Chapter 24

With this, there's nothing more I can do. Shifting his gaze from Sequoia, who was intently watching Garam's work, he turned his eyes to the house and the water wheel in sequence.

It's impressive. They can do such good work without relying on machines. Craftsmen are amazing.

He found himself smiling wryly, thinking the same thing he had just considered.

At that moment, his eyes met Torre's, who had poked his head out of the house's window.

"Master Joshua, you're here!"

"Yeah. I was surprised when I came."

"The preparations for the house are complete. We just need to wait for Garam and then it's just a matter of assembly."

"It seems there's still some time."

"Indeed. I might go and help with the logging with the young ones."

As soon as he said that, Torre was already moving.

From the feel of it, he must have come here with the sunrise and started working without even having breakfast.

In that case, I'll prepare the meal.

He walked to the riverbank and squatted down.

Reaching out to touch the flowing water, a pleasant coldness spread through his fingertips.

Erie squatted down beside him in the same manner.

"There are fish..."

"Yes, they're swimming."

The shadows of fish were visible.

When he returned to the mansion, there were ingredients, but he thought the work might be finished before he got back.

So, he came to the river to see if he could catch something nearby.

However, he realized he had forgotten something important.

He had no fishing rod or spear.

He had a knife, but it was impossible to stab a swimming fish with it.

Alright, then.

As he stood up, Erie asked him a question.

"What do you intend to do?"

"I thought I'd make a fishing rod. A simple one. I think it would work if I tied a reed stem to a branch."

"In that case, may I catch the fish? I don't want to trouble Master Joshua."

"Do you have a fishing rod?"

"No, but I'm not bad at catching fish."

Erie placed her hands together at her stomach and bowed.

Her aura tensed, and her right arm trembled.

Thud, thud—.

In the next moment, a fish about fifteen centimeters long was flopping on the riverbank.

Eh, what?

Ignoring his surprise, more fish appeared, one after another.

"Alright, I'll leave it to you..."

"Please leave it to me."

What was that? What on earth was that?

If he asked, she would probably say something like, "In case of an emergency, to be able to prepare a meal for Master," so he decided not to ask.

Maids are scary.

Is she some kind of martial arts expert... or something?

No, I shouldn't ask what they did before coming to work for me.

But, while Rumburgh and Barthol are one thing, the two maids have no previous jobs. They came to work for me when they were old enough.

Rumburgh recommended them, saying, "You can trust them as maids," and I hired them immediately.

Of course, there was opposition.

There were concerns that a duke's maid should come from a family of a certain status.

But I ignored such advice because it was clear they were trying to arrange a marriage between me and a young lady.

"Hey, Joshua. Where did Torre go?"

Hmm. That voice is Garam.

Looking at him, he had just let go of the wooden box and was looking around for someone.

"Torre went to cut trees. Are you done?"

"Yeah. It's just a matter of connecting them. It's a job for Torre."

"You're done. Let's get to it right away!"

"Sure. Finally."

Torre returned at lightning speed.

Wow. Even at this distance, Torre could hear the conversation.

◇◇◇

"This is the last one!"

He tightened the gear and started the water wheel.

The water wheel spun, and the force was transmitted through the gear, passing through the tube reinforced with rubber (frog skin) to the wooden box placed next to the house.

The force from the water wheel made the lever in the box move, sending air into the furnace.

I can't just stand here. I need to go see the furnace.

It seemed that Sequoia and I had the same idea, as we both ran into the forge.

Inside the forge, Garam and his two apprentices were opening the empty furnace and checking the inside.

"Good, the air is coming through. Can you adjust the airflow?"

"Can I do it?"

"Sure. I don't need to watch."

Sequoia didn't respond to Garam's words but showed him by action, running outside to touch the wooden box.

Soon, the airflow into the furnace stopped.

"Great. It's perfect. Shall we try lighting the fire?"

"Sure. Let's give it a try."

"No, let's have lunch first. Everyone hasn't eaten breakfast, right?"

"Indeed. It smells good. Did someone prepare the meal?"

"Yeah, Erie did. It's just fish, though."

"Thank you. Let's eat first. You should come too."

Garam called out to his apprentices as well.

◇◇◇

"I have prepared enough. Please help yourselves."

Erie said this and bowed.

With that, everyone gathered and started taking the fish skewers.

"Master Joshua, what is this device?"

"You're asking the right questions. Keep it up."

"Y-Yes!"

Erie's response seemed surprised by his reaction, but she smiled and placed her hand on her chest.

Meanwhile, I greedily devoured the fish while explaining to Erie.

"That house is a forge, and the wooden box outside is a 'bellows' that sends air. The water wheel powers the bellows, which sends air into the furnace inside the forge."

"Air?"

"Yeah. Using combustion stones, the furnace can reach a temperature high enough to melt iron. But without combustion stones, the temperature doesn't rise even with burning wood or charcoal."

"Is that so!"

"When you light a fire with wood, you blow on it to make it burn, right? It's the same principle. By continuously sending air, the temperature of the furnace rises."

"I understand. Thank you!"

"If we used hand pumps to send air, it would require a lot of manpower, and we'd be exhausted. So, we decided to use the water wheel."

"This equipment is the result of everyone's wisdom."

"Yeah. It's thanks to Garam, Torre, Sequoia, and all the apprentices."

I gave a thumbs-up to Torre and the others, who were greedily eating the fish.

This is how the furnace without combustion stones was completed.

Now the iron production problem is solved. We can also make glass here.

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