Chapter 46: ~A fleet?~ (1/2)

***Norfolk, Sarn-Valley***

***Ascathon***

“Strengthen the inside with more clay and bricks. It has to withstand the high temperature. And don't seal the openings to blow air inside by doing so!” Really. Some things you have to do yourself.

“Yes, master. The chimney will be done soon.” Worker 'B' runs off to instruct the others.

I smack my head. “It's NOT a chimney!”

The people on this construction site are killing me. It's really annoying to instruct them on how to build a blast furnace.

“Wow! That's a big chimney! But you forgot the house!”

I recognize the voice behind me and I turn around. “Please, Kane! Not you too! It's a blast furnace! To melt iron! It's not a damn chimney!”

“To melt iron!? That big? What the hell do you want to build? How does it work?” He looks in awe at the twenty metres high furnace.

“Nothing in particular. I simply want to increase my iron production. It will be needed for many things in the future.” I shrug my shoulders. “You can never have enough metal.”

I grab a blueprint and show it to Kane. “See? There is the chamber inside. From the bottom, you blow air upwards to increase the temperature. From the top, you throw iron ore and coal into the furnace. It's a continuous process. These recirculation pipes reuse the hot air which is coming out at the top and lead it back down to preheat the new air. On the bottom, you get some useless slag and raw iron, which can be refined easier by smitheries or other following processes.”

“You fill the whole thing with iron ore and coal? Ah, that's why you needed so much. But won't it be a problem if you shut it down? I mean, there must be much molten stuff inside?” Kane looks curiously at the furnace.

I shake my head. “You don't shut it down. It has to be running continuously, day and night. That's why I needed an ensured supply of coal and iron ore first. If you shut it down, it's easier to destroy the whole thing and build a new one than to clean it out.”

Kane nods. “But I am here to talk to you about that army from Mislow. Shouldn't you be more concerned about them than about this thing?”

I close my eyes. “They will be dealt with when they are in striking range. So in the meantime, I want to invest my time in doing something useful. Like getting this damned thing running.”

Kane snorts. “Is there some kind of problem?”

I shrug my shoulders. “Not really. It's just annoying that I have to watch over every little detail on new construction sites. Simple workers who can read are too rare, so I am setting this up with commoners only. And they keep calling it a chimney, that's what bugs me the most.”

“Well. It's a chimney. It's a hollow tube with an air inlet at the bottom and a fire inside.” Kane folds his arms in front of his chest and smiles at me.

I pull a grimace and look at him like he is dirt.

“~Chimney! Ahahahaha …~”

Sera is laughing from above my head. She has been riding on my shoulders for quite some time now. I had to take her with me since everyone else had no time to take care of her.

“No! Blast furnace!” I sigh and store the blueprint away. “It will take them some time to enhance the walls. Why don't we go and take a look at my fleet?”

“Ah, yes! The fleet. Sure, why not? But I first I wanted to inform you of our great success! We managed to distribute the new artefacts evenly over the whole main continent. There is almost no one who doesn't know about them. And we made a big profit by doing so.” Kane is shining over his whole face.

I nod. “That's good. Unfortunately, the trade will go down now. The other countries besides Norfolk will surely shut down your trading companies.”

Kane shakes his head while still smiling. “That's no problem. I already anticipated that. We are prepared to switch completely to black market trading and smuggling once that happens. Unless they shut down their borders completely, we will still be able to trade.”

“~Black market … smuggling …~” Sera looks down at Kane with new eyes.

“Don't you have a cool uncle!? I will become an underworld boss, just for your father.” Kane hits his chest with a broad smile.

“It's not like you weren't involved in illegal trade before. And don't teach my daughter bad words!” I grumble while walking with Sera riding on my shoulders.

The harbour is a little far away to walk there by foot, but the time passes quickly because of Kane. He has news about what's going on in the world and I listen eagerly to the minor details.