Anxiety

These past few days, Lynn had been writing his proposal for a <Complete Process for Building a Factory to Turn Slimes into Cloth, from Detoxification to Spinning>.

Lynn had written several pages with carefree flair, staying up late each night whenever he had the time.

These past few days had nearly worn him out, but luckily, he'd played just about everything back in the day.

Victoria 3 for industrial economics, Hearts of Iron for war, Star Cluster for outer space, Crusader Kings for the Middle Ages where you could marry your own daughter, Europa Universalis for the Middle Ages through the early modern period, and Cities: Skylines for city-building.

And games like Total War and Mount & Blade that required fine micromanagement.

Then there was Frostpunk, that infuriating Western political game about managing the masses.

All of it had given Lynn at least a little knowledge of everything.

On top of that, in this life, he was a noble who'd received a genuine education in political and administrative skills from childhood.

When he'd first designed Aninsbei City, he'd planned it on an urban scale, set aside empty land, and made room for a future expansion into an outer city.

There was somewhere for all these refugees to stay.

Lynn stretched, once again reflecting on his current predicament. "Obtaining large quantities of saltpeter is a problem. So is mining. How do I smelt iron in large quantities? How do I mass-produce it? How do I make percussion caps? Detonators? A usable steam engine? I can't take this—I'm the only one doing research! How am I supposed to have enough time for all of this?!"

These were all problems Lynn had to face.

There was a story about people in John Bull collecting urine from across the country to obtain saltpeter. That showed how much skill it took to extract the stuff; it wasn't something you could just get in large quantities.

Although this world was in the Magic Rune Era, and the age before that had been the Steel Age, that didn't mean they had blast-furnace ironmaking technology.

Ever heard of repeatedly forged steel?

People in other worlds just threw manpower at the problem. They were all built like beasts, hammering steel out by sheer force.

The so-called Steel Age only meant that steelmaking techniques had improved. Humanity had started producing steel on a larger scale, and the Dwarves were so damn impressive that their entire race had thrown themselves into steel production.

There was no need to even mention the other technologies.

Just thinking about it gave Lynn a headache.

Fortunately, he knew there were some technologies that would definitely work. As long as he researched in the right direction, he couldn't go wrong.

The magical flames were just powerful enough to melt copper. Melting iron was basically impossible, never mind steel.

What Lynn needed most was a large supply of steel, along with mass-producible gunpowder and percussion caps.

"Lynn, what are you doing?" Taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, Lilim came over to watch him work.

"Thinking about future plans and how to speed up development," Lynn replied as he wrote.

"You have time to plan for the future? I've got something to tell you."

"What is it?"

"Do you have a way to hold the city?" Lilim asked, sounding far from confident. "We only have a dozen or so explosive packs. Javelins have been around for tens of thousands of years, but getting everyone equipped with them in large numbers is still a problem, as is their range. There are so many people gathered here, too. I heard from the refugees that a large tribe has arrived from the neighboring grasslands."

Lilim took a sip of water. "There are over ten thousand of them. The Great Moon Wolfkin. They defeated the Tiger demi-humans' Golden Army before, and now they probably have armor."

"Just think about it. A whole pack of armored Wolfkin, and they have shaman mages, too."

"So, Lynn... Mmph!"

Lynn pinched Lilim's cheek. "Don't worry. I'm not the kind of person who can only win wars by relying on technological advantages."

"Even though I can't put my technology to use just yet, I have an excellent political system, and I'm good at micromanaging."

"And I have my strategies."

"Soon, I'll show you why I say that nobles' fights are nothing more than child's play."

"Because magic and Battle Qi exist, individualism has flourished. A single person can take on a thousand, so everyone fights based on courage. The clever ones might form up in ranks, but that's about it."

"Real warfare requires incredible discipline. It's about how to win when outnumbered, how to use intelligence—not courage."

Lately, ever since crushing the blond, Lynn's mood had been getting worse by the day, and his war-criminal index kept rising. Now the pressure was mounting, and everyone was piling it onto him.

There wasn't a single place where Lynn could let off steam.

The two happiest things in the world were:

"Comrades, we have nowhere left to retreat! Charge!"

"It's all right. You've already done your best."

Lynn hadn't experienced either of those things at all. The first required being cornered and having comrades who'd stand by you, but Lynn didn't have comrades who supported one another. Instead, everyone relied on him.

The second had been shattered long ago.

As the leader, Lynn couldn't show even the slightest hint of fear.

No matter how gentle someone was, when they were under too much pressure, they couldn't present a warm, approachable face to the outside world. They'd gradually become more aggressive.

And that was all the more true for Lynn, who had a father who didn't care for him, a mother who didn't love him, brothers who weren't close to him, no friends, and no love.

When you were under pressure, you needed somewhere to let it out, but Lynn had nowhere.