Steel and Mana

Chapter 211 – An Avarage Morning

It was still early morning, and even though the sun was out after months of hiding behind clouds, it began melting the snow; it was still relatively cold outside. Dorian, waking up to the sunlight coming through his windows, slowly sat up, giving a kiss to his stirring wife before climbing out of bed and stretching, doing his morning routine. No matter how often he did it, he couldn't help but chuckle, looking at the pipes running along his walls, filling his home with warmth, enabling him to wear nothing while climbing out of bed and looking for something to wear.

Walking downstairs, he began cooking a quick breakfast of eggs, putting a few bacon strips next to it to fry before searching for a piece of cheese to top it off with. It was his regular, everyday routine, and by the time his wife and kids woke up, a bountiful breakfast was waiting for them.

"Ah, coffee, coffee..." He mumbled, using his newest and favorite little tool, a percolator. It wasn't something that everyone had yet, as coffee itself was extremely expensive and rare, being imported from the furthest southern edge of the Empire. Yet, since his Sovereign made him taste a cup a few years ago, he got hooked immediately, even if a kilogram of coffee cost him ten gold coins. "Can't get enough of its fragrance!" He sighed, opening the jar of already ground beans and enjoying its aroma.

When everything was sizzling and bubbling, getting ready, he looked out of his window, watching the city slowly coming to life before going out and bringing in the newspaper from the little box hanging next to his door. Almost everybody in the city was subscribed to Avalon News by now, which was a great deal because the paper itself cost one silver while a monthly subscription of four issues was priced at three silver only.

As a businessman, he couldn't help but like the idea behind it, and he was already thinking about how he could copy it and introduce some kind of subscription to his services. Of course, he knew he couldn't do that with his primary source of income, supplying the Sovereign and his army with armor and uniforms. Still, he did branch out, owning civilian clothing shops within the city. Two, in fact. One for women and one for men, deliberately separating the two, filling the stores with specifically designed costumes and outfits.

It was there that he was going to introduce a similar subscription model, first amongst shop owners. His idea was simple: he would provide free and quick fixes for torn fabrics and any other similar minor issues for a small monthly fee. As for whether it would work or not, he didn't know, but he was excited to try it out. Of course, at first, he sent in a letter detailing his intention, waiting and only moving onwards after the Ministry permitted him to go ahead with his idea in exchange for taxing it just the same as his sales.

"This is why I love this city!" he hummed, sitting down with the newspaper in his hand. He started at the back of it first, where they announced the weekly arrival of caravans and their goods. It was there that he always looked at what new items and materials arrived, things he could buy in bulk for his factory.

"Hmm... With these new shipments, I may be able to make a spring sale with my new designs..." He mumbled to himself, already thinking of introducing a new line of one-piece dresses for women with beautiful, vivid colors and frilly skirts, the same as the one that his Sovereign had ordered for his wives a year ago. "The chance of wearing the same clothes would make them sell out immediately, ehehe!" He giggled like a kid, sipping on his coffee in the meanwhile.

He wasn't wrong. By now, he was the leading choice for anyone who wanted to dress in the newest and latest fashion and enjoyed buying quality garments. Everyone knew he was the one who made all the clothes that their Sovereign and the royal family wore. Even if his prices were slightly higher than any other shops that sprung up within the city, it was expected. Warranted even. Avalonian Fashion was the standard; everyone compared their products to theirs, introducing new items at the start of every season.

While a simple skirt or work boots were 1 silver and 10 iron coins in Avalonian Fashion, 50% higher than in a regular shop, it was still affordable for most households whose income was around 5 gold coins a week. People could even afford to buy themselves the newest summer dresses, costing up to 2 silvery coins, or go for the premium winter coats that were going for a single gold coin but could last them a lifetime.

In most households, the men could easily earn between 5 to 10 gold coins a week, supporting their wives who stayed home and raising the children. They even had the opportunity to save money for themselves or for their kids. Without realizing it, they lived the kind of lives that were only available to wealthy merchants and nobles in other parts of Ishillia.

"Good morning..." Mumbled Dorian's wife, coming down and kissing her husband's coffee-tasting lips before taking over the cooking and finishing it for him. "Is there anything interesting in the papers?"

"I just checked the list of caravans that arrived," he answered, turning the page back to the front page and jolting up, "Oh my! Lady Yuri has given birth to a son who has been named Lancelot!"

"Really?!" Julia, his wife, yelled out, rushing over to look at the paper, reading the bold letters at the top: Lancelot, the youngest son of our Sovereign!

"They will celebrate it along with the end of winter throughout this year's Spring Festival. Hm..."

"What is it?" Julia giggled, knowing her husband just had another idea.

"I may open up a third business venue... A shop for kids and babies! We do have a lot of children being born in Avalon. With how much easier it is to afford living..." He trailed off, looking at his wife's face, who simply giggled while sitting down on his lap. "We aren't old yet~ The kids are already at age and soon will be working with you... Who knows, one day, they will have their own homes. The house will feel empty throughout the day then!"

"Well..." He grinned, giving her a kiss, "Then we need to start working extra hard at night, huh?"

...

....

......

It wasn't Dorian alone who was reading the news and celebrating the birth of their Sovereign's third son. Many who also had their children around the same time took it as a perfect sign, a blessing. Some even thought about giving their newborn the same name but, in the end, didn't dare to. Not because they were afraid their Sovereign would punish them but because of how others would look at them. It was... maybe a bit too far; that was the unspoken consensus among the citizens.

"Mhm... Good morning..." echoed Elena's soft moan as she woke up, trying to feel around her bed, but nobody was there, her hands grasping at the air. "Again...? You are a workaholic..." she complained under her breath before sitting up, finding herself alone in her slightly transparent, short gown, which reached only down to the middle of her thighs.

It was the previous year's summer sleeping dress, which cost her five gold pieces, not that she was short on money. With her position, there was really nothing in the city she couldn't buy. The issue came from availability and what they were allowed to buy, as Leon highly regulated top-shelf items, often requiring ministry approval to purchase them, like the radio placed on top of the coffee table before their bedroom's fireplace.

Of course, they paid basically nothing for it as it was Merlin's self-made version, the very first prototype of the commercial product. For those that were being slowly introduced in shops run by the Ministry, the retail versions were going for 50 gold a piece, not to mention the pebble-sized CC that needed to operate them, going for 20 gold a piece at the current moment. It was not something regular citizens could afford, but, as Leon once said to her, the price would slowly come down as the city grew.

"The carrot, dangling before the donkey..." She giggled to herself, remembering Merlin saying it one time. "Now, where is my donkey?"

Going down, it didn't take long to find him sitting on their sofa, reading not the newspaper but the latest missives from Leon, giving him time to prepare everything for the first meeting of the year.

"When did you wake up?" She asked, coming behind him, leaning over, giving a loud, smacking peck on his face.

"Not that long ago!" He answered in a hurry, blushing and fidgeting as he was still not used to Elena being so touchy with him nowadays. Not that he disliked it, but he felt troubled, not knowing what he should do when it became intimate between them.

"Cute~!" She whispered, ruffling his hair, "I'm going to make breakfast then. We still have some sausage, don't we?"

"Um. That sounds great, thanks!" Merlin nodded, looking after her, not expecting Elena to look back and catch him gazing at her swaying hips.

"Hmm..." She hummed with a grin, disappearing into the kitchen, "I may need to order some unique underwear from Dorian. If he doesn't make a move even after that, I will need to take notes from Mirian. It seems like some boys indeed need to be led by hand!"

While Elena was thinking about things that would make Merlin blush even more, the Prime Minister of Avalon was back, his mind working out numbers, the coming year's taxes, what would be their spending and savings, doing it all at once. Even with the injuries and losses, Elliot's army did pass; they just needed to be rearmed before being sent back, beginning to reinforce the Duchy... No... To reinforce Goldengroove after Elliot decreed a name change, preparing to announce their independence from Ishillia.

"Now, the only variable is who will take over the Silver Region? I hope we will still have the previous deals intact, and they won't jack the prices of their steel."

It wasn't the only issue Merlin was mulling about, biting his nail on his thumb. Building the first railway station next to Avalon, laying the tracks, and refocusing their factories were all as good as if they had already finished them. What was giving him trouble was to implement a failsafe into the mech that they would provide to Mirian. He wanted it to be sublime, undiscoverable... It had to be perfect. Then, there was the project of a coal plant. Although he knew it was not yet a priority, it was only a short time until it became one. He had already scouted three locations in advance and was ready to make his reports about allocating the required calculated resources and manpower. If Leon had said they needed it now, he would have been prepared to order the men and construct it in eight months. Or six. If he requested the army to help them out.

"But we need the railways first..." He mumbled, his nose twitching, recognizing the smell of sausages being fried in the kitchen. "The power plant will only work if there is a constant supply of coal. So... trains first, and then the powerplant. Plus... what about the airship? Haaah... Hopefully, Levy is going to implement everything we asked him to do..."

"Merlin! Come, let's eat up; your big brain needs its energy!"

"Coming!" He shouted, putting everything down, feeling strangely content, no longer finding it weird that he was living with Elena. More than that... it became something he missed when she was sent away. Even his mind seemed to clear up after seeing her make breakfast for him... or was it her slightly transparent clothes doing it? He couldn't tell... but he really, really liked his current life.

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