I was still feeling shocked once Maria and Eleanor departed to handle their tasks, leaving me alone in the meeting room. Maria's decision to abdicate permanently had caught me flatfooted. Up until now, I was operating under the assumption that my rule was merely a temporary thing. I did my best, but my decisions were still limited in a way I could explain to Maria once she returned.

Her decision changed things … but also, it did not. Ultimately, it was one internal factor gone, but all the external factors forcing my hands stayed in place.

Harold returned, saying nothing. "You don't have to look so smug," I said to Harold.

"Of course not, sir," he said, smiling even wider. "After all, who am I to refuse the order of Lady Maria."

I wanted to be angry at his sarcasm, but considering the circumstances, I couldn't deny that they were some well-deserved comments. "Fine, you win. It makes more sense to rule this place. I just don't want the responsibility. All that…"

"All understand, sir, but it's for the better."

"I get it," I surrendered. "But, let's focus on our next problem. Sustainably collecting more mana."

Harold looked surprised. "Is it something I can help with, sir?" he asked.

I pulled one of the maps from the shelf and rolled it open. "Yes. I can open a dungeon gate to a mana-rich location, but defending is the challenge. I need your opinion about it."

Harold leaned over the table, his expression sharpening while he examined the layers on the parchment I had unrolled. The map showed a fifty-mile radius around the town, marked with both physical and magical annotations. Locations of known beast populations, mana density, vegetation and mineral content, and ruins had all been meticulously recorded.

"Opening a permanent gate outside the dungeon?" Harold asked. "Like how the heretics did?"

"Exactly, and not just for logistic benefits. The dungeon's regeneration speed is improving thanks to the cultivation on the lower floors, but it won't keep up forever, not if we want Maria to shield the whole area."

"Not to mention the number of farmers that can use magic increasing," Harold added.

"Certainly a factor that needs to be considered," I responded. "It only makes it more urgent."

"So, what do you have in mind, sir?"

I pointed at a cluster of red-rimmed hills to the northeast. "This spot has potential. Mana levels are decent, and we know there are some town ruins there that can give us some metal."

Harold frowned. "A good source, but the terrain's a nightmare. Steep, broken hills, little room for wagons or stationary defenses. Supporting the gates could be a nightmare if traveling through the dungeon is ever blocked."

"Certainly something to consider," I admitted. "That's the biggest challenge, spreading ourselves thinner."

"Also giving us an evacuation route if things go badly," he completed.

"True," I admitted. I slid my finger westward, "This glade is near the plains. Scouting reports were promising?"

Harold frowned as he examined. "Good visibility. Easy to fortify. But also close to Drakkan patrols, we managed to see. They will notice us before we can even fortify it."

"Which makes it too big of a risk," I admitted. "Even if they don't find it immediately, setting up anything there sends the wrong message, like we're daring them."

He tapped another location. "How about the broken spires along the southern cliffs? It looks desolate, too close to two recent dungeon breaks. However, the path toward this is relatively flat. Could act as both a mana siphon and a defensive fallback."

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I shook my head. "Good for concealment, bad for mana generation. The density is not enough to make it worth it. But the rock formations offer natural cover."

"Then there's this," Harold said, pointing further east, toward a swampy basin where old-growth trees grew in dense clusters. "Unstable terrain, but the mana readings we got from the scouts are significant enough."

"And, the swamp would give us a chance to grow a nice forest of decay, enough to give me an edge against the ascended," I said, narrowing my eyes. "And the monster population?"

"Heavy," he admitted. "It's not exactly a high-visibility spot, and we don't know what is hidden. But, that can also be an advantage. With enough traps and rotating patrols, it could be held, and it would be harder to discover."

"We could reinforce the entire perimeter with decaying trees," I added. "Too bad we're going to open the gate for the fire dungeon, or it would be even more convenient."

"It might be a good double-bluff as well. From the swamp, they would expect the decay dungeon, which can give us the edge."

"Only for one attack," I admitted. "Still risky. High mana also means more likely to draw unwanted attention from magical factions. Not to mention, the fog could conceal an entire army until it's too late."

"Then maybe we use that to our advantage," Harold offered. "Set the gate deep in the swamp. Create a decoy gate, draw enemies into attacking it, then ambush them with a full squad."

I raised an eyebrow. "You're growing bloodthirsty in your old age."

"Your fault for reminding me of my marine days, sir," he admitted. "Should I send some teams to scout?"

"Try to keep the number low. We don't want to alert them to our situation. Keep an eye on the other locations, though. Maybe we can find a better location."

Harold nodded and left, leaving me with my plans for the other options. The dungeon idea was nice, but not the one I wanted to commit to.

My mind drifted to an old experiment, back when I was trying to pin down the basics of mana. Back then, a little application of Newton's Law of Cooling had taught me a lot about mana…

Including mana dead locations weren't as dead as their name implied. The density was just too low for us to interact. In a way, it was like humidity. Just because it was there didn't mean one could drink it.

"Let's check the real mana density first," I said as I created myself a device. A simple hexagonal prism with an internal honeycomb structure, testing the mana density. A little trip confirmed that, even in so-called mana dead location, the mana distribution varied significantly. The amount was pretty much nonexistent about a mile around the gates, but it recovered with distance, reaching its peak when the distance reached three miles before flattening.

With that, the first step was complete. As for the second step, I immediately started to build a prototype based on my old experimentations, with one concept as a key.

Steam condensation.

The experiment methodology was simple, though it heavily relied on some old findings. One was the fact that mana interacted with various aspects like electric and steam somewhat. It had been the single biggest block to reconstruct modern technology, but that didn't make it a curse.

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Creating pipes that would actively pull mana from the environment was easy. They wouldn't increase the density of the mana, but it would work well to equalize the mana presence inside the pipes and outside them.

I created a thin web of such pipes, connected to a mana-containing condenser at the other side.

The results were enough to put a smile on my face. The mechanism only ran for ten seconds before I could feel a hint of mana in the condensed water. Not enough to even register as one point in terms of System measurement, but that didn't matter.

I ran a few more tests, confirming that it wasn't a momentary glitch. It was not. By running steam condensers, we could gather a lot of mana.

Admittedly, it was a slow, cumbersome, and very visible method, but there were some perks. One of them being all of our industry running based on steam, which meant a lot of excess. We could spread some of the smelters and lower priority forges at the outer layers, connected to the shields and the farms with pipes.

The best part, none of those machines would be particularly critical, therefore they could be safely handled by the new batch of refugees. I had no fear of it leaking out, because it was useless to our enemies.

None of them actually needed the paltry amount of mana such a structure would collect.

I went back to the camp, plans already drawn, and found Liam. "Sir," he greeted me, his expression split between enthusiasm and exhaustion, too aware of what would happen whenever I went to him with several blueprints. "How can I help you today?"

"Are you in the mood to completely revamp our infrastructure?"

Despite everything, his exhausted sigh amused me. "Is it critical?" he asked.

"Vital," I responded. "But, if it helps, my next task is no less exhausting."

That put a smile on his face. "You know what, sir. It does."

I chuckled before I gave him a detailed explanation of what we were planning, then moved on to the dungeon, ready to focus on the last step of my mana initiative.