Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

"Knock, knock." The knocking sounded on the door.

"Come in."

The door was gently pushed open, and Martha, holding several small notebooks, stood outside and spoke bluntly:

"My lord, Sister Lia is back."

Upon hearing this, Lynn shifted his attention from the steam engine blueprints on the table.

"Huh? Lia's back? Where is she now?"

"It's...it's at the public bank..." Martha mumbled. She tightened her grip on the notebook, which Lynn had specially exchanged for her to record public bank data.

She actually wanted to say that Lia was playing at her place right now; that half-elf sister had been coming to visit her a lot lately whenever she had free time.

Although Martha also enjoyed playing with Lia, who had many stories she had never heard before, Martha remembered that Lia had a mission assigned to her by the lord.

"Oh, why didn't she come with you?" Lynn asked.

Martha lowered her head slightly, seemingly a little embarrassed: "Sister Liya..."

She paused, as if gathering her courage, and said, "Sister Liya is having hot pot at my place! She just got back and came right over, saying she smelled the aroma of the hot pot..."

"..." Lynn's forehead was practically covered in black lines: "This guy... never mind, just take me to the public treasury."

"Yes, my lord!" Seeing that the lord was not angry, Martha's tone became much lighter.

Lynn took the steam engine blueprints with him, then, as if remembering something, he returned to his bedroom and exchanged them for a large bag of chocolates.

"Here, eat this sparingly, or your teeth will hurt."

Martha took the chocolate, her eyes sparkling.

"Great! Thank you, Lord!"

……

Even from a distance away from the coffered warehouse, a fragrant aroma wafted over.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that the shed next to the public warehouse, which served as an office and where Masha and the others occasionally cooked, was steaming hot.

Red soup bubbled in a simple little iron pot. Ada was adding firewood to the small fire, while Lia deftly sliced ​​thin pieces of meat and washed wild vegetables from a wooden rack next to her and put them into the pot. Her movements were so practiced that it seemed like she had done it a thousand times.

Seeing Lynn and Martha enter, she still had half a vegetable leaf dangling from her mouth, and mumbled a greeting: "Ah, Lord, you've arrived! Want to try some? Ada's hidden butter base is really delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Ada shrank back, feeling somewhat embarrassed at having her secret exposed.

Lynn, seeing her carefree attitude, was both amused and annoyed. He placed the steam engine blueprints on a clean corner of the table.

"Looks like your trip was pretty easy? You're back and eating before even reporting back?"

Leah quickly swallowed her food, blinking her amber eyes. "Relaxed? It's alright. But you still have to eat, especially when it smells so good."

She put down her chopsticks, wiped her mouth with a handkerchief, and became more serious: "There's been some movement at Ironstone Fortress."

Lynn pulled up a chair and sat down, gesturing for them to sit as well.

"Tell me about it." Lynn picked up a piece of beef and put it in his mouth. The stimulation of his taste buds gave him a slight boost of energy.

Lia organized her thoughts: "After Gavin returned, the castle was reinforced with a new batch of guards. They were all unfamiliar faces, and the calluses on their hands indicated that they had been wielding swords for a long time. They were not ordinary peasant soldiers."

She paused for a moment: "They bought at least 30% more grain than usual, mainly rye and beans that store well... I feel like they're stockpiling military rations."

It sounds like someone has given him another batch of troops... Is it the force behind Gavin?

As Liya spoke, she scooped up a meatball and put it in her mouth; the taste of hot pot always made her unable to stop.

"And another thing, several batches of goods were sent into Ironstone Fortress today."

Lynn's eyes lit up: "Did you see what it was?"

"I don't know about that. The things were on a cart, covered with a cloth, and there were too many people escorting them, so I didn't dare get too close. But I did see the emblem of Earl Karl's territory—Frostfire City—on the escorts."

Upon hearing this, Lynn's pupils contracted.

Count Carl—Lynn's impression of him was still from the royal palace a long time ago. He had little interaction with him, only knowing that he was one of the earls of the Southern Territory, and like Count Lehman, he belonged to Grand Duke Ivan Sullivan of the Southern Territory.

Why would he help Gavin target him? Is there something he doesn't know about?

With too few clues, Lynn couldn't deduce anything. Before Lynn could reply, Lia spoke up again.

"There's one more thing," Leah said in a low voice, "I found this in the woods outside their castle."

She carefully took out a small, dark red fragment, about the size of a finger joint, from her personal leather pouch. It looked like some kind of mineral, but its surface had an uncomfortable, oily, dull sheen.

Lynn took it; it felt slightly heavy in his hand. He brought it closer and smelled it; there was a very faint, pungent odor, similar to a mixture of rust and sulfur.

His pupils contracted slightly. This thing... he had seen something similar in the remnants that Bray and his men found in the western forest after the last monster attack, only the color and texture were slightly different.

"Remnants of demons?" he asked in a deep voice.

"Not sure, but it looks very similar. And..." Leah's voice lowered even further:

"The placement is ingenious, in several windy directions, as if... it was deliberately placed there. I suspect that they may not only have colluded with someone to bring in the monster, but may even be... trying to attract or guide the monster with something."

The thought sent a chill through the air in the shed. Even Martha, who was engrossed in eating chocolate, looked up, a hint of unease on her face.

Actively guiding monsters? If that's the case, then Gavin and Karl's ruthlessness and unbridled behavior go beyond the scope of ordinary noble disputes.

The monsters were indeed connected to them!

According to the information brought back by Lia, the extra troops that Gavin brought when he attacked Grayrock Town must have been Karl's men.

Lynn stared at the dark red fragment for a long time before carefully wrapping it up and putting it away: "The information was very useful, Leah. You did a good job."

He looked at Liya, his eyes filled with certainty: "Get some rest for the next few days. There may be a more in-depth reconnaissance mission soon."

"Understood." Lia readily agreed, then glanced at the roll of blueprints Lynn had brought, and asked curiously, "My lord, after I returned, I saw a huge thing in the territory's workshop. Could this be the design blueprint for that thing?"

Lia vividly remembered that huge steel thing, with the blacksmith and his apprentice bustling around it.

She knew without a second thought that Lynn had made it, but she didn't know what it was for.

"No." Lynn unfolded the blueprints and pointed to the rudimentary steam engine structure diagram:

"This thing is called a steam engine. That big thing you see is a lathe used to make steam engines. Once you can make a steam engine and get it running continuously, it can drive more than just simple water pumping or blowing."

His finger traced the flywheel and linkage mechanism: "Perhaps it can power machine tools, allowing us to produce better arrows and weapon parts faster. Perhaps it can power the hoisting devices in the mines, enabling us to mine faster and obtain more iron. Even, in the future..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but there was a resolute light in his eyes.

Lia looked at the complex lines and symbols on the drawing. She couldn't understand them, but she could see the certainty in Lynn's eyes.

"Then you'd better hurry." Lia picked up her chopsticks again, something Martha had taught her. She scooped a slice of meat from the bubbling red soup and blew on it. "Judging from the situation up north, we probably don't have much time left to develop peacefully."

Lynn snapped out of his daze, looked at Leah who was enjoying her meal, and smiled:

"Yes! So... after we finish eating, would you like to come with me to the blacksmith's shop to take a look at this steam engine?"