Chapter 133: Mutual Aid and Benefit

Sylvia crossed her arms over her chest, watching with exasperation as Victor took over her sofa. "Victor, that is my sofa!" she said, her tone sharp.

Victor, his hands pillowed behind his head, lay stretched out on Sylvia's favorite piece of furniture. Despite the mistress's challenge, he struggled into a sitting position and said with a sheepish grin, "I just finished today's training and was exhausted. Seeing that you hadn't arrived yet, I couldn't help but lie down for a moment. Honestly, your sofa is incredibly comfortable; it has such a refreshing, cool sensation."

Sylvia looked him over carefully. Seeing his lethargic state, her tone softened with sympathy. "Fine, you may rest a while longer. Manticore hide does indeed have restorative properties... but wait, you can only stay a little longer! I just hunted down two ant-man leaders!"

Before Sylvia could finish, Victor reclined once more, no longer acting like a guest. "Sylvia, what did you need to see me about today?"

Victor’s lazy demeanor made Sylvia shake her head with a smile, yet she felt a secret sense of joy. She had always felt that Victor was somewhat resistant toward her, but this behavior was a vast improvement. Of course, Sylvia did not know she was infringing upon Victor's intellectual property, nor did Victor realize that, in this world, the concept of patents simply did not exist.

"In two months, the Kingdom's Senate will begin voting on our proposal. I wanted to ask if you had any additions?" Sylvia sat in the chair opposite him, her voice gentle.

"So soon?" Victor sat up again, asking with surprise.

Victor and the York family had reached a consensus: he would cede 3,000 square kilometers of land around the entrance to the Great Swamp to the Yorks. The York family would establish a barony there and build a fortress at the swamp's entrance to defend against the next wave of ant-men. In return, Victor would provide the Yorks with the recipe for special bricks and instruct them on how to operate the giant brick kilns. Victor’s reward was the retention of his own territory and title.

Victor had no objections to this. There were three entrances to the Great Swamp; unless he could seal them all, the ant-men would inevitably invade the Centaur Hills. Moreover, holding a fortress required at least 2,000 soldiers, a massive burden. Since the York family was willing to shoulder this responsibility, Victor had no reason to refuse. However, with the Senate set to vote, it meant the Kingdom of Gombis was determined to resolve the ant-man threat once and for all. Victor, on the other hand, was desperate to stall for time so his secret fortress could reach full maturity.

"We cannot delay any longer. We must clear out the ant-men before the Season of Water arrives. If we miss this season's planting, every lord in the west will be implicated, leading to catastrophic consequences," Sylvia said grimly.

Currently, Blackfort Town housed 120,000 citizens. The York family had exhausted their grain reserves, and they wouldn't last until the end of the Season of Wind. Because the ant-men had intentionally destroyed the crops, the harvest in the Centaur Hills was certainly ruined, and surrounding lords had suffered varying degrees of loss. If everyone missed the planting window, it wouldn't just be the Centaur Hills in need of rescue.

Victor, who lived oblivious to the hardships of managing a household, surrendered after receiving a charming roll of the eyes from Sylvia. "I have no issues with that."

"Then let's discuss our problems," Sylvia said, smoothing her golden hair. "You provided the technology for the rock bricks, and you invented the method for operating the giant kilns. I need to build three fortresses within three years, so I need you to find a way to increase production. Also, help me figure out how to keep the manufacturing process from leaking."

Victor frowned. Operating giant kilns required many people; with so many eyes on the process, it would be almost impossible to keep the method secret unless the York family possessed loyal alchemical humans like his own.

"Sylvia, you must realize that once production begins, you cannot stop others from coveting it. And with so many people involved in the manufacturing..." Victor said tactfully.

"I know all that, but I need five years to build more fortresses in the Centaur Hills. Before I can establish a defensive advantage, I don't want other lords obtaining the recipe for these bricks." Sylvia sighed, then added with hopeful eyes, "Victor, you are very clever. You designed the division of labor, so you can surely help me buy enough time! Can't you?"

Victor thought for a moment and smiled. "Five years is certainly no problem. We could even keep it secret longer. The key lies in the division of labor production method!"

Victor’s method was simple: have the harvesters collect five or more types of weeds, burn them into ash, and place them into separate containers. The brick-molders would then take the specified containers and mix the golden-silk grass ash into the clay at a set ratio to create the brick blanks. This way, neither the harvesters nor the molders would know which specific ash, or combination of ashes, was being used.

"The ratio of the golden-silk grass ash is crucial. Those lords will almost certainly fail to figure out the trick. They will keep trying, but they will fail, especially since they still have to solve the problems of building the giant kilns and managing the firing temperature. However, once you start cultivating the golden-silk grass, the secret will be out. Furthermore, those lords will eventually lose their patience, and you will be under immense pressure. I suggest you sell the finished bricks to them; it will make things much easier for you."

Sylvia thought quietly for a moment, then beamed. "A brilliant idea! Victor, I really didn't misjudge you—you are a genius. However, I suggest you do not sell the bricks to outsiders yourself. You won't accuse me of being greedy, will you?"

"From now on, the rock bricks will be the invention of the York family. However, you must help me build a castle on my territory for free. And I don't mean the six-meter-tall kind," Victor laughed.

The profits from the bricks were immense, but they were also a hot potato. Victor had the strength to protect those profits now, but he had grander goals. Compared to building a semi-commercial, semi-military organization, the profits from the bricks were trivial. No matter how perfect the security measures, as long as people were involved, the secret would eventually leak. Rather than wasting time bickering with other nobles over bricks, it was better to silently seize more wealth and build greater influence.

Sylvia chuckled, her voice sultry. "My dear Victor, I will help you build a 40-meter-tall castle. For the sake of your own castle, hurry and help me find a way to increase production!"

"Deploy more people and build more giant kilns. Other than that, there is no way."

Without a technical breakthrough, the only solution was to scale up. Victor shrugged; it was the only method he could think of.

Sylvia furrowed her delicate brows. "I can only mobilize 5,000 people at most to build ten giant kilns."

"But Blackfort Town has 120,000 people, and the Centaur Hills are vast enough to accommodate many more. Why don't you recruit more free citizens?" Victor asked, puzzled.

"Victor, 120,000 is already the limit of what our family can sustain. In this ant-man disaster, we didn't just lose two knights and eleven squires; we lost 1,000 elite soldiers. These were vassals loyal to our family; losing them has weakened our potential. After all, we cannot use your 'work-point' system to solve problems—in fact, your system has already been proven to have major flaws," Sylvia sighed, her tone heavy.

Victor fell silent. The York family had indeed suffered heavy losses. While their high-end martial power remained intact, the middle tier had been devastated. Lords in this world had no real management method; they simply enfeoffed land, letting vassals handle farming, animal husbandry, forging, and training soldiers. The lord simply collected tribute based on a percentage. The vassals, in turn, employed free citizens and promoted the hardworking ones to become family subjects. One vassal could manage at least 30 people; losing 1,000 vassals meant losing 30,000 laborers—and how much wealth would 30,000 laborers have created?

Victor suddenly understood why the York family had given him 12,000 square kilometers of land at the beginning. It wasn't because they were generous, but because they couldn't control that much land themselves. Like him, the York family needed time to build their strength.

Realizing this, Victor became serious. "Sylvia, I fear the issue is no longer about increasing kiln production, but rather how many troops you can field!"

Sylvia looked at Victor with surprise and mused, "Calculating based on 120,000 people, I could form an army of 5,000, but it would take ten years. Why, is there a problem?"

A set of York-standard equipment cost 80 gold sols—equivalent to 28 cows—and an elite soldier required years of rigorous training to master the weapons and gear. Sylvia’s estimate of ten years to expand the army to 5,000 was realistic, yet Victor’s heart sank.

"It's not enough! It’s nowhere near enough! Sylvia, if you want to keep the Centaur Hills, you need more than just three fortresses blocking the swamp entrances; you need to build a chain of strongholds across the north of the Centaur Hills! You need more soldiers to guard them and more people to engage in production and construction!" Victor said firmly.

Sylvia asked, confused, "Victor, are you worried that the Kingdom of Dodo will attack us from the north? I can tell you that the Dodo people will not touch the Centaur Hills; they are just as unwilling to deal with the ant-men."

Victor shook his head. "I am worried about the ant-men!"

"The ant-men? Then you have nothing to worry about. Though the ant-men are fierce, they are incredibly dull-witted. The entrances to the Great Swamp are low-lying; by building three fortresses, we can seal them inside completely. Besides, we have already killed 74 ant-man leaders. I believe the next wave won't have so many. In truth, if they didn't destroy crops, they wouldn't be so frightening." Sylvia shook her head with a light laugh.

Victor sighed inwardly. No one understood the ant-men better than he did. He knew the ant-men were his greatest enemy. The alchemy tower had stolen the ant-men's wealth and soul fire, which threatened their very survival. This recent wave was merely a foraging expedition by the ant-man controllers; the next wave would surely be an offensive. This was why Victor was willing to cooperate closely with the York family—as long as they could hold the Centaur Hills, Victor was actually looking forward to the ant-men delivering more "gifts" to him.

But if the York family couldn't hold the Centaur Hills, Victor would have no choice but to run. Therefore, he desperately needed the York family to buy him time to develop, and for that reason, he couldn't sit by and watch Sylvia make mistakes—he even had to find ways to support them.

"Sylvia, the ant-men are not as simple as you imagine! You told me yourself that the ant-men destroyed an empire of non-humans. Can dull-witted creatures do that? With so many leaders killed, won't they come back for revenge? If they are blocked in the swamp, won't they move north along the mountain range to find a new exit? And if they enter the Kingdom of Dodo, won't the lords there drive them right into the Centaur Hills?"

Victor’s barrage of questions left Sylvia deep in thought.