Chapter 154 – Little Explorer


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Is this all we learned?" I asked with a half-smile, sitting on my throne while reading the report that Merlin passed onto me. "This is pathetic... At best, it is good enough for you to base your next story''s viin on someone real."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"There was nothing much else in his head. First, it was General Oleg who interrogated the bandit before I also conducted a second round, using magic this time. It turns out he told us pretty much everything from the start. Our guess is that it is the Lion''s side-effect because he witnessed it move and speak."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"See? Psychological warfare is a thing!" I answered with augh, looking back at the document in my hand.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Should we do a mind alteration on him? It was already easy to break him for the truth; his defenses are low."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"No. He is trash and someone I won''t bother with redeeming. Yuri, even though she was ruthless when it came to negotiating, at least bargained for her gang''s future and wasn''t only looking out for herself. This one escaped the first moment of trouble, leaving everybody behind. Use him for your tests; I don''t need someone without any loyalty."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Can... can I?" He stopped dead in his tracks, looking at me stunned, his eyes widening.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Yes. I don''t need the details; I just need results, so don''t waste the opportunity and don''t get used to it! This... stays between us. Got it?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I will do it well, My Lord! You don''t have to worry! I will need to decide which test I want to use him for..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Watching him murmur to himself while he walked away made me sigh, thinking that I may just let out the genie from its bottle, but oh well. It was already toote. It was an opportunity I also didn''t want to waste, and I wouldn''t shed a tear if our intruder died an inhumane, horrible death.


    <span style="font-weight:400">Leaving the throne room, I returned to my study and continued reviewing the rest of my ministers'' reports and signing their works or denying some iing requests as we needed all the materials to build a second mech. I was just finishing a stack of papers, pressing my stamp on them, when the door opened, but looking up, I saw nobody entering.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Ga!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"No way..." I mumbled, standing up, and sure enough, it was my son waddling in, taking unstable steps, wearing nothing but her cloth diaper, and holding a long, hooked stick that he used to reach the doorknob.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Gaaaa!" He shouted again, happily announcing his arrival and making me twitch my mouth while smiling back at him.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Exploring, huh? You... The moment you learn to walk, you are escaping. You do know that this will make your mother spank you, no?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Ga?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Protecting you? Son, you need to take responsibility for your actions! I can''t defend you, not when your mother is right to be angry."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Ga..." He mumbled, lowering his head, looking troubled, trying to act as the victim here.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Where''s your sister?" I asked with a shrug, walking forward and lifting him up while he automatically hugged my neck, giggling and kissing my cheeks.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Ga! Gagaga-gu!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"You-! You used her to escape without being seen?! You two, little... Uuuu!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Gau..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Sorry?! You will have to say that to Luna!" Just as I eximed, there she was, rushing in, her face overwhelmed by pure panic until she saw Arthur in my arms.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Thank the Gods! I looked away for a moment because Le began crying, and he was gone! He can teleport! It wasn''t my fault! Please don''t tell Sasha!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I won''t." I answered, crouching down, rubbing her head, and letting her calm down. "Where is Le now?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"With... Mikan... hauh..." She sniffed, her mismatched eyes filled with tears.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Gauuu..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Hmph! They are devils! You are a little monster; I won''t forgive you for this for... two days!" She grunted, scolding Arthur and pointing at him with her index finger.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Gau... Gu...? Gagu?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I don''t care! You scared me to death! Hmph!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"See?" I shrugged, looking at my son, "I may not tell Sasha, but you still need to deal with the consequences of your choices, my son. It is up to you and not to me!" I eximed, giving him back to Luna, who kept resisting Arthur''s pitiful gaze, his hugs, and kisses.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I''m going to take him back... And... You really won''t tell Sasha about it?" She asked me again, looking pitiful, making me lean forward, gently kissing her lips.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Don''t worry. I won''t. It wasn''t your fault anyway."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Of course, Sasha found out about it by dinner thanks to Le babbling merrily, proud of how good she yed the role of a tantrum-throwing, spoiled brat... so Arthur can sneak out ande to me, demonstrating how good he is with walking by himself. Before Luna could plead for mercy, Sasha grabbed the little imps and made sure they would remember how it felt to be royally spanked.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"You are too soft on them." She snorted, ncing at me, never once scolding Luna.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Um... how is it my fault this time?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"You are their father. Discipline them!" She added, raising her voice and making me twitch my mouth.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"O-okay... okay! I will... next time."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Do it well, so there is no next time! Hmph! You are too soft!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Just give up..." Yuri whispered, quickly looking away when Sasha''s head snapped onto her, "Nothing, nothing... nice weather, we have, huh?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"We do!" Mikan interjected, happy to change the topic during our dinner. "But the winds are already turning colder; winter shoulde soon. By looking and feeling the weather, at least this time, it won''t be likest year!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"That doesn''t mean it won''t be cold, so we must prepare." I answered, making her ask a question, turning all heads toward me.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Will you be at the Pass this time too?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"When needed. Yes. I must observe how my father uses the mech. Speaking of, we are about to arm it for real! Are youing to watch?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Ga!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"No." Sasha scoffed, shooting down our little twins, who raised their hands at once, wanting to say they would surelye along. "Act like a fool; get treated as such! None of you wille along, and you will stay back here with me! Hmph!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Guuu..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">Well, my dear little pumpkins... this happens when you anger your mother. Be it a lesson for you two!


    <span style="font-weight:400">...


    <span style="font-weight:400">....


    <span style="font-weight:400">......


    <span style="font-weight:400">Since getting his hands on the finished mech and naming it The Lion, my father hasn''t been idle at all. Maybe he would have been a great modeler in my time; who knows? But for sure, he painted the machine perfectly, given its size. Its basic, dark, rough iron color was gone, reced by a silvery primer that was then painted on further using blue and gold colors.


    <span style="font-weight:400">With its tingpleted, it now looked more menacing, like a soldier wearing hisplete armor set, glinting blindingly in thete autumn sunshine. Even more, I let my father hang a massive banner from the bottom of the machine, disying his personal heraldry of a roaring lion. As for weapons, besides the two cannons on its shoulders, there were weapons added for close-quarter battles.


    <span style="font-weight:400">To ensure it can''t just lose its weapon, we made multiple arms that could be switched out before every sortie, testing my design''s modrity. Right now, the Lion''s right hand was formed to end in a de, thergest that was ever made by any cksmith in this world. Was it sharp? Not really; it was more about busting the giant monster''s skull in. It was much too big to be called a sword. Massive, thick, heavy, and far too rough. It was a heap of raw iron.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Beautiful, isn''t it?" Father chuckled, standing beside me, pping my shoulders, and catching my grin.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Yeah. It is." I nodded, deciding not to quote loudly what I had just thought about. Instead, I turned my eyes to the empty left hand of his machine.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"What about the shield? It isn''t ready yet?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Young Merlin said that it still needs time for the formation to be ready but should be done by the first snowfall. I tested the sword, and swinging it is different than doing it for real; I can''t use the same techniques I developed."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Naturally. This hunk of metal is not as mobile or agile as you are, Dad! You need apletely different approach to battle."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"There is where you are wrong, son!" He smiled, squeezing my shoulder, his blue eyes burning in such light that it amazed me. "It helps me break through! I have always been thinking about where to advance my fighting style. My martial arts were stagnating, but right now? I can feel myself improving thanks to piloting this machine! I needed this... I really did."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"What do you mean?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Simplicity. My technique became tooplicated as I always added and changed moves and tiny movements within it. Finally, I can strip all the unnecessary elements I incorporated into mybat style and return to the origin where it all came from. It is as if I suddenly saw the light, and I feel that when I seed, I will elevate my style to the next level!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I don''t get it... But I believe you! I''m sure you can do it!" I grinned, patting his back, "Speaking ofbat, I was thinking of adding smaller cannons onto the chest te; what do you think? We need less powerful weapons to bombard fast-moving targets heading towards the wall."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I was about to advise you about it. I also wanted to make another request of you."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I''m listening."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I want a hot air balloon. We could use it to send scouts high up into the sky, higher than any of our towers, and keep watch. Warning us ahead of time. Would that be possible?"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Hm... I think." I mumbled, looking towards the freshly rebuilt tower that was destroyed inst year''s attack. It was now back up once again, thanks to our professional workers. "We could tether it to the walls and use a spell to make it function as we have no natural gases to use and burn it at the required temperature and intensity..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"What I am hearing, my son, is that you can make it work."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Yeah. I can. Give me a few days, and we will set it up with Sasha!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">...


    <span style="font-weight:400">....


    <span style="font-weight:400">......


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Good... you are very good at organizing, my dear!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"T-thank you, My Empress." Mn stuttered, bowing, standing next to Mirian as the two were all alone in a giant ballroom, easily just as big as his own home''s multiple bedrooms put together. "But... is it a good idea to let me read such sensitive information? These are... for your eyes only!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Silly!" She giggled, looking up at him standing next to her, enjoying his troubled expression. "You are going to marry me, don''t you? Then it is fine! Look, I knew you were good; you helped me organize all of these reports in just a day!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">Deep down, Mn wanted to argue, telling her he had no other options after being summoned and led into this massive room. He was met with a fifty-meter-long table and thousands of hand-written reports stacked on top of it and told to get ready before being left alone. He had to go through and organize them by the rank of the sender and deeming which were important and which weren''t, putting those that came from the newly upied territory at the very top of the list before presenting it to his Empress.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I need a capable husband~! Come, I''ll let you rx a little; your face is so tired!" She giggled, standing up and hugging Mn from behind while one of her hands disappeared in his pants and the other slipped under his shirt, "Good boy~ Just let it go; I''ll always reward you well for your efforts!" She whispered, taking deep breaths, enjoying his scent while losing herself in ying with Mn''s body.


    <span style="font-weight:400">It was an hourter when Mn finally returned home, meeting with his father in his office, copsing into one of the chairs, looking conflicted.


    <span style="font-weight:400">"You look-"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Just don''t, father. Please..." he mumbled, rubbing his forehead. "That girl has something loose within her brain! She frightens me..."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"She is from the royal bloodline; they are all a bit mad."


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Tell me about it. I didn''t believe it before, but now? For sure!" he moaned, making his father smile. "Let me recollect my thoughts, and then I will tell you what I managed to memorize. We got a lot of reports from the annexed Kingdom of Scorc, and the ones sent there are already asking for military aid. It was a good decision to not ept the offer!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"Good boy..." Duke Kustov smiled, watching his son proudly. "Take your time, and when ready, start your report. Don''t forget, you are doing this to save our family!"


    <span style="font-weight:400">"I know. We do not have a choice in this, and don''t worry, Dad! I finally... I think I finally understand what you meant when you told me to never trust the Imperial Bloodline. I thought you were dramatic, but... they do give me the creeps..."