Resolve is one thing, execution is another one.

I woke up with a pounding headache and cursed at the old man for intoxicating a child.

I pushed Gel aside, she was still lost in sleep and I bet she could use the rest. I was in need of a good wash to help me clear both the toxins and my mind.

The inner palace had the luxury of having great baths. With heated water. From what I understood out of the servant's explanation the water was coming from deep underground and sent up the mountain with crystals that were pushing it upwards. This was a costly method requiring many chi-able people to refill the crystals every day. It seemed worth it, I was enjoying a pool of heated bubbly water for myself, almost a jacuzzi. Magic has its uses.

I took the time to sober up while soaking and ponder on how to bring technology to this world.

I wasn't an engineer. I was a veterinarian and had a master in pharmacology. This wouldn't help me much if I couldn't find the chemical precursors I needed.

I knew how to synthesize paracetamol but not how to achieve the same result without para amino-phenol ready for use. Acetic anhydride and sulphuric acid, those I could make on my own given enough time and resources: Vinegar and sulphur should be something I can find easily. But some other things were just beyond the reach of this world's technological know-how. Is there even oil to refine in this world?

I had to first make an inventory of my knowledge and then skim through what was impossible to use or definitively out of reach, what was maybe usable someday and what was ready to use with their current resources.

When I came back to the jade garden, the princess was there with my friends. Guess they skipped their morning training today.

“You look less like shit now,” she greeted me with a pawky smile.

I nodded a greeting back, “So do you, princess,” I brazenly retorted. I hadn't forgotten how she didn't hesitate to have me seized and restrained. I should remember this lesson in the future, I'm still just a commoner, maybe not disposable thanks to my blessing but clearly in no position of power.

She snorted at my reply. Before she could go on with the joust, I had demands of my own: “I need paper, a lot. And free time. I won't be teaching you or others anymore. Balout will take my stead for the time being,” I announced and enjoyed Balout's panicky face. I was a bit guilty to drop my load of work on him but trials build character, he'll manage.

The princess raised an eyebrow suspiciously “Still not over?” she inquired.

I sighed. I was over my powerlessness. Or rather, I was trying to find a workaround for it. “I'm fine, but I have an idea and need time to work on it.” Before she could ask more I raised a hand to silence her, this was very unwelcome from a commoner to a royal but I was still her teacher too “I can't tell more till I've done some research. Thus why I need time and paper.” I'd rather deal with her grandfather than her but this early, the man must still be nursing the aftermath of yesterday's libations.

She was unsure as to how to handle me and Gelcaria chimed in to give her a little nudge “Please let him do, I'll vouch for him,” she stated with confidence.

Since when did I need a little girl to vouch for me?

“Fine. You'll get what you need,” relented Moatimu with a cute pout. Since when was she listening to Gel?

Anyway, I got paper and time so I won't complain. I was assigned a small room near the classroom where Balout will take care of the latest batch. If he ever needed help I would be nearby but I believe he'll manage on his own. He is far smarter than most of his students.

He was still training a batch of officials in numbers so they could make better financial reports. Reading classes were now taken care of by a fraction of the scholars we had trained before. I must admit the old drunkard was quite a good planner and had anticipated the scope of the change from early on.

Balout and I would still be required for the fanciest students, mostly blades or their children or officials on diplomatic missions. This was done as a display of goodwill for those wishing to learn directly from “the genius master”. They would usually quickly grow disillusioned when they ended up with two children teaching them and I can only imagine how sour they would be if they learned we were just commoners.

Only the smartest would understand what our young age meant for the future of this Shieldom. They were few but I made sure to remember them and build good relations with each of them. Smart people were a rare breed and the more I could gather around me, the better. I was going to need a lot of smart people if I wanted to lift this country.

Now I had to find out what I could do.

* * * *

Things were rougher than I thought. I had narrowed down a list of ideas:

Gliders, paragliding were one of the first things that came to my mind.

They had few tamed beasts that could fly compared to the number of Chi users who could benefit from a flying device. If I could build a reliable way for scouts or even whole squads to have access to flight it could change their tactical approach, be it against monsters or other factions. A troop of strong Chi soldiers gliding behind enemy lines was a fearsome weapon.

Close second was the printing press. The tech was not a problem. If lead wasn't available, I could always use wood to carve letters. The rest was easy to make or find. The main problem was securing enough paper, followed by having enough readers.

Currently, the number of people able to read the alphabet was less than a hundred. It would be hard to justify the investment in a printing press now but I will definitively come up with it again later. In the meantime, I'll have to enquire about ways to get my hands on more paper. We would need it in bulk and this will draw the attention of many people. I'll need lord Iroto's support to manage this.

The next biggest thing I wanted was water wheels. I've seen no big ones around, just very small ones to draw out some water. This would be an easy way to pump water for the whole city, expand irrigation and have access to a mechanical force for grinding or later drilling and such. Plus if I am to one day bring electricity, I'll need them to have building and maintenance knowledge of water wheels. The river was so wide and with so much current that the power right under their nose had to be exploited.

To build durable wheels I would need steel, not bronze or brittle iron, stainless steel. And for steel I would need a furnace, with refractory bricks. For that, I needed kilns for brick making and cement.

It was an endless chain of needs and pre-requirements.

One of the only paths of thought that showed some promises was also one of the least interesting. I believe I can make antibiotics with the help of Charavatkeh's priests.

If they can help me select the right strains of penicillium, actinomycetes and other yeasts, I could produce a broad spectrum of antibiotics, ranging from penicillin to aminosides and tetracyclines.

I knew this was how the first antibiotics were produced: by growing yeasts in bulk. I had the advantage of having magical genetic engineers in the form of Charavatkeh's priests. Purification of the product would be an issue but I had some ideas as to how to manage the feat.

The only issue was that the output will be limited, both in volume and utility. Who will fund the development of antibiotics when a priest of the god of rot can magically cure you? Only the poorest would be interested and in return weren't solvable customers or investors.

Chemistry was both one of my forte and a dead end. Sure, I could remember a few processes from A to Z but without the industrial precursors, it was useless knowledge. The list of pre-requirements was even longer and there were many cases where I just didn't know how to make some of them.

The headache and the depression were coming back.

To distract myself from this depressing list of to-do, I went back to basic science. I was trying to fill up the gaps in the table of elements that I had drafted for Shinpilo.

A few more came back to mind. The fact that I focused for so long on my previous knowledge

in chemistry must have helped awakening some old memories.

I called it a day early in the afternoon, I was still spent after yesterday's events and needed to rest at home. Gel and Melodi walked me back, they were done with their morning practice.

On the night that followed, instead of the usual nightmares, I had a dream of my past life.

I was back to school and Miss Ogerthy was presenting us the different groups in the table of elements.

It was strange, the dream was so vivid that it was almost as if I was taken back on Earth. Not only could I smell the detergent used to clean the classroom but even the faces of my classmates were clear like photography. My teacher was explaining in detail every family on the table of elements, before listing them. I can remember how this was an important moment for me, discovering the order in the world's fabric always fascinated me. The only thing that bothered me was how clear this dream was, even when I tried remembering the table of elements two years ago, I wasn't able to find this memory.

Not mulling too much over it, as soon as I woke up I rushed to my desk to write it all down while it was still fresh in my mind. I was glad that when I put my mind to it, my brain was at least a bit helpful. Finally my table was full. This was something I'll have to share with Shinpilo, it was huge.

Back home my parents weren't surprised by my return, nor did they comment on my “abduction”. Either they received messages from Shizu or the neighbours didn't see a thing.

They never really knew how to behave with me and I can't blame them. I was a strange kid to say the least.

Since I've become a blessed one, I've considered telling them about my situation: that I wasn't really a kid. I would brush the idea aside as soon as it came, it was inviting more trouble. Not mentioning that I wasn't sure how I came to this world: did I take the place of their kid? Was my soul transferred in an empty husk? Was I meant to be stillborn? Did we switch places and now their child is roaming the void in my stead? The thought alone was making me shiver.

I feared that I would become an impostor in their eyes. Like those strange stories of swapped babies. Even after years of raising them, finding that your kid wasn't really yours would not be simple to take in.

There was less harm in a lie.

* * * *

Shinpilo was up to something with me.

My memory has been better since the blessing, that's was one thing. Now I'm starting to suspect that even my past life is under his spell. My dreams of past memories are coming back more and more often. Some about important moments, for those I can believe they were just coming on their own, but also dreams of memories I barely remember or of things I should have forgotten.

Often my nights would be filled with dreams of classes and lectures. Some I even forgot I attended to. There were some strange fuzzy moments in them where either the sound got mushy or where faces were blurred, probably when my attention wasn't strong enough for me to remember anything of what happened back then.

It was both scary and exciting.

Exciting to have access to all the memories of my past life, especially all the lectures and books I've ever read, but also scary to feel how much power Shinpilo had on me. Sure, he was a god so I shouldn't be that surprised. Imagining the extent of a god's ability and facing them first hand is a different story though. Could he read my mind?

I wish I could meet him once more but all my prayers remained dead letters.

There were some good finds among the trove of my memories:

One of the most decisive dreams I made was when I went back to the history lessons of Mr Turner. The man was a Napoleonian history fanatic. He even came in class dressed as a grenadier once.

The most important part of the dream wasn't the retelling of the Berezina's retreat during the disastrous Russian campaign but rather the short explanation he gave us about gunpowder and how scientists under the Empire struggled to produce enough of it to fuel the conquest of Europe.

This gave me the rough recipe for black powder.

He just told us the ingredients, I'd still have to find the process and right proportions by myself but this was so huge.

If I could find a reliable source of gunpowder, any commoners could become as strong as a low-rank fire mage! This was my magic: turning this world upside down.

For that miracle to happen I needed three things: Charcoal, Niter, and sulphur.

Charcoal was easy. There were woods outside the city. Lumberjack was a dangerous activity due to beasts and monsters. They were under military protection on every expedition but it was doable.

For the other two, I needed to know what the mine under the city could provide and what the alchemists were able to. It was time to move things forward and delve deeper.