Chapter 91

"Lord!?"

Fiona was taken aback, jumping to her feet to protest.

Tang En waved his hand, pushing her back down.

Tang En smiled and said, "Don't worry, he's not a suspicious person."

Tang En was certain that Karl was not a suspicious person. On one hand, the Bollard family had a good reputation within the empire, and on the other hand, Karl was clearly not cut out to be a spy.

Not only was he a goof who had run away from home in his twenties, but the contents of his notebook already revealed what kind of person he was.

Just look at what this narcissist had written down. He knew the rendezvous points of his neighbors and even recorded the fact that the guard's pet was about to give birth. This guy was clearly a gossip monger!

Wasn't this kind of person perfect for managing the Tang Dynasty Daily?

"Thank you for your trust, Lord! And thank you for your permission."

Karl displayed a standard nobleman's smile. "However, as for working for you, please forgive me, but I cannot accept it. I think the gold coins I have are enough to support my life in Ellington."

"Oh?"

Tang En raised an eyebrow and threw the bag of gold coins to Fiona. "Fiona, take it. This is the gold Karl paid for the right to live in Ellington."

Then Tang En turned to Karl. "Sorry, what did you just say?"

Karl's smile froze. "Lord, you can't do this..."

Tang En pointed to himself. "I am the lord, right?"

Karl nodded.

"Who decides who can live in Ellington, right?"

Karl nodded again.

"You want to live in Ellington to see the elves, right?"

Karl nodded repeatedly.

Tang En spread his hands. "So what gives you the right to negotiate with me?"

Karl... shook his head vigorously. "No, no! I've never heard of needing to buy the right to live somewhere!"

Tang En smiled shamelessly. "This is Ellington, and I make the rules. If I say you have to buy it, you have to buy it."

Karl's face was a picture of despair. He had never met such a shameless noble before... Other nobles, even if they were shameless, would at least pretend to be righteous, but not like him, who wore his shamelessness on his face.

"So, Mr. Karl, do you need this job I'm offering?"

Tang En grabbed Karl's hand enthusiastically and said with a smile, "You know, I have a job that's perfect for you. If you accept it, maybe... I'll let you meet the elves."

"Really!?"

Karl gripped Tang En's hand excitedly. "Then it's a deal!"

"Of course, I always keep my word."

Tang En patted his shoulder with a smile. "Now, go out for a moment. I'll arrange your job shortly."

After sending Karl out, Fiona became anxious. "Do you really trust him? What if he steals the methods for processing mint candy and soap?"

Tang En shrugged. "Don't worry, his diary shows he's a goof. I need someone to run the Tang Dynasty Daily, and a gossip monger who comes to me is too good to pass up."

"A goof?"

Fiona clearly didn't understand the term.

"Um, basically, he's harmless. The Bollard family has a good reputation, and I doubt you don't know this family."

"I know, but nobles are all hypocrites... Lord, I didn't mean you."

"Of course, I know."

Tang En didn't seem to care. "The air conditioners have been installed, which should improve their efficiency. When Hilton returns, he shouldn't have any complaints."

"I hope so. Now we're counting on her and Thomas to open the market in Bane and bring in a steady stream of gold coins."

Fiona flipped through her notebook. "Also, the air conditioner you made today, if it can be mass-produced immediately, it will likely create a trend among the nobles, bringing in a lot of gold coins."

"Mass production... it's a bit difficult."

Tang En scratched his head. The triple magic array was not hard to draw manually, but the problem was how to mass-produce it. Even if he found a mage, they might not have the precise control needed, and he couldn't afford to hire someone with that ability.

"Can't you find a way to solve it?"

Fiona looked at Tang En with teary eyes. It was a rare opportunity to have a product that could be mass-produced, and if Tang En said it couldn't be done, she would really cry.

"Well... let me think about it."

Tang En sighed. "Also, how much longer will it take to complete the steel mill?"

"According to the blueprints you provided, they are working as fast as they can. Brian and Elsa occasionally help, which speeds things up. However, it will take at least seven days."

"Seven days... too slow..."

This efficiency was acceptable, but if there were mages in the construction team, it would be much faster. If Tang En did it himself, it would probably take just one day, but the problem was that if the efficiency was too high, the residents of Ellington would consider it a miracle, and widespread prayer could easily attract unwanted attention...

Tang En didn't want to attract those people, so he had to endure this efficiency.

Or he could recruit some mages to help with the construction in Ellington, but was that possible now?

"It's not slow at all!"

Fiona said irritably. "Have you thought about how many people there are? If it weren't for Elsa and Brian solving many problems, it would probably take a month."

"I understand. What else?"

"You mentioned before that Ellington needs to be re-planned. If you really intend to do this, it's best to start immediately."

Fiona flipped through her notebook. "Recently, the residents of Ellington have been motivated and interested by the ongoing construction. With new jobs and good salaries, they have some savings and can afford the costs during the transition period."

"If we don't start now, by the time we enter the Harvest Month, they won't have time for construction. After the Harvest Month comes the Festival Month, during which no construction will take place."

"Re-planning..."

Tang En was a bit troubled. He thought there were no more issues, but this question revealed that there were still many things to do.

Ellington must be re-planned. The town was initially built without any planning, which was very detrimental to future development. It would be better to start re-planning now rather than making major changes later.

"Alright, I'll note it down."

Seeing that Fiona was about to continue reporting, Tang En's scalp tingled, and he quickly said, "I'll go arrange Karl's job. I'll start thinking about mass-producing the air conditioners and re-planning Ellington later. You continue working!"

Tang En fled from the study, leaving Fiona stomping her feet in frustration.

After taking Karl for a brief tour of Ellington, Tang En brought him to a nondescript house, which was the temporary editorial office of the Tang Dynasty Daily.

"Your task from now on is to collect the latest, hottest, and most interesting news in Ellington every day, then organize and format it, and use this printing press to print it out..."

Tang En briefly explained Karl's task and taught him how to use the printing press.

As expected, Karl's eyes lit up with excitement when he heard about the job. This was exactly what he was good at, and there was nothing more exciting than digging up interesting stories to share with everyone.

However...

"How can Ellington have so much paper!?"

Karl was very surprised. "This newspaper must be very expensive, right?"

"Not expensive, one silver coin per copy."

"What!?"

Karl's eyes widened. "Only one silver coin!? A single sheet of paper costs ten silver coins!"

Tang En smiled faintly. "No, the paper is produced in Ellington, so the cost is low. You can use it freely without worrying."

"Produced in Ellington..."

Karl's breathing quickened. It seemed that Ellington had more secrets than he imagined!

"Work hard, young man. I believe in you!"

Tang En gave him a thumbs up. "If you work hard and satisfy me, I might let you meet our elf partner in Ellington."

Seeing that Karl was immediately excited and started working without even asking about the pay, Tang En smiled, knowing he had found the right person.

After dealing with Karl, Tang En wandered back to the lord's residence and went into his room.

With the Tang Dynasty Daily now under Karl's management, Tang En had one less task to worry about and could focus on solving problems.

The first issue was the mass production of the air conditioners.

The key to the magical air conditioner was the triple magic array on the base plate. Without this array, the air conditioner was just a simple metal box.

Since it was very intricate, ordinary mages couldn't handle it, and Tang En couldn't spend all his time making them. Mass production was a big challenge.

"If it were Earth technology, even with many parts, mass production would be simpler, but this magical version of the air conditioner..."

Tang En mused. The outer shell of the air conditioner could be made using a press, but the base plate and magic array couldn't. If the magic array were a simple pattern, Tang En could make a stamp and just stamp the base plate, but the array was made of magic dust or other magical materials to produce the effect. If it were just...

"Wait! Stamp? Magic dust?"

Tang En suddenly narrowed his eyes, trying to grasp the fleeting idea in his mind.

Stamp... base plate... magic dust... magical materials... magic flow...

"I have an idea!"

Tang En's eyes widened, and he couldn't help but laugh maniacally.

He suddenly had a brilliant idea. If this method worked, it would not only solve the mass production problem for the air conditioners but could also be applied to other areas, with a wide range of uses. It could be called a revolution in magic array technology!

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PS: Four updates today, I'll keep working hard tomorrow, guys!