Roland had filled the office floor with all sorts of testing props early in the morning.
From solids to liquids, minerals to metal ingots, inorganic to organic matter, everything was there.
"You look pretty happy." Nightingale squatted down, picked up a small soup dumpling from the plate, and threw it into her mouth.
"Of course, the town has gained another new witch, and her ability is so incredible," Roland raised his eyebrows, "Besides, don't think I didn't see you sneaking a taste of the test subjects just now?"
"There are still a few left," she wiped her mouth, "Is Lucia's ability very useful?"
"Extremely useful, whether it's decomposition or reduction, it can bring significant progress to smelting and manufacturing." Roland said excitedly, "Combined with Anna, the strength of machines can be increased several times. Even if mass production is not possible, as long as a few master machines are made by hand, it will definitely be a qualitative improvement for the town's production level."
The machine tools currently used in the Graycastle Industrial Company's factory are precisely fine-tuned by Anna. Although they were extremely precise in scale at the beginning, the wear and deformation of the machine tools during the production process has become increasingly apparent due to the limitations of the materials themselves, and the breaking and shattering of cutting tools is a common occurrence. Without Anna's supplementary maintenance of parts, these machine tools can only be used for a year or two at most.
Lucia's ability makes it possible to precisely control the composition of materials. Machine tools made of high-strength cast iron, steel, or even alloys can not only improve service life, but also raise processing efficiency and processing level to a new level. For example, the revolver gun, which can only be produced by Anna for the time being, can also enter the mass production sequence.
"Is that so?" Nightingale jumped back onto the table, "But she doesn't seem to think so herself."
"Because she hasn't truly realized the value of her ability yet, just like Mystery Moon." Roland said nonchalantly, "If Lucia can finish reading *Fundamentals of Natural Science Theory*, she definitely won't have such thoughts anymore."
"..." Nightingale silently stuffed two handfuls of dried fish into her mouth.
When Lucia finished breakfast and came to the office, the ability test officially began.
Roland watched with anticipation as she turned the test items into piles or small piles of different substances. Iron ingots and iron ore were turned into silvery-white particles, and if you looked closely, you could find some colored powder on the side. Grapes and steak did not change, but soup dumplings turned into water, meat residue, and flour.
Halfway through the transformation, she suddenly stopped and said a little embarrassedly, "I seem to have...exhausted all my magic power."
Roland looked at Nightingale, and the latter nodded, "The magic power stored in her body is very little, it looks like a cloud of erratic smoke, but this color is the first time I've seen it."
"What color?"
"...Gray," she said.
Roland returned to his desk and beckoned Lucia over, "A witch's magic power grows constantly with age and training. You haven't reached adulthood yet, so it's already very good that you can do this." After the girl walked to the desk, he pushed the prepared parchment in front of her, "Now that you've decided to stay in Border Town, sign this contract."
Lucia lowered her head and saw the end of the contract, and couldn't help but gasp, "One gold dragon a month? Your Highness...but, but my ability hasn't been fully tested yet?"
"It has nothing to do with your ability," Roland shook his head with a smile, "As long as you are a member of the Witch Union, this contract is permanently valid."
"Even if the witch's ability is useless?" she asked incredulously.
"You can understand it that way," the prince spread his hands, "But I believe that any witch's ability has its own unique use, it's just a matter of when it's discovered. So you don't need to worry about not being useful." He paused, "In addition, you should have heard the real reason for the magic backlash from other witches, so in order to ensure a smooth Awakening Day, you must repeatedly practice your ability every day. After dinner, Teacher Juan will give lessons to the witches in the living room, and you should also go to listen. Although you've already mastered it, it's still necessary to study elementary mathematics and natural science basics."
"Yes, Your Highness." Lucia nodded vigorously.
"You have a younger sister, right?" Roland smiled, "When you go to class, bring her with you, she's also old enough to receive education."
Lucia was slightly startled, and after raising her head to confirm that he wasn't joking, she happily bowed and saluted, "Yes, Your Highness."
After the girl took her leave, Roland put the signed contract into the drawer and looked thoughtfully at the colorful test products on the floor.
"What's the result?" Nightingale asked.
"Amazing," he picked up the plate containing the soup dumplings and fiddled with the shredded meat and flour inside, "For example, this...when flour is kneaded, the gluten it contains will form a mesh structure, giving the dough a flexible stretchability. Once steamed and cooked, the gluten composed of protein will denature due to high temperature, and even if it is ground into powder again, it is impossible to return to its previous delicate and smooth appearance. This transformation is irreversible, but..." Roland pinched a small cluster of powder and spread it in his palm. It felt soft and smooth, just like freshly ground flour, "She returned the flour to its original appearance."
"Uh, I don't really understand," Nightingale pouted, "But in that case, can her ability be seen as restoring matter?"
"Not so," Roland pointed to the iron ingot, "If it was just restoration, the iron ingot should have turned into iron ore, but in fact it was broken down into iron powder and other impurities."
"...Then what exactly is her ability?" she asked confused.
"It's not clear yet, but at least we can speculate that perhaps her ability has two effects, and the specific form it takes depends on her knowledge."
"Know...ledge?"
"A steak is not much different from iron ore in essence, they are both composed of multiple particles, but Lucia's ability can only decompose iron ore, and cannot act on steak. I think it's probably because she can't understand the composition of organic matter...or rather, living things." Roland explained. He wasn't sure if this guess was correct, but without a doubt, Lucia was the one who needed to learn and supplement her knowledge as soon as possible.
Three days later, when the second fleet carrying refugees from the Eastern Region arrived in town, the same epidemic broke out on the ship, and this time it was even more serious, with almost half of the people infected. Roland learned through questioning that some patients showed black spots on the first day after boarding the ship, which meant that they had been parasitized by the strange insects earlier, and the incubation period was correspondingly shortened.
At the same time, Roland also received a letter from the royal capital, sealed with the mark of the Margaret Chamber of Commerce.
After reading the contents of the letter, he frowned.
The evil plague is spreading rampant in the royal capital. The church claims that this is a witch's conspiracy, and tells the people that they have holy medicine that can fight the evil plague. A large number of infected people have also appeared outside the royal capital. For safety reasons, Tassah has chosen to temporarily suspend the transportation of refugees.
If the time estimate is correct, the first returning fleet will return to the royal capital in four days and bring the message that the town can cure the evil plague, but those who have already been infected probably won't have the chance to survive the nearly week-long journey on the ship, and the church's propaganda also made him smell a hint of conspiracy.
After considering it again and again, he decided to send a team to escort Lily to the royal capital. Otherwise, the people of the royal capital and the refugees from the Eastern Region would die in large numbers in this man-made disaster, and those who survived would become devout believers of the church.
Roland had to avoid such a situation as much as possible.