Steel and Mana

Chapter 216 – Captured

When the time for the first proper run of our locomotive arrived, I fulfilled my kids' wish. We were on the train as it made its first round from the factory to the massive concrete lot, which was built for storing completed machinery. After arrival, it went through the U-shaped line we laid down and then returned to the factory grounds without stopping once. It was perfect, to say the least. We managed to reach about 70 kilometers per hour before slowing down as the track was running out right before us, yet I felt the train could handle more if we had enough straights.

"This will be incredible..." Mikan whispered after taking it for a ride, climbing off of it at the end. Her eyes sparkled like a child's while Luna hopped off behind her. Her hair looked like a bird's nest as she leaned out of the cart throughout the journey, enjoying our newest machine's speed.

"I am glad you see it that way!" I chuckled before helping Yuri down with Lancelot, who, although he didn't really understand what was happening, at least didn't cry once while in her mother's embrace. "I am going to open the subsequent few test runs. I am going to announce in the papers that we will have a lottery going next week. Everyone can buy a slip and play a number between one and a hundred. It will cost one silver and those whose number wins will be those with which we fill our first passenger cars for the test run!"

"We can use The Sovereign's Sessions to announce the winning numbers live! The whole city would probably tune in to listen to it!" Mikan agreed at once, clapping her hands happily.

"Not to mention the money landing in our treasury." Luna grinned, licking her lips, "Everyone is going to play at least once, if not thrice!"

"That's the idea." I chuckled before tilting my head, "But why did you name your show The Sovereign's Sessions? I was only in the first episode..."

"Yeah, but it is still hosted by your wives!" Yuri giggled, elbowing me, "Plus, every time it's on, the theater is filled to the brim, and all the places that have radios also need to put up extra seats. No wonder most bars or pubs made sure to get a contract with us and get a radio in as fast as possible!"

"Yeah! We have already sold out for the next ten shows." Mikan hummed, visibly proud of their success. "It brings the city together and is the best feeling!"

"Besides sex." Yuri argued, making me roll my eyes while Mikan just blushed, looking around, wondering who else had heard her.

"We could have sex on a train, too." Luna interjected, already corrupted by Yuri, and even if I spank her, she enjoys it, getting bolder every year.

"Okay, girlies! Stop!" I raised my hands before poor Mikan melted into the concrete. "We will have a little fun with the lottery, make it an exciting week for our people, and make them enjoy it."

"It will keep their eyes off the fact that soldiers are being moved around?" Yuri asked me as we walked, making me glance at her from the corner of my eyes.

"Yeah. I am going to disappear with Sasha for a few days and oversee our attempt at catching the spies. They have already passed the borders, and we are closing the possible escape routes behind them. They are already trapped; they just don't know yet. We will do it fast and do it hard, hit them, aiming to knock them out before they have a chance to react."

"Be careful... Please." Mikan whispered, holding my hands, being the most worried among my wives.

"Don't worry, Mikki! Hubby here is made out of pure luck! He bagged four epic, sexy, super-duper-horny wives and even has smartypant children!" Yuri whistled with a loud laugh, winking at me while rocking our son. Of course, Luna was right behind her to agree with her bestie, exclaiming proudly.

"For sure! They will be fine; if anything, it is the spy who needs to be careful! If they anger Sacchy, she will burn them all to a crisp, and we will learn nothing!"

"Now that you mention it..." I whispered, scratching my chin while looking into my wife's mismatched eyes, "I wonder how strong Sasha has become through the years..."

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"This is weird... Something is not right..."

Clara had been repeating the same words for the past three days every time she remained alone with her thoughts. Right now, sitting awake in her tent, she was nervously fingering a flute-like instrument in her hands, unsure what to do. It was what always helped to calm her paranoid mind, as it was one of the five magical items she brought with her. While the other four were simple paper slips, having ready-to-cast spells on them, this flute was something her master had given her as a life-saving object.

As for its powers? She didn't know; she was told to start playing on it, and everything else would be natural afterward. When she first felt that something was off, she had chalked it up to nerves. She thought it was because of seeing the steel bridge above a river that shouldn't even be there. The way it was built was made out of metal, and of all things, it was entirely out of place, standing in the middle of nowhere. Then, they connected the long railway to it, aligning it perfectly, before continuing to the other side and officially entering Avalon. Is this the Frontier? The home of barbarians? She hadn't seen one yet! By then, she wasn't shocked by the fact that massive, armored soldiers checked them, the same sort she tried to get her people close previously.

This time, looking at them up front, she finally realized how dangerous their aura was. Their armor was not ordinary, not made of metal, but something she had never seen before. Then, they had weapons made of... bones? With runes on them? She suddenly felt like she was walking into the unknown and was wholly unprepared... including her master. She had to document everything and relay it as soon as possible.

Maybe it was that experience that made her nervous, but then again, the further they advanced into this region, the more anxious she became. It could not be explained anymore by merely being spooked by the weird soldiers. No... it was her senses that were warning her. She was a witch; she had been more attuned to the world around her than any regular living being, and this Avalon was giving her the creeps. She entered the realm of a beast, and she had to leave... And leave now!

"I need to report back!" she mumbled, standing up. It was the middle of the night, and if she wanted to leave, it was the best opportunity.

She only grabbed her prepared spells and slipped out of her tent without packing anything. Standing silently amongst the hundreds of others who were workers and overseers, there wasn't much time to think as she began rushing towards the west. Luckily, it was a dark night, the moon half-hidden behind a thick cloud, and the torches burning at the edges of the camp weren't the brightest. Clara knew it was there where she would need to use her weapons because it was where the few guards protecting them were also stationed. If they noticed her, she wouldn't hold back!

As she was thinking about how to escape, her dread began rising higher and higher, growing stronger until it took over her body and forced her legs to move and dodge to the right. It happened just in time, missing multiple darts flying past her, penetrating her tent, and lodging themselves into the hard ground.

Clara's thoughts were wholly confirmed; she wasn't just spooked; she sensed the danger, saving her life. However, her mind was missing the point that all those bolts would have penetrated her legs, immobilizing her. They were here to capture her and not to kill her. But, it was no time to analyze everything, as her hand was in an upward swing, raising one of her precious slips, activating it with the ring on her pinky, embedded with a tiny stone of CC.

As she held it towards her attacker, a shadowy, slender figure hiding within the darkness, she was confident in her victory. Her eyes watched as the orange magic circle began forming, ready to release a fireball in a second or so... until it stopped. She couldn't believe her eyes, yet she was looking at it. A flash of light appeared in the darkness, and then her spell broke apart like glass, dispelled in an instant.

"What?!"

However, she wasn't a newbie. Even with her slip failing, she managed to dodge another attack, trying to pin her down as she continued running, jumping over crates and bags, turning randomly amongst the tents. Was it the slip? Or was it her ring? Hurriedly, she pulled out another one, biting her thumb, deciding to use her blood, which would be a faster conduit than stirring her mana into action.

True enough, the next spell came to life even faster, this time manifesting an icy cloud behind her, trying to give herself more of a chance to get away. Yet, as the spell began leaving a chilly trail and blocking her pursuers, another flash lit up the dark night for a second, and it was dispelled once again.

"...?!"

It was the first time when magic failed her... And she couldn't wrap her head around it. Why? What was going wrong? Is there a spell in effect that cancels hers? She didn't feel it ever to be put into place. As a witch, if something like that would be active, she would have felt it the moment she got close. Magic was in her blood... No, that couldn't be. Something was interfering with her prepared spells!

Desperate, zig-zagging through the hundreds of tents, obviously causing a ruckus, waking many workers up, and generating as much chaos as possible to shake off her pursuers, she decided to go for broke. Clara pulled out the last of her paper slips, no longer reserving her mana and using them simultaneously. One was another fireball, while the second summoned a gust of wind, blowing the tents apart before him, creating a shortcut as it got wilder, slowly forming a tornado. Yet, before both spells could power up to their fullest, there were two flashes, and they were gone. The fireball had no time to soar into the air and explode, and her wind mellowed out into a simple breeze.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

While cursing, she was finally hit, the bolts coming from her right, the first grazing her Achilles heel but the second cleanly penetrating her left leg, making her stumble and fall, rolling on the ground in pain. Yet, while tumbling and crashing, she was already clutching her flute, blowing into it without hesitation or moaning in pain. This time, there was no bright flash, letting literal music notes in the form of runes appear, flying out of her flute, coalescing into a massive magic formation above the workers' camp.

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"They run out of anti-magic casts." I mumbled, watching it happen not that far away, standing on a small hill, Sasha on my left and Oleg on my right.

"It seems our witch still had one last trick in her sleeve." my general whispered, biting his lip as I watched the formation take shape. I blinked my eyes rapidly, taking multiple snapshots of the runes that began appearing, solidifying them in the back of my mind.

"Should we let it form?"

"Nah. That would be cruel." I answered my wife, "Do it."

Without waiting, Sasha raised her staff, excited that she could finally use it for real for the first time since we made them. With it as a conduit, she had no need to affirm the runes verbally and murmur the incantation; it resonated with her thoughts and will. It wasn't a fire-based spell, though, because it was her attempt at casting the Trojan spell by herself. Even if Merlin was a prodigy thanks to his cheat-like gift, I think it was Sasha who was the true genius amongst us. As reincarnators, we were out of the race on behalf of our natural advantage.

I knew when we first met that she was brilliant. She always learned quickly, understanding whatever I threw at her, and by now, she was just as good of an engineer as I. She clearly enjoyed it, and in that moment, she demonstrated that she was just as powerful of a mage as Merlin, who had a previous lifetime to fall back on.

I watched as she summoned the spell, adapting it to what was manifesting above the camp in real-time and how the two magic formations completed at the same time. Ours immediately took over the little spy's, no matter what its effect was, canceling it out and destroying it with a loud, shattering sound. The next moment, bright, fireworks-like shimmers fell back onto the camp, illuminating it like a flare, as if it were made of millions of little fireflies.

"Move in, General," I said with a smile, patting my wife's shoulder. "Capture our unwelcome guests and quarantine the workers. We need to examine all of them thoroughly."

"Consider it done! My Sovereign, My Lady..." He bowed before rushing out, joining our elite soldiers who were already containing the chaos before it could erupt in full force, causing me to lose potential, valuable workers.

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