Chapter 17: Back in Kufstein
Rose didn't know why… but at that moment he felt an almost irresistible urge to laugh at someone else's misfortune. He couldn't understand the reason; normally, that sort of thing didn't amuse him—unless it involved his uncle Lucifer, who had a special talent for getting himself into the strangest situations imaginable.
Even so, he ignored the impulse and continued with his work for the day: refining the plans for the irrigation system. He wanted to integrate greenhouses and drip irrigation, but that would require a great deal—a truly great deal—of time, since it depended on prior technologies that did not yet exist. For now, he had settled on a waterwheel-powered irrigation system.
With this method, the barony's fields would be irrigated far more efficiently, without the risk of excess or shortage of water. Over time, needing fewer farmers would allow for the cultivation of larger plots… or at least, that was his hope. To be honest, he wasn't entirely certain how agriculture worked in all its finer details.
When he finally finished, he headed to the industrial district, where he found his friend and partner in crime—metaphorically speaking—who was still overseeing steel production. To be honest, Rose was partly surprised that there was still iron left to be processed.
Seeing him approach, the old man offered him a respectful smile.
"My lord, it's good to see you so early. I've been waiting for your instructions on what to do with all this fine steel… we've accumulated so much that we no longer know where to put it."
That comment brought Rose to an abrupt halt. Steel shouldn't have increased in volume compared to iron; on the contrary, at least as far as he knew.
Well… that was one more thing to ask Uriel the next time he managed to summon him. For now, he had more pressing matters.
"I thought my father visited you yesterday. Doesn't he have plans for the steel?" Rose asked honestly. He had assumed he would—after all, he had approved the project and repeatedly confirmed that it worked.
Ludwig wore a slightly guilty expression as he led Rose toward the warehouse that now held all the steel. At the same time, he summarized the discussion he had had with the baron the day before.
"In the end, I managed to convince him to let you handle the steel business. He was so impressed by the quantity and quality of the stockpile that I think he had no idea what to do with it… other than stare at it with his mouth hanging open for two hours."
The explanation drew a restrained smile from the young heir. He would have liked nothing more than to have a camera to immortalize the scene.
"It's actually a very sensible decision," he said calmly, though he was still somewhat confused by his father's lack of plans. "We'll sell between three and five tons. I'm sure that, in these times, we'll find some buyer crazy enough to purchase that amount."
"And what will we do with the rest?" Ludwig asked, scratching his chin. There were at least fifty—perhaps sixty—tons of steel in storage, with even more still in production.
Naturally, Rose handed him the blueprints. At first glance they looked complex, but it didn't take Ludwig long to recognize just how ingenious and truly elaborate the design was.
"An irrigation system for crops?" the old man asked, incredulous at the idea of automating something so basic.
Rose nodded and turned his gaze toward the fields of Kufstein, his expression solemn.
"Imagine all our fields supplied with water through this system. There won't be a single dry plot," he explained in his calm tone.
Ludwig did exactly that. He looked out over the fields, filled with farmers slowly watering by hand. He could picture the future clearly: greener fields, more abundant harvests… hell, even more beautiful flower gardens. However, an inevitable concern surfaced in his mind.
"Wouldn't that leave many farmers without work?" he asked, fully aware that automation would reduce the need for manual labor.
"Sowing and harvesting will always be necessary," Rose replied. "But over time, we'll need more workers in the factories. The pipes will need maintenance, damaged sections will have to be repaired, and the system itself will require supervision. Automation doesn't mean leaving people without jobs; it means giving them time to learn new skills and dedicate themselves to other things."
After hearing that perspective, Ludwig couldn't help but grow even more enthusiastic. He had never thought of it that way; he had always focused on the short term. Rose, on the other hand, thought long-term. He wasn't putting all his eggs in one basket—he was betting on sustained growth in prosperity and quality of life across his domains.
Of course, Rose was not like other rulers of his era—nor like many who came after the resets—who destroyed the world solely to gain more power. But neither was he naïve: he understood perfectly well the real advantages of industry, both economically and socially.
Conversaron un poco más sobre los planes básicos de Rose y algunos de los más avanzados, pero finalmente tuvo que permitir que Ludwig comenzara a trabajar en el sistema de riego. Aquello le llevaría bastante tiempo, aunque estaba convencido de que, como mucho, sería cuestión de unos meses… un año a lo sumo.
They talked a bit more about Rose's basic plans and some of the more advanced ones, but in the end he had to let Ludwig begin work on the irrigation system. It would take quite some time, though Rose was convinced that, at most, it would be a matter of a few months… a year at worst.
Soon, Kufstein's fields would be properly irrigated, marking the beginning of a new era for the barony's agriculture. By then, he hoped to have some of his simpler mechanized inventions up and running, such as seed drills and horse-drawn plows. He still wasn't sure how to implement steam engines; that would have to wait for later.
For now, he returned to the castle. The time would soon be right to begin cultivating relationships with the nobility, and he already had a clear idea of how to start… and, incidentally, how to humiliate Lambert by making him look like little more than a brute with some skill with a sword.
Yes, Rose was spiteful and incredibly petty. If he could, he would steal his brother's fiancée and sleep with her right in front of him… but that would doom him socially.
Returning to the matter at hand, he began drafting invitations for the minor lords and noble knights under his father's vassalage, as well as for Adela's family and the count whom his father served. He didn't want to be accused of slighting his future father-in-law or the lord of his house when sending out invitations to what would be the barony's first grand ball.
And yes, he would host a ball. He had the perfect excuse: his recent engagement to a pleasant and attractive young woman. When his siblings had gotten engaged—those who did—his father had always organized celebrations meant to make the event known far and wide.
According to his uncle Zeref, that had more to do with unresolved childhood abandonment issues than with politics: an exaggerated way of showing his children that, even if he was a king and his duties kept him away for months at a time, he still loved them.
Thinking about his father led Rose to wonder whether he would have accepted Adela as his life partner… or one of them. Some of his siblings were incredibly promiscuous, after all. He supposed he would have. Adela had proven herself to be exactly as he had described her: kind, curious, eager to learn new things, and far more open-minded than most people he had known.
That… was probably love at first sight. His mother had always told him that love didn't make you blind or deaf, but it did make you incredibly stupid during the first few days.
She was probably right. He had never fallen in love like this before, so he wasn't used to thinking or reacting in that way. In any case, the engagement was also the perfect excuse to gather his father's vassals. They wouldn't be able to refuse: doing so would be an insult not only to him, but to the baron… and, by extension, to two invited counts.
Writing each invitation by hand was torture. In fact, he was already planning to develop the printing press. However, before he could dwell too deeply on that idea, he heard a knock at the door. It wasn't very late, so it couldn't be Henrietta with her bedtime story.
He set the quill back in the inkwell and went to open the door. Though he would never admit it out loud, he was surprised to see Adela standing at the threshold, holding a tray filled with snacks and two glasses of milk. Her cheeks were flushed; she clearly had never visited a boy's room alone before.
"Would you like to share a snack with me?" she asked timidly.
Rose found it incredibly endearing. Besides, he needed a break; his hand was already protesting from writing the same letter over and over again. He opened the door a bit wider and led her toward the desk, making a mental note to build a small sitting area. Seriously, the room had far too much wasted space. He pulled over another chair for her to sit on.
After setting down the tray of Lebkuchen and Pfeffernuss cookies—which the castle chefs had recently prepared for the young woman—Adela noticed some strange exercise devices in the corner of Rose's room.
"What are those things in the corner?" she asked.
Rose didn't need to look to know what she meant. He took a cookie and, after cursing once again the lack of chocolate, replied calmly:
"Exercise equipment. I was practically a walking skeleton a few months ago; I needed it to get back in shape."
The correct term would have been to gain shape—but honestly, he didn't care much either way.
Adela, for her part, lost interest in the equipment almost immediately upon hearing that it was used for physical exercise. As long as she maintained her figure and developed properly, she had no desire to do more exercise than strictly necessary, so she quickly shifted her attention to the next thing that caught her eye: the letters Rose had been writing.
"What are those for?" she asked. Deep down she knew she was being a little nosy, but Rose made her feel safe enough to ask questions her father would normally have scolded her harshly for.
"They're invitations for our engagement party. Since we'll eventually be the barons of this territory, I thought it best to invite the local nobility, as well as your father, so we can all get to know each other. For now they don't have a very good opinion of me, but I'm sure I can pull them out of that mindset over time, despite the rumors," he explained.
Of course, he didn't mention that part of the plan involved destroying Lambert's golden image. In his defense, Adela didn't need to know that—and besides, he was far more concerned about the absolute lack of chocolate in his life than about noble politics.
Adela simply looked at him, her eyes shining with joy. She couldn't believe he was organizing a party to celebrate their engagement; it felt completely unheard of and, to her, incredibly romantic.
Rose, of course, didn't love her… at least not yet. But he liked her enough, and the real reason he was organizing the party was social. To a large extent, it was also because his father had spoiled him by celebrating every important milestone in life. Little did he know that he had just invented the concept of engagement parties in this era—and even less that, by doing so, he had turned Adela into his most devoted follower.If his Uncle Gil were there, he would probably say he had just acquired his own Juvia.
"So… when will this party take place?" she asked, visibly excited.
"About a month from now. I need some time to sell part of the steel I have stored and cover the expenses. It won't be easy; almost no one has enough money—or steel—to pay for it," he replied distractedly.
Up until that point, he hadn't paid much attention to the financial details, but now he remembered that parties like that were expensive. He preferred not to burden his father with the cost; the old man had a terrible habit of splurging on luxuries only to later feel like the worst piece of trash in the world for wasting his limited funds.
He found it both amusing and terribly mortifying.
He left that matter for later, and the young couple spent the rest of the afternoon together, enjoying the snacks and chatting calmly about various topics—though mostly about the party.
They were completely unaware that a storm was heading straight for them at that very moment…one that would end up giving Rose much, much more material to mock his little brother with.
End of chapter.