Iron materialized in a safe spot away from the main gates of the Versailles kingdom. The pouch of coins he had received from Noah vanished from his hands. Iron kept only a couple of coins in his pocket.
Adjusting his clothes, he walked at a calm pace toward the capital's massive entrance gates. At the entrance, two guards clad head-to-toe in armor immediately blocked his path, crossing their spears.
Iron instantly pulled a traveler's card from his inner pocket. One of the guards briefly inspected the document, nodded silently, and lowered his weapon. The path was clear.
Taking a few steps along the capital's flawless stone paving, Iron immediately caught a thick, slightly cloying scent. The air here was saturated with the aromas of perfume and floral essences.
"Way too much perfume..." Iron grimaced mentally, taking a shallow breath out of habit.
He walked past neat, well-kept buildings with balconies and tall stained-glass windows. The townspeople around him were dressed in clean, expensive fabrics. Comparing Versailles to the recent Nellis, Iron admitted to himself that this capital looked vastly richer, tidier, and more majestic.
Moving further, Iron began turning into narrow alleys, peeking into shaded archways and peering into the nooks between houses, trying to find at least some petty crime, dirt, or everyday flaw typical of capitals.
However, after ten minutes of continuous walking, he found absolutely nothing.
Realizing that a standard walking tour wouldn't bring any results, Iron stopped near a stone archway and said quietly,
"Lumon, do it."
A transparent interface immediately flared up before his eyes. Lumon quickly analyzed the structure of the kingdom and highlighted four spots on the map projection. Using spatial shifts, Iron sequentially visited all four locations. Each time he materialized in remote, dark zones where no human eye could catch his arrival. He went into shops selling rare materials and visited private warehouses, asking merchants about the components he needed, but received the same refusal everywhere.
Stepping out of the final, fourth shop onto a brightly lit street, Iron sighed slightly.
"Yeah, there's nothing here either..."
Lifting his head, he noticed a towering snow-white castle in the distance. Iron leisurely headed straight toward it.
As he walked, he activated Lumon's aerial view projection.
Surveying the capital's streets from above, Iron quickly caught onto one strange detail. At practically every intersection, in every alley, and around every square, there were squads of armored knights. There were a lot of them, even for a capital guard force, and Iron watched another patrol pass by with mild bewilderment.
About ten minutes later, Iron approached the gates of the snow-white castle. Two knights in heavy armor stood frozen right at the entrance, holding long spears.
"Excuse me..." Iron started, politely raising a hand.
"Entry is forbidden!" one of the guards cut him off sharply, not even turning his head toward him.
Iron remained completely calm.
"I apologize, but my name is Iron Everfall. I am here to see your king by personal invitation."
The knights exchanged a glance, after which the same guard cast a cold, dismissive look over Iron.
"There was no invitation. No one told us about you, and your name means nothing to us."
"The thing is, I am a highly secret guest," Iron continued, gently pressing his point. "My visit directly concerns your economy. I came to help fix it and do everything for the prosperity of your kingdom."
"We know nothing about that, and we don't want to know," the knight stated firmly.
"In that case, could you at least call the king?" Iron asked.
"We won't be doing that," the second guard answered grimly. "His Majesty has far more important matters to attend to."
Iron narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Does he really have matters more important than the economy? And more important than his own future?"
The guard took a step forward and shoved Iron in the chest.
"Get out of here before we decide you're a threat to the kingdom!"
The unexpected shove sent Iron staggering a couple of steps back, but he easily kept his balance. He adjusted his clothes, gave a brief nod, and answered calmly,
"Alright, understood."
Turning his back to the castle gates, Iron walked at a leisurely pace toward the nearest bar.
Five minutes later, pushing aside thoughts about his reception at the castle, Iron pushed open the oak door and stepped inside. It was dim within, and the air was filled with the quiet murmur of the few patrons.
Iron sat at a table across from the bartender.
"Can I get some water?" he asked.
"Yes, of course," the bartender replied, and a few seconds later placed a clear glass of cold water in front of him.
Iron took a sip and, without drawing the attention of those around him, quietly asked,
"Lumon, are they planning some major event here, or is it just me?"
"Correct. Based on an analysis of the residents' behavior, the high density of knight patrols, and the general atmosphere, a major event is being prepared in the capital. With an eighty-seven percent probability, it is a formal gala dinner for VIP guests."
"Got it," Iron muttered.
He finished his water, got up from the table, pulled one of the coins from his pocket, and tossed it onto the counter.
"Thanks."
The bartender caught the coin and instantly froze in silent shock, staring at the gleaming piece.
"Excuse me, mister, but this is way too much!" he called out after him.
"That's for you," Iron answered without looking back and slipped out onto the street.
Behind his back, the bartender could barely keep from jumping with sudden joy, quickly hiding the generous tip in his pocket.
Finding himself back on the crowded pavement, Iron cast a glance at the towering snow-white towers in the distance and quietly summarized,
"And yet, every kingdom has its flaw. Even on the eve of a celebration."
Meanwhile, Elyria, levitating in the middle of the camp, diligently erected one house after another. The wooden walls rose quickly and evenly, but every time the process stopped at the exact same point.
"Oh man, not again..." Elyria sighed in frustration, dropping her hands. The settlers once again got perfect box-shaped buildings, but without roofs.
However, the men, led by Clerk, immediately came to the rescue. They nailed together gabled triangular frames from timber to cover the finished walls.
Eliza closely watched the entire process. She commanded them: pointing out where to store the processed timber, assigning groups to different objects, and ensuring that the beam strength met the standards.
At one point, Clerk, wiping sweat from his forehead, approached her with a puzzled look.
"Eliza, we have a problem. We won't be able to finish the roofs with ordinary axes—we need proper construction tools."
Eliza thought for a second, and a recent conversation with Iron immediately popped into her head. She clearly remembered how the engineer opened the drawer of his desk, placed a set of items inside, and said:
"I have no need for tools, but I understand you need them badly. So if you ever need them—just take them from here."
"Wait here," Eliza nodded and headed toward the Main Building.
Stepping inside, she walked through the hall and reached Iron's office. Walking around to the back of the desk, Eliza pulled the drawer handle and slid it open.
The first thing that caught her eye was a hefty pouch. Eliza took it out and untied the string. Inside, a scattering of coins gleamed with a faint blue light. Eliza carefully set the pouch aside on the desk and looked back into the drawer.
Right underneath the pouch lay everything they needed: tempered hammers, sharp handsaws, spirit levels, chisels, and crowbars.
Eliza took exactly the tools required to assemble the wooden roofs. After that, she placed the pouch of coins back into the drawer, pushed it tightly shut, and hurried back to Clerk.
At that very second, Iron was leisurely walking down the streets of Versailles, mentally evaluating the layout of the city. An uninvited thought suddenly slipped into his mind:
"Yan... Yan... I think he could have helped me build the kingdom..."
He stopped abruptly, pressed his lips together, and immediately cut himself off.
"No. This is my project alone, and I must realize it myself."
Taking a few more steps, Iron briefly glanced over the dense ranks of knights, the calculated architecture, and the strictly regulated flow of townspeople. His mind instantly began breaking down the architecture of Versailles, identifying vulnerabilities, logistical chains, and defensive layouts, until he reached his final conclusion.
Turning into a blind, secluded alley between two tall buildings, Iron sighed heavily and said quietly,
"Alright, there's nothing left to do here." And he instantly vanished.
In the next moment, he materialized on an open hill surrounded by sparse trees. However, looking ahead, Iron immediately frowned: the spatial shift point had miscalculated, dropping him far from the main gates of the next kingdom—Nill.
Feeling an unusual resistance in the very fabric of space around this place, Iron issued a command:
"Lumon, scan."
In that same instant, a scanner projection flared on his retinas, overlaying the real landscape. The entire kingdom of Nill was completely covered by a colossal transparent dome, intricately threaded with thousands of incredibly thin, glowing lines.
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