Chapter 52 - A World with Magic (2/2)
However, because of the existence of these ancient runes, the humans in this world had not even considered how to improve the efficiency of the furnace by improving the efficiency of fuel combustion. They were only constantly improving the materials which the runes would be carved on and the rune formation.
So Gawain did not build any earthen blast furnaces, but he first came to observe this primitive and backward traditional furnace.
Hummel was becoming more and more nervous as he watched the noble in front of him. He had no idea why Gawain would suddenly ask him a question and then move on to examine the furnace. He did not know if he might have done something wrong. He only knew that the nobles were powerful and moody. Even though Lady Rebecca and the lords before her were kind and generous, this person before him was the legendary pioneer hero, an absolute warrior, and a Grand Duke. What kind of personality would such a great noble have?
Just when the old blacksmith was feeling uneasy, Gawain finally stood up and asked him a second question, “How much iron can you produce every day with such a furnace given a guaranteed sufficient supply of ores?”
Hummel immediately heaved a breath of relief. He finally asked a normal question.
“If you use those kind of ores, you can make fifty jins of iron a day,” The old blacksmith said proudly.
But Gawain could not help but frown when he heard the answer. “So little?”
With those runes, the output was only this much?
“That’s not enough?” Hummel could not help but say, and he added nervously, “I’m not questioning Lord’s judgment, but…”
“It’s okay. You don’t have to feel nervous talking to me.” Gawain calmed the old master. “I’m your Lord and am tasked with protecting you, not a robber who wants to kill you.”
“Yes… Yes Lord,” Hummel wiped his sweat nervously and explained, “But this is really the limit. The furnace looks big outside, but the space inside is actually quite limited, and every time after smelting one batch, we must allow it to rest for an hour so that the runes outside the furnace can cool down. So the furnace must be cooled before it is reignited again… With that, making fifty jins per day is already the maximum limit! ”
“Let the runes cool?” Gawain frowned.
“Yes,” Hummel explained, “This is just a little trick that our people have carved on black stones. It’s nothing like those magic runes that the great mages use. It’s easy to spoil, especially the fire runes. If it comes into contact with fire elements for a long period of time, it will crack. Even if it is replaced with a more sturdy material, it still won’t be useful. Once the rune is cracked, the whole furnace will be useless. So the furnace must not be burned continuously when smelting iron…”
“What if you make the furnace bigger?” Gawain asked again.
“That won’t work either,” Hummel said worryingly, wondering how the Grand Duke kept asking these difficult questions. “The rune can only provide so much fire. If the furnace becomes larger, the fire would not be strong enough, and the molten iron would not be refined from the ores, and the earth runes will also fail. There will be more impurities in the refined iron ingot, which will make it completely unusable…”
Gawain held his chin. “So it is these runes that are limiting the production?”
The old blacksmith batted his eyes. Actually, he did not quite understand what limiting the production meant, but he still nodded quickly. “Yes, yes, it’s the runes.”
Gawain looked at Rebecca. “Do you think if you change the runes to… Um, I think you should just summon Herti…”
Rebecca’s face instantly flushed red. “Lord Ancestor, I know the theory of magic too! I just can’t make the spell moulds…”
“Your theoretical knowledge is still okay?” Gawain raised his eyebrow. “Then how do you think this problem should be solved?”
Rebecca thought hard for awhile. “Since you just said the runes are the weak point, we can replace the runes?”
“With what?”
Rebecca continued to use her brains. “Actually the way these runes function is very simple. They are just raising the temperature, controlling the air flow, impurities and the like. These are the types that are very weak. If you use real magic circles instead, the efficiency can be increased by several times. It can also dissipate the energy by itself, so even with continuous operation, it would not be damaged…”
Gawain raised his brow. “Carve a magic circle on each iron furnace?”
“But it won’t work in practice,” Rebecca stuck out her tongue. “Aunt Herti and I can help to carve a few magic circles, but… the blacksmith and his apprentices won’t be able to use them!”