The Mechanical Era

Kant crosses out "4th" on his calendar with a quill, making the 5th day of the new month. He then went back to sit on his comfortable black leather swivel chair, that he had bought on the 1st. Since he released some patents on all his smaller inventions, there were now companies selling them off in the market.

Items such as mechanical umbrellas, typewriters, pencils, pencil sharpers, paperclips, can openers, and such. These new items were being manufactured in a rather large factory, separated into multiple areas to allow them to have enough space while producing them at a low cost. Considering the relatively low space area offered by Industrial District 1, it was the only way that they could take advantage of the tax incentives.

On Kant's renaissance office table was a pile of books, all regarding the subject matter of the demons. Ever since the new month rolled around, his interest in these weird beasts has peaked. As a result, he took a few books from the royal library and started to read them, of what they looked like, how they acted, how the kingdoms of the past reacted, and so on.

The more he read about them, the more suspicious he became of these creatures. The books claimed that the demons came through a series of small portals in a concentrated area. Out of these portals, comes a slime-like creature, with a mana core inside it.

These creatures then jump on an unsuspecting victims, go inside their bodies, and take full control over them, and use it to help the other demons survive.  The mana stone is then imprinted near the area of an animal's brain and then starts controlling it.  These beasts acted as a sort of hivemind, communicating with each other in a strange new way that the people of the times just could not comprehend.

From the records of people that got infected with these demons, but still managed to retain their sentience, they described 'weird sounds' and 'letters' entering their heads through the crystal on their foreheads. These 'sounds' and 'letters' were then translated into words, which resulted in the creation of the runic language, and the subsequent invention of runic weaponry.

As he was reading through the books, there was a knock on his door. Assuming that it was Alan Fleck and the files that he wanted, he closed the book, placed it on the table, takes a sip of coffee from his cup, and have him enter the room.

"Good morning your majesty. I hope I didn't interrupt you with your reading?" he asked after he stands back from his bow.

"No. You did not. Sit down." Alan walks up to the chair and takes his place. He then opens a file and starts reading the summary out to Kant.

"In the last month, it has been reported that 4,534 people have entered the city. From our current estimates, the city's population has grown to 204,500 people or about 2.25%. If this projection continues, we might have about 225,000 people, providing that things won't go wrong."

Alan then hands over the file to Kant, to allow him to go further into detail. The papers in the files went further into detail about what types of occupations these people entered. Kant analyzed the file, before placing it on the table.

"Next file please?"

"The next is to regard the steel mill. It started construction on the 29th of Pecunia, last month, and is said to be finished on the 12th of Nativitas this month thanks to the increase in manpower, cement, and concrete used for the site.

Considering the shipment of the iron, we are said to be receiving 50 tons of iron per week, starting from the 13th. Most of the companies bringing over this quantity are comprised of TIC, which accounts for about 50%, followed by DURDIN Iron Group, supplying 20%, with the other 30% being made up of many smaller mines."

Alan then handed over the file to Kant. DURDIN Group was a sort of merger and operated in the city of Keliath, the same one that the TIC worked in.

It was founded to protect the original founders from the rise of the TIC. Thanks to merchant capital, which flocked in as a sort of cheaper alternative to TIC, it had managed to rapidly expand its scale, although not to the degree that the TIC did.

Currently, the TIC had the first mover's advantage, which is attributed to quickly expanding the scale of production a month before the DURDIN group was even got founded. From an outsider's perspective, these two rivals were ready to fight head-to-head, to see who will come out on top.

"What about the progress of the schools? The students?"

"Thankfully, we appear to have some fast learners. There are said to be around 8 people who managed to complete the test. They have shown that they can easily read, AND write. The individual's names are written on this file here. They will be let go on the 10th."

Kant opens up the file. On the list, there were indeed 4 names written on it. These names were Noah Johnson, Ethan Davis, Lucas Carter, Mason Patel, Isaac Kim, Alexander Wong, Marco Dietrichson, and Vice Grotti. Kant closes the file and places it on the table.

"How many do you think we will have in about 1 more month?"

"I am not sure sir, but I can be certain that it will be a lot more than 8."

"What about the construction of the schools?" Kant debriefed.

"There have been about 5 schools already constructed, with the final school should be finishing construction on the 8th. All of the schools should be operational by the 9th," Alan retorted.

"And the libraries?"

"Same goes for the libraries sir, although they will all be opened by the 7th. I am pretty sure that there will be one open tomorrow. We have also managed to get a sizable inventory of bibles, and stock them all inside them."

"That is good. Is that all?"

"Well sir, yes, I think that is..." before he could finish that sentence, the door received a rather aggressive knocking. Kant consented for them to come in. A messenger, who appeared to be profusely sweating, and breathing heavily, handed Kant a letter, before leaving his office.

Kant neatly opened the envelope and read the letter's contents. It described the arrival of the demonic wave, near a small town inside the Aceaton Empire, in between Peckerson and Nexert. Kant's expression while reading the letter was blank, and unreadable.

He then leaned back on his chair, handed the letter over to the assistant minister, and starts to think further about the event. As Alan reads the letter, twice and over, his eyes widen, and his mouth opens a little.

"The demonic wave? Here, now?" he speaks, with a slight tone of shock that can be picked up on. Kant simply needed to his question.

"Apparently so. From what it says, it spawned inside the borders of the Aceaton Empire itself two days ago..." Kant muttered as he sat straighter in his chair, with his face turned towards the minister.

"I consider this piece of news to be very fortunate for us. Don't you think so, minister?"

"I... uh... well... yea. I mean, considering that there will be more enemies to fight, there might be an increase in demand for our flintlock weaponry."

"Oh, but there is a lot more. From what I have read from these books..." Kant points to the tower of books on his desk,

"...the kingdoms, or in this case the empire as well, tend to spend a lot of money. Not just on weapons, but materials, clothing, food, and all that.

Considering that the demonic wave started further inland of the Aceaton Empire, you can guarantee that they are willing to spend a lot of money.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom We can use this opportunity, to gain an advantage. There will be a surplus of materials in need to fight the demands. If we provide them with what they need, or even a better alternative, we will be able to integrate and exert influence on their economies

Take steel for instance. Considering the steel mill starts operating on the 13th, it would give us about 8 days for us to make a few deals with the Aceaton empire to start selling a ton of our steel, for instance.

Steel has a lot of purposes, especially in forging armor and weapons. We present steel at a cheaper price while supplying them with a large quantity, they will be flocking to refit their knights' weapons and armor with the stuff.

This leaves the competition out of money, and out of work, eliminating them from being a threat. Now, they are going to have to get their supplies from us. Whether it be for repairs or forging more weapons, we will be the only viable partner they can buy.

This can be the case for other industries, like textiles or firearms manufacturing. It would grant our kingdom a lot of influence within their economy, which could potentially be used to influence the decisions of the Aceaton Empire itself.

The empress may be powerful, but she will still need them to run her empire properly. If she makes some kind of decision that is not the best for us, we will have our 'new friends' to help us out. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir, you did."

"Good. Now if I remember correctly, according to the procedure, we need to first inform the head of defense or the one given the job of terminating any demons. In this case, you are ought to inform the head of the DEF."

"Do not worry about that sir. I will take care of that."

"Alright then.  I guess we are also going to have to make an announcement soon. When do you think we should be able to do so?" Kant asked.

"I can get a few knights to spread the word. We need to make sure that they get the message quickly as possible. Is that fine?"

"It is acceptable for now. Now, all that we need to do now is to wait for the letter from the empress to get more information on the situation and send in any reinforcements if they want some.

In the meantime, I shall write some letters of my own, to inform the other towns of our kingdom, warning them about the event. Once I am done, you are given the job of sending them over. I think that is about it." Kant replied.

"You are free to go. I assume you know what to do?"

"Yes, sir. Inform the DEF, Get a bunch of messengers out to inform the people, and send letters you will prepare. Is that right?"

"Yes. You may now leave." Alan gets up from his chair, bows down, and leaves the room. As soon as Alan leaves, Kant draws in his typewriter, took a few sheets of paper, and started typing a few letters.