Returning to Solomon City, André's life became busy again. André's main task was trying to restore the diary. In his mind there existed an extensive list of book restoration methods, and André used the best method he had available.
Luckily, although the diary could not be read for the most part, what it needed were minor repairs, and André had the perfect method to repair it, which consisted of the following:
According to the physical conditions the book presents, its repair can be easy without undoing the original binding. The measures to take are:
Spine and binding in good condition but with dirty or scratched edges. To eliminate surface impurities and dust, a brush is first passed over the edges, spine, and covers of the book. Subsequently, all dirt stains and pencil marks are erased with a soft eraser, and the brush is passed again to eliminate the residues.
Colored marks. It is recommended to use hard erasers and subsequently a swab with alcohol, applying pressure with blotting paper so that it absorbs the color.
Marker marks. If the marks have been made with colored markers, a cotton swab moistened with alcohol is used, pressing with blotting paper. It is difficult to eliminate these stains completely.
Grease stains. They are eliminated by gently rubbing with a swab soaked in white gasoline, taking care not to spread the stain. A piece of filter or blotting paper should be used that will absorb the stain and the remains of gasoline.
Moisture stains. They are eliminated locally using a swab with distilled water and a blotting paper that will absorb the dirt and the water. After eliminating the stain it is necessary to dry the sheet between two blotting papers and press it so that it does not deform.
Microorganism stains. The books must be separated in order to fumigate them. The sheets are cleaned with a soft brush to eliminate the filaments of the fungi and subsequently they are treated with thymol (10 g) dissolved in alcohol (100 ml). The thymol acts as a fungicidal agent.
Glue or binder. On the spine of the book gummed fabrics may have been glued, and on its covers strips of thick paper with the purpose of reinforcing them. The glues of these papers and fabrics are soluble in water; therefore it is recommended to rub them with a damp cotton to soften this glue and eliminate them.
Getting to work, André ignored what was happening outside.
The news of the rebellion of a group of nobles did not take long to spread throughout the viscounty and the surrounding regions, as well as the complete annihilation of the rebels.
The people in the viscounty were worried about their lord, who had changed their lives so much for the better. A large crowd gathered outside the lord's mansion to ask if André was well. André had to interrupt his restoration work and go out in front of the crowd; thus things calmed down.
Then there was another small incident that reached André's ear. This made him realize that he needed to form an intelligence department quickly.
Many neighboring territories sent their spies to gather information about how the war had been, but no one knew anything. The only information they obtained was that the entire enemy army had been annihilated.
This information caused a misunderstanding to the neighboring lords, who believed it had been a small rebellion and paid no more attention to this subject. Instead, they were more interested in all the incredible inventions that there were in the viscounty. So the Solomon Viscounty received a wave of spies from the entire region.
The formation of a competent intelligence department would not be done overnight. André entrusted this task to his sister Alicia, who proved to be very competent in personnel management. For now she would be in charge until he found someone ideal and trustworthy for this.
André was ready to depart on a journey to Sun City, which is the second largest city of the viscounty. Things in Solomon City were going very well, so André decided that it was time for the formation of the navy.
Sun City was a coastal city of the Solomon Viscounty. As the second largest city of Solomon, Sun City had its own shipyard: a medium shipyard that could only make medium ships, something that André would change very soon.
The journey to Sun City took only two days, thanks to the fact that now the entire territory of the viscounty was paved, so journeys everywhere were shortened by more than half. Even so, for André these journeys continued to be a torment. Luckily, on this journey he would not go alone: Grace accompanied him as his secretary, making the journey not boring.
Grace's personality was calm and intellectual, but also somewhat playful. So André took this journey to get to know her better. He could not deny that his motives toward her were not pure; after all, every man is selfish. As soon as he saw Grace and Sofía, André wanted them for himself, but he would keep those thoughts in his heart. His previous life had been normal; now that he had power, most men would not give free rein to their desires. Rose was an example: how could a child propose marriage to someone older than him?
The truth was that André was afraid that before he was old enough to make her his, Rose would find someone else.
Grace, who already had certain feelings for André, in those two days grew much closer to him. They felt more than friends and less than lovers. For now that was enough for André: it was sufficient that they did not leave his side.
"What is it that you have been drawing with so much concentration?" Grace, who had been looking at André for hours, finally decided to ask what he was doing.
"Do you want to know? Come, sit by my side; I will not hide anything from you."
André's words gained great favorability from Grace toward him.
Grace stood up and sat next to André. She observed what he was drawing and was surprised by what she saw.
"Is this a ship? But how is it possible that it sails without oars?"
In those times all ships only used oars, so Grace was left disconcerted.
"Don't worry; soon you will see how marvelous this ship is. You should feel fortunate to be the first to see it," André said proudly.
"Demologos? What a strange name."
Grace could not know that that strange name would remain engraved in the history of the world until thousands of years later.
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