“Well, those were the remains of Timothy’s fleet which he used to try and invade the Western Territory with,” Roland put on a look of indignation, and told the story of the fight a week ago. “They have gotten the punishment they deserved.”
In order to avoid blocking the ship channel and spreading a contagious plague, he had transferred Anna and Lily from Border Town, after cleaning the battlefield. One was responsible for burning all the remains of the ships, while the other was responsible for purifying the water. But since Margaret still saw the floating corpses, she mustn’t have been far away from the actual fight to have passed the place so soon after the end of the battle.
“So that’s the reason,” the merchant said with a smile. “It seems as if Timothy has hit a wall on both sides.”
“On both sides?”
“There was also Garcia’s Port of Clear Water — the latest news I received was that the looters who attacked the cities of the Eastern Territory were actually Garcia’s men. After looting everything from the Sea Wind Region and Valencia, the Black Sail Fleet went further North along the coastline instead of returning to the harbor, who knows where she finally landed.”
“North…” Roland asked in surprise, “Did she leave Graycastle?”
“For now that seems to be the case. Timothy’s troops have already thrown themselves against an already evacuated Port of Clear Water which left it as a ghost city.” Margaret stated, “There were a lot of rats within the force he brought along, so that’s why all of these are well-known secrets within the streets. No matter what, you are the only thorn left remaining in his side, thus in the future, it is quite possible that his attempts to invade the Western Territory will become even more and more frequent.”
“If you ever want to leave Graycastle, Crescent Half-Moon Bay will welcome you at any time,” Marlan offered.
“That’s right,” Gammon agreed while patting his chest, “The island is sufficient enough to contain ten Border Towns, and we are even willing to provide for you and your people free of charge.”
You merely want me to hand over the technology for the steam engine and steam paddler, right? Roland rolled his eyes in his mind, even if I couldn’t stay in Graycastle any longer, the first person I would seek shelter from would be Tilly Wimbledon. On the surface however, he still smiled and replied, “Alright, if such a day ever comes about.”
“Oh, by the way,” He turned towards Margaret, “Last time you placed an order for the investigation balloon; I’ve already succeed to fabricate two.”
“So fast?” The latter was pleasantly surprised, “Can you take me to see it?”
“Of course, please, come with me,” Roland said and then got up to leave.
…
Arriving at the castle backyard, they saw an already completely inflated hydrogen balloon.
The balloon had a waterdrop-like shape, it was wide at the top, and narrow at the bottom. It had a diameter of five meters at the top, and in accordance with the size of the test sample, it could carry one grown man and lift off. The air sac and ropes were coated with a sky like camouflage, so if that were paired with the observer also wearing camouflage, it would reduce the chance of it being detected to the minimum.
“It doesn’t seem to be the same as the balloon we rode on last time, right?” Margaret carefully sized up the new product.
“That’s because you can use it even without witches,” Roland cleared his throat and then began to introduce how to use the investigation balloon. “At the end of the air sac is a movable valve, through which gas can enter and come out of — it is precisely this alchemical gas filling which allows the balloon rise up and fly. The inflation method is very simple, as long as the matching hose and gas tank are connected, you merely have to open the valve on both ends.” After finishing the verbal exploration, he went through the demonstration of the deflation and inflation process in front of everyone.
“How many bottles are needed to fill a balloon?” Margaret quickly caught the key point.
“Five bottles or six bottles…” This question made Roland slightly embarrassed, “Definitely no more than seven bottles.” The main reason for the variation laid in the problem, that the density of the diluted sulfuric acid — which was necessary to produce hydrogen in the bottle- is hard to control. It would be a waste of valuable human resources to first purify the sulfuric acid to 98 % only to later dilute it with water again.
“Is this alchemical gas very expensive?”
“It is indeed. It is also hard to conserve and full of dangers… That is, when it is carelessly handled,” Roland coughed twice, “Therefore, you can only store the gas tanks for a year at most, and it should neither be knocked over, disassembled or burned. Otherwise, it could have serious consequences.” He paused for a moment to let his words settle. Then continued, “Although the price is somewhat expensive, rest assured. When purchasing the investigation balloon for the first time, the first batch of gas tanks ordered from Border Town will be free of charge. In addition, you can also get an extra set of sky camouflaged investigator clothes.”
Chapter 284 Companion
It was only after the fleet had departed that Roland could finally breathe out in relief.
Finally… the treasury is filled up once again.
A total of eight steam engines were handed over to the three merchant guilds. From those eight, three had been produced by Factory No. 2, which was set up with the assistance of the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan — Roland had to acknowledge that regarding the artisans from the Fjords, no matter, if it was their innate skills or their capacity to learn, all were far higher than that of Border Town’s miners or blacksmiths. After grasping the operating procedure of the machines, their passing rate for finished products immediately began rising. Perhaps after another two more months, the production capacity of Factory No. 2 will have caught up to that of Factory No. 1. Fortunately, according to the signed contract, the income from the sale of those machines would entirely be owned by Roland.
In addition, he has also received a new purchasing order for the hydrogen balloon from the Crescent Moon Bay Caravan, Marlan was very interested in an item like this that could increase range of vision greatly. In addition to a single person detection balloon, he also specially asked for a custom-made giant balloon with the capacity to carry three to four people, which he intended to use for the exploration of the Fjord’s new islands.
Including with the delivery of the first steam paddler, all three items had brought Border Town an income of close to seven thousand gold royals. After deducting the costs for buying goods such as metal ingots, washing stones, grain and other commodities, the remaining six thousand gold royals should be sufficient to support his population expansion plan.
Thus, Roland called Barov and Iron Axe into his office.
“Now that the treasury is full again, it is time to recruit more foreign citizens.” He looked at the two able men, “This task will be carried out by a cooperation of the City Hall and First Army, which specific personnel you assign will be your decision, I will merely brief you with the rough details of the mission.”
“Please speak,” the Prime Minister said with a nod.
“Recruitment will be split into two areas, the North and the South.” Roland took a map and placed it on the table then spread it out in front of the other two, “Especially the area between Eagle City and Port of Clear Water… I suspect that Timothy regards these people as members of Garcia’s group, thus turns them into useless people who he can consume as he wishes. Therefore, you need to rush over to be the first who tries to rope them in.”