Dinner was amazing! Although dinner was not as extravagant as the dinner at the Duke's mansion, it was closer to the home-cooked meals that I craved from Earth. Herb-roasted chicken, rosemary garlic potatoes, roasted veggies, spinach salad with lemon raspberry vinaigrette, and chocolate bread pudding for dessert. My taste buds were in heaven! Katie is such a good cook. I'm glad that I decided to stay with her in the De Kanta home.
After the kids went to sleep, we stayed up talking late until Abby and Blaise left. They all had to wake up early for work the next day. The concept of sleeping in and weekends was foreign here. The only time people took time off was during the winter when it was too cold to go outside.
Thinking about how cold the winters were here, I decided to share my steam-powered heater idea. It would help to make the winter more bearable. I don't have a warm kitty or husband to snuggle during the cold winter nights. I thought to myself as I remembered how cold Abby was in the mountains before she trained her stray lynx to sleep with her. Now she has the cat and Blaise.
"When I first woke up in this body, I was in Stanarussi. My father was a famous inventor who invented the hot-air balloon and a few other gadgets that I brought along with me. One of the inventions that I was awestruck by was the water heater attached to the water pipes in the bathroom. It is slightly different from our home world, but the concept is the same. One lever controls the amount of hot water to add to the cool water to make a warm bath." I explained.
Katie understood what I was talking about immediately, but Al looked a little confused. I drew a rough sketch for him. He studied the sketch and finally had an idea. "Can I share this idea with our blacksmiths? Riktor and his son are very good with metal and creating the new inventions that Katie and Abby come up with."
Katie was excited at the idea, "When Blaise brought the music box back for Abby, she let them study it, and they were able to replicate it. It is now one of our best sellers! No one else on this continent knows how to make them." She gushed about their other contributions to Ilmir and the Kanta region.
I was excited to meet the blacksmiths and get our heating system started as soon as possible. Winter would be here in less than a month, and I wanted this invention functioning before it got too cold. They could share it with the rest of the clan, and everyone would have a better winter.
If I could help make the winters more bearable, maybe more people would want to move to the Kanta region. Most of the warriors from Shibatsu had returned after the harsh winter because they didn't want to go through another winter like that. If they had a better heating system, maybe Kanta could attract more warriors for their army.
Thinking about the warriors reminded me of Zed. I asked Al, "I probably should have asked sooner, but where is Zed?" He had to remember for a second who I was talking about.
"Oh, the new warrior who escorted you on your journey? He is staying in the training barracks with the other warriors. He joined our army as a Lieutenant under Captain Blaise. He is a great new addition, but will need to be separated from the townspeople until they become accustomed to him. They will warm up sooner than they did with the first batch of warriors from Shibatsu, but they are still wary of strangers. You should be fine since you are related to Katie and Abby." Al explained.
Apparently, the training barracks were built after the inn due to increased demand from the traveling merchants. Ilmir was growing rapidly, and the third town, Vanagar, had begun to expand as well. Soon, they may need to establish another town. Alisa anticipated that the Kanta region would become even more popular with the new inventions. They may need to become more selective of who they allow to stay in Kanta.
For now, she was happy to be a part of this flourishing town. It reminded her of reading about the gold rush in California in the 1800s. Rapid expansion could have positive and negative side effects. Hopefully, they could avoid the negative consequences. They did not have cars here, but horse-drawn carriages could cause traffic congestion if the roads were not expanded in time to keep up with the growing population.
A sudden boom in the population could also cause a strain on resources and lead to environmental problems and a shortage of food. They would have to plan this well before they released this to the merchants to sell the new technology. There was a reason that Stanarussi was closed off from the rest of the continent.
Having superior weapons would also help to deter any king from trying to take their new inventions and resources by force again! King Franz was less likely to break the peace treaty due to the personal history between him, Al, and Katie, but the kings from the Kingdom of Rowenhilde or Idaris were less predictable. Idaris was described as barbaric in the novel.
Katie had established a trade alliance with the Kingdom of Rowenhilde for chocolate and other goods, but greed could change the King. He was not as nice as King Franz. The novel mentioned how King Rogen, then Prince Rogen, attended Calabaster Academy on an exchange year and met Prince Sigmund.
Rogen had allowed Sigmund to marry his favorite sister, Rosenia, because he had been impressed by how Sigmund showed the perfect amount of flattery and deference without coming across as weak. Sigmund was a power-hungry prince who tried to kill Katie after he lost the throne. Anyone like that could become a threat in the future.
"I should go with you to talk to the blacksmiths tomorrow. Maybe I can show them the other gadgets that I brought with me and see if they can figure out how to use them. I was thinking of using the blueprints for the hot-air balloon to create an aerial army for the Kanta region." I expressed my idea to Al. Katie nodded along with my idea excitedly.
"That would be great! The sooner we get indoor heating and better weapons, the better. I hadn't even thought about starting an aerial army. That would make us the strongest military on the continent, like Stanarussi. No one would dare to threaten us ever again!" She spoke quickly due to her excitement.
Al understood her reasoning and agreed with her. The sooner, the better. He was happy that this new cousin made his wife so happy, and her ideas were beneficial to his clan. She was an excellent addition to their family!
They talked late into the night until they started to yawn. Alisa wished Al and Katie a good night before heading to her new room. The bed was more comfortable than the inn's, but not as nice as the Duke's bed. Maybe I should trade with him for a new bed. Oh! I forgot to give Katie the letter! I'll give it to her before breakfast. Alisa fell asleep thinking about her plans for the next day, satisfied that she was contributing to this flourishing town.