When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

Ever since the ether clock came into existence, the star-forged gear slowly faded from Horn’s sight.

Reflecting a bit, he truly forgot about this source of energy.

With the emergence of the ether clock, Ry Court Barracks completely broke free from their reliance on star-forged gear.

Currently, the factories are still using the star-forged gear like inertia, but they can actually be replaced by spring machines.

Then what about the remaining star-forged gears themselves? Haven’t they already become portable engines that can produce energy over long periods?

But upon careful calculation, Horn realized that didn’t seem right. Could star-forged gear support such a long flight for the airship?

Unless they’ve conquered the technology to enhance the energy density of the star-forged gear?

"Could it be that you guys have already conquered it..."

"Yes." Leonardo displayed a confident smile, "That’s our goal."

"Then what are you babbling about!" Horn scolded irritably, "What’s really going on?"

Leonardo laughed sheepishly: "Your Grace, please take a look, the power source for the airship consists of two auxiliary propulsion propellers and one main propeller.

The main propeller is the star-forged gear, while the auxiliary propellers use spring machines, which greatly reduce the need to carry moon mercury.

Additionally, we can carry a large number of star-forged gears, and when the old gear fails, replace it with a fully charged one."

Hilov chimed in: "According to our calculations, four to six star-forged gears are enough to support a round trip."

Calculating it this way, the Holy Alliance has over fifty star-forged gears; using around thirty should suffice to support four to six airships.

In fact, upon further thought, the leftover twenty star-forged gears can be entirely applied to tank combat vehicles.

"Is that so?" Horn nodded silently, "Alright then, go ahead and make a prototype first, finish a flight test across the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range, then I’ll have a reason to get money from Qianqian."

Lately, with the shrinking spice and sugar trade, Horn found it increasingly hard to collect taxes from Qianqian.

Qianqian now seemed like a pregnant giant dragon, lying atop a pile of gold coins, daring anyone approaching.

After Leonardo left, only Hilov and Horn remained in the room.

Horn beckoned to Hilov, who rolled her eyes at him but still lightly sat in Horn’s lap.

Her face displayed a discontent expression, but her wolf tail continuously swayed over Horn’s thighs.

"Uh, you’re a bit heavy lately, are you eating too much?"

The previously gentle wolf tail instantly puffed up with fur, but Hilov’s face maintained a smile: "Probably because the spring prosthetic leg is too heavy?"

"It’s definitely the spring prosthetic leg, right, it’s the spring prosthetic that’s too heavy." Horn immediately switched his tone, "You’re so light, you’re lighter than air."

"Hmph." Hilov snorted, but still leaned her head onto Horn’s chest.

Horn stroked Hilov’s head: "Anything new from the Holy Council that could make an appearance? According to our plan, we’re probably entering a war state by autumn."

"We’ve used all the latest miracles, given the current progress, there likely won’t be any new miracles by autumn."

As the president of the Holy Council overseeing technology, industry, and education, Hilov had a crystal-clear understanding of these things.

She paused: "We’ve currently found suspiciously weak points in the astral plane near Cold Spring Castle and Xia Lvcheng, estimating a new spire in three to five years."

"So soon to have results?"

Ever since discovering the correlation between magic creatures gathering and possibly indicating weak points in the astral plane, Horn had been keeping a close watch.

Hilov adjusted her posture, rubbing against Horn’s chest, her ears flickering: "It’s only a suspicion really, fast would be two years, slow would be one.

Honestly, if it weren’t for difference engines, it’d take even longer."

Over the years, the Holy Council had consistently expanded the scale of difference engines; the Mechanical Palace has a specially built palace just for the difference engines.

Moreover, at the top floor of the Holy Seat Mansion, there’s also a difference engine that Horn plans to use for calculating massive material allocations.

Make no mistake, as the intensity of war increases, whoever manages resources more reasonably will largely decide the outcome of the war.

Horn’s administrative headquarters was even somewhat established for the difference engine at the Holy Seat.

But the current difference engine is still too large, and best within Ry Court Barracks, otherwise giving each county its engine would be perfect.

"Speaking of difference engines, I heard the Brass Inquisition is working on some sort of human-like difference angel heart?"

Once the Brass Inquisition was established and the recruitment standards were seen, a bunch of vampires and Scales Hermitage members immediately swarmed in.

Not only open to all, but proficiency in blood magic even adds bonus points, why wouldn’t they?

Just seeing this crowd assembled, Horn was always somewhat uneasy.

The extremists among the vampires and human extremists seemingly joined forces, could this end well?

"Indeed." Hilov’s face showed a disdainful expression, "They’re planning to use the angel’s heart from the cellar as a base for blood magic, then integrate it with a difference engine.

Through a process similar to spring mechanism demonization, they intend to create a difference engine possessing its own intelligence and thinking, capable of handling vast affairs."

What is this? A cognitive crisis?

A chill surged up within him, he immediately asked: "Did you approve?"

"Of course not, although it’s well worth considering, the risk is far too high, unless they can completely control it..." At this, Hilov’s voice quieted, "Furthermore, our child hasn’t been born, we need to keep it."

At this point, Horn also fell silent.

The angel’s tear candle in the groove almost seemed to have a mind of its own; he’d burned a stick nearly halfway through last time, but the angel simply wouldn’t show.

So currently, the only usable one is the angel who tried to assassinate him last time, now imprisoned in the dungeon.

Honestly, this angel had inexplicably become much more obedient, sometimes even proactively cooperating with their tasks.

Regarding the nature of this angel, Horn could only say, that compared to the Brass Inquisition and Miseria herself, it’s still lacking.

This was a manufactured human, or rather a human variant, with a specialized organ for receiving ether.

Leonardo, back then, and others managed to rapidly design the ether clock’s tuning receiver precisely by imitating the angel’s bodily structure.

Horn even had a nagging suspicion, wondering if this angel might actually be an elf?

Otherwise, why have organs and structures so similar yet distinct from humans?

Yet as Horn was immersing himself in thought, he heard a somewhat plaintive voice.

"We’ve been preparing for so long, why is there still no sign?"

Faced with Hilov’s scrutinizing gaze, Horn broke into a cold sweat.

If in a typical monogamous setting, people might suspect the husband or wife having an issue if no children arise.

But in his case, marrying four wives and still having no pregnancies, figuring out where the problem lay was rather challenging.

"The angel’s issue..."

"The angel’s issue can wait, let’s discuss yours. Shouldn’t we conduct another test?"

"The Pope having daily checkups at urology, where would that leave the Holy Alliance’s reputation?"

"Your ability to father a child is the Holy Alliance’s ultimate wish, Hilov earnestly gazing into Horn’s eyes, "Otherwise if anything happened to you, even just an injury, a political storm might instantly erupt within the Holy Alliance.

Without children, how much chaos would a false rumor cause?

Just like your earlier collision in the Battle of Pavia, and the previous campaign, mustn’t happen again."

"I know, I know." Horn replied helplessly, "Honestly, I want to prepare for having a child, but the first step is abstinence, merely relying on quantity doesn’t realistically increase probability, everything afterward just would be wasted."

Hilov slapped Horn: "Why are you shouting so loud? Isn’t this trip to Fishing City a month-long venture.

When you return, we’ll check the results of your abstinence, examine the quality."

Upon mention, Hilov scanned Horn thoroughly: "You wouldn’t actually have a fling with Charlie, would you? I did hear he swings both ways."

"Even if he does, I absolutely wouldn’t indulge." Horn was utterly dismayed, "Besides, Jeanne’s right there!"

"Hmph." Hilov snorted once again, stood up to leave.

But just as Horn sensed warmth departing, he suddenly smelt a faint fragrance.

It turned out, Hilov, having turned, once again tightly embraced Horn.

"Autumn then, will the Royal Court really come?"

Caressing Hilov’s silky hair gently, Horn warmly kissed her forehead: "They will certainly come, and we will undoubtedly repel them, establishing the Holy Alliance’s earthly heaven."