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Private lounge, Wintersleep Hotel

There was an eerily silence inside the room. Nobody moved or said anything. The only noise was the suspicious-looking powder slowly pouring out of the simple leather pouch.

However, when Makol guessed it, everyone felt very different and had no problem showing it through their facial expressions. All were happy, almost excited, smiling from ear to ear, except for three certain young nobles.

Narsiz, Sarah, and Linuel looked in terror at the ominous powder, trying to understand what it actually meant. In but a moment, they did so, becoming scared. The consequences of having and making this were catastrophic, and they all knew this.

They immediately turned toward Alexander, who smiled widely, announcing that their worries would become a reality and panic slowly creeping up from the deepest parts of their bodies.

"That's right! It's black powder, baby!"

Alexander was as happy as he could be since creating ordinary gunpowder, or black powder, as it was called here, was hard. However, he did something much more exceptional, developing a better, but not too good, version of it.

Typically, after testing it out once, he would be done since it worked, and as long as he had the ingredients, he would be fine. It would ultimately serve the task the camp tried to accomplish, which was all he needed it for.

Yet, he wanted to test it and see if he could find a way to make something more fitting for the camp, a more potent version but not too strong. Was it because he thought about how it could ease the logistics, quicken the battles, or do it for science? Of course not.

Alexander did it because he wanted to, and those reasons were acceptable excuses for anyone else to believe he wasn't just crazy. The actual reason was that he wanted to see how much more boom it would make, simply as that.

Other than that, it was so straightforward that excuses were just a waste of time to think about them. The charcoal made from the mana trees made it much more potent, and depending on how Alexander ratioed the composition of the potassium nitrate and sulfur, it had an interesting curve, power of boom-wise.

He could create an explosion with the best mixture of those three ingredients, ~ten times stronger than he did for the first time, almost blowing himself up.

The power increase was exponential, beginning slowly and increasing enormously. Still, at some point, the power increase per gram with all three ingredients ratioed as ideally as Alexander could without modern technology. At some point, its boom growth would decrease to a logarithmic increase, almost growing at a rate of zero.

There was a delicate balance he needed to strike, and it wasn't as easily solved as only putting more mana tree charcoal into the mix. The most he got was 1.5/10 for sulfur, 3/10 for potassium nitrate, and 5.5/10 for the mana tree charcoal, far from what it looked for ordinary black powder.

The powder in front of him had one-third of the power of the one he tested with Lili, making it still stronger than ordinary one by five times—an acceptable result, in his opinion.

Unfortunately, Alexander couldn't explain that it wasn't the strong version. Honestly, he didn't want to. When they started screaming, he decided not to say that to them, ever.

Narsiz, Linuel, and Sarah, who turned to him, screaming in either anger, fury, fear, or a combination of all three, made Alexander reel his ears back, trying not to laugh or do something else provokingly since there was a hazardous option to release anger lying on a table before him.

Narsiz was the first, almost spitting at him while screaming, "Why did you make this?! Are you insane?! Do you want us to be executed... no, Mom would do worse..."

Linuel leaned deeper into the couch, mumbling, "I can't believe you are this crazy... I am dead. So dead."

Sarah also leaned back, rubbing her forehead, still trying to deny the truth, "This is illegal, right?"

Narsiz turned to her, "Yes! It is!"

Alexander stood up, trying to calm them down, smiling nervously, "Hey, everything is fine! Calm down, okay? Even Grandma is fine with it!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Grandma is crazy. Of course, she is okay with it."

Narsiz suddenly started to sweat, "Wait... she knows?! Does it mean..." Alexander interrupted him before he would go crazy, "No, Mom does not know this, but listen, this is all more or less legal, really."

They all looked at Alexander, who cleared his throat and explained the scheme. It was easy: Make the ingredients in the Leonandra territory and ship them away to make the black powder somewhere else, where the territory wasn't under the Moorgrelian's or Crown's rule.

After roughly explaining it, with Helena and Aurum already knowing about this, he looked at the camp's representatives first, ignoring his distressed siblings and Linuel, who nervously chewed on her nails.

"So, what do you think? Besides that, you could create a great weapon with which you could much more efficiently take down the island with fewer people, but you could also sell it later on, and we could have a very profitable relationship!"

Makol suddenly stood up, surprised Alexander, and looked him deep into his eyes, stoic and without emotions. Before understanding what was happening, the night-elf walked to the middle of the lounge, kneeled down, and almost screamed, "Thank you for the chance, Mr. Alexander! I knew it was the right decision to trust you!"

Before Alexander could speak about his conduct, Petra and Jorsh followed Makol's example, kneeling down, too, right by his side.

"Thank you!"

"I am truly grateful!"

Alexander smiled and sighed, not wanting to explain their incorrect behavior. All he felt was happiness, becoming more familiar with the feeling of gratitude toward him. He sounded happy but still was slightly shy, "Please stand up, and let's continue."

They immediately stood up, listening to him, genuinely smiling, and sat back down. Alexander understood why they were this thankful, even without asking them.

However, it was the wrong time and place to come across as humble. Alexander needed to point out every positive aspect of gunpowder, morally and practically, to convince his siblings and Linuel that it should be used and sold.

Yet they were in their own world, looking more worried with every passing moment and probably imagining the worst. It was understandable, and because of that, Alexander would need to try his best, bypassing all their sharp instincts and lie detection skills.

Alexander stood up and gestured as if he was at one of his speeches at the marketplace, "Listen! You are frightened, but isn't this what we want? Through this little loophole, the camp will lose fewer people, develop much faster, become more independent, and win their battles more efficiently!"

He walked around looking at every person, trying to ascertain their mood, which was not good, to say the least. The worst was Narsiz, who was in a panic, his tail sweating slightly through the fur, followed by Linuel, somewhat suicidal, and Sarah, who just looked as if she surrendered to fate.

"Helena and Lila, their clans, will buy our ingredients and deliver them to the camp, who will make it and go back again, getting paid in the process and still holding onto the part they need. We will build a more..." Alexander interlinked his hands, symbolizing what he was about to say, "...our relationship, for a stronger and more prosperous alliance, right?"

While Helena's and Lila's clans could mix the powder themselves, Alexander needed the camp to participate, too. Their economic sustainability was vital, and the extra step also made them a stronger ally, with them needing to put fewer resources into war.

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Before them were long and arduous talks about precisely this topic, but Alexander didn't give a single fuck what they thought about it. He would force them to participate and not try to monopolize it since he had the formula for all this.

The fire-djinn sisters were in a precarious situation because of the gamble, and the camp was loyal to him. Alexander would win in this aspect. Because of that, when his siblings and Linuel looked at Helena, she smiled widely and nodded at him, knowing that he wouldn't tolerate selfishness now.

Helena's acting skills were top-notch. She looked much more confident than before, straightening up. In their discussions, it appeared that she also had the full support of her clan leadership, and Alexander was sure to clearly state that he wouldn't tolerate any schemes from their side.

Too many morons would only see the short-term gain, and Alexander feared that Helena would get manipulated by those. At first, she seemed somewhat unsure and careful, but now, she looked proud and openly showed her support. It was a bad sign if someone wasn't skeptical enough.

Lila was usually the same, almost walking on clouds, trying to suck up to him constantly since he was the one who could provide those small clan branches a substantial boost in their economic and military power.

However, Alexander could analyze what the clan leaders said to them in more detail later. For now, he needed to show the emotional side as honestly as possible without losing sight of a little rationale. He became more boisterous, gesturing more theatrically and trying to find examples on the fly, which he could with all his skills and excellent memory.

"Do you really think that the camp, isolated and betrayed by their former alliances, is not looking for a place to call home and become emancipated, trying to build true friends, partnerships, and other relationships?! Think about our past! Didn't we take all the insects and avian kin into our territory, the poor and hungry, the ones who were denied any chance of success?! We, the Guard Households under Moorgrel, did something illegal under the Crown, ignoring those ignorant laws and knowing it was morally wrong and irrational!"

While holding the speech, he saw the camp's representatives crying and nodding, and they were now probably trusting him immensely. It was expected since they had indeed suffered and only needed a chance. However, Alexander couldn't be too emotional and saw an opportunity to reap many more benefits, far outweighing the risks since he had his own subjects to consider.

To his surprise, even Aurum looked somberly down. Until now, Alexander had no idea why avian and insect kin were hated in central Mal-Gil. Only Moorgrel, who probably saw the same opportunity, ignored the Crown's laws after getting the territory and got them all into his land.

However, it didn't matter. All that mattered was that they were hated for no good reason, which opened up a great chance. Without their hatred, Moorgrel's economic and military power would probably be at most two-thirds of now. Alexander saw the same thing, just on a much smaller scale.

He walked now once around, staying before Sarah and Linuel, smiling softly at them, "Now, you are now Narsiz's personal guards, so theoretically, you need to follow all of his commands with absolute loyalty, but since I know my dear brother, he would never force you..." Alexander looked at Narsiz, winking at him, who watched stoically this scene.

Sarah and Linuel gave up their right to inherit the title while swearing absolute loyalty to Narsiz. While it was somewhat ordinary to usurp the title in any way possible, here, it came with enormous risks, which, when not done right, would spell death.

It wasn't a cushy reign, full of banquets and orgies, but a harsh duty. They were the first and last defense in their fief and would need to fight when a giant demon appeared, ready to sacrifice their lives.

However, the administrative option, which was optional, could be chosen besides the battle aspect. The problem was, though, that even for the partner who would most of the time go on the battlefield, decent bureaucratic skills were necessary for logistics management.

Linuel had barely any skills when he tried to work with her. She was a mess and was barely interested. Trying to manage an army would be catastrophic, making them lose against an army of hamsters.

Yet, there was someone worse: Sarah, who had no skills at all. How did he know? The Leonandra household had a unique tradition in that sense. They occasionally took every puppy to meetings, work, and gatherings, showing them the tasks they did and even giving them some small ones as a test.

Lorient was always incredibly bored. She did not understand that even the stronger partner needed to know at least how logistics, military strategies, and other processes functioned for a well-run army. Still, she hated it and always tried to avoid it, not being for either position.

Sarah was even less interested. After the first two times, she tried to skip it, always eating, sleeping, or training. Janina was the same, only wanting to do fine arts and magic. They only followed their interests.

Narsiz and Alexander were the only ones somewhat interested in this aspect, but he skipped it, immediately opening a charity and doing his own thing. Shadowing his Mother or father was genuinely dull.

As such, when they left the race for the title, what would become of them? Usually, a low-level administrator, major, or something akin to this in some town or city could still use their education to perform certain duties and live somewhat like nobility.

However, when they couldn't do those, they became personal guards of their siblings, especially when they were trustworthy like Sarah, but it was very uncommon to take a fiancé as one.

Nonetheless, Linuel seemed fine with this arrangement, even liking it because she was freed from all the administrative duties a noble's spouse had.

Regardless of their little motifs for the title, Alexander still saw a certain sparkle in their eyes, one that wished honor and recognition. They were ultimately the puppies of honorable Knights with multiple thousand-year-old history and pride. Of course, they all dreamed of being at least mentioned in some historical context, and he wanted to use this desire to the fullest.

Alexander plopped on the couch between them, grabbing them on their hip and smiling at them interchangeably, "So let me try and ask you, do you want not to use a chance, a great one like this, to expedite this project, becoming more famous and revered than you could imagine? Someone who others would look at with jealousy and pride, revealing you and wishing to be you? All we need to do..."

He jumped up again, walking to the black powder, taking the pouch into his hand, and slowly, letting it seve through his hand and fall onto the table.

He sounded excited, trying to impose on them the incredible opportunity: "Now tell me, do you not wish to use this? A simple powder able to catapult you to the forefront faster than you thought and ease the chances of our friends and partners, isn't it worth the little risk? All we do is make the ingredients, right?"

When he saw into their eyes, he had convinced them. Throwing the pouch onto the table, he opened his arms again, smiling at Narsiz and walking close to him, "Now...woah!"

However, Narsiz immediately grabbed his head and pushed him toward his mouth. When he came very close to him, he whispered as silently as possible, with Alexander feeling killing intent, "If you ever dare to manipulate Lin again, I will forget all the goodwill I have toward you and will make your life an Outer Circle. Do you understand?"

Narsiz let go of Alexander, who smiled cheekily at him, making him pop a vein, "Gotcha, so are you in or not?"

Alexander wasn't perturbed at all. Narsiz was highly protective of his family and Linuel. However, he also became overly sensitive over the last weeks, always barely able to sleep with him or when he wanted to bathe together, declining outright.

Their Mother told Alexander that he was about to enter his first mating season, and when remembering Lorient and her craziness, he didn't take it to heart. Besides that, she warned him to stay away a month or two from him before it started. There was an excellent chance for him to get raped, like with Lorient.

However, it was funny to Alexander that their first mating seasons ended in catastrophes. For every commoner, it was always a festive moment, with everyone happy and sometimes ending in some weird traditions he didn't want to think about. Especially the one Aurum told him about was something he tried to forget.

For the guard households, it was the parents trying not to kill their puppies because they became crazy so they could get the skill. Of course, he wouldn't be angry at him while he was like this.

Looking back at Narsiz and smelling him, it was clear that he was stressed, but he nodded nonetheless after a moment of contemplation. "Of course I am in, but..." He looked to the side, at the powder, and frowning, "...is it really like you said? You can only make the ingredients here, which will not act like the powder, and then ship them over, which will be processed there, making it act..." He looked up, not knowing how to end the sentence, "...explody?"

Alexander nodded, returning to his seat, plopping down and relaxing, "Of course. Everything is as safe as it could be..." He looked around, slightly tired but still smiling, "...any more questions?"

Makol raised a hand, which made Alexander roll his eyes, "Just ask. It's not like we are at school."

He looked to the side, to Jorsh and Petra, who nodded at him and inhaled, sounding massively nervous, "Mr. Alexander, we are genuinely thankful and don't know how to show our appreciation. What you said was true, and for thinking of us like that, not only seeing us as some tools, is something we never could've imagined and as such..."

Makol stood up, taking out a map they had drawn with the information gathered. He took a table, pulled it to the middle, and laid it on it, "This map we had drawn after gathering information."

Alexander raised an eyebrow, becoming genuinely interested, "I see."

He stood up, along with everyone else, walked to the table, and looked at it more closely. He looked back at Makol, smiling, "Thanks. I know how hard it is to overcome one's distrust, but we will not hold anything back now and will still support you fully."

Makol smiled back, his three pupils moving weirdly, making Alexander slightly nervous, 'Night elves are really weird.'

However, what could he say? He was a guy with wolf ears and a tail, not the most extraordinary creation nature could do, but rather a weirdo human having a go with a furry or fauner, whatever floated their boat.

As such, they also tolerated their weird moments when someone freaked out because of their first mating season, knowing it was something their kin did.

Alexander was brought back from almost staring at the weird three pupils moving in a strange pattern by Makol's voice, "This is not what I wanted to show, Mr. Alexander."

He nodded, looking back at the map, "Okay? What is it then?"

Makol pointed to the east, toward some area surrounded by mountains. "We know that there is a dungeon, and one which is much older, has multiple levels, and has barely been visited."

There was a sudden dead silence, only interrupted by Narsiz, sounding incredibly frustrated, "Fucking damn it!"