Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

The tall and sturdy Northlander didn’t quite match the small document pouch in his hand.

Alexei stared at Jeremiah expressionlessly for a few seconds before finally nodding at him.

Jeremiah grinned, patted his shoulder, and walked out.

Just as he was about to say something, he saw Alexei casually close the door.

That guy...

Jeremiah still wanted to say something, but he was pushed out by the scribes lining up behind him.

“Damn it, doesn’t he get tired? I don’t think even the big pirates of the Pirate King have this many people to meet.”

“Alexei.”

Hughes glanced at the closed door before finally speaking.

Nora had said she would return with people in about a week when she left, but now, much more time had passed.

With Chloe’s reminder, Hughes suspected that she might have run into trouble and needed help.

When it came to Nora, Hughes still felt that he should help if he could.

First, she had extended a hand when Hughes sought her help.

No matter what her reasons were, the fact remained that she had indeed helped him.

Second, there were the refugees she planned to bring.

When Nora first set off, the island had only just established its olive oil and soap factories.

Manpower wasn’t much of an issue back then, switching jobs and becoming workers was an easy transition for the islanders.

But now, with the nitroglycerin production line and the steel mill starting to take shape, manpower had suddenly become scarce.

Even with the steam engine, the population problem was becoming urgent.

For now, the skilled workers brought by Beatrice could barely sustain operations, but in the future, Hughes would struggle to find workers for any new factories he planned to open.

It wasn’t that the wages weren’t high enough, there simply weren’t enough people on the island.

Hughes had sought out the pirates for an authorization letter, partly to sell goods and partly to import food.

Right now, a large portion of the workforce was occupied with food production, and food prices on the island had been steadily rising.

Although importing food would make the island dependent on others, the impact wasn’t too severe.

He already had some alternative solutions in mind.

Recently, Nini’s research into magic had made progress, and Hughes had already entrusted Ash to test it out.

If all went well, food wouldn’t be a major issue.

But the lack of population was a serious problem.

“Lord, I have already inquired about Nora through royal channels. It was the royal family that recommended her in the first place, so they must have ways to get news of her.”

Hughes nodded.

That was exactly why he had sought out Alexei.

The Silent Sanctum had only been able to come here thanks to the royal family’s support, so asking them about any trouble was the simplest solution.

And the royal family would definitely be invested in this matter, as they were making every effort to combat the Candlelight Church.

Hughes had discussed this with Beatrice before.

Supposedly, tensions in the Rhine were becoming even more pronounced.

Perhaps before long, Her Majesty the Empress would replace the Empire’s state religion.

Hughes glanced at Alexei, and the two of them exchanged looks, understanding each other’s thoughts.

“These refugees are very important to us. Do we have any other ways to make contact?”

Most of the refugees were young and strong.

The elderly often couldn’t survive the long journey of fleeing, even under the protection of the Silent Sanctum.

Alexei naturally understood how vital these people were to the territory, which made him frown in concern.

“I don’t have any reliable contacts in this area. You know that even though I’m a Northlander, I grew up in an orphanage and later spent my time in Rhine. I don’t have any real connections in the North.”

Hughes nodded.

He hadn’t expected too much, but it was still troublesome.

“Perhaps you could reach out to the Duke?”

The "Duke" naturally referred to Duke Cohen, the biological father of this body.

But Hughes knew better than anyone that Duke Cohen’s influence meant little in the North.

The North was dominated by traditional nobles.

Though Duke Cohen was an old-school noble himself, he was closer to the royal family, so much so that Hughes had even been made a Frontier Count, theoretically a vassal of the Empress.

Because of this, Duke Cohen’s influence hardly extended into the North.

“Forget it, let’s leave it at that for now. I’ll think of another way.”

Hughes felt a headache coming on and rubbed his forehead.

He opened his notebook, glanced at his memo, then looked up at Alexei again.

“How are the factories doing?”

Alexei’s eyes lit up.

He could guess what Hughes was thinking.

Recently, several new factories had been built in the eastern testing ground, and Hughes had naturally shared his plans with him.

Steel mill... nitroglycerin production line...

Just thinking about those words excited him.

For Imperial citizens, especially soldiers, there was a natural reverence for iron and fire.

These factories were right up his alley.

“They’re doing great. The efficiency of the olive oil factory is getting better and better, even with fewer workers. The assembly line method you introduced is working exceptionally well.”

That was only natural.

On Earth, factories had been optimizing efficiency to the extreme.

Even the most basic ideas Hughes brought over were enough to amaze people in this world.

“What about the soap factory?”

“It’s the same situation, but we have a problem, the inventory is piling up too much.”

Alexei had a complicated expression as he spoke.

This was the first time he had encountered such a situation, or rather, he had never even considered such a thing before.

Producing too many goods... to the point where they couldn’t be sold?

Back in Rhine, he had seen factories before, those smoke-belching, sewage-ridden places produced things at an incredible rate.

But demand always outstripped supply.

Yet now, an entire warehouse was full of unsold goods.

And it wasn’t as if no one wanted them, these were highly sought-after products.

This completely exceeded his understanding.

“It’s simple. The market is saturated. How many people does Castel have? No matter how much they use, they can’t consume that much soap.”

Hughes remained unfazed.

Overproduction?

He was all too familiar with that concept.

“Don’t worry. I sent Jeremiah to get the authorization letter. It won’t be long before it’s approved. Then we can form our own trade caravan and sell the soap to various coastal ports. Besides that, Miss Beatrice is about to set out as well.”

Alexei’s heart stirred.

He had been involved in Beatrice’s plans almost from the beginning, so he understood exactly what Hughes was up to.

He didn’t understand high society, but he did know one thing, those people had money.

“For now, expand the warehouses a bit. Soon, you won’t have to worry about these things. And you have confidence in our soap, don’t you?”

Alexei grinned.

He was well aware of the quality of the island’s soap.

As long as they got it to a port, selling it wouldn’t be an issue.

He stood up, bid farewell, and walked to the door.

Just as he grabbed the doorknob, he hesitated, then turned around.

“Lord, there’s one more thing, a young man named Josh wants to buy a ship from me on credit.”