Release that Witch

After the demonstration, the contract was soon signed. Border Town’s commerce was still in the initial phase, but calling it an industry was out of the question. No matter if it were the steam engine or the lathe, there would be no phenomenon where the people would run to the store, striving to be first or fearing to be the last to buy them. In this day and age, most people were not aware of the enormous significance they represented, as well as the potential commercial value they possessed. As such, Roland could only take the initiative to promote the use of these machines.

Roland specifically wrote in the contract that the blacksmiths who used the milling machine were required to process at least one set of gears each week. The required materials would be provided by the castle and the processing cost was set at 10 silver royals. At the same time, the blacksmiths had to pay a weekly fee of 2 gold royals. The milling machine was not given to them for use free of charge, but was rented out to them instead.

After entering the Months of the Demons, the blacksmiths would usually have a lot less to do. So, this time when they had the chance to make money and it was even under an order from His Highness, there was naturally no blacksmith who had any objections. Meanwhile, Roland told them that this was only the first milling machine. In the future he would produce several, one after another, and if they were interested in one, they could apply for it in the Town Hall.

“Your Highness, why didn’t you directly write a processing fee of 8 silver royals in the contract?” asked Carter, puzzled, after the blacksmiths had left the backyard.

“Although these two figures are the same, they don’t contain the same meaning,” Roland explained, “This is probably Border Town’s first commercial leasing contract, so I had to set an industry norm.”

The Chief Knight rubbed his forehead. The 4th Prince seemed to be talking rubbish once more, but Carter was already used to it. As long as he pretended to listen carefully, His Highness would continue to explain it.

“A good beginning is always important in order to form a virtuous circle. I am the only one who currently needs to buy the gears, so I have to provide the tools while they provide the manpower. They will also get paid. In the future when there are others who have a demand for gears, they will realize that having their own tools will be better than renting the machine and earning the remuneration provided.” When Roland spoke up to here, he paused for a moment and then said, “In this way, when they see something new, they can first rent the machine and decide later if the market is big enough for buying their own machine, and if not they will just continue renting the machine. This is a virtuous circle.”

Chapter 48 Assembly

While Roland, full of interest, was talking about implementing a fair trading system, the sound of distant horns could be heard!

The patrol team would only blow the horn in the case that they couldn’t cope with the current situation, alerting the town to assemble soldiers.

Roland and Carter looked at each other surprised, and then immediately walked out of the castle backyard, where the guards already had already prepared horses. Roland directly mounted his horse and rode with Carter and his men in the direction of the walls.

When they arrived at the wall, they saw that all members of the militia had already climbed up the wall and had taken their places, setting up a forest of pikes. Seeing this gave Roland a feeling of relief — the eggs hadn’t been a waste after all.

Looking North-West, Roland could see a group of black shadows approaching Border Town. He reckoned that their numbers were over twenty.

Iron Axe left his defending position and trotted over. After giving a salute he said, “Your Highness, this group of demonic beasts nearing us seem to be slightly strange.”

“Strange? Are you saying that they would normally not act as a group?”

“That’s not it,” Iron Axe explained, “if they were to pack animals before the fall, then they would still retain that habit — such as the wolf species. But this kind of species doesn’t belong to this kind, they normally wouldn’t act this way, they seem to be on a mission. Earlier the hunters had already seen the beasts killing each other.”

The demonic beasts were only a mutation of their former kind, their actions would mostly be similar to their original habits, but at the same time their desires would become stronger. In a sense, the intelligence of a demonic beast was lower than that of a wild animal, because of their manic temper they even crossed dangerous areas that they would normally never cross.

Roland carefully observed the group of demonic beasts. He could see really big and small beasts and could distinguish at least two different kind of beasts, one kind wolf and the other bison. Species which would normally kill each other had suddenly learnt that they had to work together to accomplish something.