Synthetic Survivor: Machine Age - Chapter 145

The next morning, One came out of his room with a little smile on his face. The morning sun shined through his windows as a baste swathe of clouds littered the night sky.

One walked down the halls of the castle and was greeted by several maids that passed by, some important bureaucrats who were going to do their shifts, and King Wog was out with Patricia and was about to go dining in the grand hall.

After brief honorifics and greetings, One would walk away.

With everything back to the new normal of the new government One had built, the Fortress City was more lively than before.

The agenda for the day, however, was to visit each of the eastern villages personally with an armed guard by his side to convince them of his authority.

Although the new kingdom was now well-known to the villagers of the surrounding villages, their loyalties were doubted upon by several civil representatives of the outer district. Some of the representatives once were villagers of the said eastern villages and were quite knowledgable of the cultures.

All of this was compiled into a single scroll that was given to him after the trial yesterday by one of the said representatives who caught wind of ‘The King’s Proclamation’ that detailed King Wog’s intentions to invite all villages under the influence and indirect control of the Fortress city to migrate their populations to the city.

The man wasn’t aware, nor was anyone really, that the proclamations said to be from the king were actually from the man in black, Also known as, Lord Ben.

But none of them knew the latter parts.

As One passed through the castle doors and walked through the streets of the inner district, many people recognized him and bid him their greetings. From the youngest who could speak, to the oldest who could walk. Everyone knew of him and quite frankly, most loved and appreciated his efforts.

[You are quite the charmer, dear] Hailey said as she watched what One’s eyes saw. Hailey was like a person who was inside of a giant robot but had only passive and no direct controls.

She could see what One sees, and felt what One felt. If One was in pain, Hailey would feel it as well.

[When are we going to the first village?] Hailey asked.

[First, I need to pinpoint which village to go to first, probably the nearest one but I have no idea where the nearest village is located so I would need a guide. The guide would be someone familiar with the village in question and a battalion of knights to ȧssert my control] One said.

[Why don’t you just forcefully evict them?] Hailey said.

[Uhm, I mean… should I?] One asked.

[Look, sweety, you can just make up an excuse like any other government when they’re doing something that needs to be done with little to no hassles or opposition. Use force, make up an excuse that is both absurd and believable enough to make the gullible villagers take the bite. Once they do, pull the hook and catch the fish] Hailey said.

Hailey was more sinister than she really seemed. Was she just mimicking or, otherwise, promoting One’s previous actions?

But One, for the first time ever, did not feel so keen with the idea of forcefully evicting the villagers from their villages.

Doing so would decrease his popularity with them, thus making it harder for the villagers to integrate themselves into city life.

All of this was so much thought for One.

One reached the main gate of the inner wall, there he found Toby passing by.

Ome hailed him.

“Oh, ugh, me? Ay, erm, yes. Milord, what is it?” Toby stuttered.

[Oh my, the poor lad was startled] Hailey giggled.

“Are you familiar with the eastern villages under the indirect governance of the Fortress City?” One asked

“Ah.. yes, I actually came from one of those villages before passing the military academy for mages,” Tony said.

“Well then, you’re coming with me,” One said. One made it clear that he wasn’t taking a No as an answer amd the only correct answer was Yes.

“Yes, milord,” Toby abandoned his plans for the day and followed One.

They went to the eastern section of the wall that was under reconstruction. Stone from quarries were being poured in by the miners and were being used to make the stone foundations.

The place was busy, and would be busy until the walls finished.

Everybody began working faster, however, when One suddenly came out of nowhere.

As if there was an immense amount of pressure mounted on them by the mere presence of the man in black watching them do their jobs he had specifically requested to be done.

“Uhm, milord, what exactly are we going to do?” Toby asked.

One then turned towards him, his purple eyes seemingly piercing into his body.

“I want a battalion of knights clad in full armor to report here, immediately,” One said.

“Ah, yes milord! I’ll call upon the needed knights right away,” Toby said.

“Go,” One said.

Toby then skedaddled away.

One then turned around and continued watching the construction of the walls.

Why he was doing this? Well, Hailey wanted to watch how humans with intelligence and technology comparable to the medieval era of prewar Earth acted up close and personal.

Excluding the personal part, at least she had a front row seat with her husband in observing the peasantry build the wall that One himself was responsible for its destruction.

[It’s quite ironic that you destroyed this part of the wall and now you ordered the people that this wall protected to rebuild it, was that part of your plan?] Hailey asked.

[Not… quite] One felt a bit guilty.

Hailey then proceeded to tease her husband for failing to even consider the benefits and not-so-good benefits of his actions that came without a second thought.

But from here on out, she will be the voice to counter or support One’s decisions and actions.