Ice Vapor Goddess

Chapter 70 Instructions (Thanks to Oscar Wilde, the Warrior of Love, for his leadership)
“Ms. Sheena.” The valet bowed respectfully.

"Hmm, is the governor awake?"

“I woke up an hour ago. Lord Oswald just left. Schneider is inside now.”

Sheena frowned: "Why does Schneider come to the Governor's place every day?"

The servant wisely did not answer.

"Why has the lord come?"

"I heard they came to visit."

"Where did he get this information from?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

"Where is Schneider?"

"The governor summoned him."

"Did you look for someone else?"

"The Duke of Hastings will be here soon."

"The Duke of Hastings? Isn't he in Lundin? When did he arrive? Is there any news from there?" Sheena asked urgently.

"I don't know, I just heard that they trekked here through the snow."

"Which city are you from? How many people did you bring?"

"I don't know, ma'am."

“Open the door,” she said.

The male servant knocked on the door a few times, then respectfully opened it for her.

This is not the Guardian's Tower—that place is not yet completed, so the governor is recuperating in a shelter on the sixth basement level.

Half of the guards were stationed at the entrance. This was an extremely rare moment when the governor needed their force, so no one wanted to leave. They all stared wide-eyed at the people coming and going, as if each of them was secretly plotting to assassinate the frail governor.

All they wanted was to be able to casually mention later, "While the governor was unconscious those few days, I faithfully stood guard at the door."

When Sheena pushed open the door, she saw Ryan lying on the bed, his face still somewhat pale, chatting with Schneider beside him.

“Oh! Our Iceberg Miss has arrived.” Schneider said with a smile, his frivolous manner making Sheena frown.

Ryan turned to look at her, his expression serious: "Have the accident statistics been released yet?"

“Yes.” She picked up a briefcase, pulled out a document, and handed it to Ryan.

"The unrest in the pastoral area was caused by the demonization of the livestock. At that time, 63 livestock grew ice crystals on their bodies and attacked things around them indiscriminately."

"The cause of the boiler explosion is difficult to determine, but Master Pala believes that the most likely possibility is that some kind of strange obstruction grew inside the steam turbine, causing the fan blades to disintegrate, and the high-pressure, high-temperature steam to explode instantly, with forty-eight impellers flying out and damaging the boiler next door."

Ryan stared at the dozen or so pages of the report with a grave expression.

"Is it related to the Iceman?" he asked.

Sheena nodded: "Master Samantha said that the extreme cold and snow are another magical framework that is invading this world, trying to change the rules of our world into those of the other world. When the Iceman arrives, the power of that framework will increase significantly, as if the Iceman is the focal point of the magic."

“The demonization of animals may not be the kind of demonization we used to understand—such rapid demonization is not like changing the form of a creature with magic, but rather directly assimilating our creatures into theirs.”

"As for the strange obstacles... since there is no evidence to prove it, we cannot make any guesses."

Ryan's right hand tapped unconsciously on the edge of the bed: "What I need is a solution, not an explanation."

Hina lowered her head.

"Is there no way to prevent it?"

"……terribly sorry."

After a moment of silence in the room, Renn asked again, "What about the repairs?"

"...Everything else is fine, but the steam turbine..." she hesitated for a moment, "...there aren't any more."

The steam turbine is the greatest invention of human civilization in terms of steam to date. Early steam engines had a thermal efficiency of only 5%, but steam turbines can exceed 40%.

The cost is that its precision and material requirements are hellish. It must be made using a large amount of heat- and pressure-resistant magical alloys, and the processing precision is often at the micrometer level. It is made by a large number of mages in the Albion Empire's factories, and ordinary craftsmen simply cannot manufacture it.

The Speyside has six steam turbines: a life support turbine, a computing turbine, an industrial turbine, a defense turbine, a transport turbine, and a standby turbine, which correspond to six coal-fired boilers and six mercury-fired boilers, respectively.

Normally, only one of coal or mercury needs to be used, but if both are used, it will enter an over-limit state.

“So, we can’t make the same mistake again, right?” Ryan asked.

“…Yes, the backup turbine has replaced the completely damaged industrial turbine, but if it happens again, one part of Speyer will be completely paralyzed,” Sheena said, looking down.

Raine didn't speak; only the sound of the flames burning and the breathing of the three men could be heard.

"What's the situation at the church?" he suddenly asked.

After a long silence, Schneider immediately interjected: "Bishop Delland left early yesterday morning with the vast majority of his people in five tractors. They were probably heading to the wreckage of the Northern Holy See."

Renn gave a cold laugh: "Your reaction wasn't slow, considering I don't often get the chance to pass out."

He recalled Her Majesty the Queen's handwritten letter—once the Church confirmed that the arrival was from Xilun, the Empire immediately sent him a message via Arcane carrier pigeon, even including the train's arrival information and basic configuration.

On the surface, they said he was to "welcome the church representatives," but everyone knew what they really meant.

After all, the "Glory War" fought against the Church twenty years ago was Her Majesty's war to seize the country.

When Charles XVII colluded with the Church in an attempt to restore its rights in the Albion Empire, it was Princess Victoria, then only twenty-one years old, who raised the banner and led them to victory, ousting the false king from the throne.

Although she was later forced to sign a ceasefire agreement under pressure from the Church and the Allied Forces of the Main Continent, the Queen did indeed preserve the independence of the Albion Empire.

No one is more wary of the Messianic Church than Her Majesty the Queen.

"Should we intercept them?" Schneider asked with great interest. "Their only royal knight is still recovering from his injuries. Our spies are already waiting outside the door, ready to secretly kill him at any time and ensure that even if he becomes a heroic spirit, he won't know it was us."

“Once we intercept their red mercury, the Church will be completely powerless, and our six idle red mercury boilers can also be used…”

“Schneider,” Ryan said calmly, “—our spy?”

Schneider was struck dumb.

“I don’t recall authorizing the propaganda department to mobilize spies.” He looked at Schneider.

“…Your Excellency.” He felt that legendary pressure slowly choking him, his face flushed. “I’m so sorry!…It was Minister Hans who mentioned it to me! I wanted to take credit, so I said that! I’m so…sorry…”

The pressure eased, and Schneider coughed and gagged wildly, then forced an ugly smile.

"There will be no next time, Schneider."

“Thank you so much…” he said.

Renn remained silent and did not speak again.

From that letter, he learned how impressive the church's lineup was, almost comparable to that of the Grasse Fortress, but only a handful of people showed up.

The young bishop almost single-handedly united his subordinates, who each had their own agendas, attracted believers, and even abducted his own soldiers.

When he met his demise, his personal charisma was so great that all his subordinates would be willing to die for him.

At least as a general, he respected such an opponent.

"If you weren't from the church... it would be so great if you could be my advisor..." he thought to himself. Unfortunately, as a bishop, Siron would certainly not dedicate himself to working for him.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and Ryan shouted, "Come in!"

The gilded oak door was pushed open silently, and a middle-aged man in a dark gray morning suit walked in. He looked to be nearly fifty, but his figure was still as upright as a hardy oak tree. A fresh white carnation was meticulously pinned to his buttonhole. His face had a distinctively cold look—a high nose, thin and tightly pursed lips, and a pair of sharp gray eyes. Behind him was a petite girl.

Algernon Defrel, Duke of Hastings, a true nobleman of long lineage.

A rare smile appeared on Renn's face: "I'm glad to see you're still alive, Algernon."

“Then I’m sorry to see you’re still alive, Renn,” he said, glancing at Schneider, who quickly stood up with a forced laugh to offer him his seat.

He sat on the edge of Raine's bed, but Sheena was more focused on the blonde girl standing awkwardly behind him, clutching her pearl handbag like a startled lark.

“Newport is gone,” he said.

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became heavy and somber, but the Duke did not feel apologetic for it. He simply spoke quickly in a more hurried tone, unlike the slow and deliberate manner usually used by nobles.

"The Second Royal Navy has been completely annihilated," the Duke said. "Three legendary knights, two archmages, and a bishop have all perished in battle."

Renn clenched his fist and then relaxed it: "How many enemies are there?"

"There are over a thousand ice people, including forty-two enormous frost giants."

"Cannons, guns, melee weapons... all weapons were useless. Magic had a slight effect, but it couldn't kill them. Later, we discovered that divine sense could completely kill the frost giants, but it was too late... An unprecedentedly huge magical field covered the area, and the wounded frost giants were instantly teleported to the rear, and the power of mages was also suppressed."

Raine thought of his two duels with the Iceman.

"Can only divine thought completely kill the frost giant?" he asked.

“Yes,” the Duke nodded. “Our legendary knights and mages have shattered it countless times, but it has always been able to revive. Only once, a battle in which a bishop intervened interrupted its regeneration.”

Raine thought of his last spear thrust, a power akin to divine punishment—he could indeed kill the frost giant on his own.

But he didn't speak; instead, he nodded, signaling the Duke to continue.

"Four days ago, we gathered the last of our soldiers, injected mercury into the shells, forced open a breach, and then escaped."

“Bishop Karl and the two archmages covered the rear, holding off the frost giants—they seemed to be able to sense divine thoughts and magic, and were oblivious to us as we passed by.”

"The closest shelter to Newport is Speyside—thankfully we didn't get lost in the snowstorm."

"Is it just you and the guards?" Renn asked.

“There are still several thousand refugees, but they have suffered too many casualties and are moving very slowly, so I came here first,” the Duke said. “They are probably in the southeast direction; we can send a team to find them.”

Renn nodded: "So, the information we have so far is that those guys are divided into ice men the size of normal people and frost giants of enormous size. They can only be sensed by divine sense and magic power. It is impossible to kill them except by divine sense. In addition, there is a so-called 'magic field' that can interfere with mages and help injured frost giants to move quickly?"

“Not only that,” the Duke said. “I’ve heard Bishop Karl mention that there are individuals among the Frost Giants called the Name-Holders, who seem to be even more powerful—you know, both the Prophecy and the Sanctuary Project are spearheaded by the Messiah Church, and they may have been researching these things for a long time.”

Renn nodded thoughtfully.

“And… I have a… somewhat bold guess,” Duke Hastings said slowly. “Ryan, do you still dislike the Church?”

“Of course.” He nodded without hesitation. “You know, the Battle of the Kiria Forest.”

"So—have you heard of Jotunheim?"

Ryan raised an eyebrow: "No."

The Duke said slowly, “In my study, there used to be books of myths from all over the world. One of them recorded the myths of the northern barbarians. They said that the world was divided into nine realms. Long ago, there was a race called the Frost Giants who lived in Jotunheim and fought fiercely with the Aesir gods who lived in Asgard.”

"Later, in an apocalyptic war, they perished together, and the last few surviving gods created a new world."

Raine remained noncommittal: "If you're going to assume the authenticity of your myth just because of something like 'Frost Giants,' I don't think that's enough."

“Not only that—” he continued, “in that myth, the world was shaped by the blood of Ymir, the progenitor of the frost giants. The Aesir killed that giant and created the world.”

“You mean…red mercury?” Renn looked up. “Yes.” The Duke snapped his fingers. “A substance imbued with divine will, a substance that should not exist in this world.”

"But if that's the case, then every blade of grass, every tree, every clod of earth, and every stone in the world should be mercury."

"Who knows? Perhaps the Church has the means to go back in time?"

Ryan shook his head.

The Duke was forced to resort to his trump card: "Have you ever fought the Icemen? Have you felt their sadness and anger? That emotion filled with overwhelming blood feud."

Renn did not answer, tacitly acknowledging the question.

“If our gods killed their ancestors, then everything makes sense—if someone killed my father, I would want to kill their whole family.”

You mean...our god?

The Duke smiled and said, "In that myth, there were six gods who survived the final battle."

"Badr, the god of light; Hodr, the god of darkness; Vidal, the god of forests; Vali, the god of elves; and Manny and Modi, the gods of strength and courage."

Raine didn't say anything.

"Do you understand?" he asked.

There are only three races in the world: humans, elves, and dwarves. The Elven royal court worships the Elven God, while the Druids worship the Forest God. Humans worship only one "God," but Satan is also mentioned in the holy scriptures.

Renn narrowed his eyes: "But Algernon, in the end, came first from the many beliefs in the world before the mythological records. In my opinion, this is just the arrogance and conceit of the northern barbarians. They are trying to change the names of all the gods in the world and put them into their own pantheon."

"That depends on how you think about it," the Duke said calmly. "It's just my guess."

Renn breathed a sigh of relief: "Anyway, thank you, you brought us the intelligence we desperately need."

"It was nothing," the Duke said with an air of authority.

"I'll arrange a house for you in the residential area—what are your plans after that?"

"We had no plans. We left in such a hurry that we didn't take anything with us." Only then did the Duke reveal a trace of exhaustion and pain.

The nobility of traditional nobles comes from nothing more than wealth, castles, land, and connections. But now that the apocalypse has come, the land and castles are gone, and most of the connections have been severed. Even if the entire council was once his friend, it is of no use.

He fled in haste, taking little of his wealth with him.

Renn showed a hint of pity: "As long as you're here, I believe DeFreil won't decline."

The Duke shook his head and stood up wearily. It seemed that the information he had just given had exhausted all the strength of this middle-aged man with a full head of silver hair. He had come here with his dignity intact in order to deliver the information. When he completed his mission and thought about his situation, he aged instantly.

"I won't disturb you any longer, Your Excellency," he said.

Ryan sighed. "Schneider, see them off. Oh, and by the way—Miss Cecilia isn't very familiar with this place yet, show her around."

Schneider's eyes lit up; he had already spotted the girl behind the Duke.

She wore a long coat made of light pearl gray velvet, the color as soft as frost flowers condensing on a windowpane on a winter morning. The high collar was trimmed with a circle of fine white silver fox fur, and she seemed to subconsciously want to bury half of her face in that soft, fluffy fur, which added to her timid cuteness.

Her soft, radiant blonde hair was simply pinned up at the back of her head, adorned with a small, pearl-grey cashmere cap and a cluster of white ribbon flowers resembling lilies of the valley.

When she had to look up, her violet eyes would quickly rise and then fall even faster, like a startled lark. Her long eyelashes seemed to be covered with water droplets from melting snowflakes brought from outside, making her look as if she was about to cry.

She stayed close to her father, silent, her slender fingers occasionally tugging very slightly at the back of the Duke's dark coat, then quickly letting go as if realizing her impropriety, appearing very uneasy.

The duke's daughter was so beautiful that every man would notice her. Schneider couldn't help but steal glances at her several times, but he forced himself to do so out of politeness.

"Yes, Governor!" he proudly accepted the order, like a rooster with its tail feathers raised.

But Duke Hastings showed a hint of displeasure: “I’m sorry, Cecilia doesn’t like to be around strange men. If your men wish, please act as intermediaries and formally introduce them to me with a proper invitation. That way, after the first meeting—if my daughter is interested—they can dance in public or have a proper conversation in a park or theater.”

Renn showed a hint of embarrassment, but it was quickly overshadowed by dissatisfaction and indifference.

He had been away from aristocratic circles for too long—or rather, he had never been in them at all—and had long forgotten the complex social procedures of the nobility.

However, the fact that a down-on-his-luck duke, who needed his protection to live in Speyside, dared to publicly humiliate him greatly displeased Renn.

So he didn't say much, and coldly replied, "Fine, please leave."

Duke Hastings's face stiffened, a hint of anger appearing on his wrinkled features, before he quickly left with Cecilia.

After slamming the oak door shut, Ryan sighed.

Schneider remained silent. He was furious at missing the chance to meet Miss Cecilia, but now was not the time to whisper sweet nothings in her ear. He knew very well how to sow discord between people, especially since the governor and the Duke of Hastings already had a falling out.

All he needed to do was act as an "objective and neutral" advisor who stood on the governor's side, occasionally saying to the governor with a look of surprise, "The Duke actually thinks of you like that?"

A duke without land, castles, wealth, and connections is useless no matter how illustrious his lineage.

Once Ryan completely severs his friendship with him, they will only become toys to be manipulated at will.

"The information brought by Duke Hastings—the part about the Frost Giants—has been made public to the Royal Guard," Renn said.

“Yes!” Schneider nodded.

"As for the church... don't stop them; perhaps we'll need to rely on their strength," he said.

Schneider's eyes widened, and Sheena subtly twitched her eyebrows.

“Your Excellency!” she said somewhat discontentedly, “You promised me that you would eradicate the church’s blind faith and embrace calculation and reason. How can our math classes proceed like this?”

“You can promote it; he might even have his men learn it,” Renn said. “His mentor is Agostino, but he’s an Innocent.

Sheena raised an eyebrow.

The Innocents are a heretical sect within the Church, established solely by the personal authority of the previous popes. They advocate that "the way of the Holy Spirit is the way of reason," "explaining the composition of the world brings us closer to God," "mechanics helps us better understand how God created the world," and "whoever can explain God's blueprint for creating the world will be more favored by God."

It helped the Church expand its authority to its historical extreme, but that faction was not without sycophants who pandered to the Pope, and the excessive pursuit of reason and power caused the Church to gradually forget its tradition of redeeming the poor.

“Okay, then he probably won’t stop me.” She shrugged.

Schneider's expression also turned grim. He said, "While you were unconscious, they also seized Boiler No. 2 and Agricultural District 9..."

"Where is the Royal Guard?"

"...They would rather wait at your door."

Raine's expression was grave: "Alright, you don't need to worry about this anymore."

"Yes!" Schneider quickly expressed his loyalty.

The scene fell silent for a moment, the atmosphere extremely heavy.

After a long pause, Raine said, "There are a few things you should write down."

"Yes!"

"The first thing I did was to set up governor's mailboxes in each district, allowing residents to submit letters and reports. I would collect the letters regularly, and all the letters would be delivered directly to my desk."

"..." Schneider gritted his teeth and nodded forcefully, "Yes!"

"The second thing is that the Steel Governor's propaganda continues, and the church will continue to incite people. In times of crisis, I will still have to step in. The church cannot provide military protection in the end times, and people still need a strong pillar."

"You should publicize the two Iceman invasions more—the news can be made public."

"Yes!" This time Schneider agreed very readily.

“The third thing,” he said, looking at Schneider expressionlessly, “is to inform all administrators that if any further instances of unwarranted mistreatment of civilians occur, I will personally rip off their heads, understand?”

Without a second thought, Schneider shouted, "Understood!" Hearing Ryan's indifferent gaze,

In those eyes that had witnessed countless wars and deaths, there was no room for thought or hesitation.

"Okay, go out now," he said. "I'm sleepy."

"I wish you a speedy recovery, Your Excellency." Sheena stood up and walked out the door.

Schneider asked many questions with concern, then brewed another cup of tea on the bedside table, and only left leisurely after repeatedly confirming that the governor was alright.

After closing the door, he whispered to the servant, "The governor likes Baihao tea. Remember to brew it quickly with plenty of hot water, then filter out the tea leaves. But don't let the governor drink tea tonight. Let him rest more. Oh, and when you wash his body, avoid the right side of his torso, but make sure to keep it well-ventilated to prevent miasma from accumulating in the wounds. You should go in and check on him often to make sure the ventilation system is working."

“Understood, Minister Schneider,” the valet said, then his eyes widened as he saw the small piece of gold that Schneider had slipped to him. He added, “If the governor asks, I will tell him who gave the order.”

“Very good.” Schneider patted him on the shoulder. “And you should say it like this—'Secretary Schneider specifically instructed me not to tell the Governor, but I don’t think I should take credit for it.'”

"Understood, understood." The servant nodded quickly.

After that, both inside and outside the house fell silent.

With his eyes slightly closed, a figure in a black cloak appeared beside him.

"What do you think?" he asked calmly, his eyes closed.

A voice, dark and echoing like a secluded valley, rang out: "Sheena is still the same as ever, not easy to talk to but also not one to hide anything. Schneider is glib—you know what he's been up to."

"Mm," Renn replied.

He had long known that Schneider had connections with many managers, but he adhered to the principle that "too much purity leaves no fish," and that there were more scum and lunatics in the military, but they were more capable of fighting than normal people.

The way to use people is like using weapons; as long as they don't hurt you, they're good to use.

“I’ve already had Schneider inform those administrators that you will begin collecting intelligence on them in seven days. Anyone who dares to continue will be hanged.”

"Wouldn't that be too radical?" The figure hesitated for a moment. "Even factory owners before the apocalypse wouldn't care this much about their workers. Asking them to change all at once..."

“But the Messiah Church is doing it,” Raine said. “Since I can’t destroy them, I can only do it better than them.”

The figure sighed: "Actually, it could have been eliminated, but you were too impulsive. First, you wanted to gain people's support through a speech and perfectly eliminate them without any aftereffects. Then, when you sensed the danger, you wanted to forcibly eliminate them physically."

“The bishop has no ability to protect himself. I just need to sneak up and shoot him to end it.”

"..." Renn remained silent for a long time.

“A very tempting idea, perhaps I would have agreed before,” he said, “but now… consider it payment for that holy healing.”

"Didn't you scatter them?" The figure pursed its lips.

“But that at least proves that he—” Renn paused, “either he’s a fool who can heal his enemies, or he doesn’t consider me an enemy.”

"But with a formidable enemy at hand, if he doesn't heal you, how can he expect to take down the Ice Man on his own?"

With a nostalgic look on his face, Raine said, "If only I had thought like you when Marquis Cole abandoned me in the Kiria Forest nineteen years ago."

The figure fell silent; he knew that was Rein's most painful memory.

He led the 4th Infantry Regiment in a bloody battle against the Royalist army in the Kiria Forest, while Marquis Cole, due to a conflict with his superiors in Renn, chose not to come to their aid.

In the end, all 1,000 men of the Fourth Infantry Regiment were killed in battle, but he escaped thanks to his iron will, and thereafter became increasingly paranoid and ruthless.

“…I understand.” The figure sighed.

"Go, do your job well. Also, when the church recruits soldiers, place a few of your men in your ranks," Renn instructed.

"I already know, do you need to teach me?" the figure said with dissatisfaction. "On the contrary, when you are tied to the stake by the church in the future, don't blame me for not giving you advice."

Ryan was silent for a moment: "I will die one day, but he will not be the one to kill me."

(End of this chapter)