CHAPTER 65: THE START OF A DIVINE DUCHY

*** Snowkeep Church - In the Dead of Night ***

The sounds of silence filled Snowkeep as Justinian and Cassia finally took their rest, their training proving fruitful for Justinian’s recovery.

And with his sudden enlightenment, it was finally time for his body and mind to recover from the fatigue.

’Ugh...’

Justinian mumbled, having a hard time sleeping, an odd feeling considering his body and mind should undoubtedly be tired.

He wasn’t even sure if he was awake or asleep.

’Am I having a nightmare...?’

He questioned, but despite that, everything was just pitch black; he couldn’t even control his body, couldn’t even see it, nor sense anything.

Like he was in a state of limbo, just like before.

FLASH!

"Huh...?"

Before he even realized it, he was on a battlefield, his banner and flag lying in ruins across a pile of dead bodies from both his own soldiers and an unknown opponent.

And beyond the hundreds of corpses was a tide of relentless barbarians, their crude armor a stark contrast to his.

His lordsworn armor was clinging to his skin, damp and covered in blood.

What was this?

A vision of the future, or a test by the book of war?

"What...?"

He looked around, trying to find any possible information, any distortion in the world to signify it being a dream, or anything strange that could explain what was happening.

But instead of that, he found the corpses of Lucan and Cassia, slightly visible, covered in a pile of corpses, their last stand.

Justinian tried to take a step forward, but his foot immediately sank into the deep layers of snow, inhibiting his movement. His heavy armor limited his mobility, in stark contrast to the barbarians who charged at him, able to navigate the deep layer of snow with ease due to their light gear.

Was this a warning? a lesson of complacency?

’Is this... winter?’

Justinian couldn’t help but think, the blizzard was far heavier than what he had seen before, something that was only described in the novel as the southern winter.

It was vague, but it gave him a small answer to what was currently happening.

[You have grown complacent, Historian...]

[Don’t you remember the past?]

The system ominously warned him; he could sense it was laughing at him cruelly, like it enjoyed it, loving the future that was about to come.

’Historian...’

The word felt vague on his lips, realizing it’s been a while since he used his actual knowledge; up to this point, he was lucky enough not to rely on it too much.

But... is this the result of abandoning his knowledge?

’Attacking in winter...? Even if I wasn’t relying much on textbooks anymore... I never would have made such a mistake.’

Napoleon and Germany’s failed invasion of Russia, the terrifying territory of the Scandinavians, it was common sense to most who studied historical battles.

So how did this even happen?

’Unless...?’

Justinian forcefully moved, forcing himself to walk forward through the knee-deep snow, slowly approaching the barbarians who sprinted at him.

’Unless this is a trick... a reminder.’

Did his system really think he would break from this? Did it really think this simple vision would cause him to rethink his decisions until now?

"I’m not that fucking dumb!"

Justinian laughed, his body slowly gaining momentum as he began to move faster, the snow no longer burdening his movements as he sprinted.

[Duke of War]

THUD!

"GASP!"

Justinian woke up in a cold sweat, his heart beating fast as he felt the full thrill of adrenaline. He found himself back in the church, with Cassia still asleep by a couch beside his bed.

’What a dream...’

’I guess it just wants me to strategize more...’

Justinian pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths.

’It isn’t wrong, I’ve been relying too much on others lately.’

He laughed.

’And I’m supposed to be the smartest one here?’

[False Divine: MiracleRefreshed]

[!]

’That’s new...’

Justinian clicked the notification that popped up, another new feature suddenly appearing in his system. What could it be this time?

’I already got a recent expansion, and now it wants to add another one?’

[During the Royal Ball, create a good first impression]

[Failure: Misfortune]

[Reward: Fortune]

"And here I thought my system didn’t have quests..."

Justinian laughed, running a hand through his hair as he stood up from his bed, another notification appearing.

[New Construction Project: Filtration System (The Red River)]

’He really is ambitious... huh?’

Justinian couldn’t help but smirk. How many projects would he plan without even finishing one yet?

’I should lend a hand.’

[Prestige: 1245]

’Everyone already thinks of me as a sort of God, whether I like it or not... creating a miracle out of thin air probably wouldn’t faze them anymore.’

Even though Justinian tried to shrug off the vision or whatever it was out of his mind, the sight of all those who trusted him dying in battle definitely struck deep in him, making him less hesitant to use his system.

’I’ll handle the explanations later; for now, development is better.’

[Miracle Construction] - Sewage System

[Prestige: 745]

The moment he made his purchase, the ground suddenly trembled, like an earthquake itself was splitting the earth.

Was it a coincidence or was it his doing?

"Cassia! Wake up, we need to get out!"

Justinian immediately went straight to her, trying to wake her up, but waiting for her to catch up to the situation would take too long, so instead, he just carried her outside the church.

And there he saw the cause of it.

A valley of text suddenly flying in from the sky and towards his capital, the words were a mixture of "Concrete", "Steel", and even more building materials, all converging all around his city as the words started to solidify into the construct.

A sewage system, being made out of thin air in an instant.

"It’s a miracle!"

Justinian could hear Martin’s voice from on top of another building, supposedly checking out the logistics of the sewage system, until it just randomly built itself in front of his eyes.

"My duke! Is this your doing!?"

Lucan suddenly arrived, he was in a normal tunic with his scabbard just by his waist, the early morning chaos catching him off guard, and the odd sight only explainable by his duke.

"Yeah..."

Justinian laughed anxiously.

’I should really use my system more often than just waiting to use it at the last moment...’