Chapter 219: New Business

On this land that was governed by the Cecil Clan, Amber was probably one of the rare few individuals who dared to question Gawain’s decision. Even when this half-elf was bold enough to raise questions, it was mostly because her mouth couldn’t remain shut. However, Gawain was still happy to see that not everyone would follow his commands blindly as it would mean that he was the only person that was thinking… Alright, Amber might not be thinking for herself either as she merely had an uncontrolled mouth.

It was very difficult for Gawain to explain all of his thoughts to Amber within a short period of time. He could only roughly tell her about the industrial structure’s formation and also the concept of having a difference in technology level. As for the deeper economical and political benefits and the long-distance control of Leslie Clan, he didn’t talk about them.

No matter what, Amber still carried out Gawain’s command. She departed on the next day and used the status as the Cecil territory’s special envoy to deliver the personal letter from Duke Gawain Cecil to Viscount Andrew in the castle.

Viscount Andrew’s response was much faster than Gawain expected. He immediately accepted the invitation gladly, and on the third day after Amber returned to the territory, the Viscount had already arrived at the Cecil territory’s dock on a fast ship.

The last time they saw the Viscount, he was still weak after getting corrupted by the sorcery. After a period of rest and recuperation, Andrew Leslie had recovered his health. He was wearing a dark red outer coat that was thick and warm; his hair was combed back flawlessly, and the newly recruited butler was following him. He had also brought along a protection team formed by 10 soldiers, along with the territory’s business advisor. The business advisor was naturally here because Gawain mentioned “business” in the personal letter, while the soldier team was an ostentation that was required as a noble.

Andrew Leslie saw the new Cecil territory that was entirely different from his imagination.

Be it the brand new and orderly houses or the commoners that walked the streets, all of them gave him a deep impression. He was especially curious about something… If these houses belonged to the commoners, what kind of place were the territory’s serfs and lower-class people staying in? As compared to Patrick who wasn’t a noble, this viscount was ultimately much calmer and composed. As he was guided from the dock to the feudal lord residence, he maintained a calm and graceful demeanor. Even after he sat down in Gawain Cecil’s guest hall, he didn’t reveal any excessive curiosity and didn’t make a big fuss like an unsophisticated person.

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Subsequently, Betty had already poured enough water for one entire pot of tea.

In the kingdom’s southern region, everyone was mostly honest, but more importantly, people there tended to have the problem of overthinking things. Viscount Andrew was just like Patrick back then. After drinking half a pot of water, he was wondering why Gawain would arrange a maid to constantly pour water for the guest…

Betty who was carrying a large jug of water was staring blankly in the guest hall and didn’t know that she had been given the characteristic of being enigmatic. She was staring straight at the decorative blade on the wall, while her mind was silently recalling the words and grammar that she had recently learned. At the same time, she spared some attention to make sure to fill up the guest’s cup whenever it was empty. When she was going through the newly learned words for the second time, Gawain had appeared.

“Viscount Andrew, I am very happy to see that you have recovered.” Gawain entered and immediately greeted in a cordial manner. “I heard that Tanzan Town has regained its order. It is truly good news.”

“It is all because of your help. Without your large orders of ores, I am afraid that I would not have been able to afford to repair the big hole in my castle during this winter.” Viscount Andrew opened up his hands while laughing in a rather exaggerated manner and said, “Therefore, when I heard that you wanted to personally discuss a new business with me, I came immediately.”

“It is indeed a new business, but it might not be appropriate to discuss it here. If you don’t mind, are you willing to visit the Cecil territory’s mine?”

“The mine?” Viscount Andrew frowned. “In your letter, you mentioned something about the sale of new mining equipment. But the Leslie Clan has been mining for generations. I am already familiar with all kinds of mining tools… Hiccup… Ah, apologies, I am lacking in manners.”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” Gawain quickly shook his hand and was feeling strange as to why this Viscount Andrew’s hiccup had started to echo. Gawain then smiled and explained, “It is necessary to see it in person. Because the thing that I am selling is probably something you have never seen before.”

Since Gawain had already said it like this, Viscount Andrew naturally couldn’t continue to act uninterested. As such, he gladly agreed to visit the mine. He had also asked where the bathroom was.

The Cecil mine was located in the east of the territory. At the beginning, this place was just a small excavation point, but as the territory rapidly developed, the requirement for ore was constantly increased. The mine had turned into a core area that was only inferior to “Cecil City” and served as a supply point for construction materials. A large number of people and advanced machines were transported to this place. It gradually transformed from an excavation point that had a few tents into a village that had over a dozen of houses. It then further developed from a village to a hamlet. Right now, this place already had newly constructed brick houses, and they had even used the mining slags and cement to lay down an even path. A spacious main passage connected this mining hamlet with Cecil City to ensure the smooth transport of personnel and materials.

Due to the convenience of transportation, Gawain and the guest carriage took less than two hours to arrive at the mining hamlet.

Viscount Andrew had been able to maintain his calm and graceful style until the final stop of the journey. Even when he saw the magic crystal lamps that could be seen throughout the territory, the straight and even paths, the “factories” at the border of the city that were emitting strange sounds, or the residents who were still busy working even in winter, he had tried his best to not be overly surprised. These things might have exceeded his expectations, but they didn’t exceed his imagination. He was surprised the fallen Cecil Clan that had to survive by selling their noble status back then was actually able to create such a territory in such a short period of time. However, he was still able to give himself a logical explanation for everything he had seen. He had associated everything with “Gawain Cecil digging up the wealth that he had buried back then and using the money to push the development of this place”. By doing so, everything was understandable.

Until he saw something he couldn’t understand, couldn’t explain, and could never have imagined.

“What… what is that thing?!”

In front of Viscount Andrew, there was a giant machine that was using an astounding power to turn the capstan and haul out several heavy carts of ores that would probably have needed dozens of slave workers to push out from the depths of the mine. That machine was emitting a deep sound that was like the roar from a giant, and the massive disk structure was constantly being turned in an unprecedented manner. Each component was seemingly forged with steel, but these lifeless things were constantly moving emotionlessly, tirelessly, and with inexhaustible power while revealing an indescribable dignity that could only come from steel-made products.

After staring blankly for a few seconds, Viscount Andrew finally saw a sparkling magic radiance at the core of the machine. His ability to speak had finally recovered a little. “Is this… magical equipment? The combination of some magical mechanism and machinery?”

“It can be understood like that.” Gawain smiled and said, “This is the thing that I want to sell you, but it is only one of the things. Continue further inside, and you will see even more machines. In Cecil territory, half of the mine’s heavy labor was completed by these machines.”

Viscount Andrew was even more astonished as he continued to see more. He understood mining and was familiar with their tools. However, he never expected that the “mining equipment” mentioned by Gawain would actually be these… giant creatures of steel. As he looked at these massive machines, he quickly noticed that these seemingly crude machines actually had unbelievable intricacy. The components were all connected seamlessly; the connecting parts were assembled with precision, and there were those rapidly switching magic circles that were unmanned… How were these monsters created?!

“This is… the ancient Gondor Empire’s magic technology?!” Finally, Viscount Andrew believed he had found a logical explanation before he slowly turned his head to ask Gawain.

“This is technology that was designed together by me and the technical specialists in my territory. Of course, if you feel that because I am a surviving member of the ancient Gondor Empire, then the technology I possess could be considered Gondor technology… It is also fine to think of it that way.” Gawain used a vague explanation intentionally to barely get by. After seeing Viscount Andrew’s reaction, he asked, “How about it? Are you interested in this ‘magical mining equipment’?”

“As long as you are willing to sell them!” Viscount Andrew widened his eyes.

“I believe you can also see that the details and difficulty of producing these machines are frightening. It isn’t cheap to produce a machine. Therefore, the selling price is naturally going to be expensive. Depending on the scale and manufacturing difficulty, the cost should be between a few hundred to a few thousand Cecil coins. Furthermore, the manufacturing of these machines obviously requires the participation of Beyonders. The worker cost… Well, you can imagine,” Gawain spoke unhurriedly, but Viscount Andrew’s smile gradually disappeared. Gawain then suddenly changed his tone. “Of course, I will set the price like this when selling to others. But if I am selling it to my neighbor, I will only need the material cost. If you have difficulties, I can even accept ores as payment.”

Viscount Andrew felt extremely moved.

These machines weren’t cheap, and he knew it clearly. However, he also knew that these machines would be equivalent to the energy from numerous people!

A single hauling machine would be equivalent to dozens or a hundred slave workers. Half a day’s work from a single crusher machine would be enough to leave all the slave workers jobless! It would be natural to spend a huge sum of money to purchase these machines, but he would be able to get back the costs of the machines very quickly. Furthermore, after recovering the costs, Tanzan Town or even the entire Leslie territory would welcome the unprecedentedly high revenue!

Furthermore, the magic portions of these machines didn’t seem too complicated. After getting back the costs, he might be able to recruit a group of rune craftsmen and magic circle experts to research how these machines worked…

Right at this moment, Gawain’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “That’s right. Viscount Andrew, I have something else to bring to your notice. You should have realized that these machines are operating by themselves. There isn’t any Mage to provide energy to these machines…”

“Mm… I am indeed curious about this matter.” Viscount Andrew rubbed his chin and said, “I don’t see any Mage controlling the machines, nor do I see anyone supplying energy to them… Could there be large-capacity magic-storage crystals inside?”

“They still require the complementing ‘magic web’ technology. Regarding this technology, I need to have a good discussion with you…”