A week later, at the office of Helmarte Soap Works, Ernest and Hollen began planning their expansion of the soap manufacturing industry.

"So with a secured investment from our dear friend, Guildmaster Laurent. It’s time that we choose three potential locations for our branch," Ernest began enthusiastically while Hollen unrolled the map.

This is going to be his first time seeing the map of the Kingdom of Belfast. He knew he was in another world so he was curious what the world looked like.

Hollen placed it on the board and then Ernest tilted his head to look at it at a better angle.

And then, his brows furrowed. Wait, that’s it?

The Kingdom of Belfast coincidentally looked the same as the United Kingdom. It has the same geography but the political border is different. The border is similar to the modern United Kingdom and it has a neighbor which has the same border as Ireland, and it is named Kingdom of Ardan.

Just by looking at the map, he had forgotten the reason why they convened a meeting, and his curiosity about the world map increased.

"Hollen, do you have a world map?"

"A what?" Hollen asked, visibly confused as to why he was asking for a map.

"I just want to see something," Ernest said.

"I don’t have a world map, but I have a map of the Eldoria continent, which this country is part of," Hollen said.

"Okay do that," Ernest said and promptly, Hollen went to get it.

Moments later, he returned.

"Here, I don’t know why you need it," Hollen said as he posted it next to the map of the Kingdom of Belfast.

Ernest quickly scanned the map and noticed the difference.

Yes, it looked like a European continent but with changes in the geography. The first difference is that there is an inland sea in the middle of the continent, where Poland and Belarus were.

France became the Kingdom of Valoria, Spain and Portugal merged as the Kingdom of Iberia, Germany became the Confederation of Rheinn, and the Netherlands became the Kingdom of Lowen.

South of Rheinn lay the League of Italica, a collection of wealthy merchant cities and regional kingdoms occupying the long southern peninsula extending into the Inner Sea.

And then there’s...

"Okay, you are staring at that map for too long, can we go back to business please?" Hollen said.

"Oh, sorry," Ernest let out a chuckle. "As I have said, I’m just naturally curious about the map. And it has been satiated. Very well, let’s get back to the point. We have criteria on where we should build our branches. We can’t just prop up a factory anywhere or else we’ll lose tons of money."

He continued. "For the criteria, the factory must be close to rivers and then a city with a high population. That is a no-brainer, why do we build factories? To produce a soap yes but that’s only one of the reasons, we also need a customer for it. And based on the map, I’ll choose this."

Good thing the map already has a population number on the map so he won’t have to read books and records.

"The first city is Northport."

This city of Northport is the equivalent to Liverpool of this world. It has a population of about 300,000 and has a river running through it called river Merrow. It is an established port-city of the Kingdom of Belfast with a huge merchant presence, and access to western trade routes which can be used for exportation of soaps.

"No objection to that selection," Hollen agreed with the decision.

"Okay next city," Ernest’s gaze drifted east of Northport and pressed his finger onto a city called Ravenford. Based on the map, it is located similar to where Manchester is. It has a population of around 250,000 with a River Raven near it.

"Ravenford? That’s practically next to Northport," Hollen pointed out. "Shouldn’t we spread out and cover more territory instead?"

Actually, it was a reasonable concern.

At first glance, placing two factories relatively close together seemed inefficient.

Most merchants would instinctively spread operations across the kingdom immediately.

But Ernest shook his head.

"No."

Hollen frowned.

"No?"

"Distance alone doesn’t determine expansion strategy."

Ernest walked toward the map and tapped both cities again.

"Look carefully."

Northport.

Ravenford.

Then he drew an imaginary line between them.

"These two cities together represent over half a million people."

That immediately got Hollen’s attention.

"Five hundred and fifty thousand."

"Exactly."

Then Ernest pointed toward the western coastline.

"Northport gives us port access."

Another tap.

"Ravenford gives us manufacturing access."

Actually, Ernest already noticed something while studying the map.

The two cities complemented each other.

Northport functioned as a major commercial gateway.

Ships arrived constantly.

Merchants flowed through the city.

Trade routes connected westward toward foreign kingdoms.

Meanwhile Ravenford sat slightly inland. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Less dependent on maritime trade.

More dependent on local industry and population.

Then Ernest continued.

"If we establish factories in both cities, we create a regional production network."

Hollen crossed his arms.

"A what?"

"Think about it."

Ernest grabbed a piece of chalk.

"If Northport experiences supply shortages, Ravenford can support it."

"If Ravenford suffers production problems, Northport can compensate."

"They’ll share logistics, suppliers, and management."

Actually, one of the biggest mistakes early industrial companies often made was building isolated facilities.

Every factory became dependent on itself.

One disaster could cripple operations.

A network created resilience.

Then Ernest pointed toward the map again.

"And don’t forget transportation."

The River Merrow connected portions of western Belfast.

Meanwhile trade roads linked Northport and Ravenford directly.

Goods could move between both cities relatively cheaply.

Hollen slowly nodded.

The more Ernest explained it, the more logical it sounded.

"Fine."

The forge owner pointed at Ravenford.

"That’s number two."

Ernest smiled.

"Good."

Then he shifted his westward, across the sea separating the Kingdom of Ardan and Befast, which is the Isles Sea, and then to the city of Eastgate, which is like the city of Newcastle.

"This one, it has a population of about 200,000 people and its territory is bordered next to the Kingdom of Ardan, which has I believe two million population? It has a river as well."

"So Northport, Eastgate, and then Ravenford. That’s the city where we are going to construct the soap manufacturing plant."

"That’s the ideal location, we’ll have to come there and do research on the market."

"So it can change," Hollen asked.

"Yes," Ernest replied. "Nothing is certain until further research. We have a long road ahead of us."