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Volume 4 Chapter 16-2: Blast Furnace

「Are you inquiring whether I have any doubts about whether the contents of that envelope have genuinely circulated to foreign countries?」

「Yes.」

「I hold the belief that you wouldn’t lie in this instance. You’re not one to act so recklessly.」

We have been gathering fragmentary information through spies who had infiltrated Bell Erucy. Although they didn’t provide detailed information, we received hints suggesting that the Choline Kingdom would initiate diplomatic relations with Erucy.

「Thank you. I’m glad you said that. Also, you can drop the formal language. I consider us equals. If you continue with that tone, I’ll have to respond in kind.」

「My apologies. I’ll speak in a more casual tone from now on.」

It’s more relaxing for me like that too.

「Jii, bring the celebratory gift.」

「Understood, Ojou-sama.」

Jii brought several wooden boxes from the carriage and opened one right there, to display its contents to me. Inside, I was greeted by brilliant and mesmerizing blue porcelain. Despite its striking appearance, there was also a certain calming quality to it. At first glance, it was evident that this was a masterpiece. A single piece of this porcelain could be worth an entire castle.

「Though it may be a common gift, these are married couple teacups. I got four because you have two brides, and your sister needs one too.」

「Thank you. I’ll cherish them.」

「Huh? Are you really going to use them? Shouldn’t you keep them safe?」

「Jii, tools have meaning when they’re used. Even works of art.」

I agree with that sentiment. Tools shine when they’re put to use.

「We’ll hold the wedding during lunchtime. Since we have some time before the ceremony, would you like to visit the experimental workshop I’ve set up? I assume you’d prefer to see the ironworking process firsthand, right?」

「I’ll take you up on that offer… By the way, did you really build a workshop just for the demonstration?」

「Normally, I use magic to create things, so I was uneasy about handing over plans without testing.」

Kuiro the dwarf, had complete control over earth and minerals. He could make any ceramic or metal item with the correct blueprints by using earth and fire magic.

「… Hey, Cyril-san, instead of going through the trouble of handing over plans, couldn’t you just create a workshop with your abilities in Erin?」

「If having one workshop forever is okay with you, then sure, I’ll do that. It would save me the trouble of teaching for three days as well.」

I said that, but I didn’t want to use [Samsara Recursion] in enemy territory. It consumed most of my mana, and with the limitation of once every twelve hours, calling Kuiro and then being attacked by Jii would likely result in my death. It’s always good to have a backup plan.

「That’s true, it was a silly question. Having the knowledge to create as many workshops as you want is more valuable than having just one.」

「I’m glad you understand.」

「… But, for now, it would be nice to have at least one sooner rather than later.」

「If you promise to permanently abolish the tariffs, I’ll consider it.」

I presented a condition to Azul that would make her give up.

「Too bad, I should have set these conditions from the beginning.」

Azul raised both hands and laughed, giving up.

After that, I led them to the blast furnace I had built next to the old workshop I used as a storeroom and demonstrated iron smelting using iron ore and limestone.

The furnace was primarily made of refractory bricks, with a tall chimney. I showed them the process of creating a sword by pouring molten iron into a mold. It was a simple process of melting iron ore, removing impurities, and pouring the molten iron into the mold.

It didn’t take much time, as all you had to do was light a fire and put the lime and iron ore into the furnace.

I used coal as fuel since it was available in this era and was available in Erin as well. I had Roleau buy it when he went to buy food supplies for the siege.

It was possible to use wood charcoal, but it was highly inefficient, and there was a risk of creating extended deforestation like in the Empire.

「You can get an iron sword so easily.」

「Ojou-sama it’s incredible, even making a copper sword involves more complicated steps.」

「I wonder how much ingenuity has been put into this furnace to make it so easy.」

「You can understand that by reading the documents.」

「But we need coal for this. It’s quite expensive. And this black smoke, Erin might get dirty because of the soot, and it seems poisonous. Can’t we use something like wood charcoal?」

「It’s possible, but it’s more cost-effective to send someone to mine coal, and with wood, you would need too much, and the good mountains near Erin would quickly be deforested.」

「I see, not everything can go as planned. Is there any affordable fuel option that doesn’t produce soot and keeps Erin clean?」

「There’s no way something like that exists. I recommend building the workshop on the outskirts of Erin.」

This furnace was designed to minimize the emission of smoke and dust as much as possible.

However, there were limits. Achieving completely pollution-free ironworking without magic was impossible. You either burned coal and scattered black dust or cut down a large amount of wood.

「Cyril-niisama, Kurao-sama is calling for you to get dressed.」

Yukino the silver fox appeared. She was wearing the maid outfit I had designed as usual but had added a cute hair ornament. She was probably dressing up for my wedding.

「Yukino, thanks for coming to get me. I’ll be there in a little while.」

「Yeah, hurry up.」

Yukino stood beside me and tugged at my sleeve. Almost unconsciously, I stroked her head, and she wagged her tail, narrowing her eyes.

「Cyril-san, I know your cute little sister came to get you, but can you demonstrate one more time?」

「I don’t mind, but unfortunately, we’ve run out of coal… We’ll have to use wood charcoal instead. It will take more time, though, is that okay?」

「Yes, that’s fine.」

「In that case, I’ll go get some wood charcoal. Please wait a moment.」

I left the area for a moment.