Steam Is Power

Holy Vixima Kingdom, Azlik City, western outskirts.

Fields of oilseed flowers swayed in the wind, their sea of blossoms glowing beneath the warm sun.

A winding railway track divided the flowers in two. At its end stood a black steel beast.

Its rounded front bore a tall smokestack, and carriage after carriage stretched out behind it. The wheels beneath gripped the rails like a centipede's legs, while the projecting counterweights gave it a solid, powerful beauty.

Commoners drawn by the publicity crowded around the steel giant, asking curious questions.

"Is this the Steam Train they were talking about?"

"Lord of Dawn above, it looks just like a monster."

"Look at that cold metallic sheen. Could this Steam Train be some new magical puppet the noble lords have made?"

Questions and exclamations mingled in the air. Even the nobles farther away were stunned by the steel beast they had never seen before.

Then the whistle sounded. Thick smoke poured from the chimney, and a blast of steam flattened the golden oilseed flowers outward from the train.

With a roar, the great wheels began to turn in rhythm.

"It's moving! It's moving!"

"There's no magical glow, no energy radiating from a mana core, and no invisible creature pushing it from behind. Where is the force driving it forward coming from? Can it really be released from water? Why would inert water produce so much power? Just because there's a fire burning underneath it?"

"Tyrant above, this is incredible."

As the nobles exclaimed, a middle-aged craftsman stepped forward. His muscles bulged, his skin was dark, and his hair was wildly disheveled.

He looked thoroughly excited. "Ladies and gentlemen, before you stands the Steam Train. It has tremendous carrying capacity and can travel at speeds of up to 190,000 sacred units per hour."

"And the source of its power is the Steam Engine, a machine that boils water into steam to generate tremendous force."

"With the Steam Engine, we'll no longer have to search everywhere for mana cores to make airships fly. With the Steam Engine, our warships will no longer sit at the coast year after year for want of mana cores. With the Steam Engine, the distances between places will become astonishingly short."

In the distance, several archbishops in different styles of clerical robes watched the craftsman promote the Steam Engine and spoke quietly among themselves.

"Have you found out who this craftsman is? Where did he come from? How did he invent the Steam Engine? A revelation from my lord, the guardian deity of the Holy Vixima Kingdom, told me that steam is the key to the next age..."

"A craftsman born in the southern countryside of Fernando who invented the Steam Engine in a sudden flash of inspiration. That's the background we found, but the very fact that it's so clean is suspicious... I asked a diviner to uncover his true identity, but the reading revealed nothing. Some power around him blocks divination aimed at him. If he isn't a Demigod himself, then a great god is interfering with the results."

"My lord, the God of Craftsmen, has given me a revelation. Several gods of a higher rank than my lord are already watching him. Authority over 'steam' is forming within the world's source. In other words, if he finds the right path, he'll become the first true god in nearly a century to raise a Divine Kingdom. My lord commands us to watch his every move and find a way to bring him into the Church of the Three Gods."

In the distance, a white light suddenly appeared on the middle-aged craftsman's wrist. He seemed not to notice and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"...Steam is power! Steam is strength!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the age of steam has arrived!"

Church of Knowledge headquarters, Graycastle.

Avram Krell quietly leafed through a book taller than he was. Each turn of a page sent a rustle through the silent library.

"No age in history has ever ended halfway through."

"How strange."

A white light appeared on his wrist. He glanced at it, reached out, and tore a page free with a rip.

In a tiny dimensional space, a small green sprout grew vigorously.

Passing through the halo, Fiona Russell found that she was not the first to arrive. A middle-aged craftsman with bulging muscles, dark skin, and a faint, mysterious white glow around him had arrived before her.

The mysterious light had faded enough for her to make out his appearance, but... Fiona Russell was thrown off. The aloof Mr. Mystery was neither a handsome knight nor an enigmatic mage, but a burly, middle-aged craftsman?

That didn't fit at all...

Ieta Cavendish felt Fiona Russell's searching gaze. His bones crackled, his bulging muscles visibly shrank, and his dark skin grew pale. His face became handsome again.

At the same time, the white light around him thickened, blocking Fiona Russell's probing gaze.

His appearance changed. That craftsman was a transformed version of him—was it the effect of a transformation spell? Fiona Russell blinked. Then she glanced over, saw a small figure passing through the halo, and gave him a polite smile.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Paper Man."

Avram Krell returned her warm smile. "Good afternoon, beautiful lady. And good afternoon to you, Mr. Mystery."

As they exchanged greetings, Jiang Hao appeared in the guise of Amenominakanushi, dressed in white ceremonial robes, and greeted them with a smile.

After the brief greetings, Ieta Cavendish spoke respectfully. "Your Highness, thank you for sharing your knowledge of Steam. I've built the first Steam Engine."

The Steam Engine? My teacher said it had just appeared in the Holy Vixima Kingdom. Could Mr. Mystery be from there? Fiona Russell listened and speculated.

"But I've encountered a difficulty and would like to ask for Your Highness's help. I'm willing to offer a reward that will satisfy you," Ieta Cavendish said.

The beginnings of an organization are taking shape... Jiang Hao thought. Outwardly, he maintained a god's distant authority. "Speak."

"I'd like to borrow Your Highness's power to spread the Steam Engine across the continent."

Borrow my power to spread the Steam Engine across the continent? Good idea, but do I have that kind of power?

After a brief silence, Jiang Hao gave a soft laugh. "You can't afford the price of my help. But you can ask your two companions for theirs."