Farming in the Magical World

"You should have a full understanding of the value of the Dark Pattern Sword. Do you really think the Williams family is inferior to your merchant guild?"

When Ford confidently uttered those words, Lanny's previously calm face finally reacted, revealing an expression of appreciation. He put down his teacup and then laughed heartily!

"I must say, Mr. Ford, you are very clever and adept at grasping the key points!"

Ford smiled slightly at Lanny's assessment, immediately realizing he had guessed correctly. It was indeed due to pressure from the Williams family that Baron Wells had to give a reason for limited manufacturing capacity.

"Your sales plan is so comprehensive, it's bound to achieve excellent results. I'm confident Mr. Ford will achieve great sales success. I wish Mr. Ford all the best in advance!"

They raised their teacups, gently clinked them together, smiled at each other, and seemed to have a tacit understanding.

Lanny greatly admired Ford's quick thinking! Moreover, the fact that Ford had already guessed the real reason and was willing to cooperate with Castle to make corresponding adjustments to its sales strategy showed great sincerity, which made him very satisfied.

As long as he still wants to sell the Dark Pattern Sword, Ford is indeed the best choice, much better than having Tim personally go to Elfen to sell it.

"I'm curious, if I give you each one for 50 gold, I wonder what price the Locke Merchant Guild would sell them for? Would they even be able to sell them?"

After agreeing on the general cooperation method, Lanny became interested in some details. It wasn't that he looked down on the Locke Merchant Guild, but rather that he really didn't understand the current consumption concepts of nobles. He genuinely didn't know what the market was like for a knight's sword that cost 50 gold.

After all, he has been wandering around the territory since he transmigrated here, and has had very little contact with other nobles. He doesn't know if these nobles or knights are really willing to spend so much money to buy a good sword.

This is similar to luxury cars costing hundreds of thousands of dollars. In terms of safety and handling, they are far superior to ordinary family cars, but most people choose family cars. Is it because luxury cars are not appealing? Of course not, it's still a matter of purchasing power. Who wouldn't want to buy a luxury car if they had the money?

He wanted a long-term partner, not just short-term gains, which did not align with his expectations for the Dark Pattern Sword.

Ford had clearly considered this issue beforehand, and upon hearing it, he smiled slightly and confidently stated that there was absolutely no problem with it.

"You don't need to worry about this problem. For a knight, spending a hundred or eighty gold coins to buy a knight's sword is indeed a bit expensive."

"However, if this is a treasure that can be passed down to future generations, then there is absolutely no problem. Moreover, some knights in the Southern Territory and the East may be wealthier than you imagine."

Unexpectedly, Ford also had the habit of speaking in a breathy manner, which left Lanny somewhat amused and exasperated.

As for the knights' wealth, he had no idea. He had only ever seen a handful of knights, besides Tim and Gino and a few others. How could he possibly imagine or understand them?

In his memory, the eastern part of the kingdom seemed to be adjacent to the Bauhinia Kingdom, a land of plenty, so it was understandable that the knights were relatively wealthy.

Of course, he wasn't surprised that they had previously said they would sell to war-torn regions, but instead went to the prosperous east. That was just an excuse, and both of them knew it perfectly well.

"Price is no problem, but how many do you plan to order for the first batch?"

After saying that, Lanny gave a heads-up, "Of course, I have to tell you that our manufacturing capacity is really very limited and we can't meet the supplier's demands indefinitely!"

There was another reason. The few dark-patterned swords he had sold to Gino were actually quite rough due to the rush to complete them. He felt that they needed to be improved in terms of refinement. After all, people spent tens or hundreds of gold coins to buy a good sword, but the Cambridge sword was shabby and simply decorated, which was really unacceptable.

So even the dark-patterned swords that Gino had ordered before, he hadn't arranged for Iron Hammer to start forging them yet. Instead, he wanted to wait and see if he could make glass, and then inlay some glass beads on them, which would make them much more high-class.

He had also learned that glass did not yet exist in the world. Currently, gemstones were mainly natural gemstones such as crystal and pearl. If they could really research and sinter glass, and then polish it a little, its quality would definitely be raised several levels immediately.

"Oh, if the first batch is 20, I wonder if that's acceptable?" Ford had quite an appetite; even though he knew the Williams family had only ordered 10, he still wanted to double the amount.

Lanny thought for a moment, then didn't refuse, but emphasized his previous promise: "A month from now should be fine. Only selling to the eastern part of the kingdom?"

Ford suppressed his excitement and nodded repeatedly. "No problem, I can guarantee that. I will personally accompany this shipment to the Eastern Territory once you are ready."

“Okay, deal!” Lanny raised his glass!

"Deal!" Ford raised his glass as well!

Ultimately, the two agreed that a month later, Lanny would deliver 20 Dark Pattern Swords to the other party in one go, with a total price of one thousand gold coins. For him, this would be enough to pay off almost all his debts, with some left over.

Ford originally wanted to stay at the castle for a while, but Lanny didn't take the topic and instead laughed it off.

It wasn't that he was stingy; it was just that the castle had too much stuff right now, making it inconvenient for outsiders to stay overnight. If needed in the future, a blacksmith's workshop could be built specifically for that purpose. As long as security was done well, it wouldn't be a problem.

However, before Ford left, he still prepared a small packet of tea for him and had Tiffany personally demonstrate how to make the tea. Only after Ford learned how to make the tea did he send Joseph to escort Ford to Elfen.

As soon as Ford left, he summoned Tim. He was extremely dissatisfied with what had happened to him at the castle gate that morning!

He had a guard of over thirty men, and no one even noticed that someone had sneaked up to his doorstep. This must mean they weren't the enemy. If they were the enemy, they could have been kidnapped without anyone noticing.

Tim was probably training the guards when he entered the study, covered in sweat.

"Young master, is the shield ready?"

“Uncle Tim, let’s not talk about that,” Lanny waved his hand, stopping Tim from speaking, and looked at Tim with a serious expression. “Do you know that just today, a stranger actually broke into the castle gate and stopped me!”

"Just think about it, what would happen if this were an assassin? Huh?" As he spoke, Lanny's voice became stern and his face showed anger!

Upon hearing that a stranger had approached Lanny, Tim jumped to his feet. "Really? Where is he?"

“Where people are doesn’t matter, Uncle Tim. What I want to talk to you about is the issue of castle defense. Our guards have been training for a while now. Shouldn’t we start making arrangements for the castle’s defense?” Seeing Tim stand up excitedly, Lanny calmed down and pressed his palm down, signaling Tim not to get excited.

After the other person sat down, he continued, "Also, shouldn't we make some plans regarding the Grummans? We can't just wait for them to come knocking on our door, can we?"

He felt that passively waiting for others to attack him was too passive, and he had to take the initiative to monitor them!

"Alright, I'll immediately start arranging patrols and security. As for the Grummans, I've already sent two hunters from Black Mountain Village to inquire about them. There's no news yet, but I expect to hear back soon. I'll keep an eye on things!"

After Tim left, Lanny reconsidered the matter of defending against the Grummans. However, he quickly realized that he didn't have many manpower available and didn't have any good solutions. Sending hunters to gather information was a viable option.

However, he was still not entirely at ease and felt that he should make some preparations, so he rang the call bell.

"Young Master, what are your orders?" Frank's figure quickly appeared in the study, standing straight and respectful as always. But Lanny noticed something different; there seemed to be more respect now than before, when he was more indulgent.

He knew that Frank had always regarded "Lanny" as his own grandson. After all, he had watched August grow up and then watched Lanny grow up, so it was hard not to have these feelings.

But looking back over this period, I've seen a "transformation" in myself, and I've finally stopped looking at myself with the eyes of a child.

While his mind was filled with these random thoughts, he was giving orders: "Frank, you'll have to make a trip to several villages and tell everyone that if they spot any Grummans, they should not put up any unnecessary resistance and should approach the castle immediately. We will protect everyone's safety."

"Young Master, have these demons reached Caster Ridge yet?" Frank's previously calm expression finally changed, and he asked anxiously.

Lenny shook his head. "Not really, but I have a feeling they're coming soon! You should go and inform them first; it's always good to be prepared!"

"Yes, young master, I'll go right away!" Frank bowed and replied before turning and leaving the study.

Watching the old butler leave, Lanny got up, left the study, and went to the workshop!

Now that we've accepted Ford's order, we need to start arranging production!

With the current small stove alone, it was impossible to complete the order within a month. Fortunately, he had made arrangements in advance and built another small house next to the workshop in the backyard, which was connected to the previous workshop and occupied almost half of the backyard area.

Tim doesn't come to the backyard much anymore. He usually trains at the guard camp, so the backyard is practically empty.

Lanny also plans to build another small laboratory, mainly to make it easier for him to conduct some experiments.

He still wanted to try gunpowder again. After all, he was on the border and didn't know when things would get chaotic. Arming himself as much as possible was the best way to ensure his safety, and no weapon could make him feel more at ease than firearms.

Although he had failed before, he was still somewhat unwilling to give up!

"Master, you've arrived!"

Hammer has been quite busy these past few days. He has to help Cody build gears, repair Jimmy's broken tools, and make nails, edging, and other odds and ends for the shield. He and Zack have been busy from morning till night every day, but Lenny sees that he still looks energetic and not tired at all, and he is envious of his physical strength.

"Iron Hammer, prepare to activate Workshop Two..."