Steel Empire
Transmigration to Another World

Lieutenant Julian Weber looked at the entire construction project that his unit was responsible for. When U. S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan is almost over, he is stuck building bridges in the middle of nowhere for some god-abandoned countries. If there was one thing he learned during his four years as an officer in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, it would be unwise to publicly criticize the folly of the high command.

So he kept his mouth shut as he and other officers mapped out a construction project while enlisted personnel worked hard to build a huge bridge that was almost pointless for US troops already fleeing the country in large quantities. That's right, "escape." Julian may not care about hell like Afghanistan. However, he considered it a monumental loss to withdraw from the country when the Afghan National Army was clearly unable to compete with the Taliban without U. S. support.

In his mind, the U. S. had invested over 2.2 trillion dollars in the war and thousands of lives, but before their mission was complete, they retreated. Leaving a fledgling democracy like Afghanistan, which the US has designated a puppet state to fend for itself. It's Iraq and Vietnam again, and we all know how it turned out.

Despite his internal protests over the geopolitical situation, he is happy to be outside the region in person. He was much more comfortable sitting in the barracks of several bases in the homeland playing strategy games, city builders, and agricultural simulators. When he is not working, he plays such games or educates himself on old history, philosophy, politics, economics and technology.

After all, he was a fairly well-educated individual, having graduated in the top class in Civil Engineering from Westpoint. During his youth, he was always interested in engineering. If you give him a toy, he is more interested in dismantling it and putting it back together than playing it.

As he grew into a teenager, he has spent most of his time on the web or in libraries researching history and how the Industrial and Agricultural revolution took place; significant improvements in technology, and ways of replicating it. With his photographic memory and above-average IQ, he was able to insert these things into his permanent memory.

During his college years, he once again focused on his studies, taking on many unnecessary options; by the time he graduated and entered the armed forces, he was once again, he practically became a textbook running knowledge ranging from liberal arts to technical knowledge. Obviously, this does not help her in the dating scene.

Mostly because this was how she chose to spend her free time, she was quite obviously constantly single and had no dependents to depend on. Not even a house pet, as he considered pawning her to relatives while she was deployed was troublesome not only for herself but also her relatives.

But here he is, stuck in the Middle East, involved in a construction project in a country that has been announced by the U. S. Military his full withdrawal date, which is only a month away. He didn't understand the higher-ups' thoughts, but it was just a huge waste of taxpayer money in the end.

I mean, of course, the Afghan National Army can use the bridge for tactical purposes, but can they not build it themselves? It was clearly a rhetorical question he asked himself, as he was well aware of the level of competence he could expect from ANA and was not impressed.

While he was thinking about such trivial matters, he could hear the voices of some Non-Commissioners joking in the background, discussing how they intended to celebrate the end of the war. These older people had been at war for too long and had little nationalism left in their bodies; thus, they were unconcerned with the losses the country faced on this land; they only care about going home. Not that he can blame them.

Just as one of the NCOs was about to mention their plan, a huge explosion exploded in the distance, and the whistling sound of shells in the air could be heard as he headed towards Julian. Only one thought flashed through Julian's mind as he stared at the shell that had befallen him.

'Fuck my life!'

and with that last thought, his consciousness was engulfed in a bullet explosion, as well as the lives of the other officers in the area. He really, really died.

...

Berengar woke up with a shout as his hoarse voice echoed throughout the large stone room. His eyes were staring frantically at the entire area. After careful inspection, he realized that he was not blown up by artillery shells but instead lay on a large bed with a canopy on it. Near his bed was a young girl in the early stages of adolescence looking at him with terrified eyes. Henrietta was her younger sister; though young, she was already quite beautiful, with long blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes of sky color.

'Henrietta? A sister? Since when do I have a sister? What the hell is going on? and why was that the first time I thought about observing this stranger?'

Berengar furrowed his brows as he searched for his memories; it seemed that in his mind there were two sets of memories. One of them is the body in which he currently lives whose identity is Berengar von Kufstein, son of Sieghard von Kufstein and heir of the Barony of Kufstein. He's twenty years old this year.

Another memory belongs to Julian Weber, a First Lieutenant in the US Army Corps of Engineers who died tragically in Afghanistan by an attack from the Taliban. Has he accepted a new life? Just what's going on?

Before she could further question the situation, the young girl named Henrietta held her hand with tears streaming down from her beautiful blue eyes.

"I thought I'd lose you! Thank goodness you're still alive brother!"

he then continued his statement with the sign of the cross and a short prayer in the language Berengar recognized as Latin.

Berengar sat back on his bed and continued to ponder the situation as Berengar's vivid memories flooded his head. This world is an Alternative Earth set in the Late Middle Ages. His family's land was a small Barony located within the borders of the Holy Roman Empire. Although many historical events were similar to the world he had once known, there were still many differences.

While Antiquity's timeline is largely intact, what happened after drastically changing from Julian's world. The East-West Schism never took place within the church; thus, the Orthodox and Catholic Churches have never been separated. On the contrary, the relationship between the two churches is rather cordial, so the Papacy holds greater power than it does in our timeline.

Because the Byzantines were not considered heretics by the west at the time the Crusades were declared. When the Holy Land was recaptured from the Saracens, it was given to the Byzantine Empire because they had the most legitimate claim to the land. Thus the Byzantine Empire remained a powerhouse in the Mediterranean and never suffered any major losses from the Fourth Crusade, which would eventually lead to its destruction not too far in the future.

There are many important figures from our timeline that have been replaced and many changes within the Holy Roman Empire. For example, in its current state, the Kingdom of Italy and its king are in power. The German Empire had become a secondary state within the Empire and was on the brink of civil war as various feudal powers vied for the throne.

These are just two of the many changes to the timeline. There was far more than Berengar could count from the top of his head. If he really wanted to know the main difference in the timeline, and the structure of the world's strength, he would have to research it thoroughly in his spare time.

With all this conflict in his two sets of memories, Julian, or Berengar as he knows it today, began to get a headache and rub his temples with his fingers. Henrietta, who thought this action was a sign of illness, immediately stopped her prayer and left the room, saying only one sentence as she rushed out the door. Her fine noble dress fluttered in her escape.

"I'm going to go find a doctor!"

Berengar shuddered at the sentence; from what he knew about Medieval medicine, he was more likely to be harmed by medicine than cured of what made him sick. However, her throat was extremely dry, and she found herself unable to stop her younger sister as she fled the scene. Leaving Berengar alone with nothing but his thoughts and increasing headaches ...