Ashven leaned over the desk, brush poised above the parchment, and exhaled slowly.
The first sheet was already filled with messy, crossed-out notes, headings circled and lines connecting ideas. He had been at it for hours, and yet the task ahead felt insurmountable.
... ah this was not how it was supposed to happen, I am supposed to be the legendary one in a million years cultivation genius, I guess those fantasy novels were a lie ...
It was not his fault though, and Ashven had no time for regrets, at this time he didn't even bother to try to guess who planned to assassinate the crown prince, his survival was first and foremost.
With this line of thought Ashven realized quickly that he had to approach this situation carefully. He needed clarity, simplicity, and a system he could understand and build from scratch.
The core of every army was intelligence, information and knowledge, even the ancient tribes on earth always sent out scouts to gather information about foes before striking, after all knowledge is power and so whoever wielded the most knowledge about the enemy had more odds stacked in their favor.
From his memories, he knew that every organization hid spies in the camp of major powers and so he could not go about hiring people to become spies in his nascent army, but as the crown prince the people he usually came in contact with were members of nobility and he obviously couldn't conscript them to spy on their family.
... this one will be quite hard to solve, but it is the most important ...
In fact the more he thought about it, the more reluctant he was to create an army without this important branch, they could help him scout perfect soldiers that were loyal to him alone.
Moving on he out lined their duties, the work of the Intelligence unit will be to gather information on the various powers and houses in the kingdom, infiltrate their higher echelons and more importantly he had made a vow when he came to himself that he was going to avenge the Crown Prince, and to do this he needed to know those that had dared to harm the Crown Prince. As he said that a sharp glint flashed across his eyes, then startled he looked down and chuckled softly to himself...
... hey, look at that I'm already immersed in my role as the crown prince of a nation, I should have become an actor, I would have definitely been popular ...
Shaking his head as though that simple act will disperse the image of him being carried by countless fans and young high school girls screaming out their lungs for him and his superior that usually gives him an hard time because of his success in strategies being trampled by the screaming fans of his and the gene...
Ashven continued his work with a slight smile on his face, sometimes fantasies were good for rejuvenating the mind and they worked wonders for him, in fact that was his coping mechanism in this alien world. Despite having come to terms with the fact that he had transmigrated into the body of a Crown Prince who lived in a kingdom where people could cultivate and wield mysterious powers, he was still a human being and he was still struggling to cope with all this.
Sighing and shutting his eyes, he leaned back against the chair he was sitting on, and decided to go with what he called his second coping mechanism, back in the modern world, Ashven had been a person who kept to schedules, punished himself for missing any plans and rewarding himself when he did exceptionally well, however, he always knew when to stop and not go too far so as not to be seen as weird, in those times he allowed himself to just go with the flow, and so right now he stopped everything he was doing and decided to go for a walk,
... come to think of it, ever since I woke up in this body, I haven't taken a step out of this room ...
All his impressions about this world was drawn from the memories of the the Crown Prince. Rising from his seat, he looked around, Erm how does one go about this,
"Servants."
Ashven felt a grin tug on his face as the doors swung open and the palace maids entered his room with just a single word from him.
At the front of the palace maids stood a eunuch, he stepped forward and looked at the Crown Prince with a troubled expression on his face.
"Has this humble one done anything to offend Your Highness?"
Huh, what was wrong with this dude. From his memories he remembered that this man was Borick his personal eunuch, what he did not understand though was why the young man was looking at him as though he stole his wife to be. Not that eunuchs could get married though.
Putting aside unnecessary thoughts he kept moving towards the servants while addressing Borick, his voice calm and even,
"What is the meaning of that question?"
Borick seemed even more confused.
"Your highness,due to your appeal to the king after witnessing how many palace servants were treated, no one is allowed to call us servants again, in stead we are addressed as palace officials."
Stopping in his tracks, he looked over everyone of the serva.. sorry palace officials and realized why Borick was like that, adjusting himself he frowned and apologized to the palace officials,
... why does that sound right and wrong at the same time ...
"I sincerely apologize to any of you that might be offended, due to recent circumstances, I am hardly myself and I can't seem to really focus well. Sorry once again."
The palace officials looked at him with strange faces after those words left his mouth, almost as if he stole something precious from them, even Borick seemed to have given up and just stood looking at him with a dark expression on his face.
If only Ashven knew that what he had said right there in the room will affect a lot of his plans, perhaps he would have talked less or more, and perhaps he knew what he was doing, after all he was the Weaver