"The ultimate downfall of the Magical Empire was not the so-called mechanical civilization, but the stubbornness and arrogance of the magicians." -Joe Neumann, "The Chronicles of the Magical Empire"
Under the scorching noon sun, on the vast fields, a strange metal barrel was emitting billowing white smoke. Four huge wooden wheels were spinning rapidly, pulling a plow behind the machine as it raced back and forth across the fields, preparing for spring planting.
Two men wearing straw hats continued to add charcoal to the boiler, and one of them wiped his sweat and pulled a lever beside him, causing it to emit a "vroom vroom" sound.
Farmers with tools sat on the edge of the field and cheered after seeing the progress.
An older man pointed to the freshly plowed land in front and said, "This thing that young Master Norfy came up with is really useful! It used to take two oxen a whole day to plow this piece of land! Look, it's all plowed in just one morning!"
A younger man with a hoe slung over his shoulder chimed in, "Exactly! A few years ago, the Deli Baron from the neighboring village made fun of our young Master Norfy for not knowing magic! But what’s the use of magic? Their son became a magic apprentice, but can he create such a useful machine? Our young Master Norfy is the best! He thinks about us hired laborers!"
"Too bad we only have one of these machines. If the master could get three or five more, we could multiply our cultivated land by eight or nine times! We wouldn't have to worry about food shortages like before!"
"Come on! Multiply by eight or nine times! Can you handle growing twice as much? Don't be unrealistic."
"What's to be afraid of? I'm going home tonight to have a child with my wife! Have a big healthy boy, so I can start working in the fields sooner, right?"
After the young man finished speaking, everyone burst into laughter, and a woman with a sack of seeds came over.
"Alright, stop wasting time and start sowing the seeds. Thanks to young Master Norfy, even though our town has fewer people, we can rely on this...this machine."
She forgot the name halfway, and the young man said disdainfully, "Steam engine! Women in the rural household are so ignorant!"
"Oh, yes, the steam engine! It can cultivate twice as much land! Ah, our young Master Norfy is just 15 years old this year and he has created such an amazing thing! I'm sure in the future he'll be more successful than the young master of the Baron family in the neighboring town! What's so great about being a magician? All they do is collect taxes endlessly without caring about the lives of us poor people! Next year, we'll have a bountiful harvest and let those poor folks in the neighboring town envy us!"
"Who knows? Maybe next year those folks in the neighboring town won't have enough to eat and a few of them will come over as in-laws! Hahaha!"
Just as they were joking, there came a clanging sound from the distance. The huge machine slowly stopped near the edge of the field, and the two workers on it began waving their hands to signal something.
The middle-aged man draped a towel over his shoulder and said with a smile, "Alright, we got stuck again. This thing is good in every aspect, but it easily gets stuck in the soil. Let's go and give the big machine a push to get it out! Once this strip is finished, we can start planting!"
The young man had already walked up quickly, seemingly eager to start working. "What's the big deal about using a bit of strength? We don't even need to till the land ourselves! Pushing a machine is nothing! Look at this land! The wheat this year will surely have a bountiful harvest!"
"Hey! Don't get ahead of yourself! Let me tell you, this machine is so heavy that even three oxen can't pull it! Plus, with the plow, I don't know how young Master Norfy managed to come up with it. It's as if burning some firewood gives it the power of five oxen!"
At this moment, in a three-story villa in the distance, a gray-haired steward stood on the terrace holding a telescope, observing every move.
Ever since the young master invented this strange thing called a "telescope" last year, he no longer had to constantly go to the fields to watch the hired laborers work. As long as he stood on the attic, he could see everything clearly, even things he couldn't notice before, like the land and the field edge under the trees. According to the lord, this thing was even better than the eagle-eye technique of the magicians!
Young Master Norfy was mature, considerate of others, intelligent, and had countless strengths. But he had one fatal flaw, and three years ago, a serious illness almost took his life. After recovering, he completely lost his once excellent magical talent, and his weak physique was not suitable for continuing martial arts training. In The Lance Kingdom, a country built on magic and martial arts, this was a faceless matter. He would never have the chance to be promoted to a noble position in this lifetime. He could only stay in this remote Kulun Town, waiting to inherit the lord's title and become a small baron. Thinking of this, the old steward sighed and muttered to himself, feeling sorry for the young master."Ah, if the young master were in better health, he could learn some martial arts. With the young master's intelligence, becoming a viscount would be a piece of cake!" He observed the commotion in the distance and hurried into the room.
The three floors of the small building seemed like a laboratory. The ceiling was adorned with various peculiar metal pipes and parts, while the walls were covered with hand-drawn sketches. The cabinets were filled with glassware and potions, and the bookshelves were stocked with a variety of history and biography books. In the center of the room, on a huge wooden desk, a black-haired youth was staring intently at a small steam engine model that was running at high speed, constantly making calculations on the nearby manuscript paper.
"Young master, all the land has been plowed. In previous years, this task would have taken us two to three weeks of non-stop work, but this year it only took four days, and we even managed to plow almost double the amount of land!" the steward exclaimed excitedly.
However, the boy seemed somewhat absent-minded as he uttered a lackluster "Oh," seemingly unimpressed by this exciting achievement.
The steward put down his telescope and began talking enthusiastically, "But, ah, with so much land being plowed, I'm afraid there won't be enough laborers in our town to plant crops! We used to worry about not having enough food to eat, and now we're worried about not having enough laborers to plant. With this much land and deep plowing, we are guaranteed a bountiful harvest this autumn!"
The boy responded with another "Oh" and continued his calculations on the manuscript paper without lifting his head.
"Um, do you need anything, Uncle William?" he asked casually.
"No, young master, I've told you so many times, please don't call me Uncle William. I'm just happy for everyone in our Kulun Town! You're busy! I'll call you when it's time for dinner!" The old steward picked up the telescope and hastily left the room, while Norfy put down his pencil, rubbed his head, and walked onto the terrace.
He looked at the vast expanse of the wilderness before him, as well as the half-finished "tractor" steaming and galloping in the field, and sighed. "It's been three years, and I've finally found some clues. This damn magical world has no phones, no internet, no games... What happened to the all-powerful magic they promised? Not even a decent clock! I'm going crazy... I'm a mechanical genius! I'm the most brilliant engineer! I'm the one who masters cutting-edge technology! I haven't even reached the peak of my life, marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman! Why do all those who travel to another world become fantastically wealthy, accompanied by a system, harem, and invincible cheats, while I have to design tractors in a place ten thousand miles away from the royal city?! Why?!"
He shouted angrily, seemingly alarming the aunties cleaning the yard.
"Hey? What is the young master shouting about? I can't understand at all!"
"Isn't Norfy always like this? It's probably some magic spell he's practicing. Norfy is always so diligent."
After one of the aunties finished speaking to her companion, she shouted upstairs, "Norfy, are you going to eat? Take a break! Don't tire yourself out."
Norfy lowered his head, listlessly watching the aunties working in the yard. They were all so cheerful, washing clothes, drying blankets, and feeding the horses because the baron's salary was decent. But he still felt a bit dispirited and shook his head helplessly, returning to his workbench, picking up his pencil, and returning to his drawing and writing.
