At night, in the Governor’s mansion of Graywhite Territory, Lena was lying on the bed, gently stroking the brand new molten sword.
Though it was called the Governor’s mansion, it was actually just a slightly larger residence, a house that had been built earlier and only modified a bit. After all, even if Lind preferred to live in a tent, the Lars Family and his subordinates would not allow it.
The molten sword in Lena’s hand was different from the disposable sword bodies that Lauri and the others were about to receive; it was a true magical blade.
Rather than being a product of industrial production, it resembled a crystallization from a laboratory.
With its smooth single-edged design and pitch-black blade gleaming with a cold light, even without the hilt and runes on the blade, it was clear that this was a superb sword that could cut through iron like mud.
After pulling the trigger on the hilt, the runes on the blade began to emit a slight glow, but this was soon overshadowed by the brilliance released from the heating.
Unlike mass-produced molten swords, this blade glowed a dark red instead of the typical fiery red when activated, due to the composite iron nature of the sword, having not only sufficient temperature but also no damage to the blade.
“Do you like it?”
After Lind asked this question, he felt an urge to try it himself, but this sword, while more powerful, was also much heavier, making it unusable for ordinary people.
“Mm, I didn’t expect you, brother, to really make it.”
These were merely ideal products Lena had considered during her early designs; she never thought Lind would truly realize this ideal creation.
It wasn’t completely realized, but the outcome was much better than expected.
Moreover, the process of realization was fraught with difficulties.
Not to mention how long the experimentation with this composite material would take, the energy supply issue had troubled Lysha for a long time.
After all, the molten sword wasn’t a ray gun; the difficulty of sustained energy supply was much greater than firing a shot and running.
Fortunately, the transmission and supply of magic power were also the main research topics in the territory, and once breakthroughs were made, the energy supply issue would naturally resolve.
The original colored sand could store much more magical power than magic stones; theoretically, it had the potential to be developed into a magical power battery, but due to the extremely strong isolation effect, it was difficult to continuously inject magical power into the original colored sand. Typically, it was used as a training toy for mages or as a backup force during critical moments.
The original colored sand itself needed to be re-melted at high temperatures to carve runic magic arrays, which was also the reason why it had long been unable to replace magic stones as the main energy storage means.
But at least now, re-melting was not a problem. The steel production capacity in Graywhite Territory had already exceeded demand, and they were even considering exporting it. Using some of that production capacity to melt the original colored sand was not difficult.
The remaining challenge was mainly how to store magical power in the original colored sand.
Lind was not looking for the kind of wealthy, capricious high-level mage treating the original colored sand as a toy for practice, occasionally injecting a bit of magical power; rather, he wanted to mass-produce original colored sand magical power batteries.
In the end, under immense pressure, Lind secured a large budget to prepare for the construction of a magical energy focal array. Although it hadn’t been built yet, based on the original colored sand magical power battery used in this molten sword, this idea was feasible.
With the energy supply equipment, the research pressure for mechanical power would significantly ease. They would only need to consider which magic would provide the highest initial power efficiency. The chainsaw sword was undergoing continuous testing with different initial power magic, and the rest was just about burning money.
Listening to Lind complain about the money being spent on research progress, Lena took out a set of keys from her pocket and handed them to Lind.
“Brother, this is a little savings of mine. If it really doesn’t work out, you can use it for now.”
Whether it was for expanding the army or for research and production, all of this required money. Moreover, Lind had lowered the taxes in the new territory to a minimum, so Lena had long sensed that the territory was facing some financial strain.
“No need, maintaining the basic operation of the territory is still manageable. As long as we begin industrialization, the current investments will be worth it.”
Lind wasn’t lying. The resources of Winter Fortress were now all managed by Lind; the wealth of those nobles could still be used for some time, and the remaining nobles could still be squeezed a bit. Although taxes were low, they had merely returned to normal levels.
Additionally, due to the governance of the Champagne Nobility, commerce in the western part of the Northern Border was relatively prosperous, and thanks to the rapid recovery of production, tax revenues had even increased after converting to a unified taxation system.
Lind pushed the keys back into Lena’s hands and started discussing future plans after the industrialization.
Although Lena seemed to not fully understand, she nodded along. Just as Lena had said before, she would believe everything Lind said. Perhaps only Lena truly believed that Lind was not some descendant of the Old Empire.
Realizing that he was starting to stray from the topic, Lind glanced at Lena, who was already lying on the bed, and remembered that he had come to report to her about the territory’s situation today.
Though Duke Lars was already dead, Lind no longer needed to play the pretense of discussing territory details with Lena, but it had become a habit. If he did not do so, he wouldn’t feel at ease, and Lena wouldn’t be able to sleep well either.
However, this was also Lind’s first time reporting in Lena’s room; before it had always been in the lord’s tent, where discussion would often lead to Lena falling asleep.
Bringing the topic back, Lind began to talk about the main issues in the territory, namely the military reform, and casually mentioned the current production situation. Not long from now, cement roads would connect a large part of the western area of the Northern Border, at which point transport efficiency would improve significantly, and materials ordered by the Golden Alliance would reach Graythorn Territory much faster.
After discussing today’s work, Lind noticed that Lena had not yet fallen asleep.
Perhaps it was because they weren’t in a drafty tent but in a room, Lind could even smell the scent of soap from Lena as he sat by the bed.
“Brother, I think I know where the problem with the army lies.”
Just as Lind was wondering what suggestion Lena might have, he unexpectedly found himself locking eyes with her.
Lena held Lind’s hand and said, “Don’t be surprised, okay?”
……
Lena had a terrible sleeping posture. During the night, she would several times fall asleep and inadvertently cling to Lind, leading both of them to discuss the issue of transferring magical power through the magical energy focal array to the original colored sand multiple times that night.
When morning came, just as they should have woken up, a drowsy Lena unconsciously hooked her legs around Lind, like a little cat afraid of being abandoned, seeking comfort. Because of this, both Lind and Lena ended up sleeping in late.
Watching Lena sleep soundly beside him, occasionally smiling in her sleep, Lind found it hard to associate her with the dreamy Lena from the night before, but it seemed that their brotherly bond had become something more.
When Lena finally got out of bed and very clumsily styled her hair at the nearly unused vanity, Lind instructed the maid waiting outside, “Just convert my room into a study; there’s no need for further renovations.”
As for the issue of military reform, following Lena’s suggestion from the previous night, Lind issued a proclamation establishing Lena’s position as the highest leader of the army. Although it was merely a nominal position, real power still lay in Lind’s hands.
Of course, the key to this proclamation was the subtle change in how Lena was addressed, marking an official endorsement that Lind and Lena were no longer in a Schrodinger’s relationship.
Subsequently, Lind and Lena invited some knights from the Lars Family’s army to hold a military council. After Lena’s appearance, the pressure for military reform suddenly eased greatly.
Originally, Lind had considered holding at least one formal wedding ceremony, but Lena vehemently stopped him. A wedding for a great noble was lengthy and cumbersome, particularly with Lena’s current status; the ceremonial steps could be even more numerous than those she had initially gone through. Just hearing those old bald elders go over everything once made Lena feel as though her head would also go bald. Those bald elders even dug up records from the Old Empire era regarding governor weddings, intending to include those details as well.
Therefore, under Lena’s strong opposition, everything proceeded just as usual.
There was no grand wedding, no special proclamation, and no one found Lena’s hairstyle peculiar; it seemed to be how it was supposed to be.
