Enlightened Empire-Chapter 473: Pleasure Cruise

The cool, salty wind of the Narrow Sea blew across Corco's face, as the soft sound of flute entered his ear and enveloped his being. His body relaxed as he sank into his seat placed atop the ship's main deck, as waves gently rocked his body side to side. Maybe, he thought, this is what freedom feels like.

After some wrangling in the privy council — and plenty of useless begging and complaining from Fadelio — Corco had ultimately gotten his wish. Being an absolute dictator also had its perks every once in a while. Thus relieved of his duties, he'd managed to get away from all the work for once, to enjoy some well-earned time off. Better yet, he could enjoy it in very good company.

"I still can't believe they just let us go like that." At some point, the sound of the flute had stopped and Sumaci had sat up in her seat next to her husband after she had put away her instrument.

As Corco's wife had said, their actions had been highly unusual. After all, if one of the two monarchs of the country was absent, the other could naturally take over government affairs. The fact that both of them had been let away on vacation at the same time was certainly out of character for their worrywart assistants, to say the least. Still, Corco was neither bothered, nor surprised by this development.

"It's not like there's anything difficult left to do in Saniya. Most of it is just housekeeping," he argued, as he continued to stare out into the sparkling blue of the Narrow Sea. The beauty of the glittering waves calmed and excited him at the same time. "Fadelio can handle that much on his own for a while. And it's not like we're really on vacation. Not a proper one anyways. There's plenty of work to be done, and we even have a radio mounted on the ship. In case an emergency happens, we'll hear about it right away. Then we'll get back to Saniya in a few days at most, whether we like it or not."

While Corco was talking, Sumaci had stood up and walked over to the bar they had mounted underneath the ship's quarter deck. This ship had been specifically modified by Corco over the years, installing all kinds of unnecessary luxuries, just to see if they were possible with their current level of technology and craftsmanship. This tiny bar, built atop a series of ball-bearings, was free-floating and would self-right in accordance with gravity just like a spirit compass. As such, it could be used even at high seas.

Soon, Sumaci returned from the marvel of modern technology and engineering, which she had casually used to make them some drinks.

"Still, weren't you preparing a grand strategy for your new invention?" she asked, as she handed one of the two cocktail glasses to her husband. They had ice, straws, and everything. Truly an experience way beyond its time.

"You mean the bicycle?" Corco responded, as he took the glass his wife was offering him. "Any strategy used for their spread has already been planned out long in advance. I mean, we spent months building the thing. Just writing down a few lines was a lot easier. And I don't think following those simple instructions until I come back won't be any harder. They can't fuck it up that much, can they?"

"But I thought you wanted to personally teach the soldiers how to ride it. Who'll do it if you're not there? Didn't you say that was important?" Sumaci probed further, as she sat back down on her reclining chair which had been fastened to the main deck.

Although Corco thought it was strange that she hadn't asked such a question earlier, maybe she had wanted to be properly at sea before asking things which could let Corco reconsider their little trip. Though in that regard, she really hadn't needed to worry. In response to her question, Corco turned over and just smiled at his wife for a few seconds.

"Not as important as some time off with my beautiful wife," he finally said, and softly held her cheek in his free hand, before he turned back around. "Also, Nabo has learned how to ride too, and I've even left him a secret weapon to make things easier. So I can just have him do the teaching, while I handle more important matters."

Corco's smile transformed first into a sly grin, and then into one of anticipation, as he thought about Nabo's training, and then their plans for this journey.

"That is true, we will have plenty to do on this trip, won't we?" Sumaci sighed, and plonked back into on her seat in frustration.

"That's right. This is officially a business trip, so please don't enjoy yourself too much," Corco confirmed, and loudly slurped his drink through the straw to reinforce his point.

"Honestly, I'm just glad to be back at sea for once, no matter in what form," Sumaci admitted, to no-one's surprise, least of all Corco. After all, his queen had been a ship's captain for much of her life. Beyond that, she would surely be worried about her home as well. Even though a war was still raging on the Verdant Isles, she hadn't been back there ever since the start of the rebellion.

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"Maybe we could do something like this regularly," Corco thus suggested vaguely. He didn't want to mention the war and ruin the good mood, something he suspected his wife had been doing as well. "Like, once a year, we just take a few weeks off to enjoy ourselves."

"That would be nice," Sumaci just confirmed, as Corco had expected.

For a while, the couple remained silent as they just slurped their drinks and stared out into the sparkling blue sea. Since Corco was perfectly content with doing absolutely nothing for a while, it was of course his inquisitive student's duty to break the peace once more.

"Though I still don't understand what's so important about cultivation that it requires the king to personally inspect some random results," she reiterated a thought she had expressed before their departure as well. Yet once again, Corco gave the same answer.

"Cultivation is the basis of our rule, after all," he just said.

The first time, such a vague non-answer had been enough to satisfy Sumaci. Now however, she probed further, whether out of curiosity or boredom.

"Was the basis of our rule," she corrected. "Didn't all of that change with your lightning miracle, oh great teacher? I mean, with the rapid advance in technology we have gone through, won't cultivation become less and less important in the future? Surely, relying on cultivation is no way to rule in the long-term."

While Sumaci's view was sufficiently progress-oriented, throwing away the past to face the future, Corco thought her views were a bit too radical. Not to mention that they didn't coincide with his own plans, or rather, his own predictions about cultivation.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he thus said.

"What do you mean?" Sumaci asked and sat up, already in student mode, ready to challenge any of Corco's teachings, as usual. In response, the teacher righted himself as well, and faced his student squarely.

It's been a while, he thought and suppressed a smile as he stared into Sumaci's eager eyes with fascination. This would be their first lesson in a while, though it would be less of a lesson this time, and more of a summary of his best and worst theories on the subject.

"First off, how much do you know about cultivation?" he asked, in an attempt to establish her base level of knowledge. After all, they had never had any serious discussions about cultivation, and he needed to know where to begin with his lecture.

"Cultivation describes a set of breathing techniques and spoken or thought mantras, coupled with certain forms of physical exertion, which manage to elevate the human body beyond the mundane, imbuing it with superhuman capabilities over time. For centuries, they have also been a powerful tool for the ruling classes around the world to control the commoners at the bottom, by controlling the outflow of techniques and only imparting them onto their followers." Maci rattled off, before she she added: "Though these old methods of control have been challenged recently, mostly by you, teacher."

In response, Corco nodded slowly. His wife had given a textbook definition, which was impressive on its own, since there were no textbooks on the subject in the first place. Most likely, she had come up with such a clean and comprehensive definition on her own, maybe even on the fly. It represented the height of understanding on the subject of cultivation in the world, in addition to some of Sumaci's own thoughts. It was certainly more than good enough to jump straight into his theories.

After he had taken a few seconds to organize his own messy thoughts on the subject, Corco finally continued.

"Well, you want to hear my opinion on cultivation?" he asked. Although he never enjoyed thinking about cultivation, he couldn't disappoint his wife with that eager expression on her face.

"Of course. You know I always enjoy your lectures." Although Sumaci looked poised to learn, an awkward Corco was in no position to fulfill her wish.

"Well, this one will be less of a lecture, and more of a loose collection of theories and ideas," Corco admitted. "For a more methodical look at cultivation, we probably have to start with the most fundamental questions. What is cultivation, really, at its essence? And how does it work? By which I mean, what sort of mechanism is happening inside the human body which allows for cultivation to happen in the first place? What are its requirements, and what are its limitations?"

While Corco was talking, Sumaci had laid back down on her side and snuggled into a comfortable position.

"All of them good questions, teacher. Surely, you already have the answer to most of them," she said, and closed her eyes, ready to receive another one of Corco's many lengthy speeches. However, the teacher had to disappoint his student this time.

"I wish." With a sigh, Corco once again looked out onto the sea.

Still busy with his messy thoughts, he tried to organize them for a while, as his wife patiently waited for him. Though the more he looked out into the blinking mess of lights, the more muddled his thoughts became. In the end, he gave up and simply rattled off what half-baked theories he had come up with so far.

"According to my best guess, cultivation is a way of influencing the human body, in some way," he said. "I know that's frustratingly vague, but we simply don't know enough about cultivation yet to say anything more. If I had to say anything more concrete, cultivation is either a targeted way of manipulating the human hormone household, or a method to directly mutate the human genome in a targeted manner. Since cultivation can do some things which seem outside the realm of mere hormones as far as I know, I tend towards the latter explanation. Though I won't rule out the former without formal, experimental falsification."

As he spoke, Corco got both excited and uncomfortable, as he usually got whenever he thought about cultivation for too long. It was not a pleasant feeling, yet it was one he just couldn't let go.

"Is this not a powerful force?" he asked after he had turned towards Sumaci, his excitement temporarily overpowering his discomfort at the thought. "A clean, safe, and ethical way to manipulate the human genome, a powerful path into the future, should it hold true. Even more, it could be a way to manipulate all kinds of organisms beyond humans, from plants to animals. A pre-industrial CRISPR, if you will. If this power can be truly understood and harnessed by us, the possibilities are almost endless. It's an invention maybe even beyond an industrial revolution in importance."