When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

#716 - The invention fever of the Holy See

“Sorry, I was distracted.” Rafael said to Leonardo with a hint of apology, turning his gaze away from the commotion across the river.

Leonardo waved his hand dismissively: “It’s only natural.”

Rafael and Leonardo sat on either side of a round table with a hollowed-out center, in front of a smokeless charcoal brazier.

A kettle was placed on the brazier, bubbling with greasy bubbles that only subsided when Rafael added cold milk and sugar cubes.

They were currently located on the north bank of the Pala River in winter, opposite Market Street.

Unlike the noisy market on the south bank, this side was lined with simple bookstores, apothecaries, paper and ink shops, bakeries, and cafes.

The walls, made of brick and mortar, were plastered with pale yellow or off-white paint.

At the corners, one could see protruding eaves, adorned with small angels or griffins, and weather vanes in the shape of iron roosters on the rooftops.

Wooden signs hung from iron chains, clearly engraved with a triple tiara and the name “Pope’s Cafe”.

Whenever the cold wind blew the sign back and forth, it seemed to beckon passersby to come in for a cup of hot coffee.

Due to Hoen and Melia’s widespread prohibition policy, serving alcohol with breakfast was forbidden, public drinking was banned, and heavy taxes were levied on alcohol.

People generally needed a new drink and snack to replace alcohol, and blue pulp coffee came into vogue.

In rural areas, alcohol remained the primary consumer product.

But in cities with strict alcohol bans, Pope’s Cafe had sprung up in every nook and cranny, especially on the north bank of the Pala River.

Scholars always sought a “respectable” alternative to the common and vulgar masses, and besides, drunkenness was not conducive to academic pursuits.

Thus, after the Guardsmen and Hoen brought back blue pulp coffee, it quickly gained favor among scholars.

Cafes became a place for university students and scholars to gather and relax.

During the day, one could see scholars and monks discussing current affairs with newspapers in hand.

Every night or weekend, a group of university students would flood in to debate, write, or play cards.

At this time, although it was a cafe, the owner would still offer some low-alcohol beer and marinated snacks.

But now it was daytime, and the round tables behind the blinds were naturally occupied by respectable people like Leonardo and Rene.

Taking a sip of the blue pulp coffee, Rafael smiled wryly: “These students and inventors are a bit too noisy. Since last year, the constables and night watchmen have had to deal with their vandalism every day.”

“Hahaha, that’s a necessary cost.” As a mechanical engineer, Leonardo naturally sided with his own, “Otherwise, where would new machines come from?”

“But couldn’t they experiment in the wild?” Rafael sighed, looking at the various traces of destruction left by the university students on the street.

He had seen enough of it these days, what with foot-powered scooters, gliders, scythe chariots, spiral drilling machines, ornithopters…

No matter what strange and bizarre ideas popped up, they all came out.

Putting aside whether they were useful or not, it was true that many people had died from falls, collisions, or explosions.

Since those universities and research institutes were established, the north bank of the Pala River had been constantly lively.

Especially after the 《Charter of Freedom》, a large number of engineers, craftsmen, and scholars dissatisfied with the Empire began to move to Thousand River Valley.

And after the Battle of Black Serpent Bay, the Black Serpent Bay Federation sent a large number of battle mages to military academies and a large number of research mages to Dragon Language Alchemy University.

After receiving a large amount of compensation from the nobles of the Lilac Corridor and a large amount of cash from the nobles of Red Leaf Hill who invested in sugar mills, Hoen immediately waved his hand and allocated a large amount of funds to these research institutions.

Any university tutor, especially those in mechanics, natural sciences, or alchemy, could easily apply for a large amount of funding and resources.

Leonardo dared to say that Saint Machine Court was the city in the entire empire that respected scholars the most.

Hoen even came up with an invention bounty, listing the required inventions and requirements and setting several milestones.

Such as being usable, having economic value, being able to be mass-produced, and other indicators.

Anyone who could invent them would not only receive a considerable reward but also a lifetime allowance.

The rewards basically started at one hundred gold pounds, and depending on the scope of application and economic benefits, the lifetime allowance could reach 10 to 40 gold pounds per year.

Even if it only reached the level of being usable, one could receive an encouragement bonus of a dozen gold pounds.

This led to a large number of folk inventors and countless 《Concise Mechanics》 and 《Concise Alchemy》 pamphlets.

Then, every day, these “monsters” made of iron plates, rivets, wood, chains, belts, and gears appeared on the streets.

The residents were tired of it and repeatedly complained to the city hall, which put pressure on the night watchmen and constables.

As the head of the constables, Rafael really didn’t want to deal with this mess.

“It’s too troublesome to run to the wild every day. Besides, isn’t this place the wild compared to the main urban area?” Leonardo spread his hands.

“But those things, it’s not that they’re useless, it’s that they’re really useless.” Rafael couldn’t help but complain, “The last so-called treadmill for constables to run on had no brake in the mainspring compartment, and there was a locked fence outside.

You couldn’t get out until the mainspring was released. One of my subordinates ran on it once and didn’t come to work for three days.”

Leonardo laughed awkwardly: “Didn’t you keep that quick hair-cutting machine? That means it’s still a bit useful.”

“No, the Cheka took that one away to use as a torture device.”

“But that still counts as useful.” Leonardo’s tongue stiffened, and he quickly made up for it, “There’s also the horse-drawn seeder, the double-roller sugar cane press, oh, oh, oh, and the thresher.”

“Forget it, let’s not talk about it. As long as they don’t cause trouble on the south bank.” Rafael picked up his notebook, “Let’s get back to the topic. Think carefully, is there any new clue, like what color their eyes were?”

“It was dark, if I could see clearly, would I need you to remind me?” Leonardo shook his head with a wry smile, “Anyway, he was a short guy. He jumped out the window and ran when he saw me.

Damn it, the place where I live is more than ten meters above the ground.”

“Did he have a target for stealing the drawings? Which drawings did he take?” Rafael continued to take notes.

Leonardo was a little helpless: “I’ve said these things to the night watchmen more than once. Just go get their records.”

“I’m wondering if you have any new details.” Rafael dipped his quill in ink, “Some drawings of hand-cranked calculators and some drafts of perpetual motion machines… The demon hunters are getting more and more rampant.”

“They’re not drafts, okay? I haven’t given up yet.” Leonardo immediately clarified, “Maybe they came for my perpetual motion machine.”

“Oh, really?” Rafael opened his mouth without any emotion, reciting like a textbook, “That’s really terrible.”

“Mainly that hand-cranked calculator is used for complex astrological calculations and mathematics. What do they need this for?”

“I don’t know. Considering that Haimoting also suffered theft and attacks at the same time, they are probably after the clockwork cannon.”

“The clockwork cannon is no longer my responsibility. Can I leave?” Leonardo rubbed his hands impatiently.

Frowning, Rafael flipped through the notes in his hand back and forth, thought for a moment, and then stood up: “You can leave. Thank you for your cooperation.”