The period following the literacy initiative and the establishment of stable trade marked the transition from immediate survival to calculated administration. The physical siege of famine was neutralized, but the political siege, embodied by the Duke's looming legal threat, demanded Kael's full attention. The financial claim, though stalled by Kael's initial Revenue Warning, remained the axe poised over the barony. Kael understood that the only defense that would stand against the Duke's political influence in the Imperial Chancery was a mountain of irrefutable, quantifiable data proving Ashfall's viability.
Kael dedicated over a week of intense, focused administrative labor to the creation of the Final Viability Report, a comprehensive legal brief designed to demonstrate, without ambiguity, that the Ashen Frontier was a stabilized, highly profitable Imperial asset. The report was not a single document but a massive compilation of technical schematics, labor audits, and legal arguments, requiring the total, disciplined cooperation of his core staff. He insisted that every claim be supported by triple-verified data points drawn from the daily log books maintained by Steward Elms and the newly numerate foreman.
The report's primary argument began with a detailed defense of Human Capital as the territory's most valuable, renewable resource. Kael utilized Healer Mara's complete register, detailing the pre-administration mortality rate (a six-month average of 5.8 deaths per week, primarily from waterborne disease and malnutrition) versus the current post-sanitation rate (a current four-week average of 0.25 deaths per week, exclusively from advanced age). This dramatic, quantifiable decline was presented as a direct, monetary profit to the Crown by protecting the future tax base. Kael included the register verifying the sustained health and output of the 150-person Core Worker Threshold, proving the barony possessed the human infrastructure necessary for consistent production. Furthermore, Kael included samples of the completed literacy and numeracy assessments, arguing that the Core workers were no longer expendable serfs, but accountable, trainable technical assets. The report calculated that the improved health and skill set of the population represented a guaranteed long-term future tax base valued at an estimated five million gold marks over the next three decades, framing the Duke's proposal to seize and liquidate the labor force as an act of profound, demonstrable treason against the Crown's guaranteed financial stability.
The second, highly technical section detailed Engineered Infrastructure and Risk Mitigation. This required Kael to work closely with Sergeant Rylen and Hektor, the blacksmith, translating practical construction into exact engineering language. Kael included geometric schematics and volumetric calculations for the entire new system. He charted the precise 1-inch-per-20-feet gradient and steady flow rate of the elevated, sealed aqueduct, providing evidence of its calculated resistance to stagnation and contamination. He appended stress and load calculations for the new cart axles and the high-tolerance forging specifications of the tempered scythes, demonstrating the measurable increase in labor efficiency achieved through superior material science. . He provided full construction and material logs for the new, pest-proof granary, emphasizing the double-walled design, the raised foundation, and the airtight sealing. This demonstrated a long-term, calculated investment in structural permanence and food security. Kael calculated the value of the infrastructure not in raw gold, but in mitigated risk, proving that Ashfall was now highly resistant to the threats that historically destroyed feudal assets: pestilence, climate fluctuations, and decay.
The most complex component was the Economic Viability and Credit Analysis. Kael included the complete, ratified ten-year trade agreement with the coastal merchant, Elara, appending notarized copies of the fixed-price contracts and delivery schedules. The report detailed the guaranteed monthly volume of ash briquettes and tuber flour, calculating the predictable, fixed inflow of high-grade iron, salt, and surgical supplies. Kael argued that this contract, based on systematic waste utilization and sustained production, provided Ashfall with an unprecedented level of stable, low-risk creditworthiness that far surpassed the typical volatile output of a frontier barony. He dedicated several pages to the legal argument against the Duke, formally challenging the usurious interest rate and the legality of the collateral seizure. Kael argued that the Duke's predatory lending violated ancient Imperial laws specifically designed to protect noble assets capable of sustained revenue generation. He meticulously listed the original market value of the goods purchased by the previous Baron versus the inflated prices charged by the Veynar Merchant Guild, demonstrating deliberate, systematic fraud aimed at financial destabilization.
The assembly of the Final Viability Report was an exhausting, meticulous exercise in organizational efficiency, requiring constant double-checking of inventory against the written word. Kael spent three days in the manor office with Elms, cross-referencing every number against the original daily labor and log books. He personally drafted the legal summary, using the precise, technical language of Imperial law to elevate his position from disgraced Baron to indispensable Imperial administrator. He ensured the physical presentation—from the quality of the parchment to the cleanliness of the sealing wax—matched the undeniable competence of the data within.
Kael understood that the strength of the document lay not in its emotional plea, but in its mathematical certainty. He was submitting a technical proposal that showed Ashfall was a functional system, generating profit and security, whereas the Duke's claim represented a plan to destroy a valuable Imperial asset for short-term gain. The ultimate test was forcing the Chancery to recognize that the Duke's scheme was both fraudulent and politically suicidal for the Empire's long-term financial health. The moment the document was sealed, Kael dispatched the comprehensive Final Viability Report to the Imperial Chancery via a dedicated, well-armed courier, timed precisely to arrive days before the judicial review. The submission was a direct, logical assault on the Duke's entire legal position, leaving Kael waiting for the inevitable countermove before the Imperial court could rule. The legal battlefield had been defined, and the next steps were entirely reliant on financial action.