Steel and Mana

"Poor woman..."

"She will be alright!" I smiled, rubbing Sasha's head as we lay in bed, ready to sleep, while she snuggled up to me.

"She must be devastated... I can't imagine what she is feeling right now."

"It will pass, and we can support her if she needs help. She is... not a bad person."

"Um. I will talk with her when she is out of bed and show her around! Maybe not in the winter, ehehe... Hey... Leon..."

"Hm? What is it?"

"Are you like her?"

The sudden question stunned me as my hand stopped playing with her hair, making my whole body stiff for a moment. Looking down, watching her bright eyes, I knew what she was thinking and reading from my gaze, so I decided not to deflect or lie.

"Yeah."

"That makes sense." She smiled, nodding her head, followed by a happy giggle.

"It does?"

"Of course! You are weird! Say weird things, know weird stuff, and come up with even weirder ideas."

"Then let me tell you something even weirder, my love!"

I held nothing back. I told her all that had happened to me, from start to finish, explaining how my old life worked, how it was, and what type of world I lived in. She listened without interrupting me once, looking at me with child-like awe.

"Woah! Your world sounds very... weird! It is magical without magic but also very... violent. Waging wars like you described is even more destructive than magic, no?"

"Yeah. We were capable of leveling whole regions without the use of magic. But that was in a different world; now, this is who I am. This is my second life. I also need to add that I enjoy this one much more than the previous, mainly thanks to you."

"Ehehehe, flatterer!" She giggled again, kissing my lips and hugging me proudly. "Will you tell this to the others?"

"No, I am not planning on that. If someone close to me asks, yes. But it is a past that is no longer important. You are the only one who knows about it, and it will remain that way if nothing happens."

"Um... good! I know you best because I am your first wife~! As it should be."

"Weird things are leaving your lips today, one after the other... what happened, Sasha?"

"N-nothing!" She said, going pink, embracing me, hiding her face.

"Sure, sure. The way you are including Luna in everything says otherwise. You two even join me in the bathroom nowadays and wash my body. Are you trying to make me have a threesome, huh?" I asked jokingly, but the way she went silent stunned me. No way. "Really? I won't say no if you are interested in it. But is she aware of it? You are not forcing her, are you?"

"No, I'm not!" She protested, looking so embarrassed she wanted nothing but to hide from me.

"Wait... is this my Mother's ploy? Is she ordering you?"

"Huh? No..." Okay, she wasn't lying, as that was way too quick of an answer. She was honest about it. Was this all her? Well, her and Luna... huh? I did not expect it, but I am not a saint to shoot it down. Just thinking about it already made me have a reaction, but Sasha was too distracted this time to notice it.

"I imagined a lot of things after I found myself here... but didn't know it would turn out this exciting."

"Hauuh... meanie..."

"Ahahaha, it wasn't my idea, was it?" I grinned and continued rubbing her head, teasing her a little as I had a very, very naughty dream that night.

...
.....
.......

Interestingly enough, a few days later, new types of beasts appeared at the pass, but for a whole month, none of them attacked the walls, leaving just as quickly as they appeared. I was curious and frustrated because I needed more beast meat, but this time, it was a no-go. What I expected in collecting this winter was now burned to ash, thanks to Sasha's spell. I was thinking of going back home because there was a high chance that the presence of witches and magic in the air kept the new, arriving beasts afar.

"That is highly possible." Elyzien agreed with me when Mikan finally left her room, being cooped up in it for long enough. "In my studies, I experimented on a few beasts from the other side of the Wall. They are more sensitive to magic, and when feeling stronger individuals than themselves, they either submit or try to flee. But if the mage is perceived as weaker, they will try to eat them. They are interesting but not so much to be worthy of further study."

"I disagree with the last part, but sure." I shrugged as we were having breakfast, listening to her voice echoing from within Mikan.

"Are there other entrances or passes like here?" Sasha asked, making me also wait curiously for her answer.

"Of course! In our Empire, there is none, but so far, what I know, there are at least a dozen such entrances to the other side in the other countries. For one, there is the Kingdom of Markoth. They have the most entrances, seven in total. In a way, we are lucky because they deal with more incursions of beasts than us."

"Huh... I know very little of the other kingdoms." I hummed, thinking about it, calling up the history books I read as a child.

"No wonder." Elyzien chuckled, sounding a bit sarcastic, "This is the Frontier! This place is an isolated, backwater void. Its sole purpose is to be a plug that keeps the only entrance to the Beastlands closed. That's it. You don't trade, you don't innovate, you exist to be the wallplug you are."

"You are being harsh..." Mikan murmured, looking at me apologetically, which I returned kindly.

"She is correct, or at least right, about how it was. But things are changing. Now I am even thinking about something foolish..."

"Tell us." Elyzien urged, even appearing next to Mikan, looking curious, watching me like a hawk.

"You said the beasts are afraid of strong magic users, yes? What if Sasha here gets strong enough to scare them away? Could we travel around the other side and come out in that... What was it? Markoth?"

"Impossible." She answered at once, shooting me down, "You think previous rulers didn't send expeditions into the Beastlands? They did it more than once. There was a period before my time, of course, called the Bestial Wars."

"Kinky." I joked, making Luna laugh without trying to hold it back. When she realized it came out loudly, and only from her, she turned so red that now I was laughing. With a quick turn, she stood up, bringing us tea and coffee instead, just so she wasn't in the limelight anymore.

"Finished?" Ely grunted, looking at me while Sasha was hiding her own smile behind a napkin. "It happened, counting from today, around 800 years ago. It was a beast tide that broke into the country, killing a lot of people. The unified armies took four years to kill and drive them back, reestablishing the Frontier after its destruction. A campaign into the Beastland followed it. Guess the size of the army by then!"

"10,000?" Sasha asked, uncertain of the numbers, and looking at Ely's expression, she immediately knew she had lowballed it.

"50,000!" Luna joined in while pouring me coffee, but Ely, once again, shook her head.

"100,000?" Asked Mikan, but it was wrong again.

"Huh... okay, let me go big then." I grinned before giving my tip, "500,000!"

"Very close." She smiled, finally nodding, "It was 600,000 soldiers and at least 100,000 war machines. Want to hear the sweet part? They were accompanied by 300 mages. And not just your run-of-the-mill ones!"

"Are there even mages who can be called that?" Luna snorted, feeling the old 'ghost' was full of herself.

"Hauh..."

"S-sorry!" She added quickly, seeing Mikan lower her head, but Elyzien ignored her while answering.

"There are. The size of the Empire is vast. We can get mages, but getting capable mages who are valuable is still a roll of a dice. Most of them are weak and have no real hope to amount to anything besides being supporters of the talented ones."

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at her over my cup, enjoying the aroma of my coffee.

"As a top witch, I had my own entourage of weaker witches and wizards serving my needs. Their powers were weak, barely able to cast a few spells before being exhausted. They couldn't grasp more complex formations and, in turn, were very limited in use. Their aptitude was sub-par, never to be able to cast massive, crucial spells. These types of mages, albeit important, are less so than those who could master magic for real. Their job is usually to help those like me. It is much easier to use a complex formation if it is broken down into parts and my helpers focus on their own portion."

"You say there is no chance that a mage improves... Are you sure about it?" I questioned her as it was a point I didn't believe in. There had to be a way... they simply never discovered it. I refused to look at it so grimly as them. That would be a mistake.

"You can have your optimism. You are still young, so it doesn't hurt. But as life will show you, a mage's powers and aptitude are set at birth. They can improve at first glance, but it is nothing more than finding their limits. The moment they hit it, that's it; their improvement stops, and they never move forward again. No matter what."

"I don't believe you."

"You don't have to." She smiled, not offended at all. "Anyway! Back to my original tale. Now, guess how many returned from the expedition, led by that time's Empress, who was also a mighty witch."

"None." I said promptly, surprising her and making me smile, "Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked it like this."

"Fufufu, good! Yep. Nobody returned. All of them were lost to the other side forever. No matter how many go in, nobody comes out. That is how the Beastlands are. It is best if you forget about it! Who knows what kind of abominations roam the other end!"

"Hmmmm... okay."

"That wasn't convincing, Young Leon." She warned me again before disappearing, "Don't play with fire, or you may burn down the world."

"It isn't like I am prepared enough to venture out." I said jokingly, looking at the others, frightened by what Ely had said. "Oh well! Listen, it seems the winter has settled down. Let's return to my city when the snowfall stops, as it is time to show it to you, Mikan. I think you will like it!"

"I thank you for your trust, Viscount Leon!" She stood up, bowing and smiling, and no matter how many times I told her to call me Leon, she was adamant about using honorifics.

"I think it is what you need. I can see that you are still unsure about what you are." I told her honestly, seeing her eyes wander downwards once again, trying to hide her uncertainty and budding depression. "My city is a place to start anew. It is where nobody can become somebody. I am sure you will find yourself there, Mikan. Even if you don't want to be a priestess anymore."

"Oooh, that was nice!" Luna whispered, gently clapping, now making me turn embarrassed as I thought back on it... It was so corny! Now that Sasha joins in the applause, capitalizing on my embarrassment, enjoying it, tasting the words felt even worse... damn it! They got me.

"It does sound nice, Viscount Leon. Um... what is the city's name?"

"Huh..." I flinched, blinking my eyes, "That... that is a good question."