Chapter 206
Chapter 206: Entering New Technology Development (1)
There were simply too many things in progress. There was an overwhelming amount of work, but not nearly enough people to manage it.
It felt like pouring money and labor into a bottomless pit, and the tangled administrative processes were mercilessly numerous. If this continued, a problem would eventually explode.
Billy realized why he had been summoned to this territory.
“So it’s a call to sort things out before a problem erupts!”
Claude’s claims of being a junior or a friend were just nonsense. He simply dragged Billy along to avoid dying alone.
His complexion turned pale. At least the students had a 20-year contract, but he and his friends had a 30-year one.
“Ah, no. My family has all made the move. They received houses and money. I can’t run away.”
He felt like cursing, but there was no alternative but to get the work done. To stabilize the territory as quickly as possible, Billy worked day and night without proper sleep.
Yet, no matter how much he accomplished, the workload kept multiplying. There are limits to human stamina. After several nights of staying up, Billy ultimately collapsed.
“I don’t know……. I can’t do this anymore……. Kill me or let me be…….”
At that moment, someone who looked quite haggard approached.
“Hello. I am Piote. I’m here for the territory’s healing period.”
“……?”
Billy had no strength to rise, only showing a puzzled expression. Then, Piote approached him and reached out his hand.
Wham!
In an instant, as his body recovered, Billy sprang up in disbelief, staring at Piote in astonishment.
With dark circles under his eyes, Piote gave a slight nod and said, “It’s time to resume work.”
He left those words behind and staggered away.
“Whoa……”
Billy could only let out a hollow laugh in disbelief. He collapsed from overwork, yet he was forcefully raised back up.
Before finishing the work, it felt like he wouldn’t be able to die even if he wanted to. He never imagined a crazy territory like this could exist, let alone heard rumors about it.
An unbearable rage surged towards the person who brought him here.
“Claude—! You bastard!”
Similar situations unfolded throughout the Penris territory.
Amid this chaos, Claude elegantly sipped tea in his office, wearing a look of delight as if he had a reason to live after a long while.
“Hm… I should have brought them sooner. What a fool’s hardship. I’ve wasted a few years of my life.”
While juniors were just starting to learn and getting tripped up, the seniors and friends were different.
Even with limited experience handling administrative duties in a smaller territory, they were definitely quicker at problem-solving.
The existing managers at Penris, including Claude, still had a multitude of exhausting tasks, but it was undeniable that things were much better than before.
Being able to leisurely drink tea like this was surely thanks to those results.
“Phew, that was nice for a moment. Now back to work…”
Clang!
“Whoa! What the—?”
Something flew into the office, breaking the window. Wendy immediately stepped in front of the startled Claude.
A stone rolled to the floor and came to rest.
“What is this? An assassination attempt? Were they aiming for me? Who dares to do this to the Chief Officer of the territory!”
While Claude made a commotion, Wendy carefully examined the stone and approached it.
There was a piece of paper tied around the stone.
“Chief Officer, it seems to be an anonymous letter.”
“Anonymous letter? Is someone feeling wronged? Or has one of the recently hired managers already committed corruption? Well, it’s not like everything is stable yet.”
It’s impossible for issues not to arise among people. Especially in a territory right after a war, that’s even more so.
Although he was keeping an eye on public order, it couldn’t be said that it was perfect yet. Especially since food was being distributed en masse, criminals were gradually increasing.
In such a situation, if a newly appointed manager committed corruption, that would lead to a serious problem.
“Bring it here. I need to confirm whether it’s a plea or a corruption report, and I’ll deal with it immediately. Such occurrences are absolutely intolerable in the territory where I serve as Chief Officer.”
As Claude maintained a grave demeanor, Wendy rolled her eyes and handed him the anonymous letter.
Opening it with an arrogant expression, Claude blinked several times at the words written inside.
[You bastard.]
It was neither a plea of grievance nor a corruption report. It was merely an insult—one quite specifically aimed.
“…….”
After a brief silence, Claude crumpled the paper and tossed it behind him.
This was not a matter he could resolve.
*
In the two months Claude had been absent, many changes had occurred in the territory.
Due to the incredibly fast construction pace, various facilities sprang up everywhere.
Moreover, hundreds of new managers had arrived. As they worked tirelessly, the territory began to stabilize rapidly.
With the families of the managers moving in as well, and more engineers appearing, the dwarves had somewhat less to do than before.
Galbarik and the dwarves conversed cautiously in the workshop.
“I still feel like I might die, but it’s still better than before, right? Let’s keep it at this level of work.”
“Absolutely. As time passes, the workload will decrease further. But we mustn’t let it show.”
“Let’s continue pretending we’re about to collapse from overwork.”
Even the dwarves, who lived and breathed production, were overwhelmed by the workload.
In the beginning, it truly felt like they would perish, but now they were adapting and taking adequate breaks amidst a constant flow of labor.
In short, they had learned to manage.
The representative, Galbarik, looked at his fellow dwarves with a smile.
“If we keep this up, we’ll have plenty of leisure time in a few months. Let’s ensure the lord doesn’t catch on for as long as possible! Don’t you think we’re overextending ourselves?”
“Exactly! Ultimately, it’s us at the frontlines who will be managing the work! Hahaha!”
“With so much work to handle, how could the lord possibly keep track of it all? He’s clearly clueless!”
Galbarik and the dwarves laughed heartily. But suddenly, their laughter stopped.
Seeing their expressions change, Galbarik asked, “Why? What happened now? Did you see something you shouldn’t have?”
Still, the dwarves stayed silent.
Before Galbarik could turn around, feeling uneasy, someone suddenly approached and whispered in his ear.
“Let’s start something new, my friend.”
“Whoa! You scared me!”
Galbarik jumped back in shock.
When he regained his composure and looked ahead, Ghislaine stood there wearing a nonchalant expression.
‘Oh no… she probably heard everything about wanting to have some fun.’
Galbarik regretted speaking too carelessly, but even if he had kept zipping his lips, it wouldn’t have changed much.
Someone like Ghislaine, who needed to verify every detail herself, wouldn’t have missed this.
“I see you’ve worked hard. It seems the territory is stabilizing, so let’s start the next project.”
“Wait, what’s this project you’re talking about? We still need to expand the residences and workshops, can’t this wait until after that?”
“That can now be handled by others, as it’s progressing well. Just make sure to check along the way for any issues.”
After the engineers from Cabaldy had been introduced, the work began to progress smoothly with the influx of administrative managers.
With supplies of food continuously flowing, the laborers were keen and delivering even more work.
Of course, if the dwarves continued to be involved, the speed would certainly increase, but the efficiency wasn’t as good as it had been at the beginning.
Ghislaine was truly ready to proceed with the essential next plan.
Galbarik and the dwarves drooped their shoulders, wearing glum expressions.
“So, what is it this time?”
“We are going to enter into new technology development.”
“New technology? What kind of technology?”
When the dwarves heard the term new technology, their eyes gleamed, having just been whining moments earlier.
While they had completed many tasks, it was growing a tad monotonous. They were merely busy, and the work was becoming increasingly close to straightforward labor.
Ghislaine spoke with a subtly arrogant expression.
“We’re going to create an alloy. One that’s as strong as steel but much lighter.”
“Did I hear that right? An alloy? Are you truly going to make something like that?”
“Yep. I couldn’t try it before due to a lack of iron, but now it’s abundant, so I’m ready to start. I know a little bit about it.”
“Whoa!”
The dwarves gasped in surprise.
Alloys weren’t something anyone could just whip up.
Numerous blacksmiths, alchemists, and wizards had all attempted it but still, humanity hadn’t advanced beyond steel.
While a lack of refining and processing techniques was a problem, the ratio of materials was also unknown.
The research period was long, required vast amounts of funding, and there were no nobles willing to sponsor such an uncertain endeavor.
The dwarves felt their hearts racing again.
Alloys truly were the pinnacle of metallurgy.
It was said that the first bronze and steel were made by dwarves. If this lord was presenting a new path, they could accomplish an achievement that would be recorded in history.
Galbarik, in particular, was more excited than anyone else.
Since childhood, his aspiration had been to create an alloy from new materials.
Having grown older and compromised with reality, he had forgotten that dream, but now it resurfaced.
“Do you really know how to create a new alloy?”
Galbarik’s tone shifted to one of utmost humility. He was desperate for knowledge.
Ghislaine chuckled softly and began jotting down something for the dwarves.
The names of various minerals like iron, graphite, tin, and alums crystal were listed. It also included the order of refining.
However, even after seeing this, the dwarves tilted their heads in confusion. Something felt lacking in explanation.
“Um… how do we separate and adjust the ratio of these materials? Plus, we have no clue how much heat is required…”
One dwarf tentatively asked, glancing around, and Ghislaine clicked her tongue.
“Are you hoping I’ll spoon-feed you everything? This isn’t a completed technology yet. That’s why we need research. Isn’t this much help enough?”
That was true. Knowing which materials to use was indeed the most challenging part, while the details of the processes could be figured out after a few experiments.
As the dwarves nodded in understanding, Ghislaine secretly sighed in relief.
In reality, she didn’t know the detailed processes and had only shared what she knew up to this point.
‘How could I memorize all that?’
She had remembered it because Claude had once created a fuss about needing that technology in her previous life.
In that exchange, Galbarik had been fixating on the paper Ghislaine had written.
After staring hard at the paper for a considerable time, his face began to redden, and his hands started to tremble.
“How… how does the lord know this?”
Galbarik had frequently concocted ideas for making alloys on his own.
That was his only hobby in a monotonous life.
Yet, while Ghislaine hadn’t written every single one, most of the materials he had thought of were listed there.
In that regard, Ghislaine had filled in the missing pieces for him. The rest would be easy to test based on his previous ideas.
Confronted with the eerie similarities, Galbarik grabbed Ghislaine’s arms and shook her.
“Did you think of this too? Can we really create a new alloy like this?”
‘Actually, you were the one who created it in the future.’
That was right. Galbarik had been the one to create a new alloy in his past life.
It was precisely for this technology that he had urged the slave traders to bring him first.
After the calamity swept across the continent, humanity’s technology had to evolve rapidly to fight back.
And Galbarik indeed achieved his lifelong ambition amidst that chaotic world.
Nonetheless, since Ghislaine couldn’t say that he would create it in the future, she averted her gaze slightly and spoke.
“Well… there was this legendary blacksmith…”
“Oh! Who is that? I’ve never heard such a grand title during my life!”
‘It’s you, it’s you, that’s you.’
“Please let me meet him just once!”
‘Just look in the mirror…’
Galbarik was shaking Ghislaine’s arms, but no matter how much he didn’t want to, Ghislaine couldn’t arrange for him to meet the “legendary blacksmith.”
So, as always, she just made up a story.
“No, there’s a book written by a self-proclaimed legendary blacksmith, and I happened to read it in the past. I lost that book when I was a child.”
At that, Galbarik wore a slightly disappointed expression.
“If that’s the case, then how can we know if this is really possible?”
“It’s absolutely possible. So let’s start the research immediately. This is something only you all can do.”
With Ghislaine’s confident words, another dwarf cautiously spoke up.
“Why is it only us that can do it? And why has the lord not attempted this until now, even though they know about it?”
“Because the processing and refining are incredibly difficult. It can be said that it’s almost impossible without the skills of dwarves. And even if you manage to extract it, the thermal conductivity… was it called? Whatever it is, it’s low, making it hard for normal blacksmiths to even handle jointing properly.”
The dwarves looked at Ghislaine with suspicion.
They had never made it and only knew a bit about theory, yet they seemed to know about the post-production issues?
Yet, she brought up the dwarves to solve those problems?
This was the most contradictory situation imaginable.
But Ghislaine spoke confidently as if questioning what the issue was.
“The legendary blacksmith was said to have gotten very close to success. Since the material is certain, it’s worth researching. If we succeed, it would truly be the first of its kind in the continent. It’s a challenge worth taking.”
While her statements seemed nonsensical, the dwarves couldn’t refute them after such an insistence.
Inside, Ghislaine sighed.
If she claimed to have come up with it, they would accept it much more gracefully.
But she didn’t want to go that far.
‘Stealing someone else’s work isn’t right. Unless they’re completely out of sight, they wouldn’t know.’
Having the original developer right in front of her, it wasn’t within Ghislaine’s nature to claim it as her own.
Pointing at Galbarik, she declared, “Galbarik is appointed as the production lead. And if we succeed in production… the alloy will be named Galbarium.”
“Whoa!”
Galbarik clenched his fist tightly.
This was a life-changing opportunity. He was gaining immediate insights and hints for a swift success.
Just the development alone would be a historic accomplishment, and with a name attached to it, if he couldn’t pull it off, he wouldn’t be worthy of being a dwarf.
“Lord! I will achieve this even if it costs my life!”
Galbarik, overwhelmed with emotion, nearly shouted as if pledging loyalty.
Ghislaine, acting as a lord, patted Galbarik’s shoulder with a solemn expression.
“Okay, hurry up. There’s no time to waste.”
“……Yes.”
The dwarves moved in perfect coordination and immediately began their research.
