Erika's Wehrmacht made its base near the barrier of the dark forest. At first the new recruits were afraid as they saw monsters roaming just a few meters away from them but the veteran troops who have now become officers and NCOs would shoot at the monsters sometimes they allowed the recruits to do so as well. They would hand them their weapons to see if they can shoot perfectly or not. This increased the confidence of the troops. Erika was still under house arrest and couldn't go to see how the training proceeding. But she continued to produce weapons like the mortar and the MG42s. She had plans for next stages. She shuffled how the company of 120 soldiers will be organised based on the late war Wehrmacht. The mortars and machine guns were coming out nicely and once her period of being under house arrest was over she would teach the soldiers on training the soldiers on using the mortars and machine-guns. She was also worried about communication problems once the number of troops increases. Typically a Wehrmacht company always had a signal crew carrying field telephone sets. But for someone trying to make one in a medieval world is something that would create problems. "The idea of a field telephone is easy. I used to play with wire and cups when I was little and being a Jk I know how the sound waves and wires work but I would love to make field-telephones." Erika thought in her mind. She needed field telephones not only for communication but also for the mortars and artillery. In this day and age there was no way to use artillery efficiently then using field telephones. Wireless was out of question. Because she didn't have the slightest idea how that worked. However she decided not to think on it for now.
For Erika the days were dull. She kept herself busy with the weapons production and some basic studying of the kingdom's history and mannerism. Her mother was happy that she was complying with her wish. "Ah I would rather work on the field telephone and 75mm guns in this free time as well." She thought. The next day she went to her arsenal with the thought of making the 75mm gun as well. It was easier than the previously made weapons. So Heinke didn't have any problem with it. After all artillery guns don't require the bolt or spring or anything. It only required a support underneath the main gun barrel to handle the recoil and the firing pin attached to a cord to fire and would be loaded through a breach in the back. Also the making of the artillery was not much important for now. So they could take things slowly for now. The 75mms were handed over to the new craftsmen. Now Erika was free again. So she decided to take the field telephone as a project after all. "Maybe I should consult Emil and Bauer about it." She thought. But both of them were commoners before and didn't have any interaction with anyone knowledgeable in this field. "Why don't you ask the madam about it. She is a noble and may know one or two sages." Bauer suggested this idea and Emil also agreed to it. At night during dinner she talked to her mother, "Um, mother are their any sages in our territory?" Erika asked her mother. "Why do you suddenly want to meet a sage dear?" Her mother asked. She was curious and her voice was laid back. "I want to find some new ways to apply magic in various ways to make the daily life easier for people." Now mother leaned forward on the table and asked curiously, "Oh, do you have something in mind?" Erika hesitated for a bit. She wasn't sure whether to tell her mother about it or not. "Maybe just disclosing the telephone would not be a problem." She thought for quite a while. Her mother became a bit worried and asked again, "What do you have in your mind dear?" "Actually I was thinking about sending sound over vast distances." Erika replied. She thought that this is a harmless idea and revealing it would also make her mother happy. "You know father is always away from home and the only way of communication is through letters which take forever to reach. So I thought I could do something about it." Mother was now excited. "Oh, really? That is some interesting idea you have." Mother was very interested now and wanted to see what her daughter was planning. "But that is something impossible you know." But Erika was still excited. She knew that the idea of sound passing through metal wires as waves was something unknown in this world. So she had to explain it harder to make someone understand the logic behind the telephones. "But mother I think I have found a way to make this impossible to become possible." Her mother almost shouted out, "How very interesting." She stopped for a while and continued, "You know I am a noble and like other nobles I have studied in the Royal Academy of Magic. Moreover my subject was magic application. So I might understand what you are trying to do. But I still don't understand how you can transfer voice at far distances." Erika thought about the proposal for a while and said, "Maybe if I give you a demonstration tomorrow, you will understand it better. Erika said. "Fine let's have it your way." Mother replied. She put her hands on the table and started to stand up, "its already late anyways." She got up from her chair. "Good night mother." "Good night." They went to their respective rooms.
The next day morning Bauer woke Erika up. "Madam is waiting downstairs milady." She said. Erika was very excited. This is the first time she was working with her mother on something and she was happy about it. She told Bauer to supervise the craftmen today. "Basically you just need to stand there and watch. They know what to do and they will do it accordingly." Erika said. "Today I will work with mother on something new." She said as her eyes were gleaming and a subtle smile was all over her eyes. Saying these words she went down immediately without even waiting for Bauer's reply. Bauer smiled as well. "it's a good thing that you are so happy today milady." She thought before going down herself. After breakfast Bauer went to supervise the craftsmen with the other maids Emma and Emily. Meanwhile Erika and her mother gathered in front of the palace to test Erika's theory.
"Wait here for a while mother. I will bring some necessary equipments." Erika said before rushing off to somewhere. She returned after a while with two paper cups and a long metal wire. "Wow how will these help me understand your theory?" Mother asked. She was a bit skeptical and curious as well. She couldn't understand what her daughter was doing. She saw as Erika joined the two paper cups with two ends of the metal wire. She was curious as to what effects it will have. "Here mother hold this paper cup in one of your ears." Erika said. She was very excited about it. Somehow the idea of something this unimaginable made her very happy. "Okay, fine." Mother took the string attached cup from Erika's hands and held it in her left ear. Erika again ran off. She ran as far as the wire would permit. Which was actually a bit far for having any normal conversation. Her mother saw the wire was stretched to its full length. But she was totally surprised when she heard Erika's voice over the paper cup a few moments later. "Hello mother can you hear me?" She was so surprised that her legs trembled. But before she could say anything she heard her daughter's voice again. "If you can then reply by putting the cup in front of your mouth mother." She couldn't help asking, "h-h-how is it possible? How can I he-hear your normal voice from this far. What type of sorcery is this?" She than put the cup in her ears to listen to what her daughter had to say. "This is no sorcery mother. This is the basic idea I was talking about yesterday. Do you now understand?" With this their first telephone exchange came to an end. Erika returned and started to explain her mother about the idea of telephone. She was excited and amazed at this new idea. The mother daughter duo thus started their first project together.