shop.

Like before, a shop run by Julian was still present although it had evolved to a full store. The last time he saw it, a vendor was selling goods on a sloped wooden display unit. That was no more. In fact, it had a front wall with a door with a big sign on its side stating that some goods were on sale. Being an underground store, it had no need for windows. Instead, he saw narrow square ventilation holes on top of its front wall. He had an urge to take a peak but instead chose to pursue his journey to Cezary’s workshop. He had to take several turns, but it was relatively easy to find it since its direction signs were frequently mounted on walls. Where he ended up was an usually large set of iron doors which looked menacing. There was a pair of guards as well who glanced at a possible intruder.

“Halt! Who goes ther-”

Then they quickly recognized who it was.

“D, duke!” They exclaimed in unison.

“At ease, I would like to enter the workshop.”

“O, of course, Duke. At once.”

One of them turned around and slammed the door with his fist. “Open!” He, then, exclaimed. It took a moment, but the large doors creaked open just enough for a person to pass through.

“Our apologies, Duke. The doors are very heavy.”

He had to squeeze through the doors and saw the workshop unfold before his eyes.

“Holy moly,” he uttered.

The best way to describe the workshop was a hanger. It was essentially a vast open space with an arched ceiling. About ten workers were present, working on numerous parts of an airship. The space was so large that four airships could fit inside with space to spare. With his mouth agape, he could only watch the scenery until Cezary came down to greet him.

“Milord, fancy seeing you here.”

Slowly turning his attention to him, he urged to ask, “Just when and how in the world did you build this?”

“You have been quite busy. I didn’t feel this warranted any urgency to make a report about.”

He wasn’t wrong. Kamil had been very much occupied with more important things.

“But this … How do you even get an airship out?”

With a smile, Cezary pointed upwards.

“Up?”

“The ceiling opens,” he declared.

“WHAT?!”

The workshop was apparently built on the ground level, and the ceiling was acting as a cover.

“Only the center opens, mind you. It’s just large enough for an airship to fly out.”

Before long, he was led to Cezary’s office which was accessible on the 2nd floor of the workshop via stairs attached to a wall. The room was a mess with schematics all over the floor.

“Don’t mind the papers on the floor. They are all failures. Step on them. It’s fine,” he explained. The office had a large rectangle window for the entire workshop to be overseen from an elevated position. Glancing at the schematics on the floor, he noticed that not all of them appeared to be airship related. Some had a sketch of a well. Some had pipes. Picking one up, he asked.

“What’s this? A well? Can’t be about the airship, can it?”

“Oh, that? I’ve been developing a pump, sewage system.”

“Pump and sewage?”

“You do know thousands live down there, right? All the pee and poop, they’ve got to go somewhere. That’s the sewage. A pump is a part of it and it artificially pushes stuff through pipes with minimal human intervention.”

“How are we dealing with that right now?”

“The old ways. Bring them out in buckets and pour them outside.”

For wealthy and nobles, that wasn’t a problem since it would have been maids’ job. However, as commoners moved in, it started to pose an issue quickly as some chose not to throw it out and rather just keep it in their homes due to pure laziness. It soon became Cezary’s number one issue to solve. In fact, rudimentary piping was already complete for a test but, because it required manual pumping to circulate the waste, hours of manual labor were required. He was determined to change it by creating a magical pump.

“So, you don’t always work on airships then.”

“I do believe I did tell you that I was going to shift my focus.”

Looking around, the walls looked to have been dug out to make rooms to store schematics. It was an interesting design choice for a room because, other than a desk and a chair, the room required no further furniture by having dug out spaces to store materials. Since the room was meant to be for something like this, it was probably decided to design the room in such a way to maximize its potential. Kamil eventually stopped at the window overlooking the workshop. It really gave a good view on the overall place.

He has been busy, I see.

In fact, everyone he had encountered thus far was busy in their own businesses, which was good. They had their purposes and visions.

“Keep up the good work, Sir Waszak.”

“It’s not work for me. It’s just what I do.”

True enough.

It was safe to say that Cezary was his first real vassal. Ever since he met him for the first time in the library of Lux Fenchel manor, he had more or less advised him what to do even in the darkest times. He trusted his opinions, and the results spoke for themselves.

“Are you still reluctant to marry, Sir Waszak?”

He was in his early 30s and still had time to find a mate.

“I am not a landed noble, am I?” he replied. He did claim that he wasn’t going to marry unless he became a landed noble. That was years ago, however. It looked like his stance had not changed at all.

“I am not exactly in a position to grant you land.”

In fact, Kamil was unlikely to be able to grant any of his vassals land at this point, for he was the Duke of Ceres. In addition to that, due to the Age of Darkness, establishing a new settlement wasn’t really a wise idea at the moment.

“You are not wrong, Duke. But I don’t plan to leave you, either way. I like where I am. I can dedicate myself to what I am good at.”

Folding arms, Kamil stared vacantly at the workers working on various parts in the workshop from where he was. He recalled that Raem wanted to become a noble as well. Everything was working out for him specifically, but was it working out for everyone else? He was uncertain.

“Don’t fret, Duke. Our priority is to survive the Age of Darkness. Everything else can wait.”

While he wasn’t wrong, again, he wasn’t really sure whether he’d be able to make Cezary and Raem landed nobles. In order to do so, he would need to rule more settlements. He would either need to found more settlements or take other settlements by force. The latter seemed practically impossible in his current position. Taking territory from Estana was not even an option, given the fact that a marriage tie would soon form between them. Thus, the only other option was conquest of the Kingdom of Egra which … wasn’t straightforward, either. He couldn’t dare attacking Edmund and he had a marriage tie with the Flissing, not to mention the fact that he was quite close to several lords within the kingdom such as Noah Harga and Elias Hunt. In short, that was unlikely as well.

Oof, nothing is easy in life.

Regardless, as a lord, he was obligated to grant his vassals’ requests. At the same time, he felt that it was a never ending quest of granting lands to wanna-be-landed-nobles.

What if Cezary becomes a landed noble? Whoever takes his place would want the same thing, no? You can’t just keep granting lands to them because that is not sustainable.

He felt a need to alter the system of nobility. How, he wasn’t sure but he was certain that a change was overdue. Unknown to him at the moment, what he wanted was moving on from federalism.

“Alright, Sir Waszak, I will see you later.”

“Certainly, Duke.”

The Age of Darkness first, Kamil, the Age of Darkness.

Reminding himself, he walked out of the workshop.