Lord Chronicle

Chapter 79 Mira's New Discovery
"Once again, I declare that I am a magician!" Hitches said angrily.

Half a month after the end of the garden party, after Sol saw the magic fireworks made by Hitches that night, he started thinking about the alchemist again.

So he called Hitches and said that he wanted to start a factory for making magic dolls to make money, and he was solely responsible for all matters.Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, he was strongly opposed by Hitches.

"It's okay." Sol said with a smile: "I know you are a magician, you can set up a factory and conduct magic research at the same time."

"Hmph, I have made up my mind to devote my whole life to the sacred cause of magic." Hitches was not moved at all.

Sol followed the advice carefully: "Don't be so rigid, besides, as long as you make money, you will get dividends. When the time comes, you can build as big a laboratory as you want; you can buy as expensive magic materials as you want."

Hitches couldn't help hesitating for a moment. Due to his super bad control ability, the magic research room was destroyed every five days on average, which made the reconstruction of the engineering team more and more perfunctory.But Hitches can't blame them for being lazy, anyway, no matter how well it is built, it will be blown up by itself sooner or later.

Moreover, due to the recent shortage of funds in the territory, before Reed earned back the gold coins from the frozen plateau, Sol had no choice but to reduce various unnecessary expenses, including the allocation to Hitches.This made his research work very frustrated, and he didn't have enough money to purchase magic materials.

Hitches once organized apprentices to go up the mountain once, preparing to hunt monsters and carry out the self-sufficiency of the magic core.As a result, apart from almost burning the mountain, he was also chased to the edge of the town by the furious monsters, and had to dispatch a defense team to deal with the aftermath.This made him very depressed, so he had to temporarily suspend the experimental class and give theoretical classes to the apprentices.

It has to be said that Saul's proposal moved Hitches, who was too poor to panic.But in the end, reason still defeated greed, and he still shook his head: "This doesn't work either."

"Why?" Sol was surprised, he thought Hitches would definitely take the bait.

Hitches looked like you know what: "Let's not say that I am a magician. Even if I will help you, I can't do it with the power of a territory. Let's not say that magic dolls are the core of the Magicians Guild One of the research secrets, which involves a lot of related high-level magic, and also requires the cooperation of high-level dwarf craftsmen."

Speaking of this, Saul was already a little silly, and Hitches said again: "And Lovell doesn't have the relevant manufacturing equipment and raw materials at all. Besides, do you have technicians? There is nothing, what do you use to manufacture? So this is not at all possible."

Hearing what he said, Sol realized that he really thought too simply.This is like the computer chips of my own era. Only a knowledgeable senior technician is useless, and a series of technical cooperation such as equipment, raw materials, and related processes are required to produce them on their own.

It seems that there is no way to make money from this way, and the two destroyed dolls can only be ordered at the Magicians Guild after Reed has made money.

Thinking of this, he suddenly had an idea: "By the way, the soot that night was very beautiful, can you..."

"Don't even think about it." Hitches naturally knew what he wanted to say: "It's a high-end product for nobles. The raw materials cost hundreds of gold coins when it was set off that night, and ordinary people can't afford it. Besides, the Magicians Guild has already If we monopolize this business, can we be as sophisticated as they are?"

Saul is gone again.Fireworks in this era are made using magic and alchemy, not gunpowder.Although Saul also knew the raw materials and formula ratio of the fire yao, he didn't want to get it out.

The reason is very simple. I don't know what kind of changes this super-era thing will bring to this continent.And any consequences of this change are something Saul doesn't want to see, and he doesn't want to bear.

Seeing that Sol was a little unhappy, Hitches took the initiative and said: "But don't worry, I have made a lot of progress in my research on magic recently, and I will definitely be able to cultivate excellent magicians for you."

After staring at Hitches in high spirits for a while in amazement, Sol sighed: "You should spare me."

After sending Hitches away, Sol couldn't help but worry about the financial resources of the territory.At present, the only way to make money is Reed's caravan. Although the exclusive business route will bring huge benefits in the future, as a modern person, he knows the truth that "eggs cannot be put in one basket".

If all the funds have to be earned by the caravan, not to mention the instability, if someone with a heart attacks this, it will be too late to regret.Therefore, taking advantage of the rare leisure time recently, Sol is always thinking about how to make money. He doesn't want to waste such a large piece of land around Lovell.

However, after thinking about it for a long time, he had no clue, which made him feel very depressed.

With Sol's personal letter, Reed's caravan to the frozen plateau had set off a few days ago.At Saul's suggestion, he divided the caravan into two groups.The first group is responsible for purchasing materials for the territory, and only operates in neighboring territories, so it is okay to be led by a deputy, which can also train talents.

Reed is still in charge of the main first team, and Sol can only rest assured that this important business route is entrusted to him.It is estimated that he will be able to bring back the first batch of highland specialties in two months, and sell them to various places in Dinard to recover funds, at least half a year later, that is to say, Lovell's poor state will continue for a while.

"Wow, money, I want money! People, I want people!" Sol held his breath as he thought about it, and couldn't help but walked to the window and shouted at the sky.

At this time, a timid voice suddenly came from behind: "Master, you... are you okay?"

Sol turned his head and saw that it was Marlene.The little girl looked worried, obviously frightened by his roar just now.

"Ah, I'm fine, what's the matter?" Sol smiled wryly.

Pressure, he finally realized the pressure of senior leadership, no wonder the middle-aged uncle is so bald.

"Mila hasn't come back for several days, I'm worried about her." Marlene said to Sol.

I don't know if she was addicted to being chased by Kress in the woods last time. After the garden party, Mira has a new fun.That is to drill into the surrounding mountains, and often it takes several days to come back.

But in general, this little girl is quite conscientious.Because every time she came back, Sol would find a lot of gifts by the bed the next morning, although they were all very troublesome things: skeletons of monsters, feathers, even dried feces, or some eggs of unknown origin. …

Sol threw away everything else, and as for the eggs, he simply handed them over to Marlene to make breakfast omelettes.Just kidding, he never thought that he was so good-natured that he could pick up magic beast eggs or something like that. Even if he could hatch the eggs, it would only cause trouble if he grew up in a spirit compatible with the monsters.

Hearing Marlene's words, he said indifferently: "It's okay, nothing will happen. Even if she is thrown into the volcano, she can still live well."

With Mira's ability to survive, food is everywhere, and the warm Mario Mountains are like a backyard. As long as you don't mess with Elebena, don't expect anything to threaten her.

Sol's words reassured Marlene, she nodded and said, "Then I'll wait. Also, young master, the food that Mira buried in the yard a few days ago started to stink, what should I do?"

"That dead girl, burn it all for me!"

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The next day, Mira came back, all black and dirty, and she didn't know where she got it.

This time she brought a gift as usual, but Sol's eyes widened when he saw what she handed over.

Wiping his eyes, he picked it up and looked left and right. After a long while, he finally confirmed that yes, this is... coal.

Coal is the coal called black gold!Unexpectedly, unexpectedly, he wanted to find something from the mountains around Lovell all day long, but he didn't expect that there was coal here.

The quality of the coal is quite good, and Mira is unlikely to dig a hole in the ground, her gifts are all picked up at random.In other words, there is likely to be an open pit coal mine in the mountains!
Sol was immediately thrilled by this discovery.Seeing him staring at the black stone that Mira picked up, Marlene couldn't help but wonder: "Master, what is this?"

"Ahaha, Marlene, I got rich, this time I got rich!" Saul hugged Marlene happily and kissed him, then rushed out dancing, "Jessica, go and get Manson for me."

Blushed by his actions, it took Marlene a long time to recover.After that, she turned her gaze to Mira, who was squatting on the ground, covered in dirt.

"..., Mira, good boy, let's go take a shower... Ah, ran away!"

"Stop, come back to me." She angrily shouted at Mira who fled to the yard.

Half an hour later, Sol's study.

"What is this?" Manson, who was summoned urgently, stared at the coal on the desk suspiciously.

"This is coal." Saul hadn't recovered from his excitement.

"Coal?" Manson looked at Jessica blankly: "What is that?"

"Uh..." Unexpectedly, people in this world have not yet recognized this kind of high-quality fuel, Saul was at a loss for words.

In fact, even in Saul's time, the West did not start to use coal on a large scale until the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century.Therefore, when Marco Polo traveled to China and saw people using black stones as fuel, he would feel the magic of the East.

The Majna Continent is still in the era of swords and magic, so it is normal to ignore the existence of coal.Different from the worry potion, Sol decided to vigorously promote this kind of thing. In addition to making money, it can also bring many beneficial changes to the world.

At least in the area of ​​forging, using coal-fired coke as fuel will greatly increase the temperature of the furnace compared to burning charcoal, and the quality of steel will also increase accordingly, and the other benefits are innumerable.

Of course, Sol is not arrogant enough to get a steam engine, not to mention that he doesn't understand the structure at all, just the sealing problem, mold problem, and rubber and other things are beyond his ability to solve.

After thinking for a while, he replied: "Simply put, this is a high-quality fuel."

"Fuel?" Manson picked up the coal and looked left and right, with disbelief on his face: "How can a stone burn?"

Knowing that it would be useless to talk too much, Saul decided to convince them with facts.Taking the two of them to the yard, he first lit a small fire with logs, then broke the coals into pieces and threw them in.

Soon, the black coals began to burn red. Jessica and Manson were horrified when they saw that this thing could actually burn.

Stretching out his hand to the fire and trying it, Manson said, "It's so hot."

Sol secretly said nonsense, whether it is coal or coke, the burning temperature is much higher than that of charcoal, the difference during this period is really incalculable.

As expected of a professional, Manson quickly thought of his old profession: "Such a high temperature is much better than charcoal if it is used to make iron."

Sol didn't think so. A basic common sense is that if you directly use coal to smelt iron, because the sulfur content in coal is very high, the quality of the smelted iron is extremely poor.Coal must first be smelted into coke in order to obtain high-quality iron.

But how to smelt this coke, Sol's eyes were darkened - he had to ask God.

He hesitated and said: "No, it's not good to directly use this thing to make iron, you have to use coke..."

Before he finished speaking, Manson's eyes widened: "What is coke?"

Saul thought to himself, God knows, and spread his hands: "Simply put, it's something better than coal."

But no matter what, we have to get coal first.Manson obviously thought the same way, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Can this kind of stone be obtained in large quantities?"

Sol nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, there are coal mines in the mountains near Lovell."

"Where is it? Take me there!" Manson was so excited that he spun around on the spot. Seeing his appearance, he really wished he could dig coal with his pickaxe shovel.

"Wait a minute, don't worry." Thor hurriedly stopped him.

"I came here to discuss large-scale mining. According to my estimation, this is an open-pit mine, so there is no need to drill holes. But because I don't know where the mine is in the mountain, I need to investigate first." Sol To two people.

"Then go right away!" Manson stepped forward without hesitation.

Saul had to hold him back again.Alas, if I knew it, I wouldn't have come to him. Discussing this kind of thing with a dwarf is equivalent to discussing buried treasure in the ground with a miser.

It was easy to appease the enthusiastic Manson, and Thor said: "However, there is not enough funds and manpower at present, so I can only dig a small part for the territory. My plan is to spread it to the whole country when the conditions are ripe." Majna. Besides, I don’t know where the mine is, and whether it can be easily transported out, so..."

"Let me dig!" Manson once again stood up impassionedly.

"Calm down, you hardcore maniac!"

After some difficult appeasement, the three finally agreed to form a prospecting team tomorrow morning, with Mira leading the way to the mountains.Inspect the mine first, and then make further plans.

After finishing everything, Sol couldn't help wiping his sweat, he was really exhausted.Unexpectedly, when he turned his head, he found that Jessica was staring at him without blinking.

"Why?" He couldn't help being startled.

Jessica said slowly: "This kind of thing is amazing. I've never heard of it before. Why do you seem to be very familiar with it? Where did you know it?"

Oops!Sol thumped in his heart, he was too excited, but forgot to cover it up.This matter is really weird, and I can't tell Jessica the details, how can I lie?
"Uh... this, what do you think?" Sol repeated his plan.

It's a pity that this trick had no effect on Jessica, she snorted: "Come on, what's going on?"

In desperation, Sol had no choice but to avoid Jessica's questioning gaze, turned around with his hands behind his back, and sighed leisurely: "Actually, when I was studying in Almuk, I met a mysterious man who was traveling around, and he told me this. The existence of a magical stone."

"Really?" Jessica frowned.

"Of course it's true. If you don't believe me, go ask him." Saul laughed and hurried away.

Just kidding, can I ask you any more?Anyway, this kind of excuse is a bit of a lie, but it is better than nothing to prove it. Whether you believe it or not, it is none of my business.

Sure enough, although this answer did not satisfy Jessica, there was nothing she could do about it.Seeing Sol's back, she stomped her foot fiercely: "Damn it, sooner or later I will make you confess everything!"

She looked at the soot that was gradually burning aside, and sighed softly.It's really strange, why does the lord always know some strange things?

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"You, what are you doing there?" Saul stared at Mira hanging on the chandelier in amazement.

As if she didn't hear him at all, Mira was like a sloth, hugging the bracket of the chandelier with her hands and feet, and yawned leisurely.

"Hey, come down quickly, where did you find that stone? Take us there quickly." Sol raised his voice and shouted again.

It's a pity that Mira still ignored him.Just when Sol wondered what happened to the girl today, Marlene said to him, "Master, Mira is angry."

"Angry, why?" Saul was very surprised.

Marlene spread her hands: "Who told you to burn the food she buried in the yard, Mira is not happy."

Damn!Sol was furious: "Is there a mistake? Who told you to slip into the mountains and not come back for several days, this is not a snow mountain, those things are stinky, you really plan to eat them?"

Mira naturally ignored him, and even made a face in protest.Sol was in a hurry, the prospecting team was still waiting outside, if this girl didn't cooperate, wouldn't everything be done?
What's more, Manson barely slept last night, just sitting in the yard looking at the pile of soot and giggling.Thor was really afraid that in his disappointment, the mad dwarf might burn his house down.

In desperation, he had no choice but to beg: "Mila, miss, aunt, come down."

Mira stood still and entered the state of the old monk's trance.

Just as Sol gradually became angry, Marlene reminded him quietly: "Master, eat..."

After realizing it, he had no choice but to compromise: "I'll pay you double for the food that was burned. Even if you bury someone in the yard from now on, I won't care about it, okay?"

Mira was obviously waiting for this sentence, and immediately responded with anger, and Ling Kong jumped down.

Hugging Mira who was acting like a baby in his arms, Sol's heart was bleeding: If there is an epidemic in my yard in the future, I will drag you to the back of my death.

But in any case, the prospecting team finally set off as scheduled.Led by Mira, the crowd went deep into the Mallorous Mountains, heading towards the western mountains that were rarely touched before.

Because the coal mine is of great importance, Saul decides to accompany him in person.Under the protection of the escort team led by the vice-captain Boqi, the group went deep into the mountains and passed through many hidden valleys. If Mira hadn't been leading the way along the way, they would never have found the correct route in the mountains.

Sol couldn't help admiring that Mira was indeed full of wildness, and she had nothing to do with rushing to such a remote ravine.

After a whole day's journey, early the next morning, everyone finally arrived at a barren valley in the middle of the mountain range, where two mountains were mixed.

The valley has sparse vegetation and covers an area of ​​nearly 10 square kilometers. There are many fine rocks in the valley.Walking into the valley, Sol has found many scattered coals along the way.

Coming here, like Aladdin entering the treasure of the forty thieves, Manson even panted a lot harder.After taking two steps, he picked up a piece of coal and rubbed it in his hands like a treasure.

Knowing that he was just like that, Sol pouted, and the few Manson's apprentices who followed spontaneously started looking around.Looking around, Sol walked to the edge of a gentle cliff, took the pickaxe shovel and chiseled it twice.

As expected, this is indeed an excellent open pit coal mine.From under the cracked rock, a black ore layer is exposed, and it doesn't take much effort to mine it.

Nodding in satisfaction, Sol climbed up the hill again and looked around.It is about 60 kilometers away from the town, which happens to be a day's trip.Although it is located in the deep mountains, the road along the way is very gentle, and there are no difficult mountains to climb. You only need to repair the road a little, and transportation should not be a problem.

"It's a good place." Saul couldn't help feeling, I knew that Lovell was not useless.

By noon, those few apprentices had initially figured out the situation, and all signs indicated that the reserves here would not be very low.After asking Pochi to mark the approximate location of the valley, Sol was ready to go back.

Now it seems that as long as there are enough funds and manpower, mining is not difficult.Funding is not a big problem, and it will be available soon, but manpower is troublesome.In the short term, it may not be possible to increase the number of residents in Lovell. Sol is considering whether to go out to hire workers, but it will be difficult to check the quality of workers in this way, which may have a certain impact on the town.

Shaking his head, Saul decided to ignore this for now.First find someone to carry some coal enough for the town. Of course, if you can find high-quality iron ore, it will be even more perfect.

At this moment, there was a sudden noise behind him. Sol turned his head, only to see Manson's apprentices gathered together, talking for some reason.

"What's wrong?" He walked over and asked.

Boqi smiled wryly, "Lord Lord, Mr. Manson wants to live here."

"What?" Sol was stunned. Ever since he knew the existence of the coal mine, the dwarf hadn't lived a normal life. What tricks did he want to play now?

I saw that Manson was sinking his head into the ground and inserting wooden stakes, as if he wanted to build a simple shack.A group of apprentices kept persuading him around him, but how could they persuade him?

"Manson, what are you doing?" Saul rubbed the bridge of his nose in distress.

Manson replied in a low voice, "I want to live here."

Sol said helplessly: "Why? It's useless for you to guard these coals."

"It doesn't matter, I'm not leaving anyway." Manson revealed his paranoid side, and pointed to an apprentice and said, "You, bring my blacksmithing tools tomorrow."

"Wow, you want to start working here? Then do you want me to send you some helpers?"

"Okay." Manson nodded unceremoniously.

Thor hates it, if he can't handle this thick short man, he really wants to strangle him to death.So far, he has finally seen the fanaticism and stubbornness of these dwarves, which is really a headache.

"Porch." Saul ignored him, and gave Porch a wink.

Boqi understood, snapped his fingers smartly, and two tall and burly defenders walked over, each with an arm crossed, lifted Manson into the air and left.

Manson was furious: "Irreverent boy, put me down quickly, or I will let you see the wrath of Vulcan Muffades!"

It's a pity that the god of forging of the dwarves has no deterrent effect on the Lowell people, so under the "hostage" of the defenders, Manson's roar can only go further and further away.

"Alas..." Suddenly, Thor felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

It's not easy for me as a lord, why are there so many uneasy guys in the territory.

"Let's go, let's go home." With a wave of his hand, he led everyone out of the valley.

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In the next two days, Sol arranged for some people to bring back thousands of catties of coal from the valley. At this time, the news that the lord had found a kind of burning stone had spread throughout Lovell.

Manson still didn't believe in evil, and insisted on using coal to try to make iron, so Sol had no choice but to let him.Many townspeople who heard the news surrounded the blacksmith shop with three floors inside and three floors outside, wanting to see how the stones burned.

Spreading the coal in small pieces in the iron furnace, Manson began to light the fire.Soon, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the black coal was burning red, and a red flame burst out.

"It's burning, it's really burning." People shouted excitedly.

Manson tested the temperature of the furnace with his hand, showing a satisfied smile.Apparently he was very disapproving of the fact that good iron could not be smelted at such a high temperature, and immediately ordered the apprentices to start work.

Saul, however, shook his head and sighed outside, making you proud, and you will regret it after a while.

"Is it true that good iron cannot be smelted?" Jessica who was with Saul asked.

Sol nodded: "Yes, you must use something called coke." Of course, unless the coal in this world does not contain sulfur at all.

"Then I'll tell Manson not to waste his efforts." Jessica said and was about to step forward.

Saul held her back: "Forget it, he won't believe it without a lesson." Besides, he has another purpose, if he doesn't arouse Manson's paranoid temper, how can he have the motivation to make coke?
At this time, Hitches came out from nowhere again, holding a piece of coal in his dark hand.He couldn't help admiring: "It's really a magical thing, maybe it's an excellent magic material, my lord, give me some too."

Sol nodded indifferently. Anyway, there are a lot of things, so you can take them and toss them.Hitches was overjoyed, and immediately greeted his apprentices to load coal.

Sol said to Jessica again: "After a while, you can send some to Aunt Maisie and the others. Anyone in the territory who needs it can come and get it."

His purpose is to popularize this thing in the town first. Although Lovell is rich in forestry resources, Sol is still very conscious of environmental protection. After all, the original ecological environment needs to be protected.

Jessica nodded and turned to make arrangements.Taking another look at Manson, who was in full swing, Saul Shi walked towards the lord's mansion.When I go back to have dinner, Manson should have learned his lesson by then, right?
Sure enough, after dinner, when Saul came to Manson's workshop again, he heard the dwarf's angry roar from a distance.

"Why? Such a high temperature, how can such poor quality iron be smelted!" Accompanied by his roar, there was the sound of smashing things.

A group of people gathered outside the workshop, not even daring to breathe.Seeing Sol, a blacksmith hurried over: "My lord, go and persuade Mr. Manson."

Saul nodded and walked into the workshop.The inside was messy, and Manson, with an upside-down beard, was panting heavily, staring at the discarded piece of iron on the table with red eyes.

"Manson, what's the matter?" Saul was full of spring breeze.

"Hmph, the iron is scrapped, what are you doing here?" Manson glared at Sol with a displeased face.No way, it is impossible for a dwarf in this state to be polite.

Sol didn't care either, he picked up the piece of iron and weighed it in his hand, pretending to be casual and said: "Sure enough, coke is still needed."

Manson's eyes lit up, Saul mentioned this kind of thing that day, but he was in a state of excitement at the time and didn't pay much attention.From Sol's tone, could it be possible to forge good iron with it?
Thor was greatly pleased with his response.At this time, the most ideal state should be that Manson yelled, hugged his thigh, regretted his original stubbornness with tears, and sincerely asked about the refining method of coke.

But he ignored the previous suspicions and imparted all his knowledge. In the end, both parties were happy, and Manson devoted himself to the work of coke research.

It's a pity that reality often backfires, especially for our lord.

So in Saul's full expectation, Manson just stared at him: "How do you do that thing?"

"You..." Sol's hatred, several times he wanted to violently hurt others, but he gave up because he was afraid of the huge difference in strength between the two sides.

you are vicious!I can bear it, can I bear it?Who told me to rely on you to get coke?

Sol had no choice but to swallow his anger and said: "That thing should be similar to charcoal. As far as I know, it needs to be sealed and burned out with coal."

"Burning charcoal?" Manson fell into deep thought. Since charcoal is currently the common fuel in Majna, dwarves are no strangers to the method of burning this thing.

It was Sol's limit to be able to recall these.According to Manson's stubborn temperament, maybe he can figure it out?Although I don't have much confidence, I can only hope for this at the moment.

He patted Manson on the shoulder and encouraged him: "It's up to you to figure out how to do it. Remember, you are the best, you are the best, and I have always been optimistic about you."

Saul's nasty encouragement didn't have much effect, because Manson had entered the realm of forgetting both things and me.He lowered his head and kept murmuring: "Burning charcoal, burning charcoal...how should I burn it..."

Knowing that he was unnecessary at this time, Sol stopped disturbing the meditating dwarf, and left lightly.

When they came outside, all the blacksmiths looked at Sol with admiration.In a few words, he calmed down the furious Manson, and the lord was indeed extraordinary.

Saul looked serious: "Manson is conducting a very important research, you must fully cooperate with him, understand?"

Everyone nodded desperately.

"If you need anything, just come to me, I will fully support you, understand?"

Still nodding desperately.

"This research is related to the future of the territory, so you must go all out, understand?"

Still nodding desperately.

Satisfied with everyone's reaction, Sol gave some advice before leaving.

After walking two steps, he seemed to remember something, and turned around again.A group of blacksmiths immediately showed the appearance of listening humbly, and everyone looked solemn, waiting for the instructions of the lord.

"Uh... I just wanted to say goodnight to everyone."

With a splash, a large piece fell immediately.

(End of this chapter)