Early in the morning, Roland had placed all kinds of test props on the office floor.
From solids to liquids, minerals to metal ingots, inorganic substances to organic substances, everything could be found.
"You look very happy." Nightingale squatted down, picked up a small soup dumpling from the plate, and threw it into her mouth.
"Of course, Border Town now has a new witch, and her ability is so incredible." Roland raised his eyebrows. "Also, don't think that I didn't see you eat the test subject just now, right?"
"There are several more." She wiped her mouth. "Is Lucia's ability very useful?"
"It's very useful. Whether it's decomposing or restoring, it can bring great progress to smelting and manufacturing." Roland said excitedly, "Together with Anna, the strength of the machine can be increased several times. Even if it can't be mass-produced, as long as we make a few machines by hand, it will definitely improve the production level of the town."
Today, the machine tools used in the Graycastle Industrial Company's factory were precisely made by Anna. Although the scale was extremely accurate at the beginning, due to the defects of the materials, the wear and deformation of the machine tools became increasingly obvious during the production process. Tool breakage and fragmentation were even more common. Without Anna to supplement and maintain the parts, these machine tools could only be used for one or two years at most.
Lucia's ability made it possible to accurately control the composition of the materials. Using high-strength iron, steel, and even alloys to make the machine tools, not only could they prolong the service life, but the processing efficiency and processing level could also reach a new level. For example, things like the revolver, which could only be produced by Anna for the time being, could also enter the sequence of mass production.
"Really?" Nightingale jumped back to the table. "But she doesn't seem to think so."
"Because she hasn't really realized the value of her ability, just like Mystery Moon." Roland didn't take it seriously. "If Lucia can finish reading Natural Science Theoretical Foundation, she will certainly not have such an idea."
"..." Nightingale silently stuffed two handfuls of dried fish into her mouth.
After Lucia finished her breakfast and came to the office, the ability test officially began.
Roland watched expectantly as she turned each of the test items into a pile or several small piles of different substances. The iron ingots and iron ore were all turned into silver-white granules. If one looked closely, one could even find some variegated powder on the side. The grapes and steak didn't change, but the soup dumplings turned into water, minced meat, and flour.
Halfway through the transformation, she suddenly stopped and said with some embarrassment, "I seem to have … exhausted all my magic power."
Roland looked at Nightingale, and the latter nodded. "She has very little magic power stored in her body. She looks like an erratic cloud of smoke, but this is the first time I've seen such a color."
"What color?"
"… Gray," she said.
Roland returned to his desk and waved at Lucia. "A witch's magic power grows with age and training. You're not an adult yet, so it's already very good that you can do this." When the little girl walked to the table, he pushed the parchment that he had already prepared in advance in front of her. "Since you have decided to stay in Border Town, sign this contract."
Lucia looked down at the end of the contract and couldn't help but gasp. "One Golden Dragon per month? Your Highness … but, but my ability hasn't been tested yet, right? "
"It has nothing to do with your ability," Roland shook his head with a smile. "As long as you are a member of the Witch Union, this contract will be valid forever."
"Even if a witch's ability is useless?" She asked incredulously.
"You can understand it that way," the prince said, "but I believe that every witch's ability has its own unique use, the only difference is the time of digging. So you don't have to worry about not being useful. " He paused. "In addition, you should have heard the real reason for the magic bite from the other witches, so in order to ensure that you can smoothly pass the Day of Awakening, you have to practice your ability repeatedly every day.After dinner, Teacher Scroll will give a lesson to the witches in the living room. You have to go and listen to the lesson. Although you have mastered reading and writing, it is still necessary to study elementary mathematics and basic natural science. "
"Yes, Your Highness." Lucia nodded vigorously.
"You also have a sister, right?" Roland smiled and said, "Take her with you when you have class. She's at the age where she should be educated."
Lucia was slightly startled. She raised her head to confirm that he was not joking. She happily bowed and said, "As you command."
After the little girl left, Roland put the signed contract into the drawer. He looked thoughtfully at the various test products on the ground.
"What are the results?" Nightingale asked.
"It's amazing." He picked up the plate with the soup dumplings and fiddled with the minced meat and flour inside. "For example … when the flour is kneaded, the gluten inside will form a net-like structure, making the flour ball flexible and stretchy. Once it is cooked, the protein of the gluten will denature because of the high temperature. Even if it is crushed into powder, it is impossible to return to its previous delicate and smooth appearance. This kind of transformation is irreversible, but... "Roland picked up a small cluster of powder and spread it out in his palm. It felt smooth to the touch, like fresh flour that had just been ground." She made the flour return to its original state. "
"Uh, I don't quite understand," Nightingale curled her lips. "But in this case, her ability can be regarded as reducing matter?"
"Not so," Roland pointed to the iron ingot. "If it is only reduction, the iron ingot should become iron ore, but in fact, it is decomposed into iron powder and other impurities."
"… Then what is her ability?" She asked in confusion.
"I don't know for the time being, but at least we can speculate that maybe her ability has two effects. As for the specific form, it depends on her knowledge."
"Knowledge?"
"In essence, there is not much difference between steak and iron ore. They are both composed of a variety of particles. However, Lucia's ability can only decompose iron ore, but can not affect steak. I think it is probably because she can't understand organic matter … or the composition of living things." Roland explained. He was not sure whether his guess was correct or not, but there was no doubt that Lucia was the one who needed to learn and supplement her knowledge as soon as possible.
Three days later, when the second fleet of refugees from the Eastern Region arrived in Border Town, the same disease also broke out on the ship. But this time it was even more serious, almost half of the crew were infected. Through questioning, Roland learned that some of the patients had black spots on the first day after boarding the ship. This meant that they had been parasitized by strange insects earlier, and the incubation period had been shortened by a lot.
At the same time, Roland also received a letter from King's City. The seal was printed with the symbol of the Margaery Chamber of Commerce.
After reading the contents of the letter, he frowned.
The demonic plague was spreading in King's City. The Church claimed that it was a witches' conspiracy, and told the people that they had a holy medicine that could fight against the demonic plague.Outside of King's City, a large number of infected people had also appeared. For safety reasons, Theo chose to temporarily stop transporting the refugees.
If he didn't estimate the time incorrectly, the first returning fleet would return to King's City in four days, bringing the news that Border Town could cure the demonic plague. But those who had already been infected probably wouldn't be able to survive on the ship for nearly a week. Moreover, the Church's propaganda made him smell a trace of conspiracy.
After considering it again and again, he decided to send a team to escort Lily to King's City. Otherwise, most of the people in King's City and the refugees from the Eastern Region would die in this man-made disaster, and the survivors would become devout believers of the Church.