Chapter 52 – Faith

Chapter 52 – Faith

Heading back to the city was a challenging trek in the knee-high snow, especially for Mikan, who landed face-first in the snow multiple times.

"S-sorry!" She mumbled as we pulled her up again, and when I looked into her silvery eyes, I realized something.

"Wait..."

"W-what is it, Viscount Leon?"

"Your... eyes."

"Y-yes?" She asked, feeling nervous, and her reaction confirmed it even more. With a bit of rummaging through my pockets, I pulled out a letter, holding it before her, about... 40 centimeters from her eyes. "Um... What?"

"Read it."

"I..."

"Come on, it shouldn't be hard, Mikan! Read it. Please."

"I can't..." She murmured, her eyes filling up with tears.

"I knew it!" I put the paper away with a snap of my fingers while Sasha and Luna looked at us puzzlingly. "No wonder you are falling around all the time! You need glasses."

"Those are not cheap." Luna interjected at once, "Usually, only nobles could pay for them, and I mean nobles in the capital city! I don't think you can get one here anyway."

"That is true." I murmured, watching Mikan's embarrassed and sad look... I just couldn't help but reach out and start rubbing her head, surprising her. "I can't make you one; that is too complicated, and I doubt I have the materials for it."

"I am... u-used to it... It... it's okay..."

"It isn't. Don't belittle yourself, Mikan."

"You should have told us!" Sasha nodded, trying to comfort her while Luna asked the question I was also thinking about... I just didn't want to cut too deep with it.

"How can a witch have bad eyes anyway?"

"Hauuuh... I am not a witch... it seems." She answered, sounding heartbroken, "A witch shouldn't have bad eyes regardless of age, not one who can heal it, no? I am truly useless... I learned to conceal it, live with it, ignore it, but... Viscount Leon is very perceptive."

"Thank you. Plus, you don't need to hide it; we will get you one! You are part of the church, yes? Then you will write back home, saying you need a shipment of it. Order a batch of glasses, and we will find the one that you need. And please, do not order only one! I bet there will be people under me who will also need it; I don't want to get them one by one but in one, big batch."

"O-okay. I will do so, Viscount Leon. It should not pose that big of a problem. Most scribes do have glasses because copying works all the time. I can say I am recruiting more to serve under me. They didn't send me any helpers at all!" She nodded, bowing to me after I released her head, and we began heading back once again.

I expected Elyzien to speak up, even offer to fix her eyesight, but she didn't. Is she that selfish? Or she can't? She brought me back from the dead, so I guessed it would be trivial for her. What was she doing? Mmmh... She may be a bit more egocentric than I first thought. Well, as long as she is attached to Mikan, she is bound to a place I can monitor. Maybe building a temple is not a bad idea so I can move her into my city.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Hm?"

"Your face," Sasha chuckled, pulling on my hand, "It says you are juggling some ideas in your head! I'm just curious."

"He probably was juggling the Priestess's boobs."

"Luna!"

"Thank you, Viscount Leon, but... school? The local nobles and their children-"

"No, no. I have no nobles under me. There is me and my people. That is it. You will see! The school I am talking about is where we teach all of my people from a young age as in my city, everyone must know how to read, write and count. No exceptions."

"How can they pay the tutors... I don't get it..." She mumbled, but it was Sasha who answered her.

"They don't pay for it. It is given to them by Leon. We ensure that the teachers are paid, be it with money or with other privileges. The people attending the school don't pay anything!"

"..."

"As I said," I added with a smile, looking at her over my shoulder, "You'll see."

...

....

......

It took Mikan and Elyzien two days to tour the city under Sasha's supervision. I knew that many of the citizens would be apprehensive seeing a priestess walk around, but nobody made a problem for her because she was with my wife. Still, I hoped Oleg would finish raising the first batch of soldiers who would act as my city guards. I trust them, but... there ought to be bad apples in every batch.

"Here you go, Master." Luna whispered, placing a cup of coffee before me while I was sitting behind my office desk, looking at Mikan and Elyzien standing at the other side.

"Thank you. Well... how is it? Don't need to hold back your tounges, ladies! Speak frankly!"

"Marvelous!"

"Weird."

"Oh?" I expected similar responses but not ones that contradict each other. They may occupy the same body, but they are different, huh?

"I think what you built up here is marvelous, achieving it without any help! I... I wouldn't have believed you if you just told me and not showed me." It was clear that Mikan was honest with her words; the light in her eyes and her smile was genuine, and I was sure of it. "I can already see that one day, this place could rival the capital city in its beauty."

"Maybe." Elyzien nodded, remaining calmer and more critical. "The designs are unique, especially your palace. But not something I would find exceptional. What I am more interested in is how you did the sewers and water system. I couldn't sense magic in them... so how did you make the water flow? Is the magic hidden in those water tanks? What makes them work? The one in our capital is supported by 141 types of formations! You couldn't have copied it; I would have sensed it by now."

"There is no magic involved in it." I smiled proudly, making Elyzien's surprise double as she didn't doubt me. "It is engineering. Primitive engineering, mind you! The only part where magic is used is in its cleaning process. I will show it when spring comes and the snow melts. There, you could help me."

"I am looking forward to it! Hah! This is... so weird. You call it primitive... Well, it is true as it has no magic, yet it is also untrue because I couldn't have figured it out without using formations. You are a weird man, Leon of the Frontiers."

"I will take that as a compliment; thank you."

"It was. You are welcome."

"You see," I sighed, placing my cup down, watching Elyzien, "I would have used more magic if I could. The problem is... I don't have enough CC. Well... none, to be honest."

"I guessed as much. I can't help you there, I'm sorry. But! I can point you toward someone who can. The problem is, I don't know if his bloodline is still alive. His name was Ulbart Akashi, a magic family living within the Kingdom of Scorc, right next to us in the east."

"To the east?" I shrugged, shaking my head. "That would be problematic... You see, we were warring and expanding in that direction in the past decades. I don't think they would deal with us."

"I know. I heard it while Mikan was growing up. Right now, they wouldn't, but they would finance a force that could turn into a thorn in the Empire's side."

"I won't become another's pawn!"

"Okay!" She shrugged, raising her hands after hearing my rock-solid reply and watching my unwavering expression. "It is an option. If you want, I can explain it, but I will let you explore other avenues for now! Sooner or later, you will need CC. Formations are only true and complete when they are drawn by a mage, using them as a conduit."

"Don't worry! I do expect a shipment coming back home with the arrival of spring." I answered with a smile, and I couldn't help but feel that I was missing my crazy bandit bitch...