Building a Viking Empire with Modern Industry-Chapter 141: Nursery

The light of the smog-choked dawn shone into Ragnar’s quarters in the Governor’s Mansion, exposing the scene of the young Director and his CFO entangled in each other’s arms.

As per usual, this was the signal for Ragnar to awaken; as for Gyda, she would continue to sleep for exactly fifteen more minutes.

The days of her sneaking back to her own chambers were long passed.

These days, everyone knew of her "Executive Partnership" with Ragnar, and she openly slept in his room. I

Thus Ragnar skillfully climbed out of bed, grabbing his silver-geared cane, and got dressed in his morning workout attire (a heavy wool tunic and trousers).

As per usual, his morning was filled with a two-mile limp around the courtyard followed by isometric exercises.

When he was finally done with all of those things, hours had passed, and he had entered the bathhouse to get rid of the soot on his body.

When he opened the door to the steam room and entered the tiled chamber, he found Gyda already reviewing documents in the mist.

A small, water-proof slate was in her hand.

"Good morning, Director," she said without looking up. "The wool futures are up 3%."

Ragnar smiled, sitting down on the bench beside her. The steam eased the ache in his leg.

After a prolonged workout, soaking in a steam room powered by the excess heat of the blast furnace was something that Ragnar had come to enjoy immensely. It was the ultimate recycling.

After discussing the budget with Gyda for some time, the couple left the bath and tidied up their appearance while fulfilling daily hygiene like brushing their teeth with mint paste and flossing with silk thread.

Afterward, they got dressed and headed to the dining room, where they shared a meal.

As per usual, the only other person present at the table was Princess Elfwynn, who had returned from Oxford for a quarterly review.

Though her relationship with Gyda was professional, she still supported Ragnar’s "Human Element" policies against Gyda’s "Ruthless Efficiency."

Ragnar had yet to inform Elfwynn that her brother-in-law, Ealdorman Ethelred, had died due to friendly fire from a Directorate-made mace.

Of course, when he did finally tell her of such an important matter, it would be an entirely spun story about the Ealdorman dying heroically while inspecting a faulty bridge.

After all, Elfwynn still cared for her family, and she was not fully aware of the stupidity in which Ethelred had conducted his campaign.

As such, Ragnar drank black coffee out of the gold-plated skull chalice of Grandmaster Roland, while talking to Elfwynn about how she spent her time recently.

"So Elfwynn, how is the Oxford expansion? I have been so preoccupied with the hostile takeover of the Midlands that I have been unable to check up on the academic sector."

Elfwynn had been managing the new Technical Institute which had been set up in Oxford to educate the young generations of engineers; after all, if she stayed cooped up in the Station Fortress, she was bound to lose touch with the talent pool.

Thus Elfwynn had a giant smile on her face as she devoured the toasted bread on her plate.

However, the moment she heard this, her expression soured slightly, which did not go unnoticed by Ragnar and Gyda.

Elfwynn was a rather diligent girl, and as such, she did not like revealing inefficiencies in her department.

However, Ragnar was persistent and made sure to audit the girl’s morale; as such, he asked another question.

"Are you enjoying the role of Dean? Do the students respect the curriculum?"

Elfwynn nodded as she chewed her toast; she did not say much other than "Mhmm."

Despite her answer, Ragnar did not believe that to be the case; after all, he knew his COO reasonably well and, as such, became deeply concerned.

It was not simply a matter of being busy; ever since Ragnar got his cane and began drinking from a skull, he had an aura of "Corporate ruthlessness" around him, which made even Elfwynn subconsciously afraid of failing him.

Noticing such behavior, Gyda put a rare, gentle smile on her face and questioned the girl on Ragnar’s behalf.

She was the one who signed the paychecks, but she was also the one who approved vacation time.

"It is okay; why don’t you tell us if there are any bottlenecks?"

Elfwynn’s gaze switched between Ragnar and Gyda for a few moments before she finally opened up about her problems with the Technical Institute.

Due to being a princess of Mercia running a Viking school, Elfwynn was, as previously mentioned, an outsider, and as such, she did not know how to interact well with the rough-and-tumble Saxon apprentices.

"I don’t have any... authority."

With this information revealed, Ragnar was not entirely surprised; he had deliberately put her in charge so she could bridge the gap between the Vikings and Saxons, but she was still a teenage girl in a dress telling burly blacksmiths how to calculate tensile strength.

The apprentices probably thought she was just a figurehead.

It seemed Ragnar’s guesses were correct as Gyda further questioned the young girl.

"Well, have you tried enforcing the Code of Conduct?"

Elfwynn merely shook her head in response to this question, causing Gyda to adjust her spectacles.

"Well, maybe you should try firing someone?"

Elfwynn’s response was quick and filled with dejection.

"It won’t matter..."

Gyda tried to dig to the root of the problem. "Why not?"

Elfwynn’s expression turned gloomy, which was rather tragic on her capable face. She muttered in a hushed voice:

"Because I am just a ’Princess’ to them..."

Though she was quiet, the large dining room was virtually silent aside from the ticking of the grandfather clock, and Ragnar and Gyda both heard her complaint.

Now it was Ragnar’s turn to cheer her up.

"It sounds to me like the apprentices might be underestimating your technical knowledge. I’m willing to bet you don’t actually demonstrate the machinery, and you simply sit in your office reviewing blueprints. Am I right?"

Ragnar knew his management style all too well, and he had guessed correctly; Elfwynn squeezed her slide rule and pouted.

Ragnar was right on the money, and she felt like she was being scolded during a performance review. However, what he said next gave her some hope.

"Why don’t you try getting your hands dirty? I know you prefer the theory, but if you walk onto the factory floor and fix a steam valve with your own hands, they might stop thinking of you as a Princess and start treating you as a Lead Engineer. I am sure the apprentices would respect someone who knows how to calibrate a governor."

Hearing this, Elfwynn continued to pout until finally, she uttered a single phrase.

"I doubt that..."

Ragnar laughed at the girl’s pessimism and decided to counter her words.

"Is that so? Then what are the apprentices in your Institute interested in talking about?"

Elfwynn’s face slightly flushed as she recalled the subject the young men in her school were constantly talking about and immediately looked away from Ragnar, which deeply confused him.

As for Gyda, she had a general idea of what the popular topic was among young men and merely smirked.

"Elfwynn, what are the boys talking about?"

Hearing the authoritative voice of the Director speaking to her in such a forceful manner, Elfwynn nearly jumped out of her seat. She muttered a single word.

"You..."

Ragnar did not believe he heard correctly. "I’m sorry, what was that?"

Elfwynn was already thoroughly embarrassed and shouted out what she had said in a fit.

"You! The apprentices always talk about you! They call you the Iron Father! They say you can build a train out of scrap metal and sheer will!"

Now it was Ragnar’s turn to be embarrassed; this was not exactly the corporate image he wanted. He wanted to be seen as a sophisticated businessman, not a mythical blacksmith god.

As such, he turned to Gyda looking for support, who was merely smirking at his misfortune before teasing him.

"My oh my, to believe my Director is a folk hero to the working class!"

Hearing that phrase, Ragnar immediately wished he was back in the steam room. It was indeed something he had never expected.

Though he was popular among the employees for his dental plan, he never thought the teenagers would be fanboying over him.

As such, Ragnar merely cleared his throat before putting on a professional act and began giving Elfwynn some advice.

"Well, you should leverage that! I mean, after all, who knows more about my methods than my own COO? Surely you must know some ’Trade Secrets’ that the apprentices will be interested in? Use that as a hook, and then teach them the math behind the magic."

Gyda laughed faintly at Ragnar’s reaction; despite being embarrassed by the hero worship, he still managed to turn it into a teaching moment. After pondering about it for a moment, Elfwynn realized Ragnar was right; if the apprentices treated her boss like a god, then she was his High Priestess of Engineering. She could use that authority to command respect.

"Thanks, Director!"

Despite his terrifying reputation, he was still the mentor she looked up to, which made Elfwynn happy.

Now that she had a strategy to manage her team, Elfwynn and the others enjoyed the rest of their meal in peace.

As for Ragnar, he was cursing his luck for being so popular. The last thing he needed was Gyda calling him "Iron Father" in the bedroom.

"By the way," Ragnar added, wiping crumbs from his beard. "Pack your warmest cloak, Elfwynn. We have a coal monopoly to secure."