Chapter 206: Solving the Problem

"Your method carries a great risk, in that the materials and ores aren’t refined and polished sufficiently, which causes no small amount of pure metal to go to waste, and in the end the product comes out without reaching the required quality!" Vaelor spoke to the old man while reviewing his documents, then scowled and looked at him...

"Tell me, what race are you all?"

"Us?" The old man pointed to himself and looked around anxiously, not understanding the point of Vaelor’s question, but finally answered, "We’re the Elf race, my Liege!"

"Good. What law do you use?" Vaelor asked another strange question, and the elves were baffled by these questions.

"We use the Cosmic Law of Formation, my Liege!" the old man answered, obliged.

"And what is the function of the Cosmic Law of Formation?" This time, Vaelor’s question wasn’t directed at the old man, but at all the elves around the table!

The elves glanced at one another warily, but the old man finally answered, "The Law of Formation reshapes materials and controls their form and the way they bond together, my Liege!"

"Well done!" Vaelor nodded at the old man. Of course, the true definition and power of the Cosmic Law of Formation were far more comprehensive and immense than this, but the elves had only grasped its first tier so far.

"Then how is it that you elves, who wield the Cosmic Law of Formation — the greatest of laws in terms of the ability to refine materials and produce goods — end up wasting resources and, in the end, coming out with a product that doesn’t even reach the required standard!" Vaelor looked at the old man with a sharp gaze and spoke with some anger.

"But my Liege, we don’t have enough time or enough manpower and..." the old man said hastily, trying to justify himself, wanting to continue, but he found King Vaelor raising his hand to silence him.

"I don’t want excuses!" Vaelor waved his hand, then turned his gaze toward the young man. "And you!"

"Your method is good. It extracts every bit of value from the material and produces a product above the required standard in terms of quality, strength, and durability!" Vaelor praised the young man until the young man smiled at the praise, but he soon saw King Vaelor’s features shift back into a scowl!

"It’s true your method is good, but it won’t be of any use to us whatsoever. Your method is slow — too slow. The armies won’t wait for you to finish crafting weapons, and the enemies won’t wait for you to grow stronger!" Vaelor set the young man’s documents down on the table before him and looked at him...

"On top of that, this method requires experienced individuals to carry it out, and it won’t work with ordinary laborers or people still in training!"

Both the old man and the young man looked at each other with some unease, each knowing his own method had numerous flaws, yet the old man believed he was right and that his method was the best in the short term and would solve their current problem. Meanwhile, the young man believed he too was right, and that his method was the best in the long run!

"Neither method is suitable, and neither will be used!" Vaelor surprised everyone, setting the documents down on the table and looking at them with some anger!

"But my Liege, if we don’t use either of these methods, then what will we use?" the old man and the young man quickly asked together, protesting this decision.

"Why would you want to use just one method when you could use both together?" Vaelor struck his fist against the armrest of his throne and spoke in a reproachful tone. "And you all also need to change this idea that one single person or one single team is responsible for crafting an entire weapon from start to finish!"

The elves looked at each other warily, and the old man stepped forward, asking, "And how would we do that, my Liege!"

"It’s simple. You’ll assign teams that specialize only in refining, teams that specialize only in shaping, teams that specialize only in polishing, teams that specialize only in quality inspection, and so on and so forth.... and if there are other stages you know better than I do, then assign teams that specialize only in those as well!" Vaelor said in an irritated tone and continued...

"Break your work down into parts instead of piling it all together — this way you’ll need less experience, fewer resources, and you’ll come out with higher quality and doubled output!"

The elves looked at each other anxiously once more, and the young man spoke up. "My Liege, we’ve actually thought of this before, but this method requires a large number of workers and specialists, and as the Master Blacksmith said, we’re already facing a shortage of manpower."

"If that’s your problem, then you have no need to worry about it — the manpower shortage will be resolved soon, in less than a week, and you’ll need to open new factories to keep up with the growing number of workers. In the coming days, I want you to focus on building a standardized system for this new way of working!" Vaelor looked at both the old man and the young man and concluded his words. "Is there any other problem you’re finding difficult to solve, or are you too proud to consult with one another and solve it together instead of fighting amongst yourselves to force your own method through!"

"No, my Liege, you have blessed us with your grace, wisdom, and knowledge, and we have no grounds to ask for more. We’re sorry if we’ve wronged you or the image we’ve built for ourselves in your eyes!"

The old man and the young man bowed at once, and soon the rest of the elves followed suit.

"Good. I hope you’ll always be like this — this kingdom won’t build itself, and it certainly won’t be built through infighting. Only through consultation and the exchange of ideas together will there be a path toward greater development and progress. Don’t let your differences make you forget your fundamental goal!" After saying this, Vaelor rose from his throne, and the throne promptly vanished!

"As you command, my Liege!" All the elves knelt the moment Vaelor rose from the throne, watching him as he departed alongside Supervisor Jaco and General Ayat.

***

"Jaco, how are things progressing with the catalyst’s production phases!" Vaelor turned slightly and glanced toward Jaco from the corner of his eye.

"Things are progressing well, my Liege. We’ve already allocated the space and selected the most capable people to oversee its production, and the production line will begin very soon!" Jaco explained matters hastily, quickly displaying the data on the metal tablet and presenting it to Vaelor.

"Good. Once the armies return, the number of production lines dedicated to the catalyst needs to increase — I’ll leave this matter in your hands," Vaelor nodded upon seeing the results and gave Jaco the rest of his instructions.

"Understood, my Liege."