3069 words
In an opulent villa in Empress Borough, Count Hall sat in his study room, giving the letters and newspapers sprawled on his work desk a perfunctory glance.
Seated beside him was his daughter, the most dazzling gem of Backlund — Audrey Hall. She was wearing a green suit with a frilled frock and had a woolen shawl around her shoulders.
"It seems like people of the New Party are making their move." Count Hall rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Audrey, who was listening to her father, tilted her head innocently. "How so?"
Count Hall turned to look at her and placed his hand on her head before gently patting it. "Is my beautiful daughter interested in matters of the Kingdom?"
Audrey puckered her lips before smiling. "Of course! I am interested in whatever father has to say."
Count Hall let out a boisterous laugh and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. As he did, he stood up and stretched his body before letting out a groan as multiple pops left his back. "It seems like they have gotten the genius inventor — Williams Holmes to their side."
Audrey froze for a moment but smiled in a naive manner, as if feigning ignorance. Count Hall noticed her passive reaction and smiled before leaving.
As he did, Audrey placed his chin in her palm and looked into the distance, through the glass window and at the grey clouds. "How interesting."
*****
In a dark, underground bunker-like space, a man dressed in old rags walked with a tray in his hand. The tray had a few fruits, a piece of bread and some meat.
As he approached the wooden chair in the middle of this bunker-like space, he slowed and placed the tray near the foot of the table. Then, he took a step forward and looked at the woman chained to it.
She was a tall woman and had a handsome face with auburn-red hair and red eyes. The clothes over her body seemed to have been torn and ripped at edges, however, her sensitive parts were covered — for the most part.
As the man dressed in rags looked down at her, he raised his chin and growled. "What have you decided?"
The girl looked up at the man and then lowered her head. "My ass hurts from sitting for so long. Unchain me and I'll let you know."
The man stared at her for a long moment and then suddenly held her by the throat. He did not apply any pressure, but raised his other hand into the air, ready to whack her across the face. However, before he could do so, the woman let out a coarse breath.
"Geez, I was kidding... I already told you. I am ready to co-operate... I don't have a place to go back to anyways... Even if I were to run away from you, first of all Loen Kingdom will kill me. If not, one of my own kin will."
The man dressed in rags nodded his head and removed his hand from her throat. Then, placing his hand on her head, he closed his soft eyes.
The following moment, the woman grunted in pain.
*****
As Maury Macht led Kiyotaka to the place where the other parliamentarians and nobles were present, Kiyotaka heard a very familiar voice — a voice he had not heard in so long.
"Williams, my friend!"
As the two men turned around, Kiyotaka saw a young man. The man was not skinny anymore — as he last saw him — and had golden hair with green olive eyes.
Kiyotaka made a polite gesture. "Viscount Glaint."
As Glaint neared, instead of extending his hand to greet him, he instead wrapped one arm around Kiyotaka and pulled him into a side-hug. "It's so nice to see you again."
Kiyotaka felt that Glaint's physical powers had been enhanced since the last time he had met him. However, he understood why. The last time they had met was when Kiyotaka had supplied Sequence 9: Apothecary formula to him in exchange for some quick cash.
Even though it was a transaction, Glaint was quite serious about his health and being able to make medicines for himself with which he could stay healthy, Glaint began to call Kiyotaka his good friend since then.
After that, the circumstances of Kiyotaka's life changed so drastically that he could never meet Viscount Glaint again.
"It has been some time." Kiyotaka replied as Maury Macht turned to look at him.
"Ah, I see that you two are already acquainted."
Glaint flashed a grin. "Of course. He helped me quite a lot... In certain matters." Patting Kiyotaka's shoulder, Glaint picked up a glass of wine and winked. "Good luck, Williams! Once you are done here, come visit me in Empress Borough. Let us reminisce over old times with some tea."
'It's not like we are childhood friends.'
"Sure."
With that said, Viscount Glaint left the scene, taking a sip of his wine and Maury continued to guide Kiyotaka through the drawing room, past several groups of men who immediately lowered their voices as the two approached.
The conversations did not stop entirely, nor did the men turn their heads in an obvious manner.
Instead, there was simply a slight reduction in the volume of their voices, followed by the occasional sideways glance directed towards Kiyotaka before the men returned their attention to whatever conversation they had been having.
'I am just one man. Why bring so many military personnel?'
Kiyotaka pasquinaded. Soon enough, guiding Kiyotaka up the stairs, they arrived in front of a room.
Maury knocked on the door three times before entering.
At the same time, the eyes of a dozen or so people suddenly turned to look at Kiyotaka. Some were curious while some were clearly evaluating him.
A few of them appeared to be mildly dismissive, most likely because they had expected someone considerably older to be responsible for a company that had suddenly begun attracting the attention of Parliament.
As Kiyotaka and Maury entered and the door closed after them, Kiyotaka took in the gazes in a calm and collected manner. He knew that this current situation was an intimidation tactic, and if he was intimidated even once, the deal could fall into the other party's favor.
His eyes moved briefly towards a middle-aged gentleman who immediately looked away after realizing that Kiyotaka had noticed him.
Kiyotaka suddenly alerted himself. In a setting like this, small movements changed a lot of opinions. Which is why the middle-aged man's behavior felt bizarre.
'People who are merely curious usually look at the face. People who are evaluating someone tend to look at their clothes, posture and companions. 'And people who are looking for weakness usually look at the hands.'
Kiyotaka did not look down. He did not need to. After all, he could feel the warm sensation of the scarlet bracelet around his wrist.
The middle-aged man had looked directly at Ember!
"Please, follow me." Maury prompted as Kiyotaka walked after him.
This room which was isolated from the outer party had just as many amenities available as the one going on downstairs, except that this place was full of Beyonders.
Several portraits were hung along the wall, most depicting stern-looking men in military uniforms or formal political attire. Kiyotaka did not recognize most of them.
Still, he could make several educated guesses, such as judging from the uniforms and medals, some were former military commanders while others appeared to be former Ministers.
As they walked deeper into the place, the string quartet became softer, the noise of conversations from downstairs became indistinct, beneath the thick carpeting and the walls separating the upper floor from the drawing room.
As they arrived at the end of the room, there was another door. The people in this first room all walked to the side while continuing their mundane talks, as if they did not even see him. However, it was quite obvious that there was some deep scrutiny that weighed on Kiyotaka.
Before Maury extended his hand forward to unlock the door that led to the room within the room, he glanced at Kiyotaka from the corner of his eye.
"I should warn you, Mr. Holmes. The gentlemen inside are considerably less interested in pleasantries than those downstairs."
"I expected as much."
Maury's lips curled into a faint smile. "I thought you might."
As Maury opened the door and the two entered, the first thing to greet Kiyotaka was the sight of a massive map of the Loen Kingdom that occupied almost the entirety of the far wall.
Unlike ordinary decorative maps, this one was covered with markings and several colored pins had been placed along the major railway lines. Some others were positioned around Backlund, major industrial districts, ports and military installations.
There were also several small black markings along the borders.
Kiyotaka's eyes moved across them and then he looked at the other parts of the room
He was quite surprised at the lack of servants, however, quite a lot of military personnel were already installed throughout the house.
'Military Installations, Railway infrastructure, Ports, Naval bases... Not bad. After the recent terrorist bombings, it seems like they have gotten on high alert.'
He then noticed a giant table with seven seats around it, however, only five of them were currently occupied.
The first man was an elderly gentleman. He appeared to be in his late sixties, perhaps early seventies, although Kiyotaka knew better than to rely entirely on appearances when dealing with wealthy men or Beyonders.
His silver hair had been combed backwards, exposing a broad forehead. The skin of his head was quite visible due to the thin hair while his face was deeply lined from age and had a bronze tint to it.
However, there was nothing frail about him. His shoulders, even at this age, were broad and straight and the dark military uniform covering his body was decorated with several medals.
His hands were resting upon the table.
They were large and the knuckles were thick and worn while faint scars snaked along the fingers.
'Active military personnel. It looks like he has been stationed at a rather warmer place. He has naturally white skin but the bronze tones suggest that he was deployed in warmer areas for most of his life.'
The second man was considerably younger, perhaps in his late forties or early fifties.
He was wearing a dark naval uniform decorated with gold epaulets, and unlike the elderly general, his uniform appeared almost immaculate. His black hair had begun to grey around the temples, but his posture was perfectly straight and there was a faint scar along his jaw.
His fingers were resting against the table, rhythmically tapping against the wood.
'Naval commander, it seems like.'
Kiyotaka's eyes moved further. The third man was not wearing a military uniform.
He was perhaps in his fifties, dressed in an extremely conservative black suit. His thin silver spectacles rested low on his nose, and several documents were arranged neatly in front of him.
Unlike the other two men, he did not immediately look at Kiyotaka's face but instead his eyes went towards his shoes, then his hands, coat, watch and lastly to his face.
The fourth man, however, was the most interesting. He was perhaps in his early forties, with thinning brown hair, a broad forehead and a clean-shaven face.
He wore a formal black suit with a small silver insignia pinned near his breast pocket. Unlike the others, he did not immediately look at Kiyotaka. Instead, his gaze went towards Maury, then towards the door and then he looked at the floor, as if peering through the carpeted floor.
The fifth man was perhaps in his thirties and wore a dark military uniform without any obvious medals. His hands were clasped behind his back while he looked outside the window and he did not turn around.
Even after everyone had acknowledged Kiyotaka's presence with a nod, that fifth man did not turn around.
'One senior military officer, one senior naval officer, one bureaucrat, one unidentified official and one younger military officer. Interesting.'
Suddenly, Kiyotaka's back tingled. It felt as if his connection to the outside had been distorted and his senses that were able to expand outside the room were suddenly isolated.
The elderly military officer, noticing Kiyotaka's reaction, smiled faintly. "You noticed."
Kiyotaka looked towards him. "The door?"
The elderly man kept smiling but did not reply. Instead, he parted his lips and puckered them as if he was whistling. "Ordinary people don't register such things."
Sensing the sudden tension, Maury adjusted his cuffs and took a step forward. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce Mr. Williams J. Holmes, founder and principal owner of Prometheus Motors."
He gestured towards the elderly officer. "Mr. Holmes, this is General Edmund Hargreaves."
The general inclined his head. "Mr. Holmes."
Kiyotaka returned the gesture. "General."
Maury continued.
"Admiral Theodore Vale, First Sea Lord and the direct apprentice to Cardinal Snake from Church of Storms."
The naval officer stopped tapping his fingers and looked at Kiyotaka. "Holmes." He nodded his head.
"Admiral."
"Sir Alistair Pembroke, Permanent Undersecretary for War."
'Pembroke? It's the name of the publishing company where I posted my book... This is quite un-ideal.'
The bureaucrat adjusted his glasses. "An honor to finally meet you, Mr. Holmes."
Kiyotaka inclined his head. "Likewise."
Maury then looked towards the younger man standing near the window. "And Colonel Arthur Bell, Director of Military Procurement."
The Colonel finally turned around, revealing his sharp blue eyes. Unlike the others, he was younger, but there was a distinct hardness in his expression that made him appear older than his actual age.
"Mr. Holmes."
Kiyotaka nodded. "Colonel."
Maury finally gestured towards the empty chair. "Please."
Kiyotaka walked towards it wordlessly and settled down. Before sitting down, however, he looked towards the documents on the table.
Several of them had seals, with one of them carrying the emblem of the War Ministry. Another had the seal of the Admiralty and the third had the royal insignia.
Kiyotaka paused and pried his eyes away from the letters, sighing. 'This is going to be really tiring.'
"I believe introductions have been made sufficiently." Maury said and placed both hands on the table.
Hargreaves kept his eyes on Kiyotaka and replied: "I agree."
The old general leaned back slightly. For several seconds, he simply observed the young man. Eventually, Hargreaves took a whiff of the cigar beside him and exhaled it before speaking. "You are younger than I expected."
Kiyotaka gave a faint nod. "I have heard that before."
Admiral Vale smiled slightly. "So I imagine."
Hargreaves, however, did not smile. "We have spent the better part of the last month examining your company. Your production figures, your patents, modus-operandi, your employees. We also examined your financial records — business and personal. Well, at least the ones available. I have to admit, you are quite a shadowy person."
Kiyotaka's expressions did not change. "That sounds invasive."
"It is." Hargreaves' tone suddenly steeled.
Maury interrupted before the conversation could become unnecessarily hostile. "Mr. Holmes, please understand that the Kingdom cannot afford to be careless."
"I understand."
"Good." Maury looked towards Hargreaves and the general shrugged before leaning forward.
"Mr. Holmes."
"Yes?"
"Do you understand what you have created?"
Kiyotaka considered the question. It was almost identical to the one Maury had asked him before. The difference was that this time, there were six people waiting for his answer. Kiyotaka looked towards the map of Loen and then towards the documents.
Finally, he looked back at the general.
"A more efficient engine."
Hargreaves' expression remained unchanged as Admiral Vale smiled while Sir Alistair raised an eyebrow.
"He gave you the same answer, didn't he?" the Admiral asked Maury.
"He did."
"And?"
"He said it was the most accurate answer."
Vale looked back towards Kiyotaka. "I think I like him."
Hargreaves ignored the Admiral. "Steam has defined the last century of military development. Railways allowed us to move armies faster. Steamships allowed our navy to remain at sea longer. Factories allowed us to manufacture weapons at a scale our ancestors could never have imagined. And now you have produced an engine that does not rely upon steam. Do you understand what that means?"
Kiyotaka's eyes moved towards him. "It means there is now an alternative."
Hargreaves leaned back. "And if that alternative becomes superior?"
Kiyotaka shrugged. "Then people will use it."
The old general stared at him. For the first time, there was something resembling amusement in his eyes. "You truly don't romanticize your own invention."
"I don't see the point."
Admiral Vale laughed while Maury covered his mouth with one hand. Even Sir Alistair's lips twitched slightly. Hargreaves, however, remained serious. "That attitude may be exactly why we brought you here."
Kiyotaka's eyes narrowed as the general reached towards one of the folders before opening it. Inside of it were several diagrams, which Kiyotaka immediately recognized.
They were drawings of his engine, except they were not identical to the originals.
Someone had attempted to reverse engineer them.
Kiyotaka stared at the diagrams for several seconds.
'They have already tried, despite me possessing the Patent to it.'
Hargreaves watched his reaction and then waved his hand. "I know what you're thinking. 'These guys are trying to steal my invention, even though I have the patent.' Right? Well, you'd be pleased, or displeased, to hear that we actually recovered these from an engineering firm in Backlund."
Kiyotaka remained silent and kept hearing the old man's words.
"They were attempting to reproduce your engine."
Kiyotaka nodded and parted his lips. "How successful were they?"
"Not very." Then, Hargreaves sighed. "Do you know why?"
"The design requires several manufacturing tolerances that are difficult to reproduce without understanding the underlying principles."
Hargreaves looked towards Sir Alistair. "We reached the same conclusion. Your machine is simple in design, however, the underlying mechanisms and contraptions were complex enough to even put the higher caliber engineers to shame. That alone validates your ability."
Kiyotaka's gaze returned to the diagrams. Instead of acting happy at the praise, his eyes quickly scanned the crudely replicated diagram. "Who commissioned them?"
Nobody answered immediately. As Kiyotaka looked up, Hargreaves cleared his throat. "So you don't know. We know who paid them."
"Who?"
Hargreaves' expression hardened. "That is one of the reasons you are here."
Kiyotaka leaned back slightly. His eyes moved towards the royal seal again as the Colonel finally spoke. "And we believe the people behind it are not acting independently."
Kiyotaka looked towards him. "What do you mean?"
Colonel Bell placed another document on the table. "This."
Kiyotaka looked down.
It was a shipping manifest with several names, companies and destinations.
The one that caught his eye the most was the location of a certain place, which made Kiyotaka almost facepalm himself.
Desi Bay.
'There goes my vacation...'