Reincarnate as Prince: Change Magical World with Industry

81 Three Winters

The Prince awoke in his usual hour before the sun had even thought to shine its first light.

Otis had been asleep at the foot of his bed, the dog was now three times larger than when the hermit had first given it to him as a  puppy. It was sweet and gentle to everyone in the village but had a low booming bark that would scare off any stray king beetle or slime puff that wandered too close. Low level monsters were not much of a nuisance to his manor anymore. Otis would hunt them down as soon as they approached. The dog's thick gray coat and full tufts of hair at the sides of his head were enough to scare off even larger monsters. In some respects, Otis looked more like a wolf.

His time at the village had afforded him a much larger living space. He couldn't escape it any longer, as soon as his citizens had their own land and livelihood established they went to the council and started hounding him to have a castle or a palace built. One that was fit for a King, an expression of gratitude for the progress they've experienced Wayward Home.

Janus used to deny them at any given moment, but a few years of insistence led him to realize the point that they were making. There was a sense that everyone wanted to give back to him after their own lives have been changed for the better.

The citizens upgraded the library to have two floors with long hallways full of shelves in between office spaces for clerks and bookkeepers. There was also a sort of museum that would display the crafts that were produced in the village, as well as bits and baubles taken by the very first settlers as display pieces, to serve as a reminder of the first migration waves. These included ruined signposts, the first plows, and tools that they used to clear the land with, paintings and depictions of their struggles, and a myriad of small treasures and ruins found in the surrounding areas. They even had skulls of the very first monsters they hunted. Jundra proudly presented him with the Cockatrice skull, the first successful hunt of the Merrimen on their first defense mission.

In a large pedestal was a large book. It recorded the history of the village. Janus wrote it himself at first but has since relegated the task to his assistants.

This "manor" was the compromise that they ended up with. For a regular Galedon noble, it would have looked like a simple brick house, but for some villagers in Wayward Home, it a castle. It resembled Gracewood manor in exteriors but was very different within. It was made with pristine bricks that they imported from Gaddi, while reinforced with the steelwork and furnitures from their very own workshops.

There was not a lot of luxury apart from the desks, tables, and chairs that were used by the workers everyday. It held the various books that Janus collected and his scribes replicated for the schools. Some were taken from the trade caravans, while others were copies from the Golden Library itself.

It was now the third winter when they first settled in. Time passed so swiftly that Janus could scarcely believe it. He remembered bits of his old life, but it seemed like such an old time ago in such a different world that he would often confuse which one was real.

They went to the bathroom to look at himself in the mirror - it was one of the few products they have developed in their newly established glass workshop. He wondered if his acquaintances from his past life could ever recognize him now. He was around a foot taller, his shoulders were a few inches broader and he started needing to shave. Bits of stubble appeared on his chin every morning. Funny how he once thought that having a thick well-trimmed beard like Sir Arthan would make him feel better and stronger, but having experienced it now, it mostly annoyed him.

He did, however, enjoy shaving in the morning. Well, now that he had the right tools for it. It was a surprise for him to find that the adults in his village had to shave with knifes that weren't so different from the ones they used to cut the chicken or the rabbits. They didn't even use anything like aftershave or cream to make the process much easier.

A few months ago went straight to the alchemist's workshop carrying a book to test out the formulas for shaving products. Halbur and Teeko were now being served by various assistants. Their laboratory had grown to a substantial size and had a large workload. This was where most of their glass products were being used. The dwarf and the goblin duo were now the masters of producing whatever chemical needs there are from the village. Their main product was fertilizer, which came after alcohol, bathing products, and plastics.

They always welcomed whatever idea Janus came to them with. It only took a week before they perfected a concoction that made shaving smoother without giving Janus an itch that lasted all day.

He also came to the Blunthammer smiths to furnish a shaving knife that was T-shaped, designed to make the shaving process easier. He presented the schematics and it was produced just two days after. The dwarven smith who gave him the item couldn't believe what he intended to use the knife for.

"I'll never understand ye humans. Shave yer beard? Ye might as well be naked!" he said while handing him the item.

Janus laughed profusely at the dwarf who had his braided beard up to his waist. Male dwarves considered their beards as a piece of clothing, and they never shaved it. The only possible time it would get cut is if they were caught in battle, or if their stubbly feet would step on them (which was surprisingly common). The dwarf's beard might have been heavier than every piece of clothing he wore combined.

The morning was still dark, a cold wind chill came into his bathroom window. He closed it and flipped the switch on his light bulb. This was another one of the few innovations they had worked out in the last few years. The concentrations of arcane that were pooling all around the village provided to be a great well of resource for Janus and his village.

Aiden's research at their own little College was the greatest investment that the village budgeted for during the last few years, and it has payed off tremendously.

The first phase of that project was the building of a bridge underneath the Lake. The villagers had now started it calling Witches lake due to how often Cornelia would be seen in its banks doing her meditations (Cornelia didn't seem to mind being called a witch, instead she was flattered that everyone feared her).

They then installed large metal bars infused with catalyst gems that they gained from elementals. A spiral staircase was erected next, with several floors that were divided for research and development as well as an education facility for new spellcasters. The top floors functioned as an observatory, and at its very top was a large orb that towered over the trees and houses. The orb itself was composed of metal and catalyst gems, something that Aiden and Adduk devised to harness and manipulate arcane energies in the well.

This was something akin to the technology behind Haruna and Cornelia's staves. These orbs had properties that could amplify and redirect these energies in a controlled manner.

They also installed similar structures across the landscape where they found similar arcane wells. But instead of building anything massive, they built tall posts made of concrete and steel. These posts distributed energy to the whole territory in a web of connections, they communicated via similar orbs installed on top of them, which Aiden and the workers of the College maintained.

Their main use, for now, was to light the roads and the residences, as well as the workshops. Although the smiths and Adduk's tinkerer's still often used steam and coal as their primary source if fuel, they were now transitioning into harnessing the abundance of Arcane energy.

Aiden took the better part of a year researching how to store and use this energy without blowing anything up. There had been months where Lysie, Cornelia, and Haruna had to shield his experiments with barriers before they flicked any switch. A hundred explosions and failed experiments later, they were able to store arcane into bulbs which can be activated via switches.

Their roads were now brighter during the night, providing citizens with the opportunity to work or study after dark. Most, however, spent this time at the taverns and amphitheaters.

The discovery of arcane electricity opened up a whole lot of possibilities for them. This was just the beginning. Adduk and Aiden were the first adopters of this technology, but the rest of the workforce was starting to catch up in using its wonders.