The Steam Age: Gears and Bones

Chapter 58

The Elector remained silent.

He lowered his gray head and remained silent for a long time, so long that Ludwig almost thought he was going to kick him out of the command post.

But when he raised his head again, something deep within his weary eyes was rekindled—not hope, but a piece of embers still burning, dug out from the ruins of despair.

"You've convinced me." Elector Oberstan turned to his adjutant and gave the order, "Clear out the officers' quarters in the west wing of the fortress to house the Victorian expedition."

All the wounded accompanying soldiers were sent to the fortress medical station and given medicine and food according to the Romulus wounded soldiers' standards.

The soldiers they gathered along the way—whether from Romulus or Rus—were all incorporated into the fortress's garrison, given lodging, and supplied.

He then summoned his private physician, an elderly man with gray hair, wearing pince-nez glasses, whose leather medicine chest was engraved with the winter wolf crest of the Elector's family.

The doctor examined Perfit's condition and gave her a dose of antipyretic medicine prepared according to the standard formula of Romulus's military doctors.

Late that night, the military doctor who had been watching over Pofikot in the carriage brought Chertsov and Ludwig new news: Pofikot's fever had subsided.

Although her eyes were still tightly closed and her breathing was still shallow and slow, the cold sweat that had been soaking and drying on her forehead finally stopped coming out, and the two abnormal blushes on her cheeks also faded.

She slept soundly, but it was a true sleep, no longer the drowsy state caused by mental exhaustion.

Ludwig stood beside the carriage, peering through the gaps in the canopy at Perfitt sleeping peacefully inside.

A moment later, he turned and walked toward the main building of the fortress. He still had many things to discuss with his father—the deployment of the defenses, how to establish formal diplomatic relations with the Victorian Empire, and the spread of the wilt disease throughout the Old World.

But before entering the command post, he paused on the city wall and looked eastward at the wilderness shrouded in night.

Infected people still roam in the darkness, and new corpses still crawl out of the frozen ground, but standing on the city wall at this moment, he felt for the first time that he was not looking at a dam about to be submerged, but at a defensive line being built.

-----------------

Perfitt was truly awake on the morning of the third day after arriving at Wild Boar Ridge Fortress.

She had been sleeping on and off for almost a day and a night. During that time, the military doctor and the Elector's private physician took turns visiting her several times, changing her fever-reducing medication twice, and applying a cloth soaked in cold water to her forehead to help lower her temperature.

Her fever had subsided a day earlier, but she still didn't open her eyes. Her breathing was steady and slow, as if she were slowly walking back from a very deep dream.

When Perfit opened his eyes, the pale morning light was streaming through the narrow windows of the officers' quarters, casting a blurry patch of light on the stone floor.

Her first reaction was not to figure out where she was, but to try to raise her right hand to touch the dagger at her waist.

This action was clearly repeated many times during her coma, because as soon as she moved her fingers, a steam knight's hand covered with metal plates steadily blocked the back of her hand, without actually pressing down, just hovering there, the force controlled to the millimeter.

"Belford." Perfit's voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible, his throat dry as if it had been sanded.

She turned her head and saw Belfast standing by the bed, still wearing that steam knight's armor.

The black bloodstains on the breastplate of the armor had been repeatedly wiped clean during the march, and a thin layer of lubricating oil had been applied to the joint bearings, which gleamed with a pale golden luster in the morning light.

No white mist was emitted from the exhaust grille, and the steam core operated with a low and steady sound, maintaining a minimal standby state.

The compressed anthracite in the furnace was still burning slowly, maintaining the armor's most basic functions, allowing Belfast to stand, walk, and, when necessary, use this nearly one-ton steel body to shield Perfit and any potential threats.

Perfit looked at the armor, then at the unchanging doll-like eyes behind Belfast's helmet, and spoke, his voice hoarse but leaving no room for negotiation: "Take off the armor."

Belfast did not hesitate.

She took a step back, removed the chainsaw sword from its arm armor slot and leaned it against the wall, then reached out and pressed the manual release buckle on the side of her breastplate.

The locking mechanism of the steam knight's armor emitted a series of crisp metallic release sounds as the breastplate sprang open, followed by the release of the arm, shoulder, and leg armors, and the hydraulic linkage disengaged from the joint bearings.

She withdrew from the opened carapace, then closed the start valve of the steam core. The sound of combustion in the furnace gradually weakened, and the last wisp of white mist in the exhaust grille dissipated in the morning light.

After removing her armor, Belfast reverted to her former form as the head maid.

She walked to the table, poured a glass of warm water, and with her other hand, supported the back of Perfit's neck to help her lift her head, then brought the rim of the glass to her lips.

Perfit took a few sips of water, choked a little, and then waved his hand to signal Belfast to take the cup away.

She tried to sit up, her arms trembling, her back muscles aching as if they had been repeatedly crushed, but she gritted her teeth and pushed herself up, leaning against the pillow behind Belfast, closing her eyes and taking a few breaths.

"How long was I unconscious?" she asked.

"It's been several days since the night we broke out," the army doctor replied as he entered the room.

The military doctor closed the medical record book in his hand, walked to the bedside, took her pulse, and checked her pupil reflex to light by lifting her eyelids. Then he stepped back, his tone carrying a hint of relief: "The fever has subsided, and your pulse has stabilized. You are still very weak, but you no longer need medication. What you need next is rest and food to gradually regain your strength."

Pofico nodded and told the medic to call Chertsov and Ludwig over.

After the two men came in, they spent about fifteen minutes reporting to her one by one what had happened in the past few days—receiving the telegram from the Northern Legion, the remnants of the two countries that were incorporated during the march, and the Elector's arrangements after arriving at the Wild Boar Ridge Fortress.

Perfit listened, leaning against the pillows, without interrupting. He nodded slightly when he heard about incorporating the remnants, and frowned slightly when he heard that the Elector had sent a private physician to treat her, as if assessing something, but said nothing.

After listening to the report, she remained silent for a moment, then asked Belfast to invite the Elector over.

"I can't see him in my current state," she said, her voice still weak but her tone had regained its usual calm. "I'll have to trouble the Elector to come in person."