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Sexy Steampunk Babes: Chapter Twenty One
🕑 Added 2024-03-15 14:19:02 +0000 UTCGriffith watched with muted awe as dozens of sailors and fishmongers clambered over the slowly rotting corpse of what had once been a mighty animal.
Mighty enough to have once been thought of as a god.
And now she was dead.
“Al’Hundra,” Captain Sulla, as she’d introduced herself, breathed. “I honestly never thought it’d happen. Let alone that I’d be alive to witness it.”
Griffith hummed in quiet agreement with the city guardswoman with whom she was supposed to be liaising. Which was a polite way of saying that she was present to ensure that none of Al’Hundra’s scales went missing between the time they were pried from the Kraken’s corpse and transported to the palace.
Already a few had ‘disappeared’ as a result of the actions of a few enterprising fishermen. Women who had happened upon the corpse in the early hours of the morning, prior to the arrival of the city guard.
Given that even a handful of anti-magic scales could see a plebian woman and her family set for life, it wasn’t surprising at all that a number of them were seen fleeing the scene when the city guard arrived to start securing the beach.
If they were smart those women would be halfway to the old Imperial continent by now – their families safely ensconced in their fishing boats along with any prized possessions they might own.
Because any that were foolish enough to stay and attempt to sell their newfound prizes to the local fences would be in for a rude awakening. Griffith gave it a day before the palace guard were knocking down the doors of any man or woman who had even the slightest connection to the black markets.
Never mind that the number of scales that had been ‘stolen’ would likely be less than even a percentage point of the total number present on the beach before her.
The crown could not afford to squander even the most minor of advantages – and a sudden windfall of anti-magic scales was no small advantage.
Hence why she and a dozen other instructors and guards from the Academy’s Royal House were out here watching over the city guardswomen watching over the labourers.
And it was telling that requests from other Houses to aid in maintaining the perimeter around Al’Hundra had been politely, but firmly, declined.
Griffith glanced up to where a number of airships from the Royal Fleet hung overhead, searching for any more ‘chunks’ of the great beast that looked like they might wash up.
“This’ll throw the merchants into a tizzy for sure,” Sulla continued. “You know they actually change their trade routes based on the old girl’s nesting seasons.”
“Truly?” Griffith asked.
“Oh aye. Not because of the beast herself - big kraken like her prefer to stick to the depths - but because of her offspring.”
Griffith hummed at the thought. She herself was only tangentially aware of the habits of Krakens, but even she knew that the real threats to ocean bound vessels were the younglings.
“I would have thought they’d be more concerned about what might have done this to her?” the Dark Elf gestured to the corpse.
A corpse that unfortunately provided little enough evidence to her eyes as to what made it that way. A few days spent drifting with the currents had seen more than a few examples of sea-life nibble at the corpse.
“Eh, probably a deep-dweller,” Sulla said casually.
“Deep dweller?”
The captain scratched beneath her steel helmet. “Catchall term, ma’am. For what most people are a few different species that prefer to live real deep. No one’s never actually seen one, or at least, not seen one and lived to tell about it, but it ain’t unknown for ships in open water to sometimes come across the savaged remains of Kraken floating about.”
“And how do they know it’s not another kraken that did the deed?” Griffith asked, morbidly curiois despite herself.
She’d had little to no reason to ever in her life board a seaborne ship, but the thought of creatures that actually preyed on creatures as large as Kraken awakened a deep seated dread in her.
“Never seen it myself, ma’am, just echoing what I’ve heard from traders. Apparently it’s mostly a lack of sucker-wounds,” Sulla said. “Plus, Kraken have relatively small beaks. Pretty hard to bite another kraken in half with just that.”
In half!?
Paling a little at the thought, the dark elf quietly decided that given that she’d managed to survive this long without having ever stepped foot on a sea-ship, she saw little reason to ever do so in the future.
She didn’t care if these ‘deep-dwellers’ never rose high enough to attack ships, she did not relish the thought of sharing any amount of space with creatures that large.
Dragons are bad enough, she thought.
“So you think Al’Hundra finally ran afoul of a… deep dweller?”
Sulla shrugged. “Couldn’t rightly say, ma’am. Heard she was supposed to be protected from that kind of thing because her nest was somewhere a bit more shallow than girls her size are supposed to prefer.”
Protection that clearly wasn’t infallible, even if it apparently served her well enough for a few thousand years, Griffith thought as she looked out at the ancient creature.
“Mostly the tradies are going to be…” the captain trailed off as something caught her eye. “Oh, looks like the shinies are here. Finally.”
Griffith deliberately ignored the guardswoman’s slightly insulting nickname for the palace guard given the ambient animosity between the two groups.
She could admit though that the nickname was apt.
The small group of cavalry women now streaming down toward the beach was quite shiny. Not just their gleaming white armour, but the coats of their unicorn mounts as well.
Given that a unicorn would only allow virginal women to ride them, the mounts were more than just fast and deadly steeds, they were also a symbol of the order’s dedication to their oaths.
Celibacy being amongst the least.
“I’ll start getting my people ready to pull out now that the cavalry have finally deigned to show up,” Sulla said with just a hint of resentment.
Griffith nodded along though. “And I suppose I’ll go see if my own are staying or going.”
Given the strategic value of Al’Hundra’s corpse, it wasn’t too surprising that the Queen’s orders were for the city guard to only remain for so long as it took the palace guard to mobilize for a sortie beyond the palace grounds.
The only question was if those same guards had enough numbers to effectively guard the perimeter to the beach. At only three hundred women strong, Griffith knew they’d be stretched thin trying to guard both the palace and this new resource.
As she walked over to where the leader of the new arrivals seemed to be, she caught snippets of conversation from the crowds present at the perimeter of the beach, held back by a thick line of steely eyed city guardswomen.
“…Idea how much this is going to cost me?” One woman, obviously a merchant captain by the cut of her clothes. “I can’t afford to wait around those overgrown squid to decide a new queen bitch.”
“Then sail around her old nest,” her companion, also a merchant, said disinterestedly.
“And add days to my trip?” the first squawked. “Not all of us deal in ingots woman. Somes of us have perishables. And contracts.”
The second merchant shrugged. “Well, you could always try risking her old territory.”
This time another woman laughed. “Ha, I can think of quicker and simpler ways to commit suicide. Any kraken within a hundred miles of her territory is going to be in a frenzy. I genuinely pity any fool that happens to be on a return trip right now.”
Ah, Griffith hadn’t though of that. Any ship that wasn’t currently aware of Al’Hundra’s death would likely be sailing into a veritable warzone.
Quietely she made a note to see if perhaps one the royal fleet’s smaller airships might be dispatched to warn any incoming sea-bound vessels away from the area.
Provided they flew the Lindholmian flag.
…She could care less what happened to any traders from Solite or Lunite.
So caught up in her thoughts was she, that she nearly missed another snippet of conversation. From another pair of merchants, ones who looked noticeably less affluent than the first pair she’d seen.
“…Think she can salvage the graveyard with Al’Hundra gone…”
Griffith didn’t bother to listen to any more though.
After all, as the other woman earlier said, there were quicker and easier ways to commit suicide.
With that said, there would always be fools hoping to attain the ‘mystical’ treasure of Al’Hundra’s hoard.
Morons the lot of them. One may as well seek to touch the moon itself.
As she continued walking, she reached into her jacket pocket for a rather thick envelope. One containing a letter she’d originally intended to have delivered in the most clandestine manner she could.
Fortunately, the current circumstances allowed her to bypass that issue entirely.
So it was that she put on a practiced smile as she strode toward the mounted palace guardian who was already bellowing orders to anyone and everyone.
At least this way I can thoroughly wash my hands of the problem, she thought. From here on out the Ashfield problem will officially be above my paygrade.
And for a woman who avoided her own fiefdom in the name of staying away from politics, that almost made being forced to stay up all night breathing in the unique aroma of tons of rotting squid worth it.
Almost, she thought.
-----------------
Janet Ashfield was more aware than most of just how expensive having a prolonged conversation via communication-orb could get.
For starters, the actual physical orbs themselves weren’t cheap. Finding the crystals the things were made of, harvesting them, transporting them, before finally shaping them was an expensive process unto itself.
But that wasn’t where the true cost lay.
No, that lay in the infrastructure required to actually make use of the damn things. Because their range was limited. Admittedly, in the tens or hundreds of kilometres – depending on the quality of the crystal – but limited all the same.
The solution to that limitation came in the form of royal-waystations. Each with their own orb. Each manned by a rotating shifts of plebian-mages employed by the Crown, whose only job it was to power the orb they’d been entrusted with.
Plebian mages, admittedly, a step below even mage-smiths, but mages all the same.
Together, hundreds of these waystations, acting as part of a great interconnected orb-based network, served to allow nobles from across the continent to communicate with each other in real time.
Provided they could afford the royal-waykeeper’s fee. And didn’t much mind the unspoken reality that anything communicated via orb would invariably end up reaching the ears of the Queen. Or the fact that said line of communication could be cut at any moment if a call with higher ‘priority’ happened to need one of the waystations that was currently being used to facilitate one’s call.
…In short, as miraculous as the waykeeper-network was, there was a good reason conventional messenger based communication still remained in service.
To that end, a call coming all the way from Blicland Academy was not something to be dismissed as inconsequential. She would know, given that she’d just recently paid for a similar call in reverse but a few weeks ago.
It didn’t much matter that the caller was apparently working on behalf of the crown, she was quite sure the waykeeper-network would receive their due regardless.
That thought alone sparked some small joy in her mind as the dark elf opposite her tiredly continued an argument that had already been raging for a good hour at this point.
“I’m sorry Madam Ashfield, but unless you can describe your son’s most recent innovation to me fully, I cannot in good faith claim this innovation to be an Ashfield design.”
Janet gritted her teeth, as she loomed over her desk. “And as I have said, I cannot explain this item to you until you explain what it is you are asking for confirmation are. Otherwise I can only see this as a pointless attempt by a lowly Instructor to fish for Ashfield secrets.”
The dark elf once more raised a hand, gesturing to a letter there like it was some kind of shield. “And I remind you once more that I am speaking to you now not as an Instructor but as a representative of the Crown – chosen only because of my familiarity with the innovation in question.”
That was telling. It meant that whatever William had created, it was noteworthy enough that the Crown wanted to keep the number of people informed of its existence as small as possible.
That boy, she thought frustratedly. Where was this innovative mindset while he was growing up?
Certainly, he’d been quietly dubbed a visionary in the kitchen – even if it had ended up being almost completely overshadowed by his scandalous behaviour - but who would honestly believe that same creativity and genius could be applied to spellwork?
Because he’d certainly had opportunities to express himself in that manner if he’d so chosen. Perhaps his education on combat related applications for his magic had been a bit lesser than it would have been if he’d been born a woman, but it hadn’t been absent entirely.
Yet at most, his tutors had decreed his performance as a mage to be fundamentally solid, but with little deviation from the textbook.
Something that hadn’t raised a single eyebrow, given that that kind of performance was perfectly normal for a man. Janet had just assumed that while William was dutifully learning what was required, he had little true interest in it like he did his cooking.
Now she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d either been hiding his true talents – for what purpose though!? – or his time spent in the Academy had caused some kind of… awakening in him.
Certainly she’d hoped that he might straighten up a bit under the less tender hands of Blicland’s military instructors, but the reports she was getting back from her informants in the facility went so far beyond that it beggared belief.
And now this, she thought.
“Representative of the crown or not, I refuse to be baited into revealing hints into the contents of the Ashfield magical library in the hopes of blindly guessing that some of it relates to whatever my son has chosen to publicly unveil.”
That was horseshit of course. The Ashfield magical library was far from empty, but none of its contents related to ‘new spells’, merely educated guesses into the processes behind other house’s proprietary magics.
Something she was sure was the case for a good ninety percent of the houses in Lindholm.
Truly ‘new’ magic just wasn’t all that common – and the houses did manage to create something new rarely kept it under lock and key for long when it could be used to better benefit them by being used and/or sold on.
Yet her son had apparently created not just one, but two new magics.
Though I can’t help but wonder if this new discovery is more akin to a novel application of existing magics than a truly new spell, she thought.
God, what she would do for a few minutes of conversation with him before she was ambushed like this…
Though that was likely exactly why she’d been ambushed like this.
The Crown wanted this spell and were clearly not afraid of bending a few rules to get it. So much so that they were attempting to claim the spell belonged to her son alone rather than House Ashfield.
And if it belonged to him alone, well, it would be much easier to pry it from the hands of a boy of eighteen than a noble House.
“We do not need to ‘fish’ or flail blindly,” the glasses wearing bitch trying to steal from her family continued. “Your son has already demonstrated the spell in action to me as part of his academic testing process. As it stands, I can recreate it. My role here and the purpose of this conversation is merely to ascertain beyond a shadow of a doubt whom the original creator of the spell is.”
Janet shrugged. “Assuming I believed that, William is a part of House Ashfield. Thus, the spell is an Ashfield spell.”
Griffith shook her head. “That would be the case if he attributed it as such. He has not. He claims it as his and his alone.”
Janet stilled. “…You lie.”
William had his issues with their house – and he was definitely unhappy with her laying claim to his other spell – but surely that wouldn’t seem him go so far as to deliberately snub his own family?
To be a part of a noble house was to owe an oath of fealty to it. Everything Janet had done, from birthing her secondborn to scheming with House Blackstone was part of that oath. To be part of a house was to see it prosper.
She… could not conceive of the notion of one of her own family… snubbing it like that.
Especially over something as ridiculous as an unfavourable match, she thought hollowly. As part of a duchess’s family, he would have wanted for nothing. Hells, even if he never came to love or even like the Blackstone girl, surely one of the girl’s retinue would have been agreeable enough?
Such was the tacit understanding of communal marriages. Janet had long come to terms with the fact that her own marriage with William’s father had been less about love on his part and more about marrying into her family. Amongst her sister-wives, she knew she had not been the one with whom her husband’s heart truly lay.
That had been fine. Not ideal, but fine. The man had provided her a son – and would have provided her with more if not for his accident.
That was in line with their agreement.
…Even if she had truly loved him.
“I do not,” Griffith reiterated. “That is the reality of the situation. William Ashfield wishes to lay sole claim to his latest innovation – irrespective of his familial ties.”
That was it. She wouldn’t hear a word more of this slander.
“That is enough,” she said firmly. “Before this topic continues I would hear from my son. Not the woman attempting to twist one of her charges to her own political ends.”
She was sure of it. This was some ploy by an instructor hoping to cash in on her son’s genius by handing it to the crown.
And given the way the woman in the orb scowled at her words, Janet was sure her accusation had found fertile ground.
Yet the dark elf remained calm.
“So be it,” the other woman said tiredly. “I suspected this would come up at some point in this conversation, though I had hoped to confirm William as the true owner of his innovation first.” She gestured to the side as she moved out of the orb’s field of view. “To that end, William has been sat in the room throughout our conversation.”
He had?
And sure enough, it wasn’t a moment before the familiar expression of her firstborn – but not heir – slid into view, his expression as stoic as the last time she’d seen it.
…Which she now realized was when she laid claim to his previous invention – while denying his request to stay with his team in return.
Despite herself, she frowned.
This was likely to be a delicate conversation.
“Hello William,” she said, gathering herself.
He nodded. “Hello Mother.”
It was not a warm greeting. Nor was it scornful, as she might have expected from a bitter child acting out.
It was just… cold.
Like this was a chore that he didn’t relish, yet could not avoid.
“Please Will,” Janet said. “Tell me what it is you took from our libraries. If you don’t… well, this can’t be written off as just another youthful indiscretion.”
It would be a betrayal of the House, in as stark a terms as could be written.
She didn’t want that. No one wanted that. For all his faults, William was still her son. But if he went through with this… it would be a blackmark that would never wash out.
“Believe me, I’d like to,” he said slowly.
“Then do so,” she encouraged. “Do not let a moment’s pique overcome a lifetime of love.”
And he had been loved. As only a son could be. By both her, his sister and his law-aunts.
Because they were family – and while she could not deny that perhaps her son had suffered more than most in the name of that family when Olivia was made heir over him and the Flashbang was attributed to their library, that was ultimately part of his duty to the house.
That did not mean they didn’t love him. Eventually he would realize that. That his replacement as heir and betrothal to House Blackstone was the best thing for everyone.
Even if he couldn’t see it now.
Yet rather than acquiesce, she watched him sigh. “That’s the thing. I don’t doubt that you love me. Which is what makes this harder than I want it to be. But ultimately, I have to do it.”
“Why?” She didn’t shout, keeping her tone even through sheer will.
“You said it yourself. You still think my issues with the Blackstones are borne of some… immature difference of opinion. A momentary jerk reflex to the notion of a marriage I didn’t choose.” He shrugged. “And why would you think otherwise? After all, I’m just a powerless young man who doesn’t know any better. My complaints, acts of rebellion and arguments have fallen on deaf ears because ultimately they don’t amount to anything. Just words in the wind from a child.” He looked at her then, truly looked at her. “Because a man drawing a line in the sand is just a tantrum if he lacks the power to enforce it.”
Janet struggled not to say something as he stared at her with those eyes – so much like her own. “Well, now I have power. The power to hurt our family by denying it a valuable tool. And you’re right, that means that my actions can no longer be written off as youthful indiscretions.”
He took a breath. “So let me say it now, loud and clear, with the weight of something tangible enough to hurt backing it up. I will not marry Tala Blackstone. I will never make common cause with slavers.” His eyes softened. “I’m sorry mom. Truly. Deeply. But it seems this is the only way you’ll understand.”
And she did.
For the first time in her life, she did.
…But it changed nothing.
Because even if her boy had power enough to hurt her now – it was nothing compared to the force arrayed against him.
Still, she couldn’t help the small shred of pride that swelled in her chest as she started to think of new ways to crush this ongoing act of foolish rebellion – heartfelt or otherwise.
“So be it, son,” she kept her voice steady, as befitted the House of Ashfield. “We shall each act as we think is right. And the victor shall decide whose vision for the future shall be made real.”
Comments
J Duo
Things have been going too smoothly so far. Part of this can be attributed to Will's meticulous planning and multiple lifetimes of knowledge and experience, but eventually Murphy always comes a-knocking. I've been waiting awhile for the other shoe to drop now, but there have been multiple opportunities to do so that BlueFishcake has not taken (e.g. the sea mine failing to kill Al'Hundra). It'll be interesting to see how Will handles a true setback once we hit that point.
Duffman3005
Very powerful chapter, bravo!
Andrew Lechner
Good morning! In all seriousness, take your time. It's good you went to help your family.
mike wade
Not to patronize, but I find doing a plank or some push-ups almost always straighten out any back pain after I’m done working. It makes your back even more tired, but it’s a a good kind of tired.
Blue Fishcake
Currently working on it. Not going to lie, feeling pretty sore myself from Thursday and Friday (So many goddamn plants!). Lower back especially :D It'll either be up in the next two hours... or tomorrow morning. Hope that helps.
Groinfist
Any updates on the next chapter, I don't want to be annoying but it's been a rough week and I could use a good distraction.
DMR1
"And the victor shall decide whose vision for the future shall be made real.” Oh shit... I just realized this was a statement witnessed by the crown.
YYEyes
Take your time and thanks for the update. I have asian parents so I can relate lol
JR9364
The dark elf once more raised a hang... hand?
Cerbero300
It's great that you have good communication with your parents. As Toretto would say, family comes first. :)
Blue Fishcake
I actually see him quite often. Each fortnight we head out for a meal before watching something at the cinema :D
MarakEvans
If you are going to be there, might as well enjoy the time you have with your father.
Oreo-belt25
Lol, I've read Sexy Sect Babes at least a dozen times now too.
mike wade
So just to clarify, we secretly aren’t siblings? Because my parents are basically the same. My father is to damn old and won’t admit/ act it. Also screw having movers ( though their junk isn’t plants, maybe they’re somehow raising us in parallel an you got most of the plants?) because of the same issues.
Blue Fishcake
Just letting ya'll know the next chapter is likely to be a Sunday release as I'll be helping some members of family move on Thursday and Friday (half of which is likely to be fuckin' plants). Why not just hire some movers? I asked the same question. It's not a cash thing, apparently my parents do not like the idea of strangers touching their stuff. ...I don't know. Either way, filial loyalty requires I attend even if my other sibling feels he has no such obligation (not that I'm bitter. Plus, you know, much less lenient hours). The other option was letting my sixty year old father do it alone. And he would. Because he refuses to compromise or admit that he's sixty. So I'll be spending the next two days making trips back and forth in a rental van. I apologize and don't intend for it to have a knock-on effect. Next week should be released on the Friday once more.
Andrew Lechner
"Morons the lot of them. One may as well seek to touch the moon itself." As it turns out, you may do both. All it takes is daring, good manufacturing tolerances, and a lot of firepower.
Andrew Lechner
So far, their main active hatred is towards the orcs, as a result of the constant back and forth raiding they do to each other. The anti-elf hatred is far more hidden, or at least downplayed, since House Blackstone's traditionalist alliance is only as strong as it is because of the support of the conservative Elvish Houses. Any anti-elf action would likely wait until after the Royal family is overthrown and the Blackstones securing the throne.
Hunter
Right, if I’m not mistaken the black stones are heavily set on human superiority over elves and all the other species.
Hunter
See, these kind of comments are why I actively skim through and read comments for this creators stories. He no only interacts with the community but workshops ideas and suggestions with said community who in return are all to happy to talk scifi science with as much eagerness as I one can have! I love seeing shit like this and being able to reply with my own thoughts… such as him being able to make use of a mana core to probably produce more than enough power for a functional giant antenna that smaller ones spiderweb off of… giving the royal family the same level of control and monitoring while expanding and easing the process entirely.
Hunter
If push comes to shove he can even ask the crown permission to form an entirely new noble house centered on himself as its leader using those retrieved mana cores as the foundation of his new families power!
Hunter
Trust me, in my experience it’s so much better to read it as it’s written because it sticks with you longer. …because despite how deeply satisfying addictive practice of binging a story… when you reach the end or catch up to the most current chapter, the shift in pacing is so much like withdrawal it’s not even funny! I deeply love binging these stories and am so glad I just so happen to have seen a YouTube audiobook of the sexy space babes story and thought it good enough to read myself… and so grateful that it got popular enough to spark an entire sub-community centered on the universe and build up sister stories written by the original creator!
Hunter
And then another week after that to the the returning familial salvo! Gah, I wish I had a Time Machine that was faster than simply hibernating until the next chapter!
Hunter
That’s why I prefer nightmares instead… husseys to the core and way less judgy… though, frightening to say the least…. But atleast they ain’t kelpies here ta steal ya girl, ya children, and ya man all at the same time!
mike wade
It said in the first chapter that he had previous experience flying when he saved the peasants.
Daniel Hardman
when does it say he was a pilot, i dont remember reading that?
Dancingrage
Links to a dual house that could put her on the Ducal throne. Janet would need backing for that to push it through, thus the deal with the Blackstone family, who would get enough power in their bloc to be stronger than the Royal family. Wil said earlier that he would have backed it, if the Blackstones weren't also dead set on pushing slavery through the whole kingdom.
RottenTangerine
Was it ever stated why Olivia was made heir? Beyond just gender at least.
Dancingrage
If that's the case, time to dust off the old ¡TchKung! And Infernal Noise Brigade playlists and start some revolutions!
Eastman
I just went and had a reread of sexy sect babe and I realized elwin was wrong house blackstone aswell haha what a coincidence but seriously tho is this the same world if so like OH MY GOD HOLY SHIT WHATTTTTTTTTTTTT (i know its probably not the same world just thought its a funny coincidence)
MarakEvans
Also, a network may be a redundancy that the Crown will keep for themselves. Can't be having unmonitered private communications, tHiNk oF the cHiLdReN and nAtIoNaL sEcUrItY.
MarakEvans
Guarantee he knows how to operate GPS and radio... he was a pilot. Whether he learned how to make one AND source materials is still up in the air. iPuUnNy
MarakEvans
Not sure I saw evidence beyond what Found&Lost pointed out. Oddly enough, seems the Blackstone faction may be the specific target of his... revolutionary influence.
MarakEvans
Ohoho... But there are... other books... Look up "Between Worlds." . . . Waitaminute! Just look up the other series here on patreon!
MarakEvans
They just don't like the smell of deez nuts rubbing off on them.
MarakEvans
ChaosAndBunnies has hit the nail on the head. Mere possession of the core isn't the issue; security, transportation, and enforcement of the hypothetical core barter/trade is.
DMR1
Judging by his subjective age, it's highly probable he had either a crystal radio set in his life that he had to build.
CM
So I was rereading this chapter because I loved the whole interaction between Will and his mom and found another typo. but surely that wouldn’t (seem > see) him go so far as to deliberately snub his own family?
Found&Lost
I don't think he cares to take the queen down completely. I think he might be aiming for a constitutional monarchy though. If the queen IS deposed though, it won't bother him.
mike wade
That sounds like a terrible idea he would totally go for. The odds of surviving being in a full fledged revolution is vanishingly small for William. But the crazy fucker would definitely be game.
mike wade
You know, if William has any electrical engineering experience, even an introductory class during college, he could easily make a radio or a telegraph. It would supplement or even replace the crystal ball network quite nicely.
Catamaran
I'm pretty sure that Will wants to bring the whole house of cards down. No slavery, no beholden to family, and no Queendom. He wants men to be able to choose what they do with their lives and not have to follow the orders of their families. He doesn't want the Queendom to survive because once everyone has guns the old powers are going to collapse. If every commoner has a gun the elite become vastly outnumbered and have no power anymore. So if the Slavery civil war doesn't kick off, thus allowing Will an easy time to create a faction that will end the Queendom, the Commoner Revolution will end the Queendom. If the other two powers on the other continent get involved in the power struggle, then it's reverse colonization time.
Ember
Whilst in the shower I was hit with a brain wave that I’m stunned took this long to hit me. Whilst Wills spell gun will redefine warfare, along with his other inventions, the ability to either build his own coalition of houses or to vastly expand the royal airship fleet by retrieving the Aether cores is almost invaluable. Imagine if he got a sit down with someone with real power within the crown, possibly even the queen herself, and he can with 100% confidence say he holds the key to a drastic expansion of one of the most powerful weapons currently available to the crown. I truly doubt there’s much the crown wouldn’t give to him or do for him to secure such an advantage, especially with a potential civil war brewing.
ChaosAndBunnies
Will isn't immortal, so I don't think the assassins that follow revealing he has them to literally any people in power are going to have any issues removing the only obstacle between them and his cores. I mean, why buy them off some lone kid with no backing when you could just take them and sweep it all under the rug?
Just another supporter
Damn. This is really interesting and the plot is heating up. I hate that we get them in weekly chapters just for the sole reason, that these are so well written. It is a pity I've found this writer before the books are complete. Keep up the amazing work though.
Jeremy Grundy
Cores as the ultimate McGuffin in this world and his ease of obtaining them does raise the question of why he can’t barter his way into what he wants. As the major source of power in this world no one is going to care how, why, or where he got the cores only that he has them and is willing to trade at bargain prices. Why go through the expense and bad PR when you could get what you want for almost nothing. Don’t want to marry some chick, here is a core. Want to claim the Dukedom over the Ashfields, here is a core to the crown. Make up with mom, core. End slavery, becomes Duke combines strength with crown, oh yeah still have 20 cores left.
James Ryan Bell
Oh sheeeet...now I am mad I have to wait another week for how this is gonna pop off
mike wade
That’s definitely true, it’s just questionable how much better than normal horses they are.
Business Casual
Maybe the unicorns are just prudes?
DownhillRabbit6.1
As Solid as Snake. I'm curious about the ramifications of this transgression against the family Ashfield? Is he no longer an Ashfield? Will he be incarcerated by Ashfield regulars or nobility if they cross paths? Obviously he has the means to pay his own way through the academy with a slew of innovations and inventions he pops out, and with him having a 'relatively' reliable method to attain cores every so often he could theoretically start his own house? With modern day design convention a 1st gen, lord forbid 2nd-gen jet inspired Shard would decimate. Lots of interesting opportunities have been made possible through this moment.
mike wade
I just realized that the unicorns are - intentionally or not - a form of sexist gate keeping. You need to be a virgin woman to ride one, a prerequisite to be arguably one of the most coveted military roles. I wonder if it was a result of practicality or political maneuvering. Are unicorns really that valuable of a steed, or is it showboating/ gatekeeping?
Found&Lost
Epic.
Borisoff72
I assumed that at some point he'd just invent internal combustion engines and airplanes and make Mithril cores just something used by luxury cruise liners anyway.
mike wade
When he needs it. That thing is a little to OP for this reality.
Apeoflight
Essentially it's both the Primer spell and the modified bolt-bow. It also helps keep Janet Ashfield even more in the dark if she thinks it's only a spell and not a combination of a spell and invention.
Apeoflight
Him having his own house was actually brought up earlier in chapter 14. Even if he was the head of his own house apparently he still can't get out of the marriage. It seems like something to do with the Crown being unable/unwilling to intervene. I'm guessing it has to do with men not having full autonomy and rights in the case of being a part of a noble house and the Crown not being able to break contracts between houses/nobles. Essentially as the son of Janet Ashfield he has no say in his marriage legally and so has to have either her, the head of house Blackstone, or Tala herself call off the mariage.
Sea Wolf
Alea iacta est.
bob semple
It doesn't feel like a thing he'd do, the cores would inevitably end up serving house Blackstone in on form or another if he handed them over.
Duncan Sharp
The problem is that brings the question of how he got them and he likely wants to keep the advantage of the sea mines to himself; especially given his implied plans of outright treasonous blackmail.
CM
Thanks for the chapter! The dark elf once more raised a ( hang > hand ) and the houses ( that ) did manage to create something new So I don't know if this was a deliberate choice, but earlier the instructor referred to it as an innovation, however here she says spell. It was the mother that was thinking spell, so I'm not sure if this should be changed or not. "Your son has already demonstrated the ( spell > innovation ) in action to me as part of his academic testing process. And ascertain beyond a shadow of a doubt whom the original creator of the ( spell > innovation ) is.” Then later on she refers to it as an innovation again. William Ashfield wishes to lay sole claim to his latest innovation
Borisoff72
Show it to his mother over a communication orb then bury it somewhere and refuse to say where until she agrees. Also, I don't think there is any prohibition on killing Krakens.
Harrison F
WHEN MOAR GRENADE LAUNCHER?
MarakEvans
Without turning the Crown against the Ashfields, how is William going to prevent them from claiming the Cores too? Also, how would William not get his core confiscated in relation to the death of Al'Hundra?
MarakEvans
Not quite Villian. Antagonist.
MarakEvans
I'd second guess that negligible financial cost.
MarakEvans
Lelouch that shit.
MarakEvans
How twisted would it be if his mom got shot by his spell bolt? Shit, would have to keep this all the way until after a major confrontation between William and House Blackstone or House Ashfield. Edit: So they can have a candid talk, both assuming they might not see each other alive again?
Borisoff72
I know he wants to prove a point, but it occurs to me he could probably make things easier for himself by buying his way out of his betrothal and his house with one or two cores. His mother wouldn't take that trade? A Mithril Core and a problem child off her hands, plus our hero brokering a new alliance with the Crown to replace the one with the Blackstones, all in exchange for just letting go?
TheDevotus
Nice to see the nitpick I had the last chapter Will talked with his mother being addressed. I guess I can understand where his mom is coming from, still think she lacks imagination when it comes to Will and in general when it comes to autonomy of other people, but I guess that makes a good "villain" - understand villain viewpoint, don't agree with villain actions. Anyways, thanks for great chapter.
Borisoff72
At the depths I think they're talking about our hero would need some extremely specialized equipment just to survive the pressure, much less be able to navigate, retrieve anything, and kill something. Making an old-timey scuba suit is one thing, but a sub with that kind of crush depth is something else.
MarakEvans
!
Oreo-belt25
I can think of a certain teacher who'd make a fine first candidate...~
Laenthis Tranchesoleil
I'm really getting to liek Griffith, she seems like a great gal and she really tries to work with William in the limited capacity she can. The reluctant pride of his mom when she sees his will is also a very nice touch, though I hope he efforts to undermine him won't be too terrible, or push him to more extreme length to get some much needed independance. The crown could also get a nice bargain by just offering William a way to create his own house. He has, after all, the core needed to fulfill military duties, and it would cost them effectively nothing in financial terms...
David Ellis
What's Griffith's last name again? I can totally see William elevate *her* as the head of a new house that he runs from the shadows (of the bedroom) using the mana core he acquired, blowing away House Blackstone's entire reason to ally with House Ashfield once the Royalist faction has a new member to keep the Balance of Power on their side *and* the public insult of William's betrothal being replaced by an older upstart commoner, whom is now assumed to be the mastermind manipulating *him* instead of the other way around.
Baron Von Mott
Now we're really getting somewhere! Great chapter!
SmallTownBo
Great chapter, and a fantastic ending. I can't wait to see her response
nemo1986
Well he finally threw down the gauntlet.
Andrew
Thank you!
werotan
Great chapter! Also the crown should really try to honey trap the dude.
Dancingrage
Gotta find 'em first. That said, unless it's even bigger than Al'Hundra and armored against explosive force, it'll probably end the same.
The Fire Piper
Daaaaamn...
Templar9999
It understood it, but the reader has the advantage of being in his head, with a similar ethical standing. It makes sense that his mother would think that he was a teenager acting out, as that is exactly what it would be in any other circumstance in this world. How would she know that he is a reincarnation of someone from a different world. The word Isekai doesn't exist there 😆. But she DID understand at the end that he is standing on a point of principle. And she CAN understand that. Respect it, love him more for it, and take pride in his will to do so. Even while trying to tear him down. Likely nothing would give her more pride than seeing him win despite everything that will be thrown at him. Even while as a Mother she wished nothing more than to protect him. Well done
Serpent_Bon 274
Hmm. I wonder how long it will take before Will kills one of these 'Deep Dwellers'.
Dancingrage
You could italicize the 'never' in "...never make common cause with..." if you wanted to show him finally, really pressing the matter home for once. Edit incoming. As Templar9999 mentioned, the Blackstone family will find out about this. Were I Will, I'd have some Deadman contingencies in place to both protect himself or, if that fails, give the crown more power than any enemy he has could even imagine.
Blue Fishcake
I'm glad that all got across. As a writer I generally prefer understatement to overstatement, so I tend to be sparing where I can with... angst feels like the wrong word, but it's close. Point is, the second half of this chapter could be summed up as 'it's not a phase mom!' and I was very conscious of that while writing it :D I'm happy I haven't crossed the thin line between dramatic and over dramatic.
Undead
So it truly begins.
Templar9999
That was well done. The reveal that Krakens are NOT at the top and of the food chain in this world. And the implication that the deeper you go, the higher the concentration of ambient mana. As krakens are attrackted to and seem to feed off of it. Well done world building. And the confrontation with the MC mother was perfect. That was a parent realizing that her child is choosing to make his own way, not out of spite, but will and principle. She will do everything she can to destroy this endeavor, while feeling immense pride at him succeeding despite that.
Bunten44
I bet at the end of all this that either the mother is getting dealt with as a traitor or the nation is going to disintegrate during the civil war.
Andrew Lechner
Well, William has now taken his first true open step. He cannot back down now, to do so would lose him what little freedoms he has worked so hard to achieve so far. I don't know if his mother will inform House Blackstone of this development, but something tells me they will find out soon enough either way. The end of the semester is approaching, and William will be facing Tala and her team in the arena. Where he will unveil his invention to the world live on (the equivalent of) TV and utterly humiliate the heir of the most powerful Ducal House in the Kingdom in the process.
Tim Speller
SAUCY
Redacted
fourth
Batou
Ah a dance with daggers has begun. Who will stand when the music stops..
9 o’clock
Second
AH
First
