"It's an honor to meet you, Milord"
"Nice to meet you, Mr Henry William", Riz greets the mayor of Rafoldrod city.
Initially, Richard decided to retain Henry's position as a mayor temporarily after conquering Rafoldrod.
At that time, Richard was busy with war and had no time to mind about it. However, Henry proved to Richard that he is capable enough to sit in that position.
Richard decided to let Henry stay as a mayor due to the lack of officials right now.
"Milord, I have prepared your accommodation. You can have lunch first if you want", said Henry.
"Thank you, but I plan to visit the limestone deposit as soon as possible", Riz rejected the offer.
Right now, the deposit is his priority.
"As you wish, milord. I will prepare a carriage for you"
It didn't take Henry a long time to prepare the carriage.
Riz looked at the fanciest carriage he has ever seen being pulled by two white horses.
Anyone who sees the carriage will confidently bet their life saying there's noble it there.
He decided to just accept Henry's kind gesture and entered the carriage.
Charlotte followed closely behind him as usual.
It only takes two hours to reach the destination at full speed.
He stepped out of the carriage and looked around before his eyes fell on the huge limestone formation.
Riz walks toward the sedimentary rocks and rubbed his hand on it.
"This is indeed a limestone. It looks like with this amount, it's enough to supply our current projects and the one in the future", Riz commented.
"Milord"
His focus was interrupted but he didn't mind too much.
"What is it?"
"This is Elric, the one that led the mining team to extract those rocks" freew ebnov el
"It is an honor to meet you, milord", Elric awkwardly bows in front of Riz. This is his first time having contact with the noble.
"Me too, Elric. How is the progress here?", he asked him while his eye is looking at the quarry. He sees the workers are using pickaxes to dig and cut.
"Milord, digging these rocks and cutting it can take some time. If you want to increase the production we have to hire a large number of workers"
"No need for that, we will just blast it"
"Blast?", Elric does not understand what his lord is talking about.
"I will just show it to you. Charlotte, bring that to me", Riz ordered.
"Wait a moment", she rushed to the carriage and returned back with several small jars made from pottery.
Riz took those jars and headed to the quarry. "Everybody move!! Stay far from here", he shouted.
The workers follow the order without knowing their lord's intention. All of them were waiting and watching their lord placing a jar there.
*Boom*
A large thunderous sound echoes in the entire area. Except for Charlotte, everybody appears to be stunned by the sound.
After the cloud of dust settles, the workers can see the large rock they tried so hard to cut were blown to smithereens.
"Milord, thi..this is?", Elric was the one that quickly recovered from the shock.
"A black powder. Now, can the production increase?", he asked Elric.
"Absolutely. We will save so much time cutting the rocks"
The workers on the other hand still had their mouths wide open. They were too shocked about what just happened.
"Alright, why are you standing there like a fool. Get back to work", said Elric.
"Yes, boss", replied the workers. They began to collect the small pieces.
Some are cutting down a larger one but since it is relatively smaller in size compared to before the blasting, their job becomes easier.
The use of black powder makes the workers' previous effort look like nothing.
While Elric and others are busy collecting the smithereens limestone, Riz returns to his carriage.
He took out a paper and started writing his plan just like he did in Coreton.
In this case, he tries to imitate the process of a modern cement processing plant which consists of four steps.
The first step starts with crushing and grinding the raw materials. Follow by the second steps, blending the materials in the correct quantity.
The third step is burning the blended mix in a kiln. Modern cement processing plants used rotary kiln.
The plant will be built outside Rafoldrod near the river to utilize water as a power source for his machine.
'For now, I have to deal with this first'
Energy plays a very important role in the advancement of civilization.
Riz decided to use bottle kiln for now since it is impossible with the current technological level to build not only rotary kiln but also shaft kiln.
The final process is to grind the burned product that was known as clinker with a certain amount of gypsum.
The nearest source of gypsum is located in the north of Baroks Duchy but it is near the border of Bideford.
He has already secretly mined it for months now.
Although that area is desolated and no nearby settlement, he will still be very careful to not let the duke know.
The duke probably doesn't know its uses but it doesn't mean he likes when someone is exploiting resources in his territory.
Gypsum has a lot of uses such as fertilizer in agriculture, filler in the paper and textiles industry, and in cement.
He plans to put the management of the quarry and processing plant under his Gatharix Mining Company just like he did with the iron mine.
Next, he took out a detailed map of the Ryntum territory, the kind that you can't get in the market.
Riz is planning the road network for the entire Ryntum territory. Of course, this plan won't be implemented immediately.
Ryntum's financials are stretched thin right now due to many ongoing projects. He took this chance to buy the ownership of the mine and quarry from his father.
That is why he is able to make a change in these two places without consulting his father.
However, road networks are different.
Since Riz can't fully own it, he decided to make a plan and throw it to his father.
Taking account of Richard's personality, he will definitely find an opportunity to implement it.
Riz looks at the map.
Ryntum divided its territory into two provinces; Bideford Province and Gyalcakes Province.
Riz began to draw a road network on the map. The road will stretch nearly 200 km from Tegrot in the west to Bideford in the east.
Another road will branch off 190 km from the Tegrot-Bideford road to Newbigle and Durbotes in the north and 140 km to Csorvar in the south.
This project isn't cheap at all.
Once it is completed, it will increase the connectivity between the cities and villages with a flat and wide road network.
Riz proposes a road network based on several factors. First is finding a flat terrain where there is no river on its way that will force him to build a bridge. He also needs to make sure the soil is well compacted. This is the most troublesome part and he will leave it alone for now.
Next, he needs to make sure the path that he chose has as few obstacles as possible so the project won't spend too much time clearing obstacles.
He finished sketching his preliminary proposed route, further investigation needed to be conducted to get more accurate results.
Charlotte came into the carriage. "Milord, they have finished collecting the limestone".
"Alright, let's go. It is time to teach Elric how to use gunpowder"
Riz called Elric and began teaching him where to blast.
*Boom*
Riz nodded. He was satisfied with Elric fast learning ability.
*Thud*
Riz saw a rock around his fist size rolling to his side.
*Thud*
Another rock fall.
"Hmm?"
"Be careful, young master!!", shouted Charlotte and ran toward him. Her eyes weren't looking at him instead she looked up.
"!!!", Riz looked upward. A part of the mountain is crumbling and sliding down.
"Everybody runs!!!" He shouted and ran as fast as he could.
So do the workers there. They immediately throw away their equipment.
If you get crushed by those big rocks, using all of the luck you have in your entire life won't be enough to make it out alive.
*Boom*
The dust from the rocks scattered to the entire area. Riz can barely see his own hand.
"Young master!!!", Charlotte shouted as hard as she could, searching for her lord. She is in an extremely panicked mood right now.
"I'm here", he told her his location.
Once Charlotte has located her lord, she runs toward him and checks every inch of his body for any injuries.
"Calm down, I'm fine", he reassured her.
Once the dust fog dissipates, Riz can see the surrounding area clearly again.
"Is everyone okay? Are there any injuries?", he asked.
"My lord, we are fine", replied his workers.
Riz is relieved that nobody is injured but it didn't last long when one of his workers called him.
"My lord!! Look over there!!, his worker shouted at him before pointing his finger in a certain direction.
Riz turned and followed the direction his worker pointed.
"What is that? An entrance hidden beneath the hills?"
"My lord, I think we have found a ruin", said Charlotte excitedly.
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