?The air around him cooled down a little as the month progressed. It was nearing the end of the summer and the beginning of autumn, which was only a few days away. Kant''s hands were upied by a sharp wooden pencil, moving along the rules of a wooden ruler on top of the A3 sheet of paper, making a blueprint of arge steam-powered machine.


    It had a few metal wheels on each side, connected to each other with a rod. The was also arge steel cylinder with a tall and wide exhaust at the front of it, puffed smoke, imitating those factories in Industrial District 1. On the back end, there was a ce where a few men could stay, controlling therge vehicle.


    With the steel mill set up, he now had the necessary materials to start designing and reinventing one of the most revolutionary devices of his old world; the steam lotive. It allowed the mass movement of people and goods from one location to another, which will be a key factor in developing Kant''s kingdom further.


    As he kept on drawing the blueprint, his ears picks up someone knocking on his door. Kant stopped drawing on the paper with his pencil, rolled up the diagram, ced it in the drawer, and permitted the man on the other side to enter. n Fleck walked inside the room, carrying a few files with him.


    "Good morning your majesty! I hope I wasn''t interrupting anything important?" n asked the king.


    "No, not at all. Sit down, minister." n walked right up to the chair and satfortably. Kant, keeping eye contact with the minister, questioned him.


    "What brings you here, minister n?" Kant asks.


    ''Well sir, I have organized everything that you have requested of me and I came here to deliver the news myself.


    The first is about the void crystals. I got a few supplies, who agreed to send in 50 grams of void crystal.


    Though it was very expensive, costing about 5 gold coins. We should be receiving the crystals by the 3rd of Folia, next month."


    "That is good. What about the preparations for the tests?"


    "Done as well. I have managed to find a few volunteers that fit your criteria and range of skills. We should be able to do the tests on the 7th of the next month.


    I have also reserved an area where you can safely conduct them in a proper manner, along with a few researchers experienced with adequate equipment they have been provided to study and record the results," n exined.


    "That is wonderful. Is there anything else?" n hands over the files that he has been carrying. Kant opens them up, to find a detailed profile of a bunch of war-hardened men.


    "I got a couple of excellent contenders that could fill the secretary of defense position. Their qualifications are in the files there.


    From what I know, these men are said to be extremely flexible, able to learn and adapt to different conditions in war and technology, a good track record of working well under multiple leaders, AND is loyal to anyone offering a good sry.


    pαndα,noν?1,сoМ They are, without a doubt, the best contenders to fill the role of Secretary of Defence, although they would act well as the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Service Secretaries, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Military Service Chiefs, Field Commanders, or any other areas you would want them in."


    As n finished exining, Kant focused on the men present in the files. It presented people from different parts of the northern half of the continent, all of whom have fought and battled against Rose.


    "You seem to have found a lot of remarkable people," Kantmented.


    "If you are struggling to choose one, I do have a rmendation of a man personally, but I don''t think you would like to hear from me, sir. Unless you want to, that is."


    "It is fine. Who do you want to rmend?" Kant questions.


    "Well, there is a man named Richard Armstrong. He is 46 years old and he got his start in the 90s session crisis. He had managed to rank up quickly at that time.


    He is this big and respected guy who had to retire because of his belief in the church. Thankfully, he wasn''t executed to keep rtions with his respective kingdom, which looked up to him as a hero.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    He yed a big part in "the swift continental war", being one of the onlymanders who employed effective tactics against Rose Valline''s musketeer soldiers. I think he would be an ideal candidate."


    Kant was silent. He read through Richard Armstrong''s profile, which references him to be a 6''6 giant, towering above other men. The more he read about him, the more impressed he became with his qualifications.


    "Hm... I see. Can you send out a letter? I would like to speak to him."


    "I will, sir. Is there anything else that you wanted me to do?" n asks.


    "I do, yes. Just give me a minute."


    Kant ces the files to the side and pulls the drawer. He then takes out the rolled-up blueprint and presents it to n. He then gets up from his chair, grabs more files, and hands them over to n. While therger A3 blueprint presented the whole device, the smaller files contained the smallerponents of the device.


    "Ever since the steel mill had started, I have been working on a new invention that I hope will revolutionize transportation, and expand the kingdom of Hoverdam''s reach and economic power.


    Before the mill, I had no way of acquiring the adequate amount of materials needed to build this device, especially without steel. I am sure you know about what a steam tram is, minister n?"


    "Yes sir, I do. Is what you sir, are presenting like a bigger version of that?"


    "Yes. I call it a steam-powered lotive. You can call it a train or lotive if you prefer. It works on the same principles as the tram, but it is much faster and has a higher carrying capacity than a tram.


    I intend of building these lotives and rail lines to connect and integrate the other urban settlement residing inside the kingdom''s borders, to allow for more ease of moment within the kingdom.


    Once the kingdom itself is connected, I desire to expand the rail lines outward, connect and integrate other kingdoms into the city of Hoverdam, sell more of the kingdom''s products to other cities, and import more materials to the kingdom to allow further expansion of industry."


    n looked at the blueprints and was rather fascinated by the drawings. At this point, he no longer began to feel surprised at the disy of Kant''s immense mechanical engineering knowledge.


    "This is a veryplicated device. I assume you desire me to send some letters to a few firms and get them to work together to build the machine drawn on paper?" n asks.


    "That is correct, minister. For this mechanical device to work, I would need to employ many engineers specialized in a variety of fields, toe together to make eachponent of the device.


    For this to happen properly, I think it would be best if they work off at the same location, so that they canmunicate better and make design changes faster. Once the parts are built, they will then have to be assembled and then tested for any failures. Are you getting any of this?"


    "Yes sir. I need to send out the letters to the firms, detailing what you just said, and get them to work on developing the necessary mechanicalponent in a disclosed building.


    I will also make sure to reserve a location to test the device. Howrge would you like this location to be?" n asked.


    "About as twice as the steam tram, for a longer test line. Do you think you can find a spot?" Kant asked. n thought of it hard, wondering where he could find a ce like what Kant had described. Suddenly out of nowhere, a candle was lit in his brain.


    "I got it, sir! You can do the tests in an area located on the outskirts. We can use the cargo trams to deliver the heavy parts to the area quickly and assemble the device there. Will that work for you, sir?" n suggested.


    "That will work just fine," Kant answers.