The Steam Engine

"Fulong Cavendish pays his respects to Your Highness."

"Rise. I heard the slave registration is mostly complete. Bishop Lola is very satisfied with your speed, and I am equally pleased."

"Thank you for your praise, Your Highness."

Fulong slowly rose from the ground and looked up at the Saintess sitting upon her sacred bed.

It had only been about half a month since their last meeting.

In the past, Fulong always felt that although the Saintess before him had some cleverness, she was at most an immature girl.

But during this past half month...

She had annihilated the demon elites, formed an alliance with the dragons, crushed the rebellion of the Garnet family, stabilized a million refugees, pacified thousands of wyverns with dragon breath, and extracted millions of gold coins from the Dressas family with just a few words. She was building Knight City and Dragon City, constructing roads, and so much more...

The speed at which this series of actions moved was unbelievable.

Yet the architect of it all was merely the 'little Saintess' he had once looked down upon.

It was hard to believe that all of this had started within half a month and was still proceeding effectively and orderly.

At this moment, Fulong seriously re-evaluated the Saintess of the Moon standing before him.

In the past, it was true that she could not have done anything to him.

After all, no matter how much the Cavendish family was shunned by other nobles, they were still part of the nobility. A mere Saintess would never dare provoke them.

Now, however, their statuses had completely reversed.

In the face of the current Saintess, the Cavendish family was like an insect she could crush at will.

"Your Highness overpraises me. This is merely my duty."

"Mhm, very good. I like that you have such awareness. Duke Fulong, I hear your conflict with the Rowan family is quite significant."

Fulong was slightly startled. His visit today was somewhat unexpected.

He hadn't come of his own accord; he had been summoned personally by the Saintess. This made him feel uneasy, though he didn't show it on his face, offering a faint smile instead.

"It is only what we should do, Your Highness. You flatter me."

"Very well. By the way, regarding the slave statistics, Lola hasn't had time to tell me yet. Why don't you... tell me about it?"

"As you command."

It wasn't that I hadn't heard the census results from Lola, but hearing them from Fulong gave it a different perspective.

"Your Highness, in the areas surveyed so far—excluding Seaview City and the chaotic northeast region—the count is complete. The total number of slaves is approximately seventy-three million. Among them, about twenty million are female, three point seven million are minors or infants, and about one hundred and ninety thousand are elderly. The rest are adult males."

Excluding the nobility and slaves, the total population of the nation was about two hundred and ninety million. The total number of slaves accounted for about one-third of the commoner population.

This was enough to prove how massive the wealth gap in this country truly was.

Because the slaves themselves were a form of 'capital'.

"Excellent, Duke Fulong. There is something I want to ask you."

"Please speak, Your Highness."

"How much does an adult male slave cost right now?"

"Uh... for an adult male, the average price is about fifty silver coins."

"I see. Well then, from now on, all your slaves will increase in price. You can discuss the specific rates with Lola."

"A price increase?"

Fulong was stunned.

"Yes, a price increase. Since you are the only one managing the slave market now, the pricing is naturally up to you. You can sell them for however much you want."

"But Your Highness, if I do that, my... my family..."

"Hmm? Is there a problem?"

"No... none at all."

Seeing the smile in the girl's eyes, Fulong instantly swallowed the rest of his words.

Raising prices abruptly would undoubtedly make the Cavendish family the target of public resentment. However, he had no choice now.

Retreat?

How could he retreat?

Once he backed down, the Cavendish family would likely vanish entirely. With the power this Saintess wielded, wouldn't destroying a minor noble family be effortless?

He couldn't retreat, and there was nowhere to go.

Fulong suddenly realized one thing.

From the moment he agreed to cooperate with this Saintess, he was already on this ship and there was no getting off.

Leaving would come at a devastating cost!

"Alright, I have nothing else. Go find Bishop Lola. She will tell you the rest."

Fulong gritted his teeth and looked up at the girl on the sacred bed. His brow was furrowed, and after a moment of hesitation, he could only withdraw helplessly.

Leaving the hall, Fulong stood before the gates and faced the wind, only then realizing his forehead was covered in cold sweat.

A simple conversation had left him drenched.

It wasn't because of the Saintess's aura, but rather a simple... overwhelming gap in strength.

Fulong believed that if he hadn't agreed to her terms just now, he... might not have walked out of this Temple alive.

He looked back at the massive gates and sighed helplessly after a long silence, then turned to ask where Bishop Lola was and hurried toward her.

Fulong did not know that as he hurried away from the Temple gates toward Lola's office...

Behind him, a small figure hurried back into the hall and approached me.

"Your Highness, Duke Fulong is heading toward Bishop Lola's office."

"I see. Thank you for your hard work, Tasha. You may leave."

"Yes."

Watching the young nun Tasha exit the Temple, I felt a sense of relief.

If Duke Fulong had headed toward the main gate of the Temple just now, I would have had to consider completely wiping out the Cavendish family.

There was no need to keep a family that wouldn't cooperate.

I would show no mercy to those who wouldn't assist me.

To them, my existence was one of power. Since I held the power, there was no need to argue reasonably.

I would tell them directly what I wanted, and any family that refused to cooperate would be thoroughly eliminated!

This was my current policy.

Whether I was called a 'tyrant' or a 'despot', even if such titles were forced upon me, what did it matter?

"Your Highness, it seems Mr. Fulong is a clever man after all."

Nara looked at her smiling princess, understanding exactly what she was thinking.

"Whether he is clever or not depends on his future actions. There isn't much to say yet."

I shook my head. Fulong's current choice was correct, but there was no guarantee he wouldn't make a mistake in the future.

All I could do was give him the best choices possible.

Of course, I wouldn't hold back if he chose incorrectly.

"Any news from the front lines these past two days?"

I turned to Nara, but she shook her head.

"No, Your Highness. Sir Tristan is on his way back to the city. He was severely poisoned, and I hear it's quite serious."

"I see. Remind me when he arrives. I'll go see him."

Three days had passed since the last policy discussion. Nothing significant had happened in those three days, and everything was running as usual.

As for the two secondary cities, although the knights from Knight City had been sent out to war, the construction speed of the city itself had actually increased.

Meanwhile, the construction of Dragon City remained very fast under Ligeia's supervision.

Camilla's slime adhesive was extremely effective. it dried quickly, and fire element magic could be used to accelerate the drying process. Thus, the construction of Dragon City was clearly much faster than that of Knight City.

However, stone materials had recently become scarce.

Lola had complained to me yesterday that the construction of these two cities was so fast that Brilliant City was facing a stone shortage.

I didn't have a good solution for that.

I could only tell her to wait.

Speaking of which, ever since the three of them started splitting my workload, I had gradually become quite idle.

There was almost nothing for me to do now.

The refugees outside were managed by Augus.

The commoners inside were managed by Audis.

And Lola coordinated the overall operations.

Having capable secretaries really is wonderful.

As the big boss, I was almost left with nothing to do.

"Your Highness, Anton the dwarf requests an audience."

"Oh? He's here? Let him in."

I stepped down from the sacred bed as I spoke. Anton's return meant he surely brought good news.

Sure enough, when Anton walked in, his weathered face was full of smiles.

"Your Highness, I did not fail your expectations. The steam engine is complete and has entered the testing phase."

Hearing this news, I felt like I was ascending to heaven.

Holy hell, the good news came fast!

"So soon? Where is it? Let me see."

"Just outside the hall."

Anton tilted his head back with pride, though given his height, he couldn't exactly look down on anyone even with his head held high.

"Lead the way."

I looked at Anton, my heart racing with anticipation for the steam engine. Once this was done, the next step was the train.

And building the train would be much simpler than the steam engine itself.

"Please follow me, Your Highness."

Anton led me out, and I followed closely. When we stepped out of the hall, over a hundred knights had already gathered around.

Some were whispering, while others were pointing.

In the crowd, I saw a familiar figure, and she saw me too.

"Everyone disperse! Her Highness is coming through!"

At Hilda's command, the knights surrounding the gate scattered like startled birds. In the blink of an eye, the open space in front of the hall was cleared.

Hilda stood there, looking at me with a bit of embarrassment.

"Your Highness, my apologies. This new invention is quite... fascinating to them."

"I understand."

I waved my hand, stopping Hilda from continuing.

Who wouldn't be curious the first time they saw a machine that could move on its own?

I turned my gaze toward the steam engine. The massive machine was running, currently consisting of just one engine. Based on my requirements, it was a four-cylinder engine.

I had drawn the blueprints for the cylinder block and handed them to Anton.

I hadn't expected a finished product so quickly.

"Please look, Your Highness. This is where the fuel is added, and here is where the water level is maintained. Mr. Leonard helped us here. This part uses magic stones refined with fire elements to provide a long-term heat source. As for the water maintenance, I consulted Lady Camilla. She provided an alchemical material and used magic to stabilize the water level, allowing it to be replenished over a long period. It only needs periodic checks and replacements."

"Let me see."

I walked around the steam engine four times. The design was basically the same as what I had envisioned. The shape was closer to a car engine layout, a straight-four.

The overall structure was simple. With an alchemist master like Camilla and the current help of the Mage Association, building such a thing was incredibly easy.

"How long has it been running?"

I reached out and touched the steam engine. The casing wasn't too hot, meaning Anton had considered heat loss and used an insulating material for the exterior.

"Reporting to Your Highness, it began running formally last night. It has been seven hours now, and there have been no issues."

Pride was written all over Anton's face. Clearly, building such a device full of precision parts in a short time was something to be proud of.

Seven hours. Based on a train's speed, sixty kilometers per hour was normal.

If the special materials of this era were factored in, that speed could probably be increased a bit.

But it wouldn't exceed eighty kilometers.

"Very good, very good."

For the current Kingdom of the Moon, sixty kilometers per hour was enough.

Moreover, besides this, there were magic airships. For special missions, one could simply fly instead of using this.

"Nara, bring the train designs I drew earlier."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Nara was always by my side. She knew where my things were better than I did.

Sometimes when I couldn't find something, Nara could.

"Train designs? Your Highness has already constructed the train designs?"

"Yes, most of the functions are drawn. The rest will need Mr. Anton to supplement."

I turned to look at Anton, whose face was filled with surprise.

"I didn't expect Your Highness to understand train design as well. It makes me feel quite ashamed. I thought it would take several more months to design the cars."

Anton scratched his head, a trace of bashfulness appearing on his face.

"Haha, there is no need for that, Mr. Anton. My knowledge of the train designs has nothing to do with talent. God told me."

"God!?"

Anton was stunned and instinctively looked back at the hall. Through the doors, he could see the massive Statue of the Angel standing in the center.

A look of doubt flashed across his face, but he didn't press the matter, turning back to look at me instead.

"Your Highness, this steam engine is essentially finished. Once the cars are built, I can..."

"No, Mr. Anton. Would you be willing to become my official subordinate?"

"Huh?"

Anton's eyes widened as he looked at me in disbelief.

"Your Highness, are you saying... you want to recruit a dwarf as your subordinate?"

"Anton, in my Kingdom of the Moon, there is no distinction between high and low status. No matter the race, I treat everyone equally. Mr. Anton, I hope you will agree."

Anton pondered for a moment before suddenly asking:

"Your Highness, why exactly did you invent this train?"

"It's simple. I just want to make transportation throughout the Kingdom of the Moon more convenient."

"Is that... all?"

"Yes, that's all."

Anton lowered his head in thought again. After a long while, he finally looked up at me.

"In that case, Anton is willing to become your subject."

He agreed just like that?

"Mr. Anton, you... don't want to ask anything else?"

"Your Highness's idea for making this train was considered from the perspective of the people. Since that is the case, as a commoner myself, what reason do I have not to help you?"