Reborn In 17th century India with Black Technology

6th March 1660

Construction tasks started simultaneously in all the major ports of the Bharatiya Empire. The funds were immediately approved by the Ministry of Finance, and the companies that accepted the contracts started to receive the initial part of the funds, which were divided into six stages.

The prices of gravel, sand, cement, and other building materials, which were already very high due to the ongoing construction of the two mega projects, proceeded to reach a higher level. The construction of Nakkavaram City, along with the expansion of all major ports added together, could already be considered a mega project. All in all, three mega infrastructure projects are being run throughout the empire.

Frontier Construction Firm, the only construction firm that has been listed on MSE, rose in stock value by a whopping 42% as it obtained the contracts to expand the ports of Chabahar, Gwadar, Ormara, and Karachi. Stimulated by the construction industry, the stock price of MSE also rose by 12%.

Vinod, who was handling the matters of governance, suddenly received an encrypted six-bit message from the Royal Palace. Vinod put aside his work for a brief moment and saw what the message was about.

"In two weeks, organise a meeting to discuss the achievements of the government of the last five years and future goals."

Vinod's expression froze, but he quickly relaxed. He folded the document and placed it in his safe.

"Call for a cabinet meeting in two days. I want all the ministers and their department heads to attend without fail," Vinod ordered with a stern expression.

---

The next day, Atithi International Highschool, Hoysala

"Dong!"

The sound of a bell reverberated throughout the school

Within the dormitory room, a young teenager in his 15s was startled awake. "Ah! No! Don't pour it! I'm up, I'm up!" he cried out, but to his surprise, water was not poured on him. It made him heave a huge sigh of relief.

However, looking at the torches that were slowly being lit up in the training ground, he panicked, got up from his bed on reflex, and started to undress and dress up in the military uniform.

Finally, he doused his face with some cold water and ran out of the dorm room along with others.

"Splash!"

"Uahh!"

"Ahhh! Cold! Cold! Cold!"

Listening to the heartbreaking cries coming from behind him, the teenager shivered unconsciously. Imagining what had happened over the last few days, he couldn't help but feel his eyes getting wet.

"Damn it! Didn't I come here to study the technology of the Bharatiya Empire? Why do I, a noble from a superior family and a superior bloodline, have to go through this suffering?"

"Jesus, are you there? Why can't you save me from this hell?"

He screamed in his heart while he ran desperately towards the training ground, still shivering—not from the cold, as it would not make sense since he's from Russia, but from the collective trauma he had accumulated over the past week. Who would have thought that the Bharatiya Empire has a syllabus in which the first two months of each academic year are filled with military training and physical activity? Is this something humans do? Even those knights trained from a young age to serve noble lords are not trained this hard. Thinking about how happy and excited he was when he first entered the campus, he wanted to smack himself in the face a few times. He even envied those classmates who were thrown out by their families as pawns because of being crippled, since they were exempted from physical exercise.

Though, honestly speaking, not everything was bleak for him, as at least he is better off since his body is somewhat robust due to him being a Russian aristocrat born into a military aristocracy. But thinking about his classmates, who were from the more western parts of Europe and raised in their homes like piglets, he couldn't help but shake his head bitterly.

Looking at the embarrassing expressions on the foreigners' faces, the local kids could not help but ridicule.

"Pff, look at this guy! Isn't he the one who arrived at the ground fully drenched in water?"

"Haha, it looks like he managed to get up on time today."

"Why do these guys find it so hard to wake up at 5 o'clock anyway?"

"Who knows? Maybe the sun rises at 9:00 o'clock in their hometown."

"Pfff."

"Hahaha."

Nikolai Sergeyevich's eyes became a little sharp. "Damn locals," he cursed in his heart and gritted his teeth, but in the end, he managed to suppress it since he could still remember how dozens of gun barrels were pointed at Hendrik. Although he thought a similar situation should not occur if he simply scolded the hateful guys opposite him, he could not take the chance.

"Attention!"

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard, and everyone, as if by either instinct, muscle memory or both, strongly stomped their feet, raising the dust from the ground.

The Bharatiya kids, who were disdainfully passing on comments just now, all became silent statues with their backs straight, heads raised, and eyes firm.

This change in face would have stunned anyone who had seen it. Fortunately, it was not the first time for Nikolai. He was indeed a little startled when these hateful Bharatiya kids transformed into statues so suddenly the first day, but he eventually got used to it after seeing it a few more times.

Nikolai, who had been on the back foot in spirit against the Bhartiyas from the time he arrived, suddenly stiffened his back, standing straight like the most perfect Soviet soldier who would march into a gas battlefield if ordered to.

The sergeant came close to him, looking at him face to face with his nose almost touching. "You did good today, Novice," he roared. Nikolai's face became red as his eardrums rang due to the loud noise. He sometimes felt that the sergeant was born with a defect that prevented him from lowering his voice. The sergeant turned his head suddenly and moved on to the next prey. Nikolai felt a little weak in his legs, but he held on.

Soon, a few panicked Europeans joined Nikolai, with horror written on their faces. More time passed, and a few more people joined the team, among whom Henrique Vaz was one, completely drenched in water.

The sergeant looked at the hourglass, then stared at the few people who arrived late. "The whole group, all sixteen of you, run around the field five times," he commanded.

Henrique Vaz turned around and immediately took off, leaving everyone behind.

Looking at his running back, his expression suddenly changed. "Damn it," a boy cursed, disgust visible on his face.

"Use of unofficial vulgar language. Two laps extra for you," suddenly a voice was heard right next to him.

"Ah!" He was startled because it was the sergeant running next to him, staring at him with an emotionless expression as if he were some sort of emotionless machine ready to snatch his soul.

A chill ran down his back, and due to the stimulation, he quickly accelerated, catching up with Henrique in one breath.

Nikolai let out a sigh of relief. Every time the sergeant came near him, his body would instinctively stiffen, totally losing control.

For the next two hours, Nikolai and his classmates were forced to do fitness exercises like Dand Baithaks, pull-ups, muscle-ups, bench presses, dumbbell flies, deadlifts, lateral raises, dips, squats, yoga, Gada swings, Gada squats, and finally planks. Each one of the exercises was brutal, far worse than any punishment he had received from his father. Apparently, these exercises were done to improve fitness and make the body a finely tuned machine at its peak functionality. Honestly speaking, Nikolai didn't believe this. It was the knights who were the peak of fitness and functionality, and he hadn't seen them doing any of these exercises. But since it was a compulsory course, he had no choice but to go on with it.

If there was something he was thankful for, it was that not everything was done on the same day, as the exercises were divided according to different parts of the body.

Racking on a few weights and lying on the bench, his eyes drifted to a Bharatiya kid who was doing the same exercise, but what he saw left him shocked. "What do these barbarians eat!" Nikolai gritted his teeth and cursed, as he couldn't even lift 20 kilograms while the guy opposite him was easily swinging around 40 kilograms like it was nothing. "Damn it! Just wait, you bastards! I will get stronger and beat you all with one punch. This humiliation, I, Sergeyevich, will remember it."

After the fitness exercises, there were a few minutes for a cold Plunge and a brief 30-minute break for lunch, after which it was time for a three-hour-long military drill.

This was the part everyone hated, and that included both Europeans and the Bharatiyas. It was mentally and physically draining, and most deadly of all, it was boring. Except for some perverts who loved it, like Wilhelm Schneider, everyone else hated it.

Fortunately, after the drill, it was the part everyone loved: PE, and that too, the fun kind.

Apart from a rigid requirement of participating in at least two team games and two martial arts matches, they were normally left alone.

Usually, this was the part that kids like him saw as a reward. If it wasn't for the PE activity, Nikolai didn't know how he could survive.

His favourite sport was a contact sport called rugby, and his second favourite one was Kabaddi.

So it was what he picked most of the time, and it was no different today as he followed the customs of the Bharatiyas and touched the ground before entering the rugby field, his fists clenched, wanting to destroy the opposition defenders with his speed, which he was very proud of.

In fact, he tried all the other team sports in the Bharatiya Empire, including cricket, football, and Kho-Kho, but sadly, due to his skills not being up to the mark, he was not really given a chance. At first, he thought he was excluded because he was a foreigner, but he later found out that was not the case. To his surprise, the German quickly made his way into one of the better teams playing Football with his excellent playmaking ability and skills.

Still, the majority of people like him were excluded from the more popular sports and were normally tasked with fielding without being given a chance to bat or bowl, placed in the most boring positions, or ignored by others who would not even pass to them, even if the prey was right in front of them.

So he chose rugby and Kabaddi, which made him crucial to the team and forced the hateful Bharatiyas to acknowledge him.

The day ended with some light remedial classes for the Europeans to help them master the language quicker. Finally, they had dinner and went to sleep.

'When will these days end?' Nikolai closed his eyes, shutting out the numbness in his body.