The Mechanical Era

Kant sat in his office, wearing his long-sleeved white shirt with his black tie around him, cutting his pencil point with a sharp dagger he kept in his drawer. On his desk, was a piece of white paper, with some kind of sketch for a new type of weapon, one he would want to use to protect himself in the future.

As he sits there on his swivel chair peacefully cutting his pencil, his ear picked up a small sound of the flapping wings of a small insect. Kant instantly recognized where the sound came from, and which creature it belonged to. He lifted his left foot, looked down, and smashed the small roach flat.

As soon as he thought it was over, he heard more sounds that belong to the devious parasite carrier. He places his pencil down and stands up from his desk. then walk over to the door where his suit hung.

He takes out the two gloves that remained in the pocket of the suit. After wearing the gloves, he walks back to the table and picks up a metal swatter that was sitting in the drawer that he previously used to kill any insects that used to terrify him.

Using his sharp jet-black eyes, he scanned the room for any roaches that care confront him, to try to scare him like when he was a child. From the right, he picks up the sound of a roach flying toward him.

Immediately, he felt a rush of adrenaline as he turns around to smack the flying roach on the wall. Fortunately, he lands a hit, killing it instantly. Just then, as he killed the roach, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Kant permitted in his voice, which was becoming a little deeper and more monotone as the days passed. Arjun, wearing a black cloak, with a pair of glasses, entered the room, holding a stack of papers. He was a little confused seeing him standing in the middle of the room, holding a metal swatter.

"Sire, what is going on?"

"Roaches. Arjun. Roaches."

"What about roaches?"

"There are here, in this very room. I hear them lurking around." Kant explained.

"I see..." Arjun replied, a little more confused at the way Kant spoke about the roaches.

"What brings you here Arjun?" Kant asked as he stood guard.

"Before I move on to the main topic sire, I just want to inform you we had commissioned a few hundred runic weapons and armor to be made along with thousands of iron spears and armor. Ordered by his highness.

The new equipment will be fitted on several knights, who will plan to head down south. Along with an excess amount of horses. The normal ones will be used on the peasantry."

"How many of them? And where will they move to?" Kant asked.

"Out of the 1680 knights, about 1176 of them are being deployed south to the cities of Nexert, Desmond, Tyrol, and a few other places. As for the numbers regarding the peasants, about 18,000 of them." There was a pause.

"70%?" Kant questioned. He did the calculations in his head.

"I am sorry, sire?" Arjun told, not getting his question.

"You are moving 70% of the knight down south, equipped with new armor along with a much of armored men, for what?" he asked.

"Well sire, we suspect that a demonic rift will open up in mainly those areas during the summer. At least, that is what his majesty suspects," Arjun replies. Kant listens to what Arjun has to say while spotting another roach.

He squashes the roach once with full force, flattening it instantly. Arjun was a bit distraught seeing how brutally the cockroach was murdered right in front of him. However, he dared not complain.

"Why are you telling me this now?" Kant asked.

"Your father authorized me to inform you."

"Did mother approve?"

"She did, yes."

"Is that it?"

"Regarding that news, yes. The main topic I wanted to bring you is about the school you asked me to bring."

"What about it?"

"According to my reports, we have about 432 people attending the school tomorrow, which is the maximum capacity the building has seated for. About 60% are reported to be likely to come every week, 45% to come every two weeks, and the rest to be able to come for more than three days in a week."

"How many registered in total?"

"About 2,834 people, sire. Are you satisfied with the results?" Arjun asked while Kant killed another roach. He started suspecting something was off with them. Where the hell were they coming from? He listened closely to his surroundings, to hear any potential roaches hanging around.

"Sire?" Arjun asked.

"2,834," Kant replied.

"Yes, that is right. Are you satisfied?"

"Very. You can leave now." Kant said. As Arjun walked up to the door, Kant made a small request from him.

"Ask Cora to bring me a cup of coffee. I might need to get caffeinated for the day," he said.

"Very well, sire." with that, Arjun left the room, leaving Kant all by himself again. The room entered a period of total silence, with the smallest of noises filling in the background. As Kant was left alone, he thought about Arjun's first message.

Kant starts to regret not reading up on demonology beforehand, or writing it down. Sure, it was possible, but the information he might have presented is false, and he knows how faulty human memory can get.

He walks up to the desk, grabs his pencil and dagger, and sharpens it once again. He then grabbed a piece of beige paper and wrote down a message. As soon as Kant finished, there was a knock on the door. Cora, holding a cup of coffee on a silver tray, entered the room, as she place the tray on the table, Kant leans into her ear, to deliver a simple instruction.

"I got another mission for you Cora. Go to the library and find a few books for me. I want you to read them and write them down on a piece of paper and deliver it to me quickly. If you want more details, just read this piece of paper I am giving you." he whispered to her ear.

He then gave it to Cora, who hid it under the teapot. After Kant drank his coffee, she was sent on her way, to get Kant the truth. Something was going down under his nose, and Kant had just picked up the scent.

Kant walks to his chair, wanting to sit down. His eye, however, spots another roach on the floor. He stood still, waiting for it to move. As soon as it crawled over, Kant utilized this moment of vulnerability and squashed the bug.