Wizard Lord of Westeros

Dreadfort Castle

POV of Domeric Bolton

"Are you not done yet?" Aunt Barbrey asked as he continued to carve runes in the Glasshouse that he had recently built inside Dreadfort with the use of transfiguration magic.

The sole purpose of the glasshouse was to act as an experimental lab for growing High Yeilding Variety Seeds that would increase the production of grain by a significant amount by the time he returned from his voyage.

With the help of the runes and the Heartwood tree that supplied it with constant magic, the Glasshouse would increase the growth of the wheat to the point where it turned from a seed into a crop ready for harvest within a single day.

After selecting the grain from the plant with the largest amount of yield, the grain would then be planted once again in the glass house the very next day.

Selected breeding in such a manner would see the quality of wheat rise by a significant amount within a short time.

In short, if he went on a 2-month voyage, then by the time he returned to Dreadfort, the Wheat in the glasshouse would have already gone through 60 cycles of selective breeding.

"Yes. That's the last one." He said as he finished the last stroke in the glass house with the magical ink that he had created from the Weirwood sap.

It was a far cry from the magical ink that he used in his past life which was made of dozens of carefully selected magical ingredients, but it did its job.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Aunt Barbrey asked, looking a bit worried.

"I'm sure. I know that this task might not sound very important, but I assure you that a Green Revolution is one of the greatest things that I'll bring to this world. After the printing press, steam engine, industrial revolution, and an education system of course." He said with a smile and his aunt simply rolled her eyes at his words as she didn't really understand what he meant by the last few words.

"So, I just need to follow your instructions and make sure that the glass house is provided with enough horse manure every day?" She asked with a bit of disgust, and he nodded.

"Yes. And if you don't understand something, then just contact me with the Mirror like I showed you last evening."

"Are you sure that the mirror will work from such large distances?" she asked, and he simply shrugged.

"In theory, it should. But I've never done this before so I can't say for sure." He said "Regardless. Your task is not that hard. Keep doing what I taught you and you'll be just fine."

"As you wish my lord." She said with a mock courtesy before pinching both his cheeks, something that both irritated and amused him to no end.

"Oh, by the way, there is one more thing I want you to take care of while I am away." He said.

"You will really work me to death, aren't you? What is it this time?"

"My notes in my solar. I'll give them to you after we arrive there." He said while walking toward his solar with his aunt. On the way they talked about small things like his training or what he should pay attention to on his journey.

After a while, they arrived at his solar. Domeric took out the key hanging around his neck, opened one of the locked drawers, took a transfigured notebook, and gave it to his aunt.

She didn't say anything and just began to read his notes. But after a while, her eyebrows started to file.

He could guess what was going through her mind.

"Are you serious? Why would we do something like this for small folks? This is not a small expense Domeric. This is going to cost a lot of gold for us."

He expected this reaction from her because that notebook was about the hygiene politics that he wanted to implement in his lands, including buildings such as public bathhouses and public toilets.

 "I know these will cost us a lot of gold. But it is necessary and must be done. Also, this project of mine is a long-term one. Changing the habits of people and creating new habits will take a lot of time. So, we must begin as soon as possible."

He knew very well that implementing this kind of daily life habit-changing policy couldn't be forced in a short time. So, he wanted to implement his policy as soon as possible.

People in this world don't pay attention to their hygiene and there are a lot of illnesses and early deaths because of that. When he creates a city around Dreadfort and a port town there will be more people who live in these lands and with time these places will be more crowded. That means a more rapid spread of diseases and the risk of plague. And that is a big no-no for him. These things must be done and done quickly.

His aunt looked into his eyes like she wanted to see what he was thinking in his mind. But in the end, she gave up and looked back to the notebook.

"Why do we have to build these public bathhouses and toilets in the new city and port town?" she asked after a while.

"Well… Simply, I want every small folk on my land to be clean and, I don't want people to pollute my land. After we implemented these policies if anyone pollutes my cities and towns with their piss and poop, they will be fined. Also, some facilities in the cities and ports will not accept dirty people till they clean themselves up. Don't look at me like that. Don't you also want small folk not to be smelly and dirty when they are around you?" He said. He knew that one of the reasons she didn't like small folk was because they were smelly and dirty.

"Hmph. And what about boiling water before drinking or cleaning wounds? And why do we have to wash our hands and rinse our mouths before and after eating something?"

"There are a lot of things we can't see in the water that make people sick. We need to kill them with heat. The same reason is also valid for washing hands and rinsing our mouths before eating. To the clean small things make people sick on our hands and in our mouths. As for washing our hands and rinsing our mouths after eating; if people rub their greasy hands through their hair, they can cause their hair to become infested with lice and if they don't rinse their mouth, their teeth might decay." Domeric explained as simply as he could to his aunt patiently.

"Really? Are there small things that make people sick in the water?" She asked with a bewildered face.

"Yes, there are."

"Haah… I will arrange builders for public bathhouses and toilets and implement this hygiene policy of yours. But what are these things you want me to buy and stockpile as discreetly as possible?" She asked while looking at the list of things that his nephew wanted to buy and stockpile. Things like animal fat, tea leaves, different kinds of oils, mint, and many more.

"Oh, these things for making soap, toothpaste, toothbrush and shampoo."

"Soap? Can we really make soaps? You know only lords, ladies, and some rich folk can be able to afford soap, right? And we have to buy them from the free cities across the narrow sea. I don't know about the other things you said but if we can make soap, we can become one of the wealthiest houses in all Westeros."

"Shampoo is for cleaning hair while toothpaste and toothbrush are for teeth. You will love them for sure. And don't worry we really can make soaps." He said that there were still unspoken things in his mind.

'I will make soaps, but I don't plan to sell them to rich people at high prices. I need them for my people, so they have to be cheap. Well, she didn't need to know that yet. Sometimes ignorance is bliss, right?'

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