Chapter 137: Pea

After hearing Byron’s words, Gawain was stunned as he asked, “Girl?”

“Yes…” Sir Byron was frowning so much that he nearly made an abstract face. “I only realized it when I was giving her a shower. I was truly shocked!”

Gawain’s brows trembled while looking at the middle-aged knight with a strange expression. “Don’t say that you have some opinions. That child is probably not even ten years old yet.”

Byron shook his head vigorously in response and said, “Impossible, impossible. I might have the background as a mercenary, but I am not vulgar. I feel that I am probably unable to adopt her…”

Gawain felt that this was rather interesting and wasn’t in a hurry to continue studying the information he had. Instead, he looked at the knight’s eyes and asked, “Why? Just because she is a female, so you think you cannot adopt her and let her be your successor? I didn’t think that you were a person with such an old-fashioned mindset.”

“Of course it isn’t because of that.” Byron had a wry expression as he explained, “She saved my life. It wouldn’t be a problem even if I have to pass down all my martial skills and wealth to her. But I am merely a boorish man… How can I bring up a girl properly? Originally, I thought she was a boy. Now, I truly don’t know what to do…”

Gawain put on a smile that didn’t look like a smile. But his vision suddenly looked across Sir Byron’s body and towards the entrance of the tent.

A skinny and petite figure was standing there.

Byron had also noticed something and was hesitant to turn back for a glance. As expected, he saw the little mute who had secretly followed him over here.

He… she had already showered and combed her hair; she had also changed into a clean shirt and a skirt made of rough cloth. But the scene of ‘a dirty and homeless child turning into a princess after a shower and a change of clothes’ didn’t happen on this child. It was still obvious that she was a girl, but she didn’t look significantly better than before. The long-term period of malnutrition and labor beyond her physical limits had made her look sickly. Her skin was rough, and her hair was like a bunch of dried up weeds that was put on her head, even after combing it. Her body was skinny, and her face was sunken in due to lack of nutrition. There wasn’t any part of her that looked cute.

She had run over here carelessly and had only realized that this place must not be barged in recklessly. She was standing at the entrance with a dazed expression while carefully putting her hands and legs together. Her face was filled with anxiety and helplessness.

She should have heard the conversation between Gawain and Byron.

“Your daughter is here to look for you.” Gawain laughed and looked at Byron. He then gestured to the mute girl at the entrance for her to come over.

“My Lord…” Byron called out helplessly but immediately saw the little mute walking towards him. Byron’s face rapidly turned awkward and uncomfortable. “Why… why did you follow me? Didn’t I tell you not to run around carelessly in this place?”

“Byron,” Gawain spoke. “I know that you feel this matter is hard to handle. But you cannot throw this child to the side. Since you promised to adopt her back then, that promise shouldn’t be restricted by any future conditions. Take good care of her.”

“I…” Byron opened his mouth but still nodded and said, “Yes, I understand.”

“If you encounter any trouble, you can seek help. The territory has plenty of people who know how to take care of children. Don’t be unwilling to put down your pride as a knight. In any case, I reckon that you don’t have such pride.” Gawain laughed and said, “This child didn’t just save you, she had also helped me. I was able to resolve the danger at Tanzan Town due to her great contributions. This child has brought good luck for our territory. We must not treat her unfairly.”

Sir Byron nodded and gave his consent. The little mute blinked her eyes to look at Gawain before looking at Byron again. She could understand their language, but she didn’t understand the profound contents like knight and territory; therefore, she looked like she was at a loss.

At this moment, Gawain suddenly asked, “Does she have a name?”

“Name?” Byron looked as though he had just realized this point. “That’s right. I still don’t know her name… I had panicked when I was taking care of her earlier.”

“She should already have a name, but it is a pity that she can’t talk. It is probable that none of us will be able to know what her name is.” Gawain looked at the little mute and asked, “Shall we give you a name?”

The mute child immediately used her hands to gesticulate, but Gawain and Byron were unable to understand her. After a struggle and a failed communication, the little mute suddenly said ‘uh ah’ and ran out of the tent.

Gawain and Byron looked at each other with dismay and decided to wait. A moment later, the child returned while panting.

She extended her hand in front of Gawain and there were peas within her hand.

A long time later, Gawain finally guessed the child’s meaning. “Are you saying that your name is Pea?”

The mute child nodded forcefully. One of her hands grabbed on the belt on her skirt while the other hand brought the peas forward a little more.

This time Byron was the one to react. “You don’t wish for a new name and wish to still be called ‘Pea’?”

The mute child nodded forcefully again.

“This name should be given to her by her parents. If it was a name given to her by the merchant who cut off her tongue, she wouldn’t view it with such importance.” Gawain guessed and said, “Pea, huh…? When the parents came up with the name, they probably wished that she would be able to stay full.”

While speaking, Gawain pressed down on Pea’s head. The sensation was truly like a bundle of weed.

“She might not know how to talk, but she can understand us. You will have to pay attention to your choice of words in the future and be a good role model for this child.” Gawain smiled and looked at Byron while suddenly recalling something. “That’s right, the purchasing of serfs and contact with the refugees at Tanzan Town is now being assisted by Viscount Andrew. You don’t need to personally supervise it now. Just hand it to some elite subordinates to handle the task. I have a new mission for you.”

After hearing there was a new mission, Sir Byron immediately straightened his body and had a stern expression.

“Don’t need to be so nervous. The mission is just within the territory. I want you to organize a team to explore the ancient fortress in the Dark Range.”

Byron asked curiously, “Are you preparing to make a comprehensive exploration?”

Gawain nodded and said, “Viscount Andrew dug out a shard of the Eternal Stone Slate from under the Tanzan Mine. I am getting increasingly worried about the ancient fortress in our territory. There isn’t a choice but to increase the pace.” Gawain then continued, “You have the background of a mercenary and should have some experience in terms of the exploration of ruins. Find some meticulous and courageous members, bring the best equipment, and investigate all the hallways and rooms in the top layers. Afterward, draw it into a map. I ask for speed. I ask for safety and details. I don’t wish to have any veteran soldiers dying in such a place and don’t wish for anything important to be missed out either. Understand?”

Byron stood straight and said, “Yes. Please be at ease. I am indeed experienced in this area and will not disappoint you.”

When Sir Byron left, Gawain had also walked out of the tent and looked at the territory that was developing day by day.

Not long before, this place was still just ‘camp’.

Winter was approaching; the weather was turning colder after each day, while the new Cecil territory was making progress on the right track. The first generation of the Magic Powered Engine (after Nicholas Egg’s adjustment and optimization, it had been transformed from a prototype machine into a functional machine) had already been officially revealed to the residents. It had a strange shape but was filled with extraordinary power. It was a machine operated by magic but could be controlled by normal people. Many people were so shocked that their eyes had dropped out. When it was put into operation, there were many serfs and commoners who looked at the machines with fearful eyes. They seemed to believe that the repulsion mechanisms and the shafts contained countless invisible little devils. They believed that the machine was operated by the little devils as they pushed the terrifyingly heavy steel. In the beginning, it was hard to even find operators; they had to use forceful methods in order to ensure that each machine had sufficient manpower to operate it…

But this ignorant and amusing phase only lasted for a very short period of time.

Under Gawain’s request, the territory had a system to ‘preach’ and ‘enlighten’. Every new matter, be it a new law or a new machine would be repeatedly preached and taught to the residents. Gawain was determined to eliminate ignorant and uneducated people on this land. As such, in just a few days, everyone knew that these machines were actually a brand new type of magic device. The thing that allowed a normal person to control the machine wasn’t deviltry that would extract a person’s soul and flesh, but the result of intelligence and technology.

Gawain had emphasized in the propaganda that ‘normal people’ were involved in the development team of the machine. He had intentionally carved the name of all the craftsmen involved in the early-phase development on the machine’s surface. Furthermore, these craftsmen were normally living together with everyone. Because of this, they had received countless commendations and gazes of amazement. Gawain’s reward was the invigorated spirits of the serfs and the commoners who were normally numbed and ignorant.

In the territory now, one could see the normal residents walking around with smiles on their faces.

With the surging force of the Magic Powered Engine, all the fundamental production in the territory had a drastic boost in speed.

The mines were using the Magic Powered Engine to pull the ore carts, to extract the water seepage, allowing the supply of ores to become stable. Right now, the only thing that restricted the supply was the uneven path from the mines to the steelworks. Gawain had already ordered a path to be built, and with the support from Heidi’s magic, smoothing out and constructing a simple path wasn’t difficult.

The machining factory also had shocking progress in production. The metal-ball alien’s cheat code was actually much more effective than Gawain imagined. All of the simple lathes that Gawain could think of were produced through sleepless days. Had it not been for the rune furnace that had energy supply from the Magic Web and a sufficient supply of ores, the entire steel reserve might not have been able to keep up with Nicholas Egg’s consumption rate.

The brick-kiln yard already used the simple molding machines from the machining factory, while the ‘cement’ Rebecca had been researching finally had initial progress. A bonding material that had a certain standard of strength had been produced by her. There were still big problems with the production rate and the yield rate, but Gawain could already consider allowing the territory to upgrade from the wooden huts and tents into ‘hard-material houses’…

As such material construction developed, the greatest problem was the shortage of talent.

Labor wasn’t a problem as the land developed by the territory wasn’t going to expand for now. However, due to the constant production of new machines and new technology, there weren’t enough talented people to maintain and continue to make advancements.

Technological advancement couldn’t just rely on a few individuals to complete. There might be a few geniuses who could create things that could change the era with just a hint of inspiration, but in order to generalize these things and form a sustainable production chain, a large number of middle- to low-level technological personnel was required.

However, within the group of 100, there weren’t a lot of ‘geniuses’; there weren’t even talents.

Not every unorthodox individual shunned by society was a genius. Most of the time, they were shunned by society due to their low emotional quotient (EQ). However, the lack of EQ wouldn’t mean the person would have more intelligence elsewhere.

Gawain might have mentioned that ‘the territory welcomes unorthodox people’ or something like that, but it was more to boost the morale for himself and people of his kind. He knew that it wasn’t practical to expect the king to provide one hundred revolutionary people; however, the fact showed that among the 100 individuals, apart from Jenni who had great value and a few good prospects, the rest of the people were mostly mediocre. They might be able to do their original work, but nothing more could be requested from them.

I wonder how many intellectual individuals Viscount Andrew can find for me… When considering this era’s education level, I cannot expect too much.

Right at this moment, a shout not far away had interrupted Gawain’s thoughts.

“Lord Ancestor~! Lord Ancestor~!” Rebecca was shouting and running over here. As she ran, she swung her signature metal staff while the other hand swung a large roll of paper.

When Gawain saw the young lady’s metal staff, he subconsciously thought, ‘Is she going to use her staff to test if her old ancestor is still alive?’

Subsequently, he saw that Jenni was following behind Rebecca. That runemaster was holding even more scrolls, and she had a particularly hard time chasing after Rebecca. While Jenni ran, she was calling out to Rebecca and asking Rebecca to slow down.

Gawain finally heaved a sigh of relief. ‘It seems like Rebecca isn’t here to murder her ancestor…’

When the duo arrived in front of him, Gawain looked at his great great n+1 granddaughter with curiosity and said, “Slow down. Slow down and catch your breath. What’s wrong?”

“I—we studied the rogue mage’s notes and… and those rune arrangements.” Rebecca was panting and took a deep breath before saying, “Afterward, we managed to calculate the Magic Web’s unlimited expanding structure!!”

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