Chapter 209: Dwarven Technology

Contrary to what Rino thought, the minecarts and rails used by dwarves were considered rather primitive. Back in his previous world, Rino knew that dwarves loved their metals to an unhealthy extent. Metal was considered stronger than stone because it was toughened by fire that could melt faces. They used something called 'steel' that was far superior to iron, and Rino swore they polished that metal daily because of its shiny appearance.

Here, the minecarts were not made out of steel. The body for transporting was made from wooden planks, while the wheels were carved out of stone. Thankfully, the dwarves did not fashion it completely out of wood and stone, or Rino would start questioning why they were even playing around with ores without using them.

The bolts and moving parts were crafted from metal that had long rusted. Some still functioned, but others had crumbled away over the years of salt air running through the mines from ventilation shafts. Metal needed to be properly oiled if they were to remain strong. Salt and water were metal's biggest enemy, and Rino looked at the damage they had to fix.

Most of the bolts and hooks used in these minecarts were rusted badly and in need of replacements. The wood was also cracked in some areas and could not withstand the weight of ores that should be poured into it. Some of the stone wheels were chipped or no longer round. Basically, it was easier to build five new minecarts than salvage the carts present.

"Look around for suitable stone mining areas and start replacing the wheels. There should be a grinding stone in the workshop. Ask the fairies to find it."

Mutt howled in acknowledgement and left to find the fairies while the hobgoblin chief instructed his tribe to spread out in search of a good stone mining location. The mine was very huge and complicated, with so many mining tunnels branching into each other. Deezer told three of the earth gnomes to follow the hobgoblin team. They did not want to accidentally mine into another shaft.

Rino and the pygmy dwarves quickly worked on a new minecart design using wood and stone for the time being. They had to replace the moving parts with metal later, but stone was a rather good placeholder for the bolts for now. Those wheels also had to be made from iron.

The main body of the cart was fashioned from wood that Rino would enchant. There would be enchantments to make the cart lighter and resistant to damages. However, metal belts were designed to wrap around the wooden cart that had a special function.

Rino had to admit, he was rather inspired by the side door to his furnace in the stone cottage that the earth gnomes built. It was easier to unload ores from the cart using a side door than tipping the whole cart. The metal belts were to hold that side door in place and release it for unloading.

Moreover, Rino disliked the current track and wheel design. The tracks were created from stone railings at the centre to guide the cart, while the wheel grooves created by rolling the cart over the singular track for years guided the cart's movements.

Honestly, it was not very precise, and Rino could see why the carts would sometimes topple. He found traces of spilt ores along the tracks that the dwarves did not clean up entirely. It wasn't the best design, so Rino passed down orders to have the track system demolished. If they were going to rebuild the minecarts and design them, they should develop better track designs, preferably one that wouldn't derail a high-speed mine cart.

Using the concept of dams and barriers, Rino and the pygmy dwarves came up with a side barrier track design with grooves to support the wheels. Waiting for the ruts to be formed from repeated uses took too long. Hence, the test cart would be inked on the wheels and rolled over the new rail system. The earth gnomes could help to dig the grooves and reinforce them with cement for easy future maintenance.

Initially, the design idea was simple enough to support regular pushing action. Rino intended to employ some muscles in the mines to transfer mined ores from one place to another, but when Rina offered a lazier solution using gravity, the lich reworked his ideas.

"Why don't we build lifts to carry those empty minecarts back up for another rolling session? We only need to create stations for the carts to stop so that ores can be loaded into them. This way, nobody has to push the carts."

The idea was too tempting not to try, and Rino decided that since they needed to fix two lifts, they could also afford to build new lifts.

The only problem was designing the stopping stations, but the fairy assured him that would be simple. They just needed to run a few tests and calculate the angle of elevation required to slow a cart enough to stop at the station without destroying the pitstop. 

"We might need drivers," Griffith spoke up eventually after several crash tests using models. "Do you think brakes will work?"

In the existing dwarven technology, brakes did not exist. Even back in Rino's previous world, the minecart brakes were only possible because the tracks were made from metal. The brakes basically clamped the wheels locked within the metal tracks and made them unable to turn. It caused many high-pitched spine curling screeching noises and sparks when that happened, but the cart would lose speed and eventually stop.

In this mine, Rino wasn't sure the same idea would work. They were using stone and wood with cement for the tracks. The wheels weren't locked in place either. Brakes will only damage the carefully calculated grooves and stone guide barriers. It wasn't a good idea to use a clamp brake on the wheels.

Thinking from the angle of a magic user, Rina proposed using an opposing magic force to slow the moving carts. If they could use runes to elevate the cart and stop the wheels, the cart would eventually halt.

Rino listened to both parties and agreed that he could not stick to the dwarven technology in this cave makeover project. The dwarves might have been the best in technology a few decades ago. However, Rino was the representative of a growing community that was possibly more advanced than the dwarves. Out with the old and in with the new, yesterday's founders are building blocks for today's rulers.

"We can use air magic to kill the momentum of a rolling cart," Rino agreed with Rina's suggestion. "However, we still need a driver to determine these things. I still need the lifts to bring the carts back up to the start of the track. It's a little unfortunate that we couldn't automate everything, but we definitely reduced the manpower required for operating the mines by a lot."

Even so, Rino knew that this was far from enough. Such a huge mining operation would require at least a few hundred miners and managers. He still had to factor in those in charge of logistics and other areas of the mines such as recreational facilities, blacksmithing and even mine maintenance workers.

To put it simply, he was severely shorthanded if he wanted a fully operational mine. The mine makeover project needed all his available summons, and not everyone could carry out their tasks efficiently. Rino needed more apt talents for mining and smithing. Those with deft hands did not have the power to lift a hammer. Those with the power to lift a hammer were clumsy. It was difficult to find the right candidate to fill in the positions required.

Ideally, humans were good for this. However, Zerg's village wasn't exactly a promising bunch. Rino preferred talents like Fronzo, but capable people had to hold the fort down in his absence in Noir Province. Kragami might have known this would be happening. Hence, the necromancer created a small school of sorts to teach those residing in Noir Province, primarily in Cypress County.

Rino understood that education was something that took time. Results did not show overnight. Erika did not become immediately capable after she knew how to read and write. It took her experience working with Kragami as a secretary to understand how to put her knowledge to better use.

Seeing how Rino fell uncharacteristically silent, his subordinates excused themselves to start working on the huge makeover project as their king brooded about the future. Rino hardly realised that everyone left and dismissed them casually, not fully aware of what he did. His mind lingered on how to bring the stone age into the metal ages while he stared at the daily quest screen intensely.

Noir climbed up the cooking preparation table that Rino and his project managers used as the round table. The cookhouse was unusually silent, although there were bustling activities outside. Rino tuned everything out until he felt something smacking his face and covering his vision.

Annoyed that Rino ignored his meowing twice, Ace decided to slap Rino back to reality, but his tiny paws missed and ended up in Rino's hollow eye sockets.

Feeling slightly amused but mostly creeped out by how the lich slowly turned his head with paws in his eye sockets, the god of prayers tried to free himself but ended up failing spectacularly when he lost his footing.

Noir's clumsy behaviour made Rino chuckle as he caught the black cat, stroking the silky fur and collecting his thoughts.