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Vol 01 Chapter 12: Charcoal

「Hey, will this really be useful?」

「It’s okay. Trust me.」

The kids, scattered ash on the field, their faces full of doubt.

In this region, a lot of rain falls in winter, and recently, the amount of rain has increased. Rain absorbs carbon dioxide from the air, lowering its pH and making it slightly acidic.

The field should have become slightly acidic after absorbing this rain. Wheat is weak against acidic soil, which is why we need to neutralize it by scattering ash, which is alkaline.

Some plants prefer acidic soil while others prefer alkaline soil, so we need to be careful about this.

This field is one and a half times larger than the area where we grew the turnips. There are various reasons for this, but the major one is that my physical abilities have increased. 

As I am right now, I can take care of it without a problem.

「Next is homemade fertilizer.」

I lifted a pot filled with fertilizer.

It’s made from cow and goat dung that we collected in one place instead of discarding it, and fermented with fallen leaves from the forest. It wasn’t ready in time for the turnips, but now it’s usable.

The kids initially couldn’t believe we were putting cow dung in the field, but I convinced them by explaining that the fruits we always eat grow in forest soil mixed with animal dung.

I considered using human feces, but I personally find it disgusting, and I’m afraid of parasites, so I discarded the idea. Parasites are just scary.

After adding fertilizer and ash, the next step is mixing it all up. We have to make sure it’s evenly distributed.

The cow, myself, and the children worked together to till the field. The work progressed quite quickly.

My strength and, more importantly, the cow’s power played a significant role. Our work efficiency might even be better than that of an ordinary farming village.

「Let’s stop it for today. We should finish up tomorrow or the day after.」

「Agreed! I’m tired. Let’s have dinner.」

「What’s for dinner today?」

「Same as always.」

「So, fruits again…」

「How does Griffon-sama gather so many fruits?」

The children started preparing dinner while chatting.

When I met them, the atmosphere was quite tense. Everyone was from different places, strangers to each other. Plus, many were in shock from being abandoned by their parents, just staring blankly.

Now, it’s a different story. Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

「Shall we go?」

Tetra tugged at my clothes.

「Yeah.」

I headed over to where everyone was.

… I wonder how many will leave my side next year if there’s no famine.

◇

「The difference between busy and idle times when farming is incredibly drastic, isn’t it?」

「Yeah…」

Several weeks have passed since we sowed the wheat seeds. When we weren’t tilling or harvesting, farming work mostly involved weeding and pest control.

Weeding wasn’t too much of a burden if done diligently every day. Even the smaller children could do it. Thanks to the pyrethrum extract, pests didn’t really bother us much anymore.

「By the way, I’ve noticed more people entering the forest recently.」

「It’s because winter is approaching. They’re feeding acorns to the pigs and gathering fruits while they can. The fact that people are entering the forest despite risking Griffon-sama’s wrath indicates a serious situation.」

Tetra spoke with a pensive expression.

「Will there be any abandoned children this winter?」

「Those who couldn’t afford to raise their children probably already abandoned them in the summer, but there are always those without foresight, so there will be some. However, if the next harvest continues to be bad, there will be a lot more.」

All we can do is hope for a good harvest.

Will Griffon help new arrivals? Probably not… Our case was more of a whim.

「Both King Domorgal and King Gilbed should focus on other things right now instead of waging war. It’s foolish to lose labor and magicians in this situation. Soldiers should return to farming, and magicians should be assigned to counter-curses.」

「Does magic have any abilities useful in war besides curses and counter-curses?」

「… You should ask that Julia girl.」

Tetra said sulkily.

She’s quite jealous.

「Tell me, please.」

「Then pat my head.」

「Here you go.」

I patted Tetra’s head, and she smiled happily.

「Okay, I’ll tell you. Do you know about magicians possessing animals?」

「Yeah, I know.」

「Then it’s easy. A magician can detach their soul and use it to possess eagles or dogs for enemy reconnaissance. Of course, the enemy will try to shoot down any animal in sight with bows and arrows. If the animal is shot while hosting the magician’s soul, it causes significant damage to the magician, and if the animal dies, the magician dies as well. The magicians can also create fire or wind and attack with it, but it requires dozens of people to use those spells.」

That’s impressive, especially for reconnaissance. Depending on how it’s used, it’s like an airplane. Imagine making a bird carry something like a bomb and drop it over an enemy army. It could become a bomber.

It’s not flashy but surprisingly useful.

「Hey, I’m thinking of inviting Julia to the village after autumn ends and winter begins. I want everyone to learn about magic. Is that okay?」

「… I won’t oppose Almus’ policy.」

Seems like she’s giving her consent. That’s great.

「By the way…」

「What?」

「Hasn’t it gotten colder recently?」

「…」

Tetra confirmed it with her silence.

The season is gradually approaching winter. From what I’ve seen, the winter cold in this region is no different from Japan’s. In other words, it’s pretty cold.

Everyone wears clothes made from animal fur that Griffon occasionally gives us, but we only have one piece each. It’s not enough to combat the cold.

「Looks like we’ll be spending more days inside during winter.」

I wish we had a warm fireplace. We need to prepare firewood while there’s still time. Ah… if we burn wood inside the house, we will be smoked like salmons. What should we do…

That’s it. We just need to make that.

「What’s wrong, Almus?」

「I’m going to chop some trees now.」

No time like the present.

◇

Charcoal has various advantages.

The major ones are its long burning time, stable heat output, and the fact that it doesn’t produce smoke.

Naturally, it has disadvantages too. In terms of pure firepower and heat efficiency, burning wood directly is better.

In fact, wood is the basic fuel for things like fireplaces.

So, I really want to use wood for warmth, but it produces smoke. A chimney would solve the problem, but the pit dwellings we are living in don’t have chimneys.

If we try to warm ourselves with wood inside the house, the smoke will be a problem.

Making charcoal it’s not that complicated. If you heat the wood in a place with little oxygen, it won’t burn but will turn into charcoal instead.

Heating in an oxygen-deprived environment. I remember we had a facility for that somewhere…

「So, let’s use the kiln.」

「Was that long introduction necessary?」

Quiet. I explained it to you, so be grateful.

「Anyway, if we make charcoal, we won’t have to worry about freezing or becoming smoked in the winter.」

I started packing the wood into the kiln. Air shouldn’t enter much, so I packed it as tightly as possible and filled the gaps with dry leaves.

「Now, let’s light it up.」

I ignited it with a torch. The wood inside began to burn.

「After a while, we’ll close the fire and smoke openings. Leave it for a day, and the charcoal will be ready.」

「Is it similar to making pottery?」

「Well, the need to be in a low-oxygen environment is the same.」

「Hey? What’s oxygen?」

Explaining what’s oxygen… I’m not confident I can explain it well…

「Oxygen is something needed to burn things. It’s part of the air. Without oxygen, things don’t burn.」

「Hmm, so it’s not the oxygen that burns?」

Damn, she’s asking the tricky questions. I studied humanities, so I don’t think I’m the best person to answer these scientific questions.

「Well, burning means that a substance called carbon, which is found in wood and our bodies, combines (reacts) with oxygen. So, it’s not oxygen burning, but oxygen causing the burning, I guess?」

「Hmm, I sort of get it.」

I’m getting confused myself. Was that even the right definition of burning? Is the reaction of iron with oxygen also considered burning? It’s not limited to carbon, right? What’s the difference between burning and combustion? General and chemical terms?

I remember a high school teacher saying that oxidation is not just the reaction of a substance with oxygen. Oxidation is also when a substance loses hydrogen, right? I think oxidation is when a substance loses electrons.

I’m getting confused here. The more I think, the less it makes sense. Why are there so many terms for the same thing?

I mean, in middle school, we learned that “oxidation is the combination of a substance with oxygen.” What’s the difference with burning, then?

It’s confusing.

「Hey, Nii-san. What’s wrong?」

「No, nothing. Just thinking about something.」