When Gale woke up, it was already noon. "Another unfamiliar ceiling…" As he opened his eyes, he saw gray bricks and neatly cut surfaces.
Cobwebs that hadn't been cleaned in a long time hung from the wooden beams.
Sunlight streamed in through the window, slightly dazzling.
Hearing the noise coming from the street, he got up from the hard wooden bed, put on a new shirt and a pair of black pants that didn't fit him very well, and, with a whistle, pulled open the curtains and looked down from the second floor.
It was an inn located on a residential street, temporarily requisitioned by the Garrison Regiment to allow Gale and the members of the Scout Regiment to rest, as well as to house the wounded.
Last night, after Historia had her measurements taken at the tailor shop, Levi brought them here so they could rest.
After a full day and night of hustle and activity, it would be a lie to say he wasn't tired—especially since Gale was still growing and fell asleep easily. With Levi outside in charge of security, he was able to sleep peacefully.
He realized he had only slept for a few hours and still felt groggy. He pressed his temples and splashed cold water from the water bag onto his face, which finally woke him up a bit.
Numerous civilians had gathered in the street.
Looking down, he could see people in military uniforms maintaining order.
In the center of the crowd, there was an open space where someone was giving a speech.
There were so many people that Gale couldn't hear what the person was saying. He decided to go down and check, opened the door, and saw Levi standing guard in front of it.
Levi was sitting on a wooden stool, holding an AK-47 and pretending to sleep with his eyes closed. But in reality, he was ready for battle at any moment, and he never took off the ODM gear he was wearing. He opened his eyes just before Gale stepped out.
"Did they wake you?" Levi asked.
"What's going on down there, Captain?" Gale closed the door behind him and asked.
"To publicize the coup." Levi slung the AK back onto his shoulder.
"Do you want to go take a look?"
"Can I go out at a time like this?" Gale asked instead.
"Don't leave this street." Levi stood up.
Gale then went down from the second floor, with Levi protecting him as they moved forward.
The crowd saw Levi's decorations and equipment, and knowing he was a military officer, they tactfully made way for him.
News of the coup slowly spread, and the population was extremely anxious, unsure of what the future held. Aside from Gale, there were hardly any children on the streets; adults kept them all inside their homes.
Most of the soldiers maintaining order on the street wore Scout Regiment uniforms, and Gale easily made his way to the front.
Newspapers were being distributed; soldiers handed out printed copies one by one to curious onlookers.
Gale also received a copy. It had four pages and contained a large amount of text.
The crowd dispersed slightly, and illiterate people handed their newspapers to those who could read so they could read them aloud.
Gale skimmed through it several times.
The article did not contain any particularly shocking revelations.
It simply explained the coup: the original royal government had been overthrown, and now the Scout Regiment and the Garrison Regiment jointly held power.
The reason for the coup was that the nobles and the former central government had betrayed humanity.
Two major pieces of news appeared in the newspaper:
First, at a meeting held in July, the original royal government decided to send refugees from the frontier regions to certain death at Wall Maria after the autumn harvest.
The reason for this was that after the harvest, the refugees would have produced a good grain yield on the reclaimed land.
In reality, it was a case of crossing the river and then burning the bridge. The refugees would be sent away to die after cultivating the land. The newspapers made this very clear.
Second, the guiding principle of the new government is to prioritize the interests of humanity.
The reason the new government overthrew the previous one is because it has found a way for all of humanity to survive.
The new government will soon inaugurate a facility that can grow food even in winter, ensuring that everyone within the walls can survive the winter with sufficient food.
In short, the first objective was to incite public dissatisfaction with the old government, and the second was to stabilize public opinion and win the trust of the people.
"We overthrew the government for the sake of all humanity, not for personal gain."
These were the words printed in the newspaper.
The rest consisted of various scandals involving nobles, such as embezzlement, bribery, abuse of women, and misuse of tax money for personal pleasure—all intended to stir public outrage.
Today was the first day after the coup, and the priority was to maintain stability. Erwin and Pixis did not seem intent on taking drastic measures; instead, they were publicly denouncing the inaction and negligence of the previous government.
They found some witnesses to make the process more convincing.
However, unease still lingered in the eyes of the people. Not long ago, the wall had been breached, and now the former government had been overthrown overnight.
When the coup took place, many people were asleep. In the morning, they found soldiers patrolling the streets and knocking on their doors, ordering them to gather in the square.
Society was no longer as stable as before; it was plunged into unrest.
For ordinary people, this was the most direct feeling. They still did not trust the new government. Many passersby, after hearing only part of the speech, quietly returned home, shutting their doors and windows.
To truly reassure the people, tangible results and benefits would be necessary.
After a quick lunch, Gale and Historia were invited in the afternoon to the Royal Government Hall to discuss their next steps.
What followed were several days of meetings and discussions, deliberating on how to deal with the nobles and the gendarmes, and spreading news of the coup through horses and messengers.
For the people of Wall Rose, the change was almost imperceptible. They only knew that the voice of the government had changed hands, and it seemed no different from before, so no one protested.
Gale wrote a letter to the steel mill and weapons factory of Wall Rose. After resting for a day, Hange led her team to the steel mill to announce the victory.
Two days later, the foundry workers, including Allen and others, were transferred to the capital.
Gale temporarily withdrew from politics.
Together with Hange, he took charge of the steel mill on the outskirts of the capital and began renovating it. With the support of the regular army, the renovation proceeded smoothly.
They transformed the old foundry into a glass factory, where they conducted experiments on glass production using the melting method.
The walls themselves contained technology for glass manufacturing, and they could even produce relatively exquisite eyeglasses and stained glass for churches.
Based on this, Gale transformed the iron furnace into a new workshop for glass production, and they used the low-carbon steel previously produced in the foundry to create a manual rolling press—a structure that had never before appeared within the walls.
The so-called rolling process takes advantage of the plastic properties of materials to shape various complex components through rolling and extrusion. What they wanted to produce were simple flat glass plates.
To achieve this, they only needed to pass the molten glass through a pair of water-cooled upper and lower rollers to flatten it into a glass sheet of a certain thickness—like spreading dough into a flat, uniform surface.
Then it would be cut and placed into an annealing furnace.
Days passed, and finally, the autumn harvest season arrived.
The harvest in the capital was excellent, and the people's faces brightened considerably because of it.
At this time of year, the new government announced that it would hold a coronation ceremony for the new monarch.
Historia's dress was ready, and while Gale worked at the factory, she was receiving etiquette lessons.