The rifle shots continued long after midday.

Thunder rolled again and again across the snowy valley while smoke drifted over the training grounds in gray clouds. The marksmen had begun practicing staggered volleys now—one line firing while another reloaded behind them.

Messy at first.

Then gradually smoother.

Raven stood near the edge of the field watching carefully while workers and guards gathered nearby to observe the drills.

Most of them looked proud.

That bothered him.

Not because pride was unusual.

Because frontier people were not supposed to look hopeful.

Yet every person here acted like Elarion was becoming something important.

A young rifleman suddenly cursed loudly after fumbling a powder charge into the snow.

"Damn it!"

The man beside him laughed.

"Congratulations. The ground is armed now."

Several nearby soldiers snorted.

Even Malen exhaled sharply through his nose, which apparently counted as humor from him.

The nervous marksman groaned while trying to salvage the ruined cartridge.

"We need faster loading."

"We need you to stop feeding black powder to winter."

Another burst of laughter spread across the line.

Raven quietly watched the interaction.

No fear.

No crushing military rigidity.

The discipline existed, certainly.

But so did familiarity.

The soldiers acted like comrades rather than ranks separated by birth.

Again—

Dangerous.

A figure suddenly stepped onto the field from the fortress road above.

Lucien.

The drills immediately slowed as the riflemen straightened instinctively.

Snow crunched beneath Lucien’s boots while cold wind tugged lightly at the dark winter coat hanging over his shoulders.

Raven studied him carefully from a distance.

The prince’s reports had always described Lucien as passive.

Quiet.

Politically weak.

Yet the man walking across the field now looked nothing like that description.

There was no arrogance in him.

No dramatic presence.

But people moved differently when he appeared.

Workers nodded respectfully.

Soldiers straightened.

Even Malen looked slightly less terrifying.

Which honestly impressed Raven the most.

Lucien stopped beside one of the firing tables while examining the newest rifle model quietly.

"How many misfires?"

The soldier nearest him answered immediately.

"Three this morning, my lord."

"Barrels?"

"Stable."

Lucien nodded slightly before glancing toward the targets far across the valley.

"Accuracy?"

A common-born rifleman spoke this time.

"Better than yesterday."

The man hesitated briefly afterward.

"Still difficult in crosswind."

Lucien crouched beside the firing line afterward and grabbed a handful of snow from the ground.

He let it fall slowly.

Watching the wind carry it.

Raven frowned slightly.

Interesting.

"Adjust half a degree left before firing," Lucien said calmly while standing again.

Several riflemen looked surprised.

"You can judge that from snow?"

Lucien looked toward the distant targets.

"The wind already is."

The soldiers exchanged looks afterward.

Then one muttered quietly:

"...That was unfairly cool."

Unfortunately Malen heard it.

"Less admiration. More training."

The rifleman immediately straightened.

"Yes, sir."

Raven nearly smiled despite himself.

The more he observed Elarion, the stranger it became.

The leadership here did not feel distant from the people.

Lucien spoke with soldiers naturally.

Workers answered without terror.

Even the knights seemed... comfortable around him.

Not obedient out of obligation.

Loyal.

That difference mattered more than rifles ever could.

Nearby, Cedric approached carrying one of the damaged practice targets beneath one arm.

"Penetration improved."

Lucien examined the steel plate briefly.

The rifle round had punched almost completely through reinforced armor.

A nearby knight stared openly at the damage.

"That would kill most cavalry."

Malen answered calmly.

"Yes."

Silence followed.

Heavy silence.

Because everyone understood it.

The battlefield itself was beginning to change.

Before the atmosphere could settle further, a loud scream suddenly echoed from the western road.

"MOVE!"

Everyone turned instinctively.

A supply cart came barreling down the snowy slope completely out of control while two terrified workers desperately tried to stop the overloaded wagon.

"THE BRAKES FAILED!"

The horses panicked harder.

The cart slid violently toward the lower rifle line.

Several soldiers jumped backward instantly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

One of the newer recruits froze entirely.

Then—

A massive golden shape crashed down from above.

The ground shook.

Snow exploded outward across the field as Aurethar landed directly in front of the runaway cart.

The dragon looked mildly annoyed.

The horses looked spiritually destroyed.

Aurethar placed one claw casually against the front of the wagon.

The entire cart stopped instantly.

Silence.

One wheel slowly fell off afterward.

The workers climbed down shakily.

"...Thank you."

Aurethar stared at them.

"You transport explosives on unstable roads."

The younger worker swallowed hard.

"Yes."

The dragon blinked slowly.

"Humans continue to survive entirely through confidence."

Several soldiers nearby started laughing.

Even Lucien rubbed one hand briefly against his forehead.

The older worker bowed awkwardly toward Aurethar.

"We’re grateful, honored dragon."

Aurethar lifted his head proudly.

"As expected."

Then after a pause:

"Your cart construction remains insulting."

The dwarves watching nearby immediately became offended.

"It was human-made!"

"That explains everything!"

Within seconds another argument exploded across the field.

Raven watched all of it quietly.

The dragon.

The riflemen.

The workers.

The absurd arguments.

And somehow—

It felt real.

Not polished.

Not noble.

Real.

That realization unsettled him more than anything else so far.

Because the capital painted Lucien as a failed exile surviving in frozen ruins.

But standing here now—

Raven could clearly see the truth.

Elarion was becoming a nation inside the kingdom.

And if nobody stopped it—

One day the south might wake up to realize the north no longer needed them at all.