October 18, 1614 Central Calendar

Three days have passed since the Imperial Conference where the policies of the Empire were approved and the senior officials of the country were busy carrying out their duties. Among them is the approval for the development of a new type of engine for the Heavenly Vessels, the magic turbojet. For that matter, other ministries than the MOASEC also began their work. Among them, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had contacted the ambassadors to the neighboring countries to hold talks with their governments for preliminary negotiations, while inside the country, preparations for reopening and redevelopment of mines with NMC-22 deposits are underway. All of these were done to support the MOASEC’s new development.

Meetings between the Holy Milishial Empire’s ministers have been held several times since then to iron out the details, such as to what extent the Empire will relax the technology restriction to nations that are willing to allow the Empire mining rights on their soil or if they will provide technology at all, given the Emperor only ordered them to ‘offer the nations reasonable support’ during the Imperial Conference. Hence it was up to the relevant bureaucrats to figure out a plan to the best of their ability.

In particular, five of the Empire’s heads of executive departments are going back and forth between their offices and the Albion Palace to hold audiences with the Emperor: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lewis Maddock; Minister of Military Affairs, Ignis Schmill Pao; Minister of Treasury, Herodia Courtenay; Director of Economy Ministry, Edith Sommerville; and the one who faced it with tremendous anxiety, Director of MOASEC, Arsene Lippin.

This is not the first time that Emperor Milishial VIII only gave the outline of a policy and left it up to subjects to decide how to follow his order. In fact, he had done it so many times ever since his coronation despite having enough experience, intelligence, and wisdom to run a nation on his own. This is because Milishial VIII believes that if the leaders of a nation listened to their emperor too much, they will eventually lose the capacity to think for themselves and will hinder the operations of the Empire in the future.

However, this approach is a gamble in itself because sometimes the bureaucrats are prone to making blunders in decision-making. Sometimes they made such an error that they were fired or resigned as a result, and then replaced by another bureaucrat that seemed competent enough to be promoted to fill their place. However, a bureaucrat’s skill in one job does not translate to another, and these bureaucrats suddenly found themselves in a position where they are no longer competent. As a result, the entire hierarchy tends to be filled by those who are incompetent at their job.

The latest notable victim of this is the MOASEC’s previous leader. The replacement, Arsene Lippin, is a capable bureaucrat in his previous job, but will he show competence in his new station as a Director as well?

Other bureaucrats considered him to be a very lucky man, but they also began to wonder how long this youngest executive officer can last as the Director of the Ancient Ministry with his lack of experience. Some of the snider ones even placed bets.

It is up to Lippin to prove them wrong.

13:00

San Redentore District

The San Redentore District, located in northeastern Runepolis, is the location of the Ministry of Ancient Sorcerous Empire Countermeasures. Situated in the secluded outskirts of the capital city, the MOASEC is the only ministry whose headquarters is located here, far away from the cluster of government offices in and around the Albion District.

On an empty winding road leading to the MOASEC building, a black car is moving at a leisure pace, its magic engine giving a soft whine that broke the quietness of the scenery. A forest of maples, pines, cedars, spruce, and larch trees grows on both sides of the road, with falling leaves raining from above. Meanwhile, the car continued to push through the carpet of orange leaves that littered the black asphalt of the road.

Inside the car, three young men and a woman admired the scenery from their seats, glancing at the trees passing by as the car continued to move through the road. The rays from sun, which is starting to slant to the west, are filtered through the forest canopy, casting a comfortable shade upon them.

“Are we there yet?”

From the backseat, Walman Falkenhausen asked the driver and the person sitting in the front passenger seat about their arrival with an irritated tone.

Robin, sitting in the front passenger seat, chuckled at his whining. Her students, especially the brunette, seemed to have grown bored at the trip. Since entering the San Redentore District, their surroundings changed from manmade buildings to trees, trees, and more trees as far as the eye can see. It has been half an hour but their destination is still nowhere to be seen. Occasionally one or two cars will pass by from the opposite direction but that’s about it. They were alone in this road.

“Well, there should be a large intersection, and after that, it will be several minutes until we arrive,” Hirkane, from the driver’s seat, attempted to calm Walman down while keeping focused on the road ahead.

Why did Meteos and Walman go to the MOASEC headquarters in the first place?

One day after the Imperial Conference, on October 16, after a discussion the night before with the upper echelons of the Ancient Ministry, Robin went to the Runepolis Magic Academy and stated the Ancient Ministry’s intention to have Meteos and Walman, who were already at third grade at Junior High School Department, to graduate earlier and recruited by the Ancient Ministry, skipping both high school and university as they are deemed skilled and knowledgeable enough that they don’t need to go through them anymore.

However, the RMA, a school with a behavior of a military-industrial corporation, is unwilling to let such brilliant individuals go so easily, and they negotiated fiercely with the Ancient Ministry. To their surprise, in response, Meteos, as one of the parties concerned, offered a compromise to both the RMA and Ancient Ministry side.

He proposed that in exchange for RMA letting them be recruited by the Ancient Ministry as employees, the Ancient Ministry will deepen their partnership with the school, basically favoring them in biddings for contracts especially whenever the Ancient Ministry finished the analysis of a new excavated Ravernal relic and is ready to release them publicly to put them to practical use. In addition, the Ancient Ministry will also send more personnel to RMA as ‘technical advisors’ to supervise and assist in the production of the new technology development, including the two new graduates.

After much deliberation, his proposal was accepted by both the RMA and the Ancient Ministry with some modifications, and the negotiation was concluded on October 17, and on this day, after spending the morning in the RMA where a small graduation ceremony was conducted and they officially advanced in rank from Student Mage to Apprentice Mage, Robin brought Meteos and Walman to the Ancient Ministry headquarters in San Redentore district along with the younger Hirkane Valpe, Meteos’ boss in his previous life whom he met for the first time in this new timeline.

However, what Meteos didn’t say was that he will not limit himself to developing naval technology, which is something that the RMA specializes in. In that case, unless they suddenly have the capability to do so, the RMA will have no choice but to let the defense contract be awarded to someone else if they find the Ancient Ministry’s technology release to be outside their field of expertise. But still, the RMA is a very important ally to have if Meteos wanted his future changing scheme to go successfully.

If everything goes well, Meteos, as a member of the Ancient Ministry, will be able to harness the capabilities of not only the Ancient Ministry and RMA but also various other manufacturers and research institutions in the Empire to support him. In the first place, enrolling in RMA and gaining enough fame to get noticed by the Ancient Ministry is part of his future-changing plans. He is also convinced that his teacher Robin is really an Ancient Weapons Operator, which explained her influence within the Ancient Ministry despite being so young. She is greatly interested in anything that Meteos made and is greatly helpful to him. Although he was looking at the outside view with a slightly bored expression on his face, the boy was smirking in his heart. So far, everything has gone according to plan.

‘Robin, I couldn’t thank you enough. Please continue to help me for the sake of our future, okay?’ he thought as his eyes glanced slowly at the woman in front of him.

“Look, even Meteos is bored.”

Hearing his name being mentioned made him to turn to his friend beside him.

“What?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Say something, Meteos.”

“………Remember, patience is a virtue, Walman.”

Walman groaned.

“Calm down, you heard what Mr. Hirkane said, just wait a bit longer until we arrive at our destination. Now do the usual.”

“……Fine.”

At Meteos’ words, Walman reluctantly leaned back in his seat, closed his eyes, and took multiple deep breaths, and at the end, he gave a loud sigh that can be heard all over the car. It was a routine that Meteos kept telling Walman to do whenever he began to get impatient over something.

“Feeling better now?” Meteos asked.

“Yeah…”

“Excellent. You’re very good.”

“………” Walman didn’t say anything as he felt his friend patting his shoulder while uttering those words with a friendly smile.

Robin watched the interaction between the two friends from her seat through the rearview mirror before turning her head to speak to them.

“Speaking of which, Meteos. You look much fresher today compared to the previous days.”

“Hm? Really?”

“Mm-hmm,” Robin grinned, “Now that your sleep schedule is back to normal, you no longer look like a dead man walking. Do you know how happy I am to see you finally listening to my words? You stubborn kid.”

“Eeh…… I’m pretty sure you’re exaggerating, but whatever.”

In fact, after learning that Nadia managed to convince Meteos to sleep on time by simply contacting him on the grimoire, a pleased Robin ordered Nadia to do it again, and since that day, Meteos and Nadia have been exchanging grimoire calls each night before they go to sleep. Although he berated his teacher for possibly bothering Nadia with her strange request, on the third night, she said she didn’t have any problems doing that.

Meteos doesn’t mind being called by her, either for serious discussion or small talks like asking how he is doing at the moment. In fact, listening to her voice amidst the silence of the night is something that he found himself looking forward to. And for some reason, her voice made him easier to sleep…

A fond smile broke on his face as his thought brought him back to imagining her in his mind, hidden from others as he turned his head away to glance at the outside.

Just as Hirkane said, the car finally came to a fork on the road and after turning to the left, the trees that adorned the roadsides began to thin out. The car they were riding in started to climb a small hill, and when they reached the top of the hill, a glitter coming from the distance grabbed their attention.

“Ah, look at that!” Robin exclaimed, pointing at something among the hills far in front of them.

“Oooh…!”

Walman leaned forward on his seat as his eyes widened in awe. Partially hidden among the tall trees is a sprawling complex filled with white-colored buildings, while further behind them are the hills that formed the edge of Runepolis.

“It’s huge!” Walman exclaimed.

“It can pass for a small town,” Meteos nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, his eyes turned nostalgic at the sight of his old workplace.

“Amazing, isn’t it? We’re almost at the Ancient Ministry’s headquarters,” Hirkane said.

Several minutes later, the car finally arrived at the MOASEC headquarters. After passing the security checkpoint, they stopped at the underground parking lot and began to disembark, picking up their luggage from the car trunk. As they followed Robin and Hirkane to the main administrative building, they couldn’t help but look around. Walman did so excitedly, while his silver-haired friend had a far more subdued expression on his face.

The buildings at the MOASEC headquarters feature a modern architectural design in both interior and exterior, somewhat even more futuristic than the typical building in Runepolis. Their destination, the main administrative building where the Director’s office is located, is a four-story building with blue-tinted glass panels overlooking the complex, which is spread over a wide area.

“Alright, you two, welcome to our headquarters’ main building. We will now go to the top floor where the Director is waiting,” Robin said as she turned to face Meteos and Walman.

Walman raised his hand to ask a question.

“Is it normal for the leader of Ancient Ministry to welcome new recruits personally, Miss Robin?”

“No. But you two are special cases. It will be explained later, but for now, just follow me.”

Shrugging to each other, the three of them followed Robin’s lead and boarded the elevator to meet with Arsene Lippin, the head of the MOASEC where the Empire’s most advanced technology is being developed and introduced to the world, a place where the humanity tried its best to prepare for the Ancient Sorcerous Empire’s arrival.

After exiting the elevator, the group walked down the wide corridor and then stopped in front of a polished dark oak door with a golden plaque on it, engraved with the words “Reception Room”. Robin knocked on it three times and called out to the door.

“Director, I’ve brought the new recruits from the Runepolis Magic Academy.”

A muffled, “Let them in,” answered her call, granting them the permission to enter the room. Robin grabbed and turned the doorknob, pushed the door and finally stepped in.

“Excuse me.”

The boys observed that the interior is a rather simplistic room with black-and-white colored walls in a wavy pattern, the only other thing that caught their attention was the large window behind the opposing side of the couch, to which they can clearly see the rest of the MOASEC compound. On the said couch sat a raven-haired man in a neat black suit, the Director himself.

“I see you have come, thank you for coming all the way here. I am Arsene Lippin, the Director of the Ministry of Ancient Sorcerous Empire Countermeasures,” the Director introduced himself as he stood up to greet the new arrivals.

Walman was caught off guard by the Director’s appearance and his tone of voice. He did not expect the director to be a handsome gentleman likely in his late twenties or early thirties, while his warm smile and quiet tone of voice strongly gave off a kind older brother vibe.

‘So this man is Director Arsene Lippin…’ Meteos thought as he studied the man closely, going through his memory trying to remember where he had met this man in his previous life.

The leaders of the Ancient Ministry are a strange bunch of people. Despite being the most important position in the most important department in the Imperial government, the faces of those who hold that title are surprisingly forgettable. Maybe because they change too often, with the heads that lasted longer than average is because of the technological breakthrough that the Ancient Ministry achieved during their tenure. Since Andreas Birkburn is the Director of the Ancient Ministry before and during the wars that engulfed the entire known world in the previous timeline, Lippin must be the predecessor one or two generations before him, with his name being only spoken once or twice among the employees.

‘Either he resigned or he was fired after occupying the position for a very short time. If it’s the latter… poor man.’

Despite his thoughts, Meteos gave the man a polite smile and a bow before proceeding to introduce himself, “If anything, we are the ones who are grateful for your invitation. My name is Meteos Roguerider, a graduate of Runepolis Magic Academy.”

“My name is Walman Falkenhausen. Likewise, I am a graduate of Runepolis Magic Academy.”

“Please take a seat.”

They sat on the couch on the opposite side across the glass table at Lippin’s prompting. Meanwhile, Robin and Hirkane took a seat on Lippin’s either side. Seeing they had all taken their seats, Lippin spoke again.

“Well then, Meteos and Walman, since I’m sure you two are quite tired from traveling here, and since Robin had already told you the reason for your invitation here, we can skip that part.”

The friends glanced at each other. The Director continued.

“But before that, I want to clarify something. After we were contacted by Captain Falkenhausen—the father of Walman here, regarding the amazing invention you had made back then, we decided to send Robin, who happened to be assigned to the Runepolis Magic Academy, to check it out, and I recalled from Robin that you once said that you ‘wanted to impress someone in the upper echelons’ to support you in making an even more advanced invention.”

Meteos nodded, “Yes, I did say that.”

“I see… well, you managed to make the Ancient Ministry greatly impressed and invested with your works. Your names have become the talk of the intellectual community for a while now, which brings out the reason why we are seeking to recruit you as members. Robin is actually under orders to observe you and provide support whenever you need it in hopes that you will be interested in our invitation. I apologize if it causes you inconvenience.”

They glanced at Robin who is sitting on Lippin’s right side. She gave them a sheepish smile.

“No, not at all. If anything, we are greatly helped by Miss Robin and the Ancient Ministry as a whole. Becoming an engineer is actually our dream since we were little. After graduating from junior high school in our hometown, we planned to go to the capital to enroll in the Runepolis Magic Academy, and if we are lucky enough, apply for a job in this department after graduating from university… to think we can step into this place before we reach seventeen… I still think we are dreaming…” Meteos said, lightly scratching his not-itchy head.

Lippin saw that Walman also nodding at his words.

“Then… joining us is your goal the entire time?” he inquired.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I see…” Lippin looked relieved.

“Two sides that are perfect for each other… it’s like a match made in heaven,” Hirkane, who had been silent, commented from the side.

“Ain’t it?”

The atmosphere between the five people becomes much friendlier and more relaxed, especially after Hirkane and Robin’s casual remarks, which are very unusual to be spoken in the presence of a high-ranking official such as Lippin. The man in question did not say anything to chastise his subordinates, only chuckling slightly at them.

“Well then, I’ll prepare your employee ID cards and a place to live for you around this area so that you will no longer need to take a lengthy trip from your current home.”

“Thank you very much, Director.”

“Mm. You will be assigned to your duties as staff members the next Monday at the earliest. Robin, please take care of your apprentices,” Lippin said and stood up from his seat, followed by the other occupants of the room.

“Of course, sir.”

The Director, his stature easily towering over the others, extended his hand toward Meteos and Walman.

“Meteos Roguerider and Walman Falkenhausen, welcome to the Ancient Ministry. Please do not stop learning and I wish you success.”

They took turns in grasping his hand and shook it.

“Thank you for your kind words, Director. We are looking forward to working with you.”

“Likewise, it’s an honor to be here.”

“Oh, yes. As a token of our appreciation for accepting our invitation, I have arranged to take you on a tour of the headquarters. I’m sorry because I can’t accompany you myself, but I hope you will enjoy it.”

‘‘‘‘Huh…’’’’

Robin, Hirkane, Meteos, and Walman, are either inwardly shaking their heads or were taken aback at the Director’s politeness, but nevertheless accepted the offer. Accompanied by Robin, the new recruits headed for the clerk to receive their employee ID cards at the Director’s orders, officially becoming the staff at the MOASEC and now visiting various locations at the headquarters with their teacher as a guide.

As they stared at the closed door, Lippin, who remained in the reception room along with Hirkane, sat back on the couch. The older man leaned on the couch with his hands spread on top of the backrest, totally not minding the presence of his subordinate who also worked as his personal driver standing nearby. He closed his eyes for a moment and heaved a sigh, relieving the tension in his shoulders.

“Those kids… they’re about the same age as Ishmael…” Lippin muttered.

“Your eldest son, sir?”

“Yeah. Do you think they will get along with each other if they meet…?” He smiled a little.

Then Lippin’s grimoire rang, prompting him to pick it up.

“Yes, it’s me… Secretary of Imperial Household…!? Yes… yes… I understand, I will head there immediately.”

As he hung up the call, he turned to Hirkane, “Prepare a car, we are heading to the Imperial Palace right now.”

“I-I understand!”

Meanwhile, Robin, Meteos, and Walman, after receiving their ID cards and touring the administrative building, are now heading for their next destination, located some distance from the main building complex. As they walked side by side, Meteos spoke up.

“The meeting with the Director was not what I expected…”

“Yeah, I was expecting him to be more serious…” Walman added.

Robin’s expression turned into one of amusement as she heard her apprentices’ confused words.

“Well… Director Lippin has an image to uphold, that’s for sure. But once you get to know him better, he is a very nice and humble man who is very easy to get along with,” Robin mused, “The fact that he is good-looking also helps.”

Back when he was a Public Relations Department employee, Director Lippin’s good looks already attracted the attention of his co-workers, but they are hesitant to befriend him due to his seemingly stoic and stern air that he gave off to the others when in reality he is just too shy to talk and trying to hide his anxiety by focusing on his work. He then became so skilled at it that when the previous leader of the Ancient Ministry was fired by the government, he is the one chosen as the replacement among other employees due to his competence in his work. As he was unfamiliar with his new job, requiring him to seek help from his subordinates and speak out more, it was then that his true personality begins to emerge and he slowly began to earn the adoration of his subordinates.

“He’s married,” Meteos quickly pointed out, earning a wide-eyed look from his friend.

“How did you know that?”

“I saw he’s wearing a wedding ring on his left hand during the meeting.”

“Oh, damn… I didn’t notice it…”

“So, Miss Robin, does the Director have children?”

Robin raised an eyebrow at his question, but answered nonetheless, “Yes, he has a fourteen years old son and a five years old daughter… Ah, his eldest child is your age, actually…”

“I see, I suppose that’s why he is so friendly with us?”

“Perhaps…”

“Huh…”

Their idle chat soon came to an end as they arrived at their destination, a large building with a large metal sign in front of it that reads “San Redentore Museum of Magic Technology Research and History”. It was one of the facilities in the MOASEC that is open to public visitation, exhibiting the history of the development of magic technology in the Holy Milishial Empire for educational purposes. In fact, at the end of the semester, the third-graders from various schools in the capital city, including the RMA and RVM, will arrange a field trip here, so Meteos and Walman basically experienced an exclusive field trip just for the two of them earlier than the others.

As they entered the building, the first thing that greeted them in the hall is a marble statue of a fierce-looking armored elf wearing a crown and pointing a spear forward with its right hand. Even though it is an inanimate object, its eyes, glaring into some invisible threat in the distance, conveyed a very strong emotion that is both intimidating and reassuring at the same time.

“Second Milishial Emperor…” Meteos muttered at the statue.

Yes, it was the statue of Emperor Milishial II, a long-deceased monarch of the Empire who ruled more than ninety-five centuries ago.

“Alright!” Robin suddenly exclaimed, catching the boys’ attention, “You’re up for some history quiz?”

Meteos had an idea of what will be the question and just smiled, “Shoot.”

“Explain why there is a statue of the Second Milishial Emperor at the entrance of this museum.”

“I’ll let Walman answer first.”

“Eh? Me?” Walman said, pointing to himself, “Well… according to the recorded history, the Second Milishial Emperor is known for being the pioneer of studying the leftover technology of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire. He also gathered people that will eventually form the predecessor of the Ancient Ministry, so it is only natural that there is his statue here.”

“Ding, ding! You’re correct, Walman,” Robin praised, making the boy grin sheepishly. “Another question, what other deeds that the Second Milishial Emperor is known of?”

This time, Meteos is the one who answered her question.

“Building cities, rapidly civilizing his people while also repelling the invading tribes and remnants of the Light-Winged People, leading military expeditions himself, and succeeding in conquering roughly half of the territory of the modern Holy Milishial Empire, among other things. He is also the second longest-reigning monarch after His Majesty the Emperor, and among the monarchs, he is often said to be the greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful emperor.”

“What else?”

He took a glance at the statue for a moment before answering.

“…Redeeming the ‘sin’ of the previous emperor, whatever that means. In fact, this very district is named after that exact deed. San Redentore, or the Saint Redeemer. What did the Second Milishial Emperor do at that time I don’t know, but it must be very important that it is regarded more than his other accomplishments…”

“Yes. You’re correct. Now, let’s go inside.”

With those words, the three went further inside the museum.

Currently Publicly Available Information

SAN REDENTORE DISTRICT

One of the thirteen districts that make up the city of Runepolis, it is located on the northeastern edge of the capital city. Rather sparsely populated compared to the other districts, the majority of San Redentore’s hilly terrain is still covered by thick forest. This makes it a perfect place to become the headquarters of the Ministry of Ancient Sorcerous Empire Countermeasures, whose research activities necessitated a large area.