Published at 28th of April 2020 08:08:44 PM
Chapter 28
Elite Nobles at the Factory
The Renryll factory, which was a major pillar of the tower’s manufacturing activity, like any other day was working at full capacity .
In a small corner of the factory, Lynn and Theo were busy at work .
“Will the packing material get here in time?” Theo asked Lynn .
“Yeah, apparently it should arrive here soon, by elevator 13” .
“Right then . It looks like we’ll be able to get these things shipped out by the deadline then . That’s our quota taken care of” .
Just several feet away from where they stood was a mountain of stock, piled high .
They had to get it all shipped out by the following day . Five o’clock in the afternoon was when the last shipping boat was scheduled to leave the docks . To transport the freight from the tower to the docks would take about 6 hours, at the very least . They would aim to shift it from the factory that same day, via elevator, but at the very latest it would have to be gone first thing the next morning .
Lynn and Theo had continued working at the factory after entering the academy . Their tuition fees were covered by their scholarship loans, but they had to pay their living expenses, including rent, by their own means .
Their day to day lives consisted of attending lessons at the academy, and heading to the factory to put in their shifts afterwards .
Their days left little room for relaxation, but it wasn’t all bad .
They were both entrusted with more important tasks than before, and though it was only small, they enjoyed an increased wage .
Thanks to his efficient way of working, and gaining his credit early in metal magic class, Theo was permitted to not only work on higher grade construction work- as opposed to simple, unskilled labour- but to also manage a small area in the factory .
As a fine young man in a new managerial role, he was in charge of a small team of, at any one time, between five and ten workers . Lynn’s role was relatively unchanged, and he loitered around near Theo, always on hand to assist him .
“Quick, out the way, out the way”
“Hey, watch it!”
The factory was engulfed in tumultuous noise . The work space was crowded with the coming and going of workers, who had to be mindful not to trip on the rail tracks that covered the factory floor like veins in a living organism . Rail carts that transported goods and parts thundered along the tracks, which broke up the factory floor into different sections .
Because of the crowded working conditions, disputes would often flair up over space and misplaced parts . On some days, it wouldn’t be so inaccurate to describe the place as being similar to a war zone .
Theo was busy dealing with a bunch of workers from a different department he caught attempting to swipe some of their magic tools .
“Hey, we’re using those tools . You can’t just waltz in here and grab what you like” .
“We’re in a rush, and you don’t need them anyway” .
“Actually we have packing material arriving any minute . Look somewhere else” .
“Your deadline’s tomorrow though? You have plenty of time . Let us use them first” .
Theo didn’t back down . He knew if he let them borrow the tools now, he would never get them back .
“When’s your deadline?”
“The day after tomorrow”, came the reply, after a pause .
The man knew Theo wouldn’t be lied to so easily, so he had no choice but to say the truth .
“Well look at that, you have more time than us! Go on, get out of here now” .
Reluctantly, he backed off .
“Damn it to hell, I can’t relax one bit with them around”, Theo cursed under his breath .
“Everyone’s up against it”, came a voice from nearby .
“Their planning is the problem . They should arrange to have the tools they need beforehand, instead of going around swiping them from others” .
Just then someone called out loudly .
“Theo san! I have your packing material” .
A little ways away, Theo spotted a small boy walking towards him, alongside the rail . The packing material was loaded onto carts, which the boy used his magic staff to move along the line .
The boy’s name was Keila . Following Theo’s advice, he had bought a Dale’s staff to replace his old Teriuul’s staff . He was a sincere, clever kid . Theo approved of his character and so invited him to join his work team .
“All right then, let’s get it all packaged up” .
Following his order, the wizard understudies, who formed his work team, cheerfully set about busying themselves with the work of packaging the stock .
This stage of the process involved packaging the stock in iron plating, so that it would be ready to be transported out from the tower .
The sequence of the packaging process was as follows:
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Lay out the iron plates on tables Place the goods on top of each table Secure the metal sheet plating around the goods, so that they’re wrapped up from the bottom towards the top Weld the metal sheeting together
This was how they would assemble the iron packaging .
Steps 1 to 3 could be carried out with staffs designed for mass magic . The welding in step 4 was to be done with a magic tool, called the ‘Weldmist’, which was a spray like tool used to, of course, weld things together .
The tool was powered by the operator’s magic . Upon channeling magic into the weldmist, it would produce a jet like spray that could be used to weld .
Even understudies, who had yet to begin studying metal magic, had an easy time welding metal with this tool .
Due to the nature of it being a magic tool, there were naturally more than a few differences to a conventional welding procedure- one such difference was the lack of a need for high temperature or pressure . This meant there was no risk of injury .
Lynn oversaw the understudies to ensure they were carrying out the work efficiently, and checking they weren’t missing any sections of the plating . In between his observations he himself helped out in the work too .
While this was happening Theo kept patrolling their area, to make sure the members of other groups didn’t try sneaking in to steal any of their tools .
“Lynn, come here over here for a minute” .
Lynn looked up, slightly puzzled, before putting down his weldmist and walking over to where Tho was standing .
“Gaul’s group are after our tools”, he said, and jerked his chin to direct Lynn’s attention .
Looking to where Theo signalled, Lynn saw that just as Theo said, one member of Gaul’s work team kept looking over at Ketra, who was absorbed in welding the iron plates .
“Go check” .
“Sure” .
Lynn broke into a jog as he made his way over to Gaul’s area .
“Gaul san,” Lynn called out, “good afternoon” .
“What? Oh it’s you, Lynn . What do you want?”
“It’s about the weldmist Ketra’s using . We need it even after he finishes with it . So don’t think you can take it of your own accord, just ‘because he’s finished using it’” .
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“Not gonna do that though”, he said gruffly .
“Then hurry up and place a request for the tools you need . You need magic tools for what you’re working on too, don’t you? Unless you have someone go get them the proper way, you won’t complete your work in time” .
“You think I don’t know that? Hey, Jarim!”
Smacking his lips, he did as Lynn suggested and ordered one of his workers to make an official request for the provisions they needed . Sighing, Lynn returned to his group .
Goodness . Does everyone enjoy playing tug of war like this?
He was always interrupted from doing his work because of the need to go and ward off other groups .
The higher ups should do something about the situation . They should address the sloppiness so we wouldn’t be quarreling over tools like this in the first place . They should just communicate with us better, overall . Just what the hell are they thinking?
In Lynn’s group, all they ever received were the instructions, the deadline, and the quota .
When Lynn got back to his area, they had just completed the first stage . Theo came straight over to him .
“Hey . So what did Gaul say?”
“He said they’d order the tools in properly . For the time being it doesn’t seem like there’s a problem” .
“Hmm” .
Theo glanced over at yet another group . They too were stealing sidelong glances at them and their tools . It seemed he would have to go make further warnings .
“Shall I go over and speak to them?”
“No, it’s ok . I’m keeping an eye on them . You can go back to work” .
Suddenly, from somewhere a long way off, came a thunderous crashing sound as something collapsed .
“What was that?” Lynn said as he turned to look in the direction of the noise, startled .
“Someone probably botched moving a huge crate . Are there still idiots using Teriull’s staff?”
“That staff’s Biyalial”, Ketra said . He had just walked up from behind them .
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“Biyalial? What’s that?” Theo asked .
“It’s a new staff . It’s cheap, but it has a reputation for lasting longer than Teriull . As a trade off though, it’s spontaneous discharge rate is a lot higher…”
“What the hell? One by one all these good-for-nothing items going on the market,” Theo said, vexxed, “these companies are throwing their values out the window for quick profit, and flooding us with all these useless things” .
Just then, as Theo was letting off steam, they heard loud, unfamiliar voices in the other direction” .
“What’s happening now?”
“Probably someone’s made yet another mistake” .
“No… Look, nobles” .
Lynn looked over to where Theo was pointing, and he saw a group of people wearing red robes fastened with crystal clasps . Crystal clasps were the sign of the elite aristocratic class . Other than Kruga, this was the first time Lynn had seen anyone wearing crystal clasps .
They were near the entrance of the factory . It looked like they had just arrived . They were filing in, one by one . There were a fair number of them .
Among them was one who wore a black robe . Perhaps one of them had brought along their master .
“What are elite nobles doing at a place like this?”
As Lynn was pondering this, he heard one of them speak .
“Wow, what is this place?”
“It looks like a factory . It looks like we stumbled in while they’re all working though” .
“So factories are like this huh” .
Some of them were looking around in fascination, some were repulsed, and several of them didn’t show any signs of interest whatsoever .
Lynn was standing quite far from them, but he could hear their voices well .
The factory had become unusually silent .
Next time… Chapter 29, ‘The Bridge of Light’ .