From Londoner To Lord

Chapter 368 - 362. Earth - II

The teacher continued, "As the legend goes, about a century ago, an empire rose from almost nothing on the western continent. Since then, it's conquered nearly everything it's touched. From what the sea merchant said, there's hardly any land left on that continent that isn't under their rule, and by now, there's probably no country in the world which can stop them. In the past decade, they've even begun reaching into the eastern continent—which is located just to the south of Cilaria—but people say that some of the eastern kingdoms are quite strong and won't fall that easily..."

Kivamus tried to remember any information about this empire from the memories of the original Kivamus, but found absolutely nothing. That meant even the Duke's library didn't mention them even once, as if they were the boogeyman of the world. He looked at Gorsazo. "You still haven't said the name. Come on, Gorsazo, you can't seriously believe that saying it out loud will make them attack us."

The old teacher hesitated for a long moment. "Perhaps not... But there's a reason people fear saying their name. I pray the day never comes when we see the red sails of that empire's ships on our shores. Rumors say those ships spew fire, and they can turn any coastal city's walls into rubble, before their troops even set their foot on land. I've heard that their uniforms are also made in a blood-red color, so that the blood of the countless people they kill when conquering a new land wouldn't make their clothes look stained."

Kivamus' frown deepened. Ships emitting fire and breaking down the walls of a coastal city from a distance? That kind of sounded like... shore bombardment done by a ship using cannons—of whatever technology level. But these ships still used sails, so their technology level still had to be medieval, even though it sounded far ahead of what was found in Cilaria. But if they already had something like cannons, what if they were using the sails just as a red herring—or just to intimidate their enemies into submission using the psychological effect of those dreaded red sails—and actually used a more advanced propulsion method? Like steam engines, or maybe even diesel engines?

He had been so overwhelmed with all the problems of Tiranat and its surroundings and making sure that everyone survived the winter, that he had never given much thought to what lay outside Cilaria. Was this whole world truly in the medieval era? What if it was more advanced than he'd been thinking? So far he had assumed that the whole planet was in the medieval ages, which ended somewhere around the 15th century on earth. But what if this empire was further ahead?

It was obvious that the planet's technology level certainly wasn't anything close to earth, or he would have recognised the tell tail-signs like airplane contrails and he'd have heard about such modern things by now. But what if they had technology comparable to that of the 16th century on earth? Or even the 17th century? Or maybe further ahead? Was that how they'd conquered so much?

But how could he even find out for sure? There was no way to know anything with certainty unless he visited these places himself, but that wasn't practical. There was no Internet or TV to get the latest news or airplanes to fly such a great distance easily. So there was no real way to find out more, other than by asking around for rumors, which might just be based on superstitions, and might not hold even a speck of truth in them...

He shook his head, stopping his thoughts from running away. No, he was worrying for no good reason. All evidence stated that advanced technology did not exist in this world. He realized that the island of Cilaria was pretty isolated from the rest of the world, but ocean-going sea merchants regularly visited the port city of Ulriga. If even something as simple as steam engines, which was the fundamental technology of an industrial revolution, existed anywhere in the world, like to power ships—something which would threaten the livelihood of those sail-operating sailors—those merchants would have known about it for sure.

And if they had known about it, the original Kivamus would have heard about at least something regarding steam engines, and so would have Gorsazo—who'd lived two decades in that city, and had friends amongst the sea merchants. But there was nothing in his memories about it. So, it wasn't possible. That meant no steam engines in this world, and no industrial revolution either. However, the technology level of some countries, including this empire, might still be decades or a century ahead of what was found in Cilaria. That was some food for thought...

He gave a deep exhale. There he went worrying again...

There was no point in thinking about what might or might not be present. Not right now. He had to focus on his current problems first, but he would have to keep an open mind in the future about any news about this empire. He looked at the teacher. "Go on. What else do you know about them?"

"Not much more than what I've already told you, and even those were second or third hand rumors," Gorsazo said. "But if the stories are true, whenever those sails appear on the horizon, that country is said to be doomed, since most likely no army on Eranityn can stop them once they set their sights on a target." He glanced toward the window, his voice low. "But I suppose you're right that just saying their name won't summon their ships here. It's called—"

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

"Stop!" Duvas said sharply, raising a hand. "Why are you willing to invoke the devil? What good will it do to us? Do you even realize just how powerful that empire is compared to us? Tiranat can barely defend itself from bandits, and if the nearby barons decided to march on us for whatever reason—with or without the support of the count—we'd be ash before sunset. Fort Aragosa—whom we can't even dream of taking on—is the mightiest fortress in this kingdom, and even they could barely push back Binpaaz beyond our borders in the last war. And Binpaaz is absolutely nothing in front of the might of that empire. You know what that means? It means that that empire could destroy us without even noticing. Even if every kingdom in Cilaria united together—not like that would ever happen—but even if it did, they'd still crush us—" he snapped his fingers "—just like that. Like Cilaria was nothing more than an annoying fly!"

Kivamus frowned, his thoughts racing. Until now, he had only been worried about the smaller threats like bandits or the neighboring nobles—which had already seemed formidable. But if an empire existed in this world that could crush this entire kingdom so easily... just how strong were they?

Gorsazo looked at the majordomo for a moment, before he let out a long sigh. "Perhaps you're right. It might just be superstition, but there's a reason people are too scared to take their name. The less we talk about them, the better." He looked at Kivamus. "Just let it be, milord. Apart from their name, we hardly know anything about that empire anyway—only that they rule the western continent and that their power is unmatched. So even if this is just a superstition, they are far, far too strong for us to risk invoking their wrath, even by something as trivial as taking their names. So let's leave this conversation for the future. Long, long in the future..."

Kivamus took a slow breath, letting the weight of everything settle in his chest. Maybe it was fine that Duvas didn't want to take the name of that empire. What could he even do against an empire so vast and mighty that even its name was treated like a curse? If they truly had cities holding above a million people—compared to Ulriga, the biggest city of this kingdom which had fewer than fifty thousand—then that empire's strength would be on a scale Tiranat couldn't even begin to grasp. If nothing else, then because of the sheer size of their manpower. And places that big, assuming they were even somewhat prosperous, often led to human innovation. It would make that empire more and more powerful with every passing year, which meant no country could hope to stand in front of them as the years passed... Perhaps that was why people feared taking their name or seeing their red sails on the horizon. Perhaps that fear wasn't superstition after all...

He reluctantly pushed the thought aside. There was no way for them to fight a force like that. Not in the foreseeable future. Better not to dwell on it too much, and to just try to stay unnoticed by them.

"It's fine then," he said quietly. "Let's put that discussion aside for now. Coming back to the question you asked, the original Kivamus lived his life normally for 21 years. Then one day… I—Steven—opened my eyes in his body on the road to Tiranat last autumn. I have absolutely no idea how it happened. There's no logic to it that I can think of, no explanation that I've found. All I know for sure is that I carry Steven's memories from Earth, and Kivamus's memories from Ulriga. I remember my friends and family on Earth, just as I remember my younger sister here supporting me when we were children… and our older brothers who wouldn't stop tormenting us. I don't know if I'm still Steven or the old Kivamus, or an amalgamation of their minds. It's impossible to say. But either way, this is who I am now."

He let out a slow exhale. "Anyway, you still need to know about Earth, which was far, far more advanced than this world. I grew up there, and in that life I used to work in a profession called a mechanical engineer. That's how I know about the things I've made here. I'm not inventing anything from scratch—I'm just borrowing ideas from that world and adjusting them so they can work here. And about that restricted section of the Ulriga Palace library, which I kept using as an excuse to explain all this?"

Kivamus shook his head. "No books with that kind of information exist there. The library isn't nearly large enough to hold knowledge like that. All it contains is a few books on the ancestry of the Ralokaar dynasty, on the plants and animals commonly found in southern Reslinor, as well as some books on military strategy—which is all the restricted section contains. Maybe a few more I don't remember, but that's all. So the only reason I know about these unconventional and even revolutionary ideas is because I've lived an entire life in another world… and those memories stayed with me. How else could I possibly know any of it?"

Duvas stared at him. "Did that world really have such revolutionary things?"

Kivamus nodded. "So, so many of them. Earth had machines called trains—huge vehicles that could easily carry weight worth the whole village of Tiranat and more, powered by mighty engines far beyond the simple steam engines I want to build here someday. We had machines called airplanes that let people fly thousands of kilometers in a few hours. We had devices small enough to fit in a pocket that could hold more written knowledge than the entire world here has produced since humans learned to write. We had another enormous thing called a rocket, which could take people directly into the skies, to the moon and beyond, if needed. We had a small device—called a smartphone—that let people talk instantly with someone on the other side of the planet, just like talking face-to-face. We had devices which could change the genome—the very basic structure—of plants, to create seeds which were more hardy and produced a much better yield. And… weapons so powerful that a single one could destroy this whole kingdom within a moment. And that's just scratching the surface."