Free Web NovelChapter 398: Chapter 395: The Role of Canned Food
On their way, the two were still discussing the king’s attempted escape. In the end, Rorschach summarized:
"Any hope Charles XVI had of foreign monarchs intervening is now shattered. He must now pray that the Valois army can turn the tide on the battlefield. Otherwise, if they continue to lose, the newly empowered Mountain Faction will likely make an example of the ’number one traitor’ to rally their forces."
Rorschach was certain the National Salvation Committee had already stripped poor Charles of his freedom and amassed a mountain of evidence. But they hadn’t yet released the direct evidence implicating the King himself. Instead, they had used the head of the Court Guard Captain as a warning shot, which suggested other factors were at play.
From what he had learned about "Rock" Maxim from his senior, that man would show the King no kindness beyond basic human decency—if that.
Perhaps the trial was meeting resistance. The Royalist Faction had only just been ousted from power, and the King’s diehard loyalists still had enough influence to protect him, forcing the Mountain Faction to tread carefully.
But if the Empire Army continued its advance on the Royal Capital, public anxiety and anger would keep rising. Charles XVI would become a human pressure-release valve, his head ready to be used at a moment’s notice.
He might still be eating and drinking in the palace, but he was already a dead man walking. The blade just hadn’t fallen yet.
Caroline suddenly thought of another possibility. "Do you think the Royalist Faction might hire a Mage to rescue him? If a Caster got involved, a prison break wouldn’t be out of the question."
Rorschach revealed a piece of intelligence from his secret Valois-Bayern channels. "Originally, the Guard Captain’s plan was to have Mages from the Noble Faction perform a teleportation ritual and send the king and his family to a duchy in the Lowlands."
"Unexpectedly, the Noble Faction Casters betrayed them at the last minute and nearly sent Charles directly to the central plaza in the Royal Capital, which would have brought the whole affair to an early close. In fact, it was this ’Plaza Carriage Incident’ that prematurely confirmed the King’s intentions."
Caroline stated with sudden certainty, "Then that was the will of the Tower of Stars."
"Huh?" Rorschach shook his head. "The remnants of the Noble Faction have already splintered off. They performed the ritual in secret, in the far outskirts of the Royal Capital, without the Tower of Stars’ involvement."
"But even with technology from the Tower of Stars, a large-scale teleportation over such a vast distance would require the support of a Great Mage or the latest equipment. So, even if the Tower couldn’t monitor the ritual site, Master Kano and the Guild must have known about it."
’Damn, I hadn’t thought of that...’ Rorschach suddenly realized. ’So the poor king was set up from the very start?’ Perhaps this was the Noble Faction Casters’ chance to be accepted back into the fold. Altering the teleportation ritual’s destination was their pledge of loyalty, a way to prove they wanted to rejoin the organization.
Rorschach nodded. "So, a monarch who abandons his country and his people is doomed to a bad end."
The two took a walk after their meal to aid digestion and naturally found themselves heading toward the Fanta food factory. Caroline observed the street scene, noting that the houses here were new, the shops were open for business, and the residents’ clothes were simple but clean and tidy. It was a scene of peace.
In the Empire, by contrast, even in the Imperial Capital itself, rationing had forced many shops to close. The citizens wore drab, dusty winter clothes, their exposed faces grim or fierce. As for the streets of the Holy Kingdom... Caroline didn’t know, and couldn’t bear to imagine.
The relocated food factory wasn’t far from the city center. The reason she was seeing all new buildings was that Rorschach was leading her through a new district.
The food factory had relocated once, vacating its suburban location for Basif. Meanwhile, Lansite had expanded outward. As the two developments converged, the factory found itself surrounded by residential buildings. Most of the residents were Fanta employees; those who had earned enough money upgraded to better housing, freeing up the dormitories for new hires.
Even before they entered the factory grounds, the smell of peas drifted through the streets. The main gate opened, and a convoy of horse-drawn wagons, laden with "Pea Sausage," pulled out.
Rorschach led his teacher into the factory for a tour, proudly explaining, "Right now, our product line includes concentrated energy drinks, the Fanta line of sodas, Pea Sausage, and Potato Starch Sausage. We’re also about to launch our new canned goods."
"Tinplate?" Caroline figured the cost for that must be exorbitant.
"Yes. Thin, cold-rolled steel sheets are plated with tin to make them rust-resistant. They can be formed into airtight containers, filled with food, sealed, and then boiled. This sterilizes the contents, allowing them to be preserved for a very long time."
Since the Kempson Steel Factory entered full production and we created the Thunder Array-powered electroplating equipment, we’ve finally completed the "canned food tech tree."
Rorschach grabbed a can from the packing area and handed it to his teacher. "You just need a small knife to pry it open. The food inside can be heated up, but it’s also fine to eat cold."
Caroline opened it. It was pea soup. A raw, beany smell wafted from the thin, watery broth. She gave it a shake and saw two sausages that looked to contain only trace amounts of meat. "...Is the packaging more expensive than the contents?"
’What a burn!’ Rorschach wanted to applaud. ’But that’s not how business logic works; it’s nothing new for marketing and packaging to cost more than the raw materials.’ He said aloud, "But the unit price is still cheap when produced in bulk. Compared to vegetables, which spoil easily and suffer huge losses during transport, this stuff is more than good enough to earn the military’s approval."
Whether the soldiers would grumble and curse about it wasn’t his problem.
"We’re developing more types of canned food, like beef and pork knuckle. For now, they’re all being prioritized for the army."
When he led Caroline into the main office of the marketing department, she froze. A huge map covered one wall, dotted with numerous markers. A closer look revealed it was a map depicting the disposition of the Empire Army’s forces.
"This is..."
"The logistical pressure on their military command is immense, so after a review, they’ve outsourced some supply tasks to logistics guilds. We can only deliver as far as the supply depots slightly behind the front lines, but based on the speed and range of draft animals, combined with an analysis of our shipment volumes, we can roughly estimate the movements of the Empire’s main forces."
Because Pea Sausage and canned supplies are new and effective products, the Empire Army has to purchase them for the front lines even though they didn’t stockpile them before the war. As a result, Rorschach could even roughly estimate the timing of the Empire Army’s large-scale offensives.
"The front line is too long now, so production of the canned goods will be licensed to three other food factories. However, the cans themselves remain an exclusive product of the Kempson Steel Factory." ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
Caroline stared at the map, where troop movements were being tracked with "canned goods." She never imagined that something like this could expose the Empire’s military disposition.
"Alright, you’re very impressive. So, about the Mage Tower..."
"Towers? The Bayern Ammonia Plant has plenty of towers. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied."
After touring the food factory, Rorschach, without a moment’s rest, took Teacher Caroline to see the new Basif industrial park, located even farther away. To account for industrial pollution, the entire complex had been built at a considerable distance from the city.
When they arrived, they were met with a forest of steel frames and a web of crisscrossing pipelines. In the core area stood five tall towers.
"This one is the quenching tower for desulfurization. The main feed comes from the reactor at one hundred and fifty atmospheres of pressure." The entire tower was made of stainless steel, with glowing circuits wrapped around its surface.
"Such high pressure... is it reinforced with Magic?"
"Yes. The new steel from the Steel Factory can’t meet the requirements on its own yet, so it has to be magically reinforced." freeweɓnovel.cѳm
"If the Alchemy Devices here were destroyed..."
"Then the towers here would cause a ’small’ explosion. The new high-explosive production line a bit farther out might cause a *big* explosion. Hmm... a rough estimate would be an equivalent yield of at least 580 [Blast Fireball Technique]s."
