‘The problem is the officers.’
The nobles volunteered to send out troops, but it was not enough. They were lacking officers.
‘We have facilities that we copied from the empire’s academy, but they lack quality.’
The empire’s academy produced numerous talented officers. Toria copied the academy, but it did not produce enough quality officers. The nobles also objected the idea of such a high-cost training facility as they didn’t have enough money. Some of the more powerful nobles also objected as they hated the idea of anyone being able to produce trained officers.
‘We should’ve worked on it since the beginning. But still…’
The marquis smiled coldly. There was at least enough people to throw their lives away for honor and success.
‘I will increase the reward.’
The marquis spoke as the nobles quieted down.
“I need leaders for the troops.”
Everyone fell silent, looking at each other.
“I will reward the commander who brings me the first victory with the title of viscount and grant him one-fourth of Khalodian land. Also, he will get ten years of tax exemption and I will personally grant him with ten thousand gold and two thousand slaves to work on the land!”
Everyone gasped at the enormous rewards. They began calculating the profit.
“I will send my son…”
“I will…”
The nobles started volunteering. They would get more troops ready.
*
The watermill moved flawlessly as it transferred water from a lower to a higher level.
“It’s amazing how it moves so smoothly.”
“I didn’t realize this was possible!”
“I didn’t know that using an odd number of gears would have such a huge change.”
“Look, it doesn’t even make a sound!”
Master craftsmen gasped in amazement as they watched the watermill operate. All the watermills were usually crudely made and did not last long. But since they were made by skilled craftsmen, everyone figured it was normal for watermills to only last a short amount of time. But after seeing this, they were proven wrong.
“How does he know this?”
“I heard he uses the water of death.”
“Didn’t he go into the land of death?”
“It’s so dangerous.”
They all frowned as they remembered where Joonbum had headed off to.
*
Joonbum and Doral were quickly running through the forest.
“Ugh, are you mad because we are running outside for a while?”
Joonbum spoke to Nite, who just jumped up to avoid a huge rock in front. The sight changed immediately as the Galim leaped twenty feet into the air.
“It’s there!”
Doral shouted as Joonbum came back down on Nite.
“You look happy.”
Joonbum patted Nite as she neighed happily. He then turned towards the direction where Doral was pointing. A foul smell had filled the area.
‘They’re all dead. Smells bad too.’
It was a terrible smell that Joonbum had not experienced after he came to this world.
“What do you think?”
“I think this is it. Smell is right at least.”
“It smells so bad.”
Doral covered his nose with a dry towel. Joonbum already had done so earlier. He then walked closer to a black liquid coming up from the ground.
‘It’s really is oil… this world has everything!’
It was confusing when he first heard the rumor. But it sounded a lot like oil and he was correct. After a two-day ride on Nite, he was at the oil deposit.
‘It’s overflowing with oil!’
He couldn’t think of a comment. Instead, he just watched the endless oil seeping out from the ground.
‘Can it be this good?’
The land was going through unbelievable growth. They were victorious in every battle, and cities with farmlands were built quickly. The only problem they had was the fuel. The work that required heavy machinery to create farmlands were depleting the oil reserves that Joonbum had brought over.
‘We were losing efficiency…’
Joonbum laughed. They found oil at the perfect time.
‘I will still need to refine it.’
It was impossible to dig up and refine large amounts, but it was possible for small amounts. It would be enough to allow the continued use of machinery.
“It’s amazing that this black ooze will become fuel.”
Doral mumbled as he touched the oil with his finger. Joonbum nodded.
“It’s not a great idea to use it, but we’ll need it for now.”
“For now?”
“Yeah. We should save it for the future. For the far future.”
“I see.”
They began scooping up oil to fill the kegs they brought. After they filled up some kegs with enough for the machinery, they sealed them up and returned.