Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

Galahad sat at the table, earnestly writing on the letter paper.

”I have stayed in Castel for several days now, and I must say, this is truly a land of wonders.”

”The word ’wonders’ is not an exaggerated adjective, but a genuine feeling. When I first stepped foot on this island, I was so overwhelmed that I actually fainted.”

”Everything here is beyond imagination. It shakes the very foundation of my self-perception, making it hard for me to distinguish reality from illusion.”

”Even now, as I write this letter to you, my heart cannot help but race when I think back on the experiences of these past few days.”

”They also have steam engines here, somewhat similar to those in our factories in Rhine. They also burn fuel to drive machines. At first glance, they appear to be ordinary steel constructs, and even their structure seems familiar. But once I delved deeper and uncovered the truth—”

”I must admit, I would use the word ’fear’ to describe how I felt upon learning it all.”

”Their fuel is the flesh and blood of Heretical Gods, that is, Entity Pollution.”

”They actually stuff Entity Pollution into the furnace to burn!!!”

”I cannot put into words the shock I felt at that moment. Upon learning the truth, I immediately took several steps back. It was a cowardly reaction, but what he said next only made me feel that I hadn’t stepped back far enough.”

”They conducted certain rituals to summon a soul into the machine—not the so-called machine spirits imagined by the lunatics of the Mechanical Sanctum, but a real, communicable existence!”

”——I have heard their descriptions of the rituals. They are rituals to summon some extraordinary being. Who knows what it is they are truly calling upon!”

”And then, by some heretical method unknown to me, they made this existence serve them, suppressing the activity of the Entity Pollution so it could be used as fuel.”

”With all due respect, this is the most insane idea I have ever heard. Even cultists might not possess such imagination.”

”When I pointed out that this resembled the Heretical Gods, their engineers showed no concern at all. I initially thought they simply did not understand the danger of Heretical Gods, but later I realized how utterly wrong I was.”

”They have steam engines made specifically to burn Heretical Gods! Yes, they captured a Heretical God and stuffed it into the furnace as fuel.”

”Perhaps you think I am mad. I too wish this were just the ramblings of a madman, rather than a truth so bizarre it defies belief.”

”The engineer brought me beneath their church—yes, they built the furnace for burning Heretical Gods beneath their church. I... I cannot describe such a thing.”

”It was an unimaginably enormous furnace, built of reinforced concrete, fused together with the church—perhaps I should say that the church itself is a massive machine, smelting a Heretical God!”

”They call this furnace the Stellar Furnace. Such an arrogant name, but considering that it burns Heretical Gods for fuel, perhaps it’s not an exaggeration.”

”And what’s more bizarre is that I don’t believe the Heretical God is dead.”

”That Heretical God has countless tendrils extending from the furnace, reaching all across the island, submerged in seawater. They remain unmoving, but anyone who sees their presence would surely be terrified by their sheer size.”

”Such a horrifying Heretical God—if it were to awaken, it would be a catastrophe for the world. Nothing could oppose it.”

”When I shared this concern with the engineer, he looked at me in surprise, as if I had said something laughable.”

”He said: ‘Then just knock it down again and stuff it back into the furnace.’”

”Damn it, they must not understand the horror of Heretical Gods. These beings are like natural disasters. All humans can do is flee—how could anyone possibly ’knock them down’?”

At this point, a trace of fear appeared in Galahad’s eyes.

The image of that Heretical God still made his heart tremble whenever he recalled it.

”The craftsman who took me on the tour—well, they call him an engineer—he was just an ordinary man.”

”But when he spoke of stuffing a Heretical God into a furnace, even as someone with Extraordinary Power, I felt a strange sense of fear.”

”I could not tell whether I feared him, the man, or Castel itself.”

”Besides that, their attitude toward material things is... somewhat different.”

”At this moment, I am writing at a table. Its legs are made of steel. The bedframe next to me is also steel.”

”High-quality steel—after a bit of forging, it could be made into weapons—but they used it to make furniture.”

”You know this: I have seen furniture far more expensive than this. Even furniture made of gold or silver would not surprise me this much. What truly shocked me was the reason they used steel for their furniture.”

”——To replace wood.”

”They are not short on wood. The island has many trees, and acquiring wood is not difficult. Yet they still chose to use steel.”

”Their furniture is steel. Their weapons are steel. Their carriages are steel. Their factories are steel!”

”I even suspect they have a forest of steel—no, all of Castel is a forest of steel and cement!”

”When I stood atop the church in Castel and looked in all directions, the sight was indescribable. Countless factories stood densely packed, with roads laid out between them like neat scales.”

”Chimneys spewed black smoke, and sulfur mixed with steam drifted through the air. The open gates were like gaping mouths—raw materials entered through them, and countless goods flowed out like flesh and blood.”

”Steel carriages let out steam whistles, and their worm-like cars moved in a strange rhythm along twin steel tracks, like countless centipedes crawling along a web.”

”Standing here, I felt as though I were not on an island, but atop a floating steel behemoth named Castel. It breathes pollution, bites into steel, and spits out productivity. Just seeing it sends a shiver down one’s spine.”

”I can only be thankful that it does not move through the sea, and that it is still far from Blood Harbor.”

”In addition, I heard that their larger airship, the Celestial Behemoth, will soon return and conduct a bombing exercise. They invited me to watch.”

”Although I’ve seen airships before, I still hold some anticipation. According to them, this is a weapon that will change the battlefield—if I may speak frankly, they may be excellent makers, but they may not have truly seen the battlefield.”

”Even so, I plan to set aside my arrogance. When the time comes, I will sincerely discuss matters with them, and tell them what a real battlefield is like. Weapons alone do not truly change a battlefield.”

At this point in the letter, a knock suddenly sounded at the door. Galahad hesitated briefly, then put down his pen.

He would watch the exercise first, and finish the letter afterward.