"Have you seen the report for the lock toll earnings?"

"Degin came by and took it to be filed away" The mother of my child says from across the desk as I shuffle through the various piles of papers.

So Degin took it.

"Do we still have the copy that's going to the king?"

"Yeah it's here."

She passes me the form and I glance over the remarkable numbers again. I had indeed met the goal. A year ago now the king and I had a conversation.

After the ceremony another duke made a fuss, he didn't want to pay for the construction of the canal. So I made a deal with every lord at the gala, if their district didn't see a double in tax revenue I would reimburse them for the construction costs myself. It felt a little strange to get such odd stares but paying it shouldn't even dent the vault. Either way I would win.

Suffice to say I won't need to touch the vault though. These forms indicate that with docking fees alone the districts have made a mint. My adjusting the copper market seems to have helped a bit as well. Pay has increased for most work. The economy had become more stable simply from my buying copper in a few districts. I was pleased with the work Susan had done.

"Should I bring this to the pigeon master?" Claire asks motioning to the form I had just set back down, the one that was to be delivered to the king.

"No, I'm thinking about doing something a little flashier."

"Flashier?" Another voice questions while walking into the room, I had sensed the presences the moment she entered the hall. It was Goldianus' Craftsmen guild's leader Susan.

"Yeah it's exactly what you are thinking." I nod to her. "The big one isn't ready yet is it?"

"No with our current number of alchemist we can't maintain its altitude."

"I figured as much, making helium is harder than I thought. Well no problem we can use a hot air blimp instead."

"You want to go to the capital in a blimp?" Claire asks cocking an eyebrow at the two of us.

"Sure it's a perfect chance, a high number of lords and nobles will be there for the annual summit."

"Mhm I agree, if we hope to spread news of the vehicle quickly this is the best way. And not only to the nobles and lords, but the the merchants who follow those groups. Those merchants are likely to be our more desired business partners in the long run."

"Better business partners than the nobles?" Claire asks. "How so?"

"Merchants work on a single principle, Supply and demand. While nobles run on desires and needs of people. Merchants are more stable buyers in the long run. Who knows when a noble will lose his money or head?"

"I still don't know if flying there is best though." Claire says returning to her original worry.

"Would you prefer to boat?" I asked prodding her rib and reminding her of the canal trip we had taken. It had lead to much vomiting on Claire's part. And this was post giving birth.

"No." She says folding her arms. "I'd prefer to teleport."

"Oh well of course we will teleport, but we will teleport into the blimp."

She seems to ponder this for a few moments. It was something we had experimented with while boating down the canal on our honeymoon.

It was convenient, we could pretend to be traveling while resting here at home.

"That reminds me, Susan, do you have any news on the gold mine?"

"Which?"

"Oh, not Godrick, the Canal-Sands project."

"Right, it's progressing well. Word has gotten out about why we took the dirt and sand in the first place. Some of the Landlords made a fuss but the king quieted them down quickly so I hear."

Susan seems to have ears in all districts nowadays, she seems to fill a position of intelligence advisor as well as construction advisor.

The latter position she seems to prefer. When I told her a few months ago that we would be rebuilding the great city of Goldianus she, after telling me she had never heard of it, seemed very excited. She worked hard these past months. What was once ruins now resembled the beginnings of a city.

We had brought in around two hundred craftsmen at first. We developed the city with two different methods. The central ring would be the noble district. It would be built using current building techniques. While the outer commoner rings would be using my technique.

I had thought this a little backwards at first but upon thinking about the facts it seemed to make more sense. My method, 'Stick building' while looking very nice was comparatively cheap and insecure in the eyes of nobles. They were used to having thick rock walls and wood plank doors.

But this lead to an inconsistency in building speed. The craftsmen who I had taught 'stick building' could assemble a row of houses in a few days, while the noble constructors take weeks on a single mansion.   

As a result I now have a town that has two outer rings and only half an inner ring.

I'm glad I designed my castle to be built from two separate methods, if I hadn't I'd still be living at the Inn near Godrick with Mom.

"That reminds me, Is the Inn's port completed?"

"The port is, but we ran into more issues than we assumed. It's such a steep hill up to the Inn that we were unsure how to carve a comfortable path. We were planning a large set of steps but we scrapped the idea for an elevator system instead. But honestly, it seems unnecessary. The Inn is constantly packed, leading more traffic towards it won't change business. Your mother is already turning customers away. I don't understand why she refuses to expand."

"Well none of that matters, but I do think the traffic will slowly shift towards river based. Especially once we popularize the steam-powered ferry."

"True."

"How are tests going for that by the way?"

"Good, the shipbuilders at the Hidden port are truly incredible. With the dimensional lumber that Colgate is milling now, the production rate of the steam ship only increases."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"We still don't have a source for the steel though?"

"No, the prospectors you trained have found nothing in the mountains yet. We still have to purchase ore from the west. However, now that we use the blimps for trade our purchases are less frequent, and we can get better deals when we do buy."

"It'll do for now I suppose, but we should find our own source. It's our only deficit."

"Agreed." Susan says with a nod writing a few words into a book she carried.

The paper was wood fiber based. It was what quickly turned our district into the richest in the kingdom. It had also made us the enemy of the Empire.

Susan developed the machine for pressing the paper herself, all she had to go on was the basic concept that I had explained to her.

She was a genius. I have now given up on drawing the designs myself. All I need to do is explain them to Susan and she will have a prototype made in an hour. Often her prototypes have features I have never even mentioned.

After the paper development was perfected she began construction of the letter press. We were printing textbooks within three months. They started simple, the first was simply a book on reading and writing.

I discovered inconsistencies with the common language while writing these books. Some words could be written multiple ways, there was also no official rules for punctuation. I decided to just introduce them myself. There was a large section about comma usage in 'Volume 3 - Sentence Structure'. It makes me wish I had paid more attention in class, I feel like I'm partially making up these rules.

I had also written a few books on psychology and physics in hopes to draw a curiosity towards the subject. They would likely be seen as paranoid scribblings and plagiarism on earth but they were taken as profound thoughts in this world. It gave me a slightly big head. I had to be sure to use pen names or else I would be praised as a god. Well I suppose I am a god but that's not the point.

"There are two new books on the shelf," I say pointing towards a shelf I often placed completed works onto. "Could you take them two the press?"

"Sure, no problem." She says walking towards the shelf and carefully examining the books and smiling at their topics.

'Basic Mathematics for Merchants' and 'An Idiot's Guide to Medicine and Field Surgeries'

The latter I want to spread quickly. It was written with the help of my wife and our mothers.      

The sound of a crying baby from the next room interrupted Susan and I's talk.

Claire and I rapidly move our fingers to the tips of our noses. I had introduced this style of decision making. Last person to touch their nose has to do whatever needs doing.

In this case Susan stood glancing between the two of us before realizing what we were reacting to. She quickly dropped her head and then peaked towards the open doorway of the nursery.

She trudges into the room and carefully lifts the child, sniffing around the cloth diaper. Her unpleasant reaction assures Claire and I that we made the right choice.

We casually slap five and returned to our work at the desk.

"You should get a maid." Susan says from the next room while changing the diaper. "I really don't think this is a job for the guild."

"Think so?" I ask sarcastically.

"Well actually, I guess our guild just does whatever you say, so I guess this is a job for us." She returns to the room carrying the fussing child. "I don't particularly mind it."

She lifts the babies shirt and blows a raspberry on the tubby belly grinning widely at the child's reaction.

My child is spoiled by three grandmothers. Truly a lucky child.

I had assumed Susan would be the most business-like around the kid but she seems to pamper the child more than my, or Claire's, mom.

She groans and grunts whenever we ask her to change her, however despite all Susan's prompting to 'get a maid' she has never interviewed one or even offered to look.

I don't think she actually wants us to get one. She enjoys the opportunity to be a mother.

"Is Sophie coming to the capital too?" Susan asks while bouncing the baby on her knee.

"I'm not sure." I say turning my attention to Claire, She mentioned fear over teleporting our child before, it was something she was uncomfortable with.

"I think it's Okay." Claire says extending her arms to Susan to receive Sophie. "It shouldn't be a problem. I just have to be careful I think."

Looking at Claire who was cooing cutely at Sophie I somewhat share her concern. We had learned to trust the teleports so quickly that we had never really thought about the inherent danger of it, a single mistake and we could vanish from the world.

"Shall I come as well?" Susan asks, realizing that everyone in the room was now going, and feeling slightly left out.

"Unfortunately I want you to stay and keep watch on the construction and immigration. I also really don't want that crystal left alone. Someone who understands its nature needs to be near it at all times."

"What about Degin?" She asks.

"Degin is coming too, he's the only one who can confirm the King is who he claims to be. He will be the only one on the blimp the whole time, gotta get him used to it somehow." I say with a laugh

"I see. Do you really not trust him?"

"The king? Not necessarily, he seemed to be telling the truth. But it was still quite a story, no matter how you look at it. I just don't know his true intentions. Are they as simple as what he said?"

Thinking back a year ago, the conversation I had with the king was likely even more bizarre than the conversation I had with Claire about her pregnancy earlier the same day.

I wonder which changed my life more in this years time?