The West Tower, originally a desolate place in the palace used for storing sundries, had now been designated a restricted area by Sophia.
Irene stood inside the spacious and bright laboratory, her palms covered in sweat.
The floor here had been scrubbed spotless, and expensive silver vessels along with various scavenged alchemy tools were stacked neatly on the long table.
Although the environment here was countless times better than the slums, Irene always felt a chill down her spine.
It felt as if that Girl Tyrant was monitoring her through the stone walls of the tower, ready to snap her neck the moment she made a wrong move.
Knock, knock.
The knock made Irene jump like a startled rabbit.
The person who entered was that maid. She held a thick kraft paper notebook in her hands, her expression solemn.
"This is what Your Majesty ordered me to hand to you personally."
The maid set the notebook down. "Your Majesty says: write down everything you know, or everything you think you can create in the future, in here.
In addition, Your Majesty has left some 'little questions' she hopes you will answer truthfully."
Trembling, Irene opened the notebook.
On the first page was the old butler's handwriting, neat to the point of being rigid.
[1. List all 'alchemy products' you have mastered (including but not limited to washing, dyeing, medicine, and tools for improving quality of life).]
[2. Given that the yield of wheat and other grains in the territory is currently extremely low, do you know how to increase production by changing planting methods or using 'alchemy potions'?]
[3. Besides soap, can you make a liquid specifically for washing hair? Requirements: must not damage the scalp, and hair must be shiny after washing.]
Looking at these questions, Irene's breathing became rapid.
The Tyrant really knew everything!
Could it be that from the moment she arrived in this world, she had already been monitored by the Tyrant?
Or perhaps, before her, the Tyrant had already made contact with transmigrators? Maybe the reason there wasn't much technological progress was that the previous transmigrator refused to cooperate and was 'disposed of'?
Irene once again rejoiced that her kneeling speed had been fast enough.
The feudal era eats people...
Tools to improve quality of life... This is clearly hinting to me that what she needs is technology capable of driving a leap in civilization!
Irene dared not slack off. After all, she had been an all-around invention maniac in her past life.
She picked up a quill and began frantically pouring the knowledge from her mind onto the notebook: extraction of plant ash, principles of synthetic detergents, the three-field crop rotation system, primitive prototypes of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizers, and even sketches of manual harvesters...
Even things she couldn't realize in the short term had to be drawn out. This way, the Tyrant would know she still had much utility value. Before all these were invented, she would still have some good days to live.
The next day.
When this notebook, filled with dozens of pages covering the basics of chemical engineering and farming, was delivered to Sophia's hands, Sophia was struggling to chew a piece of black bread as hard as a stone.
In the Kingdom of Mason, it was impossible to eat delicious feasts for every meal like at the Noble Academy in the Imperial Capital.
She flipped through Irene's answer sheet, her pale golden pupils showing no change.
I found a treasure.
This Irene, was she a general engineering major in her past life?
She even knows simple methods for making chemical fertilizer?
Originally, she just wanted to find someone to make simple inventions. Now it seems this is practically a walking technology tree.
"Victor."
Sophia spat out the last dry bread crumb, her voice cold and clear.
"Your Majesty, this old servant is here."
"Tell Irene to first make the thing called 'shampoo' in this notebook. I want the top tier.
Then..."
Sophia's finger slid across the page regarding 'Three-Field Crop Rotation'.
"Have her draft a plan for experiments in the royal fields.
The soldiers and residents of the Kingdom of Mason shouldn't have to keep eating this sawdust bread."
"As you command, Your Benevolent Majesty." Victor bowed.
In his view, Her Majesty had already begun to address the kingdom's core survival issue—hunger.
But this was definitely not simple benevolence; it was to support her massive ambition.
After all, one must be full to 'work' well.
Three days later.
Irene was summoned to Sophia's study.
This was her first formal audience after coming to the palace.
Irene lowered her head, not daring to look at the young girl in the seat of honor who, despite wearing simple casual clothes, still radiated a terrifying aura.
"Your Majesty, the sample of the shampoo has been completed."
Irene presented a small bottle with both hands. "Rosemary and olive oil extracts have been added. It can effectively alleviate dry scalp."
She had already tested it on her own hair beforehand, so her bird's nest hair was now tied up smoothly.
This also allowed Sophia to see that this somewhat scatterbrained inventor was actually quite good-looking.
Sophia took the bottle, unscrewed it, and sniffed. The faint fragrance made her tight facial muscles relax a tiny bit.
Of course, in the eyes of outsiders, Her Majesty the Queen's expression remained unchanged, as if everything should be so.
"Not bad." Sophia gave her evaluation.
Irene mustered her courage and asked tentatively:
"Your Majesty, regarding the crop improvement plan you asked me to study, I am calculating the scale of fertilizer needed.
However, if these outputs are really to cover the entire territory as you planned, we need a massive amount of labor, as well as a strong enough military force to protect this wealth.
May I be so bold as to ask, the current military strength of the Kingdom of Mason..."
...is how much?
Since the Girl Tyrant before me has such ambition, her army must be a force to be reckoned with.
Sophia put down the bottle. Her pale golden eyes gazed at Irene as she flatly spat out a number:
"Three hundred."
"..."
Irene froze. She even thought she had misheard.
"Three thousand? Or thirty thousand?"
"Three hundred."
Sophia patiently repeated it once, feeling a bit depressed in her heart.
Few people, little food, a nation vulnerable to a single blow. No wonder no one deals with the banditry nearby.
Fortunately, other small countries are also struggling to save themselves, so no one covets this barren land of the Kingdom of Mason.
The study fell into a deathly silence.
Irene's heart beat wildly, her brain beginning to overload because of those words just now.
Three hundred people?
The entire regular army of the Kingdom of Mason has only three hundred people?!
Crazy... this woman must be crazy!
She has a measly three hundred soldiers in her hand, yet she actually began planning how to get rich through agricultural reform, and even reached her hand into the cross-era field of chemical engineering!
If it were any normal monarch, with only three hundred soldiers, they would have long since wagged their tail begging for asylum from neighboring countries.
But her?
She sits here, saying this number with clouds-and-wind lightness, as if those three hundred aren't ordinary soldiers, but three hundred Gods of War who can each fight ten thousand.
No, since she dares to say it, it proves she doesn't put those surrounding countries in her eyes at all.
She is telling me that she can sweep across the continent with just three hundred men?
This absolute confidence...
Irene swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Her look toward Sophia gradually shifted from fear to a hint of admiration.
Right, if agricultural output doubles, if the economy is monopolized, she doesn't even need to wage war. She just needs to use a technology blockade to make neighboring countries collapse.
Is this bloodless 'civilization crush' the true trump card of this Girl Tyrant?
"Is there a problem?"
Seeing Irene silent for a long time, Sophia tilted her head and asked.
"No... None! Your Majesty!"
Irene suddenly took a deep breath, her eyes becoming incomparably firm.
"As long as you give me enough resources, those three hundred men...
I will definitely forge the world's sturdiest armor and deadliest weapons for you!
I will absolutely not fail your grand blueprint!"
Sophia: "?"
No, I just wanted you to farm the land, and conveniently help me take care of the rice bowls of those three hundred security guards. Why did you suddenly get so fired up?
Also, what weapons? I didn't say I wanted to fight a war.
Sophia wanted to explain, but thinking that it would waste more breath, she, with her facial paralysis, ultimately just nodded faintly:
"Go do it."
"Yes! Your Majesty!"
Irene withdrew from the study with high spirits, her back filled with a fanatical sense of building the Mason Empire.
Originally, she just wanted to make a small name for herself in this world with her inventions, but now it looked like there was a grander goal!
Sophia watched Irene's retreating figure, touching her own hair in some confusion.
I don't know what she's getting excited about.
Sophia raised the small bottle in her hand. Through the semi-transparent liquid in the bottle, she saw Victor walking into the study.
Under the refraction of the bottle's curvature, the old butler's figure became somewhat comical and distorted.
"Your Majesty, an urgent report has arrived from the border."
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