Chapter 1004: The World in Her Eyes
The smelting zone was the most industrialized stretch of Neverwinter. Steam engines powered everything from the moment raw material left the barge to the moment it entered the furnace — conveyor belts, ore lifts, the feeder hoppers above each smelter. The facility covered a long rectangular tract along the north bank of the Redwater River, coal storage and port on one end, crude oil processing on the other. The conveyor lines ran parallel across grey concrete, black against grey, a rhythm of mechanical patience.
On the west side of the fractionation tower, the oil storage warehouses stood half-built — solid, square, functional in a way that had nothing to do with beauty and everything to do with endurance. Decompression valves, inspection windows, carrier pipes, antistatic shielding: the kind of infrastructure that nobody would notice if it worked and everybody would notice if it failed. The construction teams had gained enough experience from the chemical plant that they’d required little guidance. They simply built.
Roland had come for the ceremony. What held his attention was the evidence of something he hadn’t ordered: the Ministry of Construction and Ministry of Industry had done the design work themselves, brought the plans for his review and approval, and built the thing. No daily intervention from him. The workers had learned to read technical drawings, verify tolerances, communicate across departments without being told how. Two years after he’d mandated universal education, here was the first proof it had compounded into something self-sustaining.
The boiler’s temperature climbed. Vaporized oil ran up through the fractionation chambers, and the tower’s metal skin warmed enough to shed the snow clinging to its joins. Wind had dropped. The cold persisted, but the crowd along the riverbank didn’t thin — they stood with their breath misting, faces tipped toward the tower, spectators at something they didn’t fully understand but could feel the size of.
“So beautiful,” Edith murmured.
She was standing on the steel bridge a few miles downstream, far from the crowd. A few passersby had noticed her and the girl beside her — and had slowed, and hurried on, reluctant to stop but clearly reluctant to look away. In the grey of the snowfall, the Pearl of the Northern Region and her companion were difficult to overlook.
Cole said nothing for a moment, then couldn’t help himself. “It’s a chimney. If you wanted to see it properly, you should have gone with city hall. Sir Barov reserved you a spot. His Majesty—”
The bridge was a good vantage. But the whole purpose of the day — the actual purpose, the one that mattered for career and politics — was standing in the smelting zone with everyone else who held authority in Neverwinter. A first-class banquet was never about the food. Edith knew this better than anyone. She was the most seasoned diplomat in the city and had promised to help Cole build relationships, and she had walked to a bridge in the snow instead.
Edith pursed her lips. Cole shut up.
“Because of you,” she said, lightly. “Do you really want to appear in front of every city hall official dressed like that?”
You made me wear this.
That was the problem. The problem began several weeks ago, when Edith had caught Cole trying on her clothes — and Cole, fearing what she might do with that knowledge, had agreed to her terms. Which, as it turned out, included being dressed like a doll in public. If any of his friends saw him, he would seriously consider the river.
He was composing some version of this protest when someone whistled from behind him.
Heat flooded his face. He dropped his chin.
Edith’s hand found his jaw and tilted it back up.
She held Cole’s head still, then swept her gaze past him — the faintest glance, cool as the air, across the stranger. Unhurried. Utterly uninterested. The look of someone who had already forgotten the intrusion before it had fully begun.
The man stumbled back and left.
“That,” Edith said, “is also a lesson.”
“If I were wearing my usual clothes, I wouldn’t need the lesson.”
“There will be things you encounter — many things — that you don’t like and can’t stop.” She paused, watching the distant tower. “The only choice you have is how you hold them. Do you think I was pleased when Timothy marched his army into the Northern Region? Every coin has two sides. The question is which side you choose to see.” Another pause. “Besides — you do like those clothes. You wouldn’t have tried them on otherwise.”
Cole said nothing. She was right, which made it worse. He would never admit it aloud.
He looked back at the tower, remembering her first word: beautiful. Edith never said things like that about machinery.
“Do you remember what winter looked like in the City of Evernight?” he asked.
She considered it. “Dead silent. As if the earth had frozen.”
“I always thought that was what winter was supposed to look like,” she said after a moment. “It isn’t.” She exhaled — her breath misted, rose, was gone. “Look at it. The earth is breathing. The steam is proof this city is alive.”
“I don’t really understand.”
“It means nature can be changed.” Each word landed separately. “We’ve complied with nature’s rules because we’ve always been weak. When we grow stronger, we change the world.” Her gaze didn’t leave the tower. “Isn’t that beautiful?”
Cole looked at her instead.
Her blue hair caught the falling snow. The cold had put color in her cheeks, softening a face that was usually without it. She spoke with a certainty that didn’t need to be argued — it simply was, the way a high place simply commanded your attention.
He wanted to see through her eyes. To know what the world looked like when you were Edith Kant.
“There’s oil coming out!”
The cheer started near Tower I and spread outward like a wave.
“What’s happening?”
“Someone said oil—”
“Cooking oil?”
“That’s coal, not a kitchen.”
“Who cares? Everything His Majesty builds—”
“Long live the king!”
“Long live the king!”
The cry multiplied, rolling through the crowd in the smelting zone, accumulating volume as people added their voices without entirely knowing what they were celebrating. Most didn’t understand fractionation. Most understood that the king was doing something large, and that large things meant the city was growing, and that the city growing meant their lives would continue to grow with it.
Roland watched from the edge of the square. Black smoke and white steam rose together from the bank, braiding against the grey sky. The metallic frame of the tower cut through snow and mist.
If the smoke above North Slope Mountain had marked the first revolution, this marked the second.
His chest swelled with something wordless.
He let it.
Chapter 1004: The World in Her Eyes
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
The smelting zone was the most industrialized area in Neverwinter. The entire production process, from transportation to feeding raw materials into the smelters, was powered by steam engines.
The plant processed a large quantity of crude oil and coal every day. It covered a huge rectangular area, with the port and a coal storage yard on the north side of the Redwater River. Several conveyor belts, driven by steam engines, continuously fed coal to the boiler room. The parallel black lines on the conveyor belts exhibited a sharp contrast with the gray concrete pavement.
The other end of the facility was designed to store and process the crude oil from Shallow Beach.
The construction of the oil storage warehouses on the west side of the fractionator was now half-completed. Completely different from the design of the residential buildings across the river, the warehouses stood in a solid line like impregnable fortresses, but looked surprisingly attractive. Despite their plain exterior, the warehouses were installed with advanced equipment and designs such as decompression valves, inspection windows, carrier pipes, antistatic devices, etc. As the construction teams had gained a lot of experience from the construction of the chemical plant, the whole construction process had gone very smoothly.
Roland was extremely satisfied that the Ministry of Construction and the Ministry of Industry had done all the design work. All he had done was the final review and approval. Needless to say, the staff of these two Ministries
had learned a lot from the previous mining and furnace projects. They had apparently applied what they had learned to this new project. Since Roland had yet to establish a set of industry standards, the workers had to confirm the parameters of each individual machine or part before it was sent to the plant for manufacturing. This showed that the workers had already developed reading and writing skills and learned the basics of engineering; otherwise, it would be hard for the two departments to communicate effectively.
Two years after its implementation, this was the first great success to show the effectiveness of Roland’s mandatory universal education.
As the temperature of the boiler increased, vaporized oil flowed into the fractionation tower and melted the snow clinging to it. The wind had ceased howling, but the snow still persisted. Nevertheless, spectators gazed at this beautiful metal tower without a blinking. Their breath misted in the cold air and mixed with the steam being ejected from all types of machinery on the square, heating up the cold winter air.
…
“So beautiful,” Edith muttered as she stood on the steel bridge.
The smelting zone was a few miles away from the bridge, so there were fewer spectators here, only some occasional passers-by. They were all hurrying to the high tower to witness the new wonder and meet the king. However, almost everyone slowed as they rushed past the Pearl of the Northern Region and the girl next to her. Apparently, the two ladies in the snow attracted a lot of attention.
“Isn’t that just a chimney? What’s the beauty of that?” Cole grumbled silently. “If you wanted to see it, why didn’t you go with the people from city hall? Sir Barov reserved a spot for you, and His Majesty…”
Although the bridge was at a high point in the city, giving a wide view, it was too far away for them to get a close look. As all the officials from city hall were going to see the tower, it would have been a perfect opportunity to network with Edith’s co-workers. Essentially, the whole point of this event was to connect with people instead of appreciating the magnificence of the
tower. Just like a first-class banquet, nobles didn’t care as much about the food, but about who they dined with.
As a seasoned diplomat, Eidth should have known the trick better than anyone else. She had promised to help Cole build his relationship with other city hall officers, yet she had just let such an excellent opportunity slip through the cracks. Sometimes, Cole felt he had a really hard time understanding his sister’s thinking.
But seeing Edith purse her lips, Cole sensibly shut up.
“Because of you, my dear little brother.” Edith jested in a soft voice. “Do you really want to appear in front of all the other officials in this outfit?”
Hold on, you made me wear this!
It was not a big deal to dress up like a girl at home, but Cole had not expected that he would be forced to wear women’s clothing outside. If some of his friends saw him dressed up like a doll, he would probably jump off the bridge.
Alas! Cole could only blame himself. One day when he had been trying on Edith’s clothes, his sister had caught him. Fearing that Edith would tell his little secret to someone else, Cole had no choice but to comply.
When Cole was about to, somebody whistled behind him.
As his face flushed red, he instantly lowered his head.
“Well, this isn’t the right way to handle this kind of situation.”
Edith grabbed Cole by the chin, forcing her brother to raise his head.
Next Cole saw the Pearl of the Northern Region sweep her gaze over the stranger with the condescension and nonchalance of an uninterested aristocrat. It was a glance that froze a person to the bone. Cole shuddered at his sister’s icy look. The stranger stumbled back. Without a word, he scurried off and disappeared from their sights.
“Got it?” Edith shrugged. “This is also a test for you.”
“… If I was wearing my usual outfit, I wouldn’t have had such trouble.” Cole mumbled quietly.
“But there will be many things you’ll encounter in the future, some things that you may not necessarily like, but can’t stop from happening. The only thing you can do is accept them and learn to control them.” Edith paused for a moment and then went on, “Do you think I sincerely wanted to welcome Timothy when he drove his army straight into the Northern Region? Every coin has two sides. The key lies in how you view it. Besides, I bet you like the garments you are wearing, otherwise you wouldn’t have tried on my clothes. Am I right?”
Cole stiffened. Edith could always justify her behavior like it was a matter of course. He knew he wouldn’t stand a chance if he tried to argue with his sister, so he kept silent.
But he would never admit to her last statement!
Then, he remembered Edith was impressed with the beauty of the tower. Was it because she viewed it from a different angle?
Cole thus voiced his doubt, and he clearly saw a rosy flush on Edith’s cheeks.
“Do you still remember what the City of Evernight looks like in winter?” Edith asked.
“Um…” Cole thought for a while and soon remembered the warm fireplaces, the ales, and the banquets during the winter in the City of Evernight, all of which were associated with indoor activities. After a long silence, Cole answered hesitantly, “Maybe… kind of quiet?”
“It’s dead silent, as if the earth was frozen.” Edith looked at the distant high tower. “I always thought that was what winter should look like, but it’s actually not true.” Edith exhaled a breath which immediately misted in the
air. “What are you seeing now? The earth is breathing, and the steam proves that this city is alive.”
“I don’t really… get it.”
“This shows that nature can be altered.” The Pearl of the Northern Region stressed each word. “Human beings don’t necessarily need to comply with the rules of nature. We have been constantly dominated by nature because we are weak. When we grow stronger, we can change the world. Isn’t such power beautiful?”
But Cole saw something even more beautiful.
The lady who radiated confidence as she spoke. Her blue hair rippled in the flurries of snow, more breathtaking than anything else in the world. The rosy hue spreading across her cheeks softened the outline of her face, making her look even more stunning.
Cole had a sudden desire to see through his sister’s eyes. He wanted to know what the world looked like to Edith Kant.
…
“There’s oil coming out!”
The crowd near Tower I began to cheer.
“What’s going on?”
“Someone said it’s oil!”
“Cooking oil?”
“Rubbish. Coal is processed here, not lard.”
“Who cares what it is? Anything His Majesty does is brilliant.”
“So can we celebrate now?”
“Yeah, long live the king!”
“Long live the king!”
Soon more and more people began cheering, even though many of them had no idea what the fractionation tower was for, they understood that the king was happy.
The tidal wave of cheering spread throughout the smelting zone. Within a few minutes, the crowd became exuberant. The cheers of the people seemed to add a little color to the dull routine of everyday life in the depressing Months of Demons.
Watching wisps of black and white smoke rising along the river bank and the metalic tower rising up through the snow and mists, Roland felt his heart swell with pride.
If the thick smoke above the North Slope Mountain represented the success of the first industrial revolution, then the smoke produced by this tower heralded a brand new era.