Chương 33: Chapter 32 - Hard Hat

Alizia scrunched up the scroll paper in her hand and violently threw it at the wall. Sitting back down, she took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself down. Her brother, Haestus, had ordered for the summoned heroes to 'gather experience' at Stronghold Hatir. He never said what kind of experience, but clearly, this had something to do with the Pandor forces being spotted at the north eastern borders.

The issue was that the summoned heroes were already missing one member, a mage, that would've made up a full party. It was the single most important combat type in a party, second only to the front line swordsman, as it allowed quick kills before monsters could get close to the back line. More importantly, they weren't fighting against monsters at the stronghold, but most likely Pandor soldiers. Alizia also needed information from Tiffany about what happened at the Viscount's mines.

Rumours of Lazarus's disappearance already spread throughout all of Nulfrae. Depending on how complete the cave-in of the mines were, she would know whether the Earth Archmage would've been at total fault. It would have given her a reason to ally with Lyra for a legend's forceful entry into their borders. The information would come too late, thereby delaying a response. Her brother and father were going to be the death of this kingdom, and she wasn't one to lie down and just accept the results.

The fools couldn't even see the growing powers in the Hadstead mountains. Based on those bricked roads, a single bandit warlord could've rallied the whole mountain range to build a 'justified' business. A knock sounded from behind the door.

"My Princess, may I enter?" a guard said.

"You may," Alizia said to the Mist Knight disguised as an ordinary guard. He entered and then knelt down in front of Alizia's desk.

"Forgive my intrusion. I have reports from the inner royal court."

"Tell me," Alizia said.

"The Mist Knight assigned near the King has been reassigned to guard Lady Helle," the guard said. Alizia wanted to slam her desk right there. Lady Helle was one of the younger female nobles who had just joined the outer courts a moon ago, and her father was already lecherously staring at her.

"Was there a reason given by my father?" she asked.

"I was given no information on any reason, therefore I cannot make any conclusion or present you with hearsay."

"Fetch me a list of nobles that frequent the inner court," Alizia said. She needed to assign someone to monitor her father again.

"I do have information pertaining to a couple of orders given by the king by the Mist Knight that was reassigned."

"Speak."

"The King has ordered a squad to investigate the road tolls of the mountain range to see if they are part of a unified bandit camp." The guard looked up to Aliza from his kneel.

"The orders were as written: Investigate the road toll, check for any criminal activity. If criminal activity is found, destroy the road toll. If none found, then declare the toll roads in Hadstead mountain as part of Dragus and tax it." Alizia slammed her desk, unable to contain her frustration. Bandits became bandits because they didn't want to dwell within kingdoms. There would be no point in subjugating the road tolls.

In fact, if Dragus declared the roads were part of their kingdom, Lyra would most likely have diplomatic issues with it, and strengthen their borders in case of a blitz invasion. Trade with Lyra would also suffer as they could use the road as a reason for Dragus' act of aggression. It certainly didn't help that the bandit toll roads were much further ahead in Lyra's border compared to Dragus.

"My princess?" the guard asked.

"Nothing," Alizia said.

"Have a squad of Mist Knights arrest the investigation squad as their actions fall under the administrative functions of the kingdom."

"Yes, my princess!"

"Send a scroll to my brother and father that I will deal with the information gathering myself."

"As you command. I shall prepare the documents within an hour that will be ready for your stamp."

"Good." Suddenly, heavy footsteps came from behind the door. The guard immediately raised himself, preparing for the breach. But just as the steps arrived behind the door, they stopped. Three soft knocks came from the door.

"My Princess, it is I, Sveinn Feld. May I come in?"

"Anderssen, let him in," Alizia said. Andressen nodded. He sheathed his sword, stepped closer to the door and opened it. What came in was a man dishevelled beyond belief. His hair was a mess. The leather armour he wore had been torn in unusual places around the shin with a couple of burn marks. The expression he wore was as if he had seen something he shouldn't have.

Although his prowess was only at 70, it was still way above the average peasant, enough to fend for himself against horrors beyond the Capital's walls.

"Close the door and speak at once," Alizia said. Sveinn closed the door behind him and knelt in front of her.

"My Lady, forgive me for I do not know how to report this objectively."

"Try your best."

"I shall..." Sveinn took a deep breath.

"Our orders were to go back and report immediately if we see something odd or strange during our mission, yes? However, our mission had already gone astray once we set foot on the toll road."

"What happened?" Alizia leaned forward.

"Reiner was the first to break off from the group to try and infiltrate the southern bandit camp. Its distance is not too far from our capital. He saw a carriage full of dead slime blobs being carried into its gate, and sought to observe the bandits' use of the material. Has he not returned?"

"He hasn't returned. You're the first to come back."

"Frae bless his poor soul..." Alizia's eyes locked onto Anderssen's for a split second. Dead blobs of slime were indeed suspicious and enough to break off from the group. Yet Reiner hadn't come back yet. Yanis also didn't make it out alive from the southern bandit camp's grasp.

"Raise the threat level of the southern bandit camp to red. All soldiers from now on shall stay away from the camp until further notice," she said. This confirmed the legends Tiffany spoke of might've taken residence at the bandit camp. Poking a hornet's nest would just hurt them. If those legends were keeping to themselves, there was no reason to poke any further. Those reclusive legends always gave kingdoms a headache no matter where they went. What mattered was Lyra's economic threat.

"Understood, my princess," Anderssen said.

"That's not all I have," Sveinn said.

"Do continue," Alizia said.

"I was the second to break off from the group. I saw a wheel made of adamantite by the roadside and followed it down the western mountain path."

"Adamantite wheel?" Alizia asked. Had the Princess of Lyra gone crazy in creating wheels made of valuable war metal?

"Yes. It was bent and deformed from impact."

"Deformed?!" Alizia's eyes widened.

"Were there any signs of creatures or conflict at where you found the wheel?"

"I cannot conclude that myself. There are marks on the ground that looked of conflictlike conflict, yet it was a straight line where metal met against the brick road."

"A sword slash..." Anderssen said.

"The legends might've stopped the carriage or saved it from something," Alizia said. But even she did not believe her own conclusion. A carriage crashing and losing its wheel was even more preposterous. If the wheel itself was made with adamantite, the other parts of the carriage could very well be made of material that did not bend. Could the carriage have offended the legends that rested at the mountain range? The most likely scenario would be being saved by them. Frustration grew in Alizia even more.

Nothing was going her way and the fog of war hindered her view too much. Ever since the woman Alex left their ranks, situations kept arising, yet these weren't situations that would arise from economic matters of the former Mage Hero and Princess May.

"As I followed the western mountain range path, I was greeted by a horde of slimes nearby the trees. They were all fenced in by wooden roots, and could not escape," Sveinn said.

"Did you enter the fenced area?" Alizia asked.

"Yes, my princess. It is where I found pipes that led to Villipente, the main city of Baroness Lois. In that city, I found the fishermen using a dungeon artifact that makes cubed ice," Sveinn said.

"Without a water mage?"

"Yes. The city has become water mage independent." Alizia leaned back on her chair. The pipes would also have something to do with Villipente which housed slimes. From what she knew, slimes could digest anything and were also used for the royal castle's waste system. Outside the royal castle walls, the usual waste management system still used the 4 elemental mages to clean up the built up waste.

This part wasn't hard to understand, but the sheer audacity of creating pipes that could be broken by roaming monsters could lead to biological hazards and cause waves of disease if not handled properly. Lyra could create fertilizer using the facility... no. That did not make sense with the amount of slimes as the slimes would just digest any waste into nothing. What was the purpose of the dead slimes? The question itself was as nonsensical as the existence of legends resting in the mountains.

She had already declared the area to be off limits anyway.

"There is one more thing I must report."

"Speak."

"On my way back from the town during the storm, I felt dread within me as I saw the gods rage. Lightning and thunder struck multiple times in the same area. Bodies of Harpruffs and Howlers all litered the road, flowing with blood. I feel... a lightning god has descended and taken rest in the mountains." Alizia nodded grimly. During the storm, she had seen lightning strike constantly at the Hadstead mountain range. The information was one of complete objectivity.

The only thing missing was that she could not experience being near the anomaly herself.

"A legend with a prowess of around 900 could probably have that effect," she said.

"Princess Alizia, please state your commands, and we shall follow," Anderssen knelt down with Sveinn. What was there to do? Lyra wasn't a threat unless provoked, and neither were the legends in the mountain range. On the other hand, Pandor soldiers were seen around the north-eastern border. She still needed to wait for Tiffany's observation before she could orient herself and decide on what to do next.

There were only two options: ally with Lyra against Pandor for Lazarus' offense or delay the war if Lazarus had no fault in the mine's cave in. Either one was fine. The second option was better, as it would allow Tiffany's hero group to strengthen further. Naturally, she'd send the group to Lyra's borders to train in their novice and intermediate labyrinths. Question now, what could she do while waiting for them to arrive back? Personally see to Villipente's situation.

She could deduce the purpose of the pipes and slimes on her own, and the current situation of the town, whether it was influenced by the former Mage Hero's move. Objective reports were no longer enough. Observing the pipes could give her an idea of how to manage the kingdom's waste as well, a growing concern as population grows. She'd also be able to pass by the southern bandit camp as a bonus.

"Call for Alice, and tell her to see me in my office." Alizia sighed.

"We shall go on a holiday to Villipente."

"I shall call her at once," Anderssen said, then standing up to exit the room.

"What shall I do, Princess?" Sveinn asked.

"Rest. You've done well." Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ Sitting in the makeshift tent hut due to her SkyTower's construction at the City Hall's original location, Alex pondered, 'Why did they still have to cover the whole throne with fur?' The question didn't matter as it made sitting on the hard wood much more cozy as the winter months neared. That reminded her. This world didn't have the concept of shovelling or plowing snow.

That would become a problem for her toll roads, and they weren't going to stop building during winter. The Path was 'All Season' as she coined it. Alex's gaze swept across the table. On the table was a map of the continent of Mir, where Lyra, Pandor, and Dragus were in. Around her were Grey, Aurora, Yulka, and Rand.

"Greygrey," Alex said.

"Yes, my Lady. At your disposal," Grey said, bowing.

"How thick does the snow get during winter?"

"Winter lasts until half of the 3rdthird moon. By that time, snow can reach up to my chest. At its highest point, it can reach over my head." Alex whistled.

"Holy mama, that's high."

"It is an issue."

"Don't worry, Aurora. Your garden should be fine with the weather controller. Problem is everywhere else," Alex said, leaning forward to look down at the map.

"Do kingdoms usually shovel to get rid of the snow from walkways?" Aurora spoke up.

"There are water mages that clear the walkways. I'm afraid we don't have such luxury. There's only one Elador." Elador's got better things to do than clear out roads. Alex put a hand on her chin, rubbing it, then her eyes caught Grey's eyes. Oh no. The man was about to say it.

"If I may, according to the guidelines you've written in the OSHA scripture, snow is a potential slip and fall hazard. I believe this issue is of the highest priority," Grey said. Alex clenched her fist. There it was. The dreaded four-letter acronym that was the source of all evils and bureaucratic delays. Her single most formidable enemy.

"My Lady?" Aurora asked softly.

"Nothing. I understand the concern. We cannot let the people fall and get their worker's comp," Alex said as she teared up.

"Fear not! I have a plan."

"Yes, my Lady!!" everyone shouted in the tent. Looking at all of them, it seemed they too understood the pain of having to conform to OSHA standards. She really chose her C-Suite team well. Alex telekinetically carved a flat square tile from the floor and floated it up to her hand. She etched a simple heating element on it to use 1 ether to heat the area around it.

However, instead of just a simple 37C heating element on the square itself, she stretched the heating as far as it could, to about a 7-metre radius around the tile. Since it was stretched, it could only heat up to 5. 2C. It was still high enough that snow would instantly melt and prevent snow pile up. At the same time, the etchings were simple enough that Elador could probably just copy it.

"May we know of the artifact you've just created?" Aurora asked.

"It's just a simple heated driveway kinda thing," Alex handed it over to Aurora.

"Have Elador replicate that tile. It should already be connected to the Fraedium batteries based on the design. It'll heat the area around it so that snow would melt instantly so we don't have to clear anything. He should know what to do with it."

"I shall send it to him with haste," Aurora said as she hugged it to her chest.

"Next point of business. What's up?" Yulka stepped up.

"My turn then, hehe. The construction for the Heaven Conquering Path SkyTower is set to be complete within 6 months. But, please, may my barbarians work overtime to hasten the construction?" Alex's ears perked up. 6 months? She was expecting at least a year. That was even faster than the constant delays of the Toronto construction cartel racket. The construction workers themselves asking for overtime? It entirely proved this bulking hulk of a woman, Yulka, was one helluva slave driver.

"Overtime approved!" A laugh started to form from Alex's core until it was a full blown maniacal laugh.

"Yulka, good good. You did very good. What do you want?"

"I apologize, goddess of might, I don't know what that means."

"Yulka, it's ok. Tell the Lady of what you truly wish for."

"A hard hat, goddess of might."

"A hard hat?" Alex asked, caught completely off guard.

"A hard hat that will show the world of the goddess of might's terror! Everyone that looks at me wearing this hard hat shall cower in fear as I represent your might! HAHAHAH!"

"Cool... I'll give you a helmet," Alex said as she walked out of the tent.

"Come step outside." Everyone exited the tent behind her in single file. They stopped just outside the central square of Path HQ. From there, a crowd gathered to see what was about to happen. Murmurs from Path employees talked of the Lady's benevolence in allowing them a voice in the HR survey box. Alex ignored all of them. Materializing 3 cinder ores, 3 adamantite orders, and 3 yin ores from her space storage, she first melted the cinder and adamantite ores and shaped them into a helmet.

The cinder metal was used as plating on top of the adamantite metal. She left two holes by the head for the yin metal to be forced into as horn looking things. Since Cinder metal absorbed energy at an absurd rate, absorbing any heat, flames, or energy that nears the wearer, while the yin metal would be used as a heatsink,. The yin metal was curved into horns and were etched with a valve release for when too much heat energy was absorbed.

If the valve release was triggered, the secondary spell effect was to convert the mana into a radiance spell that would create a damage-over-time effect around the wearer of the helmet. The adamantite metal was the frame that would strengthen both softer types of metal. Thus, the glorious barbarian helmet was born, a two-horned black metal helmet that hid the wearer's face with a T-shaped opening. Afterwards, she conjured water and drenched the barbarian helmet to rid it of its remaining heat.

Yulka knelt down in front of Alex.

"Goddess of Might, I shall let the lands know of your terror and might. Everyone under the sky shall know to fear your very being!"

"Cool, cool. Here you go." Alex carefully put the helmet on Yulka. Now, her barbarian construction worker was even more barbaric. A slow laugh crawled up in her core once again. Aurora clapped, which cascaded to everyone around the square. Some of the employees cried at the show while Grey wiped away his own tears.

"Congratulations, Yulka. You've received the Lady's grace!" she said.

"Congratulations, Yulka. The Lady's benevolence has granted you a sliver of her fortunes," Rand said, clapping.

"As expected of the Lady. The hard hat she has gifted can even be worn in battle," Grey said. It was for battle, though? Stupid hard hats. Who'd want to make a hard hat anyways? Alex smirked.

"Now, onto more pressing matters." Walking back inside the tent, the others entered with her. As she sat on the bandit throne again, Alex thought of the current problem. Rubber. Currently, the standard yellow hard hats had a rubbery material that came from Ertha trees. It was in small quantities, just enough to allow the hard hats to be comfortable. But tires were a different breed. They needed a lot of rubber. The small quantity of it being imported from Dragus was not enough.

Alex needed to put it into production, otherwise, she'd have to accept the fact that carriages were the only mode of transportation, and she wasn't one to accept that.

"Greygrey, how long would it take to get to the east of Stronghold Hatir?" Alex asked. Both Rand and Grey flinched, but both remained steady.

"It would take 25 days by carriage, my Lady. I suggest we send employees right away," Grey said. That was way too long. She needed to at least have enough rubber for a set of tires by at least before winter starts.

"Do you one better. I'll transport you and Yulka over. Do you already know how to extract rubber from it?"

"If you mean from the excretions, then yes."

"There are issues on the eastern side of the stronghold," Rand said.

"What is it?"

"There's an advanced labyrinth just by there, named Esko Dagrun Large Labyrinth."

"So?"

"As the queendom that maintained the labyrinth was destroyed, it's most likely Dragus has not maintained it, causing Labyrinth breaks." Alex's eyebrow turned up. Sounds a lot like rift breaks from Earth when rifts weren't 'cleaned' up regularly.

"So when a labyrinth break happens, a horde comes out, did I get that right?"

"As expected of my Lady's wisdom," Rand bowed.

"Cool," Alex turned to both Yulka and Grey.

"You two cool with that?"

"The monsters pose no threat other than a safety hazard," Grey said.

"I shall not let OSHA down!" Yulka shouted.

"Great." Alex telekinetically grabbed both Yulka and Grey, neither one resisted as a blue outline formed around them.

"Ready?" In one snap of her finger, all three of them disappeared from the tent.... Aurora smiled.

"Have you finally seen the tears of the Lady, Director of Security, Rand?"

"I have. The beauty of her benevolence... was captivating." Rand's shoulders relaxed.

"As expected of the Lady's grace. She cares so much for her subjects' well-being."

"Had I not told you the story of my awakening?" Aurora said.

"She stood over me, watching me calmly as I fought against the pain."

"Multiple times, Chief Product Officer. It's still surreal to see it with my own eyes." Aurora nodded softly.

"Yet your eyes tremble, why is that, Director of Security?"

"I apologize, Chief Product Officer. I feel I should not envy Yulka's reward, but I do." Sir Rand sighed. She walked over to Rand's side and looked up at him.

"I believe it's not envy that you feel, but the desire to meet her expectations more and more to earn your own reward. Is it not?"

"Truly, I do want a reward. However, I cannot ask the Lady for such as I know I have yet to go beyond her expectations and catch up."

"Fear not, Director of Security. Your time comes near. As long as you follow the path she has laid, you will eventually be given her grace," Aurora said. She had known that feeling the night she was reborn a Druid Archon. The more it built up, the more the Lady's world affected them. Eventually, with her bottomless generosity, they would receive a gift from Her.

"Thank you for your kind words, Chief Product Officer," Rand said, walking the other way towards the tent's exit.

"I must do my duties with diligence. No monster shall set foot on the roads she has laid for her subjects."

"Go on, Sir Rand. Come by my house any time you need a Cafe Mocha," Aurora said.

"I shall take you up on that offer after my first round of patrol," Rand said as he walked out, but not before adding, "I shall see you at my coffee break. May Her Grace light your path."

"You as well, Sir Rand. May Her Grace light your path." ☕︎ ☼ ☕︎ ☽ ☕︎ Alex flew both Yulka and Grey towards the so-called 'east of Stronghold Hatir', or wherever it was. Grey was pointing the direction of where it was while Yulka floated casually behind them. They passed by Viscount Magnus's territory and then saw a large fortified castle just by the eastern Hadstead mountain range.

Monsters roamed the cold meadows, ranging from kobolds and orange goblins that somehow weren't green (or they could be hobgoblins) to a single hydra that already had two heads. Alex cared for none of these monsters or where the Esko Dargun dungeon was. Heading west further, she saw a large forest that covered the whole horizon. This one was mostly composed of trees with needle like leaves, like pine trees. There were other trees with leaves that had already turned orange, and most no longer had leaves.

"What you see now is called the Grand Edenwood Forest. The needle like trees are the Ertha trees Aurora has identified as the source of what the Lady calls 'rubber'."

"Cool." Alex then pointed to the large castle poking out of the horizon further east.

"And what's that?"

"That is... the lost queendom of Stormbringer." Yulka made a visor with her hands.

"So that's where your lost queendom was?"

"Yulka..." Grey sighed.

"It's fine, Grey," Alex said, not that she even cared about his history. Asking would be an HR violation.

"That's actually a good spot. Let's see what it's like." Moving at a high rate of speed, they descended in front of the castle's walls. Upon touching the ground, both Grey and Yulka sighed and fixed their own clothes. Looking up at the wall, Alex saw the heavy drawbridge was lifted, preventing access. Usually, if the castle was abandoned, the drawbridge would already be down instead of up, which meant there was something inside. Using exactly 1 mana, she pinged and sensed every living being in the castle.

There were multiple non-human living beings. It was something like a bipedal lizard like creature. Alex telekinetically dropped the drawbridge, slamming it onto its platform and causing a loud noise.

"Would it have been better to just fly over the walls?" Yulka asked.

"No," Alex said as she smirked. The noise would attract whatever the hell was inside. If they knew how to close the bridge, they were smart enough to know that loud noises needed to be checked. Sure enough, tens of the bipedal beings came out of hiding and peeked at the intruders.

"Those are drake demons, my Lady. The legends say they are drakes mutated from eating too many humans."

"Whatever," Alex said.

"Are they smart?"

"Yes, they are intelligent and dangerous."

"Who dares intrude upon our abode?" a red and white bipedal lizard-looking thing stepped forward. Alex noted his voice had a low hiss to it that would've been intimidating if he was... actually intimidating.

"So, I'll give you a deal. You leave this castle, and I don't kill you. Everyone wins."

"You small lowly looking wench of the humans. That is no deal. Leave at once before you ignite my anger."

"Look, buddy, lizard boy man, or whatever you wanna call yourself. I'll give you one more chance. Leave or the woman behind me claps you hard, and not in a good way. Capisce?"

"A barbarian woman poses no threat, even with that stupid looking helmet." The red and white drake demon laughed, causing all the other drake demons to laugh with him.

"Drakes know not of fear, yet you dare cast your bravado at us. You chew a fruit too big for your mouth, and you shall choke, wench."

"The hell are you even saying?" Alex scoffed. The 5th thing she hated most was poetry.

"I just want my outpost without having your guts spilled everywhere."

"Goddess of might, shall I 'clean house'?" All the drake demons laughed at them again.

"Leave at once before we break your teeth."

"Yulka, don't make too much of a mess."

"I shall try my best." Yulka stepped forward. Her mana circulated around her bones, and a domineering aura encased the whole surroundings with her at the centre. Some of the drake demons fell down as wet puddles formed below them. A couple outright stopped breathing as they tried to speak. The red and white drake demon held up his hand.

"Wait!" the red and white demon said.

"Yulka," Alex said, stopping Yulka's advance.

"Did the barbarian say goddess of might?"

"I did," Yulka said. The red and white demon knelt on the floor.

"This one's humble name is Anintrik. Please give us another chance of negotiation. This one was blind to the true face of the goddess of might."

"Sure."

"If I may ask, what is it that the goddess is looking for in this derelict castle? Our people know of the lands around this castle. We build sticky traps that could be sold to you for a discount, or would you rather have us drakes use our way of the hunt to provide your kingdom with food?"

"Sticky traps? Show me one."

"Certainly." Anintrik waved at one of the drake demons behind him. After waiting a couple of minutes, they produced a net-looking thing. Alex telekinetically grabbed it and felt the stickiness immediately. Though, since it was cold, it wasn't that sticky, but it wasn't exactly rubber.

"Do your lizards know how to gather this sticky material?" Alex asked.

"Yes, goddess of might. We've only recently found this material from the Ertha trees."

"I want this material. Do you have more of it?"

"We do not... but we can gather more. The issue is the labyrinth has broken multiple times in the past few moons, leaving many monsters in the forest."

"Thought you said you were strong," Alex chuckled.

"The monsters that spew out of the labyrinth are abnormal. We have to keep the drawbridge closed to prevent them from entering." Anintrik scratched his side.

"Fine. If you wish to stay, you shall work under the Path to gather this material," Alex said, then turning to Grey.

"Since this is now our outpost, make it OSHA compliant and presentable as part of the Path. Understood?"

"I shall do exactly as the Lady wishes," Grey said with a low voice filled with resolve.

"And Yulka. Clean up the monsters that came from the dungeon or labyrinth or whatever."

"Yes, Goddess of Might! I shall exterminate the pests and bestow your grace upon this land!" Alex snapped her fingers once again, and she disappeared from view, back to Path HQ.