Chương 19: Winter Thaw

"So, what do you think of them?" Alicia asked, a proud smile on her face as she showed the contents of her palace's storage wing. At the largest hall were the two mobile cranes, both of them parked beside each other. The thin and sickly Maxim didn't reply to Alicia as he looked around. He began checking the rooms containing the parts of the steel mill's machines. He also appraised steel beams, iron rods, bags of cement, bricks, and other construction materials.

Of course, Alicia also bought a lot of magic crystals, all ready to be used for the mobile cranes and other machines that would be present in the steel mill, and Maxim checked those too. By the time Maxim finished his inspections, he was looking down on the floor.

"... Is something wrong?" Alicia asked, suddenly worried about Maxim's changed demeanor. Earlier, he seemed like someone who was unfazed by everything, but now, he looked ashamed.

"I doubted you," Maxim replied.

"And I was rude to you."

"To be fair, your doubts weren't unfounded. Please don't worry too much about it. I don't really care about it at all. As long as work is done after this, I'm happy."

"Even so, the reason why I gave you that draft requirement was to humiliate you."

"Humiliate me?"

"I thought you were just a random noble dreaming way too far beyond what you could reach. I wanted to convince you to give up on your lofty ambition. But you succeeded…" Vittorio, who was watching Maxim with cold eyes, shifted a bit in surprise because Maxim suddenly kneeled on one knee in front of Alicia, his head lowered. Alicia's eyes widened as she immediately tried to order him to stand up. But Maxim wasn't having it.

"Just because I thought that I was smarter than you, I thought I had the right to force you to give up on the project. It was an act of extreme arrogance," Maxim said, gritting his teeth.

"All of these are Alsatian tech. Those people wouldn't just give this to a Vaelrin so easily. I don't know what you went through just to acquire all of this, so I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I shouldn't have—""W-wait, I think you're having a major misconception here," Alicia frantically said.

"I didn't endanger myself at all to acquire those things. Goodness, do I look like someone who would just steal all of the items you placed on the draft?" Bewildered, Maxim raised his head to look Alicia in the eye.

"But then, how did you—?" Maxim asked, before being interrupted.

"I disguised myself to conduct legitimate business with them," Alicia explained.

"Using the money we earned from an earlier dungeon raid, I legally acquired the items you listed. Even after this, we will do everything to earn more money to continue importing human technology. That way, we'll become more productive here without having to resort to awful means. You don't have to worry about the means I used."

"You're going to enrich this village while avoiding conflict with mankind?"

"Yes. And maybe one day, we can do more than that. My goal here is to create a peaceful paradise for us at the edge of the world. I want to build a place where we, Vaelrin, can live comfortably. So can you help me build it?" Maxim's eyes widened, and for the first time, Alicia saw the first faint sparks of light appearing on his previously dead irises. For a few seconds, Maxim remained silent, doubts still clearly lingering in his heart. But then, he stood up.

"Alright," Maxim boldly took Alicia's hand, shaking it.

"Since you're dead set on this, I'll join you. If you can truly pull this off, then I'm going to try believing in your dreams. I'll build the steel mill." Maxim's words were enough to send Alicia to heaven. Finally, after weeks of arduous work, she finally secured one of the few skilled [Metallurgists] present in Vael, the legendary man who created the only modern steel mill in the country. Almost immediately, all the mental fatigue she acquired during her stay in Alsatia was washed away.

Bit by bit, her dream was coming through, and to Vittorio's surprise, Alicia began enthusiastically shaking Maxim's hand.

"Welcome aboard then! I was really looking forward to this," Alicia said with a smile.

"Though, you should really start eating a lot first. You look like you're one cough away from your deathbed."

"You're right. But I must tell you that the requirements I gave you were for a steel mill much larger than we need, or could even use. I will have to adjust it to something more appropriate for our current situation. Even if we built the one I recommended earlier, we don't have the manpower to actually use it."

"Oh, I was thinking about proposing that too. Luckily, Sir Vittorio and I here hadn't had dinner yet, so can we discuss this later at the table? You really look like you're going to die of starvation."

"... It can't be that bad, but okay." Maxim awkwardly, and this time, nervously, turned to look at Vittorio, who had been glaring at his back since the two escorted him out of his shack to Alicia's palace. This time though, the draco just let out a resigned sigh to himself.

"Just work hard," Vittorio said, not even sparing a glance at Maxim as he walked out of the storage hall. Somehow, there were no harsh comments from him this time. Even Alicia was surprised about it, as she expected Vittorio to begin chastising Maxim harder now that he was on the palace. It seemed that after seeing Maxim respect Alicia for once, Vittorio mellowed out. That's good. I hope they can work well together in the future.

"Follow me," Alicia said to Maxim.

"Since my artificial spirits are still preparing food, I'm going to give you a tour of my palace so you won't get lost while working here."

"Artificial spirits? Are they those strange golems I saw walking around earlier?" Maxim curiously asked as he followed her.

"No, they're different. You see…" As Alicia and Maxim left the storage hall, they finally had a proper discussion for once as they walked around the palace. Moshan emptied another glass of the Alsatian wine Alicia bought in Orevogorsk. His face flushed, the old man nearly buried his head on the table as he laughed to himself.

"Your Grace, this is truly the beverage of the gods! I didn't know humans brew this well!" Moshan shouted in glee. Vittorio grumbled beside Moshan, seemingly irritated by that comment.

"If they didn't destroy Lord Stoneshire's vineyards down south last year, Vael's brewers would have been making wine a dozen times better than this garbage," Vittorio commented, calmly drinking from his glass filled with Virelune afterward. Contrary to his harsh words, however, he already drank a bottle more than Moshan did so far.

Lyra, who was facing Moshan and Vittorio on the other side of the table, only smiled awkwardly and decided that she should focus on finishing her plate of pork chops and the broccoli that Alicia imported frozen from Alsatia. Maxim, who was seated beside Lyra, seemed to be enjoying the food a lot, pouring more and more pan sauce on his porkchops as he shamelessly gobbled serving after serving. Alicia smiled to herself as she watched her new friends and companions enjoy themselves.

It was truly nice to relax at Wintervale once in a while, and she felt her mood improve as they dined. When they were done, Alicia finally bought the topic she wanted to talk about. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Starting tomorrow, we're going to need to begin work at building the village up," Alicia said, her tone serious.

"Moshan, Lyra, I hope the census went well?"

"Yes, we finished it already," Moshan said, still drunk. Unlike Vittorio, who drank more but kept himself awake and alert, Moshan seemed to have less tolerance to alcohol.

"My assistant compiled the files of every citizen. Lyra, can you hand it over to me?"

"Sir Moshan, you should go back home and rest instead," Lyra said, wincing as she watched Moshan stumble over every word.

"I can present it to Lady Alicia tonight at her office myself."

"Is that so? I can escape this task? Hah, that sounds wonderful…"

"She's right, you're definitely not in the condition to report to me," Alicia said to Moshan, watching as the old man planted his face on the table at last. With a sigh, Alicia turned to Lyra.

"Anyway, just come to my office later for the census report." Lyra nodded. Then, Alicia looked at Maxim.

"Now, about the adjustments on the project…" Alicia started.

"We can make it less capital intensive," Maxim said, smiling a bit.

"With the current materials you bought here, I can redesign the steel mill so we can build it halfway through with the first batch of materials alone. Though, its capabilities will be limited to only producing pig iron and wrought iron in the meantime. Rolling and shaping them too will have to be done by artisans present here…"

"That's fine as a starting point. Also, we can actually make steel on a smaller scale as a stopgap solution. I think I can act as the open-hearth furnace for now," Alicia confidently declared.

"We only need to do a few experiments to pull it off correctly, then I can use my magic to refine pig iron to steel on demand. This way, we can have steel for manufacturing basic tools and weapons before we upgrade the steelworks."

"That sounds doable. I've heard of mages beforehand who used magecraft to produce steel, yes," Maxim nodded, placing a hand on his chin.

"But while all of this is interesting, I'm afraid we do have one problem that's difficult to solve."

"What is it?"

"Orevogorsk's population is too low.

"That's true…" Alicia sighed. Indeed, this village was just too small to even support a singular factory. The only way for Orevogorsk to ever become something worthy of having an industry was if it had more people. That, and it had to be connected to other towns and villages so it could actually acquire inputs and export its manufactured goods in the future.

"Well then…" Alicia smiled.

"I suppose we'll have to start first at making this village more liveable then. Maxim, I'll get you the men needed to begin construction of the steel mill. Vittorio, I want you to begin assigning people in the militia to construction groups."

"Your Grace, what exactly are you planning?" Vittorio curiously asked.

"Simple," Alicia grinned.

"Once Orevogorsk opens, I want us to have an industry that will give employment and housing for people to be employed. This will attract people to live here, and that will fix our population problem. It'll be up to me to get everything we need to do that."

"I see…" Vittorio seemed skeptical, but he nodded.

"That sounds quite ambitious, but I've already seen you achieve many great feats. We'll work hard to make this happen, Your Grace."

"I appreciate it." Alicia smiled thankfully as her mind began running through every single detail to make this plan of hers work. Indeed, if she just worked hard enough, Alicia believed that her plan for making this village rich was within reach. Let's do it then. As the days of winter passed through the village of Orevogorsk, Wintervale Palace began its busy business of building it up. Alicia started by analyzing the detailed census given by Lyra and Moshan to her.

Most of the village was unfortunately unskilled and illiterate, as Maxim accurately described. Some, however, proved useful. Alicia found an [Architect] and a [Civil Engineer] that, like Maxim, were both unemployed bums drinking at the local tavern. While not the best, as they were only educated and employed in Vael before becoming war refugees, Alicia made use of them by assigning them to the steel mill construction.

On the other hand, Alicia took most women in the village to work in Wintervale Palace as servants and clerks. Since Lyra didn't have many tasks during winter, Alicia turned her into a stopgap teacher so that these young women could learn how to do menial tasks, write, read, and, in some cases, assist her with clerical duties in the palace. Her elder sister also helped at times as well, though, because of her mental state, Helen largely only rested in her room during winter.

As for the men, since most of them were already in the village militia, Alicia divided them into two groups. The first group worked with Maxim at constructing the steel mill, while the rest were formed into house construction teams led by Vittorio. Surprisingly, while Vittorio was a military man, he was actually somewhat educated at basic military engineering during his time in the royal army, allowing them to begin construction and renovation of basic homes using lumber imported from Alsatia.

Indeed, Alicia did not stay idle after suddenly forcing everyone in the village to work in the harsh winter. To make sure that they stayed warm, well-fed, and supplied, Alicia took to the arduous task of routinely hunting animals in the forest for food. She also scouted the surroundings of Orevogorsk for more dungeons with Vittorio's assistance, allowing her to constantly raid dungeons twice a week.

This meant that as winter progressed, Alicia continuously made back-and-forth trips from Orevogorsk to Lorienval to sell them to the princess, who, to Alicia's surprise, was hungrily using up monster cores constantly. As a result, Alicia had a decent cash flow, allowing her to buy construction materials, tools, magic crystals, and even food from Alsatia.

Whenever she was present in the village, Alicia also used her magic to support construction efforts, lifting heavy items, drying cement faster, or even something as basic as using her levitation magic to keep new timber houses intact while Vittorio's workers nailed them in place. In her free time, she went deep inside the abandoned mine that was said to be the main reason for the village's founding just to map and survey it.

While she didn't have people who could work in the mines yet, she wanted it prepared so her steel mill would have locally sourced inputs once it opened. Before she knew it, she spent a full month in Orevogorsk and Lorienval working in a manner she had never done before. By the fourth week, Alicia was running on fumes, barely sleeping four hours a day as she ran around the place to speed things up.

Since she had powerful magic, Alicia believed that there was zero excuse for failure if she simply conducted herself diligently, and so, the new lord of Orevogorsk somehow worked more hours than all of her underlings per day. But, in the end, it was all worth it. After a total of five weeks, Alicia woke up in her bedroom, eyebags somewhat ruining her perfect face. When she looked out from the balcony, snow was already beginning to melt on the ground.

More importantly, as the sun rose above Orevogorsk, Alicia could tell that their work was beginning to bear fruit. The village should be ready to open soon. Alicia smiled. I just need to work my ass off a little more… Unfortunately for her, her mind disagreed. Unable to resist the temptation of the softness of her bed, for the first time, Alicia decided to go back to sleep instead as daylight arrived to her domain. Not even the continuous ringing of her Alsatian alarm clock managed to rouse her awake.

It was now early March. The temperature in Vael already began to rise. Snowfall was now only sporadic, the cold was on the retreat, the soil began to turn muddy, and warmer air from the south began to creep in. Winter was about to end. All the roads that were previously blocked by snow or were too dangerous to traverse were now open as well. People who had hunkered down with limited supplies to survive the cold were now starting to emerge from their homes, ready to begin work so they could begin planting produce.

More importantly, many people were now out of supply, having eaten through their winter stocks completely. That meant, right now, food prices in the north were at their highest, especially in the most remote villages and towns that were isolated during the worst of the winter months. While this was a tough time for everyone, it was also the perfect time to make money, and one merchant, who always had a surplus of food for this reason, was racing to Orevogorsk to exploit that.

The rivers shouldn't have thawed yet, so I'm definitely going to be the first. The young trader named Boris eagerly pushed his horses forward. While the well-trodden path he was on began to turn soft due to the spring thaw, snow wasn't fully melted, so Boris's wagon wasn't having that much trouble with the terrain. Everything right now was perfect for him. He had barrels upon barrels of salt pork, slaughtered and processed back during December.

Alongside that was a few articles of spices, salt, cheese, butter, and other food items; all of this he could sell for good profit. Since Orevogorsk usually had dozens of starving families right now, Boris was sure that he could sell these articles at easily twice or thrice their usual prices. Of course, there was the risk that many in Orevogorsk had no silver to buy his goods, but even then, he was sure that the local village chief had saved up money months ahead for this occasion.

The only actual worry he had in his mind was the possibility of the village being wiped off the map. It wasn't a terribly rare occurrence nowadays after all. But Boris was optimistic. He was sure that fate was on his side today. He would make the most profit of the merchants heading for the farthest settlement in all of Vael. But, as he got closer, something caught his eye. He immediately stopped his horses from pushing forward, and he walked out of his wagon to get a better look. What the hell is that?

I've never seen that here before. Boris gaped at a massive structure near the village. Had he gone mad? The display before him was beyond outrageous! Why was there a grand palace more magnificent than the one destroyed in the royal capital standing before him in Orevogorsk of all places?!