The roads of Chaos City reached everywhere and there were also many large and small alleys.
However, compared to other cities, Chaos City, which had been built from nothing a century ago, was still a rather new city. Therefore, the city planning and road conditions were a lot better than the other large cities in the Norland Continent.
However, Chaos City was a city with a large area. The horse-drawn carriages that could be found anywhere had brought people much convenience but ordinary people would mostly be unable to bear to spend money on the costly fees.
Owning a horse in Chaos City, other than the large sum to pay when buying a horse, would also require the horse-owner to build a stable for it and to feed it with hay every day. This was a very high cost and not everyone could afford it.
A bicycle was different. Other than the cost of the bicycle itself and the wear-and-tear that would come with time, there were basically no other expenses.
One would not need to feed it with hay or consider its feelings. You could just ride it whenever you wanted to.
When you don’t need it, you can leave it in storage and take it out again a few years later to ride it.
Would you even try throwing a horse in the stables for a month?
If the bicycle could be produced in sufficient amounts so that its cost could be brought down to an acceptable range, it would bring about more convenience to many once it became widely used.
Hydle was a scientist in pragmatism. Therefore, when he saw the bicycle, what he thought of was how it could be applied widely to bring about convenience to ordinary people.
Mag admired such pragmatic thoughts. Technology could change lives and that is the value of scientists.
“Yes. I also think that this is a mode of transport worth launching,” Mag said with a smile. He motioned for Hydle to sit at a side and made a pot of tea before sitting in front of him.
“Mr. Mag, do you have that intention too? To produce this vehicle in large quantities?” Hydle looked at Mag expectantly.
“I might do so in the future but I do not have the time or mental capacity to follow up on it right now. You know it. Inventing something and producing it in large amounts are two very different things.” Mag poured Hydle a cup of tea.
Hydle was slightly stunned and then smiled. He nodded in agreement and said, “They are two very different things.”
As the vice-principal of the machinery college, Hydle had also participated in numerous production projects and that was indeed something that took up a lot of time and effort.
That two-wheeled vehicle might not look complicated and did not involve any complex power conversions but the tens to hundreds of parts on it would result in a very big project to have them individually produced in standard sizes.
Not only would it take up a lot of effort, but it would also take up a lot of time.
“However, I can consider passing the production of bicycles to the teachers of the machinery college to research.” Mag’s eyes lit up.
He actually had the thought of producing the bicycle but he was just too lazy to do anything about it. Now that the team for Hope School’s machinery college was established, it would be a waste to not make use of them.
“Our machinery college…” Hydle spouted and quickly realized that the machinery college Mag was referring to was not the Chaos School’s Machinery College but the newly-established Hope School’s Machinery College. He suddenly had mixed feelings.
When he heard that Mag had established the machinery college today, and was even intending to be deeply involved, Hydle wanted to sound Mag out to see what kind of role he was intending to take on in this completely new machinery college, as well as its development goals.
Now it seemed like Mag’s role should be something like the director and now, he had added a huge project to the team.
Producing the bicycle in large quantities would be a project that could impact the lives of many upon its success.
To be honest, he was a little sour.
Mag could tell what Hydle was thinking and found it a little funny. However, he did not expose Hydle and instead, took a sip of tea and said, “What do you have for me?”
“Oh, it’s like this. I have been taking note of the progress of Hope School’s establishment. Previously, I had discussed setting up a machinery college with Luna and it was put aside, as teachers were difficult to hire.
“I didn’t expect Mr. Mag to be able to pull a team together when the school was almost opening and establish the machinery college. Therefore, I wanted to have a chat with you to see if there is anything I can help you with,” Hydle said.
Mag nodded seriously and said, “I do have something I need your help with.”
“Please speak.”
“Actually, I got this team from Miss Scheer. They were in charge of the steam train project and are rather talented young people who can learn quickly. They do have potential.
“However, they had not received any educational training and were last-minute hires. Therefore, it is a difficult thing for them to impart this professional training to the children.
“Luna is getting them to listen to the other teachers and also to undergo teachers’ training but I think the fastest way for them to improve is to receive tips from professional and experienced teachers.
Therefore, I was thinking of getting them to listen in to classes at Chaos School’s Machinery College when school reopens so that they could learn quickly how to become a qualified teacher,” Mag told Hydle sincerely.
Hydle was rather surprised. To him, talents like Mag would usually be proud and work alone. He did not expect him to get the teachers to learn from Chaos School.
Mag might be a talent in machinery but he was not a teacher. He could not accept a team put together at the last minute to support an entire college and to even teach students.
He was worried that the teachers would not be professional enough and that was also the reason for Hydle’s visit today.
“I am unable to make the decision on this but I am very supportive of the idea. I will discuss it with the principal when I return later and see if we could find a way to strengthen the exchange and communication between both colleges.” Hydle nodded with a smile. “Don’t worry, even if the principal is not agreeable, I still have some experience I can contribute to this group of young people.”
“Thank you so much.” Mag picked up his tea and drank a toast to Hydle.
“We should do what we can to help the children.” Hydle took a sip of tea and said with a smile, “But I would also like Mr. Mag to give the teachers in our college a lesson. The steam train is already running on the railway joining Chaos City and Vic Mountain. I heard that the railway to the Dwarves’ is also under construction. The teachers would like to hear your story on the steam train as its designer.”
“Erm…” Mag fell silent. Mag would still feel rather awkward speaking in public to a group of people.
However, Hydle had just promised to help train the teachers so Mag could not bring himself to reject him and could only accept the request with a nod.
