The high priest of Mashun settled down by the fireplace, wrapped in a cozy blanket, waiting for the abbot of the main temple. The coolness came yesterday, and even warm clothes did not save him from the cold. Age was doing its job: the magic power was gone before the body began to fail. He had exhausted all his resources, but he still dreamed of life, despite having already experienced two lifetimes. Power was inherently attractive to him, but he was becoming less and less able to hold it. It is better to leave quietly than to become a victim of someone from the higher, tired of waiting for his departure.

  "May I come in, Quenar?" The abbot's voice came from behind the door.

  "Come in, Delius" Quenar allowed the abbot.

  Delius Dart, the abbot of the main temple, was much younger and had not yet reached the age of one hundred. His thin body, thick black hair and blue eyes made him attractive despite the wrinkles on his face.

  "What do you want, Quenar?" Delius asked.

  "I have an important announcement" Quenar replied: "I want to retire and hand over my position to you".

  "Not all high priests will agree with this" Delius warned him: "I know three candidates who want to take your place. And why did you decide to leave your post right now?"

  "It's time to break up, why not now?" Quenar sighed: "I can no longer handle my responsibilities as before, and we are facing severe adversity. It's time to replace the Supreme Master. Kirk should be replaced before his activities completely destroy the Order. The old sly one! He went too far, depriving the kingdom of most of the magicians. The nobility is very unhappy with his behavior. Nowadays it is difficult to find a magician, even for ordinary healing from illness. I have ordered the priests to deal with this matter themselves, only for the respected nobles and our supporters".

  "The king pays large sums to teach magic" Delius replied.

  "Magicians are not cabbage, they will not be able to grow in one academic year. His Majesty's witchcraft school must be closely monitored. I am not worried about the idea of releasing ordinary magicians, as long as the Supreme Master does not decide to develop them into masters. We have to fight to the last for the right to higher magic. So far, no master has come to the king, and his teachers cannot give their students all the knowledge".

  "Two people have arrived. Not from the neighboring kingdoms, they were found by Darike somewhere in the depths of Darike".

  "Do they have names?"

  "It turned out to be two women. One comes from the Aquani family. This family once ruled the Marquessate of Havre. The Marquise is only seventy years old, but she is already on the threshold of the grave".

  "Is she a master?" Quenar asked in surprise: "Don't they live for two hundred years? What happened to her?"

  "She would have lived for so many years if she had gained strength in her youth. It seems to me that she studied independently from books and began to develop strength too late, which, on the contrary, shortens her life. Getting power on your own, especially from their books, is hard. You know how difficult books on high magic were written. Hidden messages and ciphers make them incomprehensible. It is because of this that we still cannot master a lot of knowledge".

  "What about the second one?"

  "Some baroness who ran away from Kivana. She just turned fifteen years old".

  "And has she mastered the skill yet? It's impossible, Delay"

  "Our royal magicians were checking her out. Five of the strongest, which she coped with without any problems. Aquani got this girl a little over a year ago, and the old witch somehow developed her strength to her level, took her under her wing, recently adopted her, and gave her the right to an inherited name".

  "And what are they doing now?"

  "They visited the royal school and brought back a lot of books about magic. Now these books are beginning to be rewritten. But they only have basic knowledge, there is nothing on higher magic, we have thoroughly checked everything. The old woman sits in her manor and rarely appears at school, and the young one has not been seen for a long time, our agents reported to me that she seemed to have gone somewhere through her portal. We couldn't track her down. We have not been able to introduce our agents into their house yet".

  "Everything is not going as we would like! It's unfortunate that Aquani suddenly appeared on the horizon. I'm sure she has a deep dislike for us. Probably, the king did not allow her to take revenge, and most likely she does not have enough power to do so. However, she can repay in other ways, for example, by helping the king to educate his students. After all, it didn't really matter that she hadn't given them books about high magic! Currently, this knowledge is not of great importance, but it can be transferred in the future. The king must not be allowed to have his own masters, Delius! Are you saying that the old lady is already on the verge of death? Let's help her cross this threshold! And we must think of something about the Baroness. Let's see if we can take advantage of her presence. If she has brains, we can try to negotiate with her somehow".

  "What else is wrong?"

  "A war with Varkia awaits us, unfortunately we are not prepared".

  "What do you mean, we're not ready?" Delius asked in surprise: "Our army is not inferior to the Varkian army, Darkh does not have so many masters. There are many more powerful priests in our Order. Or maybe I don't know something?"

  "Yes, not everything was reported to you. I found out about it myself quite recently, from the king himself. Darkh did not destroy the Boers as agreed, but hid them in the mountains. Now they are forming a guard, which spends huge amounts of money on training and arming. This is done only for the sake of war, and among all the neighbors of Varkia, we are the most vulnerable. And it's our fault. That's exactly how the king told me about it and asked for help in the war. I promised my help. If the Boer army comes here, it won't be easy for us to resist. They will remember all the insults! Darkh was probably completely dumbfounded, thinking that he could keep them in check for a long time. Okay, that will be your problem, but in the meantime, let's discuss what needs to be done to ensure that your election goes off without significant problems".

  *****

  "Did the King say anything?" Grasping at every piece of news, Linda asked when she saw Fancor returning from Wadish.

  "He said- finally" The soldier grinned.

  "Of course it's easy for him to say that!" Linda said irritably: "You'd think gold could be exchanged for weapons near every park bench! Let him thank me that his gold has interested my country. If I had to do as I planned from the very beginning, he would not see this weapon for a long time!"

  "Thank you, he will definitely tell you!" Fancore laughed: "But you, my lady, do not understand humor at all".

  "Well, it depends on how to make a joke. Okay, tell me what else he said" She replied.

  "He thanks for the good news and promises to find a place to demonstrate new weapons. You won't have to go to the palace. Currently, the priests of Mashun are very interested in the king, and he prefers that you be seen with him as little as possible. We will go to the appointed place ourselves, and the king will send his man there. It's going to happen after lunch, there's no way it's going to happen sooner".

  "Then let's rest. Jenson, show me how the machine is properly disassembled. Give me the instructions, I'll read them myself, and if I don't understand anything, I'll ask you while you're with us".

  "And when are you going to bring me home?" The captain asked.

  "After we finish shooting, we will take a little gold from the king for an advance payment, and you will go with him to that very hangar directly from the mansion, while I will follow you, but the next day. If you have time to collect the first batch of weapons, I will deliver it here and immediately pay off your superiors. I would like you to be sent back to us with this batch of weapons. Be prepared for the fact that I will immediately start studying the language with you.

  I don't want to act as an interpreter, and it will be difficult for you to train soldiers knowing the local language. I'll make a list of several hundred of the most popular words, and you'll memorize it in about two days. I will tell you the basics of grammar, and you will practice a little with my servants so that the soldiers will not laugh at you. You will learn with the help of one infusion, which speeds up memorization by five or more times, but it has a very unpleasant taste. Do you remember when we were sitting at breakfast, the dishes were brought to us by a girl about fifteen years old?"

  "Yes, but what about her?"

  "Dina really liked you. Aren't you married, by any chance?"

  "No, I'm not married, and it's not accidental at all. I planned to get married when I graduated from college, but somehow it didn't match up: a friend took my fiancee away. Maybe it's for the best. It seems that they have problems in the family. Are you going to woo her to me? She's still so young, like she just came from the playground".

  "I'm not trying to pass her off as you. I just want to warn you. We have different laws here: coming of age has been coming since the age of thirteen, and your Dina will soon be sixteen. I don't want you to marry her. But I still want to say that she is an amazing woman who can bring happiness to any man's life, but I am afraid that the police will start to take her apart piece by piece, and then hide her in some secret hangar. Besides, our world is not genetically incompatible with this, so you will not be able to have children. But I will not stop her from seeking warmth in your company, of course, if she herself has such a desire. I'll warn her about you. And try to be very kind to Dina, she's already been through a lot in her life".

  Linda warned Jenson, and he actually noticed that Dina was staring at him at the dinner table, and the moment their eyes met, she began to blush. He knew perfectly well that he was going back today, and he was not sure that he would appear here again, so he was really sorry for this girl. After lunch, a sergeant of the royal guard came to them, who was supposed to go with them to test weapons. Magla went with Fancore and Jenson. The journey to the test site took an hour. While they were driving, Linda decided to ask Jenson something.

  "I don't understand much about technology, and I want to consult with you. What is the best way to organize electricity in the castle, not at home, but here?" She asked.

  "And why is this necessary?" Jenson asked.

  "Well, for example, for listening to music, and in general, for all kinds of household needs. In general, I'm already used to living without electricity, but it's just bad that I don't have enough light in the evening".

  "If you want to listen to music, it's best to use a cassette recorder that can run on batteries. And if electricity is required for another, it is better to install a diesel generator in the basement of the castle".

  "We have a huge basement".

  "Then this is the perfect place. You can also stock up on diesel fuel and take the exhaust pipe outside so as not to get poisoned by gases".

  "The barrels won't fit into the portal".

  "Instead of barrels, you can use large cans to store fuel. It's even better this way. You can buy a domestic generator, but if you need something better, they can get an imported one. The choice is yours".

  "Which brands are preferable?" She asked.

  "During the war, I don't want to say that our generators are worse, but it's still better to choose imported ones. They are more reliable and economical in fuel consumption. Our cars are less demanding on the quality of gasoline, but without regular maintenance they will quickly fail. But if you install an American engine and monitor it even for the simplest person, it will last twenty years or even longer. My father, who was retiring, quietly took with him an engine from Ford, which was supplied under lend-lease during the war. This engine had only ten horsepower, but was able to pull a wooden boat without difficulty, as if it had all fifteen in it".

  "Tell your management that I ask them very much. It is better not to spend uselessly on weapons, and the lack of gold can be replaced with other goods. Although I am not a queen, I also have a lot of gold. When I wanted to go to America, I thought about the possibility of buying the most useful goods there. For example, I need large mirrors because the local ones are inconvenient to use. They can be profitably sold here for gold. Because of my position, it is difficult for me to engage in trade, but it is possible to hire an intermediary.

  It would also be possible to purchase products that are not here. Surely you don't understand how sometimes you want halva or sunflower oil? You will not find sugar here either, there is only honey and dried fruits in it. Tell him that I can help you as much as I can, but I want you to take care of me too. For example, we could arrange a normal apartment for an aunt. I can pay for it. Her family is the only close people for me, I can't even come to visit them, now they live like herrings in a barrel. And I also want to ask you about it. Do you have a gun with you?"

  "Not too big. I have a Makarov pistol. A very reliable weapon, but at a distance of more than fifty meters it is difficult to hit the target. But he shoots serious bullets capable of piercing medieval armor".

  "I would like to have a smaller and lighter pistol. After all, it is not always possible to use magic quickly, especially if you are dealing with another magician. It is always inconvenient to carry a machine gun and besides, it is very noticeable. Find me something suitable. Tell your superiors that your interest is my safety".

  "I will definitely convey your requests" Jenson promised: "You just mentioned that your aunt is the only family person for you. But what about... your mother?"

  Linda explained to him that it had been a long time since she had felt any closeness to her. Her own mother seemed to her a distant shadow in the past, without bright memories, only her father's images were imprinted in her memory: "When she is released, I will help, but there is no place for love in my heart" She whispered thoughtfully.

  A few moments later, the sergeant intervened in their conversation: "I'm sorry, my lady, to interrupt your conversation, but it's time to move on. We need to hurry so as not to keep the king waiting" Linda just nodded in agreement: "Of course, Sergeant. Go ahead, we won't interfere".

  On the road, they accelerated their gallop, and soon after overtaking the hill, they came across a group of horsemen. Among them, Linda recognized Wadish and his brother next to him. Introducing Jenson as a fighter from her world, she in turn was introduced to two nobles she was not familiar with: the Chancellor and the commander of the royal army. The rest were present as guards from the guard.

  "Where are the targets set?" Linda asked the king. Vadish pointed to a herd of about fifty bulls grazing a hundred meters away from them: "They were supposed to be slaughtered, so we will help the slaughterers. Do I need to get closer?"

  Turning to Captain Jenson, Linda asked if it was necessary to drive closer for shooting.

  "Two minutes of preparation" The captain replied, suggesting that the horses should first be put aside so that they would not be scared by the shots.

  "This soldier said that he would easily complete the task from this place" Linda translated to the king: "We can even move away, but this requires more bolts, and the animals will suffer from unnecessary injuries. He also said that you should get off the horses, his weapon is firing too loudly, and this can scare the horses".

  The guards dismounted, and quickly took the horses to a small grove and left them there tied to trees. Jenson took the magazines of ammunition out of the bag and put them next to him. Then he got down on one knee, switched the shutter and started shooting. He shot the animals in the head with small bursts of three or four rounds. The bulls fell to the ground in turn. Terrified, the herd began to scatter, but they could not get away. Three minutes after he started shooting, the entire meadow was littered with the corpses of dead bulls.

  "It's amazing" Vadish said, surprised by the result of the shooting: "Can other people use this weapon?"

  "It won't be difficult for them to master its use" Linda replied, taking her machine gun off her shoulder and preparing it for firing: "At close range, you can almost shoot without aiming. Take a look".

  She pointed her weapon at a pile of rocks near the road and opened fire. Fragments of stones scattered in all directions, several bullets bounced off the stones and flew too close to the audience, causing everyone to involuntarily flinch.

  "Can I do the same?" The king asked.

  "Of course, Your Majesty" Linda handed the king a machine gun: "Just be careful and don't aim at people unless they are enemies. Point the barrel of the machine gun at the target and pull the trigger, it's right here, and be sure to hold the weapon very tightly".

  The king started shooting with excitement and stopped only after all the ammunition was used up.

  "It is necessary to hide the casings" Linda said to the general, pointing to the copper parts from the cartridges: "You can take them with you, but it will take a long time. If anyone is watching us, they might find out about your new weapon. And there will be a lot of bullets in the dead bulls. They must also be destroyed when they are butchered".

  "I will take care of it" The general replied: "Tell me, Baroness, how long will it take to arm our troops with such weapons?"

  "It depends on how much you order" Linda replied: "I would arm two hundred of your soldiers with machine guns and all the king's guards. This will be enough to defeat any army and for better gun control. It is necessary to avoid them falling into the hands of our enemies".

  "It makes sense" The General agreed: "And how fast can these two hundred machine guns be delivered here..."

  "If I am given gold in exchange for this demonstration, I will immediately send this fighter to my world, and in a day I will come for weapons myself. I plan to ship it here in small batches, twenty machine guns each. It's more convenient in terms of ammunition and payback. An instructor will be sent along with the weapons to train the local soldiers. First of all, I want to teach him your language a little bit so that the training will be more effective".

  Linda decided not to mention the submachine guns left in the castle, believing that they could be useful for her as well.

  *****

  "How much gold did Nelson bring?" The Chairman of the Committee asked the head of the Department of Foreign Intelligence.

  "Almost three and a half kilograms".

  "So much gold for just ten old machine guns and a few zinc boxes of cartridges? And how many weapons do they even want to buy from us?"

  "The Jordans have applied for three hundred and fifty submachine guns and ammunition for them. Besides, she wants a small gun for herself personally. The choice of weapons is left to our discretion. She claims she won't always be able to use her magic".

  "So it's magic after all? What does Nelson report about this?"

  "Jordana owns a magnificent castle in a remote forest. Currently, repairs and various construction works are underway there. She asked us to deliver her an imported diesel generator and a supply of fuel for it, as well as to buy various goods besides weapons. Payment will be made in gold. She suggested to us the idea of selling mirrors and other goods of the local nobility for gold through an intermediary, since she, being a baroness, cannot engage in trade, so as not to damage her reputation. In the castle, the captain encountered mysterious lamps, but, strangely, they did not have any source of electricity. According to Linda, they sparkled under the influence of some kind of magic caused by demons. The captain claims that he saw only one case of using magic: when Linda's groom injured himself, his wound healed in a few minutes under the influence of magic that Lindik possesses. She claims that magic can cure almost any disease, and it takes very little time".

  "And what is known about the testing of our weapons?"

  "As for the weapon tests, about fifty bulls were brought, which the captain shot from a distance of one hundred meters. Then the king had fun until he had used up all the ammunition. Photos of this event can be viewed: Lindik at the castle, in the mansion, her foster mother, and even a vampire girl was with them".

  "Vampires?"

  "Yes, a vampire girl, almost like in our legends, brought from another world. Photos have already been taken near and inside the royal palace. Although it is not as great as the Louvre, it still impressed the captain. He was even taken to the gold vault. He couldn't estimate it for sure, but he said there was a lot of gold there, so Jordana didn't lie".

  "Has she ever lied? I haven't seen her myself, just a photo. She looks like a decent cutie. I think she faced adversity not only here, but also in a parallel world. Only fools in fairy tales get power and authority, in reality you need to fight for everything yourself. So, Danielle, try to satisfy as many of her requests as possible. Offer her everything she asks for, and even what she forgot to ask. Linda is very important to us, so ensure her safety as much as possible. Give her our best guards. By the way, I will have a personal request for her. After completing the gun problems, I would like to meet her in person. Our doctors are having trouble with my treatment".

  "And if, on the contrary, it negatively affects you?"

  "She is a smart girl, and in the intervening time she will be able to make sure that we do business with her honestly. Trying to influence someone and risk disrupting our beneficial interaction for her... there's no point when everything is almost going according to her plan anyway. How many storage devices can we make from her gold?"

  "While our physicists cannot say this with certainty, the samples are still being tested. About fifty. With the help of one such drive, our most powerful tank can drive at full speed for more than ten hours. If we get a lot of gold, warships and submarines can be converted to electric propulsion without nuclear installations, which gives them almost complete autonomy".

  "We will have to increase our energy resources as quickly as possible" Said the head of the CGD, putting the photo in a bag, but still kept one with Linda for himself: "With the massive use of storage devices, we may not have enough of those power plants that we have now built. Did you find anything in the silver you received from her?"

  "Her flask is not made of silver. This is some kind of metal or alloy of several, which does not exist in our periodic table. In its properties, it resembles our platinum. Of course, it was also tested in various installations, but it did not work out the same result as with gold. However, chemists already claim with full confidence that it can be used as a powerful catalyst. However, cryogenic tests have shown that the effect is not as bright as that of gold. The decoction from the flask delighted the doctors, they say that it has a fantastic effect. Now scientists are trying to synthesize its main components. Some of the flora samples brought by Nelson to biologists are almost identical to ours, while others have no analogues in our country. All the differences are found at the atomic level".

  "Are you ready to ship the first batch of weapons?"

  "Yes, everything is ready, we are waiting for Linda. We plan to send Nelson with her. It looks like he found something interesting for himself there".

  "Don't let your captain stay there".

  "Lindik claims that we are genetically incompatible with the locals".

  "So she decides to come back here to find a fiance. Did she ask for help for her mother?"

  "No, she asked me to help her aunt get a more spacious apartment. This issue is under consideration. The captain claims that the mother no longer has feelings for her".

  "Why think for a long time, just provide normal housing for her relatives! And about the mother... what could be the reasons to lose the love of your child? Since she doesn't ask for help, we won't interfere unnecessarily. Let her live with all the consequences of her actions".

  *****

  "Come here, Nome!" The inconspicuous-looking priest was invited by the chief priest of Mashun, Delius Dart, beckoning him with a gesture to himself: "You are relieved of the previous assignment. The king will be watched by others, and you have a more important task ahead of you. Helena Aquani appeared, the last survivor of the Aquani family, eradicated by our master. This Helena has been hiding in the woods for fifty years, studying magic on her own. Under the protection of the gods, she became a real master. She hates us and, if possible, will try to take revenge.

  It would be foolish to give her a chance, so it is necessary to help the old woman reunite with the rest of the family. This good deed is entrusted to you. Keep in mind that she is in the capital, where she was invited by the king himself, and for whom she will now work. In the mansion where Helena lives, there is a guard serving the king. However, all the guards consist of only two guards - a master warrior and a shura girl. Sometimes her adopted daughter, who is also already a master, visits her. But we cannot act openly. It is not yet the time for conflicts with the king, so all activities must be carried out discreetly".

  *****

  "We already have the first batch of weapons" Vadish said, pushing a bowl of fruit that looked like dates towards Linda: "When will you go for the second one?"

  "I will no longer deliver weapons to the mansion" The girl replied: "It is inconvenient and risky. Prepare a room in your palace, and leave the gold there. Will you do it by tomorrow? I'll come in the morning. We'll repeat this every day until we get everything we need".

  "Don't you trust the people in your world, Rinda?"

  "I trust you now, but it's not so easy to ship a large shipment at one time. Not because of the heavy weight, but because of the difficulty of opening the gate for a long time. I can't waste all my strength. A lot can happen at this time".

  "How is your mentor?"

  "With the instructor? He learns the language and grumbles at our Helena that she prepares a nasty decoction for him to enhance his memory. I understand him - I've been drinking so much of this stuff myself..."

  "What's on your belt in your leather purse?"

  "It's the same weapon as the one I'm shipping here, only it's much smaller".

  "Will you show me?"

  Linda opened her holster and took out the APS. When Nelson handed her the gun, she was at first perplexed.

  "I asked for something compact, and you're bringing this?"

  "Don't worry, listen to me first" Jenson remarked: "Yes, this gun is heavier than my PM, but much better. First of all, this pistol has a clip with twenty rounds, and my PM has only eight. His firing range is three times longer, but it is difficult to compare the rate of fire. And besides, you can fire bursts from this pistol. I have a weak pistol, because my main weapon is a submachine gun. But you've been given serious weapons. There's a box full of ammo, so there's plenty to practice with. The holster was added, standard and therefore not too comfortable".

  "It's much lighter than a submachine gun" Vadish remarked, weighing the pistol in his hand: "Can it shoot as far?"

  Linda took the gun from the king and returned it to its holster: "Although it's on the safety, but it's still a firearm! You can hit a target at two hundred paces. They gave it to me for self-defense if I fail or don't have time to use magic".

  "Can you get me another one like this?"

  "As many as you want, will a dozen be enough? Then I'll add them to the next order. I'm going to go home through the gate now, I'll be back tomorrow at about the same time. I hope that everything will be ready by this time. Vadish, order someone to take my horse to the mansion".

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