“So, what are our plans for the future?” Grant asked the two others that stayed behind in the smithy. “We gotta expand eventually, and I would love to have electricity sooner rather than later. Besides, if you ask me, having a printing press in every future store seems inefficient.”

“That’s an excellent point, Grant,” Helmut replied. “If we are going to take on more than just purely mechanical projects, we are going to have to obtain a source of electricity. Without fossil fuel, that leaves us with basically one option - we are going to have to find a waterwheel. Of course, we can run the press with the wheel in the meantime too.”

“Gettin’ another idea of yours, aren’t ya?” Hervey interjected, overhearing Grant’s question while striking a large piece of red hot iron with his hammer. “I’m not very familiar with your elektcity or whatever, but there were several old mills across the city near the river from back when I was a youngin’. They’ve been long abandoned, and I’m sure no one will mind if you buy it off the owners.”

“Fantastic! Thanks, mate!” Grant said, “So. Helmut, Jack, ready to go shop for some real estate?”

With that, Grant and Helmut left the smithy to journey across town, searching for a suitable mill to meet their electrical desires. Jack stayed behind, insisting that he wanted to assist Hervey in case anything in their designs went wrong.

“This has got to be the one, right here.”

“Really, this one? Seems pretty run down though…” Helmut questioned.

“A bit, sure, but it seems like the wheel and the shafts are intact, and the walls don't have any cracking.” Helmut nodded slowly as Grant continued to rattle off the benefits of this particular building. “It’s fairly nearby the town, which is also important, so I think we can tolerate the rest of the cleanup work and, that aside, we really need to pick a place by now; Jack’s been pestering me that the press is nearly done.”

“I think we’ll have to take it then. I’ll head back to the smithy to let everyone know that we finally got a place. Could you handle the purchase?”

“Sure thing, I’ll see you guys down there once everything’s wrapped up here.”

The group watched as Jack released the locking mechanism on the shaft and the press finally sprung to life, tearing through paper and ink as the construction groaned through the operation. Helmut couldn’t help but chuckle as he spoke to Jack.

“Are you sure we designed brakes big enough to stop this monstrosity?”

“Eh... probably did.” Jack spoke back, shrugging and grinning slightly, “wanna check to be sure?”

“Dibs!” Grant interjected excitedly, hurrying over to the brake lever, all the while Nicholas looked on in interest and Angelina in slight horror.

“Three… Two… one…”

Grant pulled the lever, and the shafts began to grind to a halt slowly… but it was worki-

Crunch

“Ah shit...” Jack piped up, as the shafts began to return to speed again, all the while Angelina pressed her fingers into the bridge of her nose.

It didn’t take long for people to notice the peculiar building that was the woodland corporation’s bookshop. The neatly arranged books put in specially designed glass display cases and the large metal signage on the brick exterior of the building drew in the attention of many curious aristocrats who were keen on expanding their libraries.

News traveled fast among the rich and the nobilities. When the rumor that a store was selling books authored by the famous wizard Nigel Hyde, and at a tenth the cost of any other organization at that, spread into the ballrooms of some of the most influential people in the nation, demand for these coveted items spiked. Day by day, as stocks of these books dwindled, some nobles and aristocrats even resorted to paying a premium for having the privilege of buying the books first. Even the newly opened production facility struggled to keep up with demand, and the store had to resort to purchasing handwritten books just to keep everything in stock.

A source of knowledge to some, a fashion statement and status symbol to many, to the average observer these books certainly only brought benefits. Sure, they were expensive, but if the nobility wanted to spend vast sums of money, who was going to stop them? Besides, when prices eventually settled down and production finally met demand, students and slightly wealthier citizens would be able to access a vast new world of knowledge and information that was once the sole domain of the rich.

As the store assistant closed up shop for the day, Helmut tallied up the sales with a smile next to a bewildered Hitomi, who had never seen more gold and silver gathered anywhere besides the royal treasury. Could it be possible that the heroes of the past were actually doing things wrong? She quickly snapped out of that line of thinking. After all, it’s just money; the more pressing issue at hand was the evil Vincoma who could - no - would destroy the world if given enough time.

“So, what do you think?” Grant asked Hitomi. “That idea of ours, not so crazy anymore, is it?”

“And? What good does more money serve? Didn’t you collect enough gold to live a comfortable life for years when you were in the imperial castle? Nyaa...” Hitomi responded.

“Oh certainly, we did, but I want to ask you a question, Hitomi. What did heroes of the past do with the money they obtained from guild missions?”

“Why, they used it to buy potions and equipment, of course! Nyaa, I’m not sure how that question is at all relevant to-” Hitomi answered.

“Well, back in our world, we have a saying: ‘Time is Money,’” Grant explained. “It means that time is a valuable resource. This printing press setup is the easiest and most direct way to make money right now, and it barely needs any input from our end if we delegate tasks well. This means that we can spend our time on other projects that may not have as much profit in the short term. Besides,” Grant continued, tossing a gold coin into the air, “when you have more money, you’ll get to spend more of it on more ambitious projects in the future. You get me?”

Hitomi scratched her head in slight confusion. Whatever these five people’s plans were would forever be a mystery to her.

Grant patted Hitomi’s shoulder. “It’s alright if you don’t understand right now, you’ll see what I mean soon.”

When a carriage stopped in front of the store, a fancily dressed man stepped out and started walking towards Grant.

“I’m sorry, but we are closed for the day; please come back tomorrow,” Grant told the man.

“I am aware of that.” The man said, “Nathan Dene, I’m here to discuss matters on behalf of the Lavran bookmakers’ coalition.” Nathan continued, “So, name your price.”

“I’m sorry?” Grant said while looking at Nathan, flabbergasted.

“I am aware that you are a representative of the Woodland Printing Company, correct? We are willing to offer you and your associates an offer to purchase your establishment, along with all related assets, for any price you name,” Nathan replied to Grant with a mocking smile.

“Our company isn’t for sale,” Grant replied with a straight tone.

“Oh? Not even a mention to your associates? So certain in their sentiment, are you?”

“Certain enough, I would think.”

“Then you are also certain these minds cannot be changed?”

“Incredibly. Is that all?”

“Hm… pity, I suppose I’ll have to report this news to my superiors. I wish you and your partners the best of luck with this business.” Nathan said, smirking.

Grant shrugged as the man turned his back towards him and returned to his carriage before looking back towards Hitomi.

“That’s nothing to be concerned about, right?