Before the current and former Count Randolphs could get into an argument, Lucas cut in and sheepishly asked, "I don’t suppose you could spare say... 100 of those barrels, could you?"

This time, both Lester and Nathanial shook their heads, the latter muttering, "It was hard to secure that much flowing rock all at once, even from the big chambers of commerce in the Sovereignty."

"En," Lester Randolph agreed, "I can spare at most 50 barrels of ’concrete’. The rest is necessary to properly repair the southern wall."

Pursing his lips, Lucas did some quick estimations in his head before nodding, "50 it is, then."

Having 60 tons of concrete to work with might sound like a lot, but in order to build a proper drydock for the standard 50 metres class ships the Swift Current Legion used, it wasn’t nearly enough.

Still, that was what Lucas had to work with, so he would have to make do.

Fortunately, ships in the Rockwell Kingdom were still mostly constructed of wood, making them relatively light compared to those built completely from metal. That meant the flooring of the drydock Lucas envisioned wouldn’t have to be that strong.

If he mainly used a mix of chiseled stone for the floor, and bricks for the siding, all held together by flowing rock, it might just be possible to build a single reusable drydock, though Lucas would only know for sure after he spoke with the local stonecutters and brickmakers.

Seeing how the shipyard expansion was still in its early phase, though, Lucas figured he had some time to put together a proper proposal before needing to present it to Count Randolph and General Caldwell for final approval.

This would also be a good test-run for the much larger, more advanced shipyard he would need to build in the future.

For now, Lucas pulled out a notepad, pen, and inkwell from his Space Bag and began scribbling some rough dimensions down to use later.

He also made a mental note to try to create some more convenient writing tools, like pencils or pens that came with pre-loaded ink.

Once he was finished, and made a few suggestions for minor improvements in the existing shipyard, Lucas urged his hosts to continue with the tour.

.....

Back on their horses, Lucas couldn’t help asking, "Count Randolph, has there been any word about the refugee convoy?"

The river convoy was supposed to have reached Falcon’s Bend yesterday, so the fact that it still wasn’t here, despite noon fast approaching, bothered Lucas slightly.

Unfortunately, Count Randolph could only shake his head, "There’s been no report of a large-scale convoy from the watchtower today."

The watchtower the Count was referring to was an outpost set up atop Falcon’s Head which, during the day, allowed lookouts to see nearly 50 kilometres both up and down the Lorren.

If the convoy hadn’t been spotted by this lookout tower, then it was safe to assume it was nowhere near the city yet.

Lucas’ worries increased when he heard this, but there was nothing he could do about it, so for now he decided to focus on things he could control.

The situation in Falcon’s Bend was good, and there were many opportunities Lucas felt he could take advantage of, so while he was here, he would do his best to start laying some groundwork with the local Lord and businesses.

Less than 10 minutes after leaving the shipyard, a vast clearing appeared up the road the small group consisting of Lucas, Lester, Nicholas, and their guards were traveling along.

This clearing was filled with the sounds of sawing and hammering as hundreds of workers and pack animals dragged giant logs over from the nearby forest, stripped them of bark, then cut them into all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Once again, Lucas was disappointed to see just how much of this work was being done by hand.

It seemed that cultivation really was an impediment to mechanization and innovation as everyone seemed to believe that the solution to all problems was simply to raise their personal strength.

For instance, most of the workers in this ’sawmill’ were at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, with a fair number even being in the Vein Opening Realm.

Back in Redwood Town, Practitioners with this kind of cultivation could become guards, or hunters, earning much more money from these higher-end jobs.

Here, in Falcon’s Bend, it seemed that these same people could only resign themselves to doing manual labour.

Lucas immediately wanted to shift the location of this sawmill to the river, where massive waterwheels could be used to power circular saws, but he also knew that doing so would swiftly leave 80% of the workers in this clearing unemployed, which would greatly disrupt the local economy.

He wasn’t looking to become a public enemy just yet, so Lucas held his criticisms back and instead paid more attention to his original goal, figuring out just what kind of wood was being processed here.

As the distinctive group approached the entrance of the lumbermill, a young woman in heavy work clothes ran over to meet them.

Bowing low, the young, brown-haired woman shouted in a surprisingly loud voice, "Greetings, Lord Lester! Lord Nicholas!"

The burly father and son pair nodded, before the latter waved his hand and commanded, "Rise."

Straightening back up, Lucas was able to get a good look at this tall, short-haired young woman.

She had freckles on her face, a bright pair of eyes, and a wide, friendly smile. She also didn’t seem very nervous despite standing before both a Count and Former Count.

Dismounting from their horses, it was actually Nicholas who walked up and patted the young woman on her shoulder, "You’ve grown into quite the beauty, Little Molly!"

"You flatter me, My Lord," the young woman named Molly nodded politely.

"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Grandpa?" Nicholas questioned playfully.

Shaking her head, Molly replied, "It’s only proper I refer to you by your title in public, My Lord."

"Tsk, as hard-headed as your mother," Nicholas grumbled, but he didn’t really seem upset.

Feeling the curiosity in Lucas’ gaze, Lester leaned over and whispered, "My youngest sister fell in love with Molly’s father and... well, you can figure out the rest."

"Ah," Lucas nodded, a story of young love, forbidden romance, and rebellious children painting itself in his head.

Whatever the case may be, however, it seemed that the relationship between the old Count and his granddaughter wasn’t too bad.

"And who might this Young Master be?" Molly asked, finally spotting Lucas behind her overly burly uncle and grandfather.

Stepping forward, Lucas held out his hand and smiled politely, "I’m no ’Young Master’. I’m not even a noble. Please just call me, Lucas, Lady Molly."

"Oh? A boy who isn’t a noble being shown around by both the Count and Former Count of this land? Something tells me you’re not just an ordinary commoner, Young Master Lucas," Molly grinned, reaching out and shaking the offered hand.

Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, Lucas did his best not to sigh. Even after everything he had been through recently, he still wasn’t used to people, especially those who were much older, addressing him as ’Young Lord’ or ’Young Master’.

As Celestina Balfour’s First Disciple, Lucas knew he would have to adapt to this new status at some point; but honestly, right now, it just felt like an unnecessary formality.

"So, Young Master Lucas," Molly continued, gently withdrawing her hand, "Why have you decided to visit my family’s sawmill today?"

Molly was genuinely curious about this. She knew that there was no need for her uncle and grandfather to just randomly show up here, so the only conclusion was that Lucas had specifically asked to see this facility, but why would a child care what happened at a sawmill?"

"Feel free to ask Little Molly anything," Nicholas spoke up from the side, "Technically it’s that damned boy who owns this lumbermill, but she’s the one who runs things day-to-day."

Turning to Count Randolph, Lucas raised his brow in silent inquiry.

"My brother-in-law," Lester answered the unspoken question.

"Ah, I see," Lucas nodded, quickly figuring out the awkward family dynamics at play here.

With this endorsement, though, he quickly shifted his focus back to Molly and asked, "I was hoping you could tell me more about what kind of wood you process here, as well as what species of trees are most common in the surrounding forests."

"That could take a while. We process all kinds of wood here, and there are dozens of species of trees in the local forests," Molly replied frankly, "Could you be a little more specific?"

"Hmm..." Lucas had somewhat expected such a response; after all, his question had been quite broad. Still, he didn’t want to give away too many of his secrets, so he couldn’t afford to get too specific.

After thinking it over for a moment, Lucas decided it would be best if he focused on his most important question first, "How common are Lych Trees around Falcon’s Bend, and are they used frequently in ship building or construction?"