It happened a few days ago before the announcement that Storne went to war with Solaris. As usual, I was going to school and meeting my friends at lunchtime. On one of these days, I decided to visit Henry to see how he was doing and if he had any new ideas. This was the reason I was currently inside a carriage, looking outside. In a few minutes, the carriage stopped at a place I knew well enough; the surrounding stores and some of the vendors were the same.

As soon as I stepped out of the wagon, I bid goodbye to the coachman and started walking to Henry's workshop. Upon opening the door, I rang the bell on the counter and waited for Henry to come meet me. In a few seconds, the curtain was opened, revealing Henry. As soon as he saw me, he stepped closer.

"That was you... I don't remember doing anything for you"

Henry said, confused.

"And you're right. I didn't come today for a specific reason. I just wanted to know what you were currently working on"

I said with a smile. Hearing my words, Henry looked at me for a few seconds before sighing.

"Alright, but remember to be quiet"

Henry said, giving me a serious look. With a smile on my face, I made a gesture of closing a zipper over my mouth, indicating that I would keep quiet. After that, Henry and I walked into the workshop. There wasn't much that caught my interest. Henry went over to his chair, picked up a hammer, and started hammering something. Meanwhile, I stood around, looking for something interesting.

As I looked around, my eyes landed on a white crystal atop one of the tables. Curiously, I started walking towards the crystal, trying to figure out what it could be. As I got closer, I began examining the crystal more carefully. Its color and shape reminded me a lot of sodium nitrate.

"Hey Henry, where did you find this?"

I asked, my curiosity piqued. Hearing my words, Henry turned to me with an angry expression.

"Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?"

Henry said.

"Hahaha, sorry about that, but I really need to know what this is"

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I said, pointing at the white crystal on the table. Looking at the crystal, Henry sighed and gazed at me.

"You tell me. You are the genius here, not me. Someone came last night and sold me this crystal. The guy didn't know what it was or what it was for. Since I didn't know either, I decided to buy it, thinking it might be valuable. But now I'm seriously starting to regret it"

Said Henry, looking tired. Hearing his words, I picked up the crystal again and examined it. I was right; it was sodium nitrate. Someone found it naturally in nature and brought it here.

"You only have one of these?"

I asked curiously.

"No"

Henry said, walking over to a box.

"The guy was carrying a bag left of this stuff. He sold it to me for a price, and I bought it"

Said Henry, showing me the box. As I approached the box, I was surprised at the contents. Several crystals were stacked in there. There were probably over 50 in there. As I looked at the box, I had a strong feeling that I would be using these crystals in the near future, and I couldn't be more sure.

***

"So... what exactly is this sodium nitrate?"

Asked the confused queen.

"It's an ore, although I don't know yet where it was found, and it's quite flammable"

I said with a smile.

"Actually, originally I thought of making a long-range weapon using this that would be able to penetrate the armor of soldiers, but I discarded that idea since I don't want anyone to die from the things I created"

I said with a sad smile. Although I tried, it was hard to hide the discomfort I was feeling about the war.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore"

Emi said, getting everyone's attention.

"A few will lose their lives thanks to your idea"

Said Emi, looking at me with an inexpressive face.

(Is she trying to cheer me up? Something is telling me that this is the case)

"You're right"

I said with a smile. After that, we spent the whole afternoon talking. The subject was no longer about the war but about various things of everyday life. Everyone kept asking me about how I got the ideas to create the things I created, and I answered all the questions with a smile on my face.

A while later, Ammy and Rebecca were probably getting tired of standing, so I asked the king for permission to get a chair for both of them. After this, the conversation shifted to Ammy and Rebecca. They were both asked how we met and why they started working for me. In general, the response from both was quite positive—or rather, they thought of me in a very positive way.

I was a little embarrassed by the amount of praise they both gave me, but at the same time, I felt pleased with myself knowing that they both consider me so highly. After that, the night came, and along with the night was dinner time. Ammy and Rebecca also ate with us. Both were delighted with the food and didn't miss the opportunity to compliment it.

Although I heard Ammy and Rebecca whisper that my pizza and crepe are tastier, Aria was not present today because she had work in the merchants' guild—probably something related to the war. After dinner, everyone went to their rooms, and I went to the guest room that was assigned to me. Lying in bed, all I could think about was the war to come. That night, I swore an oath that I would protect everyone who was important to me at any cost.