The wind ripped through the northern skies in violent currents, bending clouds and casting shadows over the endless forests below.
High above the frozen mountains and rivers, a gigantic white creature surged across the sky like a living calamity.
Strax’s wings spread to absurd proportions, each beat displacing entire masses of air as its colossal body hurtled toward the Asgardian horizon.
Built to its hind legs by thick, reinforced chains, a huge flying cart swayed in the void, cramd with goods: sacks of seeds, boxes of agricultural tools, barrels of fertilizer, rare seedlings, and dozens of crates purchased during its stay in the capital of the Celestial Empire.
The entire structure creaked dangerously with every turn Strax made, but it held firm thanks to the reinforced runes Ouroboros had carved into the wood before the journey. Still, the scene was so absurd that anyone observing from the ground would probably believe they were witnessing so kind of rcantile draconic invasion.
On the white dragon’s back, nestled between the enormous plates of scales heated by the internal heat of its mana, were Scarlett, Tiamat, and Ouroboros.
The three wore heavy clothing because of the extre altitude, although none really needed it. It was more habit than necessity at that point. The mood during the journey had been surprisingly calm.
Tiamat had spent half the trip complaining about the boredom of the skies. Scarlett alternated between dozing and teasing Strax whenever he complained about the absurd weight of the cart.
Ouroboros remained quieter, watching the clouds pass by while ntally organizing everything they would need to do when they returned to Asgard.
Until that mont, they all imagined they would return to the sa city, still under reconstruction.
A functional city, certainly.
More organized.
Perhaps with so new streets. A few expanded neighborhoods.
Nothing more than that.
Then the clouds began to part.
And Asgard appeared.
For a few seconds, no one understood what they were looking at.
The old, partially rebuilt city, marked by hard work, small businesses, and makeshift shops, simply no longer existed. In its place rose a colossal tropolis sprawling across the entire valley like a living entity made of stone, steel, and industrial smoke.
Victorian towers rose among organized neighborhoods. Railway tracks cut through entire districts in precise lines.
Industrial chimneys released constant columns of dark smoke against the cold northern sky. Wide avenues crossed comrcial sectors filled with new buildings. tal bridges connected elevated neighborhoods. Tram lines ran through the streets. Administrative dos glead in the distant light of dusk.
Asgard seed larger than so monarchical capitals of the continent.
Ouroboros’s eyes widened slowly.
Scarlett simply stopped breathing for an instant.
Tiamat stood completely still.
And Strax forgot to flap his wings.
His colossal body froze in mid-air from sheer ntal shock, causing the enormous chariot attached to the chains to plumt several ters before he regained his reflexes and violently opened his wings again. The resulting blast scattered clouds around as he stabilized his flight in an unusually clumsy sequence for soone of that size.
"What the hell is that?!" Strax’s draconic voice echoed through the skies like a startled thunderclap.
Scarlett slowly rose onto her back, holding onto a scale as she stared at the city below in utter disbelief. Her red eyes scanned the industrial districts, the train stations, the administrative buildings, and the gigantic central district illuminated by hundreds of windows.
"How..." she murmured, genuinely stunned. "How did that small town turn into a tropolis in a month?"
Tiamat began to laugh.
First a low laugh.
Then another.
Then she practically doubled over Strax’s scales, cackling without any dignity while pointing at the city below.
"They overdid it!" she said between laughs. "They overdid it A LOT!"
Ouroboros remained completely speechless.
She watched the urban districts sprawling as far as the eye could see, trying to reconcile that sight with the mory of the old, partially destroyed Asgard. There were entire neighborhoods that simply didn’t exist when they left. The old center now seed small compared to the colossal expansion carried out during her absence.
Even Strax seed deeply disturbed.
"This is illegal," he murmured. "You don’t build a city this size in a month. It defies basic logic."
Scarlett still stared at everything in shock.
"There’s industrial smoke."
"I noticed."
"There’s a railway line."
"I noticed it too."
"There are upscale neighborhoods."
"SCARLETT, I SEE IT."
Tiamat continued laughing like a child witnessing urban chaos on a historic scale.
"Look at the size of that central station!" she pointed. "They built a central station! We were gone for a month! A MONTH!"
Strax descended slowly, still completely incredulous as the colossal shadow of his draconic form crossed the skies above the city. And then sothing even more absurd happened.
Asgard didn’t panic.
No one started running desperately.
No alarms sounded.
On the contrary.
People pointed upwards excitedly.
So children ran through the streets waving.
Workers left the factories only to watch the white dragon return.
Guards on the rooftops raised flags signaling friendly identification.
A woman on a balcony simply looked up and calmly comnted to another woman:
"Ah. The King is back."
Strax remained in absolute silence for a few seconds.
"They’ve normalized this?" he asked slowly.
Scarlett seed equally confused.
"Apparently."
The entire city seed too functional.
Too alive.
Too organized.
As they moved through the central districts, the four began to see even more absurd details. There were markets operating at a frenetic pace. Modern carriages crossed paved streets. Small urban locomotives traversed industrial sectors carrying cargo. Large tal billboards advertised newly founded shops, theaters, and comrcial companies.
Tiamat observed a huge building adorned with golden stained glass.
"They made an auction house?!"
Ouroboros finally managed to say sothing.
"This... this is economically impossible..."
Scarlett narrowed her eyes, observing the industrial district.
"No. Wait." She pointed. "Look at that."
Large artificial canals had been built near the factories, probably for industrial supply and internal transport. Cranes moved heavy materials. Workers operated at a disciplined pace. There were even organized residential zones for laborers.
"They created complete infrastructure," Ouroboros murmured.
Strax looked slowly ahead.
"Monica."
Scarlett agreed imdiately.
"This definitely has her hand in it."
Tiamat wiped away a tear from laughing so hard.
"Frieren too. I recognize obsessive organization when I see it."
The further down they descended, the more absurd the situation seed. Asgard hadn’t just grown. It was flourishing at a monstrous speed. The streets were clean. The neighborhoods were alive. Victorian architecture dominated the entire landscape, mixing dark stone, ornate iron, and elegant street lighting.
It no longer looked like a city surviving.
It looked like a capital destined to economically dominate the continent.
Strax landed slowly in a huge open area near the railway district, making the ground tremble under the colossal weight of its draconic form. Workers imdiately began running towards the suspended cart, recognizing the symbols painted on the reinforced wood.
"They’ve arrived!"
"They brought the seeds!"
"Call Lady Monica!!"
"Watch out for the fertilizer!"
"Don’t drop anything!"
Scarlett blinked a few tis.
"They were expecting agricultural cargo."
Tiamat dismounted from Strax’s back, still looking around like soone who had entered the wrong city.
"I refuse to believe this."
Strax slowly began to return to his humanoid form as he observed the enormous buildings around him. His scales retracted in shimring waves until he finally landed on the ground wearing normal clothes again.
Even so, he continued to look at Asgard as if he were facing a supernatural phenonon.
"I left here when there were still smoking holes in half the neighborhoods."
Ouroboros landed beside him, observing the urban activity.
"Now there are trams."
"There are banks," added Scarlett.
"There’s a theater!" said Tiamat.
"There’s a university," murmured Ouroboros, looking at a gigantic building in the distance.
Strax slowly ran a hand over his face.
"I’m afraid of them."
It was then that a familiar voice erged from among the workers.
"You took your ti."
Monica was pushing through the crowd, carrying a stack of papers and city maps tucked under her arm. She wore simple formal clothes, glasses low on her face, and a tired expression, like soone who hadn’t slept properly in weeks. Behind her ca Frieren, holding an apple while observing the enormous cart full of goods with genuine satisfaction.
Strax slowly pointed to the entire city.
"What happened here?"
Monica looked around as if the question were strange.
"We organized it."
Tiamat opened her arms indignantly.
"ORGANIZED WHAT?! THIS PLACE HAS BECO AN INDUSTRIAL CAPITAL!"
Frieren took another bite of the apple.
"That was really fast."
Scarlett stared at Monica.
"How did you do that in a month?"
Monica calmly adjusted her glasses.
"Efficient urban planning, resource redistribution, organized workforce, industrial incentives, rail expansion, comrcial reforms, agricultural contracts, housing reconstruction, and economic managent... And tons of money. Damn, our coffers went to hell."
Silence.
Strax stared at her for several seconds.
"You say scary things."
Frieren casually pointed to the horizon.
"There are still three districts left."
Ouroboros almost tripped.
"Still left?!"
Monica sighed wearily.
"Population growth exceeded our projections. We had to expand faster."
Scarlett looked like she was about to have an existential crisis.
"You turned refugees into an industrial force."
"Yes."
"In a month."
"Yes."
"Monica."
"Hm?"
"You’re terrifying."
Frieren nodded imdiately.
"She really is."
Around them, workers were already beginning to unload the grain and seedlings from the enormous cart while clerks recorded inventory on newly manufactured tal clipboards. So children watched Strax with absolute fascination. A boy approached and innocently asked:
"Lord King, did you bring more dragons?"
Strax still stared at the entire city in a state of psychological shock.
"No," he answered automatically.
The boy seed disappointed.
Tiamat looked again at the urban horizon illuminated by the first lights of the night.
"Asgard has beco frightening."
Monica smiled for the first ti.
"No." She adjusted her glasses again as she watched the industrial chimneys smoking against the dark sky. "Asgard finally ca alive."
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