70: New invention

Under the boundless blue sky, the farmers of the Ironthorn Territory braved the biting cold wind, working hard to sow seeds in the bare fields.

Withdrawing his gaze, Lister, atop his horse, looked down at Charlie beside him and asked, "Charlie, about how many more days will the sowing take?"

"Reporting to my Lord, it should take about two more days to complete everything," Charlie said with a firm tone.

Nodding, Lister praised, "Not bad. To finish the sowing so many days early, Charlie, your leadership has impressed me."

"My Lord overpraises me. It is all thanks to everyone's tireless efforts; I am merely benefiting from their hard work."

Seeing his humility, Lister smiled and didn't dwell on the topic, instead instructing, "Once the Winter Wheat sowing is finished, I want to hold a celebratory feast. Over the next two days, I will arrange for the knights to hunt more wild beasts. Charlie, find some Hunters to assist them."

Charlie respectfully replied, "As you command, my Lord."

...The winter sun sets earlier compared to other seasons.

The afterglow of the twilight sun filtered through the window and fell onto Lister's desk.

At this moment, Lister was writing furiously, drafting manufacturing instructions for a new product—not a daily necessity, but the production of Distilled Spirits.

The alcohol culture in the Pedan Kingdom was very rich, and people's love for alcohol was extremely high.

This could be seen from the fact that people almost always used alcohol as their daily beverage.

Among them, commoners mostly consumed low-priced barley wine, while nobles favored expensive Wines and other fruit liquors.

Besides these two, although there were small amounts of strong spirits, they were only strong because of the raw materials themselves; there were no spirits produced through distillation.

Therefore, as long as Distilled Spirits were introduced, he believed they would sell incredibly well. Moreover, besides drinking, the Distilled Spirits could also be used for sterilization and disinfection when Soldiers were injured.

Although this was a world of swords and magic, fundamental laws still existed. Many microorganisms had even become more dangerous than bacteria due to the special energy in the air.

Thus, whether for making money, military use, or other purposes, he would not let the knowledge of Distilled Spirits remain buried in his memory.

Drawing from the memories of his past life, Lister quickly wrote down a detailed explanation of Distillation Technology.

Although it wasn't incredibly detailed, as long as the brewing craftsmen experimented a few times, they would be able to produce it before long... Late at night, the Dolomite Mountains.

The mountains at night were pitch black; they were no paradise for humans, but a heaven for magical beasts and wild animals.

In the eerily quiet environment, a shrill roar would occasionally sound, as if coming from the depths of the abyss.

It was the sound of the law of the jungle: powerful beasts preyed on weak animals, and magical beasts preyed on those beasts.

But there were also differences in strength among magical beasts... Deep in the mountain forest, amidst the abyss-like darkness, a giant silver-white wolf-shaped magical beast slowly emerged.

"Awoo—!"

With its roar, numerous creatures within a radius of several hundred meters—whether sleeping, hiding, or hunting—all trembled with fear at the sound.

In the next second, they all rushed frantically toward the source of the sound, as if being a step late would mean death.

Under the moonlight, the Silver Wolf Magical Beast stood proudly atop the mountain peak, looking down at the dense pack of hundreds of beasts below.

As several wolf howls rose and then fell silent, the herd of beasts charged like mad toward Viscount Connor Kimmlers Territory outside the mountains.

Half an hour later, a shrill scream broke the silence of Viscount Connor Kimmlers Territory, and soon after, one scream after another rang out.

This night, the color of Viscount Connor Kimmlers Territory was destined to be blood-red... In the morning, golden rays of sunlight scattered across the entire Ironthorn Territory, and the silent environment was once again filled with the bustle of daily life.

After finishing his morning exercise and having breakfast, Lister listened to Brutus's report in his room, while Kim, Jacques, and Malo waited quietly nearby.

"Currently, the various development measures for the Ironthorn Territory are progressing steadily."

"Once the Winter Wheat sowing is over, the tasks of renovating Ironthorn Town and constructing the territory's roads can be implemented immediately."

"Judging by the construction speed of the Workshop and the New School over the past few days, my previous estimate of one month for the renovation can likely be shortened by 5 to 10 days, while still ensuring quality."

"And according to your requirements, Lord Lister, the four main roads centered on Ironthorn Town and connecting in all directions..."

"To build stone roads of sufficient quality, the material requirements will be higher, and the territory currently lacks good construction materials."

"Therefore, the construction time will be longer; besides the Ironthorn Town renovation task, it will take about two months to complete..."

After nearly an hour, Brutus finished his report.

Lister did not respond immediately but began to think, tapping his fingers on the table. Seeing this, Brutus and the other three remained quiet.

According to what Brutus said, these two most important development tasks for the Ironthorn Territory would take a total of about three months to complete, possibly a few days faster.

But Lister felt that this was too long. In two months, the harshest part of winter would arrive.

During this period, though not as terrifying as a Cold Wave, it would still be incredibly cold. All territories in the northwest of the kingdom would enter a so-called 'hibernation' period.

In other words, the residents of each territory would minimize their work as much as possible and would not go out unless necessary to avoid frostbite or even freezing to death.

Therefore, the renovation and construction work in the Ironthorn Territory would certainly be greatly affected and would have to be postponed until next spring.

This was clearly not in Lister's plan. After all, the territory was currently in a period of rapid development, and infrastructure should be completed as quickly as possible.

Having thought this through, he looked at the four and instructed, "Hobbes, these two tasks must be completed before the harsh winter arrives. I will find a way to address the issue of insufficient labor."

"As for the road construction, I have written instructions for making a new material called Cement. The materials required for it can be easily obtained from the Ironthorn Forest."

"Moreover, roads paved with it combined with other materials will be much better than stone roads in terms of hardness, durability, and smoothness."

"From now on, all road construction will use Cement. This way, we won't have to spend heavily on expensive materials from other territories, and it will also attract foreign merchant caravans here."

"Furthermore, Cement can also serve as a future source of export income for the territory. Take a look."

Saying this, under the extremely expectant gazes of the four, Lister took out the Cement production manual he had thought of and written yesterday afternoon.

Carefully taking the instructions written on Sedge Paper, the four read them together.