The First Battle: Hygiene and Disease Control (i)

The governor's office was no longer a tomb of forgotten duties. The scent of dust and neglect had been replaced with the sharp tang of ink and parchment. Stacks of newly printed reports sat in neat piles, each one documenting the steadily growing crisis in Aeger's slums.

Marina Velkas sat at the head of the room, her sharp hazel eyes scanning the latest findings. The disease was spreading faster than expected. Cholera. It was no longer speculation—it was fact. Every report confirmed it, from the dwindling water quality in the lower districts to the rising numbers of the sick and dying.

Leslie adjusted his glasses, his fingers drumming against the polished wood of the table. "We've located the primary contamination points. The wells in the lower districts have been compromised. The lack of a functioning sewer system has turned the city into a breeding ground for disease."

Camilla, ever the realist, sighed as she flipped through her own records. "The infrastructure has been ignored for decades. If the people are used to living in filth, they won't change overnight."

Marina didn't look up. "Then we make them."

Silence stretched through the room. They all knew what that meant. Reforming the city wasn't just a matter of policies and funding. It meant going against the nobles, the merchants, and even the complacent poor who had long since accepted their fate.

Leslie exhaled, nodding. "We'll need laborers. The old aqueducts can still function if we clear them. The waste disposal system needs immediate reconstruction, and the water must be purified before this becomes an irreversible catastrophe."

Jean crossed his arms. "And how do you expect to do all of that with a workforce that doesn't exist?"

Marina smirked. "Oh, I'm sure the nobles and merchants who have been profiting off this city can afford to contribute."

Her words were met with knowing smiles. She didn't have time to beg for compliance. She would take what was necessary, one way or another.

-----

Juan introduced three men—Harold, Gregor, and Vasili—seasoned veterans in their forties and early fifties who had once managed Aeger's infrastructure at the height of the war with the Western Empire. Back then, the twin kings, as Imperial princes, had fought tooth and nail to defend Aeger alongside them. These men had once believed in Ruyi and Ruyel, hoping that when they took power, the city would thrive under their rule. But instead, Aeger had become a noble's haven.

They spoke bitterly of the early days of the twin kings' reign.

"We were fools," Harold muttered, shaking his head. "They were the brightest minds on the battlefield, leading our forces with strategy and ruthlessness. When the war ended, we thought they would rule with the same discipline. But instead, they let the nobles take everything."

Gregor exhaled sharply. "We watched our comrades die alongside them. We thought they'd remember. We thought they'd repay that sacrifice by making Aeger better. Instead, they turned it into their playground. And when the commoners—men who bled for them—begged for fairness, they laughed in their faces."

Vasili's voice was thick with resentment. "His Highness the Golden Lion, the one who should have been emperor, dismissed them outright. 'Be grateful,' he said. 'I was meant to rule an empire, and now I rule a pile of dust.'" He scoffed. "As if Aeger meant nothing. As if we meant nothing."

When they met Marina, their skepticism was evident. What could a governor—worse, a woman and a Southerner, with her people's reputation as cowards—possibly accomplish?

Harold eyed her carefully. "You walk in here with grand plans, but let me ask you—what makes you different?"

Marina met his gaze without hesitation. "Because I don't intend to bow to the nobility, and I don't intend to waste time seeking the twin kings' favor. I came here to fix what they've let rot."

She unfurled the new civic maps she had wrested from the ministers, placing them before them. For the first time in years, they saw something they hadn't—an official with real authority.

Harold, the oldest of the three, traced a section of the underground sewer lines near the old town. "These walls were barely holding ten years ago. The troops used them for cover in battle, and some tunnels were repurposed as underground storage." He tapped at another location. "If there are leaks, they're likely here."

Gregor pointed toward another sewer line near the middle city. "This was once a thriving area, but now it's a glorified red-light district. The army stored supplies in these tunnels during the war, but once Aeger was declared a kingdom, the military cleared out. Brothels took over, owned by one of His Highness the Golden Lion's cronies. It earns a significant amount of revenue."

Marina clenched her jaw. Turning a residential district into a red-light hub disgusted her, but she knew she had to prioritize. The lower districts' sanitation crisis came first.

Vasili watched her for a moment, then let out a quiet chuckle. "Well, Governor. If nothing else, you have the arrogance of someone who thinks they can change this place. Let's see if you can back it up."

-----

The first step was securing clean drinking water. Marina's administration set up a supply chain offering free water to lower district families, provided they could collect it themselves. That's when they discovered the problem—freshwater supply was controlled by a greedy noble, Sakkos.

Leslie attempted diplomacy, offering to pay for the water, but Sakkos refused. "If you start giving away handouts now, the people will only beg for more."

It became clear he intended to price-gouge the suffering lower districts. Marina and Leslie visited him personally, hoping to negotiate. Sakkos was dismissive, openly ogling Marina as he spoke.

"Such a prime specimen of womanhood shouldn't waste her life in ugly uniforms or worrying over lowlifes," he said, smirking. "Join my harem instead."

Sakkos, like many of Aeger's nobles, assumed Marina could be treated as the twin kings treated her—an amusement to be toyed with, someone whose status meant nothing in Aeger's noble hierarchy.

What he failed to understand was that, despite being in a foreign city, Marina was from a clan of high nobles that was recognized by the Imperial Court of El-Shihara.

Unlike the local nobles of Aeger, who had clawed their way to power under the twin kings, Marina stood above them in the noble strata they worshipped so much.

Marina remained calm, offering twice the market price.

Sakkos considered, then smirked. "Triple the price. Or… spend the night with me."

Jean and Leslie, silent until now, snapped. Jean landed the first blow, sending Sakkos sprawling. Leslie followed with a calculated strike, disabling his guards before they could react.

The merchant, now bruised and cowering, tried to reclaim some power, declaring, "I am His Highness the Golden Lion's subordinate! I supply goods for His Highness the White Tiger's personal stock! If you lay a hand on me, you will suffer the consequences."

Marina arched an eyebrow. "By ancient Imperial law, I have the right to invoke my clan's authority to discipline members of the Empire's nobles who disgrace their stations and remind them of noblesse oblige. Your affiliation with the twin kings means nothing in the eyes of the Empire."

Sakkos' face paled as realization dawned.

The merchant, now bruised and cowering, had no choice but to sell the water at Marina's terms.

Word spread fast. The Southerners had struck a noble. The city murmured in shock, the upper class seething at the audacity. Marina didn't care. The lower districts had their water. That was what mattered.

And as for the nobles? Let them whisper. She had a city to save.