13 Gathering
"-molecules of warm air expand and become less dense thus resulting in becoming lighter...*sigh*" Roland finished the page before he closed the book and released a tired sigh.
'I understand how a steam engine works but creating something from scratch is simply beyond my capabilities. But if I can create it, everything will become much easier and later it will also become a foundation for my very first steamboat. Just the thought of creating my own navy makes me excited. Although I am no longer in the modern era, this life has its advantages, I can have my name get written into the history books just by stealing someone else's inventions, hehe. Well, I will think about this problem later, I still need to talk to my people'
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Roland stood on the makeshift stage with locals gathered in front of him at the town square. Everyone was looking at him with curious looks on their faces, it was probably Roland's first time making any kind of motivational speech in front of so many people.
"My people, I greet every one of you. The reason why I had all of you gathered here is to tell you grave news. A few days ago, an ambassador from Longsong Stronghold arrived intending to continue a long tradition of trading the ores for a miserable amount of food. However as you are already aware, an accident happened at North Slope Mine very recently and it has delayed mining operations, it still hasn't been resolved despite us hiring more people to help resume the mining of ores." Roland said aloud for everyone to hear, standing straight with his hands behind his back.
People immediately started whispering about the recent increase in the miner's salaries and how some people considered joining despite knowing how tedious it is.
"We did not have enough ores to exchange for enough food. I tried to negotiate for a better price since Border Town and its locals were always delivering ores to them at very under the market price but the best offer they made would still not be enough to feed everyone and once again a tragedy would happen again. They decided to let you once again watch your brothers, sisters, children, and parents starve to death! If we were to trade at the market price or slightly below, the number of ores we had would still be enough to exchange for all of us to survive several months without worrying about food!" Roland raised his voice as an angry expression appeared on his face. He knew that the more emotional he gets, the more people will trust him that he cares about their well-being. Of course, he wasn't just acting to deceive them, he didn't want anyone to suffer cruel death due to starvetion, especially not children.
"They are so shameless!"
"Thieves!"
"Your Highness! Please save us, I don't want to see any more of my relatives die of hunger!"
The worried thoughts of people were immediately replaced by angered thoughts as they started shouting. Roland couldn't help but release a cold smile inside as he saw people's anger. Maybe he was manipulating them but in the end, it was for their own well-being so he felt absolutely no guilt about manipulating hundreds of people.
"None of you will see anyone die of hunger because I already sold ores to Willow Town at market price and bought more than enough food for this winter, however, this trade also meant severing relationship with Longsong Stronghold. They won't shelter us when the demonic beasts start attacking, this just shows what nobles of Longsong Stronghold know about loyalty! This town has been loyal to them even during its bad times but this is the end! AS most of you already know, to the west of the town, almost finished stable wall stands that are going to help us in defending this town from demonic beasts." Roland paused to see people's reactions and as he expected, their expressions quickly changed when he mentioned that Longsong Stronghold won't shelter them from demonic beasts. As more time passed, more people started whispering to each other how it is impossible to defend against demonic beasts without a proper army.
The whispers of many people quickly resulted in big noise which prevented Roland from speaking. Seeing this, Carter frowned and was prepared to step forward but was stopped by Roland.
Roland took a deep breath.
"SILENCE!" His shout resonated through the entire town square and stopped all people from whispering. It wasn't that his shout was so loud but it was amplified by his CHA stat which made his voice have more authority.
"Demonic beasts are nothing special, they are just stronger wild animals. Would you rather starve to death at Longsong Stronghold or fight for your own hometown?! Anyone who is willing to join my army and fight demonic beasts will be rewarded 50 silver royals and if they, unfortunately, lose their life, their family will be properly taken care of. I will make sure that no one who fights for me will ever have to worry about their family if they were to die! You can see more about the requirements to join on the notice board, every time after the training, if everyone does a good job, they will be able to enjoy both meat and eggs."
The mention of meat and eggs alarmed everyone including Barov and Carter as they knew how precious those ingredients were not to mention right before the winter.
*Slam* "And lastly, if this town falls, I will fall with it! And I definitely don't intend to die to some measly wild beasts! What about you, my people?!" Roland slammed his hand on the desk in front of him and shouted with a resolute expression. Although this wasn't Roland's "hometown", he found himself here when he possessed this body so he might as well treat it as his hometown therefore his words weren't just to ignite people's fighting spirit.
"We are with Your Highness!"
"I would rather fight than starve to death!"
Almost everyone responded positively to his words and Roland smiled upon seeing this.
'Using their anger at Longsong Stronghold and also redirecting it at demonic beasts was a good idea, I am glad it paid off.'
"That's all. I wish everyone a good day, you may disperse." Roland said before slowly leaving with Carter and Barov right behind him.
"You Highness, is it truly a good idea to give out both meat and eggs? Not to mention the payment of 50 silver royals is quite large, we might not have enough money to pay for everything" Barov asked in a low voice.
"Do you believe in me?" Roland simply asked while walking towards the castle with his hands behind his back.
"...Yes" If it was before, Barov would hesitate much more to answer but after witnessing how hard Roland is working every day, he started believing in Roland being capable of fighting for the throne.
"Your Highness, but why won't we hire mercenaries instead of paying so much money for inexperienced and not trained people?" Carter asked slightly confused.
"Mercenaries are unreliable, they fight for gold royals and not for you. And you can view this as a long-term investment. As for the reason why I am ready to give them also the meat is that they are a rich source of high-value proteins, variety of fats including omega-3 fatty acids, zinc, iron, selenium, potassium, magnesium, sodium, most people are very skinny and after each training, their bodies will require a lot of rich nutrients. I will also be giving them water with a bit of salt mixed in to help detox their body." Roland explained, saying as everything was quite obvious however when he no longer heard footsteps behind him, he turned around just to see both Barov and Carter looking at him with confused expressions.
"Protein, zinc, iron...what? Wait, do you mean to say that we are eating iron, Your Highness?!" Carter immediately shouted with a slightly panicked expression.
"What? Ah...sorry I got carried away. We are not eating the iron you are familiar with but...you know what? Forget it, it would take forever to explain this." Roland just realized that there is no way he can talk about the nutrients with anyone in this era.
'His Highness is becoming more and more strange...Sometimes he just starts talking about strange stuff that no one understands' Barov thought.
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It was already evening and Roland was still at his office with several different blueprints laid out on his desk. His hair was no longer neatly tied into a side-parted low ponytail. He spent a few hours trying to create a good blueprint for the steam engine but every time he was about to finish it, he found a little problem. Each new problem made him subconsciously mess up his hair and now his appearance looked even worse than after spending a very long and engaging night with several women.
"Careful Your Highness, if your maid comes in, she might call for the guards, thinking that you are an impostor." Roland thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Nightingale's voice right next to him before she appeared, leaning against his desk.
"The only impostor here is you, Nightingale" Roland said calmly while working on his latest blueprint.
"I guess I can't refute that...What are you working on so hard that you can't even spare a glance at me?" Nightingale asked, almost sounding a bit annoyed at how weak Roland's response was to her sudden appearance.
"I can still visibly recall your appearance so why taking a look unless something changed? And the thing on this blueprint is called the steam engine, it is supposed to perform mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. But-! I am having a hard time completing it, however, I feel that I am quite close." Roland replied while lightly biting his lower lip, thinking hard about how to finish the rest of the blueprint.
"I see...mechanical work...does it mean it can replace animals such as horses or people working in mines?" Nightingale asked, leaning over to finally have a closer look.
Due to her leaning over, her big breasts were practically bulging out of her clothes. Even Roland couldn't resist taking a quick peek before focusing on his work again.
"Yes...it can replace almost anything but people still need to operate this machine to work so miners will still have to work in mines but their workload will lighten with the help of the steam engine. We can also use this in agriculture and increase effectiveness." Roland didn't mind sharing the details because knowing how something works and how to make it from scratch is a completely different matter. If even he was having trouble finish the blueprint, he doubted anyone from this era would get this down faster.
"I have heard the rumors of your maid suddenly disappearing...Do you have any idea what could have happened?" Nightingale asked in a teasing tone.
"I am not sure, maybe someone "broke" her heart and it hurt her so much that she had to leave the town." Roland replied calmly while drawing.
"As you expected, a letter arrived addressed to Tyre and it seems like she was supposed to kill you during the months of the demon at Longsong Stronghold." Nightingale took a small letter from between her breasts and offered it to Roland who was slightly hesitating to take it but in the end, he cleared his throat and took it from her hands while giving her a weird look.
"Don't you have pockets?"
"Not as big as this one. What is it, Your Highness? I hope you aren't flustered." Nightingale replied with a seductive smile.
"Forget it..." Roland spent a few seconds looking at Nightingale's face before returning to his unfinished work.
...
"Aren't you planning to take a rest for the rest of the evening? It's already quite late." There was a silence between those two for a minute or so before Nightingale asked with a serious tone, quite uncharacteristically for her.
"? Why do you care so much?" Roland stopped his work and looked at Nightingale with a confused expression before asking her.
"Well...you are the first noble, a prince at that, that is trying to help witches. You are kind to Anna, Nana, and even to me despite under what circumstances we have met. Watching someone like you working himself to death is not a very pleasant sight." Nightingale said with a slightly worried tone, putting her hand on Roland's shoulder.
Roland looked at Nightingale's face and understood how serious she was.
"*sigh* I can finish this tomorrow." Roland said and got up, stretching his back and arms before gathering all the blueprints and locking them in his drawer. Seeing this, Nightingale smiled before she vanished into thin air.
'She is so strange...I have still no idea whether she is an ally, friend, or still a possible enemy.' Roland thought before shaking his head and quietly heading towards his room, not wanting anyone to see him with his messed-up hair.
