Empire of India: Rise of the Ruthless Prince

It was a fine and bright morning. The early breeze was soothing and brisk. The sun cast a golden color on the city. Harsha was stretching his body languidly as he walked to the military academy. He decided to walk because he could get his body warm because he didn't have much time to workout.

Viswa followed just behind him with a document in hand for the buildings.

"Who is the supervisor here?" Harsha asked.

"A man named Yuvi, Your Majesty." Viswa checked his report. "He has managed many road projects under Prashant and is known for quality work."

"I see."

He could see the walls of the military academy in the distance. He saw a man running towards him.

"Your Majesty," he huffed, clearly nervous, and his eyes had dark circles underneath from the lack of sleep. "I am Yuvi, the main supervisor of this project."

Harsha glanced at Viswa and quickly turned back to the man

"How is the project going?"

"It's almost completed. The final audits and checks will take a week."

"Great!" Harsha exclaimed, "Give me a tour of the place."

Before Yuvi could answer.

"Hey, why did you leave without me?" The voice of Bhairava startled them. He was a little out of breath. He was carrying that beautiful woman in his arms.

'Did he run with her in his arms?'

Harsha took a look at him stone-faced.

"I told you to stay with your lover." He sighed. "Spend time with her."

Viswa was trying his hardest not to burst laughing as he saw Bhairava's flustered expression.

"She is not my lover." Bhairava blurted out.

Harsha could see that even the lady was fed up by Bhairava's response. "Sure…"

Bhairava gently put down Shraddha. She also followed behind him to tour the place, although she wasn't interested.

Harsha nudged Bhairava. "Who brings a lady to see a military academy?"

"Huh? She wanted to come. I was forced."

"Sure, you dumbass." Harsha sighed.

"This is the gate of the academy."

There were huge ditches near the gate and quite a large drawbridge to reach the gate of the academy. The gate was reinforced with iron and a portculli was installed. The walls were made of stone and brick to ensure it's resistance against artillery fire.

The academy was a citadel or an urban fortress that was utilizing the star design. It was an excellent design to counter the cannon shelling. The angular bastions eliminated blind spots and allowed overlapping fields of fire. The thick walls could withstand huge artillery shelling.

"Woah.!" Everyone exclaimed at the huge gate.

"We have made the academy a fortress, as you have said in the plan." Yuvi explained. "It can work as a forward base of operations during battles. It can also provide quick support to the city."

"Did you plan all this? Harsha!" Bhairava asked.

"My butler and I did."

"Isn't it expensive for such a fortress to be every military academy?" Bhairava asked with a curious stare.

"Yes, it is expensive but the fortress is set based on the terrain of the places." Harsha explained as they walked into the fort. "This fort is in this location to prevent internal incursion of the troops that may breach the harbour."

"Other academies are set up catering to their incursion possibilities and terrain."

Bhairava went wide-eyed. He just thought the military academy would be a campus for the training of soldiers. The dual function decreased the cost a lot.

"We have separated the different areas based on use in the citadel. The paths are made in a way to ensure that they can all work and respond at the same time." Yuvi began. "We have also ensured there is access to water and food nearby."

They walked through the living quarters of the students. It was made for many to live together. It was neat and tidy. The spaces weren't cramped. The mess halls were close to the living quarters and were huge enough to accommodate a lot of students. It had marbled flooring and a lot of tables and chairs.

"This is where the cadets will eat." Yuvi gestured at the huge mess hall.

Everyone, including Shraddha, looked around in astonishment at the mess hall.

Next were the classrooms and the lecture halls. There were multiple enclosed and neat rooms for the lectures of the cadets of different years. There were auditoriums and huge halls for events for the students.

Arms Depot was the next place. They had a various assortment of medieval weapons like spears, swords, bows, etc. Although it was unlucky, they didn't have access to muskets and cannons yet. Harsha added a training exercise for the muskets in their curriculum to make them prepared for the future.

The training grounds were vast. It had some equipment that Harsha created based on his knowledge from the future. Sandbags, weights, etc. These would help them develop precisely. He also added exercises in the curriculum related to endurance and muscle growth.

Parade grounds were right next to the training ground where the endurance and marches of the cadets or students would be trained. Lastly, beside the parade grounds were the sports grounds. Harsha was yet to introduce any sports in the curriculum apart from the local sports on campus.

Sports would immensely help the cadets improve physically and mentally. It would make them more disciplined.

The last building was a standalone building nestled between the living quarters and the classrooms of the cadet. It was right in the middle of their path. It was the huge library for the cadets to study about various subjects. Harsha planned to fill the library using scribes to copy different useful books from the Royal Library.

The Empire had access to cheap paper and enough resources to hire scribes for this. Viswa already appointed an expert to take care of that matter. It was simultaneously started along with the construction of the academy.

"How is it, Your Majesty?" asked Yuvi nervously and scared.

"It is great. You have done a great job." Harsha claimed and patted his shoulder with a bright grin. "I shall reward you for this job."

Harsha exchanged glances with Viswa. Viswa nodded in response.

"You can take time off and you will be paid wages for one week of rest as well." Harsha smiled.

"Elder brother. What do you think? Is it worth the money?"

He turned to Bhairava, who stood close to Shraddha with an amused expression.

Bhairava smiled and ruffled his hair.

"It was worth every Varaha."