Farming in the Magical World

Looking at the half-blackened, half-reddish wood-cutter's axe in the stove, Lanny was bewildered!

This puzzled him greatly; he couldn't understand what was going on.

That shouldn't be the case. Coal can easily reach temperatures above 800 degrees Celsius. Given enough time, it can certainly make iron turn red and soften.

He had personally inspected the coal, and it seemed to be just ordinary coal, with nothing unusual about it.

Could it be because the bellows is too inefficient?

However, after he got closer to examine what were called wood and stone but were actually coal, he sensed something was amiss.

Even though he was close enough to the stove, he didn't feel intensely scorched, as if the flames weren't as hot as he had imagined.

This phenomenon reminded him of the candles used for lighting in the castle at night, which were noticeably cooler when his fingers were close to them.

No, something must be wrong. This shouldn't be the case. This is definitely not what I remember a blacksmith's forge looking like.

He couldn't quite figure out what the problem was, but the strange feeling in his heart just wouldn't go away.

So what exactly is the problem?

He always felt that there was something he had overlooked, but he couldn't remember it for a moment.

Oh, right, iron smelting.

Lanny slapped his thigh, finally realizing what he had vaguely felt was wrong.

If the coal in this world can't even heat up iron blocks, then where does this iron come from? How is iron smelted?

Looking at the man next to him with a "See? I didn't lie to you" expression, he figured he might have to ask him. After all, he was a blacksmith and would definitely have some information about this.

"Hammer, do you usually only take on repair work? Do you also do business making brand new tools?" Lanny asked Hammer, pointing to the machete on the blacksmith's table.

Iron Hammer nodded matter-of-factly, somewhat pleased with himself for being able to sell new ironware.

"Of course, occasionally someone will want to buy new machetes, sickles, and other farm tools, and I will sell them to them."

"So where did you get the iron for your new tool? And do you know how that iron was forged?" Ignoring Hammer's smug expression, Lanny continued to press for answers, feeling that he was getting closer to the truth.

Hammer first looked at Lanny warily, probably thinking that Lanny would never try to steal his business, before explaining that the iron was all purchased from Borough City.

As for iron smelting, he didn't really understand it either, as the technology was only known to the dukes.

"I heard that they have a magical iron smelting furnace that can directly smelt iron ore into iron!"

However, he was a blacksmith after all, and in modern terms, he was considered an insider. He had heard some rumors, but he frowned slightly at the rumors he heard, as he was somewhat uncertain.

Lanny understood, thinking to himself, "A technological blockade?"

It's not a bad way to control wealth and the common people. I guess the magical iron smelting furnace and such are just false information they deliberately spread to mislead people.

However, the phenomenon observed today remained unsolved until Lanny returned to the castle.

In the end, he could only conclude that the organ was faulty.

If we can't find the cause for now, we can put it aside for the time being. We can try the bellows first, though we don't know if forcibly increasing the air intake can raise the furnace temperature.

If he wants to manufacture those things, he must first raise the furnace temperature; this is the unavoidable first step.

Only by solving this problem can we have a basis for experimenting with either glassmaking or ceramics. Otherwise, it's all just empty talk.

Even as he approached the castle, he was still thinking about this problem. Since he couldn't find anything with low input and high output for the time being, he might as well try this first, since he had nothing else to do anyway.

Just as Lenny left, the door behind Hammer creaked open, and Karina walked out with a puzzled look on her face.

"Iron Hammer, who was that just now? Where did they go?"

She was carrying a woven wooden basket with some clothes inside.

When there isn't much farm work, she helps the villagers with sewing and mending, mostly without charging money, since they're all neighbors and there's not much of a distinction between them.

Of course, those who receive help will also bring food and supplies, which can be considered a form of neighborly mutual assistance.

This kind of mutual assistance is actually very important for the poor. It greatly improves their ability to cope with risks and also shows more humanity.

Whether in the West or the East, human kindness is a very important and excellent quality when the commodity economy is not developed.

Only in highly developed economic societies will such things be gradually abandoned by people. While life may seem more convenient, it also further severs the connections and interactions between people, making it difficult to say whether this is progress or regression.

"That was Lord Lanny just now," Hammer said with a grin, looking at Karina. He was very proud of being able to marry Karina, whom he had already fallen in love with.

Karina was the most beautiful girl in the village, and she had been eyed by several of her peers since she was young. He never expected that he would be the one to win her over in the end, so he was naturally very proud.

Now he can't wait to bring all his friends over and let them all have a good look at him with envy.

Ignoring the grinning Hammer, Karina put down her work and looked around in confusion, but did not see Lanny.

"Where is he? Has he left? What was he doing here?"

She had mixed feelings about Lenny. On the one hand, he had really scared her, although nothing bad happened in the end and she had acted very strong at the time. But it was impossible for her not to be afraid or hateful.

On the other hand, she was also grateful that Lenny had given her such a unique and special wedding.

At the same time, she was also worried that it would be awkward to run into Lenny at this moment, and that Hammer might misunderstand.

These mixed emotions left her unsure how to face Lanny, this nobleman.

"Oh, he's already gone. It seems he was just out for a stroll!"

Hearing that Lenny had left, Karina felt relieved, walked over and sat down, picked up her needlework and began to work slowly and methodically.

Hammer chuckled to himself for a moment, then, seeing Karina getting busy, he remembered that he hadn't finished his work yet. He quickly put aside his random thoughts and went to the blacksmith's table to get to work.

Then, the monotonous clanging and banging sounds once again echoed from the small blacksmith shop.

 …

As Lanny approached the castle after leaving the village, he saw Tiffany dressed as a maid, with a headscarf wrapped around her head, holding a huge pair of scissors, trimming plants and flowers in front of the castle gate.

Tiffany's movements were very skilled; the scissors flew up and down in her hands, and the green leaves of the bushes fell everywhere as they were quickly trimmed neatly. Clearly, this was not the first time she had done this.

Although the castle was small, it was not lacking in decorations at the entrance. There was a row of low shrubs, the exact species of which he did not know. Behind it was a small flower bed with some large flowers that were currently blooming in full glory.

Lanny initially thought these were roses, as they did look very similar from a distance. However, when he curiously approached them for a closer look, he realized they might not be.

Roses are actually quite familiar to many people. They have bright red flowers and thorny stems, and are the kind of flowers that people carry around on Valentine's Day and other special occasions.

Yes, it's what many people think of as a rose.

But actually, that's a Chinese rose. Real roses aren't as pretty as Chinese roses, so sellers won't tell you that the roses you bought are actually Chinese roses.

The plant that appeared in front of Lanny now, from its stem to its leaves to the shape and color of its flowers, really didn't look much different from a rose. No wonder he mistook it for a rose. But the reason he thought it wasn't a rose was because the flowers were unusually large.

The diameter of the entire flower is at least the size of an adult's palm, and that's with the palm spread out. He doesn't remember roses growing to such a large size.

"what happened?"

Seeing Lanny approaching from a distance, Tiffany, who was initially a little shy, thought he was just passing by and kept her head down without intending to greet him.

But seeing him standing there in a daze in front of the flowerbed, I became a little curious. I walked over and looked down, but I didn't find anything wrong.

"What is this?" Lanny pointed to the red flower in front of him and asked vaguely.

Tiffany asked him again, puzzled, before turning to look at him with a questioning expression. "Rose, what's wrong?"

Rose?

Lanny mentally converted the word and realized that Tiffany was indeed talking about roses, the kind of "roses" that appear everywhere on Valentine's Day, the kind he had previously thought he had mistaken.

"Represents love?"

Of course, there is no such thing as a rose representing love in this world, but this flower is indeed a Chinese rose.

That's strange, how can it be so big?

Did they eat Jin Ke La (a type of fertilizer)?

I didn't see Frank and the others put anything strange on it, so how come such a big flower is growing?

Touching his chin, thinking about the eeriness of the candle, about the half-blackened iron in the stove earlier that day, and looking at the enormous "rose" in front of him, he fell into deep thought.

It seems that the strangeness of this world is far beyond his expectations!

What a strange and bizarre world.