Raising the Northern Grand Duchy as a Max-Level All-Master

The Listener of the North (2)

A week later.

The second factory of Arad Company was finally completed.

Inside the newly completed factory, there were two kilns designed by Arad and crafted by witches. These kilns were so massive that they took up half of the entire interior space of the second factory.

Late at night, under the glow of magic stone lights.

While I was inspecting the inside of the newly completed second factory, I heard Teo’s report from behind me.

“Both the materials and equipment are fully prepared, boss.”

“You’ve worked hard. What about the selection of employees to be assigned to the second factory?”

While acknowledging his efforts, I inquired about the progress of the project.

“Yes. We prioritized retired soldiers and their families. We ranked them according to their hand skills.”

“Hire even those who lack hand skills. We can use them for cleaning, simple manufacturing, and transportation work.”

“Understood.”

“We’ll also need to train the selected employees.”

“Fortunately, some of the selected employees have experience in making pottery or stoneware. We can use them to provide basic training.”

“Well, that works out perfectly.”

Although porcelain from the Eastern regions is renowned, Arcadia also has its own techniques for crafting pottery and stoneware, like jars.

The difference is that, unlike porcelain, the local pottery was fragile, heavy, and, most of all, not visually appealing.

After hearing Teo’s report, I shifted my gaze to Mary, who was standing beside me.

“Mary, are you ready?”

“Yes! All ready!”

She was dressed differently than usual, wearing something that looked like work clothes.

For reference, both Teo and I were also wearing similar attire.

“Before we move on to full-scale training and production, we need to create some prototypes. The reason the three of us gathered here at this late hour is for this very purpose.”

A product that can be made with nothing but the dexterity of ordinary human hands—no magical knowledge, no circle etched into the heart.

A product that is simple to make but, by the current standards, exceedingly rare and valuable.

That product is none other than ceramics.

“Let’s begin.”

I decided to demonstrate the entire process of making ceramics, from A to Z, in front of Mary and Teo.

It was necessary for me to try making it first so I could establish an efficient production process and training system.

‘First, the soil must be refined.’

I prepared soil, feldspar, limestone, silica, and magic stone powder. After measuring the appropriate proportions, I mixed them all together.

‘Fire the ceramics in a kiln heated by mana stones, using the lowest-grade magic stone powder.’

Unlike Earth, this world has both mana and magic stones. I was already curious about what kind of unique properties the resulting ceramics would have.

‘Not to mention, I even added black soil that wasn’t used in the original timeline of the Silver Age 1.’

If I said I wasn’t excited, it would be a lie.

Puff, puff, puff.

After the soil refinement was complete, I stomped on the refined clay with my feet.

“……”

“……”

Mary and Teo stood there, staring at me in a daze as I worked.

“From this point on, you two should help as well.”

I waved them over, motioning for them to join in on stomping the clay.

“If we manage to create something worthwhile, you can each keep one of the pieces you helped make and use it.”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

Both of them eagerly stepped forward and began imitating my movements, as if they’d been waiting for this moment.

‘I need to gauge the training and skill acquisition time for employees based on these two.’

The reason I had them join wasn’t to keep them from getting bored.

If that were the case, I would have told them to go home. I wouldn’t have made them wear work clothes either.

‘Mary, who has excellent hand skills, and Teo, who is average. These two are perfect samples.’

Once we finished stomping the clay, we moved on to the next process — the clay wedging step.

After some time, the wedging was complete.

Since we weren’t mass-producing or working alone, the process went smoothly.

With that, the clay was fully prepared.

It was now time to move on to the actual production of ceramics.

“Make any shape you want for the vessel.”

The three of us began the basic shaping process with the prepared clay.

We can assign employees without hand skills to soil refining, stomping, and wedging. The shaping, trimming, and glazing processes should be assigned to those with good hand skills.

Even as I shaped the clay, my mind was constantly working, running simulations of efficient production processes.

‘We should differentiate the designs and patterns too—between a standard version and a luxury version. I’ll also need to build a separate workshop next to the second factory.’

From time to time, I reviewed and revised the production process in my head.

After crafting the basic frame and outer shape, I moved on to the next step.

“Follow my lead. Turn the wheel with your foot while refining the shape with your hands.”

Now came the most iconic step in pottery-making—wheel throwing.

Whirrrr… whirrrr… whirrrr…

Using my foot, I spun the wheel and shaped the finer details of the ceramic vessel.

‘They’re both doing better than expected.’

While turning the wheel, I glanced over at Mary and Teo.

Although they appeared a little awkward, they followed along surprisingly well.

Mary seemed to be doing well because of her naturally good hand skills, and Teo, as a former knight, was quickly adjusting thanks to his physical coordination.

Once the three of us completed the wheel-throwing process, it was already well past midnight.

“Before the moisture completely evaporates, we have to do the trimming and carving.”

As soon as the wheel-throwing step was complete, we moved straight to the process of carving patterns, trimming the base, and smoothing the surface of the ceramics.

‘As expected, Mary is definitely skilled.’

Mary was unusually focused on carving swords and shields into the surface of the ceramic.

Her attention to detail was so meticulous that even I couldn’t help but nod in admiration.

With both the shaping and carving completed, it was finally time for a break.

“Now, we just have to wait for them to dry completely.”

The drying process had arrived.

Normally, this step takes up a significant amount of time since the pieces need to be air-dried in a shaded, well-ventilated area.

But where are we right now? This is a fantasy world where magic exists.

“Take the pieces we worked on and bring them to the drying room. We also need to test if the drying room is functioning properly.”

The second factory had a dedicated drying room.

If the two kilns took up half of the factory space, the drying room occupied another 30%.

“About an hour should be enough.”

Naturally, I had embedded magic stones, which I personally carved, into the walls and ceiling of the drying room.

The glow of wind and darkness-attribute magic stones sparkled, significantly accelerating the drying process.

“While they dry, let’s tidy up. Cleanliness and organization are the most important aspects of any factory.”

While waiting for the drying to finish, we spent an hour cleaning and organizing the factory’s interior.

One hour later.

We pulled out the fully dried ceramics from the drying room and placed them inside the prepared kiln.

From now on, they would undergo a bisque firing at a temperature between 850 and 920 degrees Celsius.

Fwoosh!

The kiln blazed to life.

I lit the fire in the first kiln, which had been set up specifically for bisque firing.

Of course, since this was a fantasy world, I used a magic stone to ignite the fire.

‘Please, let it succeed on the first try.’

Recalling the MAX-level skills and knowledge stored in my mind, I stared intently at the flames inside the kiln.

Kilns exist not only in the North but also across the Arcadia continent.

As I mentioned before, people in this land have been making pottery and vessels for a long time.

But that was about it.