To the West

The next morning, Artemis came out of his room with a little smile on his face. The morning sun shined through his windows as a baste swathe of clouds littered the night sky. 

Artemis walked down the halls of the castle and was greeted by several maids that passed by, some important bureaucrats who were going to do their shifts, and King Wart was out with Pandora and was about to go dining in the grand hall.

After brief honorifics and greetings, Artemis would walk away. 

With everything back to the normal of the new government Artemis had built, the City of Diadel was more lively than before. 

The agenda for the day, however, was to visit each of the western villages personally with an armed guard by his side to convince them of his authority. 

Although the new kingdom was now well-known to the villagers of the surrounding villages, their loyalties were doubted by several civil representatives of the outer district. Some of the representatives once were villagers of the said western villages and were quite knowledgeable of the cultures.

All of this was compiled into a single scroll that was given to him after the trial yesterday by one of the said representatives who caught wind of 'The King's Proclamation' that detailed King Wart's intentions to invite all villages under the influence and indirect control in the City of Diadel to migrate their populations to the city.

The man wasn't aware, nor was anyone really, that the proclamations said to be from the king were actually from the man in black, Also known as, Lord Erik. 

Notoriously known as Artemis, the King of the Metal Beings. The Supreme Emperor of the Machine Empire. Or the Hive Mind of the Machines.

But none of them knew the latter parts.

As Artemis passed through the castle doors and walked through the streets of the inner district, many people recognized him and bid him their greetings. From the youngest who could speak, to the oldest who could walk. Everyone knew of him and quite frankly, most loved and appreciated his efforts. 

[You are quite the charmer, dear] Caitlyn said as she watched what Artemis' eyes saw. Caitlyn was like a person who was inside of a giant robot but had only passive and no direct controls.

She could see what Artemis saw, and felt what Artemie felt. If Artemie was in pain, Caitlyn would feel it as well, but it didn't really matter as it wasn't completely possible at all.

[When are we going to the first village?] Caitlyn asked. 

[First, I need to pinpoint which village to go to first, probably the nearest one but I have no idea where the nearest village is located so I would need a guide. The guide would be someone familiar with the village in question and a battalion of knights to regain my control] Artemis answered.

[Why don't you just forcefully evict them?] Caitlyn said. 

[Uhm, I mean... should I?] Artemis asked, raising a brow.

[Look, sweety, you can just make up an excuse like any other government when they're doing something that needs to be done with little to no hassles or opposition. Use force, make up an excuse that is both absurd and believable enough to make the gullible villagers take the bite. Once they do, pull the hook and catch the fish] Caitlyn said. 

Not gonna lie, Caitlyn was more sinister than she really seemed. Was she just mimicking or, otherwise, promoting Artemis' previous actions?

But Artemis, for the first time ever, did not feel so keen with the idea of forcefully evicting the villagers from their villages. 

Doing so would decrease his popularity with them, thus making it harder for the villagers to integrate themselves into city life.

All of this was so much thought for him. 

Artemis reached the main gate of the inner wall, there he found Toby passing by. 

Artemis hailed him.

"Oh, ugh, me? Ay, erm, yes. Milord, what is it?" Toby stuttered. 

[Oh my, the poor lad was startled] Hailey giggled. 

"Are you familiar with the western villages under the indirect governance of the Fortress City?" Artemis asked.

"Ah, yes, I actually came from one of those villages before passing the military academy for mages," Toby said. 

"Well then, you're coming with me," Artemie said. He made it clear that he wasn't taking a No as an answer and the only correct answer was Yes. 

"Yes, milord," Toby abandoned his plans for the day and followed Artemis.

They went to the western section of the wall that was under reconstruction. Stone from quarries were being poured in by the miners and were being used to make the stone foundations. 

The place was busy, and would be busy until the walls finished. 

Everybody began working faster, however, when Artemis suddenly came out of nowhere. 

As if there was an immense amount of pressure mounted on them by the mere presence of the Man in Black watching them do their jobs he had specifically requested to be done. 

"Uhm, milord, what exactly are we going to do?" Toby asked.

In response, Artemis then turned towards him, his red and blue eyes seemingly piercing into his body. 

"I want a battalion of knights clad in full armor, enhanced with the best magic enchantments to report here, immediately," Artemis said like a strict General.

"Ah, yes milord! I'll call upon the needed knights right away," Toby said.

"Go," Artemis said coldly.

Toby then skedaddled away.

Artemis then turned around and continued watching the construction of the walls. 

Why was he doing this? Well, Caitlyn wanted to watch how humans with intelligence and technology comparable to the medieval era of prewar Earth acted up close and personal. 

Excluding the personal part, at least she had a front row seat with her husband in observing the peasantry build the wall that Artemis himself was responsible for its destruction.

[It's quite ironic that you destroyed this part of the wall and now you ordered the people that this wall protected to rebuild it, was that part of your plan?] Caitlyn asked.

[Not... quite] Artemis said, feeling a little bit guilty. 

Caitlyn then proceeded to tease her husband for failing to even consider the benefits and not-so-good benefits of his actions that came without a second thought. 

But from here on out, she will be the voice to counter or support Artemis' decisions and actions