With my steam project complete, I find my work isn't over. My first goal is to speak with the various craftsmen who helped me, and those I am bringing on for my next project. I explained the properties of the engine and how to utilize the steam properly. Since the idea of mechanical power and gears isn't alien to the various Frontiersmen, this was easy to do. I only trust a few with the actual inner workings of the engine and the concept of the fusion core. These are the old men I also entrusted an empowered tool to a while ago. While I have no plans for them to actually make more fusion cores, I want them to be able to replace our resident one in the event the damn thing goes out. With their help, we produce thirty backup cores, which have been dubbed the FCM1, or fusion core model 1.

With that done I give the order to begin setting up shop in the hangar complex. Basically, create a massive forge and every other type of crafting area they can think of. I even have an alchemy section set up in one of the side rooms. No alchemists have been hired yet, but there might be down the line if I need some... chemicals.

But that is for the near future, I have an idea of what I'm going to do next, but first I need to be social. I did what I always used to do back on earth. When something happens that either leaves me upset, awkward, or without a clear answer, I drown myself in work. While there are worse things to fall into, it's still quite immature to try and completely ignore everyone until I am done with a task or over the issue. I have to go deal with bullshit.

I meet Mekare outside the hangar who looks quite... rough. I ask kindly,

"So Mekare... what's the deal with you."

Her eyes widen and she nearly shouts at me,

"For so fucking long you worked on your dumbass machine and I had to follow you around this whole time, and help you build... a giant kettle."

I laugh and respond,

"I would say you didn't have to follow me...but you really do. Alright. Let's go get you cleaned up. Dismissed."

She does some sort of strange flipping-me-off motion and walks away to elsewhere. I head back to the villa to wash up after such a long time working on a sweaty and sooty job. Once finished with my cleaning I enter the main room and find Zindri and Zandra sitting at the table. Zandra has her nose in a book and Zindri looks at me with a pissed expression before she seemingly comes to terms with something. I wave to them and start walking out the door. I hear Zindri say in a low voice,

"It does make sense... I didn't appreciate you until you saved me... and I guess I am younger..."

I am pretty sure I know what she's talking about, but that's beyond the point right now. Nothing I can do, and nothing I care to do.

I decide to go and bother Godiva, or maybe Karl.

I make my way to where Karl lives and just barely catch a glimpse of the curtain close on his bedroom window, and wouldn't ya know, it was a nude Mekare. I shake my head and go towards the royal dormitory with a dumb smile and a feeling of pity for Karl, poor horny bastard.

The royal dormitory for all intents and purposes is a massive mansion with its own grounds separate from that of campus. A huge stone wall with a large metal gate, patrolled by guards. I look at the gate guards and in their static stance one motions with his hand by his side. It's similar to the rock n' roll hand sign, it's Sertean, and the gesture is like our secret handshake. I subtly do the motion back as the gates open for me as I stride inside.

I had more or less dismissed Sertean back to his royal guard duties so that he may finally become a full-fledged royal guard for the prestige of the position. Henna though is still working back at the fort. She is head admin right now and is performing smaller operations for the Heros party while the rest of the party does school.

I am greeted by a servant and am made to wait, which is expected, as much as we are friends, she is in fact the princess. Blake is the one who comes to meet me. I remember seeing him around but he's always been busy following around Godiva like a puppy, or doing something for her when he isn't with her. I doubt they've done anything but he is about as pussy whipped as one can be.

We greet one another warmly and I shake his hand. He's in fairly good spirits which is nice. He asks me,

"I heard you proposed to your... uhhh sister?"

I cuss under my breath and respond,

"Stupid fucking noble rules and bullshit. Yeah, I guess I proposed, but we aren't siblings. Never will be."

He nods and asks,

"What about, uhhh Zeyra tickled your fancy... was it her... uhhh... assets?"

He motions over his chest as if he were quite busty. I laugh and begin to respond as Godiva appears behind him,

"Well...let's just say we had an argument, I lost my cool and asked her to marry me for convenience and also to settle the Hasslerouge succession dispute before it got ugly in one way or another. "

He nods and I watch as Godiva goes through multiple emotions with her face. Which is odd, but she did suddenly come into this conversation. Blake then asks in a low voice with a devilish grin,

"You excited for your honeymoon? Making sure the next generation comes along? I bet you'll have her...ACK!"

Godiva slugs Blake on the back of his head making him stop his line of questioning. I laugh and respond to his question humorously,

"For a woman who uses fire magic so much, she sure is cold to me, damn she probably won't let me touch her."

Blake rights himself laughing at my response before I give a quick bow to the princess noticing some servants are staring. With that done Godiva says to me,

"That is an interesting reason to do something so drastic. Hearing about that a while ago really caught me off-guard because I was sure there was no way you actually loved that woman. I was going to confront you about that to make sure you weren't being coerced into it, but you were too busy."

I nod and respond,

"I'm happy you're looking out for me Princess, but it was purely a slapshot of a decision to get rid of some stressful factors in my life."

She nods, but I do note her eyes light up slightly. She then asks with a smile,

"You've been so busy since we started schooling again. What strange workings are you doing this time?"

I beam a wide smile, my pride swelling and I respond,

"Well... I have a greater future vision, but for now, I need production numbers increased, so I made a steam engine."

Godiva looks confused but Blake's eyes go wide and he asks quickly,

"Wait! You actually made one? That's so cool. I wanted to bring some modern tech to this world but figured out it was beyond my scope of expertise."

I give a short laugh responding,

"Well... It's not a true steam engine... not enough coal, it's actually closer to a nuclear reactor."

His mouth hangs open and Godiva stares at us both with confusion clear on her face. I motion for them to follow which they do. We head toward the hangar building which is buzzing with activity. Pipes are being made and fitted to the valves I had made. Connecting to the billows of foundries and blast furnaces that are being built by the dozen by many master craftsmen and workers. The old man I put in charge as a foreman greets us kindly, but rather unkindly tells us to stay the fuck out of the way while construction is underway. I expected this and in fact requested him to be completely frank with me about anything, Godiva and Blake are rather... offended by this, but the old fart leaves quickly to get back to work.

I have us scoot around all the chaos until we reach the engine. The whole construct is shaking violently as steam billows out of the boiler and out the smokestack, All valves other than the water pump are closed and all the steam is being let out to avoid an explosion as I told them, but the rivets embedded in the stone walls tells me someone hadn't taken my warning too seriously. I also note the support scaffolding being constructed around the engine to help with the shaking.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Blake stares in wonderment as the labyrinth of pipes branches off of the central stack to every area of the hangar complex. I then tell the two over the cacophony of sound,

"My current plan is to build a second one of these, a little more refined in order to make life easier for everyone here. Some of the ol' boys I have tasked with researching the engine are working on a secondary, far more efficient design. All I had to do was introduce them to the concept and those who are far better engineers than I. Then they just ran with it. "

I had put a few men and women in charge of this task, they are most likely behind the closed door of the drawing room working on designs as we speak. They were all mill makers in the Frontiersmen, old masters who kept the populaces watered or fed depending on the city. They truly ran with the idea of a steam engine and turbine to be used as a kinetic energy source, and at the rate the soccerball-sized core produced steam the energy available is much higher than some gentle river, plus it can be built anywhere.

Blake then asks me,

"So, Isa. What's your next goal?"

I smile and say,

"For me? That's going to be firearms. The big task will be done by some experts I will hire, but the guns are all mine."

Blake has a wide smile on his face as he gives me a thumbs-up. Godiva for her part stares in utter dumbfoundment.

With my tour done we returned to the royal dormitory and met in a tea room. I then ask,

"So... how are our foreign friends?"

Godiva sighs and Blake laughs nervously. She then answers,

"They are strong as is expected of the higher nobles of such a powerful nation, but they do not seem to understand that they are here as guests."

I shake my head and ask another question,

"How bad?"

She doesn't respond but her expression is more than enough for me. I lean back in my chair and ask,

"Anything you need me to do?"

She shakes her head before an idea comes to mind. She then replies,

"Well... there is the end-of-term tournament in a few months. I won't participate this time around due to some personal reasons, but I recommend that you do. I bet they'll be a little more... understanding if you humble them."

We continue to visit for a while, shooting the shit and swapping a few stories we haven't shared with one another yet, but I decide it's time to go a few hours later. I take my leave happy to have had a social interaction. My progress seems to have smoothed over any issues my friends had with my absence. I still feel bad about it, but I'll make it up to them.

As I move into the villa section of campus a servant woman approaches me. She is what I assume is an elf, very similar to Aelia from the Hasslerouge household, but this one is different.

On the height part they are the same, but her eyes, as strange as elven eyes are, are sharp. Her gaze could cut holes in a diamond. She isn't glaring at me, just one of those people with really harsh eyes. Her hair isn't the same color as Aelias, but is instead a powder blue and I have no reference if that is natural or not. Aside from that about as standard of an elf as far as I know. Her dress is a bit odd though, a standard French maid style as all servant women seem to wear in this kingdom, but all white, no black on this one. I also notice the matching collar to Aelia. I stop my walk and she bows to me before saying,

"Lord Isa, would you please accompany me as my master has requested your presence."

I am about to agree when my hand goes to my hip and find it empty. I haven't had a sword on my hip in a hot minute, and I also have no knives on my persons. I say to the elven woman calmly,

"I will follow, but I must first retrieve a weapon."

The elf cocks her head and says in a confused tone,

"I can guarantee you will be safe on the way there. Despite my role, I am very capable of protection."

I say in a serious voice,

"Even from you master?"

Her posture straightened upon this statement, understanding what I was meaning. I don't trust her master. She says nothing as I walk to my villa, she follows me close behind/The only reason I know she is there is the clicking of her heels on the cobbled path. She follows me to my room and I procure my sword and belt from my war trunk. I attach it to my hip, keeping a close eye on the elf who stands there quietly, watching.

When I am geared I say to her,

"Lead the way."

Expressionless she begins walking and I follow. It's not a long walk but we reach another villa, this one with a house crest I can't remember, admittedly I never learned many of the crests. The villa is also strange in design. While the architecture is the same as all the others, the doors and windows are extra reinforced it seems, and the front door has what I would describe as an airlock. The elven woman leads me inside and as soon as the second door opens I am hit with a huge winter blast.

I shiver instinctively as I step into the frigid building. In the center of the main room is a giant floating crystal that glows a light blue. Judging by the slight wind that blows through the room the crystal is the source of the cold. I look at the elven woman who wraps herself up in a large fur coat. Only her face remains uncovered, if not for the strange facial structure of the elves she would look pretty cute like that.

In the room with me is the big Schneemaker boy, all clad in his armor. I now understand who this villa belongs to. I wave to him and he simply nods in my direction. The elf then motions me into one of the back rooms of the villa. I enter a frozen library where the completely covered woman sits at a table. I do notice that as I enter she is replacing the veil that covers her face. All I caught was some pale skin for a second. She turns toward me and motions for me to sit.

I wrap my arms around myself and sit down where she motioned. I crack a joke,

"I think you have a little draft in here!"

She doesn't laugh or even acknowledge my joke. She then begins to speak to me in what I would best describe as a superior tone,

"Isa... if there were a draft in this home then my life would be in danger. Would you like that for me?"

I sigh defeated and reply,

"No. Normally drafts are cold, it was an attempt at humor."

She cocks her head and after a moment I hear what I could describe as a quiet giggle but she quickly straightens and then begins talking again,

"It is... much to my distaste but I have a request for you... as you are the only one who may be capable of helping me. "

I scoff and ask,

"What makes it so distasteful, and if it is such why ask me?"

She hesitates for a moment before speaking again,

"It is because you were once a slave and because you are strange."

I feel conflicting emotions, on one hand, I am quite irritated at her for that statement, but also very curious. Curiosity wins out and I ask,

"In what way can I be of service?"

She doesn't speak for a long moment before explaining to me,

"I am cursed. I am the only one in my family with this bloodline curse at the moment after the passing of my grandfather. I will not go into much detail as it would be wasted words, but I am forced to remain at a certain temperature at all times.

This curse grants me amazing power in the school of ice magic and almost complete control of ice and snow. I am lucky in this aspect, but the negative is that I will melt like the snow and ice I control. It is a terrible thing to happen, while I do not truly melt, I simply die in a terrible manner.

I so far have been able to exist outside of an environment like the one we are in now through the clothing I wear. It is made of finely made ice crystals which I alone keep frozen with magic, but even with my strength and ability a few hours and I am near exhaustion keeping the ice from melting. It is a terrible existence. While I would be very happy staying at home, high in the mountains where I am safe from my fate, I cannot as the heiress of the Schneemaker family. I have duties I must attend to."

I nod along and then ask,

"And what is it you want me to do about this? As you know I cannot utilize magic."

She shifts and then replies,

"I heard that you had been working on something in that strange shop of yours. My...sources tell me that you wore some kind of strange armor that protected you from the heat of some strange object. Could you create a... suit or something for me that can help protect me from this curse?"

I sigh and reply,

"I can... most likely... but why should I?"

This seems to surprise her, well as far as I can tell because her face is veiled. She then asks in a truly confused tone,

"How could you deny this request? Were you not trained?"

The momentary silence is broken by a loud bang as my sword is driven into the table between us. The blade easily goes through the wood, the runes making it easy. She leans back into her chair in a fearful response. I then tell her with a stern tone,

"Oh, I was trained. I simply do not wish to listen. Now listen up, I don't do anything for free, not one bit. Everything I do has a purpose, goal, and reward. Now what is it you can offer me? "

She takes a moment to recover, muttering something about a "savage" before she replies,

"I see. I can offer much. How about a talent of gold?"

I shake my head and reply,

"That much money is no longer enough after offending me so. Keep raising that price tag."

She is shaken by this and I remove my sword from the wood in front of her before returning it to my hip. She then speaks again,

"That much money would greatly damage my family's coffers. Do you know no limits on greed? "

I sit down, lean back in my chair and respond,

"I have limits, but I also have the entire royal treasury backing my projects. I have no need for personal funds."

There is another long pause before she says in a cold voice,

"How about me?"

I sputter for a moment and as I go to reply she gently removes her veil and my eyes widen in utter shock.

Despite the look of disgust on her face at the notion I could take her as payment, whatever that means, she is absolutely the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my life. She is just shy of the uncanny type of perfection that comes when someone tries to create a photorealistic perfect woman. Just enough lopsidedness here and there to give slight imperfections that keep someone looking human.

Pale white skin that has no perceivable blemishes. Long raven black hair that seems to go past her shoulder blades. Almost unnaturally blue eyes that shine with some sort of mystical power. It's so strange to look at someone like her, almost wrong, but I can understand the need for the veil even without the curse. I am unimpressed with the morals of nobility in this country, she would gain the adoration and ire of all, from looks alone.

I have to kick myself because for only a moment I almost agree to that as a payment, but I still have something redeemable inside me. I clear my throat and bring my face back to neutral. I then tell her,

"No. I do not accept... carnal payment or marriages for payment."

She looks relieved for a moment, but quickly her face changes to one of frustration and she says defeatedly,

"What is it you could want? You have titles, money, and apparently no interest in women. What is it you could want from me?"

I give her a big toothy grin as something comes to mind. She leans back out of fear as I begin my demands, now that she has accidentally shown her desperation to me...