Now that Alexis had gotten a system, which in his point of view was quite useless, he was more confident in completing the Quest given by The Administrator.
Earlier on, a few weeks ago actually, he decided to make the blue prints for a weapon.
He needed something simple, simply because he didn't have the necessary items and the knowledge on building guns... he was a spy, not a weapons manufacturer!
'I would need some help from father...' he thought and smiled, it would soon be nearing the six month time period and Alexis can go back to the Imperial residence!
-●-●-●-
The six months were done, Alexis hated the Academy so much so, that he compared the beast forest and the Academy and decided that the forest was better in his opinion.
The biggest problem with the Academy were the snot nosed brats, eventhough he too was their age, they would try all sorts of things to involve him in their problems and Alexis cried tears inwardly, not because he was frustrated but because he was angry...
Atleast he could now have some peace of mind on his way to the palace...
Once everything was packed, he ordered his coachman to set off.
Florestine was curiously looking at what Alexis was doing, she knew he was drawing but she just had no idea what he was drawing about.
It looked like the long yellow fruit brought over by a few explorers!
"Your highness, are you perhaps drawing the long yellow fruit?" she asked Alexis who then turned to her with a small cunning smile.
"I can tell you about this if you swear your loyalty to me! Not my father, mother, not even the imperial family nor nation, Just me..." He said as Florestine blushed.
"What the hell is wrong with you Florestine?!" He asked her weirdly and moved away from her.
"N-Nothing!! it just sounded funny..." she said with a gentle smile and started daydreaming.
"Imagine the faces of other mages when they find out how a Saint Mage like you, have some weird preferences..." he said and observed her face that went from confusion to shock and awe.
"Amazing! Your highness, how do you my tier level... unless... *gasp*" she had a look of recognition.
"Master, what is your tier level?" She asked Alexis who had a small smile.
"Saint knight" he whispered and put a finger on his lips.
'On the verge of breaking into Saint Duke but she doesn't need to know that...' he added inside his head.
"...wow..." Florestine looked at Alexis in a new light, no wonder she couldn't see through him after her Master had returned from the six year training...
"So... what will you do? Swear loyalty to me or...?" He said as went back to his work, Florestine contemplated on his sentence... If she swore her loyalty to him then she would betray the Empire but Alexis, her master was also the Crown prince...
"...It has to be faster than a Divine Duke mage" she overheard Alexis mumbling.
'Faster than a Divine Duke?!' she gasped, Florestine really wanted to know what this weapon was...
'She took the bait... now all I have to do is push her a bit more' Alexis thought, eventhough his face was turned at the drawing board, his eyes were on Florestine who had a shocked expression.
"If I add mana stones as a conductor, maybe it will release attack spells?" He commented once again while thinking, his act was perfect.
Florestine was too curious and really thought hard on the things he demanded.
'It is only logical, a weapon needs to be kept a secret... if the weapon is real, I have not made a bad choice and even if it was a lie, Master will still become the emperor...' she deduced and nodded her head.
"Your highness!" she said, alerting him as Alexis turned to her with a blank look on his face, she then kneeled infront him.
"I, Florestine Ex Hastam, swear to the Gods of Mother Terra, that I will forever be loyal to my Lord and Master, Alexis Gladios Lunar!" she chanted as a bright luminous chain came out of her chest and entered Alexis' palm...
[Host, Congratulations on getting your first Loyal Servant!
Name: Florestine Ex Hastam
Sex: Female
Race: Ancilla (Sub species of Human)
Age: 22
Tier level: Saint Mage
Body status: Healthy Virgin
Loyalty: 89/100(Possible romantic feelings)
History: (tap for more info)
tip: The more you surprise her with your skills and the closer you get to the said Servant, her loyalty will increase! ]
Alexis went through her data until he read out the last part, his eyebrow twitched as he stared at her for an unknown amount of time.
'...Possible romantic feelings? I knew it! she has some weird preferences...' he thought to himself.
"You can stand up now..." he reminded her and looked at his right hand, specifically his palm which had a black mark that looked like a key and looked at Florestine who pinched the collar of her maid outfit and looked at her chest.
"It worked!" she shouted happily and showed Alexis the mark on her chest, it was black and was an intricate lock that had a keyhole on it...
"Master, please let this slave see the secret weapon you are supposedly designing!" she said and bowed.
"What the hell are you saying?" Alexis asked her with a sweatdrop.
"First of all, You are not my slave..." he told her with a blank look.
"Second of all, just act the way you were before, it makes me uncomfortable!" he ended his speech and motioned her to sit next to him.
"...Your highness!" Florestine called him as Alexis groaned.
"what is it?" he asked her in a bored tone.
"I will forever be your maid until the day I die or till you get rid of me!" she said with a earnest look as her eyes were now red.
Alexis pat her head as usual.
"...Whatever" he commented and went back to designing the weapon, Florestine puffed her cheeks in anger, here she was acting emotional but her master doesn't even care about it!
"Here, take a look..." he said and passed on the blueprint to Florestine who took it from him immediately.
"The length of the weapon is around 125cm... the main components will be made of metal, it will be encased in a tightly fitted wooden model. As of now, this is just a drawing but once it's properly designed with the help of the Imperial Science foundation, I believe that the day this weapon is standard for our army won't take long..." Alexis explained to her.
Surprisingly, Florestine got the basics of the firearm and was amazed that something like this was even thought of by the prince...
'...Is this why he said those words that day?' she thought.
"Florestine, tell me honestly, what do you think of the technology of the world?" he asked her curiously.
"Well... I don't know much about it and I don't dare say that it is advanced, considering how, your highness, came up with a weapon so advanced..." she said with a smile and continued,
"So I really have no idea..." she concluded and glanced at Alexis.
"What does your highness think?" she returned the question back to her master.
"Pathetic. Everyone thinks Mana can solve anything and that mentality has caused the decrease in development of the technology of the world by hundreds of years! This world needs a revolution... everyone thinks that Mana is the greatest thing in the world, I want to prove them wrong for saying that..." he said as Florestine stared at him in shock and awe.
'Not really, I'm just forced to develop this world...' he told himself in his head.
"Funny how they say Mana is the greatest... can it feed people? build infrastructure? heal people? Make miraculous discoveries? Such complacent thoughts are deadly and old fashioned! Florestine, I'm going to be honest with you, with this weapon, a common peasant can easily kill a mage..." He stated in the most serious face he could muster and turned to his maid whose mouth opened wide.
"Your highness! If the world gets to know of this then it will be a huge disaster!" she said as Alexis chuckled and looked straight into her eyes.
"It is not a laughing matter, your highness! There will be many people against what you believe and even go as far as to call you a heretic and kill you! There will be Wars and chaos, I dare not imagine what will happen..." she said and massaged her forehead as she got a headache thinking about the consequences.
Floretine then looked at her master, she wanted to say something but was interrupted by him, she got the shock of her life.
"That is my aim, silly!" he said with a smile, a genuine smile, not gentle but bloodthirsty.
"...what?" she mumbled, she couldn't process what he said although she did have to admit that he looked very cool in her opinion.
'I'm going off track!' she scolded herself and pointed her finger at Alexis who raised his eyebrow...
"W-W-What are you SAYING?!" She shouted the last part and paled, she just shouted at the Crown prince but it was necessary because he would end up dying!
"Ah! I don't know what to do anymore!" she cried out and turned to Alexis who was staring at her with an amused expression.
"You always amuse me, Florestine! what other talents do you have?" he asked her with a chuckle, Alexis then went back to designing the bolt action rifle.
'Think Alexis, how would a trigger work? You have already used guns... used guns? hmm... weird. I need to put in a lot of thinking into this... even the bolt action rifle was perfected after hundreds of years of using obsolete muskets and flint locks...' he thought.
'Next step of developing the world is to make the Imperial Science Foundation work under me, said to have some of the greatest minds of the Empire and inventors... sad to see them underappreciated with the advent of Mana...' he told himself.
The carriage quickly reached the Imperial Northern Gates, Alexis would have to stop thinking about all of this and meet his mother and little sister Irene.
A small smile crept on his face which didnt go unnoticed by Florentine who was so shocked that when Alexis called her several times, she couldn't respond...
-●-●-●-
"Big Brother!" Irene shouted and hugged Alexis who unconsciously smiled. For Irene, Alexis had left a lasting impression on her who tried imitating him everytime she encountered the workers of the residence...
"I'm back Irene, how are you?" He asked her.
"I'm doing well and going to the Academy!" she answered with the same blank look he has.
Annalise who was informed of her son's arrival came to find the siblings staring at each other with blank looks.
Although Irene's expression did seem fake while Alexis had a natural blank look.
"Alexis!" Annalise shouted and hugged both of them.
Irene giggled while Alexis sighed, it wasn't because he was annoyed but something else...
Florestine them came into the palace and stood behind Alexis, Annalise then saw the key mark on Alexis' hand Florestine who had covered up her collar, she then decided to tease them.
"Ohoh? Florestine, why are you covering up your collar? did something happen? hmm? hmm?" she asked her son's personal maid.
"...Her highness..." Florestine was beyond embarrassed and looked away with teary eyes.
"She swore loyalty to me..." Alexis then answered.
"Ohhh~" Annalise looked at Florestine and wiggled her eyebrows, Florestine was turning red at this point and looked as if steam would come out of her head.
"this... I... I" She stuttered.
"My~ My~ I didn't know you went for younger men..." Annalise said with a grin.
"Indeed, I too have thought of such things... Florestine do you like younger men?" Alexis nodded and asked Florestine who looked shocked and betrayed.
"...Alexis" Annalise facepalmed and shook her head, she wouldn't blame her son but it was obvious that Florestine had something for Alexis which she needed to think through...
Eventhough her son was very smart, he had no understanding of the human thinking and emotions... no... that wasn't the case... he just doesn't know how to respond to people, considering the fact that he thinks of them as pawns... most of them.
Annalise then hugged a frustrated Florestine.
'Poor girl, I still remember the day when I found her in the middle of the town square' thought Annalise while Florestine looked up at Annalise with her big emerald green eyes...
"You're cute too!" Annalise squealed and hugged her.
"Her highness!" she shouted, Florestine was alarmed.
"I told you to call me Big sis!" Annalise said with a pout as Florestine sighed.
-●-●-●-
Alexis left the palace he couldn't stay in there any second longer...
"Brother!" He heard a whisper from behind him, it was Irene who was secretly following him.
"Woah... pretty! like big brother!" She complimented Alexis and his carriage.
"...I'm handsome and Irene, what are you doing here?" Asked Alexis while walking towards his carriage. He entered it with Irene who hugged him tightly.
"I wanna go with brother!" she said with a smile.
"No" he rejected her almost immediately...
"Please?" she asked him again.
"No" he responded
"..Pretty Please?" she asked him while tilting her head, her eyes big and teary, her small mouth turned into a pout and her cheeks puffed to enhance the effects...
"..."
"damn you... Fine" he relented as she hugged him tightly and giggled.
"Head to the Imperial castle" he ordered the coachman who nodded with a smile and set off to the destination...
Meanwhile at the palace, Annalise and Florestine were searching for Alexis and Irene who had suddenly gone missing...
-●-●-●-
Aurelius was informed of his son's arrival and decided to welcome him.
"Welcome home son!" he said with a smile as Alexis nodded, he then saw Irene holding onto his hand and walked slowly as she was nervous and felt shy...
'SO CUTE!' Aurelius thought and calmed himself down.
"So! what brings you to your old man's place?" he asked his son with a smile, he was genuinely happy considering the fact that his son actively seeked for him...
"I want you to request a meeting between me and the Imperial Science foundation..." Alexis answered, he wasn't the type to give butter up someone and went straight to his point.
"...why?" Aurelius asked his son, the science bunch weren't necessarily the most respected people in the Empire infact, they had a terrible reputation, but he had conversed with them and found them to be very open minded unlike a few people who they are trying to go against...
"I believe I have a revolutionary weapon..." Alexis once again spoke.
"Weapon?" Aurelius asked, he was now getting excited, anything for the betterment of the Empire meant good news to him.
"Yes, It is what I have theorized, by the way father, do you happen to know anything called black powder?" He asked his father who nodded slowly.
"why do you need it though?" Aurelius asked.
"It is as important as the weapon itself..." Alexis said.
"What else?" Aurelius quipped as Alexis sighed.
"If everything goes according to plan, the weapon will be able to shoot projectiles at speeds faster than the speed of sound itself..." Alexis explained while Aurelius's eyes became as wide as saucers...
"My Gods! this... it is a very dangerous weapon, it will revolutionize everything... the Mages will be against something like this!" Aurelius narrowed his eyes, eventhough the world is underdeveloped in many sectors, they knew the speed of sound and various other things!
"I am aware, but I need to do it... if you stop me from doing so, I will leave the empire. My goals are more important than the throne, I won't stop no matter what happens, including a declaration of war from the entire world!" Alexis said as Aurelius gulped.
Aurelius would not risk his son leaving the Empire, he knows that Alexis will definitely do it.
"...I see, would you mind telling me your goals?" Aurelius asked him, hoping for an answer.
"I'm sorry father, but I cannot tell them!" Alexis said and shook his head in rejection.
"I also want you to organize a programme to develop the weapon... I will bring the workers and scientists from the Science foundation once you help me meet up with them." Alexis explained without giving much information, he also needed people loyal to him, not his father...
"...Very well, I will give you permission to start a top secret programme! But remember my son, if the Empire is threatened in anyway, I WILL shut it down..." Aurelius stated with narrowed eyes.
Alexis nodded and left with a scared Irene who had no idea what just happened.
'Nothing personal father, but I'm afraid that I might have to rethink whether or not to keep you alive, if you decide to stop the programme' Alexus told himself and sighed deeply.
Everything became more complicated...
'Next step is to get myself a secret force that works only for my sake... little by little I'm getting closer to completing my Quest...' Alexis thought.