The Necro-Industrial Revolution

“Let’s go inside and have lunch first,” Jack said, turning away from the dispersing crowd. He waved for Corin to follow him toward the wooden doors of the castle.

Karen, along with a few maids and servants, seamlessly fell into step behind them, leaving Corin frozen for a split second before he hastily scrambled to follow his Lord inside.

A short time later, they were seated in the castle’s dining hall. Servants quietly placed steaming plates of food in front of both Jack and Corin.

Corin sat rigid in his wooden chair, his hands resting awkwardly on his lap. He was terrified. Out in the courtyard, Jack had said he needed to talk to him about a few things, but ever since they entered the castle over half an hour ago, Jack hadn’t spoken a single word about work.

“Well, eat up,” Jack said casually, breaking a piece of bread and dipping it into his stew. He paused, looking across the table at the trembling engineer. “Is the food not to your liking?”

“No! I mean—no, My Lord, it’s fine,” Corin stammered, immediately grabbing his wooden spoon. He practically shoved the food into his mouth, not daring to refuse a direct order to eat.

As they ate, Corin’s mind spun in circles. What kind of Lord eats at the same table as a slave? he thought wildly. And the exact same food? This is insane. Am I being tested? Naturally, he wanted to ask a dozen questions, but how could a mere slave dare to question his master?

After Jack had finished about half of his plate, he finally set his spoon down and leaned back. “I called you here to talk about the layout of the village, the defense walls, and other similar structures from the perspective of an actual engineer.”

Corin swallowed his food thickly, giving Jack his full attention.

“These things were all designed by me,” Jack admitted, gesturing vaguely toward the window. “But I have no formal experience with such things. I had to draw up those blueprints in absolute desperation because, at the time, this fief was on the verge of dying.”

This confession didn’t make Corin feel any better. If anything, the pressure on his shoulders just doubled. Criticizing a noble’s personal work was usually a fast track to the gallows.

After they both finished their meals and the servants stepped in to clear the empty plates, Jack stood up. “Let’s go. We need to get to work.”

Corin quietly followed Jack out of the dining hall and back into the courtyard. At a brief wave of Jack’s hand, one of the armored mages silently fell into step behind them.

Jack led Corin to a specific corner of the courtyard, stopping in front of a strange, sloped building.

“This is one of my personal creations,” Jack said, gesturing to the structure. “I need your professional opinion on this one first.”

Corin squinted at it. “I am extremely sorry, My Lord, but I don’t even know what this is.” He stepped closer, inspecting the bizarre construction of overlapping glass panes and sealed wood. “What is this used for? And why is there an exhaust vent coming from beneath the ground?”

“This is called a greenhouse,” Jack explained, enjoying the engineer’s confusion. “It helps us grow vegetables even in the dead of winter without much difficulty. The glass helps trap the sunlight, creating a warm, enclosed environment inside.” Jack pointed to the vents. “However, since the winters here are freezing, I needed to use external heat to keep the ambient temperature stable. So, I burned coal in a chamber beneath the soil every few hours to warm the dirt.”

Corin’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know people in the north relied on such amazing methods to grow crops in the snow,” he murmured, genuinely fascinated. He crouched down, inspecting the exhaust vents and the soil bed. Then, he hesitated, biting his lip.

“Speak your mind, Corin,” Jack encouraged.

“Well… I’m sorry to say this, My Lord, but there is a flaw within this design. I don’t have extensive experience with agriculture, but my father was a farmer, and I used to work the fields with him as a boy. I can’t unsee this.”

“Actually, this building isn’t common in the region at all. It wouldn’t be incorrect to say this is the only one in the entire north,” Jack replied, crossing his arms. “What flaw are you pointing to?”

“My Lord, you said you used burning coal to warm up the soil every few hours during intense winter to prevent freezing, right?” Corin asked, pointing at the exhaust vents.

“Yes,” Jack nodded, already catching on to where the engineer was going with this.

“But regulating that heat would be nearly impossible,” Corin explained, his professional confidence temporarily overriding his fear. “If it’s heated even a fraction more than required, it will bake the nutrients right out of the dirt. Furthermore, the soot and dry heat will worsen the soil quality. Within a few years, that dirt will be totally barren. It won’t be able to grow weeds, let alone vegetables.”

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“Correct,” Jack said, a wide smile breaking across his face. He sounded highly impressed by Corin’s quick judgment. “You are completely right. That is a huge flaw in the core design itself. When I created it last year, we didn’t have many resources to spare. I had to build it with whatever scrap I had on hand. It was a brute-force method.”

Corin looked at Jack with a newfound respect. “To come up with a concept like this entirely on your own shows how brilliant you are, My Lord. I could never have even imagined a way to grow vegetables in the dead of winter.”

Jack waved off the praise. “But this time, things are different. We have enough glass and materials to build five more of these before the snow hits. And we won’t need to heat the ground up with coal anymore, either. Can you build them?”

“Yes, of course. I can definitely construct such structures with ease,” Corin nodded, his mind already calculating material loads. “But… if we aren’t using coal, how are we going to get rid of the frost in the dirt? And furthermore, why are we building five separate buildings when we could just build a single, massive one that is almost six times the size? It would save on lumber and retain heat much better.”

Why didn’t I think of that? Jack thought, mentally kicking himself for missing such obvious efficiency.

“You’re right, we can do that,” Jack agreed out loud. “We just need to adjust the inner courtyard walls a little bit to make room for a larger footprint.”

“Can’t we just build it outside, near the village?” Corin asked. “There’s plenty of flat land there.”

“We could, but in winter, the beast tides often last for several days, sometimes weeks. A glass building sitting outside the main walls would be shattered in hours by the beats,” Jack explained.

They spent the next few minutes discussing the structural logistics of expanding the courtyard walls to fit the mega-greenhouse. Corin desperately wanted to ask how Jack planned to heat the soil without coal, but his courage failed him, and he didn’t dare pry further. Jack, meanwhile, had completely forgotten to mention the magical heat runes he had purchased for exactly this purpose.

With the greenhouse plans settled, Jack led Corin out of the castle gates and down the hill toward the village.

As they walked, villagers and former slaves, whom Jack had now declared as a part of the village bustled around them, carrying lumber, hauling water, and repairing tools. Everyone was focused on their assigned tasks, giving the Lord and his entourage respectful space.

Jack pointed to the rows of winter cabins he had constructed before the winter. “What are your opinions on the houses I’ve designed?” Jack asked, after explaining the winter cabins to Corin.

Corin looked them over carefully, inspecting the joints and the roof pitch. “From what you’ve told me, and considering the harsh weather in this region, these are almost perfect. I can’t see any necessary adjustments that need to be made in the short run. They are incredibly solid.”

“Good. Then can you build fifteen more of these before winter arrives?” Jack asked.

Corin stumbled mid-step. “Fifteen? I mean… My Lord, even with just the current houses, everyone in the valley seems to be living comfortably under a roof. Why do we need so many more? You mentioned in the courtyard that you took out a massive loan from the Church. Shouldn’t repaying that debt be the top priority instead of wasting time and lumber on surplus houses?”

“You are right. I must repay the loan,” Jack said, his pace slow and measured as they approached the outer village walls. “But as of now, I can handle the interest rate. As for why I am building these houses… I think you are smart enough to understand human nature.”

Corin blinked, confused.

“Next month, I am implementing the new wage system,” Jack explained. “Everyone will have to buy their own food and clothing. To do that, they must work. But not everyone has the same level of skill. Thus, not everyone will be earning the same amount of coin.”

Jack stopped and looked Corin in the eye. “I will pay a minimum wage high enough for anyone to live comfortably. But imagine this: if two families are forced to live under the same communal roof, and one family earns five silvers a month while the other family earns fifteen… what do you think will happen?”

Corin’s eyes widened in realization. “Oh. I… I didn’t even consider that scenario.”

“Exactly,” Jack said. “It will breed jealousy, resentment, and inner conflict. Even if they don’t show it on the outside, there will be a deep, unsettling bitterness brewing within the household. Wealth disparity in cramped quarters destroys communities. I need enough individual houses so that every family has their own private space.”

“That makes perfect sense, My Lord,” Corin said, deeply impressed by the foresight.

By now, they had reached the tall wooden palisades encircling the outer boundary of the village.

“Now, what is your opinion on these?” Jack asked, patting the thick wooden logs.

Corin stepped up to the wall, running his hands over the bark. He pushed against one of the logs, then looked down at the base where the wood met the dirt. His brow furrowed.

“I am extremely sorry to say this, My Lord, but this is terribly flawed,” Corin said, his engineering instincts fully taking over. “The timbers are just driven directly into the dirt. There are no cross-braces, no stone foundations to prevent rot, and nothing supporting the structural weight from behind. A strong enough force could just topple them inward.”

“You are not wrong,” Jack said calmly. “The wall actually broke during the last winter beast tide, and a few beasts got inside the village.”

“What?!” Corin gasped, jumping back from the wall in shock. A beast broke into the village? How did any of the villagers survive? Corin had never seen a wild monster up close, but he had seen them locked in heavy iron cages when merchant guilds transported them to arenas. They were massive and terrifying.

Panic gripped him for a second, but then his eyes darted to the silent armored mage standing right behind Jack.

Oh, Corin thought, his racing heart slowing down. Of course. The Lord has his mages. They must have slaughtered the beasts when the wall fell.

Clearing his throat and composing himself, Corin looked back at the wooden palisade. “There are a few temporary measures we can take to brace the current logs… but honestly, My Lord? I would strongly suggest a total reconstruction of the palisade. I can draw up a new defensive layout based on the terrain information you’ve given me.”

“A completely new design?” Jack asked, raising an eyebrow.

Corin eagerly launched into an explanation, outlining a system of interlocking trenches, stone-packed foundations, and angled support beams that he had just conceptualized. He spoke rapidly, finally in his element, before pausing. “It still needs a few specific mathematical adjustments. It will take me a few hours to finalize the blueprints.”

“Very well,” Jack nodded, thoroughly satisfied. “Show me your final design by tomorrow morning. Now, come along. Let’s go inspect the coal mine.”

Corin nodded eagerly, stepping into line behind Jack, while the armored figure trailed closely behind them on Jack’s command.