"If we could bring skilled workers from Valois, we could get this running ourselves." Pierre was amazed by the efficiency of the Mason Brotherhood. As long as you paid them enough, they’d use Magic to move mountains and fill seas for you.

In less than ten days, the factory was already taking shape, though the equipment had not yet arrived. Mr. Hasse took over the subsequent negotiations, while Pierre borrowed Rorschach’s communication privileges and used the Magic Guild’s Teleportation System to summon an engineer from the main factory to oversee construction.

"But aren’t they saying the main company in the Holy Kingdom is also expanding? Besides, if you don’t work with the local groups, they have all sorts of ways to stop you from opening up shop."

"Yes, I was just saying."

The main urban centers of the Bayern Kingdom were the two hubs of "Munich-Ox Castle" in the south and "Wertzburg-Newren" in the north. After several surveys, the bottle factory and the beverage factory—responsible for mixing and bottling—were sited in Lanshite, a small city situated between the northern and southern hubs.

The entire Bayern Kingdom had an extensive network of waterways, with the Duma River system connecting all the major cities. There was also a legacy from the Old Empire Era—a north-south canal maintained by the Logistics Guild, which connected places the river system couldn’t reach.

It was adjacent to Glass Town but had no developed industries of its own, which greatly pleased Rorschach. Right now, the city was holding a grand wedding celebration. A parade ran from one end of the town to the other, and there were also performances by traveling troupes and horse races.

Don’t get the wrong idea—it wasn’t Bart and the Little Princess’s wedding, but the wedding of a Duke from the Old Empire five hundred years ago! For some unknown reason, that lord had run off to this small town to hold his grand ceremony. The residents had never seen such a spectacle, so they reenacted it every four years. It had now evolved into a late-spring carnival.

’These residents must be pretty bored...’ And then there were the bored, wealthy, and idle from Munich who also came to watch. Over time, the residents gained a source of income from the surrounding tourists, so they put even more effort into the event.

He heard that in a neighboring village, the people insisted they were from the Far East to resist taxes. Every year when it was time for tax collection, they had the town mayor dress up as the Emperor of the Far East and close the city gates.

When Rorschach heard about these quirky local customs, he decided on the spot—"This is the place!"

"Hiring! Hiring!" The residents followed the parade from the south end of the city to the north, and at the end of the route, they saw a recruitment booth. Of course, the beverage factory had greased some palms with the parade organizers, setting up an ambush well in advance at the parade’s designated endpoint.

At the same time, another booth was giving out free drinks—syrup transported by Airship. Two barrels were opened on the spot, mixed with soda water, and distributed. Rorschach was also in the booth. His job was to make ice.

"Mr. Rorschach, another barrel has been boiled." Rorschach insisted on using treated water to make the ice. If everyone got diarrhea after drinking it, that would be bad advertising.

[Frozen Ray], [Decomposition Skill], and a fresh bucket of ice was ready.

Although it was still spring, the chill had dissipated, and the parade-goers under the sun were getting hot and restless. An iced soda that was also sweet! This was the most delicious thing any of the townspeople had ever tasted!

"Line up! Line up! You can get another cup at the next booth!" Fortunately, some burly men were maintaining order, and many people were drawn to the recruitment station.

"I can’t read, can I still get paid?" "How much?" The onlookers whispered among themselves, creating a clamor. And with the soda to wet their throats, they spoke with even more vigor.

"What! Two Silver Coins a month?" Of course, no one in a big city would be willing to work for that, but for a small town lacking cash flow, this salary was simply incredible. The flow of currency in the countryside was even tighter. Small farmers could only get cash by trading eggs, milk, and the livestock they raised. After saving enough grain for themselves, for seeds, and for taxes, there was hardly anything left.

Meanwhile, recruitment was also underway in Glass Town.

The new company borrowed Jenney’s shop, and the proprietress helped maintain order and introduce the company. Inside the shop, the cobalt-blue glass "Staff Mage" was "enshrined" like a Holy Statue. Anyone who didn’t know better might have thought it was the Guild’s patron saint.

The apprentices were all somewhat literate. As they passed by, they listened and looked, quickly understanding the pay and hiring requirements. As a result, the new factory became the main topic of their discussions.

"I’ll say it again: if anyone dares go to that new factory, I’ll throw them into the furnace!" Inside a rather large workshop, the bearded Workshop Master laid down his threat, then kicked an apprentice who hadn’t done his work properly out the door. However, no sooner had he left than the apprentices and craftsmen in the workshop started talking.

The kicked apprentice rubbed his bottom and complained to a close companion, "We meet the hiring requirements, so why should we still have to put up with this lunatic’s abuse?"

Someone nearby added, "They pay a salary! Paid out every three months..."

"What do you think?"

"I asked Jenney. The only thing they make there are bottles, and they even have molds. What’s so hard about that?"

"It has to be a scam, right? Easy work and good pay, where would you find a deal that good..."

"Let’s go take a look when we break for lunch." "I’ll go with you."

Rorschach spent the morning in the small city of Lanshite, then changed locations before lunch and returned to Glass Town.

"Aunt Jenfni, how did the morning go?"

"Seven apprentices are willing to come, and many more are interested."

"Good. Thank you for your hard work." Rorschach pulled Mr. Pierre along to personally deliver some warmth—oh, no, some "coolness."

They went to every workshop, making ice in front of the apprentices and craftsmen before pouring them all cups of soda.

In a space where the furnace blazed, a cup of iced soda sent a shiver through a glassblower’s apprentice. "God, I think I’m in Heaven! Is the new factory producing this?"

"That’s right. And we need a lot of bottles..."

"I’m with you!"

The craftsman was incredulous that the apprentice would decide his future so easily. "You’ve been bewitched by a cup of sugar water! Ezekiel, you’d sell yourself cheap to a devil!"

The apprentice turned and spat at the master who usually beat and cursed him. "Screw you! They pay! I’d work for them even if they were the devil."

The craftsman didn’t dare lose his temper in front of a Mage. He subconsciously took a sip of the drink to suppress his anger, then downed the rest in a second gulp, crunching the ice loudly. "Lord Mage, I’ll work for you too, as long as you let me keep disciplining this brat!"

After making their rounds, Rorschach had given out all the drinks. Mr. Pierre was holding a stack of contracts; some apprentices had signed their names, while others had just left a thumbprint. Pierre was both happy and worried. "Will doing this provoke the Glass Guild?"

"The Glass Guild? Starting tomorrow, what Guild? Let the workshops that bought shares argue with the disgruntled hardliners."

The foundation of the Guild was the "apprenticeship system." Now that the new factory was hiring, it gave the apprentices a new option. Even if that day’s recruitment efforts weren’t a resounding success, the door that was now open to the glassblower apprentices would shake the very foundation of their personal dependence on their masters.

Given a choice, no one would let themselves be beaten, cursed, and ordered around at will. Everyone wants to be paid for their labor. As for the skills, getting the first wave of skilled workers in place to get the factory running would be enough. The old practice of masters training new hands would no longer be a "master-apprentice" dyad but would be replaced by the company’s personnel structure.

In the future, these apprentices would lose the opportunity to become Workshop Masters. Instead, they would become assembly line leaders, workshop foremen, and so on.

Of course, Rorschach couldn’t rule out the possibility that some of them might be "laid off, becoming talent supplied to society by the beverage factory."

"Mr. Pierre, after the beverage factory becomes profitable, let’s donate a batch of streetlights to the two towns."