The Mechanical Era

Queen Rose Valline is the most powerful queen in the northern continent, born into the most powerful magical bloodline in history that controlled the city that had managed to hold a large influence over the kingdoms settled in the Pixie Drainage Basin, due to geography.

However, over her 4 years in power, she had enacted several decisions that made some royal families feel as if they were being targeted, and were an abuse of the terms and conditions set in the Peckerson accords. Like teaching Valline's history, or forcing other royal families to force their children to participate at the age of 10 rather than 15.

Therefore the 3 kingdoms, Nexert, Desmon, and Hoverdam had come to form a coalition to gather as much influence in the northern region by using trade pacts, arranged marriages, and greater cooperation. They had started their meetings in the previous years when they heard of the disrespect she had for the pope and the church.

They hope that, with enough royal families by their side, they would have gained a sizable amount of influence which they would use to force her to reverse the terrible stack of policies she had enacted if she complied, or deposed if she refused. Now it was time for another meeting.

Over the distance, they can see a man walking towards them. He was being escorted by two elite knights, both female. He had long black hair, that went down to his shoulder, hazel green eyes, and a sleek cheek to boot. He appeared to have worn his blue suit, with a half cloak on covering his right arm and shoes with heels.

"Welcome, Salvatore. We have been patiently waiting for you." Malinda greeted.

"Indeed Salvatore, the tea was just getting cold."

Salvatore smiled at them.

"Thank you, both of you. It is a pleasure to be here." He grabbed a chair and sat down. Malinda grabbed the teapot and poured him a cup.

"Is Danial okay? I heard he hasn't been getting better?"

"He will be just fine. But since he has to take a bit of rest, I will be taking over for him."

"Alright then. So... how is everything gone? Malinda?" he turned his head towards her.

"It is a pleasure to say that we have done well." She unravels the map. They didn't have any color to them, and had a brown tone to them, with many city names written in cursive.

"We have managed to pressure the smaller inland city-states near the river by threatening to cut off their spices and such. The ones over here are safely under our control." She pointed to the left side of the Pixie river.

"Though we do still have a bit have a little trouble with Valoco, which is further inland and near other coastal cities. We should be secured over there." Salvatore smiled. He was not surprised at their achievement.

"What about you Corel? How is progress so far?"

"It has gone well. In terms of the south, we have managed to have our son marry the King of Peckerson's first daughter. It will help tilt the balance in the Kingdom's decisions. For the smaller cities, the ones near the river were the easiest. Especially the East.

How about you Salvatore?"

"Thanks to the river, we have managed to project power over the kingdoms in the north with ease. Though I did have a bit more difficulty with the south in the beginning.

Other than the cities, I managed to finally convince and snuggle in 2 teachers from the academy we can use to form our own school. Though we will need more teachers, this is a good start. That is about it. "

"Now that we have established the kingdoms we have power over. What are the ones we are struggling with?" Malinda asked. She turned her head towards Corel.

"I am having problems with Tyro. Though they may be in proximity, their family is... unusually stubborn. I have sent some spies to try and investigate, but no luck for now."

"I got a few cities. They are all generally a bit cautious considering that... I have been a bit aggressive. However, with a bit of time, I could help change that... yes."

"And Malinda?"

"Well. Our main problem is the east. A few cities are unwilling to obey. Apparently, they seem to have some connections to her rise. We haven't found a workaround for it yet. The biggest ones are Albersterg and Conosac. Although..." a memory came into her mind.

"What is it?"

"Do I have your attention gentleman?"

"Yes, you do. Please."

"I am sure you are all familiar with Prince Kant..." the two leaned in when they heard that name.

"He had managed to invent a new construction material called cement. He says it's a mortar that hardens in two days."

"That is... impressive. But why does this matter?" asked Corel

"The wall. In the city of Albersterg, Heinrich is trying to construct a wall to boost his city's defense. What if we try to convince him to adopt one?"

They were both genuinely giving it a thought without dismissing the idea entirely. They have had some encounters with the eerie child, especially with the things he invented, the art he painted, and the other stories they heard.

"Do you have any details on this? The cement?" asked Corel.

"It's a powder one mixes with sand and water to get a mortar. At least that is what I have heard."

"Did anyone back there confirm it?"

"Yes, I got confirmation from both the knight commander and the assistant minister. We instructed them to look after the boy. Make sure he isn't in any danger."

"Sounds good to me. But we should wait to see if he can do it himself. If the product gets more notoriety from it, then we would have a bigger bargaining chip to use in the other cities. Your kid has done something for us! As expected for a Maybale. But make sure it doesn't go too far."

"Thank you Salva..." she smiled as she heard this.

This was when the meeting was interrupted. A maid had come holding a letter addressed to be delivered to Malinda. She opened it, and read its contents. She read it for a few minutes and sighed as she finished.

"What does it say?"

"My daughter Sofia seemed to have gotten herself in trouble again. I would have to teach her a lesson when she comes back in the summer. It feels as if she is getting careless every day."

"Well, now that is all well and done, mind if you show me my good friend Danial? I haven't seen that happy bastard in a while."

Malinda smiled. "Of course, you can. Though I think he might be sleeping at this time. We should check up on him in about an hour."

...

Arjun and Kristina were called off to a room, guarded by the most trusted knights that she could find. Kant had given orders to meet him there, with reasoning vague; said that he wanted to present them with something new, and would like for them to not get disturbed.

The room itself was the study room that he decided. The two sat down next to each other on the red couch. Kant had not arrived yet and had started to read some books lying around. All are mostly a bit boring.

"Do you know why we are here?"

"I have no clue either Knight Kristina. He just informed me that this... presentation... to be crucial."

"Whatever it is, I hope it would be worthwhile."

A knock then came on the door. Kant, holding a stack of papers, entered the room. He looked to be a bit tired. He place the papers on the table, gave the knights instructions, then locked the door.

"Good Afternoon Knight Kristina and Minister Arjun. I would like to thank you two for being patient. I hope I didn't force you to wait long?"

"No sire, you have not."

"Good. Then let's start then, shall we?" He did a little stretch and cough, before continuing.

"Now, about 3 days ago, I got assistant minister Arjun here to do a census of the literacy rate of the population. Since it was impossible to ask everyone in the city whether they could read we did a random data sampling to gather the most accurate amount of data. We also asked for the participant's occupation, age, and such to have more of an informative look.

Unsurprisingly, the literacy rate turned out to be around 25%. Most of them are knights, mages, merchants, and other high-class occupations that bring in a high income or a job that requires reading and writing to be a skill needed. Most of the illiterates remain in the peasantry as they don't see a need for such.

That is what I want to change. I plan to teach most of the population to read and write. I believe it would be extremely beneficial for us to do so and it could be accomplished by the end of this year."