"She's ashore now...... Roland said with interest, "I remember you saying that she hadn't been in contact with humans for a long time since she chose to be at sea. ”

"Thanks to the help of Her Highness Tilly and Lady Camilla," replied Margaery with a sigh, "without the ability to communicate directly with consciousness, I am afraid she would not have been able to adapt to normal life now." And Joan had completely forgotten how to speak, and Lord Thunder had found several bachelors for her, but none of them worked well, and now she could only speak a few words, not even a full conversation. ”

At this point, the businesswoman paused for a moment, as if she was a little about to say something.

"What's wrong?" Roland asked.

"I don't know if it's because of the long period of transformation, some parts of her have become different from humans," Margaery bit her lip, "From what I know of witches, they should be like normal people when they don't use magic. But Joan couldn't get back to her old self, her cheeks, neck, arms, and legs were covered in blue-blue scales, just like those ...... Sea ghosts are the same. ”

Roland immediately thought of Loga's long ears, hmm...... The scaly skin also seems to have a different style - ahem, no, now is not the time to think about this kind of problem, even the harmless ears of the third princess of Furious Flame can be feared by the sandmen, and Joan's situation is estimated to be worse.

"Someone maliciously slandered her?"

"We've tried to prevent it, but it's inevitable that someone will get the word out. Margaery sighed.

"If you want to teach her to readjust to human life, you can't avoid contact with others," Thunder's voice was quite helpless, "there are only a few people who can accept her appearance, even in the fjord—since taking her to the mansion, three maids and two bachelors have been scared away." There are even rumors outside that I have a sea ghost in the house, maybe the sea is more suitable for her. ”

"If my friend is disgusted with life on land, I will not let her stay on the island," the businesswoman continued, "and judging by the way Joan came into contact with the others, she did not hate the change." Although she still spends a few hours a week in the sea, she is happy to spend time with the maids who accept her, and she now prefers to eat it when it is cooked rather than raw fish. ”

However, such an environment is only limited to the Thunder Mansion - Roland understands what the other party means, but he can't think of any good way for a while. Changing perceptions is a long process, especially for Joan. Even her problems are more serious than ordinary witches, bestial, deformed, or inhuman appearance, for a long time in history, she belongs to the object of discrimination and exclusion.

"It's going to get better," he could only reassure, "can you let me see her up close?"

If the problem is really serious, then it can only be covered up first - for example, like Loga's ears, wearing a hat is basically the same as a normal person.

"Of course," said Margaery, beckoning in Joan's direction, "come to me, dear." ”

But the latter only stuck his head out to look at it, and then hid it back.

"Uh...... Your Majesty, I'm sorry, she may not be used to the scene of so many people," Margaery said, bowing embarrassedly.

"Looks like you scared her," the nightingale gloated in her ear.

Roland glared at the clearing beside him, coughed twice, and said, "It's okay, she's going to stay in Neverwinter for a while anyway, and she'll get used to it." Let's go to the dockyard first. ”

......

In order to build a steel sea ship, Roland deliberately carved out a vacant land of nearly 100 acres in the southwest corner of the shoal, and let Lian raise an earthen wall around it, forming a barrier to block the line of sight. Not only were there sentry posts in the four corners, but there were also First Army garrisons on the walls, so not many people knew what this ship, which had gathered the top industrial level of Neverwinter, was really like.

As the group walked through the earthen wall and down the Z-shaped staircase to the bottom of the dock, an irrepressible exclamation erupted in the group.

All were captivated by the behemoth unfolding in front of them.

This is definitely not an exaggeration.

The first thing you see when you look at the ship from below is its towering side – unlike the round three-masted sailboat, its freeboard is almost perpendicular to the ground, and its belly is so flat that there is no keel protruding from the hull. With a limited perspective, everyone seems to be standing under a towering steel wall, and the sense of oppression can be imagined.

"The three gods are above...... I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"How much can it weigh? I'm afraid it's more than 20,000 quintals. ”

"Even if it's the largest three-masted ship, it probably can't afford to hit it!"

"Not to mention the sailboat, I think the deep-sea monsters will be scared to run away when they see it!"

"Thunder...... No, Asuka-sama, you didn't say we were fiddling with such a monster!"

The procession was out of order, and the sailors rushed to the side of the ship, stroking and beating the hull, their excitement overflowing.

They are some of the most experienced operators in the fjord, and even if they haven't seen anything like it, they are aware of its specialty.

And the shock in Thunder's heart at this moment is not much less than that of others, or rather, it is even stronger.

Because Roland's letter had mentioned that the ship was made of steel from top to bottom, he thought it was an exaggeration at the time - after all, even a regular wooden ship would only use the best wood in key parts. Therefore, when he recruited his men, he only described the ship as a sailless ocean-going ship with a steel skeleton that could withstand the high waves of the sea.

But the facts in front of him told him that this was not the case.

Although he knew that Neverwinter was quite skilled in shipbuilding, he didn't expect it to be exaggerated to this extent. Not to mention how to put the hard steel together, the raw materials used in it alone are beyond the reach of the Fiordland Islands.

How valuable is steel?

Among all kinds of goods, iron ore is not a luxury, and a palm-sized pig iron ingot can sell for about thirty or forty silver wolves. But if it were forged into steel, the price would increase tenfold to tenfold, so much so that knights tended to treat their armor as an heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation.

What's more, this process is extremely time-consuming, and a blacksmith can only make seven or eight sets of qualified steel armor in his lifetime. In other words, even if all the blacksmiths of the whole fjord were gathered and it took decades of hard work, it would not be possible to make so much steel.

At first, what he ordered from Roland was just a steam paddle steamer, and according to the price heard by the Fjord Chamber of Commerce, it was only about three or four thousand gold dragons. Therefore, when the other party told him that only the cost would be charged, he did not pay much attention to it, because the value of a new route alone far exceeded the cost of the ship itself. Since the King of the Grey Keep wants information sharing, this deal cannot be said to be taking advantage of the other party.

Even after he completes the expedition of the sea line, he will pay all the expenses of the ship to Roland, if nothing else, as the other party's payment for taking care of his daughter, and only hope that Lightning can live better in Wudong in the future.

But at this moment, Thunder couldn't help but start to suspect that even if only the cost of materials was calculated, the price of this ship might be an astonishing figure.

He couldn't help but sweat for his money bag.