Steel and Mana

Chapter 66 – Midnight Talks

Visiting the forge, I couldn't help but smile, not just because I saw the finished coins on a desk, prepared and polished for me, but because Luna was so fidgety, trying her hardest to keep her skirt down.

"My Lord." The current head disciple said, greeting us with a bow and nervous excitement.

"Mhm." I nodded back, looking at their faces, memorizing them one by one. "Good work, everbody. Kraus should be proud that he can already leave tasks like this to his subordinates. Work hard, and one day, you will have your own forge or even be named Forgemaster."

I watched as my compliment eased their worries a lot, and we could turn toward why I was here: The prototypes of my future coin. There were four of them, all made from gold, uniform in size, precisely 26 millimeters in diameter. They were relatively thin but not so much that they would deform from use. The thing that separated them was their design, embossed onto their surfaces.

The first one was smooth, clean, almost too clean, with a slight strip in the middle. The second one was decorated with the logo of the new banner I designed. I was thinking hard about what to put on our future flag, and ultimately, I went with something simple: an olive wreath. I don't know if it has any meanings similar to those in my old life, but it felt appropriate. What I learned from this world's history is that most rulers wear some kind of fancy crown when appearing at public events; well, then, I will not. Let's make it different.

I liked the second coin, making a mental note as my eyes moved onward. The third one looked the most intricate. It had a stylized A in the middle, representing Avalon, as I learned after I asked them why. I liked this one, too, but it was too much. Mass-producing them would be more complicated than minting something simple. But it could be some kind of collectible, or maybe I could use this in other things, like adopting it as my seal. Turn it into a stamp from a coin.

Then, the last one was another version I liked. It had the letter 'I' in the middle, with a decorative piece above it, while the images of mountains were visible in the back. Well, when I asked again what it meant, it turned out it was not just an 'I,' but the representation of our old heraldry, the tower. Officially, it was still the banner of the Frontier, and I liked the idea of incorporating it into our new currency. When I asked about the dot above it, the one who made it said it represented the sun, the new dawn that I brought to this land. Huh... I did not expect something profound like this, but an idea quickly came to my mind.

"This." I pointed at the last coin, looking at the others. "I like all of them, but I will choose this. Combine this with the first, the smoothest one. Lose the mountains, keep the I. Turn the other two into stamps. I will use the one with the 'A' as the official stamp of the Ministry. Any government document has to be marked by it to come into effect. The olive wreath will be my personal one. Anything I stamp with it will be as good as my direct words."

It was clear that they were excited hearing it, as this would mean all four would be used in a way. I let them talk amongst themselves a little before I raised my hand so I could continue.

"I want three versions of the new coin. One would be made out of gold; it will be the one that is worth the most."

"The second one should be more silver-like, so you don't need to use pure gold, and you can make the last one from iron. We need the same number of versions as the imperial coinage if we want to exchange it successfully." I explained to them, giving the group the direction they should work towards. I wanted to make the exchange before winter...

After we left, Luna was no longer that fidgety, holding the four coins in her hand as I let her keep it. She even forgot to worry about not wearing any panties while playing with them.

"Made from iron... heh, people in the capital would laugh at you."

"Really now?" I chuckled, peeking at her, "They use bronze, silver, and gold. Is that really different?"

"Duh! Iron is for making weapons and tools!"

"Money is a tool."

"..."

"See?" I smiled, rubbing her head, "I will keep the exchange rate. I think my people will switch over quickly as they will only notice that the type of coins they own changed their looks rather than their value. Twenty iron coins are for one silvery, and ten silvery are for one gold. With our mines constantly expanding, I noticed that ores are one resource we have in abundance. Maybe we will find a silver mine, too; who knows! For now, the coin just has to be silvery in color to differentiate it, and it will be fine. With this, the currency exchange can begin, and I can start paying my people properly while keeping the imperial coins for trading."

"With the 'I' on it, people may call yours the imperial coin, too!" She chuckled, which was true... and I wouldn't have a problem with it.

...
....
......

The night sky was clear, and the big, full moon showered the city with its silver light, yet not everyone was happy about it. A few stray souls, slinking around, trying to muffle their steps on the stone roads, constantly kept to the shadows between the buildings, heading to one house built in the outer skirts of the city, close to the almost completed walls.

Three knocks quickly, then one after a brief pause on its wooden doors. They were waiting, looking around to see if anyone who shouldn't have maybe heard the knocks. It filled the figures with nervousness, fidgeting under their ebony blankets. Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity, the door opened, ushering them in.

"Were you followed?" A whispering male voice asked, being answered by a similar, hushed tone.

"Of course not!"

"Okay, okay, come, let's go to the basement!"

When the group of six finally felt safe under the house, like rats, they lit multiple candles and pulled back their hoods. If Perth was there, he would recognize them as they were his childhood friends, clearly led by Sorbo as they were meeting in his house.

"Good to see everybody is here. Tomak, Luka." He nodded toward the newest associates of their little group. They were no random additions, as they were assigned to work on building the city's temple.

"Are we really going to do this?" Another voice asked, making everyone look at him, watching the shortest man in the group.

"We are, Nach! Don't get cold feet now! Wasn't your first wife left to die from sickness? The church did nothing but gave a blessing that did not work, then claimed she was saved by returning her soul to Goddess Orsi! A lot of horseshit that is!"

"..."

"Now," He continued, lowering his voice and looking at the others, "we must ensure they will not finish the temple."

"I don't think we can truly prevent it." Tomak shrugged, beginning to explain, "The ground has been already flattened; we will soon start laying the foundations. Half of the stones are being transported over while the other half is being carved out; the temple is supposed to be finished by the end of summer, certainly before autumn."

"We just need to delay it enough that they deem it unworthy or take it as a sign not to build it." Sorbo pressed on, wholly engrossed in the idea of stopping the return of the church.

"There will be hundreds working on it," Luka added, looking at him and the rest, "if we try to sabotage it, we have to be smart and subtle about it. We can screw with the cement, for example. Working with it on the wall, I learned a lot about how it's made and handled; that is why I have been sent to work on the temple."

"You want to say you are better builders than us?" Okora, another member of Sorbo's group, asked, making Luka smile a little.

"Yes. But that is not important now. I can do it, but I need more help. Just the two of us alone won't be able to pull it off."

"What would that do?" Sorbo asked, making the two newcomers chuckle, feeling truly superior towards them.

"Make the structure unstable." Tomak whispered, subconsciously lowering his voice, afraid someone would overhear, "Then, some of you can sneak there in the darkness and make it collapse. That would be enough damage and setback to the project. It would make people rethink whether we need a temple or not."

"Yeah... that sounds good..." The rest agreed, thinking about it, feeling fired up.

"We can do it. While working on the temple, you can find more people who think like us." Sorbo said, "Invite them, and we can build up our forces. The church won't return to our land, not if we have anything to say!"

His words reinforced their thoughts, as everyone present had something against the church. They either lost a family member or felt one of their old grievances was their fault. Whatever the actual reason was, they were now at a point where they would turn to sabotage just to get back at them. What was previously an unreasonable thought snowballed into something they were putting into motion. They began trodding on a path that would end in destruction without them realizing it. Be it the temple or their futures.

...
....
......

I was out in the garden, wearing a robe, slowly walking around, watching the clear sky and the millions of stars twinkling above my head. It was a look that I could not get bored of. With the amount of light pollution, I never really saw the stars, but I also had to remind myself that this view was probably unique to this land. Whatever those things were, they were not really stars... but something else. But what? And what about the moon? Was it also something different? An illusion... aaahh... too many things that no longer made sense, I just had to let it go. I was afraid if I let my mind think too deeply about it, I would wake up and find myself back in my original body, bleeding out on the ground.

"Living in a pleasant dream is better than experiencing the painful reality."

"Bad dreams?" A voice asked me, and when I turned, it was Yuri who was approaching me, wearing nothing.

"No. Just thoughts." I smiled at her, "What about you?"

"I woke up when you climbed out of bed. The other two are knocked out, but I was always a light sleeper. Had to be."

"Yeah, I know." I nodded, making her raise an eyebrow, but maybe she felt I wasn't joking, so she did not question me about it. I know what it was to try and get some sleep on a battlefield. You just can't come back from something like that.

"So? What's troubling you?"

"Nothing, really." I repeated, looking back towards the sky.

"The time when you died?"

"You are surprisingly good at reading people." I laughed a little because she was right. Yet not, because she was talking about what happened on the wall last winter. I wasn't.

"You are alive, so relax! I can confirm, look, I am still leaking down below! I don't know where you pump out this much from; my pussy-siblings are also dripping cum all over the sheets, ahaha! Yum-yum, midnight snack!"

"Heh, maybe it's the local diet?"

"Maybe. You know what? We could make Lunacchy make new types of foods and see if your milk gets a different after-taste!"

"You just want to be naughty." I whispered, turning back at her, "Aren't you cold?"

"Nah, it's fine! I had it worse."

"You can go back if you want; I will stay, watch the stars a little, then return."

"As I said, it's good. I will stay." She answered, standing next to me, glancing up, trying to follow my gaze, "Waccha lookin' at? Explain."

"Honestly? No idea! Maybe I should start naming the stars. That could be fun. By the way... are you guarding me right now?"

"Duh. You are my owner now; I can't have you be killed or injured. My golden cock, that's what you are!"

"Not goose?"

"No. I am talking about your cock. Literally. So anyone coming to cut it off will have to get through me first!"

"Who would try that? Here? Now? Why? Pft!"

"You never know! People are crazy, and you need a crazy to know crazy."

"Say crazy one more time."

"Crazy, woof."

"Heh, whatever!" I hugged her waist, pulling her closer while we continued watching the stars. "Maybe I can name some star formations after you?"

"Bleh... you sound like some sweet-talking noble silkpants. Don't make me puke. If you want to name something after me, make it a weapon. Something that would kill a bunch of fuckers in one move. Call it Yuri's Fury or something badass. Bloodguzzler or Dicktwister!"

"Pftt... okay, okay! If we ever build something, so be it! But we will stop with Yuri's Fury."

"Promise!"

"Sure." I nodded, raising my pinky finger. She was just looking at me first before finally understanding and reaching out with hers. "You are blushing."

"Fuck you..."