Chapter 110 - 110 Embryonic Form of the Enchantment Industry

110 Embryonic Form of the Enchantment Industry

“It’s fine. Just do as I say,” Sigmonds only replied.

During this period, he had specially learned about the strict rules and inexplicable industry rules of the Enchantment Guild and investigated the reason behind them.

He concluded that most of the complicated, ritualistic, and mysterious rules didn’t have any practical meaning other than artificially inducing scarcity among enchanters and the deliberate lowering of efficiency.

This passive slacking behavior would have earned a whipping from the supervisor if it was discovered in the mines where he worked. However, once this target was changed to a high and mighty mage and a noble enchanter, it immediately became an indescribable status symbol.

Perhaps to high-level Demon Sealing runes, they indeed needed a powerful enchanter to control the overall situation alone. Perhaps they had to consider the environment, the stars, the weather, and even their mood. Only after finalizing all the details could they complete the preparations in one go.

However, according to the Presiding Judge, what he wanted them to do now was the most ordinary general-purpose enchantment runes. There was no need to consider those meaningless conditions.

According to these enchanters, splitting the enchantment steps would provoke the rune researchers. It was as if they had diminished the nature of their work to the level of blacksmiths, carpenters, and masons. It was simply trampling on the dignity of a magic chanter.

Sigmonds’s intuition told him that compared to illusory things like honor, dignity, tradition, and mage pride, the Presiding Judge valued effectiveness and efficiency. As long as he could use these things to increase the progress of the project, the Presiding Judge probably wouldn’t blame him for overstepping his boundaries.

Probably, perhaps…

With this in mind, Sigmonds secretly suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and said loudly to the surrounding people,

“Everyone, don’t worry. I’m in charge here. If there’s a problem, I’ll bear all the consequences.”

The enchanters argued with Sigmonds for a long time, but in the end, they could only follow his plan and begin work at their assigned posts.

…

The efficiency increase brought by this plan far exceeded Sigmonds’s imagination.

In just the first day, the efficiency of producing the Demon Sealing runes increased by more than 20% before the various processes became fully integrated. The poor yields also decreased from more than 50% to less than 30%.

Their efficiency eventually skyrocketed. A week after implementing this plan, the production speed of Demon Sealing runes became faster than the speed at which the maintenance fortress’s engineering team laid out the runes for the first time. The completed Demon Sealing runes even produced a surplus that could be used as a reserve.

For this reason, he specially contacted Thorn City and urgently transferred a few skilled craftsmen over. As a result, the renovation speed of the entire fortress increased by at least 50%. According to Sigmonds’s estimation, if he maintained this efficiency, he might be able to complete the mission given by the Presiding Judge by the beginning of the Sprouting Moon.

The progress of the project was brought forward by almost a month.

Of course, the prerequisite was to maintain this productivity.

A week after this plan was implemented, a large number of dissatisfied voices began to erupt among the enchanters.

“Why is someone leaving again?”

Sigmonds frowned as he looked at the report handed over by his subordinate.

“There were a total of seven people this time, and they all expressed that they couldn’t withstand the work pressure. There’s not enough time to meditate every day to recover from mental exhaustion. Moreover, they said…”

The person paused as if he was hesitating about whether to continue.

“Let me guess. Is it the same spiel of how an ordinary person orders a mage around?”

Sigmonds said before waving his hand to indicate that he didn’t care.

The person nodded and said, “They said that they have never been treated like a tool anywhere they’ve been hired. Even the nobles in Thorn City are usually polite when hiring them. You’re disrespecting their status by treating them like this.”

Regarding this, Sigmonds only sneered and said, “No matter how polite the other employers are to them, they won’t pay them three times the market price. Moreover, they are allowed to take away this Demon Sealing rune blueprint as remuneration… They cannot benefit all the time, right?”

“Then, how should we deal with this matter? Are we letting them leave just like that?” the subordinate asked.

Sigmonds carefully looked at the report and shook his head.

“No, if we let them leave like this, at least two assembly lines will be suspended. There are only a few enchanters from the Warrior and Poet constellations. In addition, the Thief constellation that Gers is in charge of has the lowest failure rate. If he leaves, the progress of the entire line 1 will slow down.”

As Sigmonds spoke, he stood up, picked up his coat from the clothes rack, and put it on.

“I’ll talk to them. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll see if I can add any conditions, but we have to maintain this progress.”

However, when Sigmonds arrived at the enchantment factory, he realized that the entire factory had stopped working. The four enchantment circuits had been extinguished, and even the smelting furnace at the door had been turned off.

The enchanters gathered in the middle of the hall as if they were discussing something.

Upon seeing this, Sigmonds felt anger flare up.

Previously, he had been a little anxious when he saw that the efficiency had begun to decrease in the past few days. Now, they had shut down the entire factory without permission. What were these enchanters up to?

He quickly walked in front of the crowd and coughed heavily before asking, “Who told you to stop work without permission?”

The crowd’s discussion immediately stopped, and dozens of people turned their gazes to him.

Dozens of magic chanters glared at him.

Even though these people didn’t specially use magic, the pressure they exerted as magic chanters made Sigmonds break out in a cold sweat.

However, this powerful pressure didn’t panic him. In fact, he knew very well that these people didn’t dare to do anything to him.

After all, the Presiding Judge had given him control over three Netherworld Knights.

As long as he gave the order, the three Legendary summoned creatures would act according to his will. This had always been his greatest reliance to firmly control this place and make those arrogant magic chanters willing to listen to him calmly.

After Sigmonds saw that no one among the enchanters spoke, he raised his voice and asked another question, “Who made you stop work without permission?!”

Their gazes turned to the center of the crowd, and Sigmonds heard a familiar voice.

“I told them to stop.”

As this voice sounded, the crowd in front consciously made way. The person standing in the middle of the crowd walked out.

It was the Presiding Judge.

The gazes of the dozens of magic chanters only made Sigmonds break out in cold sweat, but the moment he heard that voice, he felt his back drenched in sweat.

Why has the Presiding Judge suddenly returned?

Moreover, he didn’t come to him first. Instead, he went to the enchantment factory.

The Presiding Judge even asked them to stop work? Could it be that he also felt that his actions were a little overboard?

An uneasy thought began to grow in his heart.

The enchanter transferred from the Rose Palace’s Mage Hall standing beside the Presiding Judge seemed to be chatting with the Presiding Judge. After seeing Sigmonds, the person immediately pointed at him and said, “Sir, it’s his order.”

“He didn’t care about the value of your rune at all and made us handle the holy job of enchantment like masons…”

The person said something else, but Sigmonds felt his ears buzz and didn’t hear him at all. He only watched as the Presiding Judge walked towards him with a serious expression while listening to the person.

“Presiding Judge, I can explain…”

Sigmonds felt his throat go dry. He swallowed and spoke with difficulty.

However, the Presiding Judge ignored him and said to him, “Do you know what the problem is now?”

Sigmonds felt his entire body freeze in place. He mustered his courage a few times but couldn’t say a word.

The Presiding Judge placed a hand on his shoulder and led him to the enchantment table’s circuit.

“The interfaces between these processes are too crude. There are still many segments that can be optimized.”