Enlightened Empire

Chapter 471: Easy Rider (1)

Today had been a great day. First, Corco had woken up next to his wife, by himself, with the rising sun. With how busy both of them had been for years now, that much was already a rare enough occurrence. From there, things had only gotten better.

In a genius move, Corco had hidden away from Fadelio the previous evening already, which meant there was no one who could read him his schedule in the morning. In the first place, most of the important work had been finished a while ago. After the end of the war, there had been many issues left to resolve. Now however, things had calmed down again, and all big problems had either been dealt with, or could not be dealt with at all for now.

Thus, he was just being kept busy with irrelevant crap that didn't matter day after day. Surely, now that the kingdom would no longer collapse without his presence, he could be allowed a single day off. Maybe Fadelio had understood as much as well, since he hadn't come over to Maci's quarters to find him first thing in the morning.

Originally, Corco had planned to just stay inside and spend a lazy day with his wife for once, making music, cocktails, and love. However, even better news had still forced him outside in the end, against his own desires. Still, this issue was too important, and not something he could put off.

At last, after months of hard work, the mass-produced bicycles were finished and ready for the final inspection. Once this last test was deemed successful, they would reign in a massive transportation revolution, and change the world forever.

After seemingly endless back and forth, Nabo had finally gotten things right. Egidius' little apprentice had grown to the point where he could barely try to fulfill Corco's wishes, though the necessity for constant adjustment throughout the building process proved that he was still a bit too green for this type of work. After all, the king wasn't asking him to make a back scratcher, he was asking him to invent world-changing items. Though through perseverance and persistence, Corco could finally reap the reward of the talented clock maker's work.

Thus, the king had enjoyed the morning by riding around various models and versions of their life-changing invention, rather than enjoying the company of his wife. Although he had invited Maci to come along with him, the girl hadn't shown any interest for the new invention. While she had shown understanding for the necessity of his work — as she always did — Corco knew that she had been disappointed that their plans had been dashed. Still, this wasn't something he could just push back. The invention of the bicycle was too important to ignore, even for his wife. He planned to make up for his mistake later in the evening.

Thus alone and unloved, the king had appreciated the progress they had made throughout the many iterations of bicycles they had designed — as well as the brilliance of the final product. To heal his injured heart, he had also enjoyed the wind through his hair as he rode circles through the yard. He had tried to ride along the street as well, but the guards had claimed that it would be a bad idea for the king to ride around by himself like that. Maybe, Corco thought, he should try again later. After all, this yard was far too small for a proper test, and he was the king after all. Couldn't his guards just cordon off a street for a bit? In this manner, Corco planned to spend all day getting familiar with his newest toy, as he tried to forget the guilt he felt towards Maci.

Yet when he saw Fadelio watch him from the yard's entrance, he realized that reality had already caught up with him once more, and it wasn't even lunchtime yet. Still, his attendant hadn't come here if it wasn't important, so the work still had to be done. Thus, he drove up to the entrance and braked sharply in front of the attendant. As usual, his boring friend just stood there, and wouldn't even pretend to be scared or upset, not even out of courtesy.

"Morning, buddy." Undeterred by his failed prank, Corco smiled as he sat back down on the bike's saddle, with one foot resting on the pedal and the other on the ground for stability and style points.

"Good morning, Master." Fadelio's response was even drier and stiffer than usual in its delivery, despite Corco's strong pose. "There are important matters to report."

As expected, Corco thought. We've not been dragged into any new wars, have we?

Since the news didn't seem to be of life or death importance — otherwise Fadelio would have told him immediately or at least shown more urgency — Corco decided to indulge in his hobbies for a bit longer. After all, the invention of the bicycle was an important matter for the future of their kingdom as well. It was only right and proper for the kingdom's prime minister to be informed about such an epoch-making invention. For the moment, dragging out his return to work had become the top priority for southern Medala's king.

In response to Corco's brilliant meta joke, Fadelio just stared, which gave the king an excuse to drive another circle around the attendant, before he once again came to a sudden stop in front of his face.

"Anyways, check out those contact breaks," he showed off, as if it hadn't just been a cheap excuse to annoy his attendant some more. "Those were finicky until we got them right, but now they're both cheap and reliable. And as the piece de resistance:"

All this time, he had held back for the grand finale, but now, Corco finally rang the little bell screwed to the handlebars. The light ringing sound made Corco feel nostalgic for a past he had never really lived through. To be honest, they had wasted far too much time to get the sound just right, just how he remembered.

"And what is that?" Fadelio asked in a mildly intrigued voice. Though of course, Corco could only offer disappointment to still such intrigue.

"It's a bike bell," Corco explained as if it was self-evident. "No bike is complete without a bell, of course."

Unfortunately, they hadn't found the time to paint his bike bright-red, or add playing cards to the wheels. Otherwise, it would have been able to go even faster.

"So these 'bike bells' will be on every single one of these?" Fadelio ignored the king's jokey tone and seriously inspected the bell, a critical frown on his face. "That seems like a waste of money and materials."

You're taking the fun out of everything. Admit it, you're doing this on purpose, Corco thought, and ignored the fact that he was fooling around on purpose as well.

"No, of course not," the king said as he suppressed a sigh. "They're only on this special version that's been made specifically for me. It's the luxury edition, if you will. It even has some experimental gear shifting, look."

As Corco operated the gear shift on the handle, he stared down and slowly turned the pedals, to make sure the chain properly jumped over into the smaller sprocket one over. After all, the technology was a bit wonky, so the chain still had the habit of jumping out of the gears every once in a while.

Only when he finished the gear shift without any incident did he look back up, proud of his achievement as if he had been the one who had built it. Luckily, the one who had actually built it stood to the side and was pretending like he didn't exist, still nervous in the presence of such important people. Thus, Corco could brag about Nabo's achievements with reckless abandon.

"King Corco, all of this is very impressive, no doubt," Fadelio replied in a voice that proved he wasn't impressed at all. "However, I have serious concerns about the practicality of this invention. You have already spent so much time on it, and yet you are still the only one who can ride it. Can our runners truly learn how to operate this machine?"

"It's not that hard. See?" Once again, Corco used the excuse to drive more circles around his attendant.