Aleria looked around the river and saw the many water wheels connected to smithies. She nodded in approval and saw a man with pale blue eyes approach her.

He was wearing a dirty blacksmith’s apron and the standard safety gear, which Aleria approved of. The man bowed, and she extended her hand for a kiss. The blacksmith bends down and brushed his lips on her knuckles, as was the custom. Then he stood up and looked at the dungeon core behind her.

“Luca, who is this elven lady?” Asked Timothy. Luca grinned.

“She is an inventor. Aleria here has come up with something called a seed drill that is supposed to be able to improve yields eight times.” Said Luca. He already imagined how much Theanore was going to pay for something like that. What with her snatching up all the available land around the grotto.

“Is that so? I have read about something like this in one of grandpa Thinker’s books. What was it, though?” Said Timothy, scratching his head and trying to remember.

“Memories of another world. Many of the inventions there are up for grabs, as Odious Thinker has only given us ideas on how they work, not how to implement them. The printing press too found its beginning when grandpa Thinker commissioned inventors to repurpose wine presses for them.” Said Aleria without missing a beat.

“Ah, yes. That was the name of the book. Maybe one day we will get something called a refrigerator to supplement ice rooms? My ale is always warm in this canyon.” Complained Timothy. Aleria’s lips turned up slightly and her eyes twinkled with amusement.

“Potentially, I can be the one to invent it, too. After all, the only thing I need is a workshop and helpers.” Said Aleria. She was proud of her abilities, but small things like a refrigerator could wait. She wanted to bring Eomis and No Man’s Land in particular into what grandpa Thinker liked to call an industrial revolution.

“And you will get them here.” Said Luca. “You just make me a list of what you need and describe to me the preferred space for a workshop, and I will get it done.”

“Here you go.” Said Aleria, and she pulled out a faded parchment and handed it to Luca.

“Well, you certainly come prepared.” Said Luca as he began to look through the long list. “So, access to running water, won’t be a problem. I can have the ants make your workshop by the river. And you want tools made from titanium and obsidian coated cutters. Timothy, are you up for the challenge?”

“Well, obsidian coated cutters sound like a delicate work. But nothing I can’t handle. Are there diamond dust saws in the list too?” Asked Timothy. Aleria raised an eyebrow at his foresight, and Luca nodded.

“Big ones, five meters long. I take it they are for the seed drill?” Asked Luca, not understanding what else the saws could be cutting.

“No, they are for lumber cutting. I would need big slabs if I am to improve my workshop in the future.” Said Aleria. Then she handed Luca a parchment with the picture of the saws.

“These are my inventions. The blades are sharper than normal saws and the wood is easier to sand later if it is needed for furniture production. Furthermore, you better look at this.” Said Aleria, and she handed another parchment to Luca.

“A wind wheel?” Asked Luca, not understanding why they required one when there were already water wheels available in the canyon.

“You have a lot of land. Most of it is not by the river. With this, you can build more smithies than before. Maybe even some factories. I can also build production lines. Just like the ones used by Odious Thinker in Alerion for his factories.” Said Aleria proudly.

Grandpa Thinker kept his factory’s designs a secret, but Aleria had managed to reverse engineer them from hearing about them from some worker elves. She was certain that she could even improve on them. Possibly, even remove the need for people sorting the produce on the lines and work a spell that did the sorting itself. Perfect precision, and the work in hand would be able to be redirected somewhere else.

“That is all well and good.” Said Luca, impressed by what he was seeing. “But we haven’t discussed the payment you will want yet.”

Aleria smiled and thought on it. She was going to patent all her inventions under her name and earn a lot of money by doing so. Since they came from Memories of another world, she would need to pay 10% to grandpa Thinker for the ideas.

So, what payment did she want? She was already getting funding, workers, a workshop, and a home. Still, as her professors back at the college have always told her, if you can do something well, never do it for free.

“I would ask to receive 10000 gold coins per month, plus a Yule bonus, 25 days of vacation time and a sports center build near my workshop, so I can stay fit.” Said Aleria.

Luca looked down at his feet. Well, he could afford to pay, and it was only fair to give her some paid leave. But the sports center was beyond him. He had never been to one and so didn’t know how to build one.

“If you give me some ideas about the sports center, with plans and what type of things you want inside, I can have it build.” Said Luca. He couldn’t let go of an inventor that could put his dungeon on the map.

“I can tell you about a firm that makes them. Alberic and Alberic, two brothers, one a runner of long distances and the other a swimmer. They will not only build them, but they will also bring already build sports equipment. Perhaps your goblins will benefit from the sports center too.” Said Aleria and Luca tried to imagine multiple goblins kicking a ball. He snickered and decided that this was something worth seeing.