Steel and Mana

Chapter 22 – Plans for the Second Phase

The meeting with my parents were surprisingly formal even for me. They welcomed me as if I were an envoy and acted formally... which I was not used to. It threw me into a loop, to be honest! Sasha wasn't faring any better; she felt as if she wanted to melt into the ground and run away. My Mother scanned her from top to bottom whenever they looked at her. It was nothing like our previous visits... not at all!

"We read all your reports!" My Father started while we sat in the castle's conference room, facing each other over a wide mahogany table. "Do you have anything to add?"

"Um..." I blinked, my eyes flusteredly, "No, I haven't. I already told you everything!"

"So you are going through with it?" He pressed on further, crossing his muscular arms before his chest, looking at me with the eyes of a predator, ready to strike. What the hell was going on here? Did the Empire contact them? Or what?!

"Yes!" I answered in the end, starting to feel annoyed and getting aggressive myself. "Even if you have problems with it! My ideas are right, and it would greatly benefit our land and people!"

"It would. And it would concentrate the power in our family's hand." My mom interjected, turning her head from Sasha, finally looking at me.

"And?" I asked back, now feeling defiant against their accusatory tone and looks. "So what? From what I have seen, they are living in a pigsty! Our castle is not much better!" The moment I said it, I thought I saw a dangerous flash go through my Mother's eyes, but it was not the time to start backing down.

"The local nobles won't like it." Father continued, and in turn, I couldn't help but chortle.

"So what? They have power because of us! They were appointed to lead some sectors. Oversee food production, hunting, the security of the towns, and so on! Are they really nobles? I don't really see them that! They are the same as any other civilian under us! The only difference is that they pocketed benefits for themselves, skimming off the top that is coming from our rule anyway! Are they unhappy? Why should I care?"

"They have power."

"Bullshit!" I slammed at the desk, "They don't! I have the power here because all the people who have been working with me in the past summers realize what I am doing! Especially now that the skeleton of my work is getting visible and they could experience the barebone functions, keeping them warm through the winter!"

"They still have influence over many and can raise an army."

"An army?" I smirked at my Mother, "We have the army right here!"

"Which is under my rule!" Father boomed, "And they won't leave the walls!"

"If these so-called nobles," I shouted back, "recruit peasants to fight for them, I am confident in standing out and calling those people to my side! They won't have any 'army' to speak of!"

"They can hire mercenaries." Mother added nonchalantly, which... I had no answers for. Yet.

"I am still confident in dealing with them. I will deal with them. It has been set into motion, and if you are starting to doubt me now, then I am sad to say it is too late! I will go through with it; these nobles can suck my dick! If they want, they can join me to start their own businesses; I won't stand in their way to make a fortune! But if they think they can stand in my way, then I will grind them into the ground and make them into the fertilizer for a better future!"

"Huh..." Mother exclaimed softly, forming a smile and elbowing my Father, who was also trying to hold back a grin, "He inherited the best things from you and me, it seems!"

"I told you! Let's push him a little and place some pressure on him to see if he buckles or has the backbone of mine! Bwahahaha! Good kid, good kid!"

"Err... was... was this some kind of test?" I stammered, looking at Sasha, who was trying to look invisible, already sinking below the table, dragging her long hair into her face to not be part of the family feud.

"Yes, yes, it was!" My parents said simultaneously before my Mother stood up, continuing, "Some of the local nobles are here longer time than our family, you see. They are complacent in holding their current powers and don't want to give them up. They won't give it up! Whether our region is small or poor, they count as the top dogs here! You accompanied me multiple times, and you saw me handling them carefully. The reason is simple: they do have control over their little areas. Like how a cock struts around their little pen!"

"And you won't help me deal with them..." I whispered, and I wasn't accusing them. I get it. They just can't. If they do, the others would send for help, telling the Empire we are rebelling.

"You are at the point where you have to start worrying about their reactions. They have started taking notice as more and more people slip out from under their fingers, going away to do some weird project of ours! Some already came to us, demanding an explanation!"

"They did?" I asked, leaning back and watching my Mother, who smiled and nodded.

"For now, I dealt with them. But this won't hold for long."

"Hmm... Okay, I expected something, but not so soon..." I whispered, my brain going overdrive, nibbling on my thumb while doing so.

"Had any plans for this stage? I hope you did!" Father spoke up after a minute of silence, interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes, I did. I was just undecided, but now I got more information."

"Out with it and be clear!" Mother ordered me, leaning forward, wanting to hear everything.

"First, I will draw away the people. That will not change..."

"What about the food production?" Mother immediately stopped me, and her gaze was like knives, "I won't bring EVERYONE away. But things will change. I am planning on changing it up. Our crops yield so little because we are on a highland, so we need to switch to those types that can withstand the worst soil!" With that, I pointed at my report papers, which I had already detailed on multiple pages. "I am no expert in the field, but this should do. Then we can try terracing, but... that will need much work... I would try it more confidently if we had earth mages or something, but... oh well!"

"I read that..." My Mother whispered, holding back her excitement, but I caught it in her eyes. "That is not something we can accomplish right now! I am more interested in the part about the livestock and crop rotation."

"And then you already know if we focus on what I outlined, we need fewer people in the countryside with a more significant yield! If my industry gets to an operational level and I can churn out superior tools, their life will also get simpler! It is a win-win situation. Plus..." I continued, looking at my Mother, maintaining eye contact. "We can import food from your homeland. We already do it a lot, in fact."

"Even if they are somewhat subordinate to us... they won't just give away food!"

"I wouldn't ask for it free! I am planning to open up more frequent trade routes towards them! You already know what I want to sell~!"

"Scented soap."

"Exactly!" I giggled, watching her lips curl upwards, "I am not going to give them cheap! And I have other ideas to produce some 'luxury' items that are cheap to make. But for now... yes, my main item would be that. Aiming it at the wealthy!"

"Could work... but-"

"I'm not finished!" I added with a raised hand, "I only answered what I want to do with the food side of the problem! I am going to address the nobles now!" With a smack of my lip, I couldn't help but shake my head at what I was about to say, "You gave me an idea. About mentioning mercenaries... okay. I will hire my own mercs!"

"And how do you plan to do that?" Father raised his voice along with his eyebrows.

"I spoke poorly... I will hire bandits."

"What?!" Not just my parents rose from their seats but Sasha, too.

"Heard me right!" I looked at them, deadly serious. "I will hire bandits, thugs, scum. I will aim their weapons at our nobles who wouldn't back down and use them for the dirty work. We can clean them up in one fell swoop when they are finished!"

This silenced them quickly, and I let them think about it while sitting there calmly. When nobody wanted to say anything, I cleared my throat, continuing.

"I'm not naive. The world is not kind, and I am not a saint either. I want to create a place where I can enjoy life, and if others stand in my way, I will deal with them. In this scenario, we only lose those who, even if joining me, would try to cause trouble! I don't need partners who can't play nice! On the other hand, we get rid of scummy ones!"

"Our territory has very little in terms of bandits. Even if there are some, they are equipped with sickles and pitchforks!" Father grunted first, nodding at me, giving me the green light to continue with my idea.

"Nope! Not yet!" I shrugged, "This only came to me now! I was thinking about how we could play it off, and even if someone reports it, we would only scolded for not keeping our borders clean! We would have no linkbacks to the connection to the bandits; trust me on that!"

"I can point you the way."

"Mother?" I perked up, curious, but she shook her head.
"Give me time as I need to exchange some letters first with my family! I will do it along with traveling back home and bringing some of the scented soap with me! It should take a month or two, but I'll be back by the summer! Then we will speak about it again!"

"I knew I could count on you!" I grinned at my parents, who simply shook their heads.

"Now! About another important news!" She turned back to her serious mode, looking at Sasha, making her yelp and go stiff. "Are you pregnant or not?"

"Not!" She replied like a soldier; I almost imagined her standing up and saluting.

"Tsk! Then work on it!" She grumbled, making me twitch my mouth.

"I can see the change in you! My son already made you his, right? Then start giving me grandkids! I want four! No, make it six!"

"Woah, woah, Mom, let's not put weights on her, okay?! It happens when it happens!" I waved my hands after seeing Sasha turn as red as fire, afraid she would accidentally summon a blazing inferno.

"Yeah!" Father joined in, feeling just as troubled, glancing apologetically at Sasha, "Don't worry about it; I am sure it will happen!"

"Yes, we are doing it regularly!" I blurted out, making it even worse, resulting in me quickly escaping to my old room, dragging Sasha behind me, still hearing Mother yelling from afar, saying she would herself come in and instruct us in which pose makes it most efficient... Haaah... geez... I thought my Father was a beast in bed... turns out my Mother is worse...

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