Road to the Crown

Chapter 255: We can go back?

28th July 1574

"What do you mean we can visit the mining town? Aren't we kinda in aa hurry?"

Just when I thought that we would get some more carriages filled with food and supplies, Jan just came and announced that there would be no problem with me inspecting the progress that my mining town made myself!?

"Oh? You really believed that we could do it as fast? I'm sorry but as great as our armies are, we are nowhere close to the level that your people can achieve when it comes to organisation and logistics. Best case scenario, it will take us at least two days to pack up, get everything set and done and finally depart! So yeah, there won't be any problems for you to go and visit this great mining town of yours! By the way, on the side note I always wondered, why do you call it this place a mining town? It's not like there is any town in place there, so how come this name came to your mind?"

As we rode on the road that would lead us directly to my mining town already, Jan finally let go of the limits of his curiosity, asking me a question that I knew that puzzled him for a long time already.

"You see, all my projects have just a simple thing in common. NO matter if they were about increasing the profitability of what my people are producing, the speed at which they can do so, or the quality of the produced content, whenever any project is opened or developed, there is just a single thing that is kept in mind during its creation."

Taking a moment to let the suspense build-up, I took a few breaths before raising my head again and looking at the governor with a smirk on my face. 

"Come one, stop with that silly acting of yours. If you didn't want to tell me, you wouldn't start the topic, so save me the dramatic explanation and just do tell!"

Contrary to my expectation, someone finally caught up on this small ploy that I Was using almost every single time when speaking about the achievements that my lands borough forth. Shaking my head with a slight disappointment I turned my expression back into a genuine smile before answering.

"Future. No matter what my people are doing, there is always the question, hows it would look like in the future>?? How could we use it in the future? In what way, the future will be improved by creating this particular thing? That's how the ideas to improve the iron extraction, smelting and casting came. That's why I invested so much of my resources into the production of steel. Even when speaking about this wood manufacturing plant... I was developing it with the moment where my beer alone won't be sufficient to pay for all my projects alone in mind!"

Finally sharing the general idea that I had behind all the actions that I took, I felt as if a strange burden of loneliness was lifted from my back. Even after explaining who aI was and where did my knowledge and invention ideas come from, I never felt like I could share the burden of creating the future with her. While there is no denying that allowing someone to know my origins was a cathartic experience for me, explaining the foundation of my action to someone who was an owner and manager of his lands just like me, had a different, pleasant feeling to it as if I finally managed to socially connect with someone at least familiar in those aspects to me.

"Well, I'm not going to lie, that makes quite a bit of sense. I just wish I could have as great foresight as you have If I had it, maybe this entire war with muscovites could be prevented, rather than forcing the entire nation to mobilize its forces to push them back"

As we spoke in this manner, the distance between the Sandomir and the mining town of mine was finally shortened to the point where I could see the first layer of the buildings growing out from beyond the line of the horizon. Yet, to be honest, even seeing the familiar architectonical style, still wasn't capable of pushing the feeling of strangeness aside from when I first realised that something just wasn't right!

"Don't look so surprised! I know you already read in those reports of your that this place of yours kept growing even during your absence. And don't even try to tell me that you didn't know that the speed at which this place grows, only continue to increase with more people and p[rojects that are active! "

This was a valid point on Jan's side. Even though the time that I was away from my mining town wasn't that long, I knew that as long as some projects that I left the blueprints for as I was leaving it would be finished, then the speed at which this entire town would expand, would skyrocket.

Yet just like they said, knowing something by logical projection, and seeing it on your own eyes, were two completely different matters!

"Oh boy"

After the entire town finally entered my sight, I finally realised just what the heck Jan had in mind while speaking about the ever-increasing speed tat which this town was growing.

The place that used to be just a free, open land left over after clearing the parts of the forest, was now brimming with just as much people, as there were workers in the neuter mining town as I was leaving this place. Yet limiting my observation to the number of people present was completely dishonest in giving thep[roper honours to the development that took place there!

This formerly empty plot of land was now all perfectly evened out, giving testimony to just how hard my people worked during my absence. Yet setting this groundworks aside, an almost entire patch of lands that connected this newly created clearing to the rest of the developed area, was now filled with plants, huts, and buildings that I could only describe as shared housing for the innumerable workers that [populated this place!

"Sir, it is soo good to see you in good health!"

Even before I could manage to get myself into the proper part of the town, a huge group of people departed from the town on their own horses, approaching the group formed by me, governor and the minimal amount of escorts required top make sure our journey would be safe.

Hmm Frank, was it?"

Taking my sweet time to recognise the face of the officer that approached me, as soon as I recalled his name, stored in the faraway corner of my mind, I made sure to spell it out loud, kn0owing just how much this work's officer of mine would value this movement in the future.

"Tell me, just how the heck did you guys manage to turn this place from already prosperous but small development area to this monstrosity capable of rivalling the capital itself?!"

Speaking those words, I wasn't exaggerating by any means. Even though the image that was now forced into my eyes was still nothing when compared to the brilliancy that Krakow would reach in my initial timeline, just about four hundred years from now, when compared to the current state of that town, it was already way bigger, despite all the buildings being built far closer together than it was allowed back at the current capital!

"Sir, it's mostly thanks to this one blueprint that you left to us before you departed. And yeah, we can't diminish the value of the help that governor offered to us as soon as you left for the Tarnow. If not for his help, we wouldn't be able to properly facilitate the possibilities created by that "prototrain" project of yours, sir!"

Taking a quick look around the city, I finally realised that whilst the buildings were mostly built side by side, there was one small element that somehow managed to escape my attention so far.

And it was the every-present metal tracks, insanely similar to the ones that we used to increase the production of the mines! Yet this time, rather than using the wood as the basic material for the tracks, my workers finally reached the level of using the iron slabs for the train tracks!