Chương 81: Chapter 78 – Nine boiler planning.

Alric sat at his desk, he was drawing out the new layout for the brewery. The stone wrapping had made a significant change, the stones gave at minimum three times the output for the same mana. Mana was no longer their main bottleneck. They could scale up to nine boilers now before mana became the bottleneck again. Nine. A wonderful number, right up until one remembered all the things that had to go into them.

His hand traced more charcoal lines on the page, tracing movement paths, where staff would walk, how they should move around so they didn't bump into each other with hot liquids. He paused once to rub out a line with the side of his thumb, smudging the charcoal, then redrew it slightly wider. This scale would bring some changes. Which, in practice, meant every problem had quietly brought friends. Those friends might also be calling in reinforcements.

For one thing, the fermentation section was now wildly too small, the easiest and best solution was to move it to a different building. Convenient, simple, and entirely dependent on owning a different building. Germination would expand into that section. He tapped the edge of the parchment twice as if the space might argue with him. Germination would feed the boilers in one direction, water sadly would have to come from the back but thankfully that came through the roof so it didn't count.

The casks would then go from the boilers to cool on the outside rack. His charcoal hovered, then added a small note near the edge. Unless it rained… Ah.. If it rained. Hmm.. Alric considered it further, his fingers tapping lightly against the desk in a slow rhythm. If it rained, they might need to go above the cellar to cool maybe? Not ideal. Cellar? Worse. The only solution that came to mind was a roof overhang that was longer that would keep it dry and let them cool.

Moving them to another building was still a problem however. He scratched a short line, then stopped halfway through it. Not that I have another building yet. He sat back from his drawing and looked up at the ceiling, eyes tracking along one of the beams as if measuring it for no reason at all. Another building is the least of my worries. Three times as much grain. Three times as much hops. I know Vale was sorting out a farmer to grow hops but he hasn't updated in a while.

He drummed his fingers once, then stilled them. The adventurers guild had his request in more than just the nearby guild, the job had become popular in the smaller guilds out in the countryside. A big portion of his hops was arriving dry now. He tilted his head slightly. Having the hops dried was helpful, and therefore immediately suspicious. Alric reached for another sheet, this time he sketched lines for the rafters, beginning to see if there could be a pattern for moving germinating grain sacks.

Rows, hanging lines as grain would move through rafters hanging to germinate. He leaned closer as the lines began to align. The rafters themselves would become storage, flow. He nodded in satisfaction, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly despite himself, for the first time in months, it felt like they had momentum again. Which usually meant the world was winding up a fresh insult.

"Alright, so let's talk about this." Alric said with a grin that he did not quite bother to hide. He handed Mara and Hal a drawing each. Each of them took a drawing and recoiled slightly, their hands adjusting instinctively as though the parchment might be heavier than expected.

"So let's start with you Mara." Alric said beginning to move to the germination section, already turning before he finished speaking. Both followed him slightly perplexed, exchanging a brief glance that said neither of them had any idea what was about to happen. Hal followed with caution, Mara with suspicion, both with reason.

"So as you know, I've always wanted to go up to nine boilers. With the wrapped stones, we now can, but it means some changes." Alric said gesturing at everything and nothing adding to the confusion. His hand moved faster than his explanation. Mara looked at him. Trying to follow along but not. Her eyes drifting to whatever Alric kept pointing at constantly, then back to the drawing as if hoping it would translate for her.

"So, you want to make germination bigger?" she asked, one brow lifting slightly.

"Yes, so let's look at the drawing. You'd use both germination and what is fermentation right now, just for grain." Alric explained with a nod and smugly crossing his arms, as if that settled the matter.

"This is, too much." She explained trying to understand, her grip tightening slightly on the edge of the page.

"You're right. It is. Which is why you need to make a choice. You can stay where you are now, or you need to become the germination version of Seren." Alric explained looking over to her, watching her reaction carefully. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"But.." She began but Alric held up a hand, not unkindly but very firmly.

"You'd be on the same pay as Seren and Vale. You'd need to track every bag, when it was hung, when it will be ready. You, like me, aren't allowed to do labor. We'd appoint a team, you'd manage them." He tapped the parchment once for emphasis. That landed with the force of a thrown brick, though a much friendlier one. She blinked rapidly before glancing down at the sheet again deep in thought, her lips pressing together slightly as she reviewed the awful drawings.

"You will need to take your writing lessons seriously. Learn how Seren does it," he added a bit softer, his tone shifting just enough to be noticed. Nothing sobered ambition faster than paperwork. She nodded not looking at him, though her shoulders shifted as if settling into something heavier.

"Uh.. and me?" Hal asked tentatively, scratching at the back of his neck with one hand.

"Similar. You'd manage the boilers and the people running them. We'll get a clock and you need to log what started when and when to tip. After that, hot casks go outside to cool. Also, you manage a team. No labor," Alric explained. Mara was staring at the drawing still as if it might give her answers. Hal received the 'no labor' comment with the expression of a man who suspected that meant a different, crueler kind of work. He nodded slowly, glancing between the page and the space in the room.

"Like, a foreman?"

"You mean on a building site? Yes just like that. You make sure the boilers tip when they need, casks are being steamed, finished casks are moved out to cool. You'd also need to make sure you have enough empty casks each day." Hal seemed to blink at the space where the boilers would go, his eyes lingering there a moment longer than necessary, before glancing down at the drawing again.

"The idea is this. Grain comes from this side, water through the roof, finished beer goes that way. It's always moving from this side to that side. I want to have less walking back and forth." Alric added with a smile, tapping one end of the page, then the other while simultaneously gesturing to the building with his other hand.

"How long do we have?" Hal asked, shifting his weight slightly.

"To decide or the boilers get here? To decide. You can thi…"

"We can do it." came from Mara with a determined look, her head lifting fully now. The words came out so firmly that even Hal looked briefly demoted. Hal and Alric both blinked at her but she held the gaze, unflinching.

"Alright. I haven't ordered the boilers yet, we will need to do some stone work. I'm telling you now, because you need to appoint people and train them. I will sit in on the interviews, but Mara, I won't allow nepotism to rot the core," Alric explained. He watched her closely as he said it. Mara and Hal nodded slowly taking it in, though Hal's expression suggested he was mentally reviewing a list of people he might now have to say no to.

"Like you said to me once, no more labor. We will start small while we have time, get a new team member each and begin training them."

"Why... why us though? Wouldn't you want a clerk or something?" Hal asked, glancing up again. Alric didn't have to think about it, "No one can run a boiler like you. A clerk will look at paper all day and not understand why a boiler isn't working. It needs to be you or you have to train your boss." He said it simply, as if the alternative was obviously worse. He nodded at that answer, a small exhale leaving him.

"Seren also needs to train someone else to handle fermentation. We're going to move that to another building. It's the only way. Somewhere easy for the carters to reach. She needs to focus on dealing with outside things and Vale would handle accounts and collections. You'd all be equals though."

"This is all... so sudden." Mara said looking up at him, her grip loosening slightly on the page.

"It always is. You are brewers though, you are the only two in the city who know my method. There is a lot to learn, things we can improve but I don't think there is anyone else." Alric explained with a smile. He couldn't help but notice both were carrying themselves with their chests out slightly, just a fraction more than before. Mara and Hal began studying the drawings looking between them and the warehouse with new interest, their earlier hesitation replaced with something sharper.

"Nothing?" The priest turned clerk nodded with a complicated expression, his fingers fidgeting briefly with the edge of the report before going still.

"You found, nothing?" he asked again to which the clerk shrugged, a careful sort of shrug that avoided committing to anything.

"That is what it says." he explained in a tone that could be taken either mockingly or helpfully, depending on how much patience one had left. Donovan, the high priest stood with one hand resting lightly against the edge of the desk, his gaze lowered to the report. His thumb tapped once against the paper, then stopped. He was younger than the title suggested, no more than his mid-thirties, with the kind of composed stillness that came from practice rather than faith.

His robes were immaculate, layered in deep ivory and muted gold, the fabric heavy enough to hold its shape without movement. Fine stitching traced the hems, not ornate enough to draw attention, but precise enough to signal wealth to anyone who knew where to look. A narrow sash crossed his chest, pinned with a small, polished emblem of the order. It caught the light when he shifted, a quiet reminder of rank rather than a display of it.

His hair was dark and neatly kept, drawn back at the nape of his neck, not a strand out of place. His face carried no softness. Clean lines, controlled expression, the sort of features that did not betray thought unless he allowed them to. Only his eyes moved. They tracked the page slowly, deliberately, as though weighing each word for its usefulness rather than its meaning. There was nothing of reverence in him. No warmth, no quiet humility. What he carried instead was intent. Measured. Patient.

And entirely deliberate.

"Nothing is more of a problem than nothing… is there anything else you understand?" The high priest said, lifting his gaze just enough to settle on the clerk. The clerk shrugged again, a touch more exaggerated this time.

"That is why I brought it to you, brother Donovan, far be it from me to make such important decisions, a humble cle—" he had said the word brother with specific emphasis, his mouth lingering on it just a moment too long.

"Yes, yes, you've given me that speech before" Dorian said rolling his eyes, though the expression vanished almost immediately.

"I'll need to bring this to the high bishop, blasted man is always busy though…" He said absent-mindedly tapping the report and staring at the wall, his gaze unfocused for a moment.

"Of course Father, The duties of the most pious of high bishops are ab—" he began again, leaning ever so slightly forward. Dorian sneered toward the clerk before catching his expression, smoothing it back into something more appropriate. He was starting to suspect his dear brother Cladus had spent many hours figuring out how to make this conversation as annoying as possible for him.

"Yes yes, do…" he was about to ask him to make the appointment but then thought better of it, his fingers tightening slightly on the report. He wouldn't put it past him to mess up the paperwork on purpose.

"I'll get it done. That will be all Cladus."