"They work quickly." My eyes were on a set of buildings getting constructed before my eyes.
"What is getting constructed?" My adorable little sister is asking me.
"Tokyo, it has been… let me think… three weeks, and the whole place already looks different. The city is changing before my very eyes."
"I see… but where are we going?" Nunally asked me, since I hadn't explained it to her.
"To our last bastion, Nunally." I sagely replied to her question.
"And that is? You're talking far too cryptically, Lelouch!" The girl began to complain.
"Our last allies, the Ashford family." I clarified to her.
"...Are you sure?" She wasn't sure.
"Very. They are our mother's friends, and it's our mother who helped them to reach the apex of influence in Britannia when she became Empress.
So, it's natural that they would help us, after all, what they are doing here, the moment Japan was conquered?" I asked her in turn.
"Since you think they will help."
I smiled, I've been training her to think, always questions or riddles, making her brain work.
"Anyway, let's go." I proceeded to walk with the girl on my back.
~~~
"Lelouch!" A blonde girl in a red dress nearly slammed into me.
"...Milly…" I replied, I had this feeling that it was her. I still have Lelouch's gut feeling.
"Yep! I can't believe you found us!" The girl replied with an awed look.
"Well, Ashford's name stuck on the gates and all the newspapers had it on the front pages," I explained to her. The newspaper just came out. It was full of propaganda, but there was some decent news… like Ashford's building an academy…
"Hehehe, it was grandpa's idea." The blonde then looked at the girl on my back.
"Is that you, Nunally?" The blonde asked the girl on my back.
"Good day to you, Milly. It has been a while." The girl replied in a courteous tone.
"It has been a while indeed." The girl smiled as she looked at Lelouch.
"Let me take care of her. My grandfather wants to speak with you, Lelouch."
"In that case, here you go." He walked over and gave the girl to the blonde.
I noticed how she looked at me from top to bottom.
"You've been training, didn't you?" Milly asked. She was impressed, at least that is what her expression is telling me.
"You won't believe how much!" Nunally began to complain.
"Haha, did he now?" The blonde joked, hearing my little sister complain.
"Yes! He would spend days in the dojo!" The girl said to the older girl in an angry pout.
"Dojo?" It was a word Milly had never heard before!
"A Japanese name for a place where Warriors practise martial arts," I replied before handing my sister over to her.
"Interesting." She took the girl and then looked at me before motioning in a direction.
"You can find your grandfather at the construction site. I do apologise, but we don't have many places to rest or sleep; everything is still under construction." The blonde apologised, to which I waved with my hand in dismissal.
"This is already better than streets."
My reply made her sad…
"I apologise that we didn't arrive sooner." As a family loyal to my family, she was feeling responsible.
"The most important part is that you arrived in first place," I said with a sigh, making her slightly smile at me.
"Anyway, I won't keep you waiting, now go."
~~~
"Hmph! That brother of mine! He just arrived, but he is already courting you!" Nunally complained to Milly. The blonde blushed for a second.
"You mean he did that before?" The blonde asked.
"Of course he did! He made that Japanese Princess flustered all the time!" The younger girl complained even more.
"Oh? Did he now?"
'Emperor's genes… no wonder.' The blonde shook her head; she expected that. It was not a surprise.
Regardless, she began to ask about their time in Japan.
"So what did you do? I mean before the invasion." Milly tried to ask, but it came out badly; she still remembered that they had just survived an invasion.
"We lived in Kururugi Shrine with the President of Japan's family, Lulu got close with his son, Suzaku and cousin, by name Kaguya Sumeragi."
As the girl was explaining, Milly was thinking about clothes for Nunally, as she was dirty.
"I see. So you two lived in a temple of some sort?" The blonde motioned for her maid to come over. She began to ask for clothes as Nunally started to talk about her experience in this shrine.
Not that there was much to learn, the girl talked about how much Lelouch was training under this 'scary sounding' person.
Well, there were some interesting cultural things, but sadly, it's now conquered and their things are frowned upon by the Holy Britannian Empire.
~~~
After walking for a bit, I was getting weird stares from construction site workers. Thankfully, no one got in my way; having a visitor's badge helps.
Eventually, I spotted my target. A few steps later, I got his attention. The Ex-noble's eyes widened when he saw me.
"My Prince, it's good to see that you are well! I can rest with an easy heart!" The old man exclaimed in a happy tone. He then looked around, making sure no one heard him say that.
This was Ruben Ashford, a key person in my schemes.
"Yes, well… as you can see, I am in one piece." I looked at myself, a bit dirty and hungry, but I was still alive.
"I do apologise, my prince, but I could arrive here any sooner; getting into the country was practically impossible with all the restrictions." He explained himself, not that he needed to, as I know what was going on.
"No need to explain yourself." I waved my hand.
He motioned for us to follow as we walked towards several container-like temporary buildings.
These are used by construction workers and the site managers.
"Well, we are still your mother's people, and we swore loyalty to her and her family, which includes you." He clarified before expanding. "However, we lost much influence and wealth after her… demise."
"I understand."
"What are you planning to do, my Prince?" The Ashford family head asked me.
"Rebuild," I replied with a single word.
"...Are you planning to find out what happened to Lady Marianne?" He asked softly, while looking around.
"Not in a direct way, pursuing revenge alone is… counterproductive, I have my own dreams."
"...Oh? Do tell." The old man was curious.
"Technology, after seeing what those… Knightmares can do. I was… inspired. Not to mention, these robotics can help my sister walk again." I explained a bit about my general direction.
"I see, however, Ashford Foundation is no more; I sold it off as my license was revoked." He replied in an apologetic tone.
"Doesn't matter, I do not need Ashford Foundation, what I need is cover and companies that can get me resources." I clarified to the old man.
"What I need is a scrapyard, a refinement facility, and a company that could cover in general."
"I see, such things can be arranged, at the moment Area Eleven needs such processing facilities."
'And I will get a Glasgow in process.'
I thought to myself, I do need foundational tech, developing from scratch will make me play catch-up, but if I get Glasgow? The game field will be on equal grounds.
"Then I will begin to arrange things, my Prince."
"No need to rush, get the paperwork done first. Show the crown that you desire to assist in cleaning up and all that stuff.
Give them the idea that the Ashford Family doesn't want to pursue Knightmare technologies. Instead, we want to help soldiers after they have lost limbs and such.
This would show us in a positive light."
"I am impressed, my prince, you thought a lot about this. However, you will be doing something behind, aren't you? I am, after all, an Ex Britannian noble."
I showed him a smile, a smile that made his expression falter.
"Indeed, I plan to make a Knightmare so powerful that it will bring despair to my dearest father," I explained to him.
"I see… well…" He faltered there a bit. Clearly concerned.
"Don't worry, it's for the future. For now, we have different things to take care of. At the moment, I only need a laptop."
*Sigh*
"Very well." The old man sighed.
~~~
Like always, the beginning is slow, as the academy is getting constructed, I got my laptop and began to code the operating system from my previous life.
My new Eidetic Memory made it extremely easy; I was able to recall everything to the smallest of details. It made me feel like I was copying information from my previous life.
After three days, I pressed the enter button, and the rows of text began to run through the screen. The screen turned off and then on.
The newly created OS booted itself, and sure enough, I could see a blue screen with a dot.
The bedrock has been finished, and I continue to improve the OS.
I didn't spend the whole day coding, as apart from my sister, there was a certain blonde girl who got into my life.
While she has no guts to act boldly, she does use my sister to initiate her interference.
Regardless, I kept my new lifestyle. Constant training keeps my mind sharp. This meant that my life was busy, and before I even realised, the academy was finished, my school life would soon start.
But before that.
"My Prince, I believe it's time for you to hide your identity, to keep you safe from Britannian nobles, you need to change your name or at least your surname." The Head of the Ashford family breached the subject I was already thinking of doing.
"Exactly my thoughts, it's hard to meet new people and not tell them my name," I said with a wry smile. It was quite difficult, but it's a good excuse to hide and code in peace.
"Then do you have any ideas?" Ruben Ashford asked as the pair of us were sitting in the recently finished academy's principal's office.
"I do, from today forth I shall be named, Marcus Goldman."
"May I ask, why?"
"You may, it's very simple, the Name Marcus has roots from the Romans, the Famous Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his Stoicism, and Marcus Antonius, the famous general who ruled Egypt.
Overall, it's a famous Roman name."
"I see… It's a message to your father." Ruben sighed for a second.
"Taking a Roman name, Romans were the ones who conquered Britain."
"Indeed. The origins of this name go all the way to Mars, the Roman God of War.
It means that I won't be forgetting what he did." I frowned while saying that.
"I see. Do remember that my family is attached to you… Marcus."
I smirked. My heart skipped a beat. To be called by my old name… oh, it's so good! I have nothing against the Black Prince, but it's a bit to… Frenchy sounding.
The only thing that I accept from France is hot blonde girls.
"I won't after all, I am not planning a war, or god forbid rebellion, there are other ways to get back." He smirked.
"That's what is frightening to me. That I have no idea what to expect."
"Good, regardless, you can expect a gold standard from me. That's why my new surname is Goldman."
With that said, my old name was reborn in the body of an Imperial Prince. Now the question is, how quickly can I get things running?
I wondered for a second. After months of programming, I have a good idea of how backwards the internet and operational systems are.
The concept of artificial intelligence does not exist yet. Same with the power of nuclear.
If people have no idea about fission, then fusion is an even more foreign concept to them.
But this is good, I can use that to get the necessary edge against armies.