Steel Empire
Work Spirit

When Berengar left the dining room and his family before the Lambert explosion, he could not watch the scene of his crafty brother being frightened to the bone. Instead, he had already headed to his room to draw up a new blueprint. He felt as if Ludwig was trustworthy and willing to accept credit for his discoveries if he asked for them. Therefore, he spent the next hour to devise a plan for the Beehive Oven. Which is the best method available today for converting Coal into Coke. Something that proves vital in the function of a blast furnace.

After putting together a plan, he quickly left the castle gate and entered the city below. The von Kufstein family castle sits atop a large hill in the center of the city; it is a well-fortified castle that the family has occupied for generations. They led the Barony with absolute authority. They simply answered their Lieges, von Habsburg, who ruled not only the County of Tyrol but also the Duchy of Austria.

Although at this point, a cadet branch of the Habsburg family ruled the County of Tyrol, where Innsbruck was their seat of power. The Count of Tyrol has approved Lambert's proposal to marry his eldest daughter. Even Berengar was a little envious of such a thing. Not only was she a beautiful young woman who still had time to grow into her natural beauty, but she was also the Count's daughter, a prestige that many young nobles sought.

Berengar had no idea what scheme Lambert had devised to achieve such a thing. After all, it was unusual for a Count to marry off one of his daughters to a lesser noble, let alone the second son of a lowly Baron. Nevertheless, the boy had achieved it; even Berengar had to give him props. Lambert was not even sixteen yet, yet he had tricked a Count into giving his daughter's hand to him.

Meanwhile, Berengar was single, without the slightest thought of the prospect of marriage due to his weak constitution. Although that would soon change, and perhaps one day he could also marry the daughter of a Count. As soon as he thought of such glamorous ideals, he burst into laughter. What's he thinking? He has far more important things to pay attention to. Realistically speaking, the chances of him doing such a thing would be slim, and he would rather not care about noble politics.

If Berengar could bring prosperity and power to his family's land through industrial and agricultural power that was good enough for him, he really did not care about the luxurious schemes of the upper nobles. His ambitions stopped at inheriting his birthright and bringing his family's territory to a better age.

With his knowledge of military tactics and advanced weaponry, he will be able to defend his borders from any threat, although conquering other territories is easier said than done, and he had no desire to fight for the rest of his life. For the time being, his ambition had to wait; he had yet to gain any authority over the Barony of Kufstein, and therefore, had to settle for what he was capable of.

Upon arriving at Ludwig's shop door, he could hear the old man yelling at the others inside; this was not the first time he had heard Ludwig's anger, and if Berengar had guessed correctly, it was not the first time, then the voice he used to argue was that of Ser Ingbert. Something Berengar feared to face. He is not a fan of arrogant fools who overestimate their values. Especially when the reason for their arrogance was because of some noble title they inherited from their father. Although Ingbert could not directly offend Berengar, it did not prevent him from acting like a jerk to Ludwig.

As the heated discussion reached a level of irreverence that Berengar could no longer tolerate, he opened the shop door, making his presence known to everyone inside. Before the two men could greet him, Berengar shouted his orders at Ingbert.

"Get out!"

A demonic grin appeared on Ingbert's face after mistaking Berengar's order as if it was meant for a lowly commoner beside him.

"You heard what Young Master said, leave us!"

Berengar glared at Ingbert coldly, he was a man with good emotional control, but Ingbert's inability to read the room really made him uneasy.

"I mean you!"

The evil smile on Ingbert's face suddenly turned into a puzzled expression as he pointed to himself, asking for clarification.

"I?"

Berengar glared sharply at Ingbert in silence, as if the young Knight was trying his patience with every second he remained in the room. After a moment of gawking at Berengar like an idiot, the young Knight finally understood what he meant and lowered his head respectfully. Although her tone was pleasant, her eyes were furious; she had never been scolded in such a way before; she would remember this humiliation until her last breath.

After bending over to Berengar, Ingbert left the shop behind where Ludwig was alone, scratching the back of his head.

"You don't have to do that ..."

Berengar quickly approached the old man and slapped his back

Like a child in a candy store, Ludwig's eyes sparkled in delight; he grabbed the blueprint in Berengar's hands but was shocked when the young master pulled his hand out of reach.

"Not so fast! I have one condition..."

Ludwig frowned upon hearing the young Master's words; for a moment, he felt as if he was going to be tricked by Berengar, until he heard his condition.

"I want you as the inventor."

Ludwig's mouth almost gaped upon hearing Berengar's words; he never expected Baron's son to ask him to take glory for discovering what he knew would most likely be an important part of the steel industry.

After careful consideration, Ludwig agreed; he did not need to know why Berengar had turned the discovery into his hands. After all, it might include some convoluted court schemes that he doesn't want to do. If fifty-seven years of his life had taught him something, it was best to avoid the affairs of nobles.

"All right, it's okay for me."

Berengar smiled, partly because the man agreed to his request but also because he did not ask why he wanted to shift the invention to Ludwig's name. That man is much smarter than a fool like Ingbert.

After handing the blueprint to Ludwig, the man could no longer contain his excitement; a wide beaming smile spread across his face. The blueprint contained a series of notes on turning coal into coke and how coke was a more efficient fuel source for high kilns than charcoal. Luckily for them, the mountains surrounding the Barony of Kufstein were filled not only with iron but also coal.

"You are a genius master!"

Berengar smiled at Ludwig's reply. Although he was brilliant in his past life, he was far from what he considered a genius, but here in this primitive world, he was most likely the most knowledgeable person on the planet. He was happy to see someone appreciate his intelligence.

"So, how soon can you put all three designs into production?"

Ludwig scratched his beard at the question; he was also eager to make the blueprint come true; after careful consideration, he raised a finger.

"Give me a month, and I promise you that I'll have at least one of each of these designs built inside the city!"

Berengar was pleased with the news; it was much faster than he had anticipated. He was quite certain with the look on the old man's face that he would go to great lengths to build on these discoveries. Nevertheless, Berengar did not stop him; he only left behind a few words of encouragement.

"Be sure to take care of yourself; I'll stop by occasionally to check your progress. If you need additional funds, just ask my father.I'm sure he will manage to find the funds needed to make this dream of ours come true. After all, this design has a lot to do with the future financial problems of the world."

Ludwig grinned and gave a thumbs up to Berengar; he was happy to have a partner who understood his passion in engineering. Even his own son did not show the same level of excitement for the project as Berengar did.

"You can count on me, partner!"

With that said, Berengar walked out of Ludwig's workshop. Now that the industry's early stages in his plan have been set on the right track, he will focus on expanding Barony's agricultural capabilities for the next month. The work of God is never finished...