“Oh!”


  Michael’s face immediately turned bright red, and it seemed as if jets of flames were about to erupt out of his widened eyes. Only after struggling for a long while did he manage to swallow that first mouthful of fish, following which he immediately turned to Yabemiya, and urgently said, “Get me a glass of beer with ice!”


  “Sure.” Yabemiya quickly made her way toward the kitchen. She knew that the insanely spicy grilled fish was not something that everyone could handle.

  “Are you alright, Father?” Vivian asked with a slightly mischievous smile on her face as she continued to dine on the grilled fish.

  Michael accepted the glass of beer that Yabemiya had brought him, and chugged down most of it in one go. Only then did he feel as if the scorching sensation in his throat had subsided. His expression eased slightly as he heaved a sigh of relief. He then turned to Vivian in a state that was caught somewhere between laughter and tears, and asked, “Are you trying to kill your father? How is this fish even edible?”


  Vivian ate a large chunk of fish before turning to Michael with a confused look as she countered, “How is this not edible? I feel like this is the best level of spiciness there is. Ever since I had my first insanely spicy grilled fish, all of the other levels have felt too bland and tasteless.”


  “Alright, have some more if you like it so much. Watch out for the fishbones.” Michael shook his head with a resigned expression before chugging down the remainder of his beer. He then signaled to Yabemiya for another glass. There was no way that he would be able to have any more of this insanely spicy grilled fish, but he could certainly do with another glass of this refreshing beer.

  9 pm soon arrived, and Mag waited a couple of minutes until all of the customers had finished their meals before clearing the tables.

  Michael turned to Mag with a smile, and said, “Boss Mag, I heard from Dicus that you have a business proposal for the city lord’s castle. Would I be able to examine the fruits of your research now?”


  Mag smiled, and replied, “There’s no way I can turn the city lord away after you’ve made the effort to get here in person. If Young Mistress Vivian isn’t in a hurry to get home and is happy to play with Anna and Amy while enjoying her grilled fish, then I would be happy to show you what I’ve developed.”


  “You guys can take your time; I still have half a fish left to eat,” Vivian said without even raising her head. She had just finished half of her fish, and was turning it over to begin feasting on the other side.

  “You two can go back for today. Leave the cleanup for tomorrow morning,” Mag instructed to Yabemiya and Sally. He then had a quick word with Amy before leading Michael to the room[1] next to the restaurant.

  The spacious room was illuminated by a few lamps, and the small train in the corner was very eye-catching.

  Michael walked in a circle around the steam train with a fascinated expression, and asked, “So this is the steam train? Can it actually move without being pulled by any magic beasts?”


  Mag opened the lid of the boiler and added some coal as he replied, “This steam train converts the thermal energy from the combustion of coal into a controllable form of kinetic energy. As such, it can power its own movement, and there’s no need for anything to pull it. Also, this is just a miniature train, but many more carriages can be added to a full-sized one for more storage capacity.”


  “It only requires coal?” Michael strode forward and picked up a piece of coal before crushing it into black powder. Sure enough, this really was a pile of coal.

  “The steam engine can only run on coal at the moment, but if a more efficient energy source is discovered, that can perhaps be used as well.” Mag didn’t want to speak in definite terms, as this was a magical world, after all, so there could be better and cheaper alternatives out there.

  Michael looked at the steam train with an intrigued expression, and asked, “Can I try it out?”


  “Of course. Please board the train, City Lord.” Mag nodded with a smile as he ignited the boiler. White steam began to billow out from the train’s chimney, and he climbed onto the driver’s seat, waiting for the barometer to reach a certain threshold before pushing the control shaft forward, upon which the steam train began to clunk forward.

  Michael looked down at the railway tracks that the train was traveling along, and his eyes completely lit up. Hydle’s team had given him many concepts regarding how the steam engine could be utilized, yet those were merely insubstantial and abstract ideas. In contrast, this steam train was showing him firsthand the changes that the steam engine could effect.

  There was no need for magic beasts; only coal was required to power this metallic hunk of a vehicle.

  The steam train traveled in a circle around the room before coming to a halt. Michael remained seated on the train for a while before disembarking, upon which he turned to Mag, and said, “Boss Mag, what’s this train’s towing capacity?”


  “This is just a miniature steam train for demonstration purposes. If it were to be constructed for practical application, the whole thing would need to be bigger, and the overall horsepower of the train would also be enhanced. In that case, one steam train would be able to tow up to 100 tons of weight. We’ll need to actually produce a steam train before we can ascertain the exact figures. As for how long the train can run for, as long as there’s sufficient coal, the train can travel anywhere where there are railway tracks,” Mag elaborated with a serious expression.

  Upon hearing this, Michael began to tap the train absentmindedly as he fell into deep thought. After a brief silence, he looked at Mag with a smile, and said, “Arrange a time with Scheer and we’ll discuss terms for collaboration.”


  “Sure.” A smile also appeared on Mag’s face. It had been easier to gain the interest of the city lord’s castle than he had expected. With the nod given by the city lord’s castle, Mag already held the initiative as the organizer for this three-way collaboration……

  Even at this hour, the Blue Suede clothing store was still brightly lit.

  Mars, who quickly walked into the room, discovered Gloria sitting on her own with a piece of fabric draped over her hands, seemingly deep in thought about something. He said, “Young Mistress, all 30 dresses have been reserved, and each of them has been sold for 100,000 copper coins. All of them will be produced and paid for by the end of the month. Many customers also inquired about the other two dress styles, but we acted according to your instructions, and refused to accept reservations. Instead, we’re going to release them half a month later. The reception for those dresses should be quite fantastic as well.”


  “That’s great! We’ll definitely be able to make this a profitable business by the end of the month, then, right?” Gloria’s eyes lit up with excitement, and she felt as if all of her exhaustion from a hard day of work had been wiped away.

  Mars nodded, and replied, “The president has taken care of the debt that the shop currently owes. After deducting the cost of wages and the cost of tallying up our stock, just the 30 dresses alone will make us 2,000,000 copper coins’ worth of profit. Half a month later, the other two dress designs will also be released, and those should also fetch the store 500,000-1,000,000 copper coins.”


  Gloria put down the fabric in her hands, and a smile appeared on her face as she said, “The president sent me a letter today, telling me that if our profit for this month can exceed that of the forge that Cyril is running, then I’ll become a Board Member of the Chamber of Commerce and be given the opportunity to take over even more businesses.”


  Mars nodded with a confident expression as he speculated, “That forge used to be quite a profitable business, but it’s since tapered off significantly in the past few years, and is on the brink of incurring losses. It’s in slightly better condition than the Blue Suede Textiles Shop previously, but it’s virtually impossible for them to make more profit than our shop in 20 days.”


  Gloria shook her head, and replied, “We still shouldn’t get complacent. Cyril definitely wouldn’t be willing to give up so easily.”
……

  In the darkness of the night, there was a group of black-robed knights silently entering Chaos City through the northern city gates.

  [1] It used to be a building, but author calls it a room lately. Maybe some reconstruction took place……