Kays Translations

Chapter 8: Duke Eddie

[The magic stones have arrived. I’m starting my research now. The next transfer will be in a week. Unless it’s urgent, don’t call me.]

As soon as he said that, Winston cut off the connection—impatient as always.

Owen could only shake his head helplessly. He moved the sack over to the edge of the sandpit and opened it. Inside were wheat seeds, packed full.

He scooped a few into his palm and examined them closely. They looked similar to the local wheat seeds, just plumper and more robust.

So these are seeds from another world…

After putting the seeds back, Owen moved the sack to the corner of the room. Since the space was cool and dry, it was a good place to store seeds. This was only the first batch—more would be transferred later—so he decided to keep them here for now.

As he was leaving the room, Owen suddenly remembered that Winston had tried to say something just before the system upgrade finished—only to be interrupted.

Oh well, I’ll ask him next time.

Dongsheng Fortress
In the southern section stood a tall and opulent castle—the residence of Duke Eddie.

In a lavishly decorated reception room, a middle-aged man as fat as a pig slouched in a custom-made chair, oversized and luxuriously padded.
This was Duke Eddie.

In front of him, a thin and wiry man was holding an open scroll of parchment, reporting various matters.

“…And that concludes the fiscal report for the first half of the year at Dongsheng Fortress.”

“Hmm.”

Duke Eddie responded lazily, eyes half-lidded.

The thin man rolled up the parchment, but instead of leaving, he continued:

“My lord, there’s one more matter I’d like to report.”

“Speak.”

“Bianshu Town has placed an order to purchase grain from us.”

“Oh?”

Hearing that, Duke Eddie opened his eyes slightly and adjusted his posture—finally showing some interest.

“How much grain are they buying this time?”

“Uh… just a bit more than half of what they bought last year.”

Perhaps worried this news would anger the duke, the man answered cautiously.

“What about Linsui City?”

Duke Eddie didn’t seem upset, which relieved the thin man.

He quickly answered:

“They placed a similar order to ours.”

“Looks like Linsui is keeping to the agreement.”

Duke Eddie idly stroked the solid gold ring on his right index finger.

“But together, the orders from both places won’t be enough to carry Bianshu Town through to next autumn’s harvest. In other words, they’re also purchasing grain from elsewhere.”

“Yes, word is they’re also buying from the capital, Jinwei City, and Fengsui City. My lord, since their cargo ships must pass near Dongsheng Fortress, we could…”

The thin man trailed off with a sly grin, clearly suggesting they could intervene.
But Duke Eddie understood perfectly and—

“No need. Let them be.”

“Eh?”

The thin man blinked in surprise, clearly not expecting Duke Eddie to refuse.

Seeing his subordinate’s confusion, Duke Eddie felt thoroughly pleased.

This is what it feels like to control everything… delightful.

“This winter… won’t be easy.”

That cryptic statement served as a clue.

Still puzzled, the thin man asked:

“What do you mean, my lord?”

“You remember what happened in Bianshu Town last winter, don’t you?”

Duke Eddie’s greasy, bloated face twisted into an ugly smile, revealing a few gold-capped teeth on purpose.

…

Two days later, very early in the morning, Viru arrived at the castle to inform Owen that the cement workshop had been completed as requested.

Upon receiving the news, Owen immediately began preparing. Since he planned to personally use fire magic to fire the cement, he specially changed into a mage’s robe with a black base and red trim.

Bringing along Mapel and Viru, the three of them set off at once for the cement workshop.

As the person in charge of the wall repairs, Viru had already heard from Owen about the miraculous cement. However, he was deeply skeptical—he had worked as a stonemason for many years and had never heard of such a convenient material.

So Owen had to bring Viru along to witness the power of cement firsthand, and also to familiarize him with how to use it.

The destination was a somewhat dilapidated mud-brick house.

Originally, it was a damaged and dangerous building left over from an undead attack the previous winter. Though Viru had renovated and expanded it, it was an emergency fix—so as long as it was safe, there was no need to worry about appearances.

After the renovation, the building was around 12 meters long and more than 4 meters wide. The cement workshop was divided into two parts: the front large room served as the processing area for raw materials, and the smaller room at the back was the firing area for producing the cement.

The workshop had a wide door to allow easy access for workers and the transportation of materials. Two knights stood guard at the entrance, also serving as supervisors.

The moment the lord appeared, the two knights saluted immediately.

Seeing this, the workers inside the workshop became flustered, stopping their tasks to greet the marquis.

Owen quickly stopped them, saying: 

“Keep working. Don’t stop.”

“Yes, sir.”

Everyone resumed working, but due to Owen’s presence, they worked even more diligently than usual.

Porters used wooden carts to bring raw materials into the workshop. Then, stone breakers crushed the materials, which were then proportioned as required and finely ground into raw slurry.

Everyone was working in an orderly fashion, and soon, a sizable amount of slurry had been prepared.

Under Owen’s instructions, the labourers mixed the raw slurry with an appropriate amount of water, stirred it into a paste, and transported it into the firing area.

Owen followed them inside, and the first thing he saw was a massive furnace.

This specially designed furnace was shaped like a truncated cone, with its top connected to the ceiling and leading directly to an exterior chimney. The bottom had a furnace opening, just big enough for a person to crouch and crawl inside. Narrow passages surrounded the furnace, with a slightly wider area directly in front of the opening.

A short laborer crawled inside first. Workers outside passed in buckets of raw slurry, which the laborer spread evenly across the floor inside.

After a short while, the small laborer crawled back out and poured the final bucket of slurry just outside the furnace entrance, then smoothed it out with a shovel.

When he was done, he stood up a bit nervously and reported to Owen: 

“L-Lord Marquis, I’ve spread it out as instructed.”

“Good.” 

Owen nodded. 

“You may all leave now.”

The laborers quickly exited the firing room and shut the door behind them, leaving only Owen, Mapel, and Viru inside.

[Be sure to cover your nose and mouth with a cloth or something. Even though wet-process firing doesn’t raise much dust, there will still be some particles in the air. Inhaling them is bad for your health.]

[Got it. I brought everything we need.]

Since firing the cement was an important task, Owen had called Winston through the emergency system during the trip. Having him there gave Owen some peace of mind, especially since it was his first time trying this.

Owen pulled out a clean strip of cloth, folded it, and wrapped it around his nose and mouth. After tying it securely, he handed matching strips to Mapel and Viru.

“There’ll be dust during the firing process. Best to wear it like this.” 

Owen explained.

The two nodded and followed suit, covering their faces.

Viru wasn’t surprised that the marquis would personally handle the cement firing—like Clive, he already knew Owen often did strange and unexpected things.

As for Mapel, she simply trusted and supported Owen unconditionally.

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