Enlightened Empire

Chapter 296

In the days after he had learned of King Taoco's death, Corco became even busier than usual. While he and Sumaci had decided that they would leave for Rasacopa as soon as possible, they couldn't just go without preparations this time.

Their last excursion to the bat islands had been secret, and it had been short. In Corco's original plans, it had been even shorter. Originally, the plan had been to stay away for only a few days, check on the bat island's resources and then return to Saniya as soon as possible. Their plan had been clear and simple. Yet in the end, it had still gone horribly wrong.

This time, they couldn't even come up with a solid plan or time frame, since they had no intelligence about the exact situation in Rasacopa, and no idea what would happen once they arrived there. Depending on the realities on the Green Island, they would have to adjust their goals and actions on the fly. As a result, Corco couldn't know how long he would be away from Saniya this time, and so he needed to not only over-prepare his entourage, but he also needed to prepare his kingdom so it wouldn't fall apart without his presence.

First, he had to finish up the planning for the patent office. Although the patent office wouldn't be necessary for the upcoming war, they had to get their plans rolling now if they wanted to have the office up and running by the end of the year, when all the contracts with the Arcavian craftsmen would expire. Surprisingly, there was still a lot left to do in this regard.

Not only did they need a building for the patent office, they also needed an extensive archive adjacent to it, to house all the future patents. On top of that, they needed to retrain several of their office workers so they would be able to judge the importance and uniqueness of various inventions.

Luckily, all of them had been educated by Corco, some as far back as their trade company in Arcavia. Thus, they were up-to-date with what was considered the most modern science of their time. Still, there was some more work to be done.

After all that, they would still have to write down and categorize all the government's recent inventions, especially the core inventions that were important for the development of the country, but would be harmed by a lack of competition. While none of this was especially difficult, it was a lot of menial work that took up much of their time.

Unlike the establishment of the patent office, at least the apprentice tests could be pushed back a bit. After all, with the start of a naval war, Atau would have to take up his primary role as admiral again and didn't have time to oversee the proceedings. However, this wasn't any hindrance to their original goals, since Atau's actions in a war would increase his public profile even better than a role within Corco's court ever could. Thus, their original purpose could still be fulfilled.

Rather than waste his talents on a desk job, Atau would be in charge of transforming the larger merchant and fishing brigantines of Saniya into proper military vessels until their departure. While they would be inferior to the bornish ships in terms of both the number of crew and thickness of their hulls, Saniya's advances in cannon production meant that they would be able to arm every single ship with at least a dozen cannons.

They also had dedicated gun decks, which improved their efficiency in battle. Thus, they would be able to field far more guns than their enemies, and would be able to keep up with their enemies even in the face of inferior defense and experience. At the very least, their numbers would be able to scare off any attackers for a while.

On top of that, Atau's original fleet still represented the greatest, most advanced ships in the world, though their numbers were small. Three years back, they had left to round the continent with six galleons in total.

One of them had sunk on the journey, and now a second had taken heavy damage in its recent scouting mission and needed to spend a long time in the dry dock for thorough repairs. Although they only had four galleons left, they would still be a strong deterrent for the Arcavians. Thus, the preparations were going quite smoothly in regards to their fleet.

However, while many of their organizational and military issues were easy to resolve, and many others could be put on hold until the end of the war, they weren't so lucky with their internal politics. There were still many problems without any painless solution on offer. However, they also couldn't be pushed back, at least not if Corco didn't want to come back and find his kingdom under new management.

First, Corco ordered to investigate the performance of the priests who had worked as judges within Saniya's courts. Watayi's extreme reactions during the map briefing had reminded Corco that it wasn't wise to rely too much on a single influence. The Pacha priests were important to the people, but if they abused their power to increase their influence in the city, it would spell massive problems in the long run.

Thus, Corco had let his officials begin an investigation into the second area the priests controlled, the courts. As it turned out, many of the priests still judged their cases based on their religious beliefs, rather than on the letter of the law. This was an old problem the king thought to have dealt with already.

Several years ago, he had spent additional time to educate the priests on the proper procedures of a judge, and about good law. Back then, the problem seemed to have disappeared, but in time it began to creep up again. Even worse was that the so-called 'nonbelievers' would be judged more harshly in Saniya's court. Many of these nonbelievers were the local Arcavian craftsmen as well as the mercenaries. This alienation would contribute to their desire to leave when their contracts ran out, and thus was something Corco had to rectify as soon as possible.

Since it seemed like many of the priests were unwilling to change their ways long-term, Corco planned to slowly replace the worst offenders among them with proper judges. In fact, he had begun to train civilian judges years earlier, but his lack of educated people had made things difficult. Back then, all he could do was to send some of the brighter students into the courts as helpers to the priests and let them learn slowly.

These people had been trained in the courthouse for a few years now, and it was about time to let them do some proper work. The priests wouldn't give up their power without a fight, but he planned to pacify them with some donations, and possibly improved technology for astronomy. At least in regards to stargazing, the priests were still the greatest experts on the Twin Isles.

While he dealt with the priests on one hand, Corco also had to pacify the southern lords on the other. Although Lord Ogulno was isolated politically and hit financially – and thus in no position to make trouble – and the Mayu problem was already being handled, the other lords were also potential sources of unrest. Many of them were strongly opposed to Corco leaving for a foreign country, especially since the Arcavians had begun to move again.

If another war were to break out in Medala, as many predicted, the southern kingdom would need a strong leader sitting in Saniya. Under such dire circumstances, Corco's journey west looked like an escape. In the end however, most of the lords agreed with Corco's plans after some lengthy conversations. After all, his decision to leave was the logical one, for many reasons.

First of all, it was obvious that the southern kingdom couldn't leave its only solid allies to their own fate. If the Verdant Isles were to fall under control of the northern kingdoms, the south would be completely isolated once again. Corco had spent a lot of energy to build a network of allies in the east and west which had ended their isolation and reduced the threat from a closed border with the central kingdom.

Yet now, the threat was looming over their heads once again. If they couldn't hold on to maritime control on at least one of the oceans to their east and west, they wouldn't last long in a war of attrition on land either. Thus, they needed to be proactive in the west to prevent such issues.

On top of that, the southern kingdom was well-defended through the beacon towers and castles Corco's hordes of laborers had built or expanded in key positions along the southern kingdom's borders. Through their intense training and impressive output of modern weapons, they had strengthened their army more than their northern neighbors, whom they beat in their previous war. As a result, a land invasion would be almost impossible with or without any king sitting the throne in Saniya.

In the end, even the most stubborn of lords rescinded their complaints once Corco mentioned that a source of fertilizer he had found on the bat islands. The fertilizer had massively increased the harvests – and thus the wealth – of almost every lord in the southern kingdom, and none of them wanted to go back to the poor south of years past. Thus, they were more than willing to risk their king's life to safeguard their prosperity, especially since they wouldn't have to waste their own men and money in this military operation.

Of course, to Corco there was another reason to risk his life leave for the west, beyond economic and military considerations. With Sumaci's unstable condition, he couldn't let her travel home by herself and do something stupid or reckless in Rasacopa. Since he couldn't just leave her alone, he had to come along. To him, it was as simple as that.

Finally, after a week of intense work, all issues had been resolved or at least patched over, and the brigantines had been transformed. The night before they would leave for the Verdant Isles, there was only one last thing left to do. Thus, together with his new wife, Corco climbed the top of Rapra Castle, to show off his bride in front of his family.

As always, the view from the beacon tower atop Rapra Castle was breathtaking. Under the twinkle of the clear night sky, the city was spread along the two rivers and three islands like moss on a stone. Each time he arrived here, the city borders would push out a bit more. Each time, the night would be illuminated a bit more, with a few more lights in the streets below.

Today was especially opulent, since many of the local noble mansions held celebrations to wish good luck to the king in his upcoming campaign. Although the king hadn't shown up for their festivities, they still illuminated the city far beyond its usual scope, creating islands of light within the peaceful cityscape.

Just like he always did up here, Corco felt a strong pride in his accomplishments, one that usually evaded him. Because only up here could he show off his achievements in front of someone whose affirmation he craved. Though that person could no longer reply to him, he still walked to the center of the room and kneeled in front of the shrine.

“Hey mom, I'm back, again,” he began. “And this time, I've brought someone with me. A few days ago I married, you know? I hope you won't mind that I didn't come here sooner, but my wife really wanted to be lived-in before meeting you. Now it seems like we won't have that chance, but she still wanted to come here before we go save the world again.”

With his introduction over, Corco stepped to the side and made room for the woman behind him. For today, Sumaci had thrown off her usual pirate clothing and had gone with a traditional Medalan robe, held in blue to honor the dead. Today, her hair was put up as well, and her makeup was meticulous. For this meeting, she had put particular effort on her appearance. Visibly nervous, she stepped in front of the shrine and kneeled on the ground.

“Greetings, mother,” she said with a stiff face, “this young lady's name is Sumaci Hulpatec. This young lady is grateful to be accepted into the family and will work hard to support mother's son and provide a strong heir for the house.”

As Corco watched Sumaci deliver the stiff, traditional speech with a wooden face, he realized why she hadn't been too keen on coming here early. In the first place, his wife wasn't too good when it came to old traditions, even less so the foreign traditions of Medala. Thus, her usual, confident self was nowhere to be seen.

“Ah, don't mind all that, mom. She doesn't really mean it,” Corco said in a deliberately jovial tone. “No matter what it may look like, your daughter-in-law actually married me of her own volition.”

His little joke managed to somewhat ease Sumaci's face, before Corco kneeled down again, next to her. As always when he came here, he pulled the koto from within the shrine, to play a new piece of music for his mother. As he checked the tuning of the instrument, he heard Sumaci shift around next to him, and when he looked over, she gave him the same uncomfortable look she had offered his mother's shrine before. Luckily, Corco had come prepared, so he knew how to resolve her unease in both regards.

“Mom always loved music. She's the reason I learned the koto in the first place. So how about we play her something? She'll like that much more than some heavy-handed words.”

As he spoke, Corco pulled Sumaci's flute from within his sleeves and handed it to her. At last, her face relaxed. As she took her instrument, she returned a grateful look. Corco simply winked back and then focused on his koto again. He began to play a light melody that was easy to follow, and soon, Sumaci joined in.

From then on, two instruments would sound above Saniya's roofs and fill its streets with music.