Roland filled the office floor with various test props early in the morning.
Everything from solids to liquids, minerals to metal ingots, inorganics to organics.
"You look quite happy." Nightingale squatted down, picked up the soup dumpling on the plate, and threw it into her mouth.
"Of course, there is a new witch in the town, and her abilities are so incredible," Roland raised his eyebrows, "Besides, don't think I didn't see it, you just stole the test, right?"
"There are several more," she wiped her mouth. "Lucia's ability is very useful?"
"It is very useful. Whether it is decomposition or restoration, it can bring great progress to smelting and manufacturing." Roland said excitedly, "With Anna, the strength of the machine can be increased several times, even if it cannot be mass-produced, as long as Making a few master machines by hand is definitely a qualitative improvement for the production level of the town.”
The machine tool used in the workshop of Greycastle Industrial Company is precisely machined by Anna. Although it was extremely accurate in scale at the beginning, due to the defects of the material itself, the problems of wear and deformation of the machine tool during the production process are becoming more and more obvious, and the tool is broken and broken. more common phenomenon. Without Anna's supplemental maintenance parts, these machines would only last a year or two at most.
The ability of Lucia makes it possible to precisely control the composition of materials. Machine tools made of high-strength cast iron, steel, and even alloys can not only improve the service life, but also reach a new level of processing efficiency and processing level. For example, the revolver gun, which can only be produced by Anna for the time being, can also enter the sequence of mass production.
"Really?" Nightingale jumped back to the table, "but she doesn't seem to think so."
"Because she hasn't really realized the value of her abilities, just like Mystery Moon." Roland said indifferently, "If Lucia can read through "Theoretical Foundations of Natural Science", she will definitely not have such thoughts again. ."
"..." Nightingale silently stuffed two handfuls of dried fish into her mouth.
When Lucia finished her breakfast and came to the office, the aptitude test officially began.
Roland watched with anticipation as she turned each test product into a pile or a few small piles of different substances. Iron ingots and iron ore turned into silver-white particles. If you look closely, you can also find some variegated colors on the side. powder. The grapes and steak remained unchanged, while the xiaolongbao became water, meat residue and flour.
Halfway through the transformation, she suddenly stopped and said a little embarrassedly, "I seem to have... exhausted all my magic power."
Roland looked at Nightingale, who nodded, "She has very little magic power stored in her body, it looks like a cloud of erratic smoke, but this is the first time I've seen such a color."
"what colour?"
"…grey," she said.
Roland returned to the desk and waved to Lucia, "The magic power of witches grows with age and training. You are not an adult yet, so it is already very good to be able to do this." When the little girl came to the table, He pushed the parchment he had prepared in front of him, "Since you have decided to stay in Border Town, sign this contract."
Lucia looked down at the end of the contract and couldn't help but gasped, "One golden dragon a month? Your Highness... But, my abilities haven't been tested yet?"
"It has nothing to do with your ability," Roland shook his head with a smile. "As long as you are a member of the Witch League, this contract will be valid forever."
"Even if the witch's abilities are useless?" she asked in disbelief.
"You can understand that too," said the prince, spreading his hands, "but I believe that any witch's ability has its own unique use, it's just that the order of digging is different. So you don't need to worry that you won't be useful." He paused. Dayton, "In addition, you should have heard the real reason for the magic power eating body from other witches, so in order to ensure a smooth awakening day, you must practice your ability repeatedly every day. After dinner, Teacher Scroll will meet at the meeting. The living room is taught by witches, and you have to listen to the lectures. Although you have mastered reading and writing, it is still necessary to learn elementary mathematics and basic natural courses."
"Yes, Your Highness." Lucia nodded vigorously.
"You still have a younger sister, right?" Roland laughed. "When you are in class, take her with you by the way. She has reached the age of education."
Lucia was slightly startled, raised her head to confirm that he was not joking, then bowed happily and said, "Yes."
After the little girl retired, Roland put the signed contract in the drawer and looked at the various test products on the ground thoughtfully.
"What was the result?" Nightingale asked.
"Surprisingly," he picked up the plate with the Xiao Long Bao and fiddled with the finely chopped meat residue and flour inside, "such as this... When the flour is kneaded, the gluten contained in the flour will form a network structure. , so that the dough has flexibility and stretchability. Once cooked, the gluten composed of proteins will be denatured due to high temperature, and even if it is ground into powder, it is impossible to return to the previous fine and smooth appearance. This transformation is irreversible , but..." Roland squeezed a small clump of powder and spread it out in the palm of his hand. It felt smooth to the touch, like freshly ground flour. "She brought the flour back to its original appearance."
"Uh, I don't quite understand it," Nightingale curled her lips. "But in this way, her ability can be regarded as reducing matter?"
"That's not the case," Roland pointed to the iron ingot. "If it was just reduced, the iron ingot should turn into iron ore, but in fact it was decomposed into iron powder and other impurities."
"...Then what exactly is her ability?" she asked confused.
"It's not clear for the time being, but at least it can be speculated that perhaps her ability has both effects. As for the specific form, it depends on her knowledge."
"See... know?"
"The meat steak is not much different from iron ore in essence. They are made of various particles, but Lucia's ability can only decompose iron ore, but not on the steak. I think it is probably because she cannot understand organic matter. ...or the composition of living bodies." Roland explained, he was not sure whether this guess was correct, but there was no doubt that Lucia was the one who needed to learn and supplement knowledge as soon as possible.
Three days later, when the second fleet carrying Eastbound refugees arrived in the town, the same epidemic broke out on the ship, but this time it was more serious, and almost half of the people were infected. Roland learned through questioning that some patients had symptoms of dark spots on the first day after boarding the ship, which meant that they had been parasitized by strange insects earlier, and the incubation period was shortened accordingly.
At the same time, Roland also received a letter from the capital, and the seal was printed with the mark of the Margery Chamber of Commerce.
After reading the contents of the letter, he frowned.
The evil epidemic is spreading wildly in the capital. The church claims that this is a witch's conspiracy, and informs the people that they have the holy medicine that can fight the evil epidemic. A large number of infected people also appeared outside the capital city. For safety reasons, Thassa chose to temporarily stop the transport of fugitives.
If there is no error in the time estimate, the first returning fleet will return to the capital in four days, and bring the news that the evil epidemic can be cured in the town, but those who have been infected may not have the chance to survive on the ship for nearly a week His journey, and the preaching of the church also gave him a hint of conspiracy.
After thinking twice, he decided to send a team to escort Lily to the capital. Otherwise, most of the people of the Royal Capital and the escapees from the east would die in this man-made disaster, and those who survived would become devout followers of the church.
Roland must avoid such a situation as much as possible. (.)8