Glast’s Request Part 2

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“Wow…” I couldn’t help but gasp at the sight before me.

It was understandable. The warehouse was filled with thunder ores, shining brightly and intermittently with sparkles.

The ores were neatly lined up at intervals of several tens of centimeters, an impressive sight to behold. They couldn’t be piled up or allowed to come into contact with anything else due to the risk of causing an electric current and starting a fire.

It was a dangerous situation, and I could feel a grimace on my face as I turned back to see my family’s reactions. My father held his head, my sister clung to my arm, and my mother looked troubled. On other hand, Glast, who had brought us here, wore a strained smile.

What should I do? I’d heard about the situation before, but seeing them in such large quantities made me realize that this was really bad. It was so dire that words failed me.

“If they were only shining all night, that would be fine, but the crackling sound is too loud, and we need to do something about it,” Glast finally spoke. “If we cannot fix it by the night of the third day, I won’t be able to rent the warehouse at all. There are no other suitable warehouses available.”

“So we have three days to fix it?” I asked, trying to wrap my head around the situation.

“Well, alternatively, we could return the ores to the mine. But this would incur additional costs and result in significant losses. I’ve been so busy with the thunder ores that I haven’t had the chance to open the shop recently.”

The deadline wasn’t an immediate concern, but I knew that the situation was worse than I had initially thought. Seeing hundreds of thunder ores in the warehouse was overwhelming, but at least they were all a size that we could handle.

I tried to remember the situation as accurately as possible, searching for a way to solve this problem. Amidst all this, I couldn’t help but wonder about one thing.

“Uncle Glast, why do you keep the thunder ores apart from each other?”

“Well, if they get too close, they create a unique reaction.”

“A unique reaction?” I probed further.

Glast picked up a piece of mica sewn together that hung on the wall. He must have improved it since then. He pushed one of the nearby thunder ores towards another, and suddenly, both generated significant electrical currents, conducting electricity as if they were brought near a conductor.

“When they get that close, the electricity flows fiercely, making it dangerous. That’s why I keep them apart from each other,” Glast explained.

The thunder ores’ electric reaction only occurred in close proximity to each other. The electricity generated individually was intermittent, but the situation where they reacted to each other was relatively stable.

“Do you refine the ores?”

“Ah, yeah. I extracted and forged them. It’s not that difficult since their melting point is low, and it’s sufficient for my refining furnace. But there was a problem… Should we go back to my shop?”

There seemed to be more to the story, and we followed Glast to his shop. It appeared to have been closed for a while, but we went in and headed to the back room. There was a forge, with a large furnace and forging tools, and hammers and files leaning against the wall. Bricks were piled up in one corner of the room. It’s clear that the tools were well-used.

I picked up the metal Glast had handed me from the table at the end of the room, it felt lighter than it looked. It didn’t seem to be made of iron, and It had a slightly blue appearance.

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“What’s this?”

“It’s a metal refined and forged from thunder ores,” Glast replied.

It seemed well-refined, with a decent level of purity and a smooth surface. However, it had lost its characteristics. There was no electrical generation.

“Could it generate electricity if you touch it like before?”

Glast handed me another piece of metal. “Why don’t you try it?”

He must have already tried it himself if he said so. I touched the two pieces of metal, but there was no reaction.

“Um, how do you extract and refine thunder ore?”

“Well, first you crush it with a hammer and get it into a coarse state, then put it in a refining furnace with some special materials, burn it with charcoal, remove impurities, and then pour it into a mold before it solidifies,” Glast explained. “At that point, it was quite inferior, so I hammered it as a forging. The strength increased, but it’s still inferior to normal metals.”

I asked, “At what point did the electricity generation stop?”

“There was a slight electrical reaction when it was crushed. After that, it might have been when it burned and reached its melting point. From there, the process is pretty straightforward, and I don’t know the details. It could be because it was burned, extracted simply, or maybe the materials we put in were bad.”

It seemed similar to making pig iron. If we delved deeper, the forging method and extraction process might differ. If we had bricks, we could use a blast furnace for steelmaking. However, large-scale ones like a blast furnace that uses a water wheel would be difficult for a single blacksmith to have.

There was still an electrical reaction when it was crushed. So it’s assumed that it lost its properties somewhere after that. Normally, to process metal, melting or heating is common. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like there weren’t many other metalworking techniques in this world.

If so, should we think about something assuming burning as a premise? Burn it. Burning it.

For me, burning meant a flare. A flare was a small spark discharge of flint, and it ignited fire magic. In this era and world, it seemed quite difficult to ignite it. That’s why my magic was often used to light a fire at home.

It was blue fire, but it was no different from normal fire. …Normal fire?

What was normal fire? Fire was fire, but it was magical fire. It looked blue and burned with magic power. Of course, it used magic power when ignited, but it didn’t use magic power after the combustible material caught fire. But it kept burning.

Let’s try it out. It was just a thought.

“Father, can I show it?” I took out a flint from my pocket and showed it to my father.

He nodded after a brief pause, seemingly understanding my intention, “Yeah, sure.”

He didn’t seem to have any particular doubts or hesitations. Well, nevermind. It’s not that important anyway.

I then turned to Glast and spoke up. “I want to try something. Can you prepare for refining, Uncle Glast?”

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“Well, sure, I don’t mind. What are you going to do?”

“Just a little something for viewing pleasure.”

Glast looked a bit puzzled but didn’t ask any further questions. He started preparing for refining, and there was crushed charcoal in the kiln.

“All set. What now?”

“I’m going to light the fire. After that, just do your refining as usual.”

“Is that all?”

“Yes, it may not mean much, but it might be worth something.”

This was an experimental attempt to solve a problem and also my magic experiment.

I gathered magic power in my right hand and struck the flint. The released magic ignited, and a blue flame appeared.

“Whoa! Wh-what the… What is this!?”

Ignoring Glast’s surprise, I lit the kiln. The crushed charcoal burned vigorously, embodying the blue flames.

“Now, let’s get to work.”

“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t act like nothing happened! What was that just now!? Fire came out of your hand!”

“It was magic.”

“…Magic?”

I glanced briefly at my father. He gave a small nod.

“Yes, it’s magic. Magic is…” I gave a simple explanation.

My father had said before that it’s not a good idea to spread information about magic, but Glast was a long-time friend, so I judged that it was okay to tell him.

After I finished explaining, Glast was still a bit shaken.

“I can’t believe something like this exists… You all knew, huh?”

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“Yeah, they did.”

Glast and my father exchanged glances, but I couldn’t tell what kind of conversation they had. However, he seemed to give up on something as he let out a sigh and smiled wryly.

“Okay. Well, since I’ve actually seen it, I can’t help but believe it. Anyway, about magic? Does that mean the results will be different if it’s refined with magic fire?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t know.”

“What? You don’t know!?”

“Yes. I’m still researching it, and I really don’t know anything about magic. So, this is just an experiment. If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to find a way to use the ores without processing it. Currently, it seems quite challenging, but…”

For example, it would be difficult to use small-sized thunder ore to make any useful tools. Because as it gets smaller, the discharge amount decreases, making it more difficult to use. To ensure a certain amount of power, a mass of about the size of the palm is necessary.

There are some ideas, but ideally, it would be great to have it in a relatively pure and small form. Something small and convenient is always useful, regardless of the era.

“I see. Well, okay. Let’s give it a try for now. It’ll take about an hour, so feel free to wander outside.” Glast said.

“No, I’m interested in what might happen, so I’ll be watching.”

“If Theon is staying, then so am I,” said my sister, responding immediately. She clung to my arm and didn’t let go. It’s not that I didn’t like it, but it made it a bit difficult to move.

Moreover, Glast’s gaze was rather complicated, which made me feel complicated as well.

“Emma and I have some errands to run, so sorry, but we’re leaving the two of you in charge.” Father said.

“Okay, leave it to us.”

“Shion, Marie, see you later.”

We waved our hands towards our mother, who waved back at us.

Our parents left the forge.

We stood in front of the refining furnace and watched Glast’s back.

Adults, as seen from a child’s perspective, are big in various ways. Sometimes, even though I was an adult myself, I forget that I’m supposed to be one. It’s a strange feeling to walk through life a second time.

The fire flickered and shone brightly. The temperature rose, and my skin became sweaty. But my sister didn’t let go.

“I forgot to mention earlier, but once we’re finished, I plan on expressing my gratitude to you in some way, regardless of the outcome. So, give it some thought,” said Glast, still facing away from us.

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“If that’s the case, I have a few things in mind,” I said.

“A few, huh? Please don’t think of anything too expensive.”

“I don’t need anything that required money, so don’t worry.”

“I see. Well, that’s a relief. So what is it?”

“Before I tell you, I have a question. Uncle Glast, did you travel with my father in the past? My father was skilled in swordsmanship, and can you fight too?”

“Ah, well, I suppose so. As a blacksmith who deals with weapons, I can handle most of them. I’m also fairly strong myself. I may lose to Gawain, though.”

“I see. In that case, it’s fine. And please, your gratitude is only necessary if we succeed. So let’s not talk about it now.”

“You don’t have to hold back just because you’re a child. I’m the one who asked, and it’s a bit embarrassing to treat you like a child, anyway.”

“It’s not that I’m holding back. It’s just that it’s more of an emotional thing for me. I wanted to tell you that even if we fail, Uncle Glast would still be willing to help.”

Glast stopped working and turned to them.

“…Isn’t it exhausting to be so thoughtful as a kid?”

“That’s just how I am. I don’t even consider myself to be that thoughtful.”

“I see. That’s why Gawain said that too,” he muttered.

My sister and I exchanged glances.

“Did my father say something?”

“Oh yeah, he said that you’re too responsible for your age and that you need to cause more trouble. He thinks you should be more selfish and demand more attention.” Glast explained.

“Is that so…” I said as I drew back my cheeks. Well, I had a feeling about it, “Lately, Father has been helping with my magic experiments, and he seemed happy about it, I guess it’s okay?”

“I-I guess so.” Glast replied.

To be honest, I never wanted to inconvenience anyone. However, looking at it from a parent’s point of view, perhaps it’s better to be relied upon by your child. Come to think of it, my father seemed to light up when when we delved into magic research together.

As I lost myself in thought, I observed Glast as he worked intently. Meanwhile, Marie grew fidgety and eventually wandered off to a nearby chair, resting her chin on her hand. For a whole hour, we remained silent, waiting patiently.

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