After Loran Hill and the other two arrived at the beach, they looked around and soon found Lettice and others in the seaside restaurant. They were eating cold drinks on the open-air balcony on the second floor.
Niya waved from above, and the three people below responded and walked over here.
"Want some ice cream?"
They turned around the dark wall and stairs, went up to the second floor, and saw Lettice speaking to them.
The restaurant has an excellent location, on a small hillside, overlooking most of the harbor. The spacious open-air balcony on the second floor is furnished with parasols and small tables. Rectangular wooden flower pots with low flowers and plants growing in them are placed around it, and a few round poles form a guardrail, which is quite poetic.
"Yes~" Lily especially likes sweets. She answered in a jump and then walked over briskly.
After the three of them sat down, several cups of ice cream decorated with cherries were soon brought up.
Feeling the warm and comfortable sea breeze and drinking ice-cold juice, several people began to chat and tell about what they had seen and heard today.
"I saw a lot of new things, some of which I really liked." Lily said so, and Bumansha and Niya also agreed.
"Of course, these are all huge changes brought about by technological innovation." Lettice said with a little pride. As a descendant of a wizard born in Lurna, she was naturally very proud of this.
"It's indeed more comfortable," Aliena agreed, but she didn't envy Lurna's new invention, because the Southern Islands under the Hinayue Council were also well developed. Both had their own merits.
"What does Loran think?" Bumansa looked at the girl who was quietly drinking juice.
"Me?" Loran Hill had experienced similar things in her previous life, so she was naturally not greatly shocked. She just felt that current technology was not developing fast enough.
Lurna, or the Land of Oz, had already reached a very high level of mechanical, power and other technologies over the past few hundred years, but it did not spread as quickly as in the previous life. Instead, the progress slowed down.
She was just thinking about the reason for this. After all, this world is different from her previous life.
"It feels very good, but why hasn't it been popularized on a large scale? This is Yubere. Although it is good in all aspects, other small places are still the same." Loran Hill replied.
"Maybe because we can't afford it." Niya said with emotion, good things are always expensive.
"It's a bit expensive, but the cost is there," said Lettice, raising her finger.
“The purchase of raw materials, refining, processing, etc. all cost money and money.”
"Which links have the highest costs and expenditures?" Loran Hill asked with great interest. She wanted to know the opinions of everyone in the world. It just so happened that several of her companions came from all over the world.
"First of all, let's talk about the materials." Lettice felt deeply about this point, as she herself came from the Lurna alchemy faction.
"Metal ores are mined in various countries and then transported. Every time they change hands and pass through a noble checkpoint, we have to pay a fee. Finally, when we buy them from merchants, the price is very difficult to lower."
"Manpower is also a factor." Alena talked about her own experience. She came from the Southern Islands, where the population has always been sparse.
"Many people need to farm, fish, do odd jobs, etc., so there are not many local people to recruit for work."
"Then let people from outside come." Lily asked simply and directly.
"People from outside the area have to pay more to come here, otherwise they might as well stay at home. Moreover, the local food supply may not be enough to support the influx of outsiders, so we have to import food, which makes the price even higher."
"Oh, I see." Lily was a little disappointed.
"All in all, the profit margin is not big enough." Loran Hill thought thoughtfully.
The high cost of materials and labor reduces the profit margin of goods, making it difficult to keep prices low. Only a small number of people can afford them, so the market cannot expand.
The market is small, and the overall profit ceiling is not high. This has led to the fact that related technologies and products have not expanded explosively, but have progressed slowly.
"But it's better now." Lettice held the cup, looked at the busy port, and spoke.
"After the merger of Luerna and Virga, the resources, land, population, and market have all expanded. It's not as difficult as before."
"If the Frost Rose continues to expand and merge the resources of the seven countries of Xuehua, it should be able to break through the previous restrictions." Alena said with a sigh.
"Without the previous layers of restrictions set up by local nobles, the import price of raw materials can be reduced. In addition, with the increase in population mobility, labor costs can also be reduced." Loran Hill added.
"Yeah, that's it. Isn't it amazing?" Lettice said cheerfully.
"But what I, Aliena, love most is to shatter the illusions of you alchemists." Aliena raised her finger.
"?" Lettice looked at Alena with some confusion.
"Our Hinata sect is not bad either. If we do it, the effect will definitely be good. It's hard to say which side will win in the future." Alena waved her finger.
"Okay, okay, you two should stop arguing."
Bumansha came out to smooth things over. Although Alena and Letty had been roommates for more than a year, they were like enemies and had different ideas about each other.
After sitting for a while on the second floor of the restaurant, they returned to their residence, and Alena and the other two took back the musical instruments they had bought for each other.
At the dinner table, the two continued their previous argument.
"It's easy to cool down, preserve food, or make ice cream using alchemical tools." Lettice talked about the advantages of alchemy.
"That's not difficult. We have a kind of conch in the Southern Islands. After being modified, it has a natural inscription. Just add a little magic crystal, and it can also release cold air. And it's made without metal, so it won't break easily."
"But the output is not high, and the cycle is long."
"The output is not low. Some islands have shallow sea areas that specialize in cultivating this kind of conch. With just a few mages to maintain it, we can produce thousands of them a year. Your production model requires more metal and mages." Alena retorted.
"What about magic motorcycles, or even airships? You won't be able to popularize them." Lettice once again brought up the advantages of her own school.
"Well, although vehicles are not suitable, our special beasts of burden are more adaptable to various road conditions and can travel everywhere without the need for road construction," Alena continued.
...
Loran Hill listened quietly to the argument between the two, feeling a wave of novelty, and at the same time slowly sorted out the characteristics and advantages of the two factions.
The alchemy school undoubtedly has some overlaps with the industrial machinery of the previous life. It does have advantages in heavy industry, large machinery, unified standards, and production capacity.
However, the Hinayue School also has many advantages in biology, pharmaceuticals, coping with various environments, being small and flexible, and having low material requirements.
It would be great if we could combine the strengths of both factions. Unfortunately, it seems that this is still a bit difficult.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com