"My apologies, Lord Ryan… allow me a moment to think. Your order is beyond anything we have ever seen."
Even Grinwald, seasoned lord of Dessen, was shaken.
A thousand gold in grain—such a demand would set every merchant scrambling to divide the spoils. But three hundred suits of heavy infantry armor, seven hundred of bowmen's gear, and twenty-five thousand arrows—this was another matter. Dessen was famed for its smiths, yes, but never had they wrought such a host of uniform arms.
Even if every craftsman in town labored without rest, a year or more would pass before the work was done.
After long thought, Grinwald spoke with some reluctance.
"Your price is fair, more than fair. I would take this bargain gladly. Yet with Dessen's strength as it is, such numbers cannot be met in haste."
"I had foreseen as much," Ryan said, nodding. Then his lips curved in a knowing smile. "Tell me, Lord Grinwald—would you stand with me in the building of a manufactory, a true forge of war?"
The words fell like thunder. Grinwald and Torvin stared, astonished. Even Elger and Ailin, close as they were to Ryan, had no inkling of his thought.
Ryan sat calm, his smile poised, and after a sip of fruit-tea he explained:
"One craftsman and two apprentices may need months to fashion a full suit of armor. But if the labor is divided—if each hand is set to one task alone—the work can be sped tenfold.
"Consider: a suit of plate may be made of ten parts. Let ten men shape one part each, and let another assemble them. Thus the time is broken, the effort multiplied.
"A master-smith need only oversee, correcting faults, ensuring craft remains sound. In this way quality is preserved, yet speed and number increase. It is no different in spirit from the Dwarves' own forging, though the method is new."
Thus did Ryan unveil, in full, the craft of the factory-line from the world he came from.
Elger and Ailin only half-grasped his meaning. But in the eyes of Grinwald and Torvin there leapt a fierce light. For the lords of Dessen were smiths by blood, keepers of craft handed down from the Dwarves. In an instant they understood the brilliance of the plan. It was not a leap in art, but a mastery of process, a reordering that could draw the utmost from every hand.
Father and son exchanged a breath, their hearts pounding.
At length Grinwald looked to Ryan with reverence.
"Your wisdom, my lord, is beyond measure. This counsel may alter the fate of our House."
Ryan answered humbly, "I claim no such greatness. These are but coarse thoughts. In forging itself I could never rival your skill."
"No," said Grinwald, shaking his head. "A true king need not hammer every blade with his own hand. One insight, spoken at the right hour, may change a lot."
Ryan made no reply, only turned the talk. "Then—you agree to my design?"
"Gladly," said Grinwald. "I shall summon the smiths and apprentices of Dessen. Under your guidance, we shall raise this manufactory. For surely the House of Dulod must have a place in your great endeavor."
The words were plain. Grinwald wished not merely to aid but to invest, to bind his House to Ryan's rising star.
Elger and Ailin traded glances, shaken. They knew little of politics, yet even they heard the meaning beneath: the Dulod were offering fealty. Their eyes, when they turned to Ryan, burned with deeper awe.
But Ryan, after a pause, shook his head.
"This is no small thing. I would gladly take your generosity, but wisdom counsels patience. If your will remains, a day shall come when we join hands. But that day is not yet."
The loyalty of the Dulod might seem a boon, yet such a bond in these first steps would weigh like chains. What Ryan needed now was not equal partners, but loyal followers. And what the Dulod could give in arms, he could already buy with coin.
Grinwald smiled, unsurprised.
"You are wise indeed. I respect your choice. Were I in your place, I too would walk unencumbered in the beginning."
"Thank you for your understanding," Ryan said.
…..
So their pact was sealed.
Ryan, Elger, and Ailin remained in Dessen for a time. Ryan set his companions to barter with the merchants for grain, while he himself spent long hours with Torvin, teaching him the craft of line-work and the governance of a factory.
Near at hand ran a swift branch of the Hoarwell, its waters powering the wheels of smithies. Ryan chose a site beneath a waterfall, and that very night summoned architects. He sketched the grounds of the new forge: smelting halls, forges of plate, weapon-lines, armories, and workshops. He showed Torvin the patterns of order and discipline that ruled such places in his own world.
Torvin, hearing such things for the first time, looked on Ryan with a gaze of reverence, even devotion.
Grinwald pledged that the House of Dulod would bear all costs of construction. When the forge was complete, the profits should be divided: eight shares to Ryan, two to the House.
To an unknowing eye, it seemed Ryan had won the lion's portion. Yet the Dulod knew better. For what Ryan gave them was knowledge—knowledge greater than gold. The model of line and order, the management of industry—these were treasures not of this age, and could be carried far beyond war.
So it was that the Dulod would take less coin, but gain a key to future greatness. And Ryan, with wisdom unlooked-for in one so young, had planted yet another seed of his rising kingdom.