Episode 1: The New Lord of Lowell – Chapter 5: Patents and Profiteers

At the celebratory banquet that evening, the dwarf Manson squeezed his way in as well. Watching the dwarf, who ate just as much as Kress, seemingly oblivious to those around him, Zhou Wen—no, he should be called Saul from now on—looked displeased. With just these two guys, they could probably eat up half of Lowell’s harvest.

“I say, why did you come to join in the fun?” Saul asked.

“Hehe, got something for me?” Manson grinned and extended his hand towards him.

“What?”

“My gold coins. You promised me 200 gold coins if I made the waterwheel for you.”

Thinking that the dwarf had already turned foolish and excited from making the waterwheel, Saul never expected that he would still remember their deal. With a hint of helplessness, he said, “You really are obsessed with money.” Then he instructed Jessica to fetch the gold coins.

Manson downed the drink in his cup and sneered, “What are you talking about? I’m a businessman.”

In no time at all, as Manson put half of his wealth into his pockets, Saul felt a pang of heartache. However, he couldn’t just let go of such a skilled craftsman. So he said, “By the way, I still have some other ideas. Are you interested?”

“What is it?” Manson, who was already drunk, immediately became more sober upon hearing this.

Indeed, dwarfs were dwarfs. Their fanaticism for crafting was deeply ingrained in their blood and could overshadow everything else. Saul thought to himself that as long as he had this, he could keep Manson nearby. There would be plenty of use for him in revitalizing the territory.

After successfully testing the waterwheel, Saul suddenly had an urgent desire to do everything in his power to develop and build up the territory of Lowell. He had always enjoyed playing city-building games like “SimCity”, but that was just dealing with data on a computer, lacking in realism.

Now he had a real piece of land in front of him. Why wouldn’t he want to make it better? This was his own land, after all. And looking at the impoverished Lowell, gradually flourishing and thriving according to his plans, the sense of accomplishment would be incomparable to any game.

Furthermore, the prospect of seeing people genuinely happy in the future made it worth the effort.

It was a passion and a longing that came from cultivating something for oneself, and in this plan, the dwarf Manson was an excellent starting asset. How could Saul bear to let him go so easily?

“After you’ve eaten, I’ll show you what else I can make.” Saul began to lay the groundwork.

“Very well, I’m eager to see what other mechanical marvels you can produce.” Manson willingly obliged.

He sluggishly agreed and with a thud, he slumped onto the table, completely unconscious from intoxication. 

Sighing relief, Saul, slightly inebriated, began to plan his next steps.

 Money was the most pressing and scarce resource at the moment. Just the thought of the mere two hundred gold coins left in his territory’s coffers made Saul feel as if an insurmountable mountain loomed before him. Without acquiring additional funds in the short term, all of his development plans were nothing but mere fantasies.

Unfortunately, Lowell’s available resources were exceedingly scarce at present. Saul refused to believe that the two mountain ranges and a relic forest could not produce anything fruitful in the future. However, he couldn’t rely on that now.

Money…money… As Saul was anxiously holding his head in thoughts, he suddenly remembered a saying he had heard before: “Third-rate companies sell products, second-rate companies sell services, and first-rate companies sell patents.”

He realized that he had a great product—the water wheel—in his hands. He believed that this thing would be very popular in the agricultural society of the Dinar Kingdom. Wasn’t this equivalent to a substantial amount of gold coins?

Quickly, a plan formed in Saul’s mind, and he couldn’t wait to call out, “Jessica!”

“What’s going on?” Jessica appeared before Saul with a stern expression. Judging by her appearance, she clearly thought Saul was acting irrationally due to drinking.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Saul regretted them. Why had he shouted so loudly for her? Wasn’t he just asking for trouble? If Jessica thought he was being arrogant, then his future would be bleak.

However, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and say, “Tomorrow, I need you to bring the shrewdest merchant in town to me.”

After staring at Saul for a while and determining that he wasn’t joking, Jessica nodded her head. It seemed that Saul’s successful invention of the water wheel, coupled with the support of the people during the day, had helped him establish a great deal of prestige.

“What do you need them for?” In the end, Jessica couldn’t help but ask.

“Hehe, I need them to conjure up some gold coins for me,” Saul said with a mysterious smile.

※※※

After dinner, everyone went home, but Saul couldn’t calm down. He walked outside while slightly drunk and casually leaned against a porch column, gazing up at the stars in the sky.

The night breeze blew by, causing the weeds in the courtyard to rustle, bringing a sense of relief to his chest. It was strange how he had been here for over a month now, but only today did he take the time to appreciate this world seriously.

“My lord…” Suddenly, a timid female voice came from the door.

Saul looked over and saw Julie approaching him with a small box in her hand. Feeling surprised, he asked, “Julie, what are you doing here?”

Sitting down next to him, Julie opened the box, and a pleasant fragrance immediately wafted out. She smiled and said, “I told you that I wanted to thank you for helping me and my mother out the other day. This is a cake I made myself. I hope you won’t dislike it.”

“Not at all.” Saul shook his head repeatedly before picking up a piece and putting it in his mouth. It was fragrant, soft, and very delicious.

“Is it tasty?” Julie asked seriously, and when she saw Saul nodding repeatedly, she smiled happily.

“I actually wanted to come and see you a few days ago, but you were busy making the water wheel, so I postponed it until now. I was even wondering if the Lord would see me and if you would like my cake.”

“Not at all.” Saul quickly shook his head and was about to reach for the second piece. Suddenly, he noticed the cake box placed tightly against Julie’s leg. A gentle breeze blew, lifting her skirt slightly and revealing a smooth thigh.

Glug… Saul secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and his hand, which was reaching for the cake, suddenly turned and dropped it onto the floor. His index and middle fingers then stood upright like two legs, sneaking towards Julie’s thigh with small “steps”.

Julie gazed at the night sky, lost in thought, oblivious to Saul’s little antics. “I was so delighted to see the water wheel turning today. It was the first time I had ever witnessed such a clever mechanism. Everyone says it is all thanks to our Lord. We no longer need to worry about irrigation in our fields,” she said.

“Mm-hmm,” Saul absentmindedly replied, continuing his cautious “invasion” forward.

“Uncle Ruah says that our Lowell territory is small and poor, but we have had several good lords in a row. It feels like a big family in this place, which is why he doesn’t want to move to the domains of those who, despite being wealthy, have to deal with bad lords. With our Lord here, our lives will surely get better and better.”

At this point, Julie suddenly turned to look at Saul, causing him to hastily hit the brakes. Feeling guilty, Saul looked around and said, “What about you? Do you believe that too?”

“I…I feel the same way,” Julie blushed and lowered her head slightly.

“There’s hope!”  Even a dense fool could see that something was going on. Saul’s heart leaped for joy. Borrowing courage from alcohol, he raised two fingers that turned into the claws of a mountain cat, and silently reached towards Julie’s shoulder from behind.

“Ahem!” Unexpectedly, at this moment, a light cough suddenly came from above his head.

Suddenly, like a bucket of cold water poured over his head, Saul immediately sobered up, his right hand awkwardly frozen in mid-air. Julie turned her head in surprise and looked up, then exclaimed with joy, “Sister Jessica!”

In the second-floor window above their heads, Jessica calmly leaned out half of her body. Saul didn’t know if his treacherous intentions had been exposed or not, and he felt uneasy, not daring to lift his head.

“Sister Jessica, come down and have some cake with us,” Julie warmly invited.

Jessica shook her head, “No, I still have things to do. Be careful not to let the dog’s paws touch you.”

Saul’s heart skipped a beat as he heard this. Julie looked at Jessica, puzzled, as the latter withdrew back from the window before she muttered, “Dog’s paws? My lord, when did we start keeping dogs here?”

Indeed, Saul was caught red-handed, but he quickly laughed it off and changed the subject, “No, no, who knows what Jessica is talking about. Come on, let’s have some cake.”

As Saul gorged on the cake, Julie suddenly sighed and said in a soft voice, “My lord, may I ask you for a favor?”

“Hmm? What is it?” Saul asked vaguely.

“I implore you, please ensure that Lowell becomes prosperous and that everyone can live a good life. When I was born, my father left my mother and me because Lowell was too poor. He has never come back since then. Although my mother doesn’t say it, I know she still thinks about my father. My Lord, I beg you not to let such a thing happen again in Lowell!”

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As Julie spoke, she became more and more emotional, tightly grasping Saul’s hand, with tears glistening in her eyes.

Stunned by Julie’s close and beautiful face, Saul felt speechless for a moment. He realized that Julie and her mother worked hard to run their inn, and that there were hidden troubles like this that he was unaware of.

The malicious thoughts he harbored previously were currently all gone.

He realized that being a lord carried responsibilities, including making sure that people in Lowell could live well.

“Well, I promise you that I will make sure everyone lives a good life,” Saul said earnestly.

Upon hearing Saul’s words, Julie’s sad face brightened up, and a smile quickly spread across her face. At that moment, her beauty deeply captivated him.

Embarrassed, Julie wiped away the tears in the corner of her eyes and stood up, saying, “Look at me, I don’t even know what I said. But I truly appreciate you, my lord. I believe you can do it.”

“Begging your pardon for disturbing your rest,” Julie bowed deeply to Saul and left with light steps.

“Hey, hey, hey, why are you in such a hurry to leave? The night is clear and the moon and stars are bright. We can still get to know each other better, hey…” Saul shouted unwillingly, but Julie had already gone far away.

“Hmph…” A cold snort came from above.

Saul was surprised and looked up, just in time to see Jessica’s fiery red hair disappear from the window, followed by Marlene’s pretty face, who gave him a mischievous smile before disappearing as well.

Wow, what a mismatch! Here I am, a noble lord, having a conversation with a young girl, and yet I’m being watched like a wolf. Saul shook his head in resignation and stood up, patting his butt.

At this moment, his heart was filled with an unprecedented fighting spirit. 

Just watch, Julie. Even if it’s only for your request, I will definitely make Lowell prosper!

※※※

“What does 1+1 equal to?”

The next day, facing the merchants summoned to the estate, Saul spoke slowly and deliberately. The merchants looked at each other in confusion, all wearing a similar expression: could it be that the lord had not yet sobered up? Why did he specifically summon them just to ask a question that even a three-year-old could easily answer?

They were all the shrewdest merchants in Lowell… or rather, the few merchants that existed. Among them were several owners of potion, weapon, and armor shops that Saul had met before, as well as two traveling merchants.

Saul’s purpose in calling them was simple: to select suitable candidates to promote water wheels in other territories, in exchange for the necessary materials and funds for the development of the estate. Of course, he could not choose honest and straightforward people for this task. Otherwise, they might not be able to exchange anything when facing the shrewd merchants and lords of other territories, and Lowell might also be implicated.

In other words, what Saul needed was a—profiteer!

From the moment these people entered, Saul had a bad feeling. They all looked friendly, with sincere eyes and straight eyebrows, without the shrewd aura of merchants or the flexible and intelligent eyes of Saul’s ideal candidate.

In fact, the people of Lowell were generally simple and honest, and these shop owners were honest in their dealings and never engaged in any fraudulent activities, which was indeed a blessing for the territory. However, this was not what Saul needed at the moment.

The Lord asked a question that could not go unanswered. After a moment’s pause, everyone finally chimed in with their opinions: “It’s 2.”

“Ah, as expected. We still can’t find the ideal candidate. Should I personally make the trip? But there are so many urgent matters at hand that I simply can’t leave behind.” Upon hearing their response, Saul couldn’t help but feel a bit discouraged.

“Whatever the Lord thinks should be the correct answer.” Just when Saul was about to lose hope, a lazy voice suddenly came from behind the crowd.

“Who’s that?” Saul immediately felt ecstatic and asked loudly, lifting himself up.

“What are you talking about, Reed?” The prop shop owner, Lester, turned around and asked.

The speaker was a young man in his twenties with light yellow hair. He had been sitting quietly in the corner earlier, shadowed by several merchants, and Saul had not noticed him for a while. “Your ideas are too outdated, Father.” The young man called Reed stood up calmly and walked over.

“And who is this?” Saul looked toward Lester.

Lester awkwardly introduced, “This is my dog of a son, Reed. I sent him to learn business from his uncle in Reul territory since he was young. He only returned to Lowell last month. He heard that the Lord had summoned everyone today and insisted on coming to see. His nonsense just now, please do not take it to heart, my Lord.”

“Oh no, it’s fine,” Saul waved his hand, while carefully observing the young man named Reed. He bore some resemblance to his father, Lester, and had an ordinary and honest appearance, with only his agile eyes revealing that he was an extremely shrewd person. Such a person, once he starts deceiving others, is a hundred times more dangerous than those with actual sly looks.

Saul looked at Reed, who also unabashedly stared back at him. The two of them stared at each other for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing simultaneously. Several old men watched them in confusion, and Lester was even more secretly alarmed. His son had always behaved oddly, but meeting the lord today, had they both gone insane?

It’s you who I need. Saul pointed to the exit passage and said to the crowd, “Please all of you go back. I have something to discuss with Reed.”

Unexpectedly, he called them all here only to leave behind this young man, causing several merchants to show surprise. With a heart full of doubt, they helplessly left, and soon the study was only left with Saul and Reed.

“So, my lord, is there something you wish to discuss with me?” Reed plopped down in front of Saul in an easygoing manner.

Saul briefly explained his plan of exchanging his water wheel technology for capital, and finally said, “What I need you to do is to be my profiteer. I hope you will use any means necessary, even if it means cheating and deceiving, to obtain as much gold as possible. I won’t lecture you on morals, but I will pay you five percent of the sales you make.”

Saul knew exactly what kind of person Reed was. In fact, he could tell from the moment he laid eyes on him that Reed was a natural-born merchant. To such a person, all rhetoric is empty talk, and only tangible gold can win them over. Thus, he straightforwardly presented the potential reward to him first.

Reed’s eyes lit up immediately, as he had witnessed the miraculous water wheel for himself. With his innate merchant’s mind, he quickly judged that this was to be a profitable deal.

“Alright, my lord, if you trust me, I will not disappoint you,” Reed nodded.

“The water wheel is too large to be taken out for you to sell. So I’m curious, how do you plan on handling this?” Saul decided to test him a little.

Reed smiled proudly, “Without an actual item, everything is just talk. However, my lord, rest assured, I will invite representatives of nearby lords to Lowell within a month. As long as I let them see the water wheel with their own eyes, they will obediently hand over their gold coins.”

“Good!” Based on this one sentence alone, Saul knew he had chosen the right person.

As Reed left, Jessica walked in. Watching him leave, she couldn’t help but ask with some concern,

“Can you trust him with such an important task?”

Saul said confidently, “Don’t worry, there’s no one more suitable in Lowell to do this kind of job than him. Besides, his entire family is within the territory, so Reed won’t play any tricks.”

Pausing for a moment, he rubbed his chin and revealed a sly expression that wasn’t much different from that of a shady merchant. “If I’m not mistaken, there will be plenty of opportunities to use him in the future development of the territory.”

※※※

During the time Reed was away, Saul continued designing various contraptions, such as a water mill that could be attached to a water wheel, folding tables and chairs, and even, with Manson’s help on a rainy day, the first shrinking umbrella.

At the same time, Manson had led a team to build four more water wheels along the river, which covered most of the farmland. Standing on a high point, one could see the five water wheels slowly turning, constantly pumping water ashore, and creating a magnificent view.

The water mill was created with the territory in mind, as using livestock to power a mill was inefficient and labor-intensive. By directly attaching the mill to the water wheel and harnessing the power of the water, the efficiency increased several-fold. Once it was installed, it caused quite a sensation in Lowell. Saul decided to make it freely available for public use, with only one person assigned to manage and maintain it.

As for the folding tables and chairs, Saul gifted a set to the Mercy mother and daughter pair, which could be opened when in use and stored away when not, occupying minimal space. For residents with smaller living quarters, it was undoubtedly a fantastic item. With the help of the Unicorn Inn’s advertising, traveling merchants soon witnessed its benefits. Several herbal merchants even immediately ordered dozens of sets to sell outside of the territory.

However, Saul intended to sell the umbrella directly. As he couldn’t make thin steel wire, Manson manually crafted the umbrella frame using flexible tree branches, which failed many times before 3 umbrellas were completed.

As such items were not easy to promote, Saul decided to coat the umbrella surface with the most beautiful patterns and, at great cost, dissolved fifty gold coins and decorated the umbrella frame with gold. This turned the umbrella into a stunning work of art, ready to be sold to wealthy women at a high price at the appropriate time, which would earn him a hefty profit.

As expected by Saul’s prediction, the dwarf Manson has become completely engrossed in his “inventions” under Saul’s constant enticement. He now considers the town’s blacksmith shop as his own home, spending his days tinkering and fanatically producing all sorts of things. Even his assistant blacksmiths have greatly benefited from his influence, with their forging techniques rapidly improving.

Although Saul could only offer them a small portion of the earnings from selling folding tables and chairs as compensation, no one complained. As the creators of these tools, they were the ones who most directly and tangibly felt the power of these objects. Nobody doubted that one day the Lord’s inventions would bring in a stream of gold coins.

For the residents of Lowell, the past month was worth more than the entire past year in terms of what they saw. They had never before witnessed such a rapid influx of new and exciting things into their territory. Everyone felt the subtle changes happening around them. Though daily life largely remained the same, more and more smiles could be seen on people’s faces. They all believed that their lord would bring positive changes to the Lowell territory.

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