***Holy Mt. Seria, City of Light, Northern Capitol***

***Odlef Meltheim***

I take my place at the round table, allowing my gaze to wander over the multitude of my allies. Then I nod towards the current chairman of our illustrious club made up by nobles and politically influential peasants who were brought on board because of their capital.

Noting my readiness, the chairman takes a large iron-ball and hammers it onto the hardwood table, causing a loud 'thud' to silence the assembly.

“I declare the annual meeting to decide on our policy as opened. Please follow the established order to share your latest accomplishments and news.” He nods towards the person on his right. “Lord Tulhelm, please share your progress with us.”

The man throws a poisonous glance at me before he gets to his feet.

I just sit there and smile, assured in the knowledge that as long as he thinks that I have his daughter hostage, he will do anything in his power to assist us. Normally, I wouldn't have taken such drastic measures, especially because he was on our side to begin with, but Lord Tulhelm is a weak man who may falter upon seeing the true scope of our group's conviction.

It was necessary to encourage him.

Thanks to a master-stroke of genius, I managed to convince him that we have his daughter in our custody, while a doppelganger is distracting our opponents back in the capital. All we have to do is to make sure that he never finds out that my abduction plan didn't work. His true daughter is still in the capital, while the girl I have in custody is the true double.

I listen as Tulhelm faithfully reports his progress in infiltrating the northern military's command staff, and his many schemes to get the local media under our control.

According to our plan, we first have to win on the front of informational warfare, ensuring that we can create a window to launch our revolution – however small it may be.

While bringing us up to date, Tulhelm refers several times to his right-hand man who is standing close behind him. His servant doesn't seem particularity trustworthy. Clad from head to toe in bandages with fire-resistance runes, a fiery light emanates from the small spots where the man's eyes should be. Aside from an occasional erratic twitch, the man is completely silent and covered in a shroud of anonymity.

Finally, Tulhelm sits down, signalling that he is done with his report.

Others quickly get their turn as the meeting proceeds until it's my turn to speak. Standing up, I quickly share our failure to shut down or at least to hamper the progress of the Cygnus family undermining our joint venture. In particular, I ensure that everyone understands the danger that would come with allowing someone like Tirna's princeling to take over the royal throne, that his attitude can't be tolerated.

“... And that's why I think that we should expedite our plans to return the world to its proper state. With us as the rulers, we can ensure that the central continent and its resources can be divided properly. I firmly believe that we have no other choice but to rely on the means that miraculously fell into our hands just a few weeks ago.”

The rest of the group doesn't react as enthusiastically as I wish. Some give approving nods, but far too many stay silent, clearly unhappy at the idea of blood sacrifice.

Kayle, one of the older gents shakes his head. Equipped with a beer belly and the fox-ears of his bloodline, he belongs to the older generation who spent far too much time enjoying their wealth, taking it for guaranteed. His white hair shows his age and deep wrinkles turn his forehead into a permanent frown. “I still don't think that we should use that cursed book. It's blasphemy to even consider such a ritual! To call on a god other than Seria... it's unthinkable!”

Lady Vensee, the leader of the House of Vens, raises her hand to stop the old fool. “What else are we to do? There is only one confirmed god in this world, and she has shown her support for the royal family quite clearly. If we are to succeed, we need a god of our own.” She rearranges her black hair, tucking it away behind her elven ears.

Kayle doesn't stop shaking his head. “I joined this group because I thought that we want to protect our interests, not topple the kingdoms and blaspheme against the goddess!” He gets to his feet, tilting over his chair, and points a shaking finger at us, his face red with emotions. “Mark my words! If you want to summon this so-called god, you can do it without me!”

Turning, he storms towards chamber's exit and I get up, slamming my hands onto the desk. If the old fool gets away, everything we've worked for might fall apart! “Stop him!”

The chairman raises his hand, magically locking the doors. “Kayle-”

But instead of listening, Kayle raises his hand, a spell matrix forming on his palm.

Several members of our group raise their own hands, about to cast spells of their own. Whether in defence or to attack doesn't matter, because I suddenly know exactly how to get these men and women to do what I want.

Thrusting my palm towards Kayle, I cast Arcane Spear as a magical barrier springs into existence around him. Others cast their own spells in an attempt to subdue the deserter, bathing Kayle's defences in various colours of magic. It's my Arcane Spear that ultimately breaks his barrier and impales his chest.

Stumbling backwards, the old fox-kin leans against the heavy wooden door. His expression twists in pain as he fumbles at the slowly dissolving spear of violet light which is stuck in his chest. Then he slides to the ground, his expression slackening until he lies still.

Waiting, I allow the others one short moment to come to terms with what just happened. Then I take control of the situation before anyone else can turn it into the disaster it appears to be. “Don't fret over this, my friends! He was a traitor, and all of us had a hand in striking him down!”

At least half of them cast attack magic of their own, turning them into accomplices.

I point at the corpse. “And that's what happens to anyone who betrays our cause! From now on, we are in this together and there is no backing out!”

***Midhold***

***Angrod***

It is the end of my second school year and my little side-project is developing to my full satisfaction.

Thanks to taking a personal interest in the creation of my new facility I now truly understand why Margerie is so interested in levitation. The people of this world are using magical devices for almost all aspects of work. There are no cranes on construction sites. Instead, everything is just levitated into the proper place. There is almost no use of electricity, something I wish to change as soon as possible.

I understand that magical solutions to many problems are convenient and quick, but they are also wasteful in most cases. The heavy use of magical devices is a serious factor in our resource problems. For the world to truly improve, there will have to be a change in attitude.

Even if Margerie thinks that what I gave her is enough, she didn't take into account that our population will grow with improving living circumstances, negating the effect of our inventions. The only permanent solution is to replace most magical devices with something that relies on pure science.

And even that is only a short-term solution. Ultimately, we will have to introduce some sort of population control, but that's a topic for the far future.

Returning my attention to my current project, I study the wristband which contains the newest state of the art technology. I call it an assistant-casting-device, ACD for short. The idea is to put it on and allow it to tap into the user's mana pool.

By pre-recording a spell, the user can set it to cast the recorded spell on a pre-set condition. For example, the owner could record a healing spell and activate it on the condition of being wounded.

It's pretty convenient, but in truth, it's just one step on the path to a real spell-projector. The people of this world already figured out how to enchant spell-staffs with attack magic, but they are of limited use before they burn out.

A real spell-projector is a magical array which a skilled individual can use to cast spells which are normally beyond his ken.

There are many other projects on my list, but creating a spell-projector of sufficient magnitude is my first priority. With access to a tool like that, I can wipe out anything the war-faction might throw at us. The wristband will raise the fighting force of our soldiers immensely, but it is only a short-term result of something far bigger.

I may even be able to record the stupid raccoon geezers' ability! Once Nicosar returns from his latest mission, the Cheat will be mine! I will be an immortal cheat character too!

“Mwahaha!” I cough and hit my chest, trying to regain control over my impulses. No maniacal laughter where the facility's staff might overhear me.

Patience! Now, all I need to do is to wait for Nicosar to return from one of his stupid undercover missions...

۞۞۞

When I return to the palace it's late evening and I find the whole family in the throne room, including Nicosar. Gleefully, I start towards the old codger, but then I notice the grave expressions and long faces.

Our parents are on their thrones, with Nicosar standing next to Nicol. Celes is holding hands with her mother. Together with the guards, it looks like the court is in session, but there is only one small figure facing them, not more than a child.

The little Iris is standing in front of them. Alone, she looks even more frightened than she normally is around Celes since she received her beating.

“What is going on here?” I ask and they turn their attention to me.

“Ah, you are coming exactly at the right moment for the latest news,” Arthur proclaims with a dark undertone.

My mother launches into an explanation. “The House of Meltheim and the House of Tulhelm together with some other houses in their vicinity have declared independence. It would be more accurate to say that the entire north is in rebellion.”

Well, fuck. I expected them to pull off something, like an attempt at overthrowing the throne... but calling out a nation of their own by stealing our territory? That's the last thing I expected them to do.

“Now we know why the house of Meltheim completely retreated from Midhold and called their children back. They even took all their staff with them and closed down their residence.” Nicol massages his temples.

“The only question we have is why this one is still here. We sent a few guards to the Tulhelm and Meltheim residences to fetch anyone they might have left behind. Both properties were completely abandoned. From the looks of it, for months. Apparently, Iris lived at her parent's mansion alone for quite some time. Only a skeleton-crew of employees kept the outward appearance.” Katrine tilts her head, studying the girl.

Oh, that's actually quite the story. I scratch my head and try to think about the implications.

“So, what do you have to say for yourself?” Nicol asks Iris who seems quite pale.

“Where- where should I start?” she asks, her voice as meek as that of a mouse, totally out of character for her.

“Starting at the beginning is always the best.” Arthur smiles and urges her to continue with a gesture.

“I- I always just did what my parents or uncle Tongord told me to do.” She glances at me but returns her gaze to my father. “One day, my parents commanded me to suck up to Angrod. They wanted me to cause an incident at the introduction party, but I refused. I hate their way of doing things. It made them mad like hell and then this whole duel-incident with Sarda and Senda happened. I think they were instructed in similar ways. Only in their case, they didn't refuse.”

She looks at the floor. “When my parents got really nasty, I tried to approach him at school, but Celes gave me a beating. I was too afraid to go near Angrod again.”

Insecure, she massages her fingers, flicking her bushy tail left and right. “At last year's graduation, my parents told me not to go to school. In hindsight, it was clear that they knew something was going to happen. Still, I desperately wanted to get my school certificate for the year, so I snuck out of the mansion to go to school and say goodbye to my friends.”

And then she starts tearing up. “And... and then... that terrorist attack happened. One of them tried to abduct me... they also threatened uncle Tongord... I tried to resist them... but failed. Then Angrod saved me. I am sorry for not thanking you, but I was afraid.”

Tears falling down her cheeks, she explains how one of the mansion's servants came to the school to get her. “And... and when I came home that day, I found the whole residence abandoned. One of the employees told me that they were just instructed to keep the garden and the house intact. All our personal staff was gone.”

Falling apart, she shakes her head. “In my room I found a letter from my mother, telling me that I am a disgrace and that I can stay in the residence until I am done with school. And if I were to tell anyone, they would send assassins after me.”

Iris is trembling, clearly at the edge of becoming unhinged.

I look away, having heard enough of the sob-story. It's not like I don't think that what happened to her was a shitty experience, but I remember much worse from my previous lives. Iris got away lightly.

There is also the little issue that I don't completely trust her. She had more than enough time to think about her words and plan for the situation of her being found out.

Still, for a parent to do that to her own child... Iris's mother should be shot on the spot.

There is a heavy silence in the room.

“Angrod?” Celes gestures for me to come closer, so I do.

“Hmm?”

“I need a nuke!” she whispers, utterly serious.

A big grin spreads on my face. “How big?” Finally! She makes a request I am willing to oblige with.

Unfortunately, I am just kidding. Building a nuke is easy enough, but this world doesn't have any equipment to refine nuclear fuel. I would have to create an entire industry around it, which would require time. Time which we likely don't have since the other party just gave us a limited time-frame.

Sadly, I've no idea how to proceed.

We are interrupted by Katrine who shakes her head after having listened to Iris's story. “You certainly can't keep on living alone in that mansion. I'll make some inquiries and do my best to find a nice family who is willing to take care of you. A child of your age needs adult supervision. Until then, you will stay with us.”

With that said, Iris is led away by Rose and two guards, giving me the chance to approach Nicosar while our parents discuss their next steps.

I decide that it might be best to suck up to my archenemy, so I activate the heavy cannons. “Grandpa! Do you have a second?”

Nicosar's eyes widen and he looks at me as if I just struck him beneath the belt-line. “G- Grandpa! Who are you calling a grandpa!? I am at the height of my youth!”

Narrowing my eyes, I offer him the bracelet I made. Senile Fucker! “Could you put this on and change into your mist-form? It will take just a second.”

He studies the bracelet and takes it from me. “What is it?”

“Just a little spell-recorder. Nothing harmful. I just want to know how your ability works,” I explain, eager to find out.

Nicosar shrugs and puts on the device. After changing into mist and back again, he hands the device back.

Not wanting to wait, I put it on and try to cast the recorded spell, only to find out that the bracelet didn't record anything. “What!? Why didn't it work!?”

Nicosar laughs. “Did you really think that others didn't already try to find out the secret behind that particular blood-trait? It's an innate ability, not a spell, so there is nothing to record.”

I slap my own forehead, feeling like the dunderhead I am!

“What's that bracelet? It's so pretty.” Celes closes in, her eyes on the device.

I look at it, studying the runes and diamond inlays which I used to create the artefact. I wanted it to be as durable as possible, enchantment-wise. So I used only high-grade materials like gold, silver, and titanium. Combined with a structural reinforcement that feeds off of the user, it's almost indestructible. I guess it's indeed pretty – if someone likes sparkly things?

“Haaah... never mind. It's a spell-recorder...” Which just turned utterly useless to me. “Here, you can have it.”

Celes's mouth forms a small 'o' as she catches the device. Her eyes start shining as she puts it on... and out comes her list. She ticks off another achievement and pockets the list once more.

Did I just make a mistake?

“I knew that you like me! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.” Before I can stop her, she hugs me and kisses me right on the lips.

“Bah!” I pull away and shudder from the burning sensation her saliva leaves behind. Making a scene, I try to wipe off my face. “I get it! Just let go of me!”

“Stop torturing him, Celes!” Katrine reprimands her daughter.

“Muh!” Celes lets go of me, clearly unwilling to do so.

***Midhold***

***Celes***

He got me a present! It felt just like in the good old times when he used to give me all kinds of useful trinkets. So thoughtful! Enjoying the heart-warming feeling, I press the wrist with the bracelet against my chest. I have to tell Tanja as soon as possible and ask her to record some utility spells which are hard to achieve with internal magic. She's a ninja, so she is bound to know some useful stuff.

Humming happily, I watch as our parents plan out our future actions. We moved over to one of Arthur's rooms. The entire place is dedicated to cartography, and there is a large table with a map of the whole world in the centre of the room.

Our parents are staring at the map with gloomy expressions, wracking their brains.

I admit that there is no way to brighten the situation, but they also shouldn't act as if they didn't see it coming from miles away.

Luckily, Katrine already dealt with Iris, sending her to the House of Cygnus. It's better if a close ally takes care of the girl. There is no way to express how awkward it would have been to have her around and interfere with Angrod and me when we were always on opposite sites of the playing field. At least Stephen and Margerie aren't that familiar with the Tulhelm offspring, so Iris might even manage to pull off a new beginning. One where she isn't taught the misguided attitude of her parents.

Feigning some interest, I take a look at the map. It's a problem to have such a big area in rebellion. History shows that it is almost impossible for a country to suppress another one if the civil population is unwilling to accept it.

According to our sparse information, the civilians in the affected region are not on our side anymore. The Houses of Meltheim and Tulheim started a massive campaign of misinformation and propaganda to bring everyone to their side. It's likely directly connected to the lack of information which we noticed a few months ago.

They claimed that the gentle Princess of Stricc was forced into a marriage with the cruel Prince of Tirna. Furthermore, they accused the royal family of favouritism towards a few selected houses. Well, at least in that they aren't entirely wrong.

There are also some other rumours, from ecological reasons to outright racism.

It's all a big pile of bullshit, but as in every time, the old rule of controlling the masses by controlling the media has proven true. There is no doubt that individually, nobody believes everything the war-faction vomits up. But taken as a whole, people are stupid sheep.

They need a strong and firm hand to guide them.

Most of the minor Houses and Dukedoms in the northern region followed the lead of the Meltheims and the Tulhelms. If willingly or not didn't really matter. Those who didn't follow were struck down with overwhelming military force.

It only proves that the whole uprising must have been planned a long time ago. There is no way to put an operation like this one together overnight. People have to be placed in the right positions, pockets have to be greased with money, and those who dare to talk have to be silenced in a way that doesn't draw attention.

Practically overnight, the war-faction had a population of hundreds of thousands under their control. That's because there are many population centres up in the north.

The population density becomes scarcer, the farther you go south. The reason for that lies with the world's ecosystem, with much more unfriendly organisms preferring the southern climate.

Along with a big part of the central continent's population, they have access to some of best mines for rare elements. My parents already took control of every mine in our reach, including everything from the middle of the continent, down to the south.

As a way to affirm who is still loyal, our parents ordered every noble family to pay a visit to the crown. The military is also already on the move.

The only thing that's worrying is that there is a sizeable amount of industrial capacity on the other side. They have everything they need.

“It will become very ugly. A lot of innocent people are bound to die again,” Ireth complains. “I don't understand what they are thinking. Even with everything they achieved, it's just a matter of time until their uprising is crushed. We still have the power of two continents behind us. At best, they can hold out until reinforcements from the larger landmasses arrive.”

“That will take months,” Arthur points out. “Months during which they can affirm their rule, and once we crush their military forces, it will make us the evil aggressors. Don't forget that the simple minded folk have short memories. If we could strike back right now, it would make them look like the usurpers who caused the fighting. Once two or three months pass without bloodshed, any future aggression will be laid at our feet. The central continent might become a seedbed for future insurrection.”

“Assassinate them, just like they tried it with us. No need to play friendly anymore,” Nicol grumbles with arms crossed in front of his chest.

“I don't want to turn them into martyrs,” Ireth states. “We would be tyrants, exactly what they claimed us to be.”

“No matter what we do, the region will experience a long period of disturbance and instability. We can't even be sure that the main continents are unaffected. Though, thanks to the nature of their business model, the Tulhelm and Meltheims have most of their assets here on Central, but I wouldn't count that their fall won't affect our seats of power.” Arthur shakes his head, looking tired. “Striking them down with military force won't be a fast affair. It will be messy. Maybe they are even counting on the fact that they have enough time to persuade more nobles, turning them against us.”

“Then just do nothing and isolate them. Shut down the border and hunger them to death,” Angrod suggests.

Everyone looks at him.

“But we can't starve them. They have everything they need. Resources, food, equipment, industry. Everything is there.” Nicol gestures at the map.

Angrod shrugs. “We have those things too, just much, much more of it. We need nothing from them, they need nothing from us. If your conclusion is true and they just want to provoke a fight to create even greater chaos, then we don't give them what they want. They threw their cards on the table and are hoping for us to do the same.”

He interlinks his fingers in a praying posture. “They've shown us their hand because they think that they can only win under the current circumstances. I don't play rigged games, so we should just walk away. Our cards will keep changing over time.”

Angrod takes a pointing stick and separates a fourth of the central continent from the rest of the country. “They were interfering with our development plan by controlling the market price. Now their control of our part of the continent is gone and we can nationalize all their previous mining operations. If we just sit around and concentrate on putting our inventions to practical use, they will become a smaller and smaller problem by the month.”

I smile and point at various symbols which represent military assets. “They will never be able to follow our technological advance. We can use the chance to steer Tirna's and Stricc's military away from pointing weapons at each other. Instead, we amass them on the new border with the new enemy, joining forces. We will just sit on our asses and wait for them to move, or we will move when we think that we are ready.”

Raising my finger, I draw their attention. “One thing we have to do immediately is to start the informational warfare. Medial presence is important. We have to denounce them in public. After all, they are the ones who are not loyal. We need to polarize the public and make sure that they know who the real tyrant is.”

If they act first, we have a legitimate reason to beat them down with brute force. If they don't act, they will soon lose to our building forces.

I turn to look at Angrod. “How long do you need to create a nasty surprise for them?”

“Not long. Something like a guided missile isn't a big problem if I use magic. But didn't we just conclude that eliminating them now is a bad idea?” he asks.

“I don't want to eliminate them. I need something to crush the major arterial roads. The war-faction may try something on us. It has to be fast and on command, in case they try marching their army into our territory,” I explain.

He thinks for a moment and nods. “Should be no problem. I will make some plans for a big bomb. We can mine the bigger roads with them. If they walk over it, they get sent to space.”

I grin.

“I am not happy with the situation, but I guess we have no other choice in this case,” Arthur admits grudgingly.

“With some time I may be able to find out who is most likely to turn on us,” Nicol adds, patting his co-ruler on the back.

“I can already tell you that the houses of Rosenquarz and Andros are likely candidates,” Ireth says with a flat voice.

My ears perk up at that. “What? Sandra Andros is a nice girl. She would never betray someone. With Gabriel, I am not so sure. But despite being a silent fellow, I would think never expect him to be a reformist.”

“I am not talking about a single person, but the household as a whole, Celes.” Ireth's voice is soothing, conveying empathy for my friendship with Sandra.

Reigning in my horses, I nod. If our parents tell us that those people are a risk, then they are most likely correct. I shouldn't underestimate Ireth's experience. She dealt with the noble houses for years, so who am I to judge.

“I will instruct the House of Morden to double their efforts in information gathering. There is nothing we know of that can detect their ability to hide in the shadows,” Katrine informs us, sounding proud of our kinsmen.

“Then I will set out with Nicosar to guide our army. Establishing a new border without causing atrocities won't be easy. A spark is enough to turn the current standstill into a full-blown war.” Nicol gestures for his father to join him.

Arthur shakes his head. “I wish I had crushed their monopoly in the beginning, when I still had the chance.”

Our parents hash out a few more details but Angrod yawns, clearly tired because of his work. He excuses himself and walks back to his room.

Giggling, I use the chance to follow him. For now, I'll have to sneak into his bed the old-fashioned way, but as soon as I get the chance I'll have Tanja record an invisibility spell, and some sort of area-silence-effect.