With the loom's construction diagram in hand, the biggest problem came—who to entrust with the task of making it?

Lex himself knew nothing about carpentry; at best, he could hammer nails into wooden boards, but otherwise, he was rubbish at it.

Instead, the housekeeper gave him some advice: "Dwarves have more strength than gnomes and are smarter than trolls, so they can do delicate work."

So Lex decided to form a carpentry team.

The housekeeper told him that the craftsmen only worked for the Holy Court, and although their status was low, they would never dare to work secretly without the Holy Court's knowledge.

When the nobles needed craftsmen, they had to apply to the Holy Court, which would then send the craftsmen down.

Instead of looking for carpenters from outside, it was better to train them yourself.

The biggest problem was that they didn't have the tools.

Carpenters need saws and planers that are simply impossible to buy. It seems that the carpenters here don't use saws and planers either, but if they make them themselves, they can't buy iron. Iron is a very precious metal that is basically only used to make weapons.

Elijah and Alex have swords, which are more symbolic than practical for combat, because the forging process is very poor, so they break very easily.

Elijah told Lex, "Swords often break during battle! But if ours break, so will the enemy's."

When the sword breaks, you can only rely on your fists.

Lex knows this, because he once watched a program on CCTV during dinner comparing Chinese and Western forging techniques. The bronze swords unearthed in China during the Bronze Age were forged using techniques that were far more advanced than those used in medieval Europe.

For a long time, swords in the West maintained an almost "primitive" level of craftsmanship. The swords were made of raw iron and would break with just a little force.

It was common for weapons to break during battle, and it was not unusual to pick up the broken part and continue the attack.

"Where can I get iron?" Lex could only turn to the butler for help.

Butler: "The merchants might have some!"

"But you and I can't go!" The butler was very serious, "The merchants are all cunning. We have to prevent them from reporting to the Holy Court. Your safety is more important than anything else. I am your butler. The merchants will associate you with me, and I can't go either."

Lex and the butler carefully analyzed the situation and both felt that they could not let the two knights go either. They could not even let the knights know their plan.

The knights trained by the monastery were ostensibly loyal to Lex, but their real "master" was still the monastery.

The slaves could not go either, as their slave temperament was too obvious and they could not deal with the cunning merchants at all.

So after much discussion, Lex shamelessly sought Alwin's help.

"Buying iron from a merchant?" Alwin sat by the bed. He looked very relaxed. Apart from Lex, who occasionally came to talk to him, he was completely free here.

Lex looked at him, his eyes begging, 'Neither the steward nor I can go out there, so we can only turn to you.'

Alwin's eyebrows rose slightly. 'What's in it for me?'

Lex: '...money?'

Alwin shook his head.

Lex asked again, "What do you want then? As long as I can afford it, but as you know, I'm quite poor, and there's not much of value here."

The most valuable thing in this castle is the book made of basic parchment.

But Lex doesn't think Alwin will like it, because it's either the dogma of the Holy Court or a bunch of boring rules.

Alwin looked at Lex's nervous expression and suddenly laughed. His voice was gentle and full of magnetism: "Just kidding, just consider it my rent, a reward for living here all the time."

"You're such a good person!" Lex gave Alwin a good person card without hesitation.

Alwin's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze deep, but he didn't say anything.

The next day, Alwin boarded a horse-drawn carriage and headed to the town. The carriage driver was a submissive man who was honest and a bit clever. For example, he never showed curiosity about anything, and whenever anyone asked him anything, he would just say, "I don't know," "I didn't notice," or "I'm sorry.

The carriage driver looked at Lex with lingering affection. His gaze seemed to say that even if Lex told him to go to hell, he would choose death without blinking an eye.

Lex felt his hair stand on end at the look in his eyes.

Lex gave Alwin a considerable sum of money.

The currency here consisted of gold coins, silver coins and copper coins, with one thousand copper coins equal to one silver coin and one hundred silver coins equal to one gold coin.

The coins in circulation were basically copper coins, and gold coins were very rare, only used by the aristocracy.

Lex told Alwin to take a bag of gold coins with him, containing more than twenty, which was enough to buy a considerable amount of pig iron.

Before leaving, Alwin asked Lex, "Aren't you afraid that I'll just take the money and leave?"

Lex was sure: "You won't."

Alwin laughed: "Why?"

Did he seem like a man of high character?

Lex said seriously again: "You're a good person."

Alwin sat in the carriage, staring at Lex fixedly, and finally laughed: "Okay, I'll be back as soon as I can, my lord."

Lex's face turned a little red.

Although the butler, the knight and the servants all called him "my lord," for some reason Lex felt a sense of shame when Alwin called him that, as if he had been teased.

After Alwin left, Elijah did ask where he had gone.

Lex told him that he had gone to the town to buy supplies.

Elijah: "I hope he never comes back! Since he's been here, the master hasn't spoken to me much."

Alex, who was drinking the last of the wine they had brought with them, was in a bad mood too: "That's impossible. He's riding in the master's carriage, which is an important possession!"

Elijah rolled his eyes: "I hope he falls off a cliff while he's peeing."

Alex nodded in agreement.

"What's so sour?" Elijah asked, as soon as he opened the door, a sour smell hit his nose.

Alex also looked puzzled: "Did the wine go bad?"

They had just reached the hallway when they heard Lex's happy voice: "Excellent! Anna, you've done a great job!"

Anna, the cook's name, was flattered. She stood before Lex, head down, eyes looking at the ground, afraid to look Lex in the eye.

She was proud because she had fulfilled Lex's request.

But she was also confused—what was so good about the flour that she had made so sour?

Lex: "This is the dough."

Anna finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "My lord, does flour have seeds? Isn't it ground from wheat?"

Lex couldn't explain it clearly. There was no yeast here, so the bread baked was not at all soft and fragrant. Both the plain bread and the rye bread tasted dry and tasteless. He didn't know how to extract the yeast, so he had to use the method his mother used to make sourdough.

The sourdough made once could be used for a long time.

The best thing is that although the starter takes much longer to ferment than yeast powder, it can be made without any additives.

In these times of scarcity, old starter is a treasure.

It only needs flour and water, as well as a warm place. The first time, it needs to be fermented for 24 hours, then divided into two, and each part is re-hydrated and re-mixed with flour, and allowed to ferment for another 24 hours. Then the first part is repeated, and the third time it only needs to be fermented for 12 to 16 hours, and the process of dividing into two, re-hydrating and re-mixing with flour is repeated again, and finally fermented for another 12 to 16 hours.

The old yeast is ready.

He can finally eat normal buns or bread.

Lex instructs the cook to take some of the old yeast and mix it with the wheat flour, knead it until it is smooth, then cover it with a damp cloth and let it ferment. When it has doubled in size, knead it again to release the gas, then bake it.

Although the cook has made the old yeast herself, she feels that she has wasted the wheat flour because the old yeast has a sour taste.

But when she saw with her own eyes that the kneaded dough had doubled in size after waiting for a few hours, she was so surprised that she couldn't stop gaping!

Was this magic?

Food could actually multiply by itself!

After lifting the damp cloth, the cook fell to her knees in shock and muttered something.

"Thank you, Holy Spirit, and thank you, our heavenly Father, for generously providing us with food..."

Lex on the side: "...

Don't thank your father, thank me instead. No, thank the wisdom of the working people.

The cook got down on her knees, went to Lex's feet, and hugged his calves. She cried, "My lord, it is a miracle of the Holy Spirit! He has given us more food! His generosity and kindness shine down on us like the light of the Holy Spirit!"

The cook was beside herself, her tears dripping onto Lex's shoes as she went on and on thanking the Holy Spirit.

Lex couldn't do anything to correct the situation, so he just said, "Go bake the bread."

The cook cried for a while longer before getting up. She dried her tears and reverently picked up the bowl of well-mixed dough.

It was as if it wasn't a bowl of dough, but a bowl of miracles.

She had probably never treated this stuff so gently in her life. Under Lex's guidance, she kneaded the dough to release the gas, then put it in the oven, which was actually just a stove with a fire burning underneath and a lid that could be closed.

Without a stable temperature measurement, the bread was not baked very well. No milk or eggs were added, and there was not even any sugar.

Even though the taste was bland, compared to the previous bread that was hard as a rock after standing for a long time, this soft new bread finally made Lex less resistant to eating it.

That afternoon, Lex and the two knights, as well as the butler and the cook, ate the new bread that had been fermented.

The cook gratefully fell to the ground and bowed to Lex.

The butler pursed his lips and tried hard to appear calm, but his sparkling eyes betrayed his emotions.

However, the butler and the cook both refused to eat with Lex. To go with the unusual bread, the cook made a thick soup with even more spices.

—The taste was indescribable, and Lex didn't even take a sip.

The cut bread was already a little cold, but it didn't get hard, it was still soft. When you tear it open, you can see the honeycomb-like "wheat meat" inside. The texture is slightly inferior to modern bread, but the difference is not that great.

Lex finds it okay, but Elijah and Alex are squealing.

"This must be the food of the Holy Spirit!"

"It's delicious! It doesn't belong on earth!"

"My lord, it must be your noble character that has impressed the Holy Spirit! It is the Holy Spirit who has performed this miracle!"

"My lord, this is your glory!"

Lex: "Shut up and eat."

Elijah and Alex: "...

My lord is still so charming when he gets angry!