"Imperial Calendar, September 13, 1444.
Signing the ’Gulag Treaty’ with Tommy and others in the Stag Chamber is just ridiculous. Do they really think they’ve established a country in such a tiny place?
Perhaps they were frightened by Jeanne’s immense power, that’s why they demanded I sign this agreement, fearing I might go back on my word.
Maybe they haven’t heard the saying, if you want something, just take it, lawyers can always be found.
Do they think I don’t know their intentions?
Pushing me as the scapegoat, they’ve already set themselves on a path to ruin!
Do they think I will be merciful? No, I will not!
I’m no longer the person I used to be. In this life, I will be the villain and the bad guy; I’ll bully others, and no one will bully me.
The bullied, despised, desperate, and bleak life I had in the past life, I absolutely won’t let it happen again.
Last night, I made a bamboo dragonfly for Jia Li. She was happy playing with it and stopped pestering me to tell stories. Finally, I have some time to do my own things and need to draw out the arc furnace."
"Imperial Calendar, September 14, 1444.
Went to the library to read books. The scrolls and books on the shelves were all covered in dust, who knows how long they hadn’t been moved.
According to these books, I’m currently in a continent surrounded by sea on three sides, similar to India from my past life.
To the south is the Frozen Sea, to the north are highlands and grasslands, to the east is the Half-Beastman Archipelago, and to the west is the birthplace of the Empire.
It’s said that the climate there is mild, the land is fertile, and it’s all vast plains suitable for cultivation.
Unfortunately, since the Great Plague, most of it has turned into desert wasteland, occupied by the Blood and Flesh Royal Court formed by vampire nobility and ogre warlords.
According to Armand, there is supposed to be an introductory book for novice monks called ’The Miseria Legend,’ but it was also written in Elvish.
Damn the Church, curse your ancestors!
Looks like I have to learn Elvish. Isn’t it just memorizing words? Let me show you the competitive strength of a small-town test taker.
Found Jia Li’s record in the library. According to the investigation and reporting personnel’s description on the record, Jia Li should only be about five feet tall. So what’s with this nearly six-foot-tall giant?
Is it an extraordinary ability of Jia Li’s? Speaking of which, she hasn’t once demonstrated her extraordinary ability yet."
"Imperial Calendar, September 15, 1444.
This world is just too difficult to endure.
Not only is there no coal, making it impossible to play with steam technology, but you can’t even ignite gunpowder!
The sulfur in this world is an extremely precious material, only available from the Dragon Sleep Mountain Range.
The appearance is the same, the smell is the same, the properties are similar, but it just won’t ignite. The black powder route is a dead end.
Originally thought that if gunpowder wasn’t feasible, maybe glass, which has already been invented, could work, and then considered soap. But the soap created according to the novel’s formula from memory is simply garbage.
Holding it feels like grasping feces, and it’s even runny at that. The smell is such that even a dog would cover its nose and walk away.
Those novel authors are all liars, liars!
The monk at the herbal shop told me that there is an herb called soapberry, and its effect is the same as the soap I described.
Why is the technology tree in this world so focused on biology? Isn’t there any limit to your plant hybridization?
Mendel, are you not going to do anything about it?
Last night, Jia Li climbed into my bed with her pillow again, saying she’s afraid of the dark. Holding me in her arms, I felt like a teddy bear.
"Imperial Calendar, September 16, 1444.
In an unfortunate situation, there’s a silver lining: the arc furnace smelting succeeded. When the current flowed through the iron ore, the red-hot molten iron poured out of the tap hole like a waterfall.
Jeanne can smelt iron for about 15 minutes at a time. According to the output rate and furnace size, it’s estimated that it can produce roughly 400 pounds of pig iron ingots.
As for steelmaking, it’s even simpler. Melt the pig iron ingot with lightning, increase the voltage, and keep stirring. Steelwater can be produced quickly.
Rekado fell down five times on the flat ground while leaving.
Went to the library to read, only now do I realize that there are still kingdoms within the Empire. It feels a bit like the Holy Roman Empire.
However, the Holy Roman Empire has seven electors, while the Divine El Empire only has three chosen kings, namely the Falan Chosen King, the Leia Chosen King, and the Norn Chosen King.
In the noble election represented by the El Noble Council, Church, and Free City, one of the three kings will be chosen as the Imperial Emperor.
The Thousand River Valley is just one of the six territories of the Leia Kingdom, and the Tree Hedge Village where I am is merely one of the three villages in Shangruifo County. As for Shangruifo, there are nine such counties in the Thousand River Valley.
I asked Jeanne what Jia Li’s fragrance was, and she told me it’s forget-me-not.
She has been having quite an unpleasant time with Danji recently, showing a sour face every day.
Come to think of it, isn’t Jia Li a bit too clingy?
Last night, Jia Li came again, pestering me to tell fairy tales. Halfway through, she suddenly pinched my face, saying she wanted to see how many faces I had, in a mysterious manner."
"Imperial Calendar, September 17, 1444.
Tommy told me that the water has mostly receded, which is great news because now I can take action.
If not for needing his channels to contact the Secret Faction, I wouldn’t have endured this long.
I have something on Jeanne, and she’s a witch with impressive battle prowess, how could she be resisted?
Tommy may have nearly a hundred armed farmers supporting him, but so what? I am righteous, with material and force as backup, taking him down is effortless.
I’ve endured for so long, and that Tommy has such a scheme, pushing that clown to take the hit, thinking I’m blind.
If today he’s letting his own man, that clown named Grampwen, take the hit, tomorrow, when the Church’s army arrives, he can sell me to take the hit.
He can’t possibly think I don’t see through him, can he?
But why hasn’t Madlan contacted Jeska and them yet? Logically, it should have happened the day before yesterday, really shouldn’t have."
"Imperial Calendar, September 18, 1444.
This Elvish is too complicated; a single letter twists and turns in multiple strokes, is it necessary?
Hundreds of letters, it’s crazy! Simply cramming them isn’t a solution, I need to figure out a way to simplify it, at least make it so a letter can be written in two strokes, that would be ideal.
I searched the library for information about the Secret Factions, thinking about which one to join in the future.
That’s when I learned that in the history of the Church, a witch actually became Pope, known as Pope Joan.
It’s said that her extraordinary ability was controlling the mind, and twelve out of the fifteen cardinals were involved with her, in the end, even the Church’s winged angels were captivated by her.
The Ruo’an Faction is the remaining feathers of Pope Joan. However, compared to other secret faction cults, the Ruo’an Faction merely often uses the name of Ruo’an III, relatively looser and more normal.
The other secret factions are just too anthropomorphized.
In the afternoon, I made contact with the Pope’s Guard outside the courtyard wall. The expansion of the reserve guard was surprisingly smooth.
In just five days, there are already ten ten-men units and one hundred-men unit.
Roughly estimating, now around the Gulag Monastery, there are about a thousand people, with over five hundred under my control, over two hundred under Madlan, and over two hundred under Tommy.
The overall situation is set, just waiting for the messenger from the Secret Faction to return, then we can take Tommy down immediately.
Madlan is no longer important; what was once a key player is now just an idle piece.
Given the grievances and relationship between him and Tommy, even if he doesn’t dare to act, he surely won’t let Tommy know.
Today, Jeanne slept in Jia Li’s room, not allowing her over here. Without her clinging to me at night, it feels a little unfamiliar.