PROLOGUE: RUMORS

***Ruthen, a port city in the human territory of the Enclave***

For quite a long time now, the port city of Ruthen had yet to see a ship appear on the horizon. Most of the human ships lay abandoned at its harbor, with many of the crews recruited into the Duchess’ armies sent to reclaim the ‘Outer Walls’, or bolster the forces fighting against the rebellious Beastmen led by Konka of the Insetus. The city itself was nearly empty, save for some old people who couldn’t fight in wars, and children who were too young to be involved with it.

The coast watchers, because of the dire economic situation, were forced to shed their responsibilities for better work opportunities. This left the duty of watching the seas to some of the old folks who could still look out far into the vastness of Cherwind’s seas. But then, while they were able, most of them never took their ‘job’ seriously; after all, with the trade between the humans and the Avinus halted, who needs to watch a calm, empty sea?

“!!!”

As such, a ship approached Ruthen’s harbor without being detected. The citizens of the city were only made aware of the new arrival’s presence when they heard a loud booming sound that shook them all awake.

“What’s happening?”

“Look! There’s a ship on the horizon!”

“Is that…even a ship?”

The men of Ruthen ran to the harbor to confirm what they were seeing. It was a ship, albeit it was missing its oar banks on both sides. A funnel was placed at its middle section, spewing white smoke into the air, and it was quite noisy. But then, the ship moved noticeably faster than the usual human galleys—most of which were powered by oars.

“…”

Everyone was silent as they watched the strange ship dock into one of the ports, and several men of the Eagle tribe flew from the deck to lay down the gangplank and unload their cargo.

“Greetings, humans!” the captain waved his hands to the bewildered citizen of Ruthen, “We, the men of the Eagle tribe, wishes to resume the interrupted trade between our cities!”

“W-What’s that?” a coast watcher broke the awkward silence of the human side with a question, “Does your ship have a chimney inside?”

“Oh that?” the Eagle tribe captain took a glance at his ship’s smoking funnel and laughed, “It’s steam, from boiling water. This ship has a ‘steam engine’ inside which is connected to those big ‘paddle wheels’ at the sides.”

“What?” the humans were even more confused.

“Ah, don’t worry; we’re as bewildered as you are. But hey, this ship is much better than the ones being propelled by oars! See, we don’t need many people to row, and we only have to focus on steering this watercraft across the seas.”

“Oooh…”

“Well…” the Eagle tribe captain shrugged, “It’s the idea of that strange person, Ursura of the Orphans, see?”

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***The City of Malvette, at a later time…***

The marketplace of the human territory’s capital was slowly but steadily recovering from its previous destruction. A proof of that was the number of new stores opening for business every day, as well as the shoppers that frequently visit the commercial district.

“Check out our shop for your weaponry needs!”

“Best fabric for the best clothes! Grab it now for your lady!”

“I’ll take two of your fried fishes for a silver coin, deal?”

“Fuck off! You’re robbing me!

Amidst the drowning calls of the peddlers and the noisy banters between hagglers, the Grand High Priestess of the Beastmen, Sebastenerva of the Serpentinus, walked through the crowd. As she was a person of high stature among her kind, she was being escorted by several of her own Beastmen guards and accompanied by a human guide from the Duchess of Malvette herself.

“…”

After being appointed as the leader of the Beastman Saint’s Inquisition, Lady Sebastenerva started in Malvette as the best choice she had at the moment. Many Beastmen refugees from the ‘Outer Wall’ had come to the human capital city, and she could root out those who dare to oppose and conspire against Her Holiness Ruro of the Wolf in one big strike, if she planned her course of action well.

However, there was still another reason why she picked Malvette to begin her inquisition…

“Your Eminence, this way please!” the human guide leading her group pointed towards a certain section of the market, “If you’re looking for good pots and pans, this is a great place to start!”

“I see…”

“In fact, you couldn’t find any better iron wares anywhere else in Cherwind than here. Look at the crowd—”

“Crowd?” the Grand High Priestess looked around the near-empty alleyways, “All I can see are bored peddlers. You must be mistaken!”

“Err…th-this is strange!” the human guide tried to laugh the awkward air away, “Where’s the people?”

“If you’re looking for the buyers,” one of the sellers answered, “there they are, in that store at the corner. They’ve been going crazy about buying those high-quality iron cooking wares from Ruthen.”

“Ruthen? I didn’t know they are makers of iron ware!”

“Looks like you still have something more to learn about your land, human!” Lady Sebastenerva chuckled, “Anyway, I’m interested about those wares from Ruthen. Lead me there!”

“At once, Your Eminence!”

The other sellers could only watch in envy as the Grand High Priestess and her party joined the crowd of buyers of the merchant from Ruthen.

----------

The shop of the merchant from Ruthen was small, but it was being swamped by customers eager to buy the items he was selling. The Grand High Priestess’ escorts had to squeeze themselves in, and push out the angry competitors, so that their liege could go in unmolested.

“Greetings, Serpent-lady!” the old merchant smiled once she came to his sight, “What can I get for you?”

“You’re in the presence of Her Eminence Lady Sebastenerva of the Serpentinus, Grand High Priestess of the Beastman Saint,” the human guide countered his words with a grand introduction and a warning, “Please watch your tongue!”

“Ah, my apologies, Your Eminence! My eyes are already weak; I didn’t notice the important lady before me!”

“It’s fine, old man!” Lady Sebasternerva was busy looking around the shop to bother about the formalities, “Indeed, one look at the items of this shop, and I could tell that these are of high-quality!”

“Yes, Your Eminence, feel free to browse around!”

“Thank you! But, I’ve been wanting to ask…is this…”

“I see Her Eminence has an eye for good wares!” the merchant clapped and rubbed his hands, “That pot you’re holding is made of iron and mithril!”

“Mithril?!” both the Grand High Priestess and the human guide exclaimed upon hearing the mention of the precious metal. The old merchant only nodded to confirm what they heard.

“S-Surely you’re joking!” the human guide replied, “Don’t you dare trick us! Mithril is a highly-valued metal to be used for mundane items like cooking pots and pans!”

“B-But I’m not playing jokes, Sire!” the merchant countered, “Please, look into its body well; you can still see the traces of mithril that was used!”

“He’s telling the truth, human!” Lady Sebastenerva confirmed, “This is a pot made of iron and mithril, with its underside made of iron.”

“G-Good saint…t-to use m-mithril that way…”

“Where did you get this, old man?” the Grand High Priestess ignored her human guide and asked the merchant.

“Oh, I just bought it as well, Your Eminence! Several days ago, a strange Beastman ship came to our city from the land of the Avinus. Its captain from the Eagle tribe traded those items to us!”

“Strange Beastman ship? And from the Avinus? The Beastman ship was already an impossible story, but to think that it came from the lands of the Avinus? That forsaken land?”

“We’re also surprised, Your Eminence!” the merchant continued, “But I saw it with my own eyes; a strange ship powered not by the strength of men but of a ‘machine’ called ‘steam engine’.”

“This…this is getting even more confusing…”

“Yes, Your Eminence. We’re also confused at first, but apparently, it was made by a woman they call ‘Ursura of the Orphans’.”

“Ursura of the Orphans?” the Grand High Priestess stared admiringly at the mesmerizing shimmer of the iron-and-mithril pot she was holding, “Alright, we’re heading to the Avinus lands right at this moment!”

“Y-Your Eminence?” one of her Beastmen guards couldn’t believe what she had heard from her liege, “How about the inquisition?”

“We’ll continue the Inquisition in that land!” Lady Sebastenerva declared as she tossed two gold coins to the merchant, “Let’s hurry!”