Enlightened Empire

"Killari! How good to see you!" Alcer shouted, happy to meet his friend again after more than half a year.

Back in the day, the two of them had been comrades, who had fought together during the war against the central kingdom. However, ever since Killari lost a few fingers in the war, he had been forced to retire from the army. As a result, they hadn't met since the start of the war.

Though despite his injury, Killari had at least found new work as a police officer. Even now, he wore the uniform of Saniya's protectors, or harassers, depending on who was asked. Though if those two — protectors and harassers — were established camps within the police, then Killari would clearly be part of the latter.

"You're late," the policeman complained towards his good friend. "You're late and now my feet hurt."

As always, Killari was grumpy and rude. After all, Alcer was exactly on time, according to the large clock that had recently been installed on the bridge's guard tower. Not to mention, according to Killari's character, he wouldn't have arrived here more than a few minutes ago. Still, arguing wouldn't get him anywhere, so he just obediently apologized like he was expected to.

"Haha, sorry about that. I'll buy you a drink later, so please forgive me," Alcer said while slapping the policeman's shoulder.

"Hmph, didn't think our great hero even drank."

Although Killari's face finally showed a smile, his words were still rude. Alcer was unsure if his friend was jealous of his success, or unhappy that he hadn't contacted him until he needed something. Maybe it was just his usual, grumpy demeanor. Either way, his time wouldn't be best spent with an analysis of his friend's character. Instead, he used his trusted method of switching topics.

"Quite the weather we're having today, huh?"

"Yeah, though I heard it might rain later today."

After his reply, Killari belted out a laugh loud enough to attract attention from the passersby around them. Meanwhile, Alcer tried to force a laugh as well, despite the oddly familiar joke. Despite the hero's conflicting feelings, it seemed like the policeman was now finally in a better mood, so it was time to broach the main subject.

"Since it's about to rain, we best get out of the way before we get wet," Alcer said, although his clothes were already soaked from the constant drizzle. "You said you had organized a meeting?"

"That's right. I found the guy you wanted, and told him to meet us in an ale house half an hour ago." Again, Killari laughed, this time with a malicious look on his face. "I like having others wait for me. Doesn't that kind of stuff make you feel important?"

So that's why you were mad at me, Alcer realized when he saw Killari's grin. You just thought I'd be too early as usual. His friend was still as petty as ever.

"In that case, we'd better get going," Alcer said and stretched out his hand to help Killari stand up straight.

"Don't rush an invalid, great hero."

Rather than accept Alcer's goodwill, the policeman brushed aside the helping hand and stood up by himself. As if his feet didn't hurt any more, he made his way towards the bridge surprisingly quickly. Though of course, Alcer doubted they had ever hurt in the first place.

"So you're sure this guy is good enough?" the veteran asked, trying to make conversation. For some reason, Killari didn't use his friend's words of doubt to complain this time.

"You wanted to find a blacksmith, right? Well, this guy's learned from the best," he said instead. "Whatever kind of blade you want to make, he is your man."

While Killari spoke, he showed some papers to the guards at the bridge, who waved the two of them through.

"You owe me more than just one favor, by the way," the policeman continued as he put the paper back into his pocket. "I got in debt with a lot of people to arrange this."

Of course Alcer knew this was an exaggeration. Even so, finding someone on the king's islands, and then bringing someone unrelated over there in a private matter, wasn't something that could be done by just anybody. Surely, Killari had needed to call in a few favors of his own to make today's meeting happen.

Thus, Alcer obediently replied: "As always, I'm forever in your debt."

Back during the war, Killari had already saved him more than once. Of course, Alcer was also the one who got his friend his current position with the police, but that wasn't something worth mentioning among friends.

"You better believe you are," Killari scoffed, though he was smiling again, which probably meant that he was only half serious. "Oh, and when you meet the guy later, you should be prepared. He's a weird one, but I can guarantee his skills."

"You've already said that twice now," Alcer noticed. "What's so great about him?"

"He's the former chief apprentice of Master Asiro, the boss of the steel mill. Why do you think we're meeting him on the king's islands?"

This news was a pleasant surprise. Master Asiro was a well-known figure in the city. His mass-produced weapons had created the royal army, he had received the highest honors in the kingdom's first ever victory celebrations, and he was even a friend to the king, if rumors were to be believed.

The disciple of such a man would surely be outstanding as well. As the two friends crossed the Lightning Bridge, Alcer could barely contain his anticipation.

Apart from Rapra Castle itself, almost all the buildings on the islands around it had been built only in the last few years. Thus, just like everything else on the king's islands, the ale house called 'The Tipsy Tradesmen' was brand new, squeaky clean, and brightly lit. Only a single drunkard slumped in the corner sullied the interior's pristine look.

Since the bright, open room was very easy to parse, Alcer didn't have a hard time finding their target. Apart from the drunkard, there were a few tradesmen in the middle of the room, noisily celebrating something or other, while another couple of young and old sat at the counter, either master and apprentice or father and son.

Beyond them, there was only the drunkard, as well as a young man with long, auburn hair, freckles and a small burn scar on his left cheek. The young man sat a bit aside from the tumultuous fun in the center of the room. If Alcer wasn't completely mistaken, this was the guy they were looking for.

"There's our man," Killari confirmed. "Let's go."

Yet before the two could get close, the freckled target jumped up and raised his hands.

"It wasn't me, officer. Honest," he shouted. However, Killari didn't seem interested in apprehending the suspect.

"Very funny," he just scoffed, before he turned to his friend. "Alcer, this is Mallku, trained metalworker and former chief apprentice to Master Asiro. Cheeky kid, this is Alcer, former army ensign and sharpshooter."

Maybe he had realized that no one would react to his joke, but Mallku simply let his hands fall onto the table as he plopped back down on his chair.

"So you are the famous hero this policer has been talking about so much?" he asked towards Alcer.

"Has he?" the former hero asked, while giving a gloating look to his friend. Wasn't Killari just too shy to admit how much he cared? In response to the tender moment, the policeman took a step back, with a face as if he had eaten a fly.

"Looks like I should get going," he said in a brisk tone. "You two have fun."

"You don't want to stay?" Alcer asked back. He hadn't wanted to drive his friend away with his joke. "I still owe you that drink."

However, Killari shook his head.

"No need. Better not have any outsiders here. You two have to talk about private business, right?"

"We do," Alcer confirmed. "But I thought maybe you wanted to join my venture as well. I mean, you know a lot of people from your time in the police, and I could need someone reliable in my new company."

"No to that, too." Again, Killari shook his head, though now he was smiling again, and he didn't even have to insult anyone to get there. "I like being police. I can harass people I don't like, and I can tell everyone what to do. My kind of work. If you're so desperate for more help, why not ask Kichka? That guy hasn't been doing so well these days."

Back during Alcer's time on the Verdant Isles, Kichka had been one of his subordinates. Most of his troop had died in the horrible jungles back then, but Kichka had made it all the way through somehow. Since he hadn't seen the guy in a while, maybe this was a good excuse to make contact again. While he was still thinking about his former subordinate, Killari had already turned and left towards the exit.

"Thanks for the tip," Alcer called after his friend, but he only snorted and left the ale house without looking back. While Alcer was still confused about his friend's inscrutable demeanor, the voice of Mallku interrupted his thoughts.

"That guy's always so grumpy," the young blacksmith joked. "Why can't he just confess?"

"Huh?" Alcer shot back, even more confused now.

"Anyway, I expect an invitation to your marriage." Before Alcer could even consider whether the blacksmith's words had been a joke or an insult, Mallku switched topics yet again. "Have a seat. I've already had two wines while I was waiting for you, so you have a lot of catching up to do."

Only now did Alcer realize that the table was filled with tankards. While Mallku held one that was almost entirely full, Another three stood on Alcer's side of the table, filled to the brim. Although it would only be light wine this early in the morning, his mind would still fog up if he had to drink all of that at once.

"I'd rather we get to business right away," Alcer thus deflected, and placed the blanket under his arm on the table. "Once we come to an agreement, we'll still have plenty of time to celebrate."

"So that means you pay for the wine, right?" Mallku said, focused on the wrong thing.

"If we come to an agreement," Alcer stressed, as he rolled out the blanket. For now, he put the pieces of paper to the side, and picked up the bayonet instead. Once the shoddily made sheath was removed, he carefully presented his future towards Mallku.

"What's this, some kind of spear tip? What's with the ring? Why is it all crooked?"

As soon as the blacksmith took up the weapon, he began to inspect it from every angle while asking rapid-fire questions. Rather than answer them one by one, Alcer thought it would be faster if he simply explained everything from the beginning.

"It's a bayonet," he opened as he finally sat down in front of his three tankards. "I spent a lot of money to have it custom made by one of your fellow blacksmiths."

Although it was a bayonet, it looked nothing like the ones that were in use today. Rather than a straight spear tip with a blunt shaft at the end, the iron right behind the blade made two ninety degree turns, before ending in a metal ring. Since it was custom made, this prototype meant for his patent presentation hadn't been cheap.

"Well, if you spent a lot, you've been ripped off. It's shoddy work." Mallku casually disrespected his efforts as he ran his thumb over the blade's edge. "Anyways, I thought bayonets had more of a nub at the end, so you can shove or screw the thing into the barrel."

"This is an improved model," Alcer explained. "The ring at the end goes over the barrel, rather than inside it. That means the barrel remains unobstructed. You can even fire the weapon with the bayonet still attached. Although reloading is a bit cumbersome that way, it can be attached in preparation of a charge or defensive brace. Even better, this bayonet is far easier to install than the old version. On a chaotic battlefield full of nervous soldiers, that is an invaluable benefit."

"Huh," Mallku just said before he sank into thought for a while. Even now, it was impossible to tell if he was impressed by or dismissive of Alcer's invention, but at least he had stopped joking around. Finally, he put down the prototype and looked at his would-be employer.

"And you want me to find a way to mass-produce this," he concluded. Now that he was working, it seemed all his jovial manner had disappeared.

"That's right. Can you do it?"

Again, Mallku thought for a second, as he took another sip of his wine.

"Sure." Finally, he nodded. "Just give me some time, and money. I'm the second best metalworker in Saniya, so you don't have to worry about anything else."

That doesn't sound reassuring from a man who's drinking in the morning.

Now that Alcer had recruited his man, he thought it was time to test him in turn.

"Not to be rude-" he thus began, before he was rudely interrupted.

"You're about to ask something rude, right?" Mallku shot back, but Alcer was undeterred.

"-but if you are the second best metalworker here, why are you working with me? I thought you were working for Master Asiro."

"Well, the steel mill is miserably hot." Mallku simply argued with a laugh and another sip. "And the old man has been nagging me for a while to 'stop slacking off'. So here I am, doing some challenging work on my own initiative. To be honest, the old steel working job was getting boring too, so it was high time for a change of scenery."

Although the explanation wasn't really that convincing to Alcer, he didn't have time to question the talkative blacksmith further. Before he could, he was already the one to face more questions.

"I can definitely set up a manufacturing line for you, and I guarantee I'll be motivated since I have a point to prove. But do you even have the money you'd need for all this? I heard from the policer that you want to build a proper manufactory, right? A big one?"

"That's right," Alcer agreed. Up until yesterday, the topic of money would have embarrassed him. Today however, he could answer with his head held high. "I don't have the money for now, but I will soon. I was at the Tasa Bank yesterday, and they gave me some pretty promising conditions for a loan."

Again, Mallku looked up from his tankard, shock written in his face.

"That's a surprise," he said. "I mean, aren't they well-known known for rejecting people? To me, this plan of yours seems pretty risky. What if you can't sell this thing? What if someone just steals your bayonet and makes it cheaper?"

Rather than get annoyed at Mallku's suspicion, Alcer felt proud that he had managed to solve all of these problems before he ever considered production.

"Once we set up a manufactory that lets us build the bayonets at a decent price and sufficient quality, sales won't be a problem. I know a lot of people in the army. And no one who's fought in the last war is happy with their current bayonets, so it'll be easy to get this model in the hands of the right people and approved for purchase. They're rebuilding the army right now, so it's the perfect time to introduce new equipment, too. As for stealing the design, I already have a patent on it, so you don't have to worry about that."

As he spoke, Alcer handed a copy of his approved patent to Mallku, who put down his tankard and started to read.

"Anyways," Alcer continued in the meantime. "The Tasa people told me that they'll give me the money I need once I have a concrete plan for mass-production. That's why I'm here today. As soon as you make me a proper plan and an estimate on our expected cost, I can bring it all to the bank. They'll get me the money, and then I can start building my business."

As Alcer laid bare his plans for the future, his chest swelled with pride. However, in spite of his earlier zeal, Mallku just lowered the paper and stared at him intently.

"Hmmm..." he hummed as he leaned on the desk, seemingly in deep thought.

"What?" Alcer asked, put off by the strange behavior.

"Do you have anyone doing your administration for you?" the blacksmith finally asked.

"No, our business won't be large to start, so I will personally handle that part at first," Alcer quickly replied. To be fair, he hadn't thought that far yet.

"You're underestimating the work quite a bit. I've seen how many paper pushers we need in our steel mill, and your own workshop will be pretty big too, at least if you want to produce for the whole army."

"Then I'll just look for an administrator after we've started construction," Alcer offered a solution. "Those shouldn't be hard to find once I have money, right?"

"Actually..." Mallku drew out his word, and finally a grin returned to his face. "I know a guy who can help you with both the administration, and with your money troubles. You won't even need the bank's coin to get started."

Although the blacksmith's smile had begun to look a bit sinister to Alcer, he still couldn't resist and asked: "Oh? In that case, could you maybe introduce him to me?"

"No problem, that's easy."

Before Alcer could react, Mallku turned towards the drunkard in the corner and shouted across the room.

"Hey Kyunya! Get your drunk ass over here! There's a guy here who'll listen to your rambling!"