Chapter 548: Bad News

An hour later, Quinn left the meeting room, hopped onto a carriage bound for Martin, and left Torren Ridge. She could have taken a Tartan, but she elected to travel by road for several reasons.

First, she felt she deserved a bit of a break, especially after all the incredible and insane things she had just been told about, but the Head Treasurer also needed some quiet time away from her stressful work environment to contemplate all the implications of the LBM Mark 1 Steam Engine’s existence, as there were many.

Not a Spirit Tool, not a common tool, but rather, something in-between.

Something new.

Something miraculous.

Something dangerous.

Just thinking about all the things the steam engine could change, about all the things it would change, Quinn Oxley couldn’t help feeling both a sense of wonderment and dread. She also couldn’t help worrying about what else was lurking behind the veil of Lucas’ other classified projects.

If that strange little boy, and everyone else working on the LBM Mark 1 deemed it acceptable for this machine to start appearing in public, what kinds of outrageous, world-changing things were they still hiding from view?

Letting out a long, long sigh, Quinn slumped back into her seat as she muttered to herself, "I was right, my workload is only going to get bigger... I really should just quit..."

.....

"Alright, what now?" Allina turned to her little partner and asked.

"Now we see just what kind of state the mines of the Rockwell Kingdom are in," Lucas replied with a shrug, getting up from his seat, collecting several books and papers he had taken out over the course of the meeting, and stuffing them haphazardly into his Space Bag.

Lucas was probably going to complain later when he had to dump of its entire contents to find what he was looking for, but that was a problem for future Lucas. Right now, he just wanted to inspect the mining and processing facilities in Torren Ridge before the sun started setting.

He had seen the mines in Iron Rock from afar, and heard stories from some of those who owned said mines, but in all the chaos of the mass-evacuation, Lucas really hadn’t had the time to take a good, up-close look at the actual situation on the ground, much less talk with the miners doing the work there.

As for the facilities smelting variants of iron and carbon together to make different types of steel, Lucas had a bit more experience with that in the forges in Misty City, but it seemed the vast majority of that work was done much closer to the mines themselves, with only finished products being sent out to the smithies to be hammered into useable tools.

Lucas had his suspicions, especially given the numbers Head Treasurer Quinn had quoted him, about just what he was going to find here, but he was still hoping that there would be some pleasant surprises.

That hope wasn’t completely unjustified either, as Adam had told him about several interesting innovations that had been employed in Torren Ridge.

If what his young colleague had told him was true, then there was a chance that ramping up production of iron, and even steel, would be easier than Lucas originally anticipated.

He should have known better.

Seeing the actual state of the mines and the conditions the miners were forced to endure, only one word came to the young boy’s mind, atrocious.

Unlike in Iron Rock, where the mine was just a giant open-air pit, Torren Ridge’s iron mines were the more a series of tunnels dug into the side of a low hill.

According to the supervisor who was guiding them around, when the iron vein here was first discovered, much of the mining was done out in the open, but as the years passed, they had to dig further and further into the hill to continue exploiting the rich ore deposits.

Today, some mine-shafts wound several kilometres into the rock.

It was currently the end of June, so it was already quite hot outside, but the mines were even hotter and stuffier, and that was just at the entrances. Lucas couldn’t even imagine how uncomfortable it would be down in the actual depths where the hard work was actually being done.

This issue wasn’t made any better by the need for lighting.

Spirit Lamps would naturally have been a better alternative, and in some particularly busy sections of the mine a few such Spirit Tools were used, but for the most part, illumination was provided via primitive candles or plain-old wooden torches.

Ventilation was poor, safety equipment was basically non-existent, and all labour was done manually.

Draft animals were used outside to a certain extent, with horses pulling large carts of ore or debris back and forth from the tunnel entrances, but inside the mineshafts, humans had to do everything themselves.

When Lucas asked about this, his guide said that the reasons were two-fold.

First and foremost, good draft horses were expensive and in high demand, so the mine simply couldn’t afford to keep many around. As such, the most efficient use of them was hauling large loads outside the mines.

Second, most draft beasts became agitated when sent underground, making them difficult to control and often leading to accidents, making them a bigger burden than a boon.

With such a terrible work environment, it was no wonder so little iron ore was extracted and then processed into usable material.

Although he knew he wouldn’t like the answer, Lucas still had to ask, "How many miners die here each year?"

"Oh, Young Master Lucas is truly a compassionate soul, even caring about the lowly labourers here," the bald, middle-aged mine supervisor flattered shamelessly.

"Just answer the question," Lucas snapped, having long gotten tired of hearing such empty praise from this man.

"Yes yes," the supervisor smiled and nodded, "Our mines, under the strict conditions set by the illustrious Balfour Family, have some of the best standards for safety in the entire kingdom. As a result, last year, only 14 workers died in Torren Ridge."

Lucas’ brow twitched visibly when he heard this.

He didn’t doubt that the conditions here were better than in most places in the kingdom as he knew his Master’s personality very well. For such a powerful Cultivator and high-ranking noble, Celestina was incredibly compassionate towards the common people; however, that didn’t mean she wasn’t subject to bias that came with her environment.

14 people dying a year in mines as extensive as those found in Torren Ridge really was quite low compared to elsewhere, but to Lucas, it was simply unacceptable.

It seemed that on top of boosting productivity here, Lucas would also have to lobby hard to improve the working conditions.

Still, there was nothing he could do about this immediately. His purpose today was simply to assess the situation, formulate a proper development plan, get a budget approved, then work to implement it.

Much of that work would naturally end up being delegated to his subordinates, but that’s what subordinates were for!

His Head Manager might violently disagree with that statement, emphasis on violent, but Lucas had complete faith that she was capable of meeting his expectations.

Jotting down a few notes into his workbook, Lucas turned to the balding man beside him in a far-too-fancy outfit for the dirty, dusty environment they were standing in, and ordered, "Take us to the smelters."

"Right away, Young Master," the supervisor bowed before leading them away from the mines.