Coming of Age Ceremony (1)
Blædwin Castle stood with its back to the mountains in the north, and below it Iron Hall sprawled outward into a vast city.
The pilot district chosen to receive electricity this time was the eastern quarter, just to the right of the central plaza. It was a place where the wealthy and the middle-class residents of Iron Hall lived side by side. After Iron Street in the western quarter, it was also the busiest area in the city — a stretch that outside visitors almost inevitably passed through.
Soon the nobles of every house would pour in, and most of them would travel this very route, take in Blædwin's extraordinary progress, and marvel.
"Perfect. Perfect. Investment inquiries are going to flood in."
Looking over the nearly finished street, I smiled with satisfaction.
"My goodness! If it isn't Young Master Robon! Have you come to inspect our family's manor?"
Baron Penri hurried over and immediately started fawning.
"Ah, no, that's not it."
"This is a revolution! To think we can light up the night as bright as day! Tears are welling up. Sob."
He was a noble I'd gotten to know while supplying electricity to the pilot district. He was supposedly competent enough, so I'd kept the conversation going.
"Tears welling up, my foot. The electricity hasn't even been turned on yet."
"There are things one can know without the power being on, aren't there? Do you have any idea how shocked I was when I visited Blædwin Castle? Even in the evening, the castle alone glowed so brightly from afar — as if the light itself were displaying its stature…"
"Hey, you there! How's the streetlight installation coming along?"
I abandoned the chatterbox and fled toward somewhere else. I'd tried to stay on friendly terms because he was a local administrator, and now I was stuck with him. The man talked far too much. The flattery was excessive, and worst of all, his meddling knew no bounds. He struck up conversations with every person he saw — enough to make you wonder if he had ADHD. It was exhausting.
"Yes, sir! Every streetlight on this road has been installed!"
"Good. We'll be checking whether they work properly starting tonight, so inspect them thoroughly."
"Yes, sir!"
I made one full circuit of the pilot district, then headed back to the research lab. Ideally I would have left everything to the family staff, but their knowledge was still limited, and there was only so much they could handle. In the end, I had to come by for a periodic inspection myself.
"Maybe I should found a school…"
For that I'd need talent. Wasn't there anyone gifted who might just wander in on their own?
That night, people thronged the central plaza of Iron Hall.
At the tail end of evening, the sun sank slowly past the horizon, and a dusky darkness settled over the city.
"The sun's going down!"
Wendy shouted as she watched the scene. It was the moment everyone had been waiting for.
The central plaza bustled with people swollen with anticipation, and the fountain glimmered softly in the faint evening light. Merchants finished their business and packed up their stalls. Children clung to their parents' hands, hearts pounding, and stared toward the middle of the square.
Along the long road stretching to the eastern gate, newly installed streetlights stood in a row. Forged from iron pillars in a classical design, each one bore a lightbulb encased in clear glass at its crown.
"It'll work, right?"
Robon felt an unnecessary flutter of nerves. The massive construction project had begun a month ago. Anyone living in Iron Hall knew about it — that Robon Blædwin had created lightbulbs that shone, and that he had installed them along the streets of Iron Hall. That the people of the territory would no longer have to fear the night roads.
"Have no fear. When has the Director ever failed at anything?"
Andersen, standing beside him, spoke with the air of a man already certain. It wasn't that Robon lacked confidence himself. He was simply uneasy because research had kept him too busy to inspect this site in detail.
Dong…! Dong…! Dong…!
A magnificent bell tolled from the heart of the plaza. The deep, resonant peals stirred every heart once more.
The ringing gradually faded, and for a moment silence hung in the air —
Click.
The first streetlight in the central plaza flared to life.
"Whoa!"
A child standing beneath it cried out in pure delight. As if a tiny sun had been cupped inside the lamp, brilliant light flooded the child and everything around him.
Then the other streetlights began to blaze one after another.
Click-click-click-click-click…!
Out of the darkness, the central plaza was the first to reveal its beauty. The fountain's jets, glittering where the light struck them, shone even more lovely in every watching eye.
The road leading to the eastern gate glowed as bright as day. Shop signs and windows lining the street caught a gentle radiance. The warm light washed softly over the stone pavement and the outer walls of the buildings, and the long shadows it cast seemed almost to stir and breathe.
After a brief hush, cheers erupted across the plaza.
— Waaaaaaaaah!!
Children shouted with sparkling eyes. Adults clapped one another on the shoulders, sharing joy and wonder. Hands linked, faces split into wide smiles, they felt it in their bones — a new age of light had begun.
Robon and the retainers of House Blædwin could only gasp in admiration at the sight.
"How beautiful."
"I never knew Iron Hall's nights could be this magnificent, this enchanting."
"Impressive."
"Wow… it's pretty!"
Mother, Brother Gain, Brother Burgess, Wendy —
"Superb work, Robon."
— and Father as well.
"This is only the beginning, Father."
"Our guests are going to love this."
At that, Robon grinned.
"I think this is going to be a more splendid occasion than any we've ever held."
As he spoke, he glanced at Wendy. The girl was simply bouncing up and down the illuminated street like an excited child, nothing more.
"I hear you've prepared a gift for Wendy."
"Yes."
"A vehicle with two wheels, is that right?"
"Yes. More precisely, it's called an enduro bike."
Ted let out a thoughtful hum and looked at Robon. Sensing something ominous in that gaze, Robon struck first.
"I already built you the Brutal Force, didn't I?"
"…I haven't said a word yet."
"Just saying."
Ted clicked his tongue in mild regret and looked away.
The people of Iron Hall were still lost in the festival atmosphere.
The vassal nobles of Blædwin within the Iron Cliff Territory had already received invitations to Wendy's coming-of-age ceremony, but the nobles of other regions learned of it a step later.
Helek Territory, in the western reaches of the Mardan Principality.
"Wendy Blædwin's coming-of-age ceremony. It's been a while since I've visited the Iron Cliff Territory."
Agatha Helek, head of her house, with her short brown bob, murmured as she read the letter. She picked up the Robon-001 that lay split in half on her desk. Inside, Robon's water filtration core lay fully exposed.
"Remarkable. How did he even think of this?"
The most astonishing part was the processing of the charcoal. It produced an extremely subtle difference in the purified water — and that difference seemed to be the very heart of the filter. Every scholar in the family had thrown themselves at the secret, and still none of them had uncovered the reason.
Agatha wanted to use this opportunity to meet Robon Blædwin and have a proper conversation.
"Philia."
"Yes, my lady."
"Summon every scholar in the house. I want a solid group assembled and brought with us to Blædwin Territory."
Lahen Floating Castle.
Elin Lahen trembled with fury as she stared at the letter from House Blædwin.
"Mother, are you truly planning to go?"
Sabina regarded the letter from Blædwin with an easy expression. It was an invitation to attend Wendy's coming-of-age ceremony and grace the occasion with her presence. After everything that had happened not long ago, sending this was shameless beyond belief. Ted had almost certainly ordered it. Judging by the rage Robon had poured out that day, she doubted the boy himself would have done so.
"Of course I'm going."
"Mother, this is just a formality —"
"Why not? It'll be fun. And shouldn't we clear up the misunderstanding while we're at it?"
"…But."
"Get ready, Elin. You're the one who's going."
"M-me?"
"That's right. I have business to attend to. You know as well as I do — the demon worshippers are stirring. I can't leave my post as well."
Elin exhaled a long sigh and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Go and apologize. To Robon Blædwin."
"Do I… really have to apologize?"
"Obviously. Do you intend to defy my orders?"
"I'll… do it."
"Good thinking. And while you're at it, make an effort to get closer to Robon Blædwin."
"That I will not do! I can't!"
Sabina looked at her daughter and let out a soft snort of laughter.
What an adorable child.
Did the world know? That this girl who looked so stiff and severe was, on the inside, soft as overripe fruit.
This Blædwin coming-of-age ceremony is going to be quite entertaining.
"Your Grace intends to go as well?"
"Of course. This isn't just anywhere — it's Blædwin. How could I not?"
Grand Duke Alvin Victoria Mardan was in high spirits. At long last he would get to tear down the road in the Black Terahole R1 again. Lately he'd been so busy he hadn't managed a proper breath of fresh air. This was the perfect chance to stretch his legs — and to check in on that third son of Blædwin while he was at it.
I wonder what he's cooked up in the past few months.
Everything that boy created was already spreading through the principality like a plague. Not only the Robon-001 — the crossbows he'd designed were the same. Farmers used them to hunt game, and the Crossbow 002 and 003 were currently being mass-produced at Vulcan, adopted as military weapons of the principality, and already in training.
At this rate, wasn't the kid basically rolling around on piles of money? A boy that young raking in gold already — Alvin almost worried he might start throwing it around on luxuries.
"Though he never did look the type."
"Why am I this broke?"
Not long ago he'd received ten thousand gold from Erdin and been flush with cash. Now the money was already scraping the bottom. Damn it. Where exactly was it leaking away like water?
"Alvar! You're not secretly skimming funds, are you?"
"Wh-what? Absolutely not!! Why would I —"
"I'm kidding. Kidding."
Alvar let out a huge sigh of relief.
"What's the matter?"
Andersen came down the stairs as he asked. His head seemed especially shiny today.
"Magic Advisor? You're not brewing something like Grow-Grow Hair Potion with lab funds, are you?"
"I beg your pardon? What kind of preposterous —"
"Damn it. But where did all the money go?"
"Of course there's none left. You're building five more tillers, fabricating an enduro bike, and dumping every last coin into combining mana fuel with electricity to make some hybrid contraption or other, aren't you?"
"Stop. Please refrain from the fact-based assault."
He was right. Lately Robon had been thrashing around trying to build a hybrid, and the funds had vanished like smoke. All his own fault.
"I'm sorry. I haven't rested properly in ages — I think I went a little crazy for a second."
"Not at all, Director. We'll simply work harder."
"Hey, I'm not that kind of evil boss, okay? Go home. It's already evening."
With so much work piling up lately, he hadn't been sleeping at all — maybe he really had lost a few marbles. He hadn't even been going back to the manor, eating and sleeping at the lab instead, so of course his body was worn out.
For the first time in a while he returned to the manor and stepped into his own room. The soft bed seemed to wrap around him.
Why does the mana fuel keep conflicting with the battery? Is there a problem with the stack? Or maybe if I adjust the cylinders…
His vision slowly went dark, then brightened again.
"Mmh…"
Light seeped in through the window and touched his face.
It was morning.
"Ah…"
An enormous procession stretched in a long line toward the eastern gate of Iron Hall.
Thanks to Wendy's coming-of-age ceremony, houses from every corner of the Mardan Principality were converging on this place. Nobles visiting Iron Hall for the first time could not help but marvel at the refined appearance of the streets.
And the crowning spectacle of all —
Click-click-click-click-click-click!
— was the streetlights flaring brilliantly to life as evening fell. Not oil-fed flames, but lamps that generated their own radiance, flooding the roads with light.
The residents of Iron Hall strolled the streets as lively as ever, night or no night, as if the brightness were the most natural thing in the world.
"What in the world…"
"Has Blædwin always been this wealthy? How did they acquire so many luminous stones…?"
"What are you talking about? Look carefully! Those aren't luminous stones."
Every noble who saw them said roughly the same things. And every time they did —
"Hahaha! First time in Iron Hall, I take it? Those aren't luminous stones — they're called streetlights. Illumination that lights the roads."
Baron Penri, with his curling mustache, approached them and proudly showed off the glow.
"Iron Hall uses electricity to shine as bright as midday even at night. Well? Envious, aren't you? Hahaha!"