Chapter 86

Chapter 86

#86. The Northern Region’s Retaliation (1)

The weekend was over, and Monday had arrived.

“Every time I visit, I can’t help but marvel at the dazzling development of the Northern Region. It feels like witnessing the transformation of heaven and earth.”

Bishop Entaire had just finished an audience at the High City and rushed straight to the workshop.

“Isn’t that beautiful secretary always by your side, Lady Mary? I don’t see her today.”

“She took a paid day off for personal matters.”

“Paid day off? What’s that?”

“It’s taking one paid day off each month.”

“My goodness.”

“Excuse me?”

“Never mind. Hehehe…”

He shook his head slightly as if he shouldn’t have heard that and quickly changed the subject.

“By the way, regarding those items you requested to purchase… I apologize we couldn’t assist this time, President Jin.”

“It’s alright. I fully understand.”

After exchanging brief pleasantries…

We strolled together through the workshop.

There were employees and security from various companies around us.

“Haven’t seen you in a while, but it seems like Arad Company employees have changed quite a bit?”

“In what way?”

While looking around the workshop, Bishop Entaire suddenly spoke upon seeing the Arad Company employees.

“They seem to have a stronger sense of belonging. Is it because they’re all wearing the same clothes?”

“That’s exactly why we issued uniforms.”

“Uniforms… They feel different from workwear. How should I put it? They look tidier and more upscale. The design is stylish too. Yet, they also seem comfortable for movement. They’d make great everyday wear.”

While making academy uniforms, we also mass-produced uniforms for our company employees.

If the students’ uniforms were light blue tops with black pants, the employee uniforms consisted of deep gray top and bottom sets made entirely of Rian fabric, paired with black leather boots.

The company logo, a golden carriage, was embroidered on the chest, shoulders, and hips.

Incidentally, starting from autumn, we also provided fur coats, fur gloves, and fur boots.

“Hmm, interesting. When I return, I’ll consider issuing uniforms at Bishop Company.”

Bishop Entaire examined the Arad Company uniforms with shining eyes.

‘Then he’ll probably deduct it from their salaries again.’

Looking at Bishop Entaire’s expression, I pitied the employees working there.

‘Or not?’

Upon reconsidering, it might be fine for the Bishop Company employees since they’d receive cheap, quality clothes.

Honestly, our company was the odd one out by this world’s standards.

No wonder Mary expressed concern to me.

“Still, distributing such high-quality clothes in bulk must’ve cost quite a lot, right? Even for Arad Company, wouldn’t you charge for these uniforms?”

At that moment, Entaire asked me with curiosity and concern.

‘As expected.’

He was planning to charge the Bishop Company employees for their uniforms.

“We distributed them for free.”

I gave an answer completely opposite to what Entaire had hoped for.

“??!”

My response drew a fascinating reaction from Entaire.

Not just Entaire, but everyone around us showed varied expressions. On our side, pride and self-respect. On theirs, envy mixed with confusion.

“Money… It must’ve cost a tremendous amount. Even with Arad sweeping up gold and silver coins across the continent, supplying uniforms of such quality would’ve been quite burdensome.”

Entaire seemed to view me as some unfathomable being.

“It didn’t cost as much as you’d think. The total cost per employee uniform is about half a silver coin.”

“!!”

“Our employees produced these uniforms using our own resources, allowing us to save significantly. Essentially, the main expense was buying cotton and magic stone powder.”

“Ah, now I understand why you’ve been purchasing so much imperial cotton lately… Wait, does that mean you’ve already processed it through spinning?”

Indeed, despite the low price, it was still quite impressive.

For reference, this included the cost of winter uniforms.

“How are you producing them so inexpensively?”

It was spring, and even in the cold Northern Region, no one wears fur coats or boots during the day.

Thus, Entaire wasn’t aware of the winter uniforms yet, but he was still incredibly surprised.

“Isn’t the fabric used for those uniforms Rian fabric? Isn’t it known for its resistance to cold and moisture, tough enough to be used as ship sails?”

“Yes.”

“But how…?”

The uniforms of Arad Company weren’t made from ordinary fabric.

They used Rian fabric, which felt like premium denim with fleece lining from Earth.

It was a fabric unique to this world.

“Actually, money isn’t the issue… Rian fabric isn’t something that can be mass-produced just by having lots of money, right?”

“You’re correct. Producing Rian fabric costs more in terms of technology and manpower than the raw materials.”

Rian fabric uses magic stones.

Low-grade magic stone powder-soaked cotton is dried, spun into thread, and woven into fabric using looms.

However, extracting threads and weaving fabric from cotton with magic stone powder is much harder than with regular fabric.

Therefore, not only is the price high, but production volume is limited. Labor costs are as expensive as silk.

It’s not called “rough people’s silk” for nothing.

So, only wealthy mercenaries and knights wore clothes made from this fabric when the weather got cold.

“By the way, our employees haven’t been wearing these uniforms for even two weeks.”

“That means…!”

“Follow me. Showing you will be better than explaining.”

I guided Bishop Entaire somewhere.

It was a building slightly smaller than a factory but larger than a workshop.

Yet, the security and magical barriers guarding the building were as strict as those of the company’s vault.

“What exactly happens here?”

The lab door opened, and Entaire looked inside tensely.

“It’s a lab. We experiment with upcoming equipment and products here.”

In the center of the building stood some machinery.

The most outstanding employees were maintaining the equipment.

“Isn’t the Northern Region’s creed ‘Revenge must be repaid’?”

I said while looking at the equipment in the lab.

“The Northern Region has always been on the receiving end from the Empire. The recent plague incident was just the tip of the iceberg.”

“…”

“Now, it’s time for us to exact retribution from the Empire, more specifically, the Imperial Family.”

I placed my hand on Entaire’s shoulder and continued.

“And the vanguard of this punishment will be you, President Entaire.”

Entaire turned away from looking inside the lab and stared at me.

“I’ve heard the coronation ceremony will start soon.”

“Yes. Once this is done, I need to go to the capital immediately.”

“Isn’t it very burdensome for you?”

“Ah… I can’t deny that.”

Mentioning the Emperor caused Entaire’s expression to darken.

“After the coronation, even more pressure will come. In the worst case, I might have to sacrifice a few businesses to the Emperor.”

This was likely why Entaire rushed to the High City before the coronation.

“Do you have any plans?”

I asked the now serious-looking Entaire.

“The Order and the Nobility Council have decided to form an alliance. I’ve agreed to fund it.”

“A substantial amount of money will be needed, won’t it?”

“Yes. The trade guilds and merchant associations that dislike Bishop Company will side with the royal family.”

“Almost all the guilds in the Empire will probably declare themselves pro-royalty. Bishop Company will have to provide that much funding for the alliance.”

“Yes… That’s how I can maintain my standing within the Order and the Nobility Council. It’s like I’ve abandoned almost all the guilds in the Empire because of me.”

With a gloomy look, Entaire continued.

“But with the current funds, it’s far from enough. If things go wrong, I might be abandoned by both sides.”

“That can’t happen. The growth of Bishop Company is our revenge. Now, look back at that.”

I redirected his gaze to the center of the lab.

“Introducing: the sewing machine, mechanical spinning frame, and mechanical spinning jenny.”

Following my gesture, the prepared employees started operating the spinning jenny, spinning frame, and sewing machine.

Tatatatatata

Since we haven’t obtained rubber yet, we haven’t invented the magic circuit.

But steam engines are possible.

Chiiiiik

The steam engine attached to the spinning frame and spinning jenny emitted loud steam sounds.

Compared to the magic circuit, the steam engine is highly inefficient in terms of fuel, output, and maintenance costs.

Chikchikchik

Tatatatatata

Nevertheless, they extracted threads, wove fabrics, and made clothes at an incredible efficiency and speed never seen before.

“Aaaaaaah…!”

Seeing this, Entaire finally understood how we could provide Rian fabric uniforms to all employees so cheaply and quickly.

“Are you offering exclusive sales of Rian fabric to our Bishop Company? Is that it?”

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll sell you these sewing machines, spinning frames, spinning jennies, and steam engines.”

“??”

“All these things in here?!”

His eyes widened to the point of tearing, and his pupils clearly revealed shock and excitement.

‘He’s probably imagining mass-producing empire steel and weapons right now, huh?’

On the other hand, I saw another scheme in his eyes.

Go ahead and try it. I won’t interfere.

“May I ask the reason? It’s hard to believe…”

Entaire confirmed with a trembling voice.

True, it was hard to believe. After refusing to disclose the secrets of porcelain manufacturing, suddenly announcing the sale of things that seemed dozens of times more remarkable than porcelain…

“If we monopolize these, the Empire won’t fragment but unite. Just like how the royal family and the Order joined forces during the last plague, this time the Nobility Council, the royal family, and the Order will join hands.”

“Ah…!”

“Do you understand now?”

“Yes.”

“Then, I’ll show you the factories where these machines are installed.”

Mechanical spinning frames, spinning jennies, sewing machines, and primitive steam engines…

There’s a significant risk of triggering an industrial revolution in the Empire, but there’s another reason I haven’t disclosed to Entaire.

‘I’m introducing steampunk, which didn’t exist in the original history, to the Empire. This way, investments and interest in magitech engineering will decrease, slowing its development.’

Now is a very crucial time for the development of magitech engineering.

During this period, every investment greatly impacts technological advancement.

‘While they’re distracted, we’ll advance magitech engineering!’

Introducing steampunk into the arcanepunk world.

‘Let them take a little detour.’

Of course, if people aren’t stupid, they’ll eventually conclude that magitech engineering is far superior to steam engines.

But compared to the original history, its development speed will lag behind considerably.

After leaving the lab, we moved to Factory No. 20 next.

Inside, machines resembling Earth’s mule spinning jennies were continuously spinning threads without stopping.

On the side, steam engines, the power source, emitted chik-chik sounds.

Coal was used as energy.

To increase output, low-grade fire, wood, wind, and light attribute magic stones were occasionally mixed with coal.

Tututututu

On the other side, mechanical looms were also weaving fabrics competitively.

A pure masterpiece of mechanical engineering without any magic involved.

It was also an invention combining memories from Earth and MAX-level mechanical engineering skills.

“Not just fabrics, but clothes are also being mass-produced.”

I guided Entaire to Factory No. 25 filled with sewing machines after visiting the spinning and weaving factories.

“The era of making and wearing clothes at home is over. Only a few wealthy people will have custom-made clothes, while most commoners will buy cheap clothes available in the market and just mend the ends.”

Unlike the previous two factories, the sewing machines here were manual, operated by hand and foot.

In the factory, over a hundred women of various ages sat and worked on sewing.

“Prostitution among housewives will probably decrease.”

Entaire muttered quietly after seeing the sewing machine factory.

Having already experimented with division of labor in factories, Entaire would surely operate well if provided with the machines.

“Would it be okay to share a piece of personal advice related to clothing production?”

“Whose teaching is this? I should be the one asking for it. I’ll listen attentively.”

So this time, I decided to teach him something else.

Standardization and normalization.

“These are uniforms ordered from the High City yesterday. Over there, we’re producing priest robes ordered by the Lenslet Order, and in the nearby factory, we’re making military uniforms for Northern soldiers.”

I continued explaining.

“After mass production and division of labor, we introduced standardization and normalization. For this, we categorized the body types of Northern residents into five sizes.”

“Standardization…!”

“Based on adult male measurements, we classified them into S, M, X, XL, XXL, and applied the same to women’s clothing.”

“Then, should smaller-sized clothes be sold cheaper and larger ones more expensive?”

“Setting the same price unless the size is ridiculously large is effective.”

“Hmm…”

“By the way, we divided shoe sizes into thirteen categories and gloves into three. Of course, these are also separated by gender.”

The executives of Bishop Company accompanying Entaire focused intensely on my words as if listening to the words of a religious leader.

They would appropriately adopt what they could use and discard what they couldn’t, applying it to their own operations.

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