Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters-Chapter 1000 - 54 Steel Fortress
Chapter 1000: Chapter 54 Steel Fortress
[Monta Republic, Solingen State, Steel Fortress City]
The coldest weeks of winter have passed, and the weather is gradually warming up.
On sunny noons, the snow on the mountains melts under the glare of the sun. At night, when the temperature drops, the melted water freezes again, eventually forming a layer of crystal-clear ice crust on the surface of the snow.
The melting snow trickles beneath the ice crust, eventually flowing into Rose Lake in numerous streams. Occasionally, there are loud cracks echoing from the mountains as large sheets of ice break apart.
In three days, the Steel Fortress Ironsmith Guild will elect the next executive committee.
The employees of the city hall are busily preparing the assembly hall and sweeping the streets. Shopkeepers along the streets are also vigorously cleaning their storefronts, hoping to make extra business from the upcoming election day festivities.
Some say that Steel Fortress is a city of blacksmiths.
In fact, Steel Fortress is a city “belonging to” blacksmiths.
Among all the working-age citizens of Steel Fortress—regardless of gender—nearly one-sixth are directly involved in mining, smelting, and metalworking, with another third being their family members.
The remaining half of the city’s population mainly earn their living by providing services to the aforementioned groups.
Everything in Steel Fortress revolves around blacksmiths, and the organization that binds all the blacksmiths is the Ironsmith Guild.
Therefore, the executive members of the Ironsmith Guild become the executive members of the District Guild Alliance;
The executive members of the District Guild Alliance, in turn, become the executive members of the Steel Fortress City Hall;
The executive members of the Steel Fortress City Hall, further become the executive members of the Solingen State Parliament.
There is neither written nor customary law stating: “The executive members of the Steel Fortress Ironsmith Guild automatically become the executive members of the Solingen State Parliament.”
But nobody has ever objected to this process; everything happens logically and naturally.
Yet, who outside the process could imagine that the internal election of a guild within a district of a city, which is part of an autonomous state, could decide who wields considerable power over the state, or even who calls the shots within the Republic?
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As the streets of Steel Fortress are fraught with the tense atmosphere of the upcoming election day, a young couple from the Empire checked into the best hotel by the Rose Lake.
The full name given by the male guest upon registration was [Enrique, Baron of Granashi], so the waitstaff at the hotel addressed them as [Lord Granashi] and [Lady Granashi].
The baronial couple generously rented a detached two-story building by the lake, along with a private stable.
Although they did not travel with many attendants, it took a full three carriages just to transport their luggage. Tasks such as moving luggage and feeding the horses were exclusively handled by their own servants, without resorting to the help of the hotel staff, exhibiting the utmost nobility.
[Enrique and Catherine of Granashi] themselves conversed only in the ancient tongue, not uttering a single word of the common language, leaving the waitstaff utterly confused and disoriented.
The hotel supervisor cursed the “newlywed fools of the decaying Empire” countless times in his heart, yet maintained a constant apologetic smile on his face.
Just as the overwhelmed supervisor was urgently seeking a translator, he saw the impatient baron casually gesturing him over.
Following that, a handsome man clad in a priest’s robe, presumably the baron’s private chaplain, stepped forward and translated the baron’s instructions into the common language—albeit with a slightly awkward expression.
The hotel supervisor was shocked; he had dealt with nobility before but had never seen “a noble who wielded a clergyman as if he were a servant.”
For a moment, the supervisor even empathized with the pitiful priest before him, fully understanding the struggle and regret in his eyes.
After settling Lord Granashi’s party, the supervisor gathered all the waitstaff and patiently advised, “Pay extra attention, this Lord Granashi appears to have a significant background.”
“Significant? How significant can it be?” a younger waiter asked curiously.
“Why the nosy questions?” The supervisor glared fiercely, causing the young waiter to shudder: “Don’t ask what you shouldn’t! What, got nothing to do? Go fill up the water troughs in the stable. The rest of you, disperse.”
Chastised, the young waiter sniffled as he went to fetch the water. The others also quietly dispersed.
An elderly waiter with a tall, slim figure and gray hair intentionally lingered until the end. When only he and the supervisor remained, he smirked and asked, “How significant can he be? Isn’t he just a dime-a-dozen young baron? Look at his arrogant self!”
“Nonsense!” The supervisor’s eyes narrowed: “One day, your tongue is going to get you in trouble!”
“Yes, my mistake.” The tall, gray-haired waiter gestured as though zipping his lips: “But really, what’s the deal with that guy?”
The gray-haired tall waiter was Roger, the supervisor’s nephew, and before his trustworthy subordinate and relative, the supervisor no longer held back.
“In my opinion,” the supervisor mused, “he’s either the heir to some marquis or the illegitimate son of a duke. It wouldn’t be far off.”
Roger was puzzled, listening attentively for the supervisor to continue.
The supervisor mused: “Big shots… I’ve seen my fair share. Although Baron Granashi is young, when I place him among those lords in my mind, he doesn’t seem out of place at all.”
Roger nodded on the surface but internally scoffed at his uncle’s assessment.
The supervisor saw through his nephew’s thoughts at a glance. Frowning, he gestured towards the lakefront building: “You didn’t notice anything at all?”
