Cars drove past the adjacent road of the paved highway, zooming through and out from the window's view. The engine of the car Hart was seated in rumbled softly at the front, while the sound of the car wheels rolling across the road created an uneven mencholy in his ears. Half way from their destination, they crossed a small baseball field alongside a wheat field. The field scurried with children who were enjoying the game while their parents looked at them from nearby bleachers.

  The convoy of bck SUV's, preferably Cadilc Escades, sped towards a local factory field, where the cars started to gradually decelerate to a halt in front of the main entrance. For a factory site, it was modern with a slick grey structure, consisting of many different buildings scattered in coordination, making sure each building had its own purpose to fulfil. Large trucks moved undisturbed across their natural habitat as they carried rge cargoes on their backs. Ft nd, paved roads, and being away from popution centres—these were the typical characteristics of a proper factory site.

  Rhineheart was taking a short daydream until the sudden thought of greeting struck his mind. His gametag is 'Rhineheart,' thus why every NPC that was ever a part of this country calls him that way. Naming shouldn't be much of a problem, but there was someone who was a bit drifted away from the mainstream.

  "Nephilia?" Hart said.

  "What is it, sir?" Nephilia replied.

  "You may have noticed that some of the Ministers had referred to me as President 'Rhineheart'. From this day forward, please, whenever you call my name, say 'Rhineheart' instead of Hart."

  "But your current name is completely fine. Why change?"

  "For simplicity, Nephilia. There's no need to force something that the people are already comfortable with. You may call me Hart, but only when others aren't around. Got it?"

  "I understand, sir."

  Everyone left their cars and guided Rhineheart inside, where they met the Finance Minister, Archen, standing at the sidewalk all suited up, and his golden hair freshly brushed. He, Archen, stood proud and tall at the arrival of the president's motorcade, giving out a warm welcome to the president and his secretary.

  "President Rhineheart, Secretary Nephilia, I'm gd that you have arrived at our pnned meeting EXACTLY on time. My department has prepared a tour around the compound for me to better describe the situation of our industry rather than to do it over some boring papers and documents." Archen expined.

  "You can thank our time of arrival on Nephilia; she's a timekeeper to us..." Hart said before whispering to Archen's ears, "But she's also a little too strict about it, if you know what I mean."

  Archen gazed at Hart for a second and then turned to get a glimpse of Nephilia, who was facing their direction with a wonderful innocent smile as she gave them a little wave.

  Shrugging it off, Archen invited the President to join him on his way to the factory's assembly area. Apparently the whole site focuses on producing the guns of many vehicles, such as the machine guns for tanks and pnes. The pce smelt of fresh metal and a damp humidity that came from the cooling process in the nearby building sectors.

  "Currently, the factory is in a calm state when it comes to the production. The sole product of this entire factory ground is to produce artillery shells, ranging from 105 mm to 155 mm, sir. Every single piece of equipment we ship to the military is carefully inspected and cared for since there isn't much need for mass production as war isn't present in the time being. But another reason comes due to the fact material and resources are scarce," worried Archen. "Production capacity is at an all-time low, and rationing of resources is barely preventing a complete shutdown of factories, such as this one."

  "Why don't the factories turn down for the time being? I think that should allow our remaining resources to sustain themselves."

  "Sir, if we shut down the weapon's factories, the workers will become jobless; we would then need to supplement their pay cheque, as well as prevent our own currency from colpsing. Actually... keeping the factory running allows the workers to aid themselves independently while keeping currency circution in the country's economy, preventing it from defaulting."

  "So what's your resolve, Finance Minister?"

  "We should make trading with the outside world a high priority... But I don't mean it in a way to insult your governing methods! I respect them as a matter of fact. My only wish is for the nation to get back up on its feet, and it will only do so if resource flow restarts."

  Hart stood there thinking deeply about the situation, knowing that the wrong move would not only cripple the economy but also hurt the people as a result.

  During this thought, the distant cnging of metal and the chirping of birds from nearby trees echoed across the factory floor. Rhineheart looked at a nearby open window that stood near the rooftop, observing the treelines on the other end. He winced his eyes as sunlight was raging into his eyes.

  Openly avaible raw materials will be scarce, and finding new pockets on its own is another challenge. However, starting early isn't the worst thing, considering that they possess all the necessary machines and tools to extract them. All that they were missing was time, and time they didn't have right now.

  "Finance Minister?" Rhineheart started.

  "What is, sir?"

  "By any chance, are you familiar with the frequency of resources based on geographical formations?"

  "Well... yes. I'm acquainted with geography to some extent."

  "So tell me, where are you most likely to find minerals?"

  "In a geographical text, formations such as fold mountains created by continental-oceanic pte boundaries or continental-continental pte boundaries are frequent with rare earth formations. So what exactly are you, sir, trying to suggest—?" Archen wondered as he just realised the meaning behind Hart's question.

  "President Rhineheart," continued Archen, "are you perhaps suggesting we start digging for resources?"

  "Yes." Rhineheart replied.

  "Sir, your pn has scientific backing, but the problem is that we can't really spare that much time before we eventually run out of materials. Digging a mountain will take a LONG time, and even if we somehow speed up the process by three times, the extraction and processes to convert the ores are another problem."

  "I know, I know. That's why we're going to start trading soon enough. But in the meantime, I need survey teams to start locating resources to extract as soon as possible so we can save some stress ter."

  "Oh... Well, in that case—"

  "Wait, let me finish." Rhineheart insisted, shutting Archen's mouth on the spot.

  "In the meantime, I want most military factories to convert to civilian ones. So, instead of pumping out guns to shoot, why don't we start getting some food for the popution to eat? Grains, wheat, milk, bread, butter, and such. These things can be managed pretty fast and easily, right, Archen?"

  "That is true. Basic agriculture and livestock farming can sustain themselves without much need other than nd and nutrition to certain degrees of temperature. But we don't believe Defence Minister Eudemo will take it lightly, though."

  Rhineheart waved his hand, brushing the air. "Don't worry about him. He's a reasonable person who wants nothing but the best for the nation, like the both of us."

  What about the future, though? Rhineheart didn't think of anything else other than a simple factory conversion. There has to be a pn to make sure their currency as well as the economy doesn't crumble away. From his old job, a business matters about its investments. Without a long-term investment, a company is bound to face strong competition that it can't beat, and short-term investments are too fragile to work with as they require constant input of capital to only receive a limited growth.

  Fiddling with his sleeve buttons, Rhineheart was clearly confused about the alternatives, but he couldn't show incompetence to his subordinates. No way! As an ex-economist, he had all the necessary skills and experience to work with this, but all the stress wasn't helping him.

  "A cold, refreshing co would be nice right now." Rhineheart thought, but then it hit him. "Wait... co?"

  The President returned to his Minister, "While we're still here, we can also start branding our products on the way."

  "Branding? Like burning a mark on a horse? That branding?" Archen asked, completely confused about the term brand in the current context. It wasn't much of a surprise to Rhineheart but rather a fresh reminder that the people here don't know much about the real world on Earth. Some terminology will be alien to them, but considering their current abilities, it wouldn't take them long to get used to it.

  "To simply put it, brands are the result of the needs of the people. Demand brings up the production of goods that can be streamlined in the market, in which a company or corporation gains a reputation to become the people's regur source of service." Rhineheart expins, "Therefore, if we create a brand under our influence, it can pretty much allow us to hold the mentality that the brand we make is the only or one of the few most reliable pces to find their needs. Are you getting this?"

  Archen nodded in response.

  Branding, though just a simple byproduct of good work, is a powerful tool that they can easily utilise in this world. If history hasn't failed him, mediaeval ages didn't have as much branding as the modern world, probably because it hadn't reached its level of modern concept. Fshing bright colours, memories of striking stores, food that watered your mouth, efficiency seen nowhere else, and a logo that symbolised its success. That is what branding is. A series of images that represent a company's superiority over others to persuade a customer to come again.

  "Alright, so, continuing, a brand is also not a thing that can be implemented directly to a company, but it's an allusion, a thing of a mentality. This mentality is based on a company's reputation. A reputation that creates the identity of the company in the views of the people. It makes the customers feel more connected to the thing they are buying, so they are more likely to buy from the same company again."

  "So let's say there is a new local store in town. At first the store doesn't have any reputation, making it a pce of unknown, but as the store gains fame by... say, good customer service or a great handling of deals, as well as some marketing of itself to others, the store will gain an identity of being a friendly pce, in which it creates an unconventional brand for itself. So, let's compare this to a generic store that doesn't have much to go for itself other than doing a simple business. Which one do you think can be better in the market?"

  Rhineheart stops as he raises his hand towards Archen to make him finish the sentence.

  "Obviously the former." Archen answered.

  "Correct. So do you think it is pusible for us to be able to make a brand under the influence of our government, but also for the benefit of the people?"

  "By the way you, sir, have described it, a brand seems to be a natural outcome of a company, and if we create one with the sole purpose of helping our people, I don't believe it would be pusible for such an outcome to backfire on us, unless, of course... someone or a group completely hurts the true intentions of the company's name."

  "So your answer is...?"

  "Yes, it can be done."

  "Very well, so what benefits do you think a brand can give?"

  "In what sense, sir?"

  "For the company and the people."

  "Umm... For the company, it will allow it to gain a name for itself, making it easier for more customers to get into the influence it may spread and the amount of energy it may give out to its workers. In the sense that the company has gained a favourable amount of popurity, it will improve both production efficiency and morale in working spaces," replied Archen, while taking a moment to think about the next part of the question before continuing.

  "For the people, if we wanted to convince others to choose us instead of another corporation, we could do it more easily with a great reputation and branding. With greater developments, the return to the customers will come in the form that they get better services, and for our people, the profits can be easily distributed for further improvements in daily living conditions."

  "Bravo, Archen!" congratuted Rhineheart, as it seemed to impress the young leader, knowing that the Finance Minister learnt quickly the new theory.

  "No, no, sir. All the thanks go to you, as I would never have discovered such a great concept without your Greatness," refuted Archen.

  "Give yourself some credit! I may have given you the information, but the rest of the learning would only come from a rare smart mind like yours." returned Rhineheart.

  "I must thank you for such a compliment." Archen said as he bowed to Rhineheart, "My life's devotion will be to reach your expectations, sir... I. Will. Not. Fail. You."

  A bit of silence consumed the area around as the two gained respect for one another. Nephilia was overseeing this development and could not hide her enjoyment of the matter, as she started to give off a few light cps.

  "It is an honour to see the magic you, sir, have gifted us, your loyal servants," cried Nephilia.

  * * *

  After a brief introduction to the factory's youts and operations, and considering the already existing heavy machinery, it was deemed that the facility will convert to a temporary metalworking factory to produce parts for other factories.

  By the end of the day, the clock struck 3 in the afternoon. The trio returned to where they greeted each other in the morning. Nephilia was talking to the driver at the side while Rhineheart was finishing a conversation with Archen.

  "So is it true what Eudemo said? About the outside world being far more underdeveloped than us?" Archen asked Rhineheart.

  "He wasn't sure about it himself, but considering the images that the military took, most roads were dirt roads, and the common transportation appeared to be carriages." Rhineheart rummaged in his trouser pockets, pulling out his phone with the pictures Eudemo showed him before.

  "Fascinating. So the outside world is around mediaeval times, correct, sir?"

  "Most likely."

  "Mhm. Then I shall take the correct advantage of the situation and implement several pns for the 'branding' that your Greatness bestowed on me."

  "Umm, yeah. Go do so, but, please, show me the details of the pns before taking any real actions; there are some concerns I must review over them beforehand."

  "As you wish, sir."

  Bowing to the President, Archen gave a farewell to him as Rhineheart turned to the car waiting for him. A bck-suited man beside the car opened the rear door for Rhineheart. As he pced his foot into the vehicle, Nephilia noticed the sign to depart, quickly ending the talk with the driver. She followed Rhineheart in the car, nudging him to the side as she squeezed herself in.

  "You could've gone from the other side, right?" Rhineheart said, dully looking at Nephilia.

  "Well, I thought you, sir, wouldn't mind me being next to you." Nephilia opened her eyes wide and folded her arms like a puppy wanting attention. That look, god. He couldn't refuse it, but then again, she's an adult.

  Rhineheart pced his right hand on her shoulder, pushing her away to create some distance from her. "You're not a child, Nephilia."

  Seeing that Rhineheart wasn't interested in her py, she puffed up and disapprovingly swung her head to the window, folding her arms, letting him know that she's not pleased with how she's being treated. "Hmpf, fine. I guess I'll enjoy the view alone."

  "Geez, I didn't know she would be that clingy." Rhineheart thought. He pced his arm on the window frame, then leaned his head on his hand. As the car moved, there was an awkward sense of silence in the room. Nephilia is staring out the right window, and Rhinheart is out the left window. They didn't speak to each other for a good amount of time before Rhineheart gave in.

  Sighing heavily, he said. "Fine, you can sit right next to me."

  "I don't want to anymore." Nephilia replied coldly. The woman was set in her mind, and there was no way he could change it anytime soon.

  "Alright, then."

  Another moment of silence. The view outside their windows shifted to the city streets, building heights covering the whole screen. The once car-filled city was now emptier than before. As under the martial w, most civilian vehicles are not to go outside in order to save fuel for the coming months. Soldiers were positioned outside the streets, holding their rifles on their shoulders. The normal civilians, however, were going by their day as usual, going to the few open coffee shops and restaurants that remained after the order to limit produce distribution, and taking brisk jogs in the fresh air.

  "What are you supposed to do?" Rhineheart asked, still looking out the window.

  "What do you mean, sir?" Nephilia, even now, had her arms folded and her back towards him.

  "A guardian angel. What is it all about?"

  "I'm supposed to be a guide for this world, to teach you the elements of this world."

  "So do you know about the geopolitics in this world then?"

  "No."

  "What?"

  "My knowledge of this world only resides in the history of cshes between the gods and the people and the elements that may be different from your old world, sir. Not the current events that are ensuing. Magic, for one, is what you need to understand, but I won't stress you over it now. Your country appears to be in need of your expertise more than mine, to you."

  "What do you mean? I'm fine, actually. There's some free time I'm willing to spare for some lessons on magic."

  "Are you sure?" Nephilia turned her head, and Rhineheart did the same too.

  "I don't see why not. It'll be nice to have some casual company after work. Especially with you, Nephilia. Having to work with someone I trust on its own is calming."

  "You trust me?"

  "Yeah. Of course!"

  "Oh..." Smiling shyly, Nephilia turned back to the window, not wanting to show that she's warming herself from Rhineheart.

  "You still want to sit next to me?" Rhineheart asked again.

  Nephilia scooted slowly next to Rhineheart. There were no objections. She savoured the moment, but she got another idea. Gently sliding her hand closer to his hand, she peeked at Rhineheart's face, which was too focused on the outside. No reaction. So, testing her luck, her hand gradually rose at his head level.

  Flick!

  Swinging with one good force, Nephilia spped Rhineheart's ear. Giggling in excitement, she quickly turned around, pretending it wasn't her. But it was literally just the two of them at the back.

  "Don't push it." Rhineheart said.

  "Aww, you're no fun." Nephilia puffed her cheeks in disappointment.