Steel and Mana

Chapter 181 – Dukes’ Dinner

“Is he gone?” I asked, whispering, looking over my blanket, waiting for Luna’s answer, who was peeking out the slightly open door to our bedroom.

“Seems like it!” She giggled, closing the door and hopping back towards my bed, where I was lying beside Yuri. Sasha and Mikan had already taken the kids and were out in the city, walking with Elena and looking for a place where she could settle down; as if it was already finalized, we took her deal. “You are funny!” Luna giggled, teasing me.

“I can’t help it!” I moaned, climbing off the bed and looking for new clothes, “He has been pestering me to solve his problem! I can’t. I have never once argued with any of you, and I have no idea how to deal with it.”

“So… if I throw a tantrum, you wouldn’t know what to do?”

“Try me, you little twerp, and I’m gonna molest you to hell and back!”

“Hmmm? Who are we going to molest?” Yuri asked, waking up to the magic word and rubbing her eyes, trying to forcefully open them.

“Luna.” I answered at once, and before Yuri even woke up, we were holding down the laughing little imp, “She is going to wear her maid bikini with cat ears and a tail in her bum! Make sure she doesn’t touch herself all day, Yuri!”

“Roger, my captain!” She saluted, fully awake by now, making Luna finally moan out as she got prepped by Yuri’s tongue to receive her determined outfit for the day.

"Noooooo! Not faaaaiiiir!"

“Yep. I am unfair.” I grinned, watching her being ‘dressed up’ by Yuri, “That’s how I solve issues around here. Merlin will have to learn his own way to do it, and I can’t smooth out Elena’s bad mood for him.”

“That girl just needs a good ride and will be fine!”

“Yuri, not everyone is like you.”

“Come on, babe, everyone wants to be like me!”

“Sure.” I mumbled, rolling my eyes, “Anyway! Merlin will be kept away from the main conference. It is best if the two won’t sit at the same table until things settle. I will negotiate with her…”

“Not that there is anything to negotiate, nya~!” Luna added, already wiggling her butt with her tail in it, adapting to her new cosplay. “Sacchy is already looking for a house for her to live in and wants to give her an official title. She would be named Ambassador, and we would use her to negotiate deals with other regions we could reach. The Kustov’s name would help a lot in that!”

“I know. Mother already proposed something similar. Not that I would have said no… She will stay; the question is, what will she do with the people she brings along? Her soldiers are not mine, but… Oh well, I am not afraid that they would cause any trouble.”

“Why not invite them?”

“To where?” I asked, looking at Yuri, understanding it the moment she began explaining.

“The test run of Princess.”

“You named it… Princess?” Of course, she did… Haaah… It is okay. Not that bad. It could have been named ‘prolapser’ or ‘fucky-wucky’ so… Let it be, Leon. Let it be!

"I think it's cute!"

“Thanks, Luna~!” She giggled, beginning to kiss her passionately.

“Na-ah! Hoy!” I stepped in, pulling them apart by their hair, watching their eyes be filled with heart-shaped twinkles, “No kissy-flicky-touchy all day! Capiche?”

“Cap-what? Oooouu... Meanie!” They answered at the same time, forcing me to shake my head, “Okay… a little bit. So you can go on with the day. Just once! So you know that I am not an evil husband… Let’s play but only for an hour! Then I’m needed at the castle, Father is ready to give his report on the howitzers.”

“It is enough!” They laughed, hugging my body, and soon, I found myself entangled with them for the remainder of my morning.

…
….
……

“These new toys are great, my Son!” My Father’s voice boomed as we walked out at the other end of the wall. In the valley where the Lion stood valiantly in the winter, now temporary camps were set up, surrounding the five howitzer prototypes that still needed a name. Because they were carrying modified Dragonfire Cannons, I was considering keeping the dragon motif going and naming them Dragontail units. They will be at the far back anyway…

“Did you manage to test their range properly?” I asked, nodding at the soldiers who were saluting me as we walked by.

“Extensively, as you can see.” True enough, the distant horizon was filled with craters, while even the walls of the Pass were showing parts being blown apart by the constant cannon fire.

“So? What are the end results?”

"Twofold."

“Oh?” I stopped, looking at my Father. “What do you mean?”

“Merlin didn’t tell you?”

“He has his hands full at the moment, so it may have slipped his mind. I wouldn’t be surprised!”

“He did that? Is there trouble?” He asked, nervous because he wasn’t used to Merlin making a mistake like that, and neither was I.

“His girl is angry at him; they don’t even speak... I think this is a first for him.”

“Oh… Damn. Well, he fucked up big time then! He should just apologize, and all would settle down!” Father sighed, shaking his head, “We fight with logic, my Son. Women? They fight with emotions. The former can’t win over the latter!”

“I don’t know, my wives are angels. One is a fallen one, but that’s unimportant. We are not one to fight.”

“Same! I could count on one hand how many times I fought with your mother. It was usually my fault when it happened, so… eh, they will get through it! Back to the tests.”

"Agreed. Go on!"

“When we didn’t use the new Markers, the range we measured was 1,500 meters at first, but then we managed to reach up to 5,500 meters after getting used to handling them.”

“So you went from the Napoleonic 12-pounder to the Krupp 7.7…” I mumbled, and Father was used to it enough to not ask. “Then?”

“We began using the Markers Merlin brought over, which had an immediate effect. Merlin witnessed it too and called it a type of… hm, resonance? I think he said it was that. Using the Marker and locking onto their targets, the same cannons managed to accurately hit it, going up to 8,900 meters.”

“From 7.7 to 15…” I whispered, amazed they reached a World War I-era howitzers range.

"There's more."

"You went further?"

“Yesterday’s test reached 11,270 meters. Although the accuracy suffered a lot. We hit the intended target once from ten strikes, but all the others landed within a 100-meter radius.”

“So our howitzers are around the output of an M2A1… not bad. Not bad for a Mark I unit!”

“I don’t know what you mean, Son, but it is not bad? I think this thing is marvelous! It is the most beautiful thing after the Lion! I already told Merlin to make a marker for the Lion so its cannons can improve just the same! He said he would work on it. What is to say you would accept as excellent instead of not bad?”

“80,000 meters.” I answered calmly, “Up to 100,000 meters, preferably.”

“Damn Son… You can’t even see what you are shooting at then.”

“I know.” I smiled, looking at him, “And they also can’t see what hit them either.”

…
….
……

Far away, down in the capital city of the Empire, within the nobles’ district, the favorite restaurant of the decision-makers of the Empire was closed for the evening. That alone made every noble within the city stir, knowing that something was happening, and soon enough, they would know if it was good or not. Many already guessed that it was a power struggle because usually, those started with the different parties meeting, either trying to solve it in a civil way or to try and pressure the other party into submission. If neither option worked, there was already a high chance that one of the parties participating in the meeting would never get home.

It got blown into major news when the scouts every family posted, keeping an eye on the restaurant, noticed the first carriage arriving, belonging to Duke Jauwn, meaning this was a conflict between the highest-level nobles within the city. Then, almost an hour later, already displaying a great level of confidence, Duke Kustov’s entourage has also arrived.

A battle between old and new… The capital’s stale water of nobles had already been shaken up a few years ago, and now it seemed that it had reached its boiling point. As for who would win, many other families looked on with interest, greedily waiting for their chance to further enhance their power by siding with the winner.

“Is this how the new age of dukes act?” Duke Jauwn stated, sitting at the oval table, set and ready, placed atop the restaurant’s rooftop garden, watching Duke Kustov slowly emerge from the stairway, led by a beautiful waitress to his seat.

“Our meeting was scheduled at eight in the evening.” He answered calmly, picking out a pocketwatch made in Avalon, making Jauwn’s eyes lock onto it right away, “I am five minutes early.”

“The protocol dictates–”

“Outdated.” Garbank Kustov replied while sitting down, ordering fine wine for himself. “Just as so many things in this city. No wonder our Empress decided to rejuvenate our bloodlines. Including hers…”

“Your mouth has become sharp, young Kustov. Just because you were favored, I don’t think you can afford to speak like that to any of us. Every newcomer is helped by the Royal Bloodline for their first year so they can settle into their new responsibilities. You are sorely mistaken if you think that support will let you do anything you want.”

“I know exactly what kind of support I have, Duke Jauwn. Do you?”

“I never seen a newcomer be so full of himself!” He snorted, scaring the poor waitresses who arrived, serving the dinner and drinks.

“I never seen a Duke raising his voice like you against some at the same level as himself.” Kustov countered, unbothered, maintaining the same level of tone throughout the conversation.

“At the same level? Ahahaha! You are a funny one, I will give you that. You were a Marquess only a few years ago. A washed-up one at that and sent to captain one of our ships to be a glorified military officer. Your name will be forever associated with losing one of our jewels!”

“Yet, here I am, bearing the title of Duke.”

“…”

“Am I not?” He asked, not letting Jauwn dodge the topic, glancing at him with a slight smile from behind his fork.

“Watch out, Duke Kustov, don’t bite on more than you can chew.”

“I know very well how much my stomach can handle.” He replied at once, putting the food into his mouth without hesitation. Could it be poisoned? Maybe, but he believed that would be too simplistic and way too bold even for Duke Jauwn. If he wanted to make him disappear, it had to be done as an accident.

“I will admit, your will is commendable. So, I am also going to give you a chance to back out from this while keeping your pride intact. I will glance over your transgression on my territory, on my resources and profit. Only this time, though!”

“Can’t do. I need the steel produced in the Silver Region.”

“Don’t pluck on a sleeping lion’s whiskers, Kustov!”

“Duke Kustov.” He corrected him, “And if anything, it is you who is flicking it, not me. I am also willing to give you a way out: Give me half of the yearly output.”

“WHAT?!” Duke Jauwn yelled, standing up, his face turning bright red because nobody had talked to him like that ever before.

“Half.” Kustov repeated, continuing his dinner, looking up at him, “50%.”

“You are out of your mind… That is the property of the Royal Bloodline, you idiot! It is what arms our soldiers!”

“Is it? Then why are you so up and about it?”

“…!”

“Then our deal is off. I will take all of it.” Hearing it almost made Duke Jauwn faint. This… This man was mad. He understood that there would be no talks after his last statement. There was nothing to do but to go war over it…

“You are mad, Duke Kustov… and you will die as mad dogs do, frothing at the mouth, beaten to death in an alley.” With that, Duke Jauwn prepared to leave, only to be stopped at the staircase by Kustov’s last word as he continued eating nonchalantly.

“Between us two, let me give you one advice. I am not mad; I just know the truth. Something you are yet to realize, Duke Jauwn. If you want to throw away your life, it is yours to do so. But if you are not careful, it will not only be yours that will be forfeit but your whole bloodline. Think about it carefully when arriving home, and you go to sleep…”