Dark King

The weaker they were the better for him.

Dudian got into his underground laboratory in his castle. These days he had found a solution for the power defects of the shark spear. If this method was exposed then it would cause a great uproar. He had made a good design and the overall concept was revolutionary for this era. But he had to increase his status and position within the Temple in order to allow Barton and Joseph smoothly to pass into Holy Church and the military.

…

…

Castle in the Temple of Elements.

Master Quepos was sitting on the chair as he gently rubbed his neck. There were many papers in front of him. His age has passed sixty so he was given the position to audit the papers by the senior architects. The number of senior architects was limited and the number of seminars was less. At best there would be seven or eight papers a month. He was able to effortlessly finish his job. Right now he felt his shoulders sour because of the muscle pain.

He leaned against the chair as he gently breather. He looked at the maid standing by the side.

The maid has been with master Quepos for many years. She came over to knead his shoulders.

“Hey, I’m getting old … …” Master Quepos sighed. He didn’t care much about primary architects. Sometimes he will teach his inspirations to his students. He hoped that if they get famous this glory will be written under his name too. He needed few days to review the papers of the seminars by the senior architects. He will be able to receive few extra points from the Temple. But now this decent and easy job felt a bit difficult.

He had thought many times to rely on his own identity to exchange for a ‘God’s blessing’ from the Temple. He wanted to restore the vitality of his body. The Temple internally advocated this move. Even they gave discounts to the old masters. However he had heard and saw many things about this ‘God’s blessing.’ Even though the latter would give him powerful body and long life but he didn’t want to touch this filthy thing.

“Master, this is the paper from the 13th castle.” A middle-aged butler came inside.

Master Quepos was bored but he still nodded: “Put it on table.”

The butler respectfully retreated after handing out the paper.

Quepos glanced at the cover of the paper but he was too lazy to pay attention to details. He closed his eyes to enjoy the maid’s massage. He suddenly opened his eyes as he looked at the paper: “Recently there was a little boy called ‘Dean’ who was promoted to senior architect. I think he was assigned to 13th castle…”

He sat properly, the maid stopped and retreated to the side.

Quepos opened the letter and read it. The handwriting was need which made him satisfied. The more he read the more surprised he became: “It seems that the potential of the little guy is much bigger than we old ones. He has been less than a year in the Temple but was able to analyze the ‘cassie’ thoroughly. His points are very sharp. He may not only become a master in the future but better than a master. It’s possible that he would get ‘outstanding master’ title in the future.”

He pondered for a while and began to write.

“So talented… He is affiliated with New World consortium. He hasn’t been drawn out by other consortia which shows his mindset.” Quepos thought in his heart as he signed the three papers. He wrote down his comments and awared the points accordingly. He gently blowed the papers so that the ink dried faster. Afterwards he took out a letter from another place and quickly wrote up. He put it into the envelope and called out to butler: “Send this letter to architect Dean. These papers have been evaluated. Send them back.”

Butler was surprised at master Quepos’s speed.

…

…

13th castle.

Tiffany, old man with red jacket as well as crooked nose middle-aged man and another black suited middle aged man were sitting together in the manor and drinking afternoon tea. They were chatting about their own insights.

“Since the allows were invented the steel and other alloy materials have occupied the market. In comparison to gold materials our wood equipment seems out of date. Including the bow. Before the bows were made out of wood but now they are attempting to create the chort from the steel.” The black suited middle-aged man said.

Tiffany nodded slightly. She was aware that wooden products were knocked out from the market and it was a great blow to them. It meant that as time passed their products would be replaced with metals.

“I recently studied the difference between metal and wood. I believe that our wood faction is more important gold faction.” The old man wearing the red jacket slowly said. The wood elements were his life’s love. He couldn’t accept the idea that the popularity of wood will be replaced by metals.

The crooked nosed middle-aged man was about to say something when the sounds of carriage echoed from outside. A person got off the carriage. It was master Quepos’s butler. The butler’s eyes lit up as he saw the four people in the manor. He strode inside: “Leisure time?”

The old man with the red jacket was familiar with the butler. He looked at him with surprise: “The review was finished so soon?”

“Master Quepos was reviewing another paper so it happened that yours came the moment it was finished.” The butler laughed.

Tiffany smiled: “This is good luck! Can we see the results now?”

The butler handed out the papers to her: “I still have other things to do. You check. I gotta go” He turned away and left the manor.

Tiffany quickly opened the envelope and took out the papers. She quickly swept through the content: “Two hundred points? So much?”

The old man leaned over to check: “It’s two hundred points for the first paper. It is equal to two star research of an architect. So the three papers mean six hundred points? If we get 10% of that then its…hahaha…”

Even as a senior architect getting the points for two star item just like that was a hard thing.

Tiffany lamented: “its possible to get so many points just for ‘cassia’. Imagine if all the plants were analyzed. Wouldn’t we get as many points as a master?”

Old man smiled: “You are asking for too much. This time such an award was given because of the methods. Any plant can be analyzed using this mindset. I assume they will give at best 10 points after through analysis of the any other plant.”

“It is also 200 points.” Tiffany opened the second paper. The comments written by the master had appreciation in it. She opened the third but her face turned ugly. There were no reward points and the comment was very simple: “Not feasible!”

The crooken nosed senior architect knew that the third paper was his own. He observed Tiffany’s dazed appearance and his hurt jumped as the blood gushed to his head. He knew that something was wrong.

Tiffany looked at him and saw the delight in his eyes. She handed out the paper to the man.

The crooken nosed architect took over the paper in excitement but he was stunned on the spot the next moment.

The old man wearing the red jacket tried to comfort him as he saw his appearance: “Since master Quebos said that it is not feasible then it means there is still problems regarding the solution. We can review it and ask people with military background to know the source of the problem.”

The man’s face turned red as he clutched the paper and left.

…

…

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Dudian was eating breakfast as he was checking the newspapers. He had told the Nicholas to hire a “mammoth” carriage and get clothing to wrap the weapons.

“Military newspaper.”

“Barbarians has occupied the Red Maple mountains. The terrain is hard to attack. The military attacked at seven o’clock at night yesterday. The barbarians were defeated… It is reported that endless barbarians came over and the military couldn’t advance to Red Maple mountains … ”

Dudian carefully read the newspaper. He was in a higher position now and because of many exchanged with Old Fulin he had learned how to read the meaning behind the lines in newspapers. The military’s night attack was true but defeating barbarians… Most probably they have exterminated small teams of barbarians. According to his deduction with the number of soldiers sent by the military it would be very difficult to capture back the Red Map mountains. Unless they had dispatched guards and knights. But there was no such record in the newspaper.

It would be very difficult to accomplish such a task with soldiers alone. He guessed the purpose military by making the final defense close to the population. The current attack by the military in the Red Maple mountains was a symbolic harrassment. They were trying to prove to consortia and Holy Church that they are doing their duty.

Why would they defend the walls of the residential and commercial district? There were many factors that came to his mind but he deduced and stopped on two reasons. The first was that by relying on wall defense they were reducing the consumption of goods by the soldiers. The second reason was that they were winning the love of the people. The repeated conscription by the military had caused public resentment. That’s why they were trying to create an image that as if they would sacrifice everything for civilians.

“They don’t just aim to win the war. They want to maximize their interest while winning the war…” Dudian muttered to himself as he put down the newspaper. He felt that he had learned something new but he didn’t feel joy at his harvest.

He finished his breakfast and sat in the hall in silence. His left hand was gently rubbing soft mud. It was another way to exercise the flexibility of his left hand. It was rubber mud which was made of salt, oil and flour.

He used his left hand to squeeze the rubber mud into small ball. He rubbed againa and again.

Nicholas came towards him: “Master, are you waiting for something?”

Dudian nodded slightly and continued to wait.

It didn’t take long for Sergei and Gwyneth to come back. Before they thought that there was a power behind Dudian’s back but know they were aware that Dudian was on his own.

Especially after they saw so many envelopes sent to him. Moreover messengers of consortia, reporters from newspapers as well as aristocrats and wealth businessmen had come to see him. It was a proof that he was no inferior to a nobility or business giants that have been operating for decades.

“How is the situation there?” Dudian asked.

Sergei shrugged: “I sneaked past with Gwyneth. The mountains have been completely occupied by the barbarians. The military’s attack is simply a nonse. Even if it sends guards and knights it would be hard to face the barbarians. I would like to understand that how these barbarians who are no different from monkey can have such swords and knives? Which consortium is selling them the weapons?”