Chapter 213:

Chapter 213:

TL: Etude

Inside the ironworks, Paul, along with Burns, Conrad, and others, watched in silent concentration as a red-hot sword blank lay on the workbench.

The blacksmith Herman picked up a hammer and struck the sword blank hard.

A sound of metal shattering followed, and the sword blank turned into fragments.

Shattered as well were the hearts of Paul and Conrad.ReAd latest chapters at novelhall.com Only

Herman said helplessly, My lord, this is the problem. The sword blanks forged cannot withstand hammering. They break apart with the slightest force.

Why? Why is this happening?

Paul was in disbelief. How could the iron he had painstakingly smelted turn into scrap?

Herman, could it be that your skills are lacking?

Count, Ive been forging for over a decade. Most of the blades in the manor were crafted by me.

What went wrong? Paul was getting anxious. He paced back and forth in the room, pondering over each step of the iron smelting process.

At this moment, Conrad suggested, Count, could it be due to excessive impurities in the pig iron?

Impurities?

Yes. After all, we used your newly invented coke for smelting. Maybe it contains something different from the charcoal we used before, which got mixed into the molten iron?

Oh! Conrad, youre a genius. Youve hit the nail on the head.

Prompted by Conrad, Paul recalled a piece of information he had read earlier. It mentioned that pig iron smelted with coke was not suitable for conversion into wrought iron, as coke introduces impurities, making the iron brittle and prone to shattering when forged.

He also remembered the solution to this problem the puddling process.

To employ this method, a reverberatory furnace must first be built. The furnace melts the pig iron using coal as fuel, avoiding direct contact between the metal and the fuel, thereby preventing harmful impurities from contaminating the metal.

The pig iron is remelted in the reverberatory furnace, and a stirring device constantly agitates the molten iron on the furnace bed. The decarbonization from the circulating air in the furnace continues until it turns into forgeable wrought iron. As the metal doesnt directly contact the fuel, the wrought iron produced has significantly fewer impurities.

While the princess was troubled, unbeknownst to her, many eyes were watching her.

Across the street, in another house, two figures were conversing.

The patrol is complete. Nothing unusual around here!

Good work!

Ah, the princesss antics have spoiled our holidays.

What are you saying? Protecting the safety of the royal family is our fundamental duty. Even if the princess were in the capital, wed still have to be vigilant during the holidays.

Thats true, but Id rather do something more thrilling, like infiltrating the rebels to gather intelligence, instead of babysitting a runaway child all day.

If you keep talking like that, I might have to report you. We do what were ordered to, without complaints.

Alright, alright, I get it. But we need to be more careful. Today, I was interrogated for a long time by the local police. Luckily, I was quick-witted and evasive, so I didnt give away anything.

It seems Count Grayman is increasingly prioritizing security in his territory. Thats good. The better the security, the safer the princess will be. Our identities are not a problem, and we shouldnt run into any trouble for now. Plus, were not spying on the lords business secrets or his military, so we have nothing to fear.

But Im afraid of being caught as a stalker or peeping tom.

Shut up. We havent been discovered yet, have we?

Speaking of which, this place has changed a lot! I heard from the locals that just six months ago, this was a barren place.

Oh, thats thanks to the young lord. Ive heard a lot about his deeds.

Its amazing. Even the kingdoms princess is willing to work under him.

The things he comes up with are indeed fascinating. If I were a scholar, Id want to get close to him too. Have you seen the public lectures at Weiss Academy? That microscope, my goodness, its incredible!

Oh, stop. Just thinking about those little bugs makes me queasy.

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