Chapter : 35

Exactly two days later, the dwarf artisans returned with ten pencils as promised. The fact that they brought the final product so quickly made me doubt its quality, but it was a needless worry.

-Tiriring!

[Pencil Invented!]

[The original pencil was a surprisingly late invention, not created until the early 17th century. You have brought a new cultural object to this continent ahead of its time. More merchants will visit your domain in the future.]

[Notification: The pencil is registered as a specialty product of the Bellua Margraviate.]

[Notification: Prestige increases by 5.]

Even without testing the quality, the system window was telling me. This product was excellent.

“How is it?”

“Hurry up and try it, human lord!”

“It's going to be amazing, I tell you!”

“Hmm…”

Still, it seemed I had to test it. It was hard to ignore the sparkling eyes of the dwarf artisans staring at me.

To think that these men, with faces as hairy as bandits, had such bright eyes.

I carefully picked up a pencil and wrote on a piece of paper.

-Swoosh.

It wrote as smoothly as the expensive pencils I used in my past life. It was astonishing.

‘Wow, how did they do it?’

I was genuinely impressed by the better-than-expected, no, the incredible quality.

As if reading my thoughts, the dwarf artisans spoke with a proud expression.

“Ah, yes, human lord. Are you curious about ‘that’?”

“Hahahahat. Of course, you would be curious! About how it's so smooth and delicate! Isn't that right? Aren't you curious about this ‘secret’?”

The dwarf artisans spoke as if begging me to ask.

They were quite the characters in many ways, but I decided to play along.

“Ahem. A secret. What is the secret?”

As if waiting, the dwarf artisans triumphantly placed their hands on their hips.

“Experimentation!”

“We just experimented a hundred times. We added clay, bone powder, all sorts of things.

Hahahaha. If we just followed the recipe you gave us, human lord, wouldn't we just be simple machines?”

“That's right. So we found the optimal ratio and the optimal temperature!”

Indeed, it was a very dwarven thing to do, a race of experimenters, a race of artisans.

If there were applied scientists in this world, wouldn't it be them?

Moreover, look at the meticulous finish of the wood surrounding this graphite.

The small but delicately carved patterns showed that it was truly an artisan's product.

‘Indeed, a masterpiece. A true masterpiece.’

I couldn't help but be amazed. There was a reason why dwarven-made items were treated as the best in fantasy.

I shouted with a satisfied expression.

“Excellent. Then, are you ready for mass production?”

“We were just about to talk about that, human lord.”

“Mass production is more complicated than we thought. We need support. We can't do it on our own.”

“Hmm…”

The dwarf artisans' words were within my expectations.

This wasn't the old-fashioned apprentice-style production, but the stage of manufactory.

Naturally, material, administrative, and human support were needed.

“Don't worry too much about that. I will have Chamberlain Hamil, no. Chamberlain Hamil is in the City of Markel right now, so I will have Treasurer Palmer help you. Now go and have fun making them.”

“As expected of the human lord!”

“So generous! Don't worry. We will make it right away!”

Watching the dwarf artisans speak so confidently was reassuring.

It already felt as if the warehouse was being filled with manufactured pencils.

I immediately had Treasurer Palmer support them.

* * *

Just as the dwarf artisans had boasted, the pencil factory proceeded smoothly.

Starting with the 5 artisans hired to learn the overall knowledge of pencil making, 50 people were put in for simple repetitive tasks.

And to manage and supervise them, 5 quite experienced technicians were also added.

In total, the pencil factory opened with a large staff of 60 people.

Was it because it started quite big from the beginning?

The production of pencils, which was low at first, began to increase exponentially with each passing day.

The production, which was only 30 pencils a day at first, now increased to 1,000 pencils a day.

It had reached a point where the supply of wood and graphite used for pencil making was insufficient.

Thanks to that, only Treasurer Palmer, who was controlling everything in between, was having a hard time.

He had to carry out my orders, work for the operation of the pencil factory, and even coordinate the differences of opinion between various stakeholders.

If he could have his way, Treasurer Palmer's heart wanted to go on strike immediately.

Of course, whenever he showed such a sign, I gave him a hefty reward (read as, a whipping), so things were rolling along somehow.

In any case, thanks to the efforts of many, the pencil factory had become quite well-run in a short period of time.

Thanks to that, I could smile sinisterly as I looked at the pencils filling the factory warehouse.

“Hehe. Very good. Just looking at it makes me full.”

I let out a sigh of satisfaction as I looked at the pencils stacked high along the walls.

In keeping with the memory of my previous life, the pencils were bundled in groups of 12 and stored in wooden boxes. On the exterior, I planned to engrave the crests of each family upon order and sell them.

You might ask why a family crest all of a sudden, but I have my reasons.

In this era, a noble must know how to show off their honor. I planned to satisfy that desire with pencils.

What better item to show off to others than a writing tool that one can always carry in their pocket and easily display to those around them?

‘So the price is not cheap.’

The price I set for a high-quality pencil was 2 shillings per piece.

With four of these pencils, one could buy a cheap one-handed sword made of low-grade iron. You might think it's excessive, but it was by no means expensive.

The labor cost of the workers hired separately to engrave the crests was not insignificant, and the wood used was also of high quality.

Of course, would a noble really haggle over a mere 2 shillings for their dignity?

They would surely buy it for their prestige, even if they grumbled inwardly.

‘And that's not all I have prepared.’

If there is a high-priced product, there must also be a popular product. In fact, money is made from popular products.

That's why I prepared a pencil with a realistic price that anyone could buy.

The so-called blockhead pencil.

A pencil made by mixing and baking graphite with moderate-quality clay.

A wooden frame was of course a luxury, and it was just wrapped in a piece of linen cloth. It was not durable and looked shabby, but the price was incredible.

3 shillings for a bundle of 12.

As there was no additional processing, it was a product that could be produced in enormous quantities just by churning them out.

Haven't the number of blockhead pencils stored in my warehouse already exceeded 100,000?

Now all that was left was to sell the pencils that filled that warehouse.

Just to sell them.

* * *

As winter deepened and the pencil factory's warehouse was expanded once again, the guest I had been waiting for arrived.

“Congratulations on your victory, Your Excellency, the Margrave.”

“Thank you, Baron Pierre.”

Baron Pierre, who led the purveyor merchant guild, visited the capital with his merchants.

Thanks to him, I was able to relieve some of my worries about the growing inventory.

Because of the nature of the purveyor merchant guild, which moved its merchants throughout the kingdom and even the Holy Empire, the volume of goods they purchased at once was enormous.

After the secret pact to cooperate with each other, Baron Pierre and I were in a very close symbiotic relationship.

I was in charge of production, and Baron Pierre was in charge of distribution.

Baron Pierre was aggressively growing his merchant guild by purchasing various products from my factory at a low price.

“By the way, you've made another unusual thing, Your Excellency. A pencil, you say?”

“Your information network is very solid indeed. I haven't even started selling them in earnest yet.”

“Haha. Please don't misunderstand, it's just that my interests are focused on Your Excellency, the Margrave's domain.”

Baron Pierre laughed lightheartedly.

“One must always be on the lookout for things that make money. So, what kind of thing is that pencil? Your Excellency.”

It seemed he had heard the story, but not the detailed information. I chuckled and took out a small box.

A wooden box engraved with a lily crest.

Inside were 12 pencils. Specially custom-made pencils for the king.

“This is the new product I have developed. Its name, as you know, is the pencil.”

“A pencil…”

Baron Pierre trailed off as he looked at the pencil box I had taken out. It was understandable for him to be suspicious of an unfamiliar object sitting there.

“Here, look.”

I picked up a pencil from inside and demonstrated it in front of Baron Pierre. As I began to write smoothly on a white piece of paper, one of Baron Pierre's eyebrows began to twitch.

“It's easy to write with, and there's no need to refill the ink. And…”

I stopped writing and picked up the water bottle on the desk. And I poured water vigorously onto the paper.

-Splash!

If it had been ink, the letters would have smudged and blurred. But the letters on the paper remained unchanged.

“Oh?”

“Yes. It doesn't smudge with water, and its preservation is also excellent. What do you think?”

“What is the price, Your Excellency?”

“The one with the family crest is 2 shillings. The other low-priced ones are 3 shillings a box.”

“That's not cheap.”

“But it's not expensive either.”

Baron Pierre was silent for a moment.

Many thoughts were probably going through his head. But the fact that it didn't smudge with water was a very attractive factor.

It was very useful, both militarily and for other purposes.

To help Baron Pierre with his dilemma, I added one more word.

“I haven't even approached any other merchant guilds yet. I've only contacted you. If you want, I can also coordinate the timing of when other merchant guilds can purchase them.”

In other words, I would give him exclusive rights for a certain period.

After I went this far, Baron Pierre finally gave in with a bitter smile.

“Alright. I will buy them. But you must keep the promise you just made, right?”

“Would I really break it? You can trust my honor.”

Well, it was an honor I could do without.

“I can't argue with that. Alright. Then… how much can you supply?

If the quantity is small, I will have to reconsider, Your Excellency, the Margrave.”

Ugh. He won't give an inch.

I chuckled at his impertinence.

“On the contrary, you should be worried about how much you can buy, Baron Pierre?”

“?”

“There are over 300,000 pencils right now. Can you handle them all?”

“?????”

“Why are you staring like that? By the end of this month, the same amount will be produced again.”

“No, are you growing some kind of pencil-growing tree, Your Excellency?”

Baron Pierre was dumbfounded by the unbelievable quantity.