Mysterious: The Innate Sacred Body of Destiny

Chapter 391 The Secrets of the Steam Church and the Steward

Lorne's main reason for wanting to cooperate with the "Church of the God of Steam and Machinery" was for his own soda factory.

Although the man they "found" in Tingen, Willer Owens, was quite capable, and his prototype bottle-making machine showed great potential, the help from the Steam Church would undoubtedly make the process much smoother, from equipment improvements and production line setup to subsequent maintenance.

They can certainly solve some of the problems related to precision mechanical transmission and high-pressure vessel manufacturing with ease.

Unlike other industrial products that already have mature markets, industrially mass-produced soft drinks are still a novelty in the world, or even a blank slate.

Moreover, unlike firearms, which are subject to strict regulations, beverages, as civilian consumer goods, do not face many policy restrictions or complex political maneuvering.

Lorne wanted to replicate his previous life's experience with the Coca-Cola sales floor.

This requires enormous production capacity and an extensive sales network.

If we want to sell our soft drinks all over the world in the future, and not just in the Kingdom of Rune, then having a suitable cross-border partner is very important.

After all, Ruen is currently experiencing friction with countries such as Fusak and Intis.

Lorne felt that the Steam Church would be a good partner.

The reason is that the Steam Church has the most unique stance among the seven major orthodox churches. Although it has a certain bias in its actual political stance, at least on the surface, its relationship with the other six churches is acceptable, without the deep-seated hatred and irreconcilable enmity between the "War God Church" and the "Night Church", the "Storm Church" and the "Eternal Sun Church" and the "Knowledge Church".

Not only in Loen, but also in Intis and even Fussac, there are many believers and churches there. If they could help promote it, Loen believed that his soda sales would be much smoother, and he could even use it to open up the international market.

However, this might have some impact on his reputation—after all, he publicly claims to be a devout follower of the "Goddess of the Night."

But to be honest, Lorne didn't care too much. First of all, Lorne Disenke was a believer in steam.

Secondly, he is currently caught in the middle between the Conservative Party and the New Party, putting him in an awkward position. So, a few harmless negative news stories about "business cooperation" wouldn't be a big deal; on the contrary, they would make him seem like a pure businessman.

Of course, these are just Lorne's ideas for now. The specific operations will have to wait until later. Lorne plans to first set up the framework of the soda factory and produce finished products before taking the physical samples to the "Steam Church" to discuss cooperation. This way, he will have more confidence.

I just casually asked Sherlock today, but I didn't expect that he actually had a connection with the "Steam Church".

Moreover, judging from the other party's hesitant manner and even somewhat fearful expression—could it be that the people of the "Steam Church" have some unknown and terrifying secrets?

Two more days passed.

Lorne has been dealing with the backlog of business at the factory.

Thanks to the investment and connections of the Negan family, he successfully secured a small arms order from the military, and now he needs to speed up production to avoid any disruptions.

Meanwhile, the design drawings for his new pistol and grenade were completed, and prototypes needed to be manufactured for testing and improvement. This allowed him to experience the feeling of being extremely busy, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

Because he often had to travel between several factories and inspect construction sites, he no longer bothered to hide his identity. He simply instructed the heads of each factory to keep a low profile and not to speak carelessly.

However, this inevitably led to word getting out that James Scott had returned from his inspection.

Fortunately, he didn't sense any uneasy gazes around him for the time being.

9 Canallowell Street, Joewood District.

Metropolitan Association for Helping Family Servants.

"As expected of Backlund, they have everything—"

Looking at the exquisite signboard in front of him, Lorne, dressed in a well-fitting suit and wearing a half-high silk hat, couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The renovation of his luxurious villa on Williams Street is almost complete. Now it's time to hire an experienced butler and have him organize a staff befitting a garden villa to get the empty house running.

It's a pity that Maric didn't want to come. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so much trouble.

Even now, Lorne remains interested in the idea of ​​a "zombie mercenary group".

He carried a silver-inlaid cane, pushed open the association's door, and walked straight to the reception desk, greeting a female receptionist who was organizing documents.

"Hello, ma'am."

The receptionist, Belin, looked up and saw a young man with a gentle smile and an extraordinary demeanor.

"James Scott?!" She covered her mouth in surprise, the famous figure from the newspaper was actually standing right in front of her.

"Shh—" Lorne made a shushing gesture, then lowered his voice and said with a smile, "Yes, it's me."

"Please don't make a fuss, thank you."

"Okay, okay! Mr. Scott, is there—is there anything I can help you with?" Belin hurriedly stood up, looking somewhat flustered.

"I want to hire a butler. A professional butler."

"Don't you have a housekeeper yet?" Belin asked, somewhat surprised.

"I was too busy with work before and lived in the factory, so I didn't pay much attention to this. Now that I've bought a new house, I have no choice but to do this —" Lorne gave a helpless smile.

James Scott is quite down-to-earth; no wonder he's the legendary "people's hero"—Belin thought to herself.

"Please wait a moment."

Belin led Lorne somewhat busily to the VIP reception area. However, Lorne seemed reluctant to be recognized.

They kindly led him into a quiet little room.

"What a gentleman! He's even more handsome in person than in the newspapers—wait, I think I forgot to ask him his specific requirements!" Belin suddenly snapped back to reality, a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Mr. Scott, I got too excited just now. May I ask what kind of butler you need?"

"Hmm—do you have a butler named Sebastian?" Lorne suddenly joked, but there was a hint of expectation in his tone.

In the anime he watched, two characters named Sebastian were synonymous with butlers.

"No." Belin thought seriously for a while, then shook her head regretfully. "There is no butler with that name on our current registration list."

"Alright." Lorne wasn't too disappointed and then formally stated his request.

"To understand aristocratic etiquette, it is best to have served a true aristocratic family."

For Lorne, this would help him better deal with the nobles he might frequently interact with, and also teach him some unspoken rules and social etiquette for getting along with nobles, so as to avoid offending people due to minor impoliteness.

"Hmm—okay." Belin nodded and wrote it down in her notebook.

"I thought this kind of butler would be rare," Lorne said curiously.

As far as he knew, most butlers in old aristocratic families were hereditary and deeply bound to their masters.

He was a butler, and his father and grandfather were likely also butlers in this aristocratic family. In fact, many butlers were trained from childhood to become butlers.

Therefore, noble families rarely changed their butlers unless they became too old to provide effective service. Moreover, even if they stopped being butlers, they could still hold other positions within the noble family and provide for their old age and funeral.

"It is indeed rare. But the financial crisis a while ago caused many small and medium-sized noble families to go bankrupt, or even if they didn't go bankrupt, they were severely weakened. They can no longer afford the high salaries of those senior butlers and a large number of servants, so—" Belin explained, her tone tinged with a sigh.

"That crisis again, its impact is truly profound"—Lorne nodded.

"I have a few additional requests."

Lorne leaned forward slightly and said earnestly, "This butler needs to be knowledgeable and have a lot of courage."