episode_0046

Construction began with the skeletons carrying construction materials filled with dozens of skeleton carts one by one.

However, construction did not proceed completely with skeletons alone. Although I created a skeleton mage, it was not enough to call it a skeleton spare mage, so the skeleton could not handle everything.

That is why researchers were brought in to conduct research and development at the headquarters in the village.

“Fill the ground with rocks from here to here.”

From the process of consolidating the ground, which is the most basic part of construction, we followed the researcher’s instructions. Of course, the skeleton mage who listened to the researcher’s instructions gave instructions to regular skeletons.

Anyway, the skeletons moved as the researchers wanted, and began to solidify the ground with stones larger than an adult man.

Coo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o- the-stones pounded the ground with a loud sound, compacting the ground, and the land that had been an ordinary plain was transformed into a solidly compacted construction site.

And, small stones and bricks were placed there one by one. In accordance with the researchers’ knowledge, the skeletons were taking them one by one from the cart and stacking them on the floor.

Each time the researchers made a gesture, the skeletons placed their construction materials one by one in the correct location. Stones the size of the upper body of an adult male were placed neatly.

“The floor is finished! I start by creating a space for molten iron to flow!”

“Then I will build from the bottom.”

Once the floor was solidly built, construction of the blast furnace continued on top of it. A path was created for the molten iron to flow out from inside the blast furnace, and the main body of the blast furnace was created in the center.

The bottom part was narrow, but as the height gradually increased, the space inside became wider. However, the space that had expanded for a moment became narrower again as it went up. It was made in a shape similar to a gourd.

And, around the blast furnace, bricks made of mud or dirt scooped up from the surrounding area were piled up. The idea was to ensure that the hot air inside the furnace was trapped inside rather than escaping to the outside.

When the height of such a structure was slightly increased, new types of parts began to pile up around the blast furnace. It was a ventilation hole that could blow powerful wind into the blast furnace. It was a device that blew air into the inside when skeletons spun the circular structure on the outside. It didn’t take much time to complete because it was just a matter of bringing everything from the village and assembling it.

The structure was simpler than expected except for the blowing mechanism, so the blast furnace was being built really quickly as the skeletons worked constantly. It took less than an hour to go from the floor to my shoulder height. If ordinary people had been hired to make it, it would have spread quickly enough, but skeletons didn’t have anything like that.

Thanks to the skeletons not slowing down at all and continuing construction at the initial speed, construction of the first blast furnace was completed after a few more hours. The equipment was completed at a height that would not be enough for four people to stand vertically.

“Boss. Now, all you have to do is bake the inside of the furnace so that it can withstand the heat well.”

I was the last one to step in, as I was told that I had to bake the clay lamps on the inside so that they would settle down properly.

I was the only person who could do that task the easiest way right now. Although he could play a skeleton mage, he was inferior to me and I couldn’t use him right away because the researchers had to make the skeletons move as they wanted.

Anyway, I climbed up to the very high blast furnace, holding on to the skeletons standing like ladders and railings, and looked at the empty inside of the blast furnace. I was able to see a little bit of the inside thanks to the light coming from the sky, but I don’t know if it was because of the gourd-like structure, but I couldn’t see the inside clearly.

“Can I just complain?”

“Yes! All you have to do is bake it over a strong flame!”

When I heard that they were baking it to prevent the clay applied inside from falling off, I used black magic to create a hot flame inside the furnace.

Some of the dark magic that was filled in the body escaped, and a black flame burned inside the blast furnace. Because it was a flame caused by a kind of curse in black magic, the light was not particularly strong, but the changes occurring inside were slightly more visible.

The inside, which had been moist and looked dull, was gradually becoming brighter as it dried out in the flames.

“I think this is enough.”

When the chief researcher next to me checked the inside of the blast furnace and informed me that it was no longer necessary to bake, the dark magic was withdrawn from the burning flame. The black flames died out in an instant, as if there was no more fuel to burn.

After the last purring sound, there was no more fire inside. All that remained was the heat that filled the inside of the furnace as it baked and then slowly escaped.

“… … But why are you shaking so much?”

After using my dark magic to extinguish the fire, I turned to the head researcher and saw him lying face down, shivering. I even saw them making bricks and holding on to the slightly uneven parts with great strength. He was applying so much force that all the blood had disappeared from his fingers and they had turned white.

“If you fall, won’t you die right away!”

“Ah.”

When I saw him lying down with his eyes tightly closed and moving around, it was only then that I remembered what I had specifically ordered.

To prevent spies from easily understanding the internal structure of the blast furnace, the structure had to be made so that if they climbed up to see the internal structure, it would be easy for them to fall inside. Thanks to this, the chief researcher was trying his best not to fall into the blast furnace. This was something I hadn’t thought about because I was holding on to the skeleton next to me as a railing.

“If you’ve done everything, you can come down. Or at least hold on to that one.”

When I handed over a skeleton to the shivering senior researcher, he held on to the skeleton as if it were a lifeline. The senior researcher, holding the skeleton’s shin bone, got up on shaky legs and began to examine the inside of the blast furnace in detail. Holding on to the skeleton tightly.

Several researchers below painstakingly turned the circular structure, confirming that wind was blowing inside. As I was on top of the blast furnace, I could feel the wind blown inside coming out through the top of the blast furnace.

“The inside appears to have been properly baked. The wind pipe also appears to have been properly opened. If it cools down for a moment, there will be no problem if you start it right away.”

“Really? Then, all we have to do is bring iron ore from the mine right away.”

After hearing that there would be no problem in operating the blast furnace, I immediately went down from the top of the blast furnace. And, I immediately called the Skeleton Mage. Since the researchers around the area had barely finished cleaning up the place using skeletons, I was able to use the mage.

“There will be skeletons mining in the mine up there. Take the empty cart skeleton and transport skeleton, and bring the mined iron ore.”

“For the master of death!”

“… … No, where did you learn that word?”

He is quite intelligent and can use black magic, so he uses it, but I wondered where on earth he learned and uses such cringe-worthy words. Or are goblins naturally like that? … .

Anyway, the Skeleton Mage, who made his hands and feet tremble, led several skeletons and moved towards the mine.

Ujikkeun!

I thought I would at least avoid the obstacles, but maybe because I wasn’t told to dodge them, the Skeleton Mage ran like crazy towards the mine, destroying the trees.

While the Skeleton Mage went to get the iron ore, I commanded the other skeletons. Other materials needed to smelt iron ore were brought from the village. Since there was no reason to smelt in the village if the blast furnace was to be operated here anyway, the remaining materials were scraped together.

“Lord of death! I have completed the work you commanded me!”

After preparing to smelt the iron ore, I was waiting with a fire lit in the blast furnace, and the Skeleton Mage who had quickly climbed up to the mine returned. The cart skeleton was filled with iron ore.

Of course, the iron ore could not be used right away, so other skeletons were used to process the iron ore.

Using the skeletons brought in advance, the iron ore was disassembled into small pieces and the dirt was shaken off. In order to process it properly, it would have been better to go through a little more processing, but it was also possible to smelt it in its current state.

“A place to process iron ore should also be built next to here. Oh, since I said the iron that is made is usually cast iron, it would be good to process the process to make steel around here.”

Rather than just having a blast furnace here, I thought it would be nice to have a place around here to process iron ore and reprocess smelted cast iron. Since there was a bit of a shortage of materials needed for construction right now, we decided to build that part soon and started smelting iron ore.

“Turn.”

First, with a flame lit inside using black magic, the skeletons were moved. The skeletons holding on to the circular structure on the outside of the blast furnace moved vigorously, blowing out quite a strong wind inside the blast furnace.

Listening to the whooshing sound of the wind, this time I moved the skeletons located at the top of the blast furnace. The prepared iron ore and auxiliary materials were moved to the top, and skeletons were pouring them into the blast furnace.

Iron ore, charcoal, coal, limestone, etc. were poured into the blast furnace in the proportions discovered by the researchers. The materials touched the fire that was burning inside first, and a powerful flame erupted in an instant. Finely crushed charcoal and coal-like objects touched the flames and burned more intensely, as if exploding.

“Oh, it rides properly?”

Even though the blast furnace was quite high, the flames were rising to the top of the blast furnace. Even if the fire maintained with black magic was extinguished, the fire that had already been lit continued to burn. Moreover, with the wind constantly blowing, an enormous amount of heat was created. Still, thanks to the tightly built outer wall around the blast furnace, the heat was trapped inside the furnace, and I, standing next to the furnace building, could not feel any heat at all.

Anyway, as we watched the flames rising from the top, the researchers were nervously assessing the situation in the blast furnace. I don’t know if it was because it was the first blast furnace to be officially operated, not for demonstration purposes, but I felt like I was constantly worried about whether it was built properly.

But despite their worries, the skeletons were only concentrating on their own tasks. The skeletons located at the top of the blast furnace were steadily injecting a certain amount of material into the blast furnace, and the skeletons blowing wind were also steadily blowing wind.

As the skeleton moved without stopping and some time had passed, molten iron fell out of the passage created in advance at the bottom of the blast furnace. And, the researchers’ worries were completely erased.

“Molden metal comes out!”

“Success! It’s made right!”

The researchers were embracing each other and expressing joy with their whole bodies. This is because it was confirmed that the blast furnace was built properly and began to smelt iron properly.

Of course, I couldn’t hide my laughter as I watched the molten iron coming out of the blast furnace. I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought about the large amount of iron that would be made in this blast furnace.

Moreover, as time passed little by little, the amount of molten metal flowing out increased, and the smile on my face grew deeper and deeper.