Wizard: I brought the wrong system.

Chapter 329 Follow-up Arrangements
Yaro patted the scrap paper on the table and said softly, "Bevin, your initial mistake was that you calculated the value too precisely."

"Precise? Isn't that even better?" Heli curiously peered at the scrap paper.

Yaro patiently explained, "Hot air balloons are meant to carry people. If the calculations are too extreme, it will be impossible to add counterweights to balance the overall center of gravity."

"Because without the balance of sandbags, it is impossible to adapt to people of different weights by adding or removing sandbags."

"Secondly, there's the air... that is, the wind. Its density is different at different temperatures. You didn't know this and didn't consider this issue. You calculated the canvas results very precisely, but the few reference hot air balloons you made were all tested in a cool castle."

"The temperature difference between inside and outside the castle is at least ten degrees Celsius, and this difference could be even greater when the sun is shining. How can such a big problem be ignored!"

"This is not an ordinary math problem. It doesn't require an 'equal sign,' but rather a 'greater than or equal to sign,' leaving room for fluctuations."

Yaro looked at the boy beside him again: "You can calculate the limit, but you can't always pursue the limit when creating something new. You have to leave room for trial and error every time you start. Because... creating something new means facing new and unknown dangers!"

Bevan calculated the required volume of canvas. If the hot air balloon were made according to the calculations on the scrap paper, there would truly be no way out.

The boy nodded obediently: "Okay, teacher, I understand."

Little Heri turned to look at Yaro and asked curiously, "Air? Sir, isn't air just nothing?"

"Nothing at all?" Yaro shook his head with a chuckle. "If there were a fish-man who had never left the water and had never heard of the world outside, wouldn't 'water' mean nothing to him?"

"But there are bubbles in the water too," the little girl said, biting her finger, her bright eyes filled with doubt.

“Yes, there are bubbles in the water,” Yaro did not deny it, but instead lowered his head and asked, “Then please tell me, lovely little Heri, what’s inside those seemingly empty bubbles? If there’s nothing inside, why doesn’t the water take up that space? Why does it let those bubbles float to the surface?”

"Yes, why didn't the water take up those spaces?" What should have been a very common situation became something that Heri just couldn't understand after Yaro went around in circles with her.

"Matter exists in three states: solid, liquid, and gas. For example, water can be divided into three states: ice, water vapor, and water vapor. No matter which state it is, it cannot be said that it does not exist."

After explaining the principle, Yaro looked at the boy again and said, "Bubble is a common occurrence in daily life, right? A lot of knowledge is hidden in these common things. You must maintain your curiosity in the future and not take everything for granted."

The boy nodded emphatically: "Teacher, I understand!"

The two students, Yaro, were too young to notice anything unusual in his repeated instructions.

Dylan, who had been trained as a butler since childhood, was a shrewd man. He couldn't help but ask, "Sir, are you... preparing to leave?"

Heryl's expression changed drastically. "You're leaving?"

Yaro ruffled the little girl's red hair and comforted her, "It's not really leaving. I just have some things to take care of recently, so I won't be staying in the castle for too long."

"The materials I brought back, you should use the purification and grinding methods I taught you before, and have the servants prepare the materials as soon as possible. I will come back every few days to collect the finished product."

Hearing that Yaro wasn't going to leave immediately, little Heri was relieved and nodded her little head: "Okay."

"Deputy Butler."

Dylan took a step forward. "Sir, please speak."

"Arrange for the guards to burn a large amount of charcoal, and then grind all the charcoal into ash. Remember, the finer the ash, the better."

Cutting down trees for firewood was one of the guards' old jobs.

Although Dylan didn't understand what Yaro was going to do, he nodded and said, "Understood."

Yaro looked around and asked in confusion, "By the way, where is Butler Bard?"

The assistant steward explained, "In the last two days, all the guards at that checkpoint have mysteriously disappeared. Old Bard is worried that other refugees might find out, so he's been patrolling the area to try and keep the news under wraps."

It's not fair to say that Bard's approach was wrong. Refugees are inherently unpredictable, and if a large number of them flock to this area, it will naturally cause many related problems.

Yaro had come from the other side of the checkpoint and had witnessed those chaotic scenes, so he naturally understood this.

only……

"Why are there so many homeless people lately?"

As Yaro spoke, he turned his gaze toward the deputy steward.

The deputy steward often goes to towns within the territory to collect supplies, so he naturally comes into contact with a wide range of information.

The deputy steward did not disappoint Yaro. He bowed slightly and said humbly, "Rumor has it that many nobles on the front lines have defected to the enemy. The defense line is already in grave danger. No one knows how long it can hold out. It would not be surprising if news of the defense line collapsing suddenly came today or tomorrow."

Yaro asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid? Aren't there any bad rumors circulating among the servants?"

“The cowardly ones died years ago, and those who are afraid wouldn’t stay at Perrin Manor, much less return here. My lord… this is our home, and we are the retainers of Sir Claire,” the deputy butler said with a smile, his words devoid of any emotion, appearing unusually calm.

When storms come and human life becomes trivial, the survivors either become more cautious to keep living, or they accept life and death with equanimity and pursue their beliefs with greater determination.

Although the deputy steward seemed quite composed about the past tragedy, Yaro was, after all, an outsider and couldn't interfere too much. He could only nod to indicate that he understood and continued to instruct, "Have Steward Bard bring all the guards back. Don't worry about such matters for now; just guard the area around the castle."

"If you feel it's really unsafe, you can put up a fence around the castle."

"Aren't you going to block the news anymore?" The deputy steward was taken aback, then hurriedly advised, "Sir, once the news isn't blocked, those refugees will definitely rush this way like madmen. They'll be like a raging torrent, turning the entire territory into utter chaos!"

Yaro looked at the deputy steward with a half-smile, "You're reluctant to let those disaster victims flood in, aren't you?"

The disaster that struck Perrin Territory a few years ago happened very suddenly, so although there were heavy casualties, much of the wealth was hidden in the surrounding ruins.

Noticing Yaro's expression, the deputy butler knew that he had seen through his little scheme, so he could only mutter, "These all belong to Baron Claire's wealth, and are the foundation for rebuilding the territory."

While everyone else in the Earl's territory was thinking about how to escape, the deputy steward was still thinking about how to develop Perrin's territory.

Yaro didn't know whether to call him foolish or courageous.

Everyone has their own hidden agendas, and Yaro was too lazy to dwell on them. He coldly ordered, "I'll give you two choices: either bring Bard back and let the disaster victims cross the surrounding open space."

"Or I could have the refugees walk directly through Perrin Castle!"

“I have no right to manage the affairs of the Perrin territory, but you must remember that I am still the master of Perrin Castle!”

Faced with Yaro's forceful pressure, Deputy Butler Dylan had no choice but to lower his head: "I understand, I will inform Old Bard immediately."

Seeing that everyone else had been assigned tasks, Bevan quickly spoke up, "Teacher, what about me? What am I supposed to do?" "You?" Yaro looked at the boy, "The mistakes have been corrected for you. How long until you're confident you can build a hot air balloon that can take off?"

"As long as I have the materials, I can make it right away, in no more than a month!" Bevan was full of confidence. The structure of a hot air balloon is not complicated, and besides, he had made several small hot air balloons for data collection.

“A month?” Yaro pondered for a moment, then shook his head. “A month is too long.”

Yaro made the decision: "Start working on it tomorrow, at the latest by noon tomorrow. Make a hot air balloon that can carry people into the air, and then keep a close watch on the surroundings to see if anyone is determined to spy on the castle."

Bevin's face fell. "Tomorrow? There's not even enough time to cut and sew the canvas!"

One day was indeed not enough time, but Yaro had his own plans.

"I'll help you cut the canvas. You go and prepare the other tools. Once I've cut it, you can just assemble it!"

"You?" Bevan looked up in surprise. "Teacher, you can also cut?"

Yaro didn't say much, just nodded slightly, "To make alchemical items, one's hands-on skills can't be too bad."

"I'll get you some scissors!" Dylan, the assistant butler, immediately offered his services.

“No need,” Yarrow waved his hand in refusal, then asked, “Is the canvas kept in the storeroom?”

Butler Dylan quickly replied, "No, because you mentioned you needed canvas, I put it in the armory."

"Okay, then you all go about your business, I'll go by myself."

……

With Yaro's order given, everyone sprang into action, and the entire castle was a hive of activity.

As soon as Yaro stepped into the armory, he saw folded canvases that occupied half of the warehouse.

With limited space in the room, he unfolded the canvas inch by inch, feeling the shape of the sail and calculating the length of one side.

—A triangle with a small corner missing!

The longest single side is forty-seven meters.

Generally speaking, the length of a sail is not much different from the size of a sailboat. In other words, this canvas should have been hung on a sailboat of about several tens of dollars.

Boats of this size are generally inland waterway vessels.

Calculations show that the sail is indeed not very large.

The sails on the ship he used to be on were much larger than this one, but back then the sails were hung on the ship, so the visual impact was definitely not as great as it is now.

After calculating the size, Yaro used a charcoal pencil to draw the texture of the hot air balloon's air bladder on the canvas, then picked up the Fiery Greatsword and activated the Heat Melting spell.

As blue smoke continued to rise, the pungent smell of burning filled the entire room, and Yaro had no choice but to put on the frightening-looking skull oxygen mask again.

Dissolving, cutting, drilling, hot-melting bonding... Yaro did it all with exceptional fluidity.

What Bevan might not be able to do well in half a month, he did so simply.

The main problem was that the canvas was too thick, making it difficult to cut with just scissors. This also made sewing very difficult.

After all, hot air balloons have very high requirements for stitching, and the connection points must be airtight, just like other parts. This is a time-consuming process, and it is reasonable for Bevan to say that it will take a month.

Even with the help of the heat-melting technique, it was still no easy task for Yarrow to deal with such a large canvas.

The busy time passed exceptionally quickly. In the dimly lit room, Yaro had already used a light spell to illuminate the space.

After an unknown amount of time, Bevan's voice came from outside the room:

"Teacher...cough cough cough...Teacher! Are you done with your work? Take a rest, dinner has been prepared for you."

After a long period of busy work, even with all the doors and windows open, the room was filled with a thick, pungent smoke.

Yaro's eyes were stinging from the thick smoke. He blinked his swollen eyes and replied in a muffled voice, "No need, I'll be done in a minute."

"So... teacher, are there classes today?"

Attend class?

Is it already 8 PM?

Yaro then looked up at the window and saw that it was indeed full of stars. He glanced at the last unfinished part of the hot air balloon and turned back to reply, "You all just focus on the tasks I've assigned. Also, tell Bard to keep a close eye on things and not let any strangers near the castle!"

Perhaps knowing his own limitations, Bard, though assigned to be the steward, actually performed the duties of a guard captain.

"Okay, teacher, I'll go and inform Old Bard right away."

As the hurried footsteps gradually faded, only the sounds of Yaro bustling about remained in the room.

Once the hot air balloon was almost finished, Yaro took out the few pieces of canvas he had previously saved and sewed them together again to form a complete triangular canvas.

This time he's going to make a hang glider—the deluxe version.

The main structure uses a special material called 'fire ant steel'.

Okay, this is the name he translated. I heard it's the shell of an ant, very light in texture, containing subtle void magic.

It is very light in texture, but its hardness is comparable to that of ordinary steel. However, it is extremely vulnerable to fire, and the powder can be ignited. It is also inexpensive and is generally used as a special additive in alchemical materials. Some unusual varieties can also be used as fuel additives.

—For example, it is rich in pure fire or pure light elements.

Yaro guessed that this thing might be aluminum, and as for why it was so hard, it might be related to the void magic.

This principle is similar to how pure iron is very soft, but iron containing only 0.3% to 0.5% carbon becomes hard medium-carbon steel.

(End of this chapter)