Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

In the Royal Palace in Hampi, a huge contingent stood ready to depart at a moment's notice. Multiple carriages and a corps-level commander, Dhruv from the Royal Army, were readying to set out to the Maratha capital for the coronation ceremony of the new King.

Harsha planned to visit the capital personally to show the subcontinent leaders their relation with the Marathas. It was a political move for Harsha. This move would create some resistance in the minds of the other kingdoms that were planning on making a coalition alliance against the Empire's aggressive tactics.

Viswa was appointed the proxy by Harsha. He ensured everything was suited to travel; he triple-checked everything and included two units of the internal affairs team in the contingent as well.

Harsha was ready to leave.

He turned to Viswa. "Take care of the nuisances while I am out."

The nuisances were the group of Sachin and the remnants that Viswa planned to take down while Harsha was out. The plan was laid out and he just needed to wait for them to fall into his claws.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It will be done in the next two weeks." He smiled smugly.

"Excellent, as expected of you. You never disappoint." Harsha chuckled and praised him.

Harsha got into the carriage. He refused to take an aide during the visit to Karnavati. He took someone to organize his documents and kept them safe. The reason for the refusal was simple: no one matched the prowess of Viswa and kept up with his thinking.

Like that, Harsha left for the Karnavati.

Viswa watched the huge contingent leave for the Maratha capital. There were thousands of troops marching. The people came out of their homes to see their emperor and showered some flowers as they went through the middle of Hampi.

Harsha waved at them from inside the carriage with a smile. Discover stories at empire

Meanwhile, Viswa turned back into the Royal Palace. He had other work to complete.

The gunpowder concentrate was a success, and he already picked the concentrate that was the most potent and efficient during the cannon test. He needed to send it for mass production.

This process was vital for the Empire so it had to be carried out with utmost caution. So Viswa knew who to contact for this job.

Mithun and Karna were the best ones to contact for this job to be completed quickly. They have done it before and the framework had been growing.

These skills have been polished during the past few months that even left him surprised sometimes. He had to acknowledge their talent in their respective fields.

Mithun and Karna were waiting for Viswa to arrive in his study room.

"Did His Majesty leave?" Mithun asked, leaning back on the sofa.

"Yes, he just left." Viswa said as he closed the door behind him, Karna was seated on the other side of the sofa, silent as always.

"What's the occasion? You rarely need us nowadays." Mithun asked.

Karna nodded in approval.

"Well… this is an important task; I can't entrust it to palace staff or nobles." He sighed

"Important? Explain!" Mithun said.

"His Majesty created gunpowder. It's much more efficient and potent than the ones we buy from the Europeans." He smiled. "We need to mass produce it and replace the European powder with our powder."

"Gunpowder…" Mithun raised his brow. Even Mithun knew that gunpowder secrets were closely guarded. He tried to buy it several times from the European merchants.

No matter how much money he offered, they refused to sell. It just went to show the repercussions were severe if the secret formula was sold to outsiders.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

"But how?" Mithun folded his hands and asked. "I tried my best to find out the formula and make it through covert means."

"I failed several times so far and you say, Your Majesty, you just succeeded in the first try."

Viswa Shrugged. "It's talent, Mithun. Do you doubt the Emperor?"

"No…" Mithun admitted. "But I am curious about the trove of knowledge that His Majesty possesses."

"Ok so here is the plan." Viswa took out a book in which the formula of the gunpowder was written along with the process of making it.

He handed the book to Mithun.

"Follow this book to make the gunpowder." Viswa instructed. "If it's leaks. You will be held responsible, Mithun." He warned.

"I understand." Mithun sighed.

Viswa turned to Karna, who was listening silently.

"You, Karna, provide all support to Mithun to hide the traces."

Karna glanced at the book and turned to Viswa. "Are there multiple ingredients for the gunpowder?"

"Yes."

"Then, we should create multiple fake merchant stalls and source ingredients using them." Karna suggested. "If we source them under the name of Mithun's business. It has a high chance of leaking or at least the ingredients will be leaked."

Viswa smiled. "Well, it seems you have a plan for that."

"Yes, I do have a plan. We have multiple teams working under fake merchant names to collect information in the cities." Karna replied. "We can use them."

"Then that's done."

"I expect to send this to mass production within the next month. We have no time to waste." Viswa instructed.

"This will take a bit over a month." Mithun said.

"Hmm…So be it."

He scratched his chin thoughtfully. "By the way, Karna, are you done with the plan for those nuisances?"

"The festival is near."

Karna clicked his tongue. "Those scum, eh. All the personnel have been gathered and already infiltrated their core."

"Begin the process; I have already informed Asokan of the plan." Viswa ordered.

"These scum need to be taught a good lesson so that they never think of committing treason like this." Viswa said coldly.

Viswa also planned to roll out the noble reform just weeks after this plan. It would be the best time to commit to such an action, as the nobles would be too scared to move their forces after this.

Following the noble reform, judicial reform will also come through and the pillar of the future shall be set in the foundation of the Empire.

'It's going to be a great month ahead.'