By the time the carriage arrived at the arms repair factory, Claude and Skri had already finished discussing the issue of funding for the construction of the five castles in Balingana and Cromwell. It would be nothing more than keeping the 60% of the gold and silver production.
But to avoid angering the kingdom's finance ministry, Skri suggested a three-year deadline. In other words, they would use the remaining gold and silver to pay for the construction costs for the next three years and return it to the ministry three years later. That way, they would be able to justify themselves in all aspects.
As for the mining association, it would be nothing more than a 50/50 split instead of a 50/50 split. In other words, they would have to hand over half of the gold and silver production to the theatre.
That way, they would be able to earn ten percent more each year and save on the cost of transporting the gold and silver ingots. Their cooperation with Claude wouldn't have been in vain.
Claude exited the carriage and found that it had stopped at the entrance of a valley. Entry and exit had to be checked by the sentries in front.
Skri also exited the carriage and explained that the arms repair factory was guarded by the keepers tribe directly under the command of the theatre. A keeper band was stationed there and all entry and exit had to be checked and registered.
A first lieutenant with two black stars on his shoulder rushed over and saluted before Claude and Skri. At the same time, he ordered his keepers to remove the barricades and let the two generals' carriages and attendants into the valley.
Claude waved for the carriage to enter first. He wanted to take a walk with Skri. After sitting in the carriage for three hours, he needed to stretch his legs a little.
Skri said the factory was built there mainly because there was a lake at the peak of the mountain nearby that provided plenty of water. After some repairs, it would form an artificial waterfall with enough height to power the hydraulic machinery of the factory and ensure that the factory would be able to forge all the accessories apart from the gun barrels.
The valley looked rather large, probably around 40 square metres in size. The ground had already been renovated and was rather flat.
There were many single-story houses built in the middle of the valley and near the cliffs. There was also a two-metre-tall stone wall that surrounded all the houses.
There were four keepers on duty at the entrance of the stone wall.
"The arms repair factory is over there," Skri said.
He could hear the rumbling of machinery from the workshop, but not the splashing of water from the waterfall.
Looking up, he saw more than a dozen cast iron pipes, each half a meter in diameter, hanging down from the cliff. They fell straight from the top of the cliff to the roof of the bungalow at the bottom of the cliff.
"That's the hydraulic power pipe."
Skri saw Claude's attention on the pipes hanging down from the cliff and explained, "These pipes lead from the lake at the top of the mountain to the bottom. They use the drop of water to power the hydraulic machinery in the houses below."
"It's amazing …" Claude sighed. He didn't think the people of this world would use the power of water in such a way.
He originally thought that he would use the drop of the waterfall to drive the water wheel structure of the mill to operate the machine. He didn't expect that he couldn't even see a waterfall. Instead, he used this iron pipe to make full use of the falling water of the waterfall.
Skri chuckled. "What's there to be shocked about? Compared to this arms repair workshop, the other arms workshops in the kingdom are the ones that are truly shocking.
I've been to the second largest arms factory in the kingdom, the Valencis Union Arms Factory, on official business.
The waterfall there is more than a thousand meters tall and the hydraulic power pipe is two meters thick.
It's said that the water flows down and drives thousands of tons of forging and rolling machinery. That's how the best barrels of our kingdom are made, the most advanced muskets on Freia. "
Forget it, Claude didn't want to argue with Skri about how advanced matchlocks were. He pointed at the arms repair factory and asked, "Are we going in?"
"No," Skri said with a shake of his head and pointed to the other side. "We're going there. The new chief gunsmith is a famous master gunsmith in Eastern Freia. He was made an honorary count by the kingdom.
After he took up the post, he set up his own gun lab and spends most of his time there doing his own experiments. "
Claude looked in the direction Skri was pointing and saw a small forest on the other side of the valley. Hidden within the forest was a three-storey wooden villa and a row of four log houses.
The environment was not bad. The small forest was covered in green grass. However, it seemed a little out of place. There seemed to be traces of fire and smoke on the outer walls of the row of log bungalows.
"Originally, the new chief gunsmith lived in the arms repair factory. But he accidentally burned down the lab twice during his experiments, which caused the inspector to protest strongly. He believed that his experiments brought danger to the factory.
In the end, I had someone build him a house and a lab here. Only then did the conflict between them settle down, "Skri explained as they walked.
Claude curiously asked, "Why do I feel like you're taking care of the chief gunsmith a lot?"
Skri smiled. "That's because I've heard of this master gunsmith for a long time. One of my former subordinates has a good relationship with his daughter.
So, I help whenever I can so that my former subordinate won't complain that I didn't take care of them. "
So that's why. Claude didn't think too much about it and continued to follow Skri to the wooden villa.
After passing through the small forest, they saw a boy of about ten wearing a small vest and a grey shirt reading a book under an oak tree.
"Hey, lil 'Mark, where's your grandfather and mother?" Skri greeted the boy in a friendly manner.
The boy looked up curiously and saw Claude and Skri's entourage. He jumped happily and said, "Uncle Skri, why are you here?"
As the distance between them closed, Claude suddenly felt his heart skip a beat. He looked at the boy and found him rather familiar, but he couldn't recall where he had seen him before.
"Grandpa should be taking an afternoon nap. He should be waking up soon. Mother is in the lab," the boy said.
"Then, I'll go look for your grandfather. Go get your mother. We have an important guest today," Skri said as he stroked the boy's head.
The boy looked at Claude curiously. "Is he the important guest?
His epaulets are the same as yours. Is he a general too? "
"Haha, not only is he a general, he's also the field marshal of the theatre. He's my superior. Even I have to listen to him.
He's here to visit your grandfather. Alright, go get your mother. "
The boy skipped away to look for his mother.
Claude looked at the back of his figure and asked, "Skri, is that boy the chief supervisor's grandson?
But we're here to visit his grandfather because he's lost too many barrels in his experiments. Why did you ask him to call his mother over? "
"The reason is simple," Skri said, "The one who damaged the barrel wasn't the chief supervisor. It was his daughter, the mother of the boy.
She was also an honorary baron conferred by the kingdom. Like her father, she was also a master gunner.
As there are only three of them in their family, she brought her son with her to the theatre to take up the post of chief supervisor of the arms repair workshop. "
"I see. Both father and daughter are grandmaster gunsmiths. That's quite a rare family trait."
Claude praised, "But she lost more than eight hundred barrels in half a year. That's a little too many. I'm really curious what kind of experiments she's doing."
"I'm not too sure about that either, but I heard her father mention that she's inventing a brand new gun that's completely different from traditional matchlocks."
Skri pointed at the wooden hut in front of them. "Let's not dawdle here. Let's go inside first.
If you're curious, you can ask the baroness yourself. "
Soon, Claude met the new supervisor of the workshop in the main hall of the wooden hut, the grandmaster gunsmith that Skri had mentioned.
"Greetings, General. Welcome.
I'm Libovid Milowski, the new chief supervisor of the arms repair workshop. "
He was an old man in his sixties with a head full of white hair and a pair of black-framed crystal spectacles perched on his nose.
Even though he was rather old, he seemed rather spirited. He gave off a gentle and approachable aura.
Claude immediately developed a good impression of the old man. He noticed that the old man didn't mention his honorary count title. He didn't know whether he was ignoring it on purpose or didn't care to begin with.
Had he mentioned his title, Claude would've had to salute him in advance. But now, he only mentioned his title and made himself Claude's subordinate.
However, Claude was a little troubled. He felt like he had heard that name somewhere before, but he couldn't recall where.
After the introductions, both parties sat down and the old man instructed his maidservant to serve tea to the two guests.
Black tea was served with lemon slices, honey, and a few flower petals.
"Please have a taste. This is the flower tea from my hometown. It's not like the plain tea you're used to drinking in the kingdom. It's the original taste of the tea leaves," the old man said as he pointed at the tea.
Claude picked up the teacup and took two sips. "It's not bad. Fragrant, sweet and refreshing.
However, we don't all drink vegetarian tea. When I was young, I liked to add milk and honey to my black tea. My younger brother and sister also liked to drink it very much. My father scolded me for wasting it, but I enjoyed it very much.
"When I grew up and had some income, I could add all sorts of things to my tea, but I no longer had the same interest as I did when I was young. Instead, I like the bitter taste of black tea.
Perhaps that's the price of growing up. "
"Well said, General. You're in such a high position at such a young age. You have a bright future ahead of you," the old man praised.
Just as Claude was about to respond humbly, he heard a woman's voice outside the door. "Little rascal, if you don't have any important guests, you better watch your ass for tricking me out of the lab.
Ugh, why are there so many guards? "
Skri's guards at the entrance seemed to recognize the owner of the voice. They greeted Gum and made way for the woman to enter with a boy.
"General Claude, this is my daughter, Sonia. She's holding my grandson, Mallex," the old man said as he stood up.
Clang! The teacup in Claude's hand fell to the ground. His face was filled with shock as he gaped at the woman who had just entered.
When the woman saw him, she was equally shocked. "Why are you here?" she cried out in shock.
The hall fell into an odd silence. Claude and the old man's daughter looked at each other, still in shock.
The old man, on the other hand, looked left and right, not knowing what was going on.
The boy seemed rather frightened and hid behind his mother before peeking half his face out to stare at Claude.
Skri, on the other hand, was the only one who was calmly sipping his tea.
"G-general … Sonia … do you know each other?" the old man asked carefully, unable to hold back his curiosity.
"So, you're the famed Grandmaster Gunsmith …" Claude finally understood why he found the name Libovid Milowski so familiar.
As for his daughter, Sonia, he couldn't forget her either. No matter what, she was the first woman he had ever met in this world. Their brief relationship had healed the trauma of his life on the battlefield and turned him from a young boy into a real man.
Claude couldn't help but look at the boy hiding behind his mother. He felt a sense of familiarity when he first saw the boy, and a thought came to mind.
Calculating the time, he and Sonia had been separated for almost ten years, and the little boy's age was about the same.
She was a single widow when he first met her and didn't have a child by her side.
"He's …" Claude pointed at the boy.
"He's my son. His surname is Libovid," Sonia said firmly as she crouched down and hugged the boy.
Was that a confession without being pressed?
Claude smiled bitterly. He had no intention of stealing her child. "Why didn't you write me a letter about something so big?"
"What's the point of telling you?
You were just a puny first lieutenant back then, "Sonia said agitatedly," It was during the war. When I returned to Swan Castle, my father fell seriously ill and I found out I was pregnant.
Had it not been for your kingdom's quick encirclement, my father and I would've been forcefully sent to Nasri.
A year later, I gave birth to lil 'Mark and Duke Askilin surrendered.
I wanted to ask about you, but your kingdom suffered a crushing defeat on the Great Plains of Canas. They said your tribe was there too, so I thought you were dead. "
Skri stood up and said, "Master Libovid, I think we should go for a walk in the forest outside. Leave this place for those who need it."
The old man snapped out of his daze and chuckled. "That's right. The weather's not bad today. It's perfect for a walk.
Lil 'Mark, come with grandpa. Your mother has some personal matters to attend to. "
Claude looked at Skri. He finally understood what Skri meant. One of his former subordinates had a good relationship with the chief mechanic's daughter, so he had no choice but to take care of them. "Old friend, why didn't you tell me earlier if you already knew?"
Skri shrugged. "What do you want me to say? I only had my suspicions.
Also, I didn't know about your relationship with Master Libovid when he became the chief mechanic of the workshop.
It wasn't until I noticed that lil 'Mark looked a little like you and Baroness Sonia had a relationship with you ten years ago in Squirrel Village that I was certain you were close.
You were commanding at the frontlines and I couldn't spread my suspicions around. Just as I was about to ask you to come over, you delivered yourself to me. "
Soon, only Claude and Sonia were left in the hall. Lil 'Mark had been taken away by Libovid. Skri even considerately closed the door behind him.
"Sonia, I'm sorry you had to suffer," Claude said as he approached his lover from ten years ago and wanted to hug her.
However, she stubbornly resisted. "Let's make this clear first. Lil 'Mark is mine. He will inherit the Milowski name. I won't change it to yours."
Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Alright, I promise I won't take him back."