The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 564: Pops Wisdom

Dominic didn’t head straight back to the Manor.

Instead, he swung by Pops’ shop and the carriage works that were located next door. The guards had returned the new transport, but he wanted to talk to them about what their plans were for more.

Pops hadn’t been to the house much since the chaos with the debutante event had started, and Dominic really couldn’t blame him for eating at home instead of coming over for Beth’s food.

He dismounted in front of the shop, next to the transport that the guards had borrowed the evening before, and stepped inside only to almost bowl over the clerk.

The young woman was so short she barely reached his shoulder, with an innocent and startled expression and jet black hair.

But it wasn’t her hair that caught everyone’s attention. Her breasts were literally larger than her head, and the top buttons of her uniform had been removed.

He thought that Pops was joking about Mead having done that.

"Hey, what’s Pops up to this morning? I need to talk to him for a moment."

"Uhm, uh, Your Grace. He’s quite busy in the forge this morning. Can I help get you something? I know where everything is." The girl stammered.

"So do I. I was his apprentice once. How about this, I’ve got a hammer, I’ll go give him a hand while we talk?"

Before she could answer, Dominic walked into the forge, where Pops and Mead were polishing the interior surfaces of a new batch of cast iron skillets.

"Hey old man. Need a hand?"

Pops shook his head. "We’ve got this. But if you’ve got a minute, make me some Cart Bright out of the scrap clay there in the corner. I need it for the new transports."

Dominic nodded and headed for the corner.

"The guards are big fans of those transports. They’re not the sort of thing that the merchants want, but I hear that there are plans to make them the standard for public transit.

I would like to include the Baronies in the routes as well.

Folks might not have a huge amount of time off, but if they can just catch a ride to the city, or even the next Barony over, any day they want, it will be a huge help for the craftsmen.

Being able to buy things without losing an entire day or more is the key to keeping goods flowing without sending merchant caravans to every Barony every week."

Pops smiled. "I think that will work out well for us. Plenty of the workers in the factories have mentioned that they’d like to be able to visit family on the farms as well. It’s a long walk even to Baron Keith’s place.

Losing their whole day off to go see family on the farm leaves them exhausted from walking."

"Exactly. If we have enough of them wandering around, we can get people where they need to be without walking all day. It will also give us a much more reliable watch patrol.

Not that I want to put guardsmen in them, just give all the transports a radio, and they can call in anything that they see.

Bad road sections, trouble, even bandits if we happen to get some."

"That’s not a bad idea. The prototype we made has a good radio in it, so we can test it properly. But it’s also got the high traction rubber tires on it, and they’ve been a huge hit with the riders."

"Why is that?" Dominic asked.

"They’re not solid, they’re filled with glycol. So, they flex when you hit rocks and bumps, makes the ride even softer. Plus, they get amazing traction.

That’s why I need the cart bright. The spindles aren’t strong enough if we make them out of brass or mild steel. Those wheels give them a real punishment when driving at speed.

That one is all-wheel drive as well.

Even though the roads are basically nonexistent, they’ll be able to go anywhere with good speed. You could start using them for military transports, but they’re a bit small.

I suppose that they’re good for a rifle team. Six men in one of those would be good enough for deployment, but they’d still be better on mechanical cavalry. If you’re sending out infantry, you need more than that little truck will carry."

"Well, you can’t win them all. They’re good for literally everything else.

They’re also much quieter going down the road than the hard rubber or steel banded wheels. That’s a great change. I think that they’re going to be a huge hit in other cities as well. Especially ones with stone roads."

Pops nodded as he began to heat the freshly polished pan in preparation for seasoning.

"That’s the idea. They’re planning to convert one of the factories we’ve been using for housing. The carriage maker found two more journeymen, and they’ve hired six apprentices from the young Noblemen.

It won’t be pure profit for the Duchy, but it looks like you’re about to have one of your first major Families growing here.

The Merchant’s Guild is going to be all over these once they get production ramped up. Which reminds me. You need to go talk to the Infrastructure team before you go home today.

They’re working on new housing all through the city, both high density and family compounds for the untitled Nobles who want to bring more family here.

There are also going to be more shops, but I don’t think you’re going to lose as many of your new arrivals as you had thought, and that’s not even considering the refugees.

They’ve got more requests that haven’t made it to Julio’s daily reports yet."

Dominic sighed. "I was afraid that the answer was more paperwork. But I should have expected it.

If they’re doing housing, they’re not going to be able to do roads for me any time soon. But if we can clear a warehouse for the lads to make these lovely transports, that’s not going to be an issue. Transports that can get through the muddy field roads at a decent speed are more than any other Duke can claim to have.

Plus, we have the tractors and merchant trucks to move trailers if a large shipment needs to get somewhere."

Pops nodded as he dunked the hot pan into cooking oil.

"That’s the spirit. Just give them a bit of time, and we’ll have a dozen of them running around the Duchy plus the four for the city. Then they’ll be sending them out to everyone else as fast as we can make them.

But the real money is in the airships.

The Dwarves have been killing it on that second version, and it won’t be long before they’ll have it up for sale.

You’ve become a very wealthy man, apprentice."