What is a king's day supposed to look like?
You rise from the same bed.
Handle the same work as before.
Sit in meetings while scrolling through the forums, checking what nonsense the silly players have done today.
Eat lunch.
Return to your office and review the stack of "memorials" sent in by the upper management together with Loughshinny.
Have dinner.
Discuss intel with the leaders.
Go to sleep.
Isn't this exactly the same as before?
Felix truly felt no difference. Perhaps the only change was this: Tomorrow's Development and Kazdel now stood united. The people seemed to be slowly emerging from the shadows of war. They completed their daily development tasks and began enjoying life again.
That was exactly what Felix wanted to see.
News spread quickly. Nearly every nation and faction learned that Kazdel had reunited, and that the one who achieved this was known as the King of Liberation. This immediately made the countries that once attacked Kazdel start calculating again.
Why had they attacked Kazdel? Because the Sarkaz under the Sarkaz King caused them too many problems. In those years, the Sarkaz boasted constantly about conquering all of Terra, acting as if Kazdel were above everything in the world and believing their nation will become thousand-year empire. until the allied forces eventually crushed them.
But times had changed. The previous Sarkaz King had already turned to ash. Even the black crown had vanished. Though Kazdel appeared unified, its rightful heir, General Theresis, was still in Londinium. And the newly unified Sarkaz were not waging war. They were farming, hunting, and living ordinary lives, no different from people of other nations.
This eased many concerns. In such turbulent times, launching another campaign would only invite allies to stab them in the back.
Some factions, uneasy about Kazdel's current state, sent secret letters to Kal'tsit in Rim Billiton. Her reply made them relax:
"The Kazdel of today is not the Kazdel of the past. The seeds of aggression that once filled their hearts are gone. Now they simply want to protect their home."
A simple, straightforward sentence without any hint of hidden meaning. It reassured the insiders. They had no desire for war, nor to provoke Kazdel. So they tossed the matter aside like passing wind.
Kazdel's internal situation steadily stabilized. The people lived comfortably. Their happiness rose. The players were cheerful too. They learned that the leadership of Tomorrow's Development had given the Pioneer the title of King of Liberation. Not to be outdone, the players began calling him the Dawn King.
This created yet another misunderstanding among outsiders. It now looked like Kazdel had entered a dual-king era. Remembering how the last royal siblings split due to opposing ideals, foreign observers relaxed even further.
Surely the King of Liberation and the Dawn King would battle someday, fighting until the sky cracked open.
Felix had no idea these rumors were spreading wildly. All he wanted was to farm in peace.
He left military matters to Luna, Degenbrecher, and the others. His attention shifted back to production. Thanks to the large number of mechanic-class players, basic mechanical manufacturing progressed smoothly.
He began researching new technologies such as automated irrigation, mechanical farmland, and automated planting and harvesting. Becoming a king did not change his daily routine much at all. His workload was nearly the same as before.
At the same time, he turned his focus to developing a mechanical furnace. First, he wanted to free the restless souls trapped within the Soul Furnace who shouted curses every day. Second, once a mechanical furnace could be mass-produced, he would be able to build more mobile cities.
Kazdel needed more mobile cities if it wanted to attract its scattered Sarkaz back home.
Fortunately, the Kazdel Research Institute existed to share the burden. Time passed quickly, and half a month later, the Kazdel Mobile City welcomed a group of unusual guests.
Some had their foreheads wrapped in bandages.
Some wore hoods.
Some openly revealed the single, centered eye on their foreheads.
There were only a few dozen of them, their numbers sparse.
Young Sarkaz did not recognize them. Only the old ones displayed complicated expressions. A thousand years had passed.
Ever since the Cyclops King was assassinated, the Cyclopes left this sorrowful land. They once thought they would never return, and the other Sarkaz believed the same.
Yet here they were again, stepping onto this soil.
For centuries, the Cyclopes had retreated from the world's sight. They traveled north in small, sparse groups, following the clues left in fractured historical records. All hints pointed to a shared mission guiding their migration.
Now, bearing the duty of observing the fate of the frozen north, they had returned. Only part of their people had arrived, but their presence alone revealed the attitude of the Cyclops leader.
Then, they brought Felix a prophecy.
Cyclops prophecies were always omens of misfortune, so no one liked hearing them. After all, who wanted to know when their own bad luck would arrive? People preferred good news, not ill tidings.
"Felix Shawn Lanshem will one day bloom, only to fade upon the throne of the Londinium court."
Bloom and then fade… meaning he dies?
Felix frowned. He did not believe he would meet such an end, but misfortune foretold by the Cyclops would always come true. He could not vent his frustration on the innocent prophet before him. All he could do was clap his hands lightly and signal Ines to arrange their work.
Bloom and fade? Felix could not make sense of it. As expected of prophecies—cryptic, obscure, and never pleasant. Who wanted to hear how they would die?
Still, the throne of Londinium… it matched his strategic expectations. His trip to Victoria was inevitable.
The hottest summer in Kazdel had passed. Autumn winds swept in, and meteorite catastrophes rained from the sky, carving dozens of craters into the land. The Naumanns were delighted. The players were exhausted. While operating their drones to clean up the impact sites, they uncovered blueprints from the preceding civilization. After handing them to Felix, he asked the Lich to open the box once more.
This time, what came out were schematics for equipment and weapons. Felix felt a headache just from glancing at them. The required materials were far from cheap, and items that could not be mass-produced were of little use to him right now.
At this stage, he believed the legion mattered most. Individual strength could accomplish far too little.
Unless the equipment and weapons could be evenly distributed to every soldier, these blueprints would have limited value.
Since Kazdel's liberation, the once-tense wartime atmosphere had vanished. The war was over. Mercenaries seemed to have lost their purpose, yet Tomorrow's Development continued to offer them endless tasks. Kazdel, broken and desolate, needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. The end of war did not mean unemployment for mercenaries.
This had been Theresa's wish, yet also her deepest fear. When the war finally ended, what future awaited the Sarkaz who knew only how to fight? What paths would remain open to them?
Now, with Tomorrow's Development, the problem had been solved.
Besides that, the incoming migrants began teaching the Sarkaz skills beyond war—civil engineering, agriculture, and other trades.
If someone's strength still lay in battle, or if they were a war fanatic unable to put down their weapon, they could apply for external deployment through Tomorrow's Development. They would serve as field mercenaries stationed abroad, acting according to the client's requests.
Internal troubles had been resolved first. As for external threats, they were not yet apparent.
Felix made time to visit the Tomorrow's Development research institute. Most projects in Kazdel focused on Originium studies, except for one. Saria was conducting research identical to the experiment in Kristen's Horizon Ark.
As a fellow high-energy physicist, she had no desire to go to the heavens—at least, not that high.
She had overheard a conversation between Felix and Muelsyse. Felix spoke about building a floating city in the future, one that could floating in high atmosphere (roughly 50km above terra), avoiding catastrophes and allow everyone to live without fear. A dream like that, Saria believed, was achievable. Compared to Kristen's vision, a sky-city would be far easier for most people to accept.
Kristen might have been a dreamer for the few, but a city in the sky could embrace the many.
Saria did not want to be left behind. In Kazdel she was free of the military's restraints, free of Rhine Lab's internal power struggles. She poured herself entirely into research. After work, she returned to the home she shared with Ifrit. Ifrit would chatter about her day at school before doing her homework, and Saria listened with a gentle smile, while also checking in with Muelsyse about recent happenings in Rhine Lab.
One day, the Duke of Windermere in Londinium sent a letter via messenger. He described the tense atmosphere in Londinium, admitting that inviting the Sarkaz to guard the capital had been a foolish decision. Now he wished to rally the other dukes to march on Londinium and drive the Sarkaz army out.
The Military Commission had already infiltrated and taken control of many of Londinium's industrial districts, even securing influence in propaganda channels. For safety reasons, the duke chose an unremarkable postcard to convey his message to Felix.
Even though Parliament clearly understood the Military Commission's open conspiracy, they had no time left to respond effectively.
The dukes would never unite—just as Victoria would never stand as one. Everyone fought for themselves, and no one would extend a helping hand to another.
In this way, Victoria resembled Ursus. Felix smirked. The Military Commission was proceeding step by step to seize Londinium. He could hardly wait for version 3.0.
War could break out at any moment, and all of Victoria would be consumed by flames.
Aside from that, the Duke of Windermere also wrote to Felix, informing him that the Tarans were frequently meeting with the Military Commission.
Anyone could see how lightly Parliament regarded the Commission. Kazdel had already been unified, and the Commission's final contingency plan there had been crushed. It was as if their homeland had fallen. For them, this was no small blow.
But Felix believed the General would not care. His goal had never been Kazdel, but war itself. He believed that only through war could the Sarkaz reclaim everything they had lost.
Their apparent weakness now suited the General's intentions perfectly. Quietly lying low for several years gave him plenty of time to grow.
Felix had originally wanted to cause the Commission trouble, but given Victoria's political climate—and the sympathy the Commission gained after Kazdel's unification—the effect was likely far less than he had hoped.
Because of this matter, Felix summoned Delphine.
During her time in Kazdel, the young Feline spent her days either attending classes or re-training the skills she had learned in the past. It was common to find her among the trainees. Her presence constantly reminded those around her that she was a proud Victorian soldier. Even though she no longer served in the army, the stern, disciplined aura that clung to her was hard to erase.
Seeing Felix, Delphine grew tense. A faint panic stirred in her heart. Before her stood the King of Dawn, the Liberator—spoken of throughout Kazdel. Not the Sarkaz King of old, but the king who had unified Kazdel.
Felix handed her the Duke of Windermere's letter. She accepted it carefully and read it. After only a few lines, her face tightened in unease, and she bit her lip lightly.
"Are you worried about your father?"
"Yes… Father went to Londinium to work with the dukes and drive out the Military Commission. But it seems that hope is fading. His safety is now in question."
"Is there anyone trustworthy inside Londinium who can escort your father out of the city?"
Delphine pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Because of his position, Father is constantly under surveillance."
Felix did not hesitate. "I will send Tomorrow's Development mercenaries to bring him out safely. Given his identity, the Commission could target him at any time. Londinium is far too dangerous for him now."
Relief washed over Delphine. She dropped to one knee, her voice trembling with sincerity. "My king, thank you."
The title made Felix's skin prickle. At the upper levels of Tomorrow's Development, a few old companions still addressed him as "Your Highness," but most Sarkaz now called him "king." or "Your majesty."
Well, to wear the crown was to bear its weight. Felix could only push himself to handle everything flawlessly.
He paused for a moment. "Victoria is in chaos. Are there no Victorian soldiers left who truly worry for their homeland?"
After thinking for a moment, Delphine replied, "Most Victorian soldiers serve as private forces under the nobility. Only a small portion answer directly to Parliament, but their strength can't compare to the nobles' private armies."
"I'll send mercenaries to Londinium to bring your father out safely. Don't worry. You'll be reunited soon."
Delphine bowed deeply. "Thank you, my king."
She left in a hurry. She, too, needed to write to her mother.
Perhaps she now understood why her father had sent her here. Maybe he had long known that Felix would one day become the King of Kazdel, and sending her ahead of time was his way of preparing a path of retreat.
Of course, from a duke's perspective, they would naturally hope that this king would take care of their daughter all the way to the marriage bed. But Delphine knew her father would never think that way.
The future of Victoria would be turbulent. Who would be the king who truly saved Victoria?
Delphine let out a long, weary sigh.
On the other side, Felix began assigning tasks. He decided Meteorite would handle this operation. The mission to Londinium was crucial, and he needed a team with quick wits. Under such conditions, Flamebringer was obviously unsuitable — he only knew how to enjoy a good fight.
With the mission handed to Meteorite, Felix turned his attention back to rebuilding Kazdel.
Meteorite examined the assignment carefully and immediately noticed its secrecy. This could not be exposed to the Military Commission or Parliament. Spiriting the Duke of Windermere away without leaving a trace would not be easy.
Thinking it through, she felt that hiring adventurer mercenaries would offer a safer approach.
Felix also gave her an additional instruction: she should try to make contact with any trustworthy Victorian soldiers in Londinium. If persuasion or cooperation was possible, they might lay the groundwork for future operations. Establishing connections was essential.
Soon, a five-person team was assembled. Meteorite brought the recently returned Platinum, two adventurers, and one Sarkaz mercenary. Together they boarded a plane bound for Londinium.