The Sewing Machine
Holding a grand dream of industrialization was one thing. Reality, however, did not change overnight.
There's so much to do.
For starters, things were noisy both inside and outside the territory.
The magic stone mines.
Stabilizing public order.
On top of that, we still needed countermeasures against the worshippers, so Father and Bilheim were so swamped they could have used two bodies each.
And me?
"I'll provide the cores at this price."
"Hmm… that seems a little higher than the price we discussed."
"If you find it expensive, you're free to go elsewhere."
"Ugh."
Strike while the iron is hot.
I wrapped up the deals with the mages quickly.
Of course, Lord Gellos had told me to extract anti-demon artifacts from the mages leaving the workshop, but well…
From what I've heard, they don't sound all that great.
I floated the idea a few times.
But the way the mages' eyes lit up made me uneasy.
—We happen to have just the thing! We could put in an order right away. What do you say?
—Ohhh, then perhaps you could increase the core supply a little?
How to put it.
It wasn't the spark of a craftsman's challenge so much as the gleam in a merchant's eye at finally being able to clear inventory.
More than anything, Brother James, whom I'd gone to for advice, had said:
—Hmm. I'm no expert on artifacts, but if something like that existed, we would have been the first to use it.
Even the somewhat useful ones were mostly consumables.
To operate them at the scale of an entire territory would mean melting money.
We can't afford that kind of expenditure yet.
So I sent those who were leaving on their way.
At the same time, I recruited a few suitable mages.
Notable examples were Magenca of the moderate faction and Delis, a radical third-rank mage from the Blue Magic Tower.
The bookish one who'd offered me advice, and the tactless fellow who'd caught the worshipper.
What? One mage like Lord Gellos is enough?
Not a chance!
The more engineers, the better.
That was something Lord Gellos had specifically requested as well.
What had he said again?
Golem research, and industrialization (though Lord Gellos never used the word "industrialization") both needed hands.
So what became of the two?
They accepted my proposal.
"Lord Gellos… you mean Lord Gellos of the Golden Hand?! I-I can really become his apprentice?!"
"Hmm. An opportunity like Lord Gellos doesn't come often. But about the salary…"
As it turned out, Lord Gellos was quite the celebrity among artifact mages.
According to Delis, if he ever joined a magic tower, he'd be handed an elder-level seventh rank or higher on the spot.
And so those who were leaving left, and those who were staying stayed.
Once the territory had stabilized somewhat, we were finally able to decide, in the workshop I shared with Lord Gellos, on the first invention that would fire the starting gun of industrialization.
And what was it?
A sewing machine.
I gathered Lord Gellos and the rest of the engineers and explained the principle of the "sewing machine."
The result:
"Y-Young Master Khtun, are you a genius?!"
"This is truly… a structure that summons endless inspiration. I feel as if the genius that slept through my childhood is waking up, Young Master!"
Magenca was stunned, Delis was appalled—pure chaos!
Yet there was one person who remained calm.
"I understand the principle for now. Two key points. Upper thread and lower thread with the cloth between them, and when the upper thread threaded through the needle pierces the cloth and comes back up, a small loop forms that a hook beneath the cloth snatches and loops around the lower thread. That process repeats. Correct?"
"Yes."
"But how do the up-and-down motion of the upper thread and the hook catching the loop mesh together?"
"Ah, that? You use something called gears."
"How?"
"That's for you all to figure out from here."
"…?"
What, why.
In the advanced twenty-first century, the humanities types did the imagining and the engineers did the realizing, didn't they?
I'd already handed them every core concept, hadn't I?
So get to work, my engineers.
Around the time I'd assigned the engineers their homework, Father summoned me.
"Khtun."
"Yes, Father."
"The interrogation is finished."
The interrogation of that vile worshipper was finally coming to an end.
The gathering called by Father.
Those present were as follows.
Myself, Father, and my brother Bilheim.
Plus Lord Valt, the supreme commander of our territory.
But today there were special guests as well: none other than Brother James and Cardinal Michael.
"Ah… it's been a while."
"Indeed."
This was my second meeting with Cardinal Michael.
Apparently he'd been training Brother James in the meantime, and since he moved at the crack of dawn, our paths had never crossed.
But the fact that Cardinal Michael was here meant…
"He provided considerable help with this interrogation. Thanks to him we were able to extract quite a bit of information about the, shall we say, masterminds behind it."
"Ah, I see."
"In any case, everyone seems to be here, so I'll begin the explanation. Your Eminence, may we start?"
"Go ahead."
After securing Cardinal Michael's consent, Father began.
In short, the information gleaned from the worshipper was not particularly abundant.
"You may have guessed, but that worshipper was nothing more than a low-ranking pawn."
I'd figured as much.
Someone that stupid could never have held a high position.
But here a savior appeared.
None other than Cardinal Michael.
Cardinal Michael had willingly assisted with the interrogation process and shared the information obtained from it.
To be precise…
It was more a feeling from observing the worshipper, but still.
So, what had we learned?
First: their affiliation.
"Do you know of the Apostle Council?"
"The Apostle Council?"
I had heard of it.
During my first meeting with Lord Gellos.
—Coming south, I got the sense this demon business isn't going to end as it is. The Apostle Council bastards seem to have made up their minds about something.
Yes, that was what he'd said.
And now, in this very place, I could learn more precisely what kind of organization the "Apostle Council" was.
"The Apostle Council, I'm told, is a collective composed of thirteen worshippers commonly called Apostles and the factions they lead."
Throughout history, the number of Apostles had increased or decreased, but they had never disappeared entirely.
So what did these people actually do?
No one knew.
Rumors abounded—that they sought chaos in the world, that they aimed to build a new order—but nothing had ever been clearly confirmed.
Which brought us to a question.
"Is the apostate Rohan also an Apostle, by any chance?"
It was Cardinal Michael who answered.
"No. He is not an Apostle. A candidate, one might say."
"A candidate?"
"From what we've ascertained, to become an Apostle one must pass the trials of the Thirteen Apostles. And there is talk that the ringleaders of the southern crisis were him and the factions that follow him. However…"
"However?"
"The worshipper we captured this time was not a follower of Rohan."
"Then who?"
According to Cardinal Michael, for some reason the apostate Rohan had stepped back and a new Apostle had stepped forward.
And that was…
"The Seventh Apostle."
"The Seventh Apostle?"
Even if you say that, I still have no idea who that is.
Perhaps sensing my thoughts, Cardinal Michael continued the explanation.
"We call him the Apostle of Illusion. A relatively recent addition to the Apostles… yes. More commonly, the name 'Demon of Lumiten' would be better known."
The Demon of Lumiten!
…Still doesn't ring a bell?
But then—
"Hmm. The Demon of Lumiten, you say."
"Yes."
Father and Lord Valt, of course, and even Bilheim's expression hardened.
What, am I the only one who doesn't know?
At my blank look, Bilheim explained.
"Simply put, a mad serial killer who claims he'll spread 'eternal happiness,' grants people's desires, and then murders them at their happiest moment."
…What the hell is wrong with that lunatic.
For a while afterward, we discussed what kind of person the Seventh Apostle was while fretting over countermeasures.
And the result:
"First we must send people to inform the southern lords of this fact. If the Seventh Apostle has begun to move, even the utmost caution will not be enough."
Father seemed to feel the danger of the Seventh Apostle in his bones.
And no wonder.
He beguiles the people with sweet words, does he?
It wasn't just words, either.
Where drought struck he brought rain; to the starving he gave food.
That was how he won the residents' favor.
And the end of it all?
Death.
Wherever the Demon of Lumiten appeared, public sentiment turned and entire villages were massacred without fail. From a lord's perspective, he was the most troublesome and dangerous opponent imaginable.
For that reason, Bilheim would tour the territory and tighten internal control.
"Bilheim, look after the people well. See that they do not fall for the Seventh Apostle's beguilement."
"Yes."
"Lord Valt, assist Bilheim."
"I shall do my utmost."
So what was I to do now?
Father looked at me for a moment, then carefully opened his mouth.
"Khtun."
"Yes."
"I need you to go to Merlin for a while."
"To Merlin?"
"Yes. No matter how much I speak to the lords, my words may not reach them properly. And somehow I doubt the southern threat will end with the Seventh Apostle alone."
"Then…"
"Go and ask Merlin to become the southern rallying point."
In other words, ask Merlin to take the seat of southern hegemon.
This… the scale is getting far too big.
There was justification, at least.
That a vast force called the Apostle Council was targeting the South.
Ordinarily, even if Merlin tried to claim the hegemon's seat, the southern lords would never have sat still. But with things as they were, no one would dare voice an objection.
Still, I had a question.
"Shouldn't a matter this important be entrusted to my brother?"
"You don't want to go because it's a long journey, I take it."
"No, that's not it."
Honestly, I was curious.
Merlin, ruled by the South's only great noble house.
I'd heard it rivaled any major city of the central regions; I wanted to see that grandeur with my own eyes.
But this was… yes, a thoroughly political concern.
The thought that this is the sort of thing the heir should handle had crossed my mind.
Father, however, seemed to think differently.
"If it isn't that you don't want to go, then I'll entrust it to you. Merlin's young duke seems to regard you rather highly, so conversation should flow easily. On the way, deliver this news to Hadion as well."
"Hmm, yes."
And so the somewhat unsatisfying journey to Merlin was decided.
That left Cardinal Michael and Brother James.
Cardinal Michael spoke without hesitation.
"I shall seek cooperation from the church branches stationed in the South. And James—you will accompany that boy."
"Young Master Khtun, you mean?"
"Yes. Go and persuade the Holy Shade Society in Merlin. As you are now, you should be able to manage it."
"…Understood."
Once each of us had been given our roles, we dispersed at once.
"This is a matter of urgency. Make ready so you can depart as soon as possible."
"Yes."
It was beginning to sink into my skin.
That a wind of upheaval was blowing through the South.
Just as I was about to return to my room—
"Young Master."
"Ah, yes, Lord Valt."
"Has your earlier resolve not changed?"
"Resolve…?"
"Your intention to take in Zeke and Milo. If it has not changed, then the time seems to have come."
Lord Valt was saying that the two of them were ready.