When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist

In ten days?

Pushing Hilov out of the spire, Horn was still deep in thought.

According to Hilov, this substance called ether is invisible and intangible, existing only in the star realm.

One major reason for building on Autumn Dusk Island is that it meets all the conditions and is sufficiently hidden, but how many other places can do that?

Horn was quite confident about the application of the Saint's gears, not to mention the complex gameplay of combining brass springs and Saint's gears, even just having the Blessed use hand cranks can surpass a lot of animal and water power efficiency.

Speaking of which, Horn recalled the ticking sound he heard earlier, which mysteriously disappeared after he found Hilov.

"Hilov, did you carry anything, or is there something in the palace that makes a ticking sound?"

"No." Hilov pulled her tail to the front and used a small comb to brush the fur on it, "Where's the ticking sound from?"

"Have you not heard it before?"

With her head down, Hilov continued brushing her fur: "No."

How strange, could it be that he was just hearing things?

Ignoring it, Horn pushed Hilov past the little angels going round and round: "Is your mother a member of the Scales Hermitage?"

"Scales Hermitage?" Hilov seemed quite unfamiliar with the term.

Picking up a branch, Horn drew the emblem of the Scales Hermitage in the dirt of the flower bed and asked in return, "This is the Scales Hermitage. Didn't your foster mother use this banner when she falsely claimed to be the Moon God?"

"I don't know. I've seen the word 'Scales Hermitage' in some notes, but I've never known its emblem or my mother's relationship with them."

"What about your Blood God emblem? The one you said was messing up the books."

"What do you mean messing up the books? Those are my favorite things, books and cream, okay?" Hilov fervently slapped Horn's leg with her tail to express her dissatisfaction.

"Stop it, stop it, it's all Patrick's fault. If you want to blame someone, go blame Patrick." Horn took a half step back. This cheeky girl was surprisingly strong, and it actually hurt. "Did your mother tell you why she left?"

Pressing her tail with both hands, Hilov obediently sat: "No, she suddenly disappeared ten years ago without leaving me any message, only Ah Fu."

"What's your mother's name, do you know?"

Hilov still shook her head: "I don't know. I just called her mom, and town artisans called her 'my lord.'"

"Well then, let's take a look at the distant town and see if there are any other clues."

Bringing up this topic, Horn then remembered the matter of arranging for Hilov afterwards.

"There's another important thing. Next, we're going to settle on this island. Do you have any thoughts?"

"I think I could sign a contract with you, offering some of the Saint's gears for your use as long as you clean up those undead. I have no objections."

The Wolf Woman looked at the crowd in the courtyard, quite a contrast to the few people in the cramped space earlier. After ten years without seeing a single soul, she was somewhat uncomfortable.

Anyhow, Horn saw her tail slipping into the gap of her buttocks.

"You must have some requests too, right?"

"Precisely. I acknowledge you as the de facto lord of this Autumn Dusk Island, but this Mechanical Palace is my personal property. I want to live here, and you can't drive me out."

"Of course not."

"Then, when you've cleared the undead, I hope you can cover my basic necessities. Don't worry, I'll work to earn my keep."

In the Wolf Woman's utterly emotionless words, there was a clever undertone: "I know you're quite interested in my mechanical techniques and alchemy knowledge."

"Certainly possible. You can enjoy the same material treatment as Jeanne."

"Lastly, if you are the lord, I hope you can reside in the most prestigious part of the island, along with your entourage. It would be even better if there were scholars like me among them."

"No need, we can stay in the opposite town…" Horn's gaze dropped, and the wolf ears in his view drooped like withered flowers, "But since you're making that a condition, I suppose moving in isn't out of the question."

"Great." Hilov looked up at Horn's chin, "Then we can hold tea parties, have dinners, debates, or poetry gatherings, like in Ancient Aier dramas…"

As if she remembered something, Hilov adjusted her gaze and fell silent again.

Even though there was no change in her expression, Horn keenly sensed—she was embarrassed.

"Of course, we can do those things in our spare time, but you must know we're active during the day and sleep at night. You'll need to adjust your previous routine."

"After my mother left, I changed my schedule to daytime, but I switched to night to facilitate stargazing and gear charging."

Pushing Hilov's wheelchair, Horn walked aimlessly forward.

For some reason, he suddenly thought of the Blue Blood Orphanage in the distant Wild Spider Forest, is that orphanage four or fifty miles away from here?

This distance is actually quite close, judging by all indications, both parties are doing extremely secretive things, it is impossible not to investigate the surroundings thoroughly.

Do the two parties know about each other?

Horn was suddenly startled.

He remembered the wild spiders in the Wild Spider Forest, how did the Blue Blood Monastery know they could use bone whistles to control the wild spiders back then?

Moreover, how could people from the Blue Blood Monastery use the bone whistles to drive away the giant spiders?

He also remembered the Demon Hunters who came to de-urbanize Autumn Dusk Island after Hilov's foster mother was suspected of defecting.

How did they pass through the Wild Spider Forest? How did they get past the Beastmen? How did they get through the undead surrounding the island at its edges?

The little Daze Village, the water runs deep indeed.

"How did my grand rooster head fall off?"

Hearing Hilov's words, Horn stopped in his tracks. He raised his head to realize he had unknowingly arrived at the gate of the Mechanical Palace.

It was almost evening now, but the fog had cleared considerably, and the whole world seemed to be covered with a sepia filter.

Wisps of smoke rose from the mountains, the water rippled, reflecting the swirling gray clouds and the yellowed film-like sky.

The fishing songs of the Beastmen echoed from afar, gently resonating in his ears, as black-clad soldiers ran in and out by the sides of the garden palace, making floor beds in the side halls.

If nothing unexpected happened, they would spend the night in this palace tonight.

Horn touched the corner of the wall, the unusually damp soil informed him that there would likely be another cold rain tonight.

"Hilov, do you..."

He looked down at Hilov, who sat there dazed. She leaned on the chair, her overly long wolf tail tip unconsciously twitching rapidly in her hand.

She sat in the wheelchair, her eyes filled with confusion or fear. If Horn pushed just a few more steps forward, she would step into the world outside the high palace walls for the first time.

"Do you want to go out and have a look? Or go to the little town next door, a place you've looked at countless times from the terrace?"

The Wolf Woman gripped the wheelchair's hand rim tightly, looking deeply at the new world before her, the tip of her tail tensed in nervousness, and after a while, she let out a light sigh:

"No, I'm not ready yet, but the day will come, just like I've practiced talking to people besides the dolls and mother for ten years.

Give me three years, and I'll definitely be able to push myself out to see the world."

Horn didn't say much, this Mechanical Palace was both the Wolf Woman's home and her prison.

For more than twenty years since she was a child, she had never left this place, never spoken to anyone besides Ah Fu, the dolls, and her vampire foster mother.

Thinking of this, Horn suddenly understood the gold in the Wolf Woman's words when she first spoke to him.

A sentence on stage, ten years of work offstage indeed.

Leaning against the door with the Wolf Woman's wheelchair, Horn also gazed at the far gray clouds.

In this way, not only had they found the engine for his industrial engine (questionable), but they also opened up living space for the subsequent refugees.

Originally thinking to complete it in three days, he didn't expect to finish the occupation of the island in just two days. The remaining undead could be cleared while sending people to the island, first establishing a camp before anything else.

The food issue had a solution, that is, by making peat, extracting brine, fishing, refining salt, and making salted fish to solve the food problem.

The Blessed can handle peat production operations, after all, it's not technically demanding and provides experience in alchemy.

The issue of extracting brine from salt wells can be attempted by using star-cast gears; wasn't the first steam engine invented to extract water from mines?

Fishing can completely be entrusted to the Beastmen, who are quite familiar with it, and refining salt and making salted fish follows the same principle.

With the food issue resolved, there's also the issue of habitation; coincidentally, there's a small town across the river from the Mechanical Palace, where repairs can continue without needing to spend much effort on reconstruction.

So the next tasks were only weapon manufacturing and military training.

"Today is November 23rd."