Chapter 169: Let’s Do Our Best! (3)
“Bwahahaha!”
Galbarik laughed heartily. Ghislaine’s confident chatter was both cute and funny.
“Hey there, Lord. You seem a bit young and clueless; a concept without blueprints is nothing but a fantasy. Even if you make it, it’ll be an item difficult to use.”
The other dwarves chuckled at Galbarik’s words.
“Right? Nobles always want so much without knowing anything properly.”
“One noble even asked me to make a tool to extract the effects of herbs. I told him to just buy potions. Am I an alchemist or something?”
“The lord where I came from asked if there’s any way to expand the residence in limited land. Seriously, am I a god? How can I expand land?”
“There was also a noble who wanted a magically operated plow to increase harvest yields. Like, what’s the point? The land and the seeds are useless to begin with.”
The dwarves clicked their tongues as they derided the nobles they had encountered in the past.
Galbarik shrugged his shoulders while looking at Ghislaine.
“We absolutely despise making useless items. I don’t know what the lord is thinking, but it’s probably just toy-level nonsense.”
As Galbarik finished speaking, a heavy silence descended around them.
Everyone blinked, staring at Galbarik.
“…Cough.”
Apart from a knight’s muted cough, not a sound was heard.
Galbarik, taken aback by the unexpected reaction, glanced around.
“What, why? Why is everyone looking at me like that? Is something wrong with what I said? Ah, this truly is a strange territory.”
Ghislaine couldn’t help but chuckle at Galbarik’s bewilderment.
“Have you lived with humans for too long? While you babble about craftsmanship and artistic spirit, your thinking is even more rigid than a human’s. How can you create works with such imagination?”
“What?”
“Ah, I understand. When you do the same thing every day, you unconsciously start to think that’s your limit.”
“What are you talking about…?”
“But because of that, you’re just a skilled technician, aren’t you?”
“How dare you insult us!”
The dwarves fumed with rage. No other race could match their skills.
That’s why, even as slaves, no one dared to treat them carelessly.
Yet this young lord right in front of them was genuinely looking down on them.
“Shut up, you lot! I’m the representative here!”
Galbarik shouted to silence the dwarves and glared at Ghislaine as he spoke.
Galbarik, who had put the dwarves to sleep, glared at Ghislaine and said,
“Don’t mess with our pride. It won’t do any good for the lord.”
In fact, the dwarves were a race known for their strong pride.
They reluctantly accepted their status as slaves but would never tolerate being treated like trash.
“If you want to get some useful military weapons, you’ll need to change how you treat us.”
Ignoring the sharp gazes of the dwarves, Ghislaine waved his finger and said,
“Follow me, I’ll show you something fun.”
Missing their chance to get angry, the dwarves hesitated but eventually followed Ghislaine.
Where he led them was a gigantic workshop.
“This is…!”
Upon arriving at the workshop, the dwarves looked around in wonder.
Aromatic scents and the smell of herbs filled the air.
Amidst the massive equipment that filled the workshop, people wearing white work clothes and masks were bustling about.
“This is a cosmetics workshop. To be precise, it’s for making skin beauty cream.”
“Cosmetics?”
At Ghislaine’s words, the dwarves tilted their heads.
They knew what cosmetics were. They were a luxury that nobles cared for even more than their meals.
How could such a high-class product be made in this rural territory?
As the dwarves expressed their confusion, Ghislaine continued explaining.
“Our territory’s cosmetics are considered the best in the kingdom. They’re being sold like hotcakes in the capital. With that huge revenue, I bought you guys.”
“What… Are you showing off how rich you are?”
“Yup.”
“…….”
“Tsk tsk, your minds are completely stuck. Look closely at how those tools are used to make cosmetics. It’s a secret, but I’ll show you specially.”
Only then did the dwarves regain their senses and began to thoroughly examine the inside of the workshop.
As they spent a long time inspecting the cosmetic equipment, the faces of the dwarves gradually turned pale. Some were trembling.
“H-How did you come up with this idea?”
“You’re pulling out the effects of the herbs significantly!”
“Is this really possible?”
The dwarves are a race that can be compared to gods when it comes to production.
Just by briefly examining the equipment, they could quickly grasp its purpose and the effects it produced.
They could also infer the roles of the magical circles engraved in it through the structure of the equipment.
Having worked with wizards while serving under nobles, they had ample experience.
Excited, the dwarves soon gathered together and began discussing.
“Indeed, by applying heat instantly like this, we can minimize the side effects that destroy the active ingredients and create a concentrate. Are the impurities treated separately?”
“The filter could be better. If we made the holes narrower than now and added more, it might work better.”
“Oh, so this is how they create this formulation by cooling it down instantly! The equipment may be rudimentary, but the concept is truly beautiful!”
With their faces flushed with excitement, the dwarves simultaneously turned to Ghislaine and shouted,
“No way, this is really a thing?”
“Who? Who came up with this idea?”
“Please let me meet them! I want to meet the genius who made this! Is this really in this territory?”
Amidst the fervent heat born from the dwarves’ genuine excitement, Ghislaine pointed to himself with his thumb.
Galbarik’s eyes widened as he stammered.
The lantern flickered weakly as he stammered.
“The lord… created this?”
“Indeed, it came straight from my mind.”
It wasn’t a lie. While the knowledge was borrowed from the future, it did come from Ghislaine’s brain.
The dwarves were completely convinced by his confident demeanor.
A few dwarves eagerly exclaimed with flushed faces.
“Let me make some modifications!”
“With just a little tweak, I can increase efficiency several times over!”
“My lord! Just looking at it makes my insides churn! Please!”
The dwarves were frustrated. How could someone with such brilliant ideas be content with such rudimentary equipment?
Seeing the eager dwarves, Ghislaine nodded with satisfaction.
“Looks like your brains are finally starting to work. So you can increase production from what it is now, huh?”
“Of course! Just leave it to me! I can easily double it!”
“But… it seems like there are still those who aren’t eager to work.”
Not everyone had swallowed their pride.
About half of the dwarves, including Galbarik, remained stiffly standing.
Although they admired the workshop’s tools internally, they didn’t want to lose face in a contest of wills with the lord.
Ghislaine chuckled at them and waved his finger again.
“Come on, I’ll show you something else.”
Ghislaine led them to a recently built apartment complex.
Several dwarves interested in architecture began to roam around excitedly.
“No way, a house like this really exists?”
“To think of something like this! It’s not just a simple tower-shaped dwelling!”
The current apartment complex didn’t use particularly advanced technology. It just twisted the fixed notions people had about ‘houses’.
They began discussing the house again.
“What if this part were made of marble? Then it would have better durability and artistry…”
“Instead of heating with a fireplace, let’s change the materials to spread the warmth throughout…”
“We can improve the drainage system with a better method!”
Inspiration long forgotten came rushing back to the dwarves.
This is it, this is the kind of stimulation they needed.
After passionately debating, they turned to Ghislaine and shouted.
“Let us make further improvements!”
There was no stopping the dwarves, now lost in the frenzy of ideas.
Galbarik stammered, “I-is this also something the lord thought of?”
“Of course, it’s all my creation.”
“Wh-what on earth is in your head…?”
What amazed them wasn’t the technology itself. The important part was turning imagination into reality.
Pioneers are what leave a mark in history, their names echoing for generations.
Ghislaine grinned and gestured again.
“Follow me, I’ll show you something else.”
This time, they arrived at a large-scale farm. It had already been harvested once, but the wheat was already growing back.
“W-wow!”
The dwarves gaped in awe at the expansive green wheat fields.
They could hardly fathom just how wide the fields were.
And not just that? Each stalk was several times larger than the usual ones.
It was hard to believe this was in the notorious barren north.
It was confusing, to say the least.
Ghislaine traced the horizon with his finger and said, “This wheat can be harvested at least three times a year. The harvest season is coming soon, so you’ll be able to see how much food is produced firsthand.”
It was unbelievable, but with the evidence right in front of him, he couldn’t doubt it.
Galbarik asked again in a trembling voice, “This too… is something the Lord did? How on earth…?”
“Let’s skip the detailed explanation. Essentially, I used a runestone to improve the seeds and boost the soil quality. The important thing is that it’s actually possible, right?”
Nodding.
The dwarves all nodded in agreement.
They weren’t particularly interested in agriculture, as it didn’t involve any fancy engineering techniques.
However, the concept of something never seen before and the ability to turn that imagination into reality was truly admirable.
Cosmetics, shared housing, and even agriculture. The fact that one person created all of this was significant.
Each invention could radically change people’s lives and perceptions.
If someone had made even a few innovations like this, just imagine how many new inventions they could come up with in the future.
The dwarves clenched their fists. Ghislaine’s inventions had reignited the creative spirit they had long suppressed.
What fun it would have been if they had participated in these projects from the start!
Seeing the dwarves’ nostrils flare with excitement, Ghislaine said, “So, what do you think? I have many great plans in my head, all of which are necessary and feasible. I needed people who could help me make them real, and that’s why I brought you here. Are you interested in working with me?”
Ghislaine’s words scratched the itch of the dwarves who had been deprived of their creative urges.
And what followed delivered the final blow to their hesitations.
“I can also teach you knowledge and techniques that I know but others do not.”
Ghislaine was certain Galbarik would come around. He had always been a dwarf crazy about technology. He wouldn’t be any different now.
The answer came immediately.
“I will do it!”
Galbarik and the other dwarves boldly exclaimed. There was no point in resisting anymore when they were offered new knowledge.
This was a fate they simply could not escape from.
Galbarik implored, “Please teach me! If the Lord wants it, I would even become a slave!”
“…You’re already slaves.”
“That’s just talk! It’s just talk! I truly want to be part of what the Lord is doing!”
“So you’re saying you’ll cooperate fully for ten years?”
“Of course! But the Lord must keep his promise too!”
“No backing out later?”
“What do you take us for? Once we dwarves make a promise, we keep it with our lives!”
Hearing Galbarik’s bravado, Ghislaine finally smiled and extended his hand.
“Alright, alright. If you work hard, I’ll release you freely in ten years as promised. Let’s do our best together!”
“We’ll do our best!”
Galbarik grasped Ghislaine’s hand and smiled brightly as they shook on it.
The People of Penris watching this scene looked at the dwarves with pity.
