After the war, Lynn reorganized his forces. The survivors who could still fight became the Guard Army, while he also recruited a security force. He recruited 300 refugees to defend the city.
The true winter had already arrived.
A blizzard howled. When Lynn woke up and saw snow piled high enough to bury his knees, he, a southerner, was dumbfounded.
He had seen snow back in the Principality of Olexian, but never anything this bad!
The plan to go to war in winter went straight out the window.
"What the hell is this?" Watching the blizzard rage, Lynn couldn't help cursing. "This damn weather—I must've ended up in Siberia!"
Lilim rested a hand against her forehead in exasperation. "I told you, the most important thing in the Demi-human Kingdom is surviving the winter."
Lynn finally had some time to rest, so naturally he lounged in bed as he spoke. "Wasn't this once the southern part of the Demi-human Kingdom?"
"It was like this in the Demi-human Royal Capital, but that cold wave expanded the cold zone and pushed it south."
"Lilim, by the way, aren't you cold?"
Lilim sat in a chair, tidying up Lynn's desk. "A little."
"Lilim, you're not actually part of the Demi-human royalty or anything, are you?" With nothing else to talk about, Lynn had turned the conversation to the Demi-human Kingdom.
It was mostly because, after reading the myths, he had discovered that the ancestor of the Demi-human royalty was a Fold-eared Cat, even though the royals were supposed to be Tiger demi-humans.
More precisely, they were Fold-eared Tiger demi-humans, not Fold-eared Cats.
"Take a guess." After straightening a pile of papers, Lilim leaned against the bed and looked at Lynn with her blue eyes.
"Why would I guess that?"
"Then why bring it up?" Lilim pinched Lynn's cheek. "You jerk, Lynn. I saw the plans on your papers just now: wooden railways, engines, industry. How many plans do you have?"
"Lilim, don't move. You're letting the cold air in."
"You jerk, Lynn. You made me lose my Divine Favor, and you still won't tell me what you're planning?"
Lilim decided to play a mischievous trick with her icy hands. She ran outside, pressed her hands into the snow, then came back and threatened Lynn. "Well? Scared now?"
"Lilim, you're so mean. Don't come any closer! Stay back!"
Lynn clutched his blanket tight, trying to fend off her icy hands.
But she shoved them down his back without mercy, making him yelp from the cold.
"Lilim, you're the kind of person who'll start tearing up the roof if nobody scares you for three days!"
Lynn got mad on the spot. He immediately used magic to freeze his own hands, then slipped them down Lilim's collar and behind her back.
"L-L-L-L-Lynn!" Lilim's ears sprang upright, and she instantly bristled, her tail standing on end too.
"Lilim, how does it feel to get frozen? Pretty awful, huh?" Lynn refused to let up. "You even dared to use your dragon-back form. Looks like you need to be taught a lesson."
Lynn pinned Lilim down and held her in place, his hands freezing cold as he tormented her.
"N-no, let me go! It's too... too..."
"Too what? Too cold?"
"Too close. I can't."
Lynn was a little confused. He took a closer look at Lilim: she was facing away from him, pinned to the bed, and her clothes had gotten a little disheveled as she struggled.
The catgirl looked back at Lynn with teary eyes. "You jerk, have you finally decided to make a move on me?"
"Don't think you can fool me with tears!" Lynn declared righteously. "Besides, what's wrong with two good buddies messing around?"
"You jerk, Lynn!"
"What, are you huffing at me now?"
"W-what are you going to do?" Lilim hurriedly wrapped herself up. "Don't come any closer!"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I know I was wrong. I won't insult you anymore."
"That's more like it." Lynn let Lilim go and hurried under the covers. "Lilim, honestly, I think we'd both be much happier if our ambitions and talents were switched."
Lilim grumbled as she straightened her clothes. "What are you going on about now, Lynn?"
"I don't know why you're so obsessed with and in awe of those powerful rulers, but your talents are better suited to diplomacy. I guarantee that if Feng Aotian—the lesbian queen—talked to the perfect angel act you put on, she wouldn't be able to tear herself away. Even Princess Yuffie wouldn't be as captivating as you."
"Hmph, I'm very popular, you know. You're acting up again, aren't you? Imagining you could be loved as much as I am? Dream on!"
"I may not be as popular as you, but I can make people look up to me."
"Conceited."
"I promise you, by this time next year, a million people will raise their right hands and shout, 'Long live!'"
The winter was far too long. It was practically impossible to work during the season; the labor took a tremendous amount of effort and consumed a huge amount of food.
So Lynn set up a technology research institute and began educating everyone in science and literacy.
The moment Lilim arrived, she was assigned to teach the female slaves to read. By now, she had trained enough basic instructors.
Thanks to the customs of the era, Lynn openly paid no wages at all, only providing food and lodging.
Slavery had supposedly been abolished, but it hadn't been abolished thoroughly enough. The territory still ran a lot like a slave society: the lord told you to do something, and you did it.
Before you continue