'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Under Armour

I gingerly walked to the windmill where Eagle was normally stationed and was greeted by the town folks as I carried the load with me. It was not an easy task since I was literally juggling with the dozen pieces of the leather vest, gauntlet, upper arm guards and pants.

Even when the steel plates had been infused inside the pants, it was soft enough to be folded and that surprised me a lot. Since Ceres had mentioned that the mesh inside the pieces of armour was like hair, I guessed its flexible but strong enough to stop a blade attack.

The best person to try out would be Eagle himself since he knew about blades and attacks than me. As I entered the windmill, Eagle and the rest of the Shadow unit members were surprised as I was carrying a dozen sets of armours rather than the single set they were handed by the domain helper an hour earlier.

"Come, let me help you, Your Majesty. You could always get some help if you want to ferry this back to us. It's not normal for you to do such menial jobs anymore, Your Majesty."

"Tut-tut... This is just a small task for me but I am sure this would be something worthwhile for you. Here... This is the results of what I had done for the last hour. What you had given me was toughened leather pieces of armour and now it's called reinforced steel mesh armour."

"That's right... Its Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour and these pieces of armour is for you and your men. There are another few more dozens in the making and you would get it in the next hour or so."

Eagle and the present Shadow unit members were stumped when they heard about the new toughened leather pieces of armour and they all gathered around to help me to lift the pieces of armour that were in my hands earlier.

The first thing they noticed was the weight of each of the pieces and they found that it had increased to about a pound each. Every single piece of armour that was fetched from my hands were inspected and true enough, their weight had increased slightly.

"Your Majesty, these toughened leather pieces of armour looked exactly the same as what we are wearing right now. But the weight... Seems to be a tad heavier and I wonder what you had done to these pieces of armour." one of the Shadow unit members asked and was surprised since he can't find any source of the weight that had been infused inside the normal-looking pieces.

"It's hard for me to explain but look at this hay. It's entwined with each other, right? As you had noticed, I had successfully entered my meditative state of mind and therefore I managed to do something to the sample set of armours they were given by Eagle earlier."

"So, this example of hay would represent the steel fibres inside the current pieces of armours that I am giving out now. So, without further ado, could you please change it to the ones that had been upgraded by me?"

I beckoned for some of the Shadow unit members to change from their current pieces of armour to the present ones that I had 'modified'. However, Eagle stopped the rest of them and flicked his knife in one hand.

"Your Majesty, you mean to say that your new Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour is much better than the current toughened leather? Would you mind if I do a quick test?"

I spread my hands before me and invited him to try it out. If my old self sells armours throughout the lands, I am pretty sure the quality would be beyond normal. If I am meticulous in my work, I am sure my old self would do the same as well.

There's no such thing as a slipshod work to be handed up...!

Eagle motioned with his hands first before the rest of the Shadow unit members changed into the new set of armours. He took his knife and stabbed it several times into the vest and pants. And what he discovered was really out of this world...!

"GAH...!!! My blade didn't go through at all and doesn't even leave a scratch on this piece of armour...!!! Oh my God...! Your Majesty, you had reached a stage of revolutionary improved armour...! Really... These pieces were made by you and meant for us?"

Eagle was so surprised that he shouted out loud, resulting in the pigeons above the rafters to be fluttering about in fright. Not only there was loose feathers in the windmill area now but also some pigeons who shat due to fright...!

"Your Majesty, tell us how did you do it? You were given a set and you came back with a dozen and you said there are a few more dozens on the way as well...! Please, Your Majesty, your secret remains with us."

Eagle almost pleaded with me since he was still poking his knife into the new Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour vest and pants and still could not penetrate the outer layer. He even raised his knife high in the air and hoping to at least make a small mark on the Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour but to no avail.

The rest of the Shadow unit members even took out their curved daggers and were stabbing repeatedly at the pieces of Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour as if they wanted to vent their anger and frustration but were soon overcome with laughter.

"I used a Level 5 Refined Steel plate to mount on a machine where it slowly infused the material inside the pieces of armour. It's a process made by some weird machines which were out of this era. It could be found only in my own realm in the meditative state of mind."

"As what the system had narrated to me of how the material was infused inside these pieces of armours, that's what I am telling you too. The technical details of it couldn't be explained because I myself does not know how to start on the topic."

"By the way, the system mentioned about 12 Shadow unit members who chose to remain anonymous. There's a total number of 94 Shadow unit members... No, it's 93, and don't tell me the other 12 members would be the troubadours?"

Eagle and the rest were not only wide-eyed but their mouths could be filled with a huge steamed bun as well. They have heard an incredulous story of their life that's hard to believe, but the true fact lies before them.

"Yes, Your Majesty, they chose to remain anonymous because their main role was entertainment and playing music for the masses."

"But underneath those colourful and loud clothes, each of them wore the same type of armour and wielded a certain kind of crossbow that could fire 3 bolts in succession."

"They also had curved daggers on them and were considered one of the best Assassin units ever. They are called the Iron Maidens, Your Majesty."

I fully understood now why the troubadour chose to remain dormant but would be able to strike at a moments notice. This was due to their unsuspecting role and would always choose to be near us whenever there's an event and would spring to action to protect the Royal family.

"One thing I don't quite understand is how a machine would be able to work itself and be able to reproduce the same quality of pieces of armour, Your Majesty. Does this put you on the category of a Priest or a Wizard?"

Eagle motioned for the rest of these men to change into their new Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour as he asked me a question while slowly undressing before me. I can't help but look at the many scars on his body when he stood there with just his knickers on.

"That's what it's called a machine, Eagle. I can't help to explain in technical details but it's like a reproduction machine."

"Also you can classify me as part wizard since I was able to produce such pieces for you and your men."

"Remember not to mix these pieces up since there's no marking to show which pieces of armour had been infused while others are not unless you differentiate it through weight."

Eagle had put on his new pieces of Reinforced Steel Mesh Armour and was happy by the new feel and gave him and the rest of the guys an air of confidence. He was eager to have the rest of the pieces of armour they would be produced within the hour.

"So what are you going to do with these plain toughened pieces of leather? You won't be handing them down to the other militia, don't you? These pieces of armour are unique and suited the Shadow unit members perfectly."

I inquired and Eagle later explained to me that the toughened leather would be broken down so it would not be mixed with the new reinforced ones. Besides, Gwen would make use of these toughened leather pieces to be made into something else instead.

"That's a good idea, Eagle. Oh... By the way, I'm going to take this small handset away from this windmill so I would be able to load all the pieces of armour and transport them to you. Remember to inform the men to change onto these new reinforced armours the moment they received them."

Eagle gave me a thumbs-up as I wheeled a small handcart away and it seems that I would need several trips to send these pieces of Reinforced Steel Mesh Armours to the Shadow unit members.

"A job well done, Audemars. Eagle seemed rather appreciative at what you had done for the Shadow unit since these new Reinforced Steel Mesh Armours could not be found anywhere across the lands even if one has a whole handcart worth of gold coins."

"That's true, Ceres. Now I wondered how to bring these armour pieces back from the second floor right down to the first floor. I couldn't be appearing with crates filled with pieces of armour, could I?"

"Hmm... Your precious old self had a warehouse where he churned out those pieces of iron plates to sell to the blacksmith alliance to make into weapons, armours and also ship and machinery parts. Your previous old self was in feudal Japan somewhere in the 19th century."

"Japan, eh? I've never actually learnt much about geography and history but it's worth to look at what Japan looked like since I discovered a lot of new health and beauty products that could be used to enhance our economic infrastructure here. What do you think, Ceres? Do you think it is possible? "

"Anything is possible, Audemars. All you need is a strong mind and a healthy body to be able to visualise those types of machinery in the realm."

"Remember, things that could be found here would be able to be brought in from the realm. Although it won't have any butterfly effects if one thing failed to pass through, it's better to be safe."

After thinking for a while, I decided to continue to enhance the uniform of the rest of the military forces and I found the right term for the soldiers — Under Armour. Hahaha.

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