The Mechanical Era

It was getting dark outside. Cora was getting ready to bring a cup of tea to Kant, who was in his room working on a school design. He had got Arjun to buy the land area that had the least profitable business in the city center. The land was said to be expensive.

She arrived at his room and poured it into his cup. Kant, upon seeing Cora, opened his briefcase and gave her the letter that had been sitting there, waiting. Cora was a little confused until Kant told her that it was from Victor.

"Victor? He gave you this letter?"

"Yes. He gave me the letter while looking away. Must be a personal one."

"I see sire, thank you."

Cora then dismissed herself and went to the room she shared with a maid friend named Katy. She was recombing her long wavy hair when Cora entered her room holding the letter to her chest.

"What is it, Cora? What is in that envelope?"

"It's from Victor. Prince Kant delivered it to me."

Katy looked at Cora's face, to see her blushing red. She pieced the puzzle together and guessed it was a love letter of sorts. She couldn't help smiling and even started to tease her a bit.

"Well, it looks like somebody is getting her confession."

"Shut up."

"Oh, what's this now? Are you refusing to acknowledge it? All those dreams you had in your head?"

"H...Hey! I haven't even opened it. It might be something else entirely."

"Well then, what are you waiting for? Open it!" Cora slowly took out the folded letter. Before she read it, Cora pushed Katy away to read it by herself. When she finished reading the letter, she folded it back and handed it out to her.

Katy wanted to ask, but when Cora had her index finger to her lips. She nods back and reads the letter, then gave it back to Cora.

"So you two are meeting in the marketplace the day after tomorrow?"

"Yes, I am."

"Well, good luck. Make sure you get him this time!" she said, winking.

...

Victor, wearing his usual outfit, went out in the middle of the night, with the moonlight being his only source of light. Most people were starting to go to sleep at this hour. As such, the city looked empty, deserted even. Yet everything looked well maintained, and it felt like it all belonged to him.

He came up near an alleyway, where a woman in a cloak was waiting. Using a simple fire spell, she lit up an ember, giving the two a sense of vision. Under the cloak was a blonde woman with coca brown eyes, and a round feminine face.

"Did I keep you waiting?"

"No, I just got here. Let us take this inside."

The two then walked into the alleyway, until they met a dead end. Victor knocks on the door to the left. It opens, with an old man inside it.

"What do you want at this hour?"

"May your god bless you." They both said at the same time.

"Come in," he responded. They walked into the house. It was dimly lit by a bunch of waxed candles, all half melted, with the only thing giving a decent light source being her ember. He walked them towards a room with a large hemp carpet in the middle.

Victor helped the old man roll up the carpet, revealing a trapdoor. He knocked on it. A tiny hole slid open, with an eye staring back at them. It then closed, and the door swing open to a ladder.

"The leader was waiting for you two. Come in."

...

The well-lit room had a short old man in the middle of his 50s sitting on his oak chair, guarded by a young man. He was completely bald on the head except for his thick white mustache with cocoa-brown eyes. He wore what the common man wore, a beige tunic made of hemp paired with brown leggings and calfskin shoes.

On his desk were a piece of paper, an ink bottle, and a quill in his left hand. He was currently writing a letter, possibly to some associate in another city. He stopped when his guard and friend informed him that they arrived.

The two both came down and sat on the chair.

"Cora," he asked in his deep voice.

"Yes sir."

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ "Regarding the prince. How is the progress coming along?"

"The prince is getting a grip on becoming a leader and appears to be growing more ambitious and popular among the people. Faster than we expected."

"How is he now?"

"Currently, he is working on something called the printing press. It would allow him to print a lot of papers."

"This sounds important, so who got the job?"

"Why, the Peterson's sir. I managed to convince him to select their workshop."

The man then turned his head to Victor.

"You got the job?"

"Yes sir. We did. The man seems to trust us. We have the blueprints for the printing press at the workshop."

"That is good yes. How many could you make?"

"He said that we can 2."

"Did he want to make more?"

"Yes sir. He wanted to make one or two for every school." Cora responded.

"What else did he want?"

"He wanted to know about any merchants he could trust. We gave him Audley."

"I see." The old man leaned back on his chair, back to his thoughts. There was a bit of silence among the three.

"When did you say you could bring make him a printing press?"

"A week. I went for a more conservative estimate. I hope it is enough."

"Hm... yes. That is enough." he went back to his desk to finish his letter, then gave it to Victor.

"Give this to Silvester tomorrow at the inn. He will construct a viable plan for the Prince. Then relay that plan to Cora, who will inform the other maids. Got it?"

"Yes sir. We will not fail." With that, the two left. The old man leaned back in his chair. 'It's about time we get in touch.'

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