Steel Empire
Long Term Cooperation

Berengar stood firmly in front of his father and the chief engineer. Both of them stared at him intensely; the gazes of their shapes could practically pierce Berengar's soul. Especially the old engineer's eyes. It was as if his secret had been revealed by being examined by those intelligent old eyes.

Finally, the tension subsided as a smile rang on the old Engineer's face as he bowed respectfully to Berengar.

"My master, I am Ludwig, servant in the humble young master's family. Your father asked me here to verify the authenticity of this blueprint."

Berengar nodded at Ludwig with a dignified face

"It's great to meet you, Ludwig. I feel like we'll be working together soon."

although the message is vague, Ludwig considered the statement to be proof of his theory that the design presented to him by the Baron was not of a merchant from the far east but rather designed by an unemployed and weak heir who was almost universally derided throughout court. . It seemed that the boy was smarter than he had anticipated before.

Nevertheless, the cunning old man did not let his inner thoughts appear on his face, and instead, he simply gracefully returned the words of the young master to him.

"Also"

Seeing that his son and Ludwig had become acquainted, Sieghard smiled; he felt working with the stubborn old engineer would be very beneficial to Berengar's development. Completely unaware that his son is the real designer of the blueprint. Sieghard decided he would allow the two of them to speak for some time in his absence. He found that the subject of the technique was very boring and usually just handed such things over to Ludwig to apply as he wished.

"I'm quite busy with managing the kingdom; I suggest you answer Ludwig's question to the best of your ability."

Berengar nodded as he replied

"Yes, dad"

Afterwards, Sieghard led the two men out of the study and secluded themselves inside. As soon as he sits at his desk, he opens the compartment and takes out the grape skins, and begins to engage in the age-old tradition of relieving your stress. After dealing with the idiot Ingbert, he needed it.

Outside the closed door of the study, Berengar found himself alone with Ludwig; therefore, he suggested they find a better place to discuss the important things before them.

"What if we go to the library? I'll have some servants get us food and wine; I promise I'll answer all your questions as best I can."

Ludwig nodded in agreement to Berengar's suggestion. The boy proved to be wiser than he appreciated; he looked forward to inquiring about the true origins of the design.

After reaching the library and secluding themselves inside, they picked up food and wine and discussed trivial matters for the first half hour. Only after they were quite crowded did Ludwig ask about his most pressing concerns.

"So tell me the truth, son, where did that design come from?"

Berengar chuckled at the old man's question; he suspected that the old man had guessed the true nature of the origin of the blueprint.

"i made it..."

A serious expression appeared on Ludwig's face, as Berengar had suspected; the old man was not at all surprised to hear it, nor did he consider the idea absurd. However, what came out of Berengar's lips next really surprised him.

"Although I guess you already know that ..."

It was the only word Ludwig could use to describe Berengar today. Is this really the weak and petty heir that everyone knows about? Has the boy been hiding his true intelligence?

After taking a sip of his wine, the old engineer asked further

Berengar tapped the lips of the cup three times and tilted his head to the side as he seemed to think hard. After a while had passed, he responded honestly to Ludwig.

"Some..."

Ludwig almost jumped out of his chair happily after hearing the news, there was only one thing the old man really enjoyed in life, and that was a technique. To think that the boy that he and many others put away for believing that he was a weak and petty person was actually very brilliant.

However, before he could get up from his chair, Berengar raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop.

"I'll give you designs to implement in the future when needed. For now, we should focus on building blast furnaces and Bessemer converters."

Ludwig was puzzled for a moment by Berengar's thoughts before he realized his greatest concern. The new design is great in theory, but investing in it requires significant financial support. Something that the Barony of Kufstein really does not have right now. After calming his heart down, he sat back down on his chair and fused his hands together.

"So, I assume that you have some plan?"

Berengar took a sip from his cup once more before a grin spread across his lips as he answered Ludwig's question with one of his questions.

"What do you think is five tons of pure steel?"

Although he could not do that calculation from the top of his head, he knew it was not a small amount. One could even call it a little luck. But that was only at the beginning; the more steel they produced, the less they were in value over time. However, the moment his mind came to such a conclusion, he immediately knew what Berengar meant.

"You want to sell the first batch and use the profits to invest in mining?"

The smile on Berengar's lips continued to curl. Furthermore, his assumptions about the man known as Ludwig were correct. Despite being born an ordinary person, the man had a quick mind and a lifetime of experience in the field related to what Berengar wanted to achieve. He would be a valuable ally to have in the future.

"To be precise, once our mines are operating at full capacity, the raw materials coming out of the mountains will be used primarily for our own industrial purposes. Every surplus we have will be turned into bars and sold to the Empire for profit."

Ludwig could not believe his ears; iron itself was a precious and rare commodity that most regions had always needed; steel was much more difficult to produce and was mostly used to make weapons such as swords or in rare cases, armor for the nobility. He could not imagine having a surplus of steel, especially after taking into account his own needs.

Nevertheless, Berengar's ambitions were truly great; he intended to use his resource-rich family territories to bring his sphere of influence into the industrial age. Everything while profiting from the remnants left behind by selling them at a great price to the Kingdom. It would take many years, but he was sure he would see such an era in his life and still have enough time to enjoy it.

Although he did not reveal his entire plan to Ludwig, as Berengar knew without seeing it for himself, the old man would never be able to dream of the industrial world. Instead, he reached out his hand kindly to the old engineer and asked the question in his mind.

"Will you help me take this Barony into a new era of industry?"

Ludwig could hardly believe his ears; the small and weak lord he had always heard his rumors called for the help of ordinary people like himself in creating a steel production industry on his family's land. Although the boy's father appreciated Ludwig's opinion, the old man was still looked down upon as just an ordinary person.

Yet here, Berengar stood with his arms outstretched, asking, not ordering him to help him in his efforts. The old man could not help but feel small tears flowing in his right eye. If only everyone knew how wrong they were about this young master. Therefore, he clasped Berengar's hand and shook it firmly.

"Yes, I can do it."

With that, a prosperous friendship would be born between the young master and the old engineer. The duo together will bring many innovations in the months that follow, which will result in great prosperity and stability for the impoverished Barony within a tumultuous Kingdom.

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