The bzing sun cast golden beams into Ravenna’s study, illuminating the sand-colored walls with a warm glow. Despite the heat radiating from Jo’s desert climate, the room remained serehe air filled with the faint aroma of freshly brewed tea. Ravenna sat by the window, her silhouette outlined against the shimmering dunes outside, as she sipped her tea leisurely.

  Johed across from her, shifted slightly in his chair, the sound of his armor faintly king as he prepared to deliver his report. He had returned earlier that m, after the expedition she had ordered.

  “As instructed, Yhness, we located the yered roation in the western region,” John began, his voice steady and fident. “The prisoners worked tirelessly through the night, and we mao extract several tons of limestone.”

  Ravenna’s lips curled into a satisfied smile. “Excellent,” she said, settieacup down with a soft k. “Now, we begi produ.”

  John tilted his head, curiosity evident in his gaze, though he chose not to question her further.

  After a few minutes, Ravenna and James stood by the rugged coastlihe sound of waves crashing against the shore mixed with the rhythmic hum of activity as workers prepared the site. A -built bst furnace, crafted meticulously by Nile, had been transported from the bcksmith’s workshop. Nearby, a small waterwheel—designed by James and structed by the church’s engineers, spun slowly, its paddles glinting uhe sun.

  “So, this is where the magic happens?” James asked, his schorly toraying a hint of skepticism.

  Ravenna smirked. “You doubt my cims, Your Holiness?” she teased, her voice carrying a pyful edge that made James stiffen slightly. “Fear not. You’ll soon withe process for yourself.”

  She turo the assembled workers. “Follow my instrus carefully,” she anded, her voice firm and authoritative.

  A floating panel hovered discreetly before her eyes. It dispyed a step-by-step video guide oer, detailing the t-making process. Although unfamiliar with some terminologies, Ravenna adapted quickly, pausing to sider her instrus before issuing them to the workers.

  The workers began by feeding limestoo the bst furhis furnace, designed with low airflow to optimize calatioed the limestoil it underwent a chemical transformation. The heat drove out carbon dioxide, leaving behind calcium oxide, or quicklime.

  Ohe lime was ready, Ravenna instructed the workers to mix it with d a small amount of sand. These materials were pced into a milling station powered by the waterwheel. The grinding stones rotated steadily, crushing the mixture into a fine, homogeneous blend.

  “This step ehe materials bind effectively,” Ravenna expio James, who watched with growing fasation.

  The blended mixture was theuro the furnace for sintering, a high-temperature process that produced ker: small, hard nodules essential for t. Finally, the ker was ground together with gypsum, which Ravenna had sourced from the sor stills used for water treatment. The result was a fine, gray powder: t.

  James ied the powder closely, running it between his fingers. “It’s remarkably fine,” he remarked. “Surely this isn’t used on its own for stru?”

  “You’re correct,” Ravenna replied. “It’s mixed with crushed stones and sand to form crete, which is then poured into molds or used to bind bricks.”

  Intrigued, James nodded. “Let’s test it, then.”

  The workers mixed the t with aggregate and water, creating a smooth paste. They used it to struct a small brick wall by the beach, carefully yering the bricks with precision.

  By midday, the wall stood firm, its surface glistening slightly from the moisture in the fresh crete. Ravenna and James decided to let it cure uhe sun’s heat and i it the following m.

  “This could revolutionize stru,” James mused aloud as they walked back. “If it works as you cim, the effid strength it offers would be unmatched.”

  Ravenna smiled, the gears of her mind already turning. “This is just the beginning,” she said. “Imagine what we could build with a material like this. Cities, fortresses, aqueducts… even temples to rival those of the Western ti.”

  As the afternoon sun dipped lower, casting long shadows over the beach, Raven a deep sense of satisfa. By the day, they would know if their efforts had paid off.

  Ravenna walked into the dining hall, her feet clig softly against the polished stone floor. The warm st of roasted herbs and bread filled the air, mingling with the faint tang of part and ink that always lingered in the castle. At the grand table, Marie sat stiffly, her posture betraying exhaustion. Her pale fad trembling hands revealed the toll that bat training had taken on her malnourished body.

  Ravenna took her seat gracefully, the young girl’s attempts to mask her fatigue. “Is bat training proving to be torous?” Ravenna asked, her tone sharp yet not unkind. “Aisha has a habit of uimating her own strength. If it’s too much for you, I instruct her to ease up.”

  Marie quickly shook her head, her disheveled hair brushing against her cheeks. “No, Yhness,” she said, her voice wavering slightly. “Master’s training is fine. I ha.”

  The word master caught Ravenna’s attention. She raised an eyebrow, her sharp eyes narrowing. “Master?” she echoed. “You call Dame Aisha ‘Master,’ yet you address me as ‘Yhness’? Are you not my disciple as well?”

  Marie’s eyes widened with nervousness, and her hands fidgeted in her p. “I... I thought you wouldn’t wao call you that since I’m a former—”

  “Enough with your self-pity,” Ravenna interrupted, her voice cold and cutting. “If I wao discard you, I would’ve left you to the mumbling priests and their pity-driven sermons. You are here because I see potential, not weakness.”

  Marie swallowed hard, her face flushing with a mix of embarrassment aermination. She bowed her head slightly. “I uand... Master,” she whispered, the word feeling f oddly f oongue.

  Ravenna’s stern expression softened slightly into a satisfied smile as servants began pg lun the table. Marie straightened, fumbling with the utensils. She had been given only oiquette lesson so far, and her grip on the fork and knife was awkward at best. Despite this, she made an ear effort, her brows furrowed in tration.

  Ravenna observed her attempts without ent, calmly cutting into her meal. After a moment, she said, “You take the rest of the day off. There’s no need for you to assist me in the office or joirol tonight. I uimated how taxing your first days would be.”

  Marie opened her mouth to protest, but the weight of her exhaustion silenced her. Instead, she nodded quietly, grateful for the reprieve.

  After lunch, Ravenired to her study. The room was bathed in warm light from the setting sun, and the faint rustle of papers filled the air as she worked. Alice had delivered a detailed report earlier that m, listing expenditures, resource allocations, and outstanding wages. Ravenhodically reviewed the data, occasionally gng at the spreadsheet interface floating in her Reputation System.

  She still ’t get over how lucky this funality is. It allowed her to quickly sort figures, cross-reference expenditures, and calcute potential savings. What would have taken aire week with part and ink took barely two hours.

  By the time she finished, Ravenna leaned ba her chair, stretg slightly to ease the stiffness in her back. She gazed out of the window, her mind already shifting to the pressing issue.

  Ravenna got up and stepped into her carriage as the evening sky deepened into shades of purple and e. The rhythmic ctter of hooves on cobblestone apanied her thoughts as she sidered the scarcity of iron. The bcksmiths had reported deys in tools produ, and several stru projects were at risk of stalling.

  “This she is being problematic,” she muttered under her breath, her fiapping lightly on the carriage’s wooden frame. “If we don’t resolve this soon, it could destroy all my efforts so far.”

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