Chapter 18

The Baron’s boat reached the docks of what the Wako told him was named Paris after a few hours of sailing. The crew was extremely nervous and wouldn’t allow the Baron to stand on the top deck until they docked. The Baron breathed in the air of Paris and noted that it felt less clean than Bickenstadt, to him a sure sign that they had industrialized more than he had.

The Baron waved goodbye to his borrowed crew and stepped out onto the docks. All around him were elves wearing clothes right out of the French revolution. The buildings as well were reflective of French style buildings of the time, a lot of French gothic architecture and older medieval western European style homes.

He walked across the docks and began to move through the streets towards a large building which he figured was the capital building. He ignored the mystified stares which bore into him from every angle, staring ahead single mindedly as he walked. All around him elves stopped what they were doing and pointed at him, talking loudly about it to anyone nearby. The guards too seemed to be too amazed by the Baron’s audacity to actually do anything but point and yell at their fellow guards.

The Baron saw a child selling newspapers on the street, back turned to him yelling about their price. He decided to figure out if the building he was heading towards was actually the capital building.

He walked over and knelt down to be on the kid’s level, tapping his shoulder to get his attention. The Baron smiled his most disarming old man smile. He spoke in perfect Elfique.

“Hello there you man! Would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of your capital building?”

The child’s eyes widened and after a few seconds he tepidly pointed towards the building the Baron was already heading towards. The Baron handed the child a few Reiksgeld and took a paper, scanning over it briefly as he continued on his way.

“Hmmm, it seems like they’re at a stalemate with some royal holdouts and have a tepid ceasefire with some weird cult. Good to know they have other enemies.”

As the Baron continued towards the capital building someone finally walked up to him. They wore a Napoleonic era soldier’s uniform. He pointed his musket at the Baron, bayonet just inches from his neck. The Baron noted that the bayonet was attached to the side of the gun instead of being plugged into the barrel. The soldier spoke nervously.

“Y-you! What are you doing ‘ere?”

The Baron again flashed his most disarming smile.

“I am here to negotiate with the elves.”

The soldier cocked the hammer back on his musket.

“What do you mean negotiate?”

A few other soldiers moved over and pointed their muskets at the Baron. The Baron raised his hands in surrender. He noted that the muskets had no flashpan, instead having what looked like a small knob where it would have been.

“I wish to speak with your leader. Or, maybe, leaders?”

The soldiers all looked at each other. They all cocked back their hammers. The one first soldier to come over gestured towards the capital building with his musket.

“Go on then. You are under arrest, I am sure Napoleon will want to meet with you in person.” Napoleon?

The Baron nodded and began to walk again, hands still raised in surrender.

The Baron sat in a large cell filled with elven criminals. They all stared at him warily from the other side of the cell. The Baron sat with his back against the wall, staring at the ceiling. He had been there for thirty minutes and was already beginning to lose his mind. His leg bounced frantically and he fiddled with his clothes incessantly.

“They took my stuff. I know I’m a prisoner but still, I want my stuff back! Even that shitty katana would provide something I could mess with.”

Finally, a guard approached the cell and yelled for the Baron to get up. He did as was asked quickly and tried to resist running over to the cell door. The guard tied the Baron’s hands behind his back. He led the Baron to an office and knocked three times.

“Sir, I ‘ave brought the man you requested.”

From inside the office a man yelled.

“Send ‘im in.”

The guard opened the door and pushed the Baron inside. At either side of the door was an elf wearing the same uniform as the soldier, except they wore a simple beveled cuirass. At the desk was an elf writing something with a peacock feather quill.

The man at the desk wore a Napoleonic era officer’s uniform. On his head was a bicorn with a red blue and gold cloth flower pinned to the left side. His face looked like the paintings of Napoleon the Baron had seen in his previous world, minus the pointed ears.

The man at the desk set his quill down and gestured for the Baron to take a seat. The Baron gestured with his shoulder to emphasize the fact that he was tied up. The man at the desk pointed at one of the guards at the door.

“Cut ‘is restraints.”

The guard took a knife out of his boot and cut the restraints without hesitation. The Baron felt his wrists and took a seat.

“Thank you for the restraints. My arms were getting tired.”

“It is of no consequence to me. I doubt you could kill me under these circumstances, Baron.

The Baron nodded his head appreciatively.

“You’ve heard of me. I’m touched.”

“Of course I’ve ‘eard of you. An Empiresman working with an elf. ‘Ow scandalous you must be!”

“I prefer to think of myself as a trend setter.”

“Sure, if it 'elps you sleep at night. ‘Ow is Jean by the way? ‘E is the one you ‘ave ‘ired, no?”

“And you know about Jean. Is he a spy? I have been wondering for quite some time.”

The man waved his hand dismissively.

“Mais non, ‘e is just an excentrique. I try to track 'im, make sure 'es alive. I imagine you are treating ‘im well?”

“Yes, quite. He is in charge of all infrastructure in Bickenstadt, and he is doing an excellent job, might I add.”

The man nodded.

“Oui, ‘e is quite talented. Oh my, ‘ow rude of me, I ‘ave yet to introduce myself. I am Napoleon Bonaparte, reincarnated into an elven body.”

Holy shit it really is that Napoleon!

“Napoleon Bonaparte, I have heard of you. You terrorized Europe for years, there is a whole era named after you in the other world.”

“Oui, I am aware. I am quite proud of my work. So, you ‘ave studied the other world?”

“Oh yes, quite extensively. There is much to learn from the otherworlders.”

“Yes, well, I believe you to be an otherworlder.”

The Baron barely didn’t let his surprise show.

“And why do you believe that?”

Napoleon leaned forward in his chair.

“Because you ‘ave not ‘ad enough time to learn Elfique so flawlessly since you ‘ired Jean. The gift of language is not given to those who are not reincarnated.”

“Oh? And who told you that?”

“The Seekers? They came and told me of my abilities.”

“Yes, but if I am truly a reincarnation, then I would have been seeked by now, wouldn’t I?”

Napoleon scoffed.

“It took them 200 years to seek me out. They work very slowly.”

The Baron nodded.

“Fair enough. What would it mean to you if I were indeed a reincarnation?”

“Not much. I wouldn’t worry about it. Now, let us get to business, why are you ‘ere?”

The Baron started bouncing his leg. He hoped Napoleon didn’t read too much into that, it was just a thing he had to do.

“I have come to seek your assistance. I plan to rebel against the Empire and crush it entirely.”

Napoleon took a moment to take in that information.

“You know, my men will be wary of working alongside ‘umans.”

“Even if they are working with us to destroy a large bastion of nonhuman racism?”

“Well, they will do what I ask of them. You need not convince me, I am willing to provide aid, though it will be small.”

“Already? Thank God.”

“Well, I can ‘ardly ignore an opportunity to destroy an ‘ated enemy.”

“Fair enough. You know, to be honest, I came here in a flash of anger. The Empress paid some pirates to attack Bickenstadt.”

“My, that sounds bad.”

“Yes, it was bad. But I handled it. So, what would you be willing to offer?”

Napoleon thought for a moment.

“Well, off the top of my ‘ead, I can offer you better firearm and cannon technology. I only offer you blueprints and per’aps someone to teach your men ‘ow to produce it. I could possibly send some drill instructors to teach you my style of warfare, and maybe offer up a regiment to fight alongside you, though that is less likely.”

The Baron whistled.

“My, my! How generous! I will accept anything I can get! I would be very interested in learning about your style of warfare, and gaining your technology. I noticed your muskets have bayonets attached to the side of the barrel, how genius!”

Napoleon nodded sagely.

“Oui, it makes your men much more effective in all forms of combat.”

Napoleon grabbed two papers off to the side of his desk and skimmed them as he spoke.

“I can maybe spare a drill instructor or two right now, but any amount of soldiers will ‘ave to wait. If you want blueprints for our weapons…I will allow you to buy them at normal price. For our muskets it would be…around 2,000 Répubs, eh, let’s say, 3,500 Reiskgeld? And the cannons would be twice that.”

The Baron nodded his head appreciatively.

“I can pay that. Not now obviously, but I will definitely be buying those.”

“Excellent! Then is there anything else you can think of? Per’aps some novel way to communicate over long distance?”

“I have no such thing, unfortunately. I’ll just send some ‘independent agents’ to send messages back and forth. And as soon as I get back to Bickenstadt I’ll send one over with my payment, just make sure they don’t get shot at, ok?”

“But of course, I’ll give an order to stop shelling any nearby Imperial vessels. It’s not like any other Empiresman would try to come here anyways. They know better by now.”

“Yes, you know, great merchant families have had sons killed by your men? They tried to force you to open trade and got obliterated at sea. Probably assumed you were savages with bows and arrows or something. They always ask me to do something about it, and I always tell them ‘oh yes of course’ but as I’m sure you’ve noticed, I do nothing about it.”

Napoleon chuckled.

“Well, as much as there is to be gained talking to each other, you should probably get going, no? Do not want your Empress to get suspicious.”

The Baron pushed on his knees to stand up, like an old man.

“Yup. It’s about time I get going. If my crew left me here, do you think you could escort me to Dokotsu-cho?”

Napoleon gestured towards his guard, who opened the door as soon as Napoleon moved his hand.

“Of course. Just tell Captaine de Port that I said to assist you. If he doesn’t believe you, well, just tell him to ignore my orders and find out later if they were true.”

After almost two full weeks of being abroad, the Baron finally made his way back to Bickenstadt. As soon as he entered Castle Bickenstadt, he was slapped by his son. He felt no annoyance or anger, he knew he deserved it.

“What the hell were you thinking!? Disappearing off to Wako for two weeks! We have a festival next week and you haven’t done any of the planning!”

“Well, did you plan for it?”

“Of course I did! You weren’t there!”

The Baron smiled and slapped his son’s shoulder.”

“Then everything turned out ok! The festival is planned! More proof that I should retire and make you baron von Bickentstadt.”

Wolfgang looked like he was considering slapping the Baron again before looking completely dejected.

“You’re…hopeless.”

“Yup! Anyways, my sword was stolen so I need to commission a new one. The design should be sea related, like my throne, to show off where the wealth of Bickenstadt comes from. Do you remember who made my last one?”

Wolfgang breathed in deeply, held it for a few seconds, and breathed out.

“He died a few years ago.”

“Damn, for real? He was so talented? Such a shame…well, I suppose we will have to find a new swordsmith!”

Wolfgang pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Ask the new guy from Wako whether he can do it. Or Jean, maybe he knows.”

“I doubt Jean can do it, I had to fix a watch enchanted to be wrong for him. It may be a good idea to speak to Tokitaka, though.”

Wolfgang scoffed and began to walk off.

“How do you remember everyone’s name?”

The Baron was about to answer but Wolfgang quickly walked out of earshot. He shrugged and left to find Jean.

The Baron found Jean in his workshop. He and Alana Albrecht were working on a massive machine. It was a wheel being spun by something which reminded the Baron of the oil rigs he had seen in his past life. When the wheel spun it moved a bar into a large cylinder. Jean lay on the floor and was fiddling with some bolts, while Alana was hammering something into place at the top. The Baron walked over and cleared his throat.

“Jean, just what are you working on?” I feel like I’ve seen something like this before…in like a textbook? Or a museum?

Jean tightened a bolt and got out from under the machine.

“Baron! Alana and I had an idea! I showed her something I learned in University! I used steam from a kettle to propel a ball, and she asked if steam could be used to move other things. I said it could probably do that and then we began to theorize! We came up with a machine that moves using steam! We haven’t figured out ‘ow to make it do something practical, but it’s at least a proof of concept!” Oh my god. They’re fucking geniuses! Now I know where I saw this before? In a museum of trains!

“My God Jean, if you can figure out how to make things move with steam, we may be able to harness the power of a water wheel without needing a river! Just tell me what you need and I’ll provide it! This is-WAIT! I am not here for this! I am looking for Tokitaka! Though please come to me later with a list of things you may need.”

Jean and Alana looked ecstatic. Alana jumped off the machine and ran off into a side room. Jean smiled at her and pointed towards an in progress building next door.

“‘Es in there. Is very specifique about ‘ow ‘is workshop will be created. Overseeing it personally. ‘Is Reikers is excellent, by the way. Where did you find ‘im?”

The Baron walked over to the closest door.

“He approached me. Said he wanted to be my gunsmith. Gave me this”

The Baron drew his beautiful dragon pistol. Jean walked over to get a closer look.

“Oh my, I never got see ‘is work. It is beautiful!”

The Baron smiled and holstered the pistol.

“Oh, speaking of beautiful, how is Alana performing? Her brother is quite intelligent, is his sister the same?”

“Oh, she is more than intelligent. It took me a century to reach the level she ‘as in just six months! When I say we created that prototype, I mean WE created it. Despite having more than a century of experience over ‘er, she provided just as much to the project!”

“Good. And it’s good to know you two work well together. Just six months and she created a steam engine, huh? That’s a real prodigy.”

“Oui! She is a prodigy! No other word for it!”

“Good the know!”

The Baron said as he left Jean’s workshop.

Tokitaka’s workshop was half finished. The half of the building that was finished was filled with forges built directly into the walls. The other half was covered in scaffolding and the skeletons of forges. Tokitaka was directing some workers towards the end of the rows when the Baron walke over to him.

“Excuse me, Tokitaka! I see you’ve taken a personal interest in your workshop’s construction! Jean did the same thing when we built his workshop.”

Tokitaka looked up from his clipboard and smiled at the Baron.

“Ah, yes. If I want to be efficient, I need to fully understand every inch of my workspace. Do you need something?”

“Yes, I was wondering if you made swords? High quality ones.”

Tokitaka nodded sagely.

“Hai, I began my smith journey as a swordsmith. I began to transition over to firearms after around 40 or so years of being a swordsmith. I believe my wares are of the highest quality.”

“Excellent. I need you to make me a new sword.”

“And what is wrong with your old sword?”

The Baron gestured to his waist.

“It’s gone. Stolen by a shinobi for some reason.”

Tokitaka narrowed his eyes.

“Why would they…oh I see. It is possible they believed your power came from your sword. It is a common belief in Wa culture. Yes, I can make you a sword.”

“Excellent. I am looking for a saber, I’ll give you the measures used for my last sword later. I want the handle to have a sea motif, to show off where my wealth comes from. The blade should be simpler than the handle, though it would still be nice to have some niceties on it like etchings or something like that. Also, do you do enchantments?”

“No, I do not.”

“Alright then, just make sure to make it sturdy enough to boast at least two enchantments.”

“I can do that easily. Just how much are you willing to spend on this?”

“Money is no issue. I may very well be the richest man in the Empires. What am I saying? I am the richest man in the Empires.”

Tokitaka smiled.

“If money is no issue…then I already have an idea. Tell me, how easy is it for you to source coral?”

“Decently. It should be expensive, but it’s my sword dammit.”

“Excellent. Then how do you feel about having a coral handle?”

The Baron smiled brightly.

“I would love nothing more!”

“Then, I should have something good for you by the end of September, or early October.”

“That would be great. Thank you for doing this for me.”

“No need to thank me, you are paying for it.”

The Baron called all of his lieutenants, as well as Jean, to the war room. There on a board were rough maps of the Assai’id confederation. Wolfgang clapped his hands together to get all eyes on him.

“As I am sure you can tell by the contents of the board, our next deployment will be in the Assai’id confederation. We will go there and offer our services to some of the local lords. We cannot make friends with everyone as there are a myriad of different factions and cultures within the confederation, so we will need to pick sides. Any questions or concerns?”

Ludwin raised his hand.

“Yes. Do you have any suggestions as to which faction we should side with?”

“Honestly, no. When you hit the ground you will just have to meet with people with make your judgments then.”

Fergus raised his hand.

“”Ow dae we know there’s gonna be fightin’?”

“There is almost always interfactional fighting in the Assai’id. They’re a confederation of many very different cultures with no laws against war, conflict is bound to get violent under those conditions.”

Helmut raised his hand.

“How much does their support factor into our overall plans?”

“They would be a great help, but I believe we would be able to survive without any large-scale assistance. So long any of the lords agree to help, we can continue as planned.”

The Baron raised his hand.

“How do they measure up to us technologically?”

“Generally, they don’t. The wonders of industrialization have yet to reach them on a large scale. I imagine we can use that as a bargaining chip to gain support.”

Ludwin raised his hand again.

“How much information do we have on the local factions? Or cultural details we should know?”

Wolfgang sighed.

“There is shockingly little information available to me about them. I have no clue why. I am sorry, but you will simply have to learn of their cultures first hand.”

Ludwin and Helmut grumbled slightly at this. Gaius raised his hand.

“Do you hawe information on how well they fight?”

“I have general information on that. Every faction fights differently, however there is a lot of hit and run style fighting, guerilla tactics, that sort of thing.Though for large scale battles they tend towards conventional tactics. As far as I can tell, they use a lot of cavalry, camels and horses alike. Mounted archers and gunmen are quite popular. Their infantry tend to wield one handed swords and medium sized round shields. Though of course there is variance. And from what I have heard a few lords mass gunmen such as we do. Pikemen are relatively rare, though. It is mostly archer, firearm, and sword infantry.”

Fergus raised his hand again.

“So, when do we get tae go?”

Wolfgang grabbed a piece of paper off the table and quickly scanned it.

“My best estimate is three months. We need time to arm our old soldiers and train our new recruits. And we need to figure out how our new horsemen factor into the equation.”

Gaius raised his hand again.

“What exactly do you wish to gain from the Assai’id?”

“I wish for assistance in taking Bergzitadelle Friedrich, which I would like to remind you is top priority when our revolt begins. As soon as the south falls, we can begin our assault on the north.”

Helmut raised his hand.

“Are our tactics evolving at all to deal with the terrain? I hear it is quite different from what we are used to.”

Wolfgang thought on this for a moment.

“Well…we will need to think on it. I know that sand dunes are quite different from our terrain, but it is not all rolling dunes. There is plenty of flatland and rocky terrain like we are used to. We will need to learn how the locals fight in their terrain. Perhaps we can find some men from the Assai’id to help us train for it? We have at least three months to wait and train, afterall.”

A voice came from the doorway.

“Wait and train for what, exactly?”

Everyone turned to see Adolf, iron bound book in one arm, the other at the warhammer dangling at his waist. He was wide eyed and unblinking, as he usually was. Wolfgang turned to Adolf, not letting a single emotion show on his face.

“Adolf. How long have you been there?”

“I just arrived. I was out preaching to the faithful, as the Baron refuses to allow for Imperial Cult hegemony.”

Wolfgang didn’t let the relief show on his face. He knew that Adolf was out so his story checked out. And he most likely would not show himself should he have heard me speak of revolt.

“Well, we are discussing the Klarwasser Mercenary Company's next deployment to the Assai’id.”

“Why was I not told of this meeting? I am a warrior priest of Alarich.”

Wolfgang almost let the displeasure show on his face as he realized what he had to say.

“Oh, well, in that case, would you like to join our deployment? Providing religious and combat support to the men?”

Adolf’s face didn’t change, and he had still yet to blink, but his tone of voice sounded pleased.

“Yes, I would enjoy that very much. I can read scripture before battle to give the men a moral boost.”

Wolfgang pretended to think for a moment and nodded. The gods must have turned against me.

“Yes, I suppose that could be arranged. I can inform you of everything we talked about here separately.”

Adolf nodded.

“Good. I shall meet you in your office.”

He turned and left the war room. Wolfgang, after waiting for the sounds of Adolf’s footsteps to diminish, sighed loudly.

“Well, I guess we have to bring him along. Father, all I ask is that you be careful. And try not to let him ‘die’ on campaign.”

The Baron waved his hand dismissively.

“If he dies he dies. I won’t do anything out of hand, though. God loves all of his children equally, even the unfaithful.”

Wolfgang looked vaguely incredulous.

“Right…well, this meeting is adjourned. When the guns start rolling in, train the men in how to use them properly. This is more my father’s avenue so I will leave the specifics of that up to him.”

“This, right here, is a percussion cap! You are to insert this percussion cap into this part of the musket, known as the nipple!”

Helmut pushed the percussion cap into the nipple and pointed to the hammer.

“The hammer strikes the cap and it explodes! Igniting the powder in the barrel. From now on, you will use these!”

Helmut held up a small paper cylinder.

“This is a cartridge! You bite the marked end and dump the powder into the barrel! Then you insert the ball and ram it down. The paper acts as the wadding, no need to carry your own!”

Helmut did as he said and then cocked the hammer, taking aim and firing at a target.

“It is that simple! From now on this is the method of reload you shall use! You will drill this until we leave for the Assai’id! Alongside something else! There is another aspect of our new firearms which will lead to our success! That is the bayonet! It is attached to the side of the barrel! No more need for plug bayonets! This is integrated and cannot be removed! In addition to drilling reload and firing, you will now go through spear training! Understood?”

The men all yelled in agreement.

“Then let’s get to it! Those who have already been issued our new muskets will begin with the reload training! Those with the old muskets will work on spear drills! Understood?”

The men all yelled in unison.

“Yes sir!”

“Then let’s get to it!”