Kapitel 262: Coal in Kukes

Will's manservant helped him put on his new Tang suit jacket. A month ago, Elizabeth bought matching Cheongsam and Tang Suits for the family for New Year.

Based on his suit, he could guess the theme was dragons. On his suit jacket, there was a Loong red dragon coiled around his body.

He was sure Priestess Xing would appreciate Elizabeth's purchase.

Heading down to the Great Hall, Will realized he was the first to arrive. The next to arrive was Elder Thaddeus who, Will was surprised to see, wore a matching red dragon, Tang Suit.

"Elizabeth did a good job! This fits perfectly," Elder Thaddeus said smiling and sitting down at the table.

"Yes, she did a fine job!" Will replied looking at the gigantic dining table.

Table extensions were inserted to double the table size. The entire Ballard family was expected to arrive in Gadreel to celebrate New Year.

Will sat at the head of the table since his noble line separated from his father's. At the end of the table sat Elder Thaddeus. Usually, Elizabeth and Edward sat next to Will.

But today, tradition dictated that his mother sat to his left and his father to his right.

While Will did not enjoy the rigidness of tradition, he did enjoy spending time with his rare family time.

Next to the table were James, Jason, and Edward who sat in their respective seats. Edward set next to Helen and Jayson two seats down from James. As the men were enjoying their fruit salad, Helen arrived.

All the men stood and marveled as Viscountess vont Ballard took her seat.

"You look, beautiful mother!" Jayson complimented first.

"Yes, you look very beautiful!" James said.

James and Helen wore a matching solid red Tang Suit and Cheongsam.

Will complimented his mother as well but wondered if matching was another theme this year.

Jayson's wife, Rebecca, Katherine, and Camille were next to follow and quickly took their seats.

Everyone looked at Katherine's pregnant belly. It seemed she and the Earl had gotten along nicely. More importantly, Will received news her children were treated well, even though they were designed by the Earl's heirs.

Also, pregnant again, for the second time, was Jayson's wife. Their first child was upstairs in the nursery.

The last to enter was Elizabeth, who walked to the Great Hall like a bride on her wedding day.

Elizabeth wore her long hair tied into a bun, which gave her a youthful look.

"You look exquisite," was about the only thing could say. Elizabeth looked ravishing.

"Yes, very beautiful!" James and the rest agreed.

Elizabeth quickly took her seat in between James and Jayson.

When Elizabeth took her seat, the first breakfast course was served, and joyful banter ensued. The family spoke, teased, complimented, and laughed merrily.

Marcus and Cherry arrived at about the same time as the second course. And to everyone's surprise, Cherry was pregnant!

Unlike last time, when Cherry was eschewed from the family, this time she was welcomed with open arms.

She was an imperial noble, which meant their children would be imperial nobles. Who would mistreat such a familial boon?

As far as most nobles are concerned, Marcus' achievement of marrying an imperial noble was a huge achievement.

No matter the nefariousness, the imperial status held the utmost prestige.

James and Helen felt their lives were too abnormal. How could so many good things happen to their children, even to Marcus?

Marcus the lazy, slob-turned-adventurer.

Marcus was the one failure people pointed to, now Marcus was an imperial noble. To look down on him was to look down on the Great Eastern Empire.

No one who enjoyed their heads resting on their necks would openly disparage the empire.

With the entire table full of family and mirth.

After breakfast, the family went to the ballroom where there were stacks of presents.

The family took turns opening presents and red letters. The red letters were filled with coins, and gifts were exchanged.

Most of the presents were semi-expensive clothes and jewelry. James, Jayson, and Elder Thaddeus all received expensive rings from Will.

For his father and brother's rings, Will gave them custom-made Dwarven rings with their family crest. Elder Thaddeus received a custom-made Dragon ring with an image of Sir Perceval.

Will bought Edward an earth dragon bone knife, which made him squeal with glee.

He bought Elizabeth a dragon necklace, which amplifies her light magic, and resistance to dark magic.

He bought Camille an inexpensive matching Dwarven necklace and earrings. In six months, after Camille's mana test, Will planned to buy her something expensive that matched her magic type. And if she wasn't able to use magic, he'd still buy her something expected.

For the rest of his family, he bought them beach houses in Lezhe and gave them red letters filled with 10,000 gold.

From his family, Will received his favorite gift, money. He received nearly a quarter of the gold he gave them. But it was the thought that counted.

Will refused to receive gifts from his employees and servants on New Year, instead of gifting each a gold coin. While that was not much to him. For most 10,000 copper was more than they made all year.

His senior clerks, servants, and city planners each received 50 gold coins. That was more than 100 times the average annual salary in Gadreel.

To Will's surprise Vincent sent him a present. Since being demoted, Vincent's change of behavior from viperish to submissive seemed too cunningly to be real. Even with his overwhelming strength, whenever Will visited Vincent, he was always on alert.

Only Elder Thaddeus recognized the tinge of concern in his eyes. Moving next to Will, Elder Thaddeus took the present and opened it for him. Only to find a black rock.

After examining the it, he found nothing suspicious and handed it to Will.

Seeing the present, Will's eyes grew wide in astonishment. It was coal. Vincent had found coal. Quickly, Will found the letter and read it.

"A nearby village chief, to the west of Kukes, found a deposit of coal. After hearing Elliot tell you something mundane, I figure I should report this to you as well. Happy New Year, Your Vassal Baronet Vincent vont Wright."

Will chuckled, if this was Earth, Vincent would have given him coal for Christmas. Nevertheless, he was happy he followed In Elliot's footsteps. Now he had the missing ingredients to make electricity in Kukes.

Tomorrow, he'd sneak up to Kukes to build the power station and electric lines.

Returning his focus to today, the morning was joyous and celebratory. Everyone enjoyed their presents, the children most. Even Katherine's adult sons enjoyed their presents.

In the afternoon, Will opened a spatial gate to the viscounty where the family paid their respects to their Ballard ancestors. Before returning to Gadreel, Jayson hosted everyone for lunch. For lunch, the family ate grilled fish, steamed dumplings, and rice cakes.

When the family returned to Gadreel, they played games, talked, or slept.

Tonight, they'd enjoy Gadreel's New Year's lantern festival and watch the firework show.

Every New Year, the Gadreel through a gargantuan citywide feast. City vendors lined the streets hocking street food, treats, and goods.

In the evening, after the family dinner parties ended, citizens would gather outside to watch a jovial parade and a firework show to end the evening.

The parade would start at the Gates of Gadreel and end in the city center. When the parade and crowd arrived at the city center, Kurosawa or Will would give a passionate or inspirational speech.

After dinner, the vont Ballard family including Elder Thaddeus and Kalista walked to their favorite New Year's Eve mooncake vendor.

The air was chilly, and the family wore their winter coats. But the tasty mooncakes and good conversation made most forget about the chilly weather.

Quickly, the family made it to the stand in the city center. Kurosawa, Bradley, Rupert, and Miles, were already waiting for them.

They talked some more until the parade and festival-goers marched in.

To Will's surprise, there was a new addition to the parade, a giant Loong dragon puppet. To Will's, amusement dragon puppet was red with yellow whiskers.

To his recollection, Will didn't remember seeing a dragon that matched that description. So, he wondered how they came up with that color scheme.

Will could tell the twelve puppeteers were well choreographed. The dance team looked well-rehearsed, and their timing was perfectly in sync. They easily manipulate the Loong flexible giant dragon puppet with poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon.

The rest of the parade proceeded normally, there was a float of Gates of Gadreel, a float with a Paper Mache of Will, and another of Nisha.

There were new floats every year, this year's new float was the Citadel of Gadreel.

It seemed like every organization wanted a float. The Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves all had floats, and so did the various guilds. A crowd favorite every year where the 8th grade floats.

To Camille's disappointment, she was not allowed to ride on her class' float. With the large crowd, protecting Camille would be almost impossible. Bubba and Samuel both petitioned Will against letting Camille ride class' floats.

As the parade came to a halt, and the music quieted down, Kurosawa drank a potion that amplified his voice and spoke,

"Last year we had much to celebrate. Our kingdom was finally reunited, and our city lord became an Earl and Grandmaster. Our city saw unprecedented prosperity and peace.

But let us stop, and reflect on the year that has gone by, to remember both our triumphs and our missteps, our promises made and broken, and the lives we gained and lost.

This year let's hope to do better, to do more, to give more, to love more, and to stop worrying about what's to come."

When Kurosawa finished speaking the fireworks show began. People in the city center and all around Gadreel stepped out of their homes to admire the fireworks show.

Overall, it was a wonderful New Year's Eve. One that Will would remember warmly. It was his last New Year's with his children living at home. Come fall, Camille would be enrolled in an academy.

The next day, Will traveled to Kukes to revolutionize the energy industry in Fermion. His mission: was to build clean coal power plants in Tirana, Durres, Vlore, Yorkshire, and the Whitby Duchy, all powered by coal mined from the mountain city of Kukes.

When he arrived, Vincent and Gideon led him to a mine in the Theta Mountains. When they arrived, Will noticed the mine wasn't a mine, it was just a large crack in the mountainside.

Inside the fracture, all Will could see was pitch black, not because of a cavern, but because it was filled with coal.

Will didn't know much about coal, but he knew crucial facts. First, coal ranged in color was brown to black, the blacker the purer, and higher grade. Second, coal varied from soft to hard, the firmer the better quality.

In front of Will, was the highest grade, smokeless coal.

"How did you find it?" Will asked curiously.

"Greetings, Earl vont Ballard. There was an avalanche 10 kilometers west of here. It felt like an earthquake. Don't worry, it wasn't strong enough to knock down any of the buildings. But it was strong enough to shake the snow from this mountain revealing the deposit?" Gideon replied.

"Will…I mean Earl vont Ballard," Vincent quickly changed his manner of speech. He momentarily forgot to address Will formally.

By addressing his new liege so informally, Will had every right to penalize him. If the roles were reversed, Vincent would surely strike his lesser.

But Will ignored Vincent's mistake, so he continued. "I recognized it as coal at once and messaged you."

"Do you know how deep the vein is?" Will asked, already imagining the tons of coal extracted weekly.

Both Vincent and Gideon saw the avarice in Will's eyes. Coal was considered a precious resource, due to its integral part in creating steel.

To make steel, one first needs to heat coal until it becomes coke. Blacksmith's used coke to heat their furnaces and melt ingots.

Yet Will had a different idea. He wanted to use this coal to fuel his power plants. Coal is a steady, reliable source of power used for hundreds of years on Earth to heat homes and power appliances. The only downside was its greenhouse gas emissions. But this was a magical world. Surely, there was a magical solution to scrub the pollution, so it wasn't harmful to nearby people.

"We don't," Vincent stuttered, not wanting to upset his grandmaster's liege. "With the World Economic Forum coming up, I wanted everyone to focus on finishing the resort's interior."

"Get a crew up here today to start removing this coal! I want it all. Starting this week, weekly airships will arrive. I want them fully loaded with coal. Vincent, I want you to pay your miners on a yield-based system, where the amount of kilos they mine dictates the number of coppers they earn. Be sure to emphasize a hard worker could earn silvers. If the vein is deep, hire other mountain villagers. And don't forget to prospect the other mountains for coal."

"Right away, Lord Ballard," Gideon bowed and yelled at his subordinates to begin prospecting the mountain.

"Vincent follow me," Will said walking back into town. As he did, Vincent ran to walk beside him. Unlike before the once smug, arrogant bastard had transitioned to a thoughtful and considerate man. Likewise, the once vacant hamlet now resembled a resort town. It seemed sending Vincent to Kukes to manage his interests was the right choice.

Will stopped just outside town. Turning to Vincent, Will informed him of his plans to use the coal to fuel his power plant and provide electricity to all the residential houses, businesses, and lodges.

When Vincent heard the news, he was amazed at Will's intent to improve this mountain village. At the same time, Will was also making him responsible for shipping coal and making sure his profits from the ski lodge were sent timely to his bank. Vincent knew failure to meet Will's expectations could be deadly.

After the Congress of Nobles, hundreds of families lost peerage or were demoted to a noninheritable knight peerage. Only by clinging to Will, did Vincent survive such a fate. Baronet was a low peerage, but it was at least inheritable. That's why he decided to humble himself and serve as Will's loyal lackey.

"Vincent, this power plant must be guarded at all times and workers must diligently watch the feed coal and remove the ash…" Will instructed as he magically constructed a coal power plant.

But Vincent wasn't listening because he watched in rapture as Will constructed the facility. Never had Vincent watched something so amazing. His eyes were glued to Will.

In front of him, stood a grandmaster terramancer constructing something so elaborate it's very existed was otherworldly.

Seeing the large turbine and towering smokestacks reflected Will's deep connection with the earth. He was amazed that Will, his former classmate, could summon and shape the very soil and stone to form the foundation and structure.

There was a time when Vincent thought he was stronger than Will, despite his losses, he just knew he was stronger, better, more special. But seeing Will create steel from iron in the environment, and then form that iron into support beams, made him realize Will was always better than him. He fooled himself into believing a lie. And that lie fueled his arrogance and his destruction.

"…did you hear me?" Will questioned after finishing.

"Yes, I'll post a guard and assign workers," Vincent repeated coming out from his daze.

"Good! Now let's talk about the World Economic Forum opening day." Will said as he used his magic to hide the electricity cable underground. The rest of the day, Will installed in the town and checked on Kukes' progress with Vincent.

Later that evening, at half pasted second bell, Will finished installing lights in the ski lodge. Standing outside, under a cloudy night sky, in the frozen tundra, they looked at the illuminated ski lodge.

Vincent had never seen such a magnificent sight. For a moment, he felt overcome with emotions. It wasn't just the beauty of the lighted lodge, but the town itself. Only Will could turn nothing into something posh. For the first time in his life, Vincent felt happy.

Days later, Will built power plants in Tirana, Durres, Vlore, Yorkshire, Guidon, Whitby Duchy, and Ballard Viscounty. In that order, he constructed power plants. By the end of the year, electricity would be available in each city. Happiest of all was King Roland who eagerly awaited the prestige of illuminating the palace. Soon the palace shone brightly, as a beacon to the rest of the kingdom.

Moreover, the once-forgotten mountain hamlet of Kukes would soon be renowned for its natural hot springs, exclusive ski resort, posh shops, and rich coal deposits. Vincent was responsible for supervising the mining operations in Kukes were revamped to be as efficient as possible, ensuring the safety of miners and processing of coal.

As each plant came online, Will knew this marked a new era in energy. Will's vision and determination had not only provided a blueprint for coal, but clean coal. He put Rupert and Bradley to work developing eco-friendly technology to preserve the environment.

Together, they invented a magical artifact, Aether Crystal, that when embedded within smokestacks, would neutralize the harmful emissions typically associated with coal power. These artifacts absorbed pollutants and carbon emissions, transforming them into harmless compounds or even useful agricultural byproducts. In the future, the duo would discover enchantments that reduced the amount of coal needed and made the coal extraction as non-invasive and sustainable as possible, thereby lessening environmental impact.

As the coal power plants hummed to life, they marked not just the advent of an industrial revolution, that saw the Kingdom of Fermion boldly embracing the future.