Steel and Mana

Chapter 4 – Reality

“Shit…” 

It was the first thing that came to my mind: walking into the town on the cobblestone road. When I previously visited, I exited the carriage at the mayor’s house, which was in a private courtyard at the other end of the town. This time, we were coming in on foot, walking along the northern road, which was pretty deserted. It led to our castle, so not many would use it, and not many people were there to see us arrive. 

There were no walls here; it was pretty open, built in a flat area where the houses sprung up naturally throughout the years, resulting in many sneaking roads and dark alleyways. It was a little labyrinthian, but it gave it a unique charm. Scouring my memories, our cities were all planned. Everything was straight, meeting at a ninety-degree angle. It made sense… it was clean. Lionheart before me? Anything but. 

I barely managed to step over the pile of shit left on the cobblestone by a horse, who knows when. It was what prompted me for my previous outburst... For Oleg, this was perfectly normal; he didn’t even notice it, nor did he wrinkle his nose as we walked over it and headed into the city. Passing by the many wooden houses until we arrived on the main street, I had to repeatedly curse, dodging dung mines. 

“Shit…”

I repeated under my breath as the clean, fresh air was gone, replaced by the stench of piss, shit, and who knows what. I was expecting a fantasy-esque town… Maybe some colorful houses? None. All was brown because of the wood it was built from, only colored a little by the straw roofs they had. Okay, there were a few lighter-colored houses made out of cob, the mixing of clay-based subsoil, sand, straws, and water. The wealthier people managed to erect stone houses, but those were extra rare. I know that the mayor had his made out of it… and the temple of the Pantheon of Gods was also a beautiful and sturdy building made of lime mortar and some other stuff I didn’t recognize. 

The roads? Those were made out of cobblestone and dirt… or horse shit. I couldn’t tell because everything was stinking like the nine hells. I saw people throwing buckets of… something into side alleyways, out of sight, but… fuuuuuuuck. This was not just looking dire or smelling nasty; it was a biohazard waiting to explode. We need a proper sewer system... And I wasn’t thinking about modern things… hell, I remember reading about the Roman times. We solved the problem way earlier than… Whenever this was. Whatever timeline I was reborn into.

“Is something the matter, Young Lord?” Oleg asked, noticing me wincing and grimacing constantly as we walked towards the market square.

“A lot,” I answered, trying not to hold my nose and look like some kind of snobbish brat. “This place is a mess. I remember going to a small village with my Mother, where I felt it was okay… But... this… this is a town? What the hell? This is a cesspit!”

“Young Lord?” He asked again, confused as he found nothing out of the ordinary or any reason I would say that. In his eyes, it was a lovely town, with many people present, so it was lively both in the daytime and at night.

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“Don’t mind me…” I shrugged, looking around, and most people ignored us. Or me. To be honest… many did peek at Oleg. He was huge, but nobody had the gall to gaze at him for long before turning away or walking around us. “I simply used to… more cleaner places.”

“Well, maids maintain the castle daily; here, that can’t be done.” He nodded, thinking about it, scratching his chin. 

“Not that… ah, no matter, no matter. Let’s go to the temple!”

“Why?” He asked but still started to lead me to it.

“I want to see it, that is all. I was wondering about it as my father always mentions Toobu this and Toobu that. While my Mother answers that Ariana would do this and Ariana would do that…”

“And… Young Lord… they… never explained?”

“They did.” I shrugged, “I know that six deities were visiting our world once.” Of course, I didn’t mention that I believed none of it. “From those six, one was a man named Toobu who was a warrior, upholding justice.” Hogwash, if you ask me… of course, I would also not say that out loud as everyone seemed to take it seriously. As if they witnessed it. “The woman named Ariana was smart and just, but her wrath could turn day into night and summon demons from hell itself.” Which sounded like an angry wife to my ears.

“Yes, yes!” Oleg nodded rapidly as we walked towards the temple. “The Pantheon is made up of the Six Deities! Besides Toobu and Ariana, Wyland, Valen, Elyse, and Orsi are the rest.”

“Mhm, I know of their names, but I will be honest… I’m not really into believing in deities.”

“There are many proofs, Young Lord!” Oleg explained while we arrived, entering the temple and walking into the domed, clean building, and the fresh scent of burning incense assaulted my senses. Ahh… the relief from the smell of shit. Temples are not that bad after all.

“Sure.” I answered, not really listening to him, listing out all the “marks” littering our world. In my previous life or now, I wasn’t interested in old fairy tales.

The inner sanctum was decorated with their statues, standing in a circle. Studying their figures, they were nothing extravagant, but I noticed they all wore a similar robe, colored black and purple. Three of them were men, while the other three were women. I quickly lost all interest, regarding them the same as our old, ancient people’s nonsense.

What I was genuinely interested in was the temple itself and how it was built. I walked around and studied the walls, the seams between its blocks, the work on the statues, the marks on the floor, and the ceiling. All this pointed out that we had the technology to build something modern. Something sturdy. I would bet a lot that this temple could withstand some abuse or survive a fire… the houses in the city? Not so much. Good… then this also means it is not the problem of “Can we do it?”; instead, it is a problem of “How much will it cost?”

“Where did the stones come from?” I asked Oleg, not expecting an answer, but I turned out to be lucky.

“The temple was built long ago,” He explained after recalling his memories, “The church was financed by the Empire; they opened a mine in the mountains, a few hundred kilometers away from here. It was mined and cut to pieces there, then transported here!”

“Why don’t we do the same?” I asked, turning towards him in surprise, “The buildings here are ultra shabby.”

“But… Young Lord… we can’t!” He said, gobsmacked, “First of all, we don’t have the resources or money to buy the equipment and people to start mining and transporting. Secondly, the thing that holds stone buildings together is a national secret. Only the Empire can send artisans out to build something out of stone. Even your own home, the Fortress of the Wild, was built and is owned by the Empire.”

“What a pain in the ass…” I groaned, rubbing my head. “Is everyone this paranoid here?”

“Young Lord?”

“Nothing, Oleg!” I waved my hand. “I saw what I wanted. Let’s go!”

“But… no prayer, Young Lord?” He asked, a bit conflicted, bowing towards the statues.

“None. I am not a fan of that! Now, I want to see all the stone buildings in the city. Can you show me around?”

“Y-yes!” He hurried after me, continuing to play the role of a somewhat confused guide.

The whole day was about nothing else but surveying the masonry works of the Empire. I studied all the buildings that were not erected by locals but by government-employed artisans. It was evident that everything was determined by money. The mayor’s place was only 40% close to what the temple looked like, in build quality at least. Other, wealthier noble’s place was even less well built, but… at least it was made from rock and stone and had some style to it. The fact that they kept something as simple as mortar secret… was sick. Paranoid beyond belief. I will need to start from scratch…

By nightfall, I was in my room at the local inn, finishing washing up from cold water poured out in a bucket, using rags to clean myself. This also needs to change. I need to start introducing running water, bathhouses, and personal hygiene. I don’t care if they look at me weirdly that I want to bathe and clean myself daily… damn it, I’m not a barbarian. With anger, I opened up my little notebook after sitting down on the edge of my bed, naked, and started writing…

“There is a lot to be done…”