CHAPTER 160: CHAPTER 160: WORKSHOP_1

Lance had seen modern steel jungles, so at first, he wasn’t too shocked by Totnes. He mostly just felt a bit of novelty toward this Otherworld-style city.

But soon, that feeling wore off, replaced by another: crowdedness.

The commercial district directly followed the inner river docks, bustling with commerce. Here, one couldn’t see the mud walls and thatched cottages typical of rural towns. Instead, there were stone brick structures, at least two or three stories high, all crammed tightly together as if loath to waste any space.

The passages between buildings were even narrower, forming countless dim alleys; only the main road was slightly more spacious.

Restaurants and hotels lined both sides of the main road. Some shops extended awnings for shade, setting up stalls to sell their wares. Goods of all sorts were on dazzling display, no longer limited to necessities but including many luxury items. The vendors’ cries added even more liveliness to the street.

As Lance strolled along, he stopped from time to time to inquire about prices, trying to understand the local cost of living.

The pricing of goods here showed two extremes: some handcrafted items were much cheaper than in Ovando City, but staples like grain were significantly more expensive.

It didn’t take much to realize that with so many people gathered here, labor was cheap. Consequently, handicraft industries were highly developed, and once economies of scale were achieved, costs were driven down.

Conversely, items transported from outside incurred additional costs for shipping, rent, and profit, naturally making them much more expensive.

And that was the fundamental logic behind merchants: to profit by transporting goods.

However, Lance wasn’t particularly interested in this. Instead, he headed to the area where craftsmen gathered, following the location Barton had described from memory.

There were fewer people here, but as soon as he drew near, he could hear the clang of hammers on iron—not just from one or two places. The whole street was lined with wooden signs featuring anvils and furnaces, each marking a blacksmith’s workshop.

This district, the Forging Quarter, was home to most of the skilled craftsmen of Totnes City, and the street Lance was on now was a cluster for forging-related industries.

A typical workshop consisted of a storefront with a workspace behind it: items were sold in the front and forged in the back. Weapons forged by a Master could fetch hundreds, even thousands, of Gold Coins.

Lance casually walked into one. He noted that most customers seemed to need weapons and armor, a fact evident from the proportion of such items displayed in the shop.

However, he wasn’t here for those today; he had come for farming tools.

Why did he want the refugees to return? To cultivate land. And for that, they needed farming tools. In this era, most tools were still made of wood; iron tools existed but were scarce.

Seeing a customer enter, a shop assistant approached to offer assistance.

"May I know what you are looking for, sir? Our full set of Knight’s Armor costs only..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Lance interrupted, raising his hand and producing a blueprint. "Take a look at this and see if you can make them. I need a large quantity."

Three hundred Lumber Axes, one thousand sickles, one thousand hoes, one thousand shovels, and one hundred plowshares—none requiring handles to be fitted.

This order clearly came from the owner of a large farm. The assistant knew this volume was beyond his authority to decide and immediately ran to the back to consult his superior.

The curtain was lifted, and Lance felt a blast of hot air, followed by a burly, bare-chested man who emerged. His body was muscular and sinewy, his arms robust, and his knuckles thick—a clear sign of years of heavy labor.

He had perhaps just been swinging his hammer, as a patch on his leather apron was blackened. A thin layer of sweat glistened on his skin under the light, making his prematurely bald head and powerful physique seem all the more formidable.

Indeed, it was difficult for an ordinary blacksmith to survive here and maintain a workshop.

After some discussion, the workshop owner agreed to take on only part of the order due to its large quantity and the short deadline.

Of course, another reason was the relatively low profit margin compared to the more lucrative weapons and armor.

Lance wasn’t in a rush, however, as there were many workshops around. After visiting a few more, he quickly placed all his orders.

This was possible only because he had recently secured a batch of funds from the Ascension Sect; otherwise, he could have afforded only half the order at most.

Now that he had the money, he doubled the order. Agricultural tools here were at least twenty percent cheaper than manufacturing them himself. Moreover, the larger the volume, the lower the per-unit cost, and the quality was better guaranteed.

The blacksmiths in his own territory were largely occupied with weapon maintenance, leaving them no time to craft agricultural tools.

One of Lance’s major tasks in Totnes was complete, but he was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he continued strolling through the workshop district, looking for a firearms workshop.

Current firearms had loading issues that limited their effectiveness in combat. Only a few people could see the immense war potential they held. More often, they were seen as ornamental substitutes for the heavy swords of gentlemen and Rich Merchants.

Consequently, most craftsmen specializing in firearms didn’t operate on a large scale. Instead, they took a boutique approach, evident in the exquisite decorations on the finished guns they displayed.

However, Lance couldn’t possibly equip his soldiers with these luxury items. He needed something sturdy, durable, and cheap, and only one place met his requirements.

That place was the affiliated workshop of the Totnes Gun and Cannon Academy. The influential figures of the Empire had long seen the war potential of these firearms and were continuously promoting their development, even establishing an academy to cultivate talent.

The academy trained officers for practical combat—Barton was a standout graduate. However, the majority of its population consisted of the craftsmen and apprentices who manufactured these weapons; they comprised most of the academy’s instructors and students.

To support its operations, the academy had to generate revenue. This affiliated workshop was one such source, producing gunpowder and firearms and fulfilling most of the Empire’s orders for guns. It also represented the pinnacle of the Empire’s firearms technology.

Whether they were firearms seized from artillery units or those from Gene’s arsenal, they were all produced in this workshop—the only difference being the insignia stamped upon them.

The academy’s workshop had a storefront right on this street, and a prominent one at that. Inside, the displayed finished products were primarily utilitarian, a clear distinction from the luxury items that cost dozens or even hundreds of Gold Coins.

Here, a basic short-barreled musket cost only twelve silver coins, and a basic Long-barreled Flintlock Gun was priced at a mere one Gold Coin—equivalent to twenty silver coins.

However, one thing had to be considered: firearms, unlike cold weapons that could be wielded directly, required several components to function.

Flint, gunpowder, and shells were all consumables, and these would constitute the major ongoing expenses.

Lance estimated the cost of assembling and maintaining a musketeer force and realized that an ordinary Lord simply couldn’t afford it.

But as the saying goes, ’nothing ventured, nothing gained.’ The training cycle for traditional troops was too long, and with the imminent threat from the Old Ancestor, a military presence was essential to protect and reclaim his territories. He had to rapidly expand his forces in a much shorter time.