Shadows in the Night
Late at night. In a fourth-floor guest room at the westernmost edge of the Imperial Palace, five figures clad in pitch-black clothes and suspicious masks gathered.
"Alright... We scale the roof... The fourth window on the eastern front is the Empress's bedroom, and the third window at the back is Princess Joy's room. Alpha, assassinate the Empress quickly. Beta, use the drug to kidnap the Princess and bring her to the stables."
As the man in the center spoke, the others nodded in silent agreement. They approached the window, quietly slipped it open, and threw their grappling hooks onto the roof.
Patter...
With practiced, fluid movements, they began to scale the roof one by one. Once the last man pulled himself up with a faint rustle, the masked intruders kept as low as possible, creeping stealthily across the tiles of the Imperial Palace.
"Whew... So much to do."
It was the New Year holiday—a three-day weekend stretching from yesterday to tomorrow. Every civil servant, merchant guild, and business was closed. Even the restaurants had shut their doors for the holidays, yet I was still sitting in my office late into the night, reviewing documents regarding the investment in chemical fertilizer production.
Of all the national industries I had dabbled in recently, this one had the worst performance. In a way, it was my sorest spot.
Rustle...
Currently, we have succeeded in cooling air down to -200°C, but it remains difficult to isolate high-purity nitrogen, the key element, from the atmosphere.
As liquefied air is difficult to store at room temperature, research is underway to develop a method for rapid, high-purity separation.
Those mere two lines were the sole result of an astronomical sum of gold coins. It was absurd to think we had poured a fortune into just this, but there was no helping it. It was disappointing, but expected. It was never meant to be a short-term project anyway.
Shrugging off the disappointment, I pulled out the research papers I had set aside to read during the holidays. Remembering how the Academy professors, who held a grudge against me, had tried to make my life difficult by withholding crucial papers, I had used Theodora's name this time to secure a stack of documents. I began to leaf through them.
Experiments on Adding Various Substances to Iron. Was this a paper on steelmaking? Back on Earth, high-quality steel could be manufactured with ease, but here, replicating modern-grade steel was still impossible. Actually... could modern steel even be produced under current standards? It wasn't immediately useful, but I set it aside just in case.
On Alternative Power Sources Other Than Mana Stones and Dragon Hearts. Intrigued by the title, I skimmed through it. In this world, various artifacts were created using magic circuits. However, these circuits primarily relied on mana stones to function. Mana stones required periodic replacement, and the radiation they emitted was harmful to the human body, making them highly expensive to maintain.
As for the Dragon Heart, which was said to contain an astronomical amount of mana, it was far too rare to ever be commercialized. Well... it was rare, but it did exist. Legend had it that a Dragon Heart powered the protective magic of the triple walls and the Imperial Palace. In any case, reading about boiling water to spin turbines with steam to drive massive machinery made my heart flutter.
"A steam engine?" My heart raced as I read on, but I soon let out a sigh. "It's far too rudimentary."
The author claimed to have gotten the idea from a peculiar device discovered in an ancient temple. To summarize, lighting the sacred fire at the temple's entrance boiled water inside an internal mechanism, which then opened the temple doors. The paper argued that this principle could be used to build mills in regions without wind or running water. Honestly, could this even be called a research paper? It was far too crude. It looked more like a rough sketch of an idea—a drawing of a large pot boiling over a wood fire, with a narrow pipe at the end spinning a turbine.
"Well... let's keep this one too, for now." After skimming a few more pages, I gathered the decent papers and stepped out of the office.
"Oh? Grand Duke?" A guard gasped in surprise upon seeing me. I looked at him, amused. "Why so surprised?"
"Well... you've been cooped up in here so much lately, Your Grace. Are you heading to your bedchamber tonight?"
I nodded. "I must. If I stay away any longer, my wife's nagging will become unbearable."
The guard chuckled softly and nodded. "Haha, the Empress's nagging... I wouldn't mind hearing that myself."
I waved off his foolish comment. "Once you get married, you'll never say such a thing again." Especially if that wife of yours is constantly trying to kill you. After exchanging a few more lighthearted words, I made my way to our bridal chamber.
Creak!
I pushed the door open and stepped inside. Theodora was sitting up, reading a book.
"Oh? You're back?" She looked up, surprised by my sudden return.
I nodded. "Yeah." I walked over, collapsed onto the sofa, and pulled out the papers I had brought.
"Seriously... You just got back, and you're already working again?" She shook her head, looking utterly exasperated.
I replied, "Holidays are the perfect time to find ways to develop the Empire."
On weekdays, I was too busy running the state to leisurely read research papers. If I didn't read them now, when would I? As I laid out the documents, Theodora climbed out of bed.
"Everyone else is resting. Do you really have to work like this?" She sat down beside me, picking up one of the papers with a frown. "On Alternative Power Sources Other Than Mana Stones and Dragon Hearts?"
She flipped through the brief pages. "This person would have made a fortune as an artist rather than a scholar."
"My thoughts exactly," I said, turning the page.
Steel. One of the key indicators of modern industry. I had heard that there was once a time on Earth when a nation's power was measured by its ability to mass-produce high-quality steel. So, it would be a lie to say I wasn't tempted by the subject.
The preface of the first page discussed aluminum. Surprisingly, in this world, aluminum was about three times more expensive than its weight in gold. Apparently, obtaining high-purity aluminum from nature was incredibly difficult, requiring a highly complex process...
I didn't know the exact science behind it, but while the Imperial Palace preferred gold for its symbolic value, the high nobility used tableware and plates made of aluminum, which was renowned as a far more expensive and luxurious metal. Well... by my standards, it actually felt rather modest...
"What is that one about?" Curious about what I was reading, she peered over. I read the page aloud for her. "Essentially, when smelting iron, the strength of the final product varies significantly depending on the origin of the iron ore..."
Theodora stared at me, looking utterly dumbfounded. "You... really know everything, don't you? Do you actually understand what that means?"
I nodded. "Yes. It means that even if you use the same smelting method, the strength can turn out weaker depending on the iron ore used."
I knew that modern technology produced high-quality steel by adding a precise amount of carbon to pure iron, but did this world even have the capability to produce pure iron? Since they were likely working with iron mixed with various impurities rather than pure iron, even the same smelting method would yield vastly different results under precise laboratory testing.
"You really are a know-it-all. But please, take it easy. You had a nosebleed just the other day, remember?"
Just then...
Crash!
A dull shattering sound echoed from behind the drawn curtains. We whipped our heads toward the noise just as the curtains were violently ripped aside. Two masked intruders burst into the room, brandishing a dagger and a sword.
"Kyaah?!"
"Who are you?!" I bolted to my feet and hurled a Light Bolt at them.
Crack!
Something shattered, but I had no time to check. I grabbed Theodora by the wrist and pulled her toward the wall. Snatching a longsword that hung as a decoration, I faced the intruders. "Who sent you?"
Normally, decorative weapons were kept blunt, but I had insisted on hanging a fully sharpened blade just in case of an assassination attempt. It was a good thing I did. At that moment...
"Kyaaaah! H-Help me!"
Joy's scream echoed from the distance, sending a cold sweat running down my neck. Damn it... I never expected them to be this bold.
"Grand Duke... Hand over the Empress quietly, and we will leave in peace."
"Cut the bullshit. Do you really think I'd ever hand Theodora over to you?" I spat, shielding her behind my back as my mind raced.
These bastards had to be Yohanes's men. Damn it... what do I do? I didn't know their exact strength, but they were likely around my level. A two-on-one fight was highly disadvantageous... In that split second, they lunged at me.
I thrust my sword at the lead assassin, but he raised his blade to parry my strike. He then aimed a dagger in his left hand at me—
Thud!
Before he could strike, I kicked him squarely in the groin.
"Ugh..."
As the man groaned, the other assassin—a figure with a slender build—hurled a dagger toward Theodora behind me.
Clang!
I swung my sword in a frenzy, deflecting the flying blade. At that moment, the groveling assassin on the floor lunged at my leg with his dagger. I brought my sword down on his arm—
Slash!
I severed his limb, but in that brief opening, the other assassin threw his sword straight at me.
Clang!
I deflected the sword, but the assassin immediately drew several daggers from his waist. Damn it... a ranged fight is bad for me. Before I could even finish the thought, the assassin unleashed a volley of daggers all at once.
It was impossible to block them all. In a desperate move, I spun around and threw my arms around Theodora, shielding her with my body. Her crimson eyes trembled with fear as she stared up at me, her face frozen. She really is... breathtakingly beautiful. With that fleeting thought, I forced a reassuring smile.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Aaargh!"
A searing, agonizing pain ripped through my back, tearing a scream from my throat.