Chapter 540: It’ll All Be Over Soon

The feeling of being choked was intense.

Lying there, helpless, Lucas could only look up at the woman he had trusted, had partnered with so many times over the past 9 months, and shed a single tear as he hoarsely asked, "H-How could you betray me... Big Sister Allina."

However, unlike any time before, Allina’s eyes remained cold as she stared down at the boy she had affectionately called ’Little Brother’, holding his throat in her hands as she said indifferently, "You reap what you sow."

Leaning in, Allina’s pressed her face closer as a small, evil smile crept onto her face, "Now stop struggling. It’ll all be over soon..."

"Gaaahh!!!"

...

...

...

"Oh, stop being such a baby!" Allina snorted as she finished applying the ointment to the bruises on Lucas’ neck, "You’ve had worse wounds than this."

"That doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt!" Lucas complained as he laid on his bed, grumbling uncomfortably.

Why Lucas had almost been strangled to death was a long story, one that began 4 days ago when Christina had left with the army to patrol the Lorren.

Even before the princess had set off on her temporary military assignment, Eris had been busy with her Rising Phoenix Guild’s activities, keeping her out of the house most days from dawn to dusk.

Danika and Yuki had also somehow been roped into Eris’ shenanigans, so whenever the latter was out, they too were basically forced to tag along.

Tobey and Mabel spent most of their time in lessons either at the Balfour Manor, or at the Rising Phoenix Guild, the two former orphans showing a level of dedication which was rare for such young children.

Sasha was still swamped with refugee resettlement work as there seemed to be no end to the issues surrounding the migration of tens of thousands of civilians from one side of the kingdom to the other.

Perhaps that wasn’t a surprise, though.

Supreme Elder Carlson had recently had some kind of epiphany regarding the Unarmed Foundations Art and had basically locked herself in seclusion, requesting not to be disturbed.

Jake, Jenny, and Jessie had no free time as Princess Bakery only continued to grow in popularity, and with Christina now gone, they had to pick up the slack.

In other words, the residence where Lucas lived was basically empty all-day-long, with everyone needing to attend to their own work or responsibilities.

Lucas, of course, was no exception.

In fact, he was dealing with a particular troublesome problem right now, one that required him to take a little trip to the heart of the Balfour March’s mining and smithing industries.

And so, Lucas, Marco, Adam, and Allina hopped on a pair of Tartans early in the morning and took off, heading for the nearby Torren Ridge.

Of course, ’nearby’ was a relative term, as it still took nearly 4 hours to reach their destination.

Funnily enough, since Lucas and Allina were the only ones who knew how to properly handle the Tartans, it ended up being Marco and Adam, the two young blacksmiths, who had to cling onto them.

Marco was alright as he was partnered with Lucas, but poor Adam, who was forced to ride together with Vice-General Crest, was close to tears by the time they landed.

Being able to wrap your arms around such a beautiful woman would normally be an incredible experience for a young man, but knowing this woman could easily snap his spine in half over her knee if she thought for an instant he was doing or even thinking anything inappropriate...

Anyways, the first thing Adam did upon touching solid ground again was to demand that Marco switch places with him on the way back.

Marco, of course, not wanting to experience the suffering Adam had, vehemently refused, causing a bit of a scuffle between the two until Lucas broke them up and ordered Adam to lead them to the mines.

Adam wasn’t just a talented young blacksmith, he was a native of Torren Ridge, so he knew his way around better than even Allina did, hence why Lucas insisted on him accompanying his team.

Marco was here as he was the lead developer on Project Revolution, which Lucas thought might just be the answer to the problem he was facing. If that turned out to be the case, then the first-generation steam engines which had been under development for the past 6 months might finally get their inaugural public deployment.

As for Allina, she had tagged along mostly as Lucas’ bodyguard, but her expertise in logistics and supply chains for the Raging River Legion, and her keen administrative abilities were also critical to solving the current conundrum.

As the group of 4 walked through the streets of Torren Ridge, Lucas couldn’t help thinking that this place greatly resembled Iron Rock, with smithies randomly dotting the streets and an abundance of armour and weapon shops.

Even in the hot summer weather, these forges never stopped working, the heat from their furnaces causing the overall temperature inside city to feel several degrees hotter than it should be.

"Torren Ridge produces over half of all the weapons and equipment used by the 3 Armies in the South-East Province, as well as a large amount of the domestic ironware consumed by the civilian population," Adam half-explained, half-bragged.

It was clear that, despite moving to Misty City, he was still very proud of his hometown.

"En," Allina nodded along, "Torren Ridge has been the primary supplier of arms and armaments for the Balfour Family and Raging River Legion for over 300 years, long before Misty City was even founded."

"Ho..." Lucas took in the sights around him with appreciation.

Sure, none of the small workshops or smithies here could compare to the main forge back in the Balfour Family’s Misty City Manor, but these independent shops had their own unique appeal.

These people were professionals who took pride in their craft, which was always something worth praising.

Thinking about it like this, Lucas almost felt a little bad about what he was here to do, as it would probably spell the end of this kind of scene.

Not immediately, mind you, but with the introduction of concepts like mass-production and standardization, a certain amount of artistic creativity and individuality would undoubtedly be lost, along with a fair number of jobs and careers which had been passed down for a dozen generations or more.

Still, progress wasn’t something you could stop, especially if you didn’t want to get left behind by the universe, and Lucas certainly wasn’t going to cancel his plans just because some people might end up getting the short end of the stick.

He would provide financial assistance and new job opportunities to those who were displaced, as the talent of these smiths was still something incredibly valuable to him, but Lucas also wasn’t going to hesitate or even slow the rate of development in the Rockwell Kingdom.

If anything, he wanted to massively accelerate things; that was the only way he knew of to really protect the nation and its people, as well as to venture out into the wider world without having to worry about not having a home to return to.

There were also his parents who were trapped half-way around the world, Frey and Bron’s Snow Spirit Foxes to return to their northern home, and Yuki to reunite with her mother at the southern pole.

In short, Lucas couldn’t stop now.

Those who were willing to come along with him would see a future filled with wonders they had never dreamed of before; those who got in his way or tried to stop him would be mercilessly crushed and ground into dust.

Such was the merciless nature of ’progress’.