Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 62: Magic Web 1 and Blacksmith Store

Her first reaction was that she had heard wrongly. Her second reaction was that Lord Ancestor had said it wrongly. Her third reaction… was that this was some kind of consolation.

It couldn’t possibly be sarcasm, right?

The young viscountess who had never achieved anything from a young age would never have imagined that she would be so praised.

After seeing Rebecca’s reactions, Gawain repeated his words again before laughing. “Don’t be startled. I am seriously praising you. It is probable that you aren’t even aware of your incredible talent.”

“Really?” Rebecca was at a loss before she blinked her eyes with embarrassment and said, “But I am just clever in these trivial matters… Such things wouldn’t be needed in normal situations.”

Such exceptional talents had actually been categorized as trivial… Gawain was truly a little speechless.

Rebecca was born a little too early, but it was fortunate that Gawain came in time and would have the chance to bring out these innate talents.

Gawain took a careful look at Rebecca’s modified magic circle… He might be a knight but back then, Gawain Cecil was considered half a scholar and had studied magic circle theories quite a bit. Coupled with the fact that the Gondor Empire was rather magically developed, basic magic knowledge was therefore fairly widespread. As such, Gawain didn’t have a hard time understanding the basic runes used to form this magic circle. After taking a serious look, he was certain that Rebecca’s modifications to these runes were feasible. This magic circle had turned from a rough concept into something that matched his expectations. It could be used as the foundation of a ‘prototype’, and if it was going to be perfected, it would need to go through practical tests first.

Gawain raised a question. “Have you considered how to expand it further?”

“Expand it further?” Rebecca paused for a moment before asking, “What expansion? Draw it bigger?”

“No, I’m asking whether you can connect it with other self-powered magic circles that are similarly structured but of different scale. Or even to use a certain magic circle as a unit in a foundational structure that can connect endlessly and that can expand to finally form a large network covering a vast region.” Gawain looked at these orderly arranged runes and could subtly see a plausible combination and shadows of repetition. He couldn’t help but propose a rather bold idea. “Every magic circle wouldn’t be independent and are all connected together… Can you understand what I’m proposing?”

Rebecca might have outstanding mathematical talent and creativity, but such a grand concept was still rather profound to Rebecca. She was trying hard to ponder but finally frowned with distress and asked, “Lord Ancestor, the thing you are saying… Could it really exist?”

“Just treat it as my incredible imagination.” Seeing Rebecca’s confused expression, Gawain knew that he must not be too eager for rapid results. Hence, he stopped the topic from going in this direction and instructed, “Construct Magic Web 1 first and let the blacksmith store start running it. We will talk about other things in the future.”

“Okay!” Rebecca nodded with delight. “Earlier on, I was discussing the blacksmith store with Hummel…”

“Oh?” Gawain raised his brows. He had indeed seen Rebecca in a discussion with Hummel, but the pleasant surprise of Magic Web 1 had nearly made him forget about the matter. “What were you discussing?”

“About the new furnace.” Rebecca raised her head and said, “I was thinking that if Magic Web 1 started up, the furnaces would be able to produce proper magic circles, and we wouldn’t need to use runes that are hard to use. If that was the case, the furnaces could be modified further, right? But I don’t know how to forge, so I could only discuss it with Hummel and ask if he had any ideas to improve the furnace or workflow…”

The old blacksmith Hummel was staring in reverence at the nobles. His head was lowered as he listened to the Viscountess and the Duke discussing the problems. For a commoner like him to stand in this place and to participate in conversations with nobles, he was feeling honored and nervous at the same time. When Gawain shifted his attention onto Hummel, this old blacksmith’s back was truly perspiring with cold sweat. He would have never dared to imagine that the noble lord who had never used the bellows to come and guide him on the construction of the blacksmith store. But Hummel had no choice but to cooperate; thus, he was already prepared for Gawain to propose a bunch of outrageous requests while Hummel and his apprentices would have to work desperately to complete the tasks…

In fact, such things weren’t strange. It was rumored that there was a viscountess in the north who had a sudden impulse to guide the gardeners on pruning. She had set a rule that every golden fleece’s blossom should have two flower buds instead of three… Because of this, over a dozen gardeners had suffered for a long time until the Viscountess had lost interest in this matter.

“There’s no need to be nervous.” Gawain could see Hummel’s anxiety and spoke in a calm manner. “Give me your opinion on this.”

“I—I don’t any opinions.” Hummel lowered his head and spoke humbly, “The young Viscountess is truly knowledgable and intelligent. These things that she designed are things that poor people like us would never understand in our lifetime. It is already taxing just for me to learn how to use it. How can I possibly have any opinions?”

Gawain looked at Hummel and shook his head. “Of course, you wouldn’t understand the parts on magic. But you know the most about the furnace and the anvil. You are the professional for this part, and we will respect your opinions.”

Respect… a commoner’s opinion?

Hummel thought he was hallucinating at first, but after seeing the particularly serious expressions on the faces of Gawain, Heidi, and Rebecca, he finally confirmed that it was true… At least, the Lord Duke had said so.

Thus, he could only brace himself and said, “I feel that— I feel that since the furnace is going to use real magic to increase the temperature, instead of just modifying the furnace, why not just start over and make a brand new kind of furnace…”

Gawain raised his brows. “Brand new?”

Hummel nervously grabbed his own arms and tried his best to use a clear and obvious way to explain his idea. “Since we are using real magic, the previous restrictions of those runes would no longer exist… Firstly, the furnace can be bigger, allowing more metal to be smelt at once. Secondly, since the magic circle wouldn’t have the problem of shattering, the furnace wouldn’t need to put out to cool off. Perhaps, it could constantly burn, and it would save us the time and effort of reheating it. But doing so would mean that it had to constantly be in use…”

Gawain listened intently and would only interrupt when he felt he could make a suggestion. Hummel was then able to speak all his opinions.

At first, Hummel was stuttering and speaking with error due to his nervousness. But soon enough, he was speaking smoothly and fluently. When he was almost finished, he felt very surprised. He didn’t expect Gawain to really listen to all his opinions so seriously. A duke was true nobility and was a figure that commoners would not dare to think too much on. But this duke was actually standing in this messy place and listening to the opinions of a commoner. Furthermore, Gawain wasn’t pretending to listen as he would nod while listening and would even raise questions and suggestions for some of the minor details!

Of course, these questions and suggestions would make Hummel bewildered from time to time. Was this noble lord in front of him truly someone who had never used the bellows and iron hammer? How could he ask so many questions related to smelting and smithing?

Although there were plenty of questions that Hummel felt were rather bold and imaginative, without a doubt, these questions were all closely related to actual situations of smithing and smelting… It definitely wasn’t nonsense like ‘golden fleece’s blossom should have two flower buds instead of three’!

When Hummel finally finished, Gawain let out a light breath and looked the old blacksmith in the eyes.

The old blacksmith got nervous. “My—my lord…”

“How many years have you been a blacksmith?” Gawain suddenly asked.

“Thirt— About thirty years,” Hummel replied quickly. “People like us don’t remember months and years very clearly…”

“An old blacksmith with thirty years of experience. I didn’t expect that you would have so many innovative ideas.” Gawain was a little puzzled. “According to logic, these ideas will normally only be thought up by youngsters who aren’t restricted by reasoning. How are you able to think of so many ideas?”

Hummel opened his mouth and only spoke after a few seconds, “… My lord, I’m not afraid of you laughing, and these ideas didn’t suddenly appear just now. They were accumulated over many years…”

Gawain revealed an interested expression and said, “Tell me.”

“After being a blacksmith for decades, I have a full understanding of furnaces and iron. If this is a habit, then it has indeed been very accustomed.” Hummel’s wrinkled face forced out a smile as he added, “But I remember when I was still an apprentice… Back then, my father was the village blacksmith, and I was learning the art from him. There was a year when the feudal lord wanted us to forge a batch of high-quality iron, and I volunteered to take control of the furnace. My father felt that since I had been learning for so many years, it was time for me to take charge. Therefore, he allowed me to try, but there was a hiccup…”

Hummel paused before saying, “I was too hasty, and before the furnace had enough time to cool down, I reheated it… and caused the runes to be shattered.”

“Once the runes were shattered, the furnace would be completely useless. It was the blacksmith store’s most valuable and most important tool. My father was enraged and hung me at the entrance of the store to whip for half a day, nearly whipping me to death. He said the only reason he didn’t whip me to death was that if I really died, no one would be able to help out with the work at home, and no one would be able to inherit the blacksmith store…”

“That year, we were unable to finish the feudal lord’s order, and my father suffered dozens of lashes in the castle…”

It was obvious that the incident during his apprenticeship had left a deep stigma in Hummel’s heart.

After being berated by his father and seeing his father getting punished at the castle, many ideas about smithing and smelting had started to germinate in his heart.

It was fortunate that after 30 years, those ideas didn’t wither in Hummel’s heart. Perhaps they had already withered, but after seeing Rebecca’s plan to ‘replace the furnace’s runes with a magic circle’, this old blacksmith’s heart was surging with hope.

For new hope to surge, it was already a rather promising breakthrough.

Since this old blacksmith wasn’t an inflexible person that was unable to accept new ideas, some of the things seemed like they could be prepared in advance.