Chapter 215: The Times, Normandy I

It was sunset when they finished looking through the contracts. Given the time, Serena chose not to look over the list of names and the sheet music anymore. So, after that, they made and ate dinner, enjoying their time together until Jack arrived to fetch the two of them.

Curious, Serena asked who does the upkeep of the house as she noticed that it was clean when she got there that morning. Charlton explained that he hired a helper who cleans the house twice a week with Jack's supervision.

Anyway, when they got back in school, it was almost 9 in the evening. They said their goodbyes and kissed each other goodnight.

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At 6:00 in the morning, Charlton was ready to go. He went down the dormitory and saw that Jack was already waiting for him. He instructed that they use the black carriage so that they won't garner unwanted attention. 

The road to Normandy was rough and uneven. It took them almost 5 hours to get there. Arriving at the town's gate, a simple black carriage was already waiting for their arrival. Since Jack and Lucas' coachman have already met last time, they were able to recognize one another easily. They went on a convoy towards Lucas' newspaper publishing company.

Charlton alighted the carriage when they reached the front of the publishing company. There to welcome him was Lucas. Behind him were about fifty employees.

"Lord Daniel, it is with great honor that I welcome you to 'The Times' newspaper publishing company. Please, let me show you inside." Lucas greeted as he made a bow. 

Charlton helped him up then said in a friendly manner, "No need to bow, Lucas. We will become business partners soon, so I don't think that this is necessary. Anyway, it is my pleasure to be here. Please, lead the way."

Lucas smiled. He straightened himself as he indicated Charlton to walk with him towards the entrance of the company.

Charlton fell in step with Lucas so that they were walking side by side. Along the way, the employees bowed to greet him respectfully and took curious glances at him when they thought he wasn't looking. One may think that he should be used to this kind of treatment from everyone. However, he spent his formative years in Alighieri where in school, they were treated like normal students, and whenever he goes out with Kylo, they usually don't reveal their identity. Then, when he was at home, he was often sent to train with the soldiers, and they did not treat him with such reverie. Thus, he still felt flattered when they treat him as such. So, whenever their eyes meet his, he would give them a small smile of acknowledgement. 

"Everyone has been looking forward towards your arrival. So please forgive them for the impertinence." Lucas apologized when he noticed everyone peeking at Charlton.

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Charlton chuckled, "It's quite alright." 

"Thank you for understanding. I know that the travel here has been quite arduous, so let me ask if you wish to take a rest? Or should we have early lunch?"

Charlton shook his head, he rather walk-around first given that he has been sitting inside the carriage for 5 hours. "No need, we can have lunch later. For now, let us proceed with the ocular."

Lucas nodded his head. He started giving him a tour of his company and started explaining how everything works. He also gave a brief background on the newspaper printing industry.

"This machine here is what we call a Hoe six-feeder type-revolving machine. And this is what gives us an edge over our competitors. Other newspaper publishing company still use the cylinder press which is prone to jarring and can only print around 8,000 impressions an hour considering that it's working on 8 feeders. The quality of the copies it produces are also not as good. But for us, with this new technology, we can print perfect copies of over 12,000 double-sided sheets per hour. In fact, we can still increase production of up to 20,000 once the additional feeders arrive. Anyway, this made it possible for us to have a larger circulation since last year.

Another edge that we have over the others is that here, we practice division of labor and specialization. Each person has their own set of responsibilities, whether they are assigned for newsgathering and reporting, editing, printing, or distribution. This I believe, makes us more efficient than the others. Making the news we deliver timely and relevant."

Charlton nodded his head in understanding. He did not really know the insides of the publishing industry and the information Lucas has been giving him were interesting. However, based on his explanation, he can clearly see why his company was being targeted.

"Not to brag, but The Times has become the leading newspaper in the capital. The efficiency we have been able to achieve has made it so that newspaper become cheaper and more accessible to the larger population. It was all great until we landed on this predicament, we're in. 

In this industry, each publishing company has their own target audience. In the beginning, without the cylinder press, we only ever focused on local news and advertisements. But then, since we have this technology, we expanded to business journalism, news about disasters, science, medicine, crime, even fiction and poetry. However, amongst all these, what we never deign to touch was politics.

Truth is, political papers are very popular. I know some publishing company that are being subsidized or funded by whichever faction. They are aligned with them either because their company can't afford to run without the patronage, or that they have been forced to do so.

The Times do not need that as it is earning more than enough profit on its own. Aside from that, I do not wish to politicize it as I don't want to receive the backlash from either of the factions when one triumphs over the other. However, I was being too naïve. Being in this field, one has no choice but to align themselves unless they have a strong backing."

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TBC

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