Chapter 504 - 504: The Jester

Early in the morning, a half-asleep Nightingale gave Kian a nudge.

"Go feed the baby."

Kian climbed out of bed, picked up the little rascal, and mixed him a bottle of formula.

The boy was nearly a year old now. Kian had named him Butch Voss. Yep. A name that plain and unpretentious.

The thing about names is that a name casts a shadow over the life that bears it. Give a kid one of those brooding, highborn fantasy names, like Lucian Draven Voss, Caspian Nightshade Voss, or Aurelius Ravenscroft Voss, and you can hear the tragic backstory coming a mile off.

But Butch Voss? Man, with a name like that, you just know he's a big lug who'll live a happy, perfectly ordinary life.

He already had names picked out for the rest of his kids: Bubba Voss, Deuce Voss, Big Sue Voss, Middle Sue Voss, and Little Sue Voss.

He planned to start them on Knight training from childhood, building up their mental strength so that when they grew up, they could turn the tables and dominate the machine spirits of their Knights. That way they could pilot Knights without taking any damage.

With all the tricks he had up his sleeve, like needles to boost mental strength and healing injections, he'd find a way to get his kids into Knights unharmed somehow.

While he was thinking all this, Kian finished mixing the formula. He drank most of the bottle himself first to check the taste, then stuck it in the kid's mouth.

At about a year old, the kid could already do a few things on his own, and he held the bottle himself as he drank.

Kian looked the little guy over. His hair was pretty thick, but the hairstyle felt kind of forgettable.

Kian thought about it, grabbed a pair of clippers, and buzzed the kid's head, leaving only a little tuft on the crown. Then he found some string, tied the tuft up, and gave him a topknot pointing straight at the sky.

Kian held the kid, who finished the whole bottle and then grinned up at him goofily.

Kian grinned right back. In Warhammer, the topknot means something.

Take the ever-victorious Abaddon, or Lord Regent Guilliman's little girlfriend. Topknots, both of them.

Give a kid a topknot and his brain's wired straight into the Warp. No way this kid turns out a wimp.

After spending some time at home with Nightingale and the baby, Kian headed out to take care of business.

First he went to see Planetary Governor Zeppelin and told him that the planet had secured fifty years' relief from its industrial tithe.

When Governor Zeppelin heard that the planet had fifty years of relief, and for the hardest fifty years at that, a huge weight lifted off him.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful! Now our world only has forty years of debt left. Two or three generations of hardship, and we'll have paid off the Imperium in full while keeping our planet's ecosystem intact!!"

Governor Zeppelin was very excited. Kian smiled.

"It might not even take forty years. I'm roaming all over space. I might find another planet to take some of the debt off our hands.

"And within a year, the Forge World will send us a laser weapon production line. Then we upgrade our industry, build lasrifles, and pay off the debt in lasrifles. That'll be much easier on the planet, too!

"Also, I've got tax-free trading rights between the two planets. Uncle, work with me on this. Get the canned guana-beast meat back into production, and we'll send a shipload of guana meat to the Forge World and bring a shipload of manufactured goods back. Every round trip is basically hauling gold!

"If we pull off both of these, forty years of debt can be paid off in twenty!"

Governor Zeppelin got even more excited. If that was how it went, he'd picked a great time to become Planetary Governor after all!

Before, becoming Planetary Governor had meant taking the fall for someone else. But looking at it now, twenty more years of hardship, and after that it would all be easy living!

The two of them had a meal together and caught up on old times.

These days, Kian was practically the planet's shadow governor.

As long as he could pay off the planet's debt, he could reshape this world according to his own will!

When that happened, this planet would become a major source of goods and troops for his commercial empire.

He wanted the planet to be able to build some advanced weapons, like high-energy lasrifles and high-powered laser cannons.

If he could find a way to win the planet a permanent tithe exemption as well, even better.

Then Kian could build his own private kingdom exactly the way he wanted!

After the meal, he was about to leave when the butler came in and said:

"Young master, Enginseer Antonius heard you had returned and has come to call on you. Will you see him?"

When Kian heard that an old acquaintance wanted to see him, of course he agreed. He went to the reception room, and before long Enginseer Antonius walked in.

As the two old acquaintances met, Kian said with a grin:

"Well, well, if it isn't Antonius! Over a year and you haven't changed a bit!"

Antonius looked at Kian with a complicated expression.

"My lord, I haven't changed, but you certainly have. You're a great man whose name carries across the whole sector now. People everywhere are spreading word of your great deeds. You've become a saint!"

Kian's grin stretched all the way to his ears.

"Ooh, with the honorifics and everything. What's up? You need a favour?"

He could tell. Antonius had come calling with his head bowed and his manner all meek because he wanted something!

Otherwise, with the efficiency-above-all mindset these cog-heads had, he'd never have bothered making the trip.

Antonius gave a fawning smile.

"Your Lordship's eyes miss nothing. You saw through my little scheme at a glance."

Then he explained why he had come. He wanted a new master. He was done with the local Magos, and he wanted to go with Kian!

His reason was simple. Antonius had been on this planet for nearly thirty years. For thirty years nothing had changed, and he felt he could see his whole life laid out to the very end.

If he didn't find a chance to change things, the nearly one hundred years he had left would probably just pass by in useless mediocrity.

Gripped by that fear of the future, and hearing how big Kian was getting, he naturally wanted to follow Kian out there and take his chances.

On top of that, something had happened while Kian was away. Antonius had done a little private research. Nothing major, just a small result that improved the operating efficiency of gear assemblies.

For a tech-priest, a small result like that was a patent he could live off for the rest of his life.

Any machine that used the technique would have to pay Antonius royalties.

But this backwater planet didn't value research at all, and the local Magos had found a way to take the credit for Antonius's little breakthrough.

It was like a grad student working himself to death on a research project, only for his advisor to swoop in and slap his own name on the paper.

Antonius was furious, but there was nothing he could do.

The Mechanicus on this Agri-World was weak, and a single Magos could do as he pleased. If Antonius dared make trouble, he'd probably come down with a sudden case of acute lead poisoning.

So when he heard through his various channels that Kian was back, knowing that this guy had all kinds of secrets, he decided to follow him. Maybe he could make something of himself?

When Antonius finished, Kian thought for a while and said:

"But I've already got plenty of tech-priests. They're from the Forge World, and their technical skills are better than yours by who knows how much. What use would you be to me?"

Antonius opened his mouth to reply, but no words came out.

How could an Agri-World tech-priest who'd been coasting for thirty years compete with properly trained Forge World staff?

He sighed and didn't press any further.

"In that case, I won't trouble Your Lordship any longer."

With that he turned to go. Kian watched him walk away looking so forlorn, and since they did go way back, he called out to stop him.

"Wait!"

Antonius turned around, a light of hope flickering in his eyes.

Kian said:

"I really don't need any more properly trained staff. I'm all full up on that front. But there's one position on my team that's been open the whole time. Want it?"

Antonius asked hopefully:

"What position?"

Kian said, "Jester."

☆☆☆

-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!

-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper

(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)

If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you