Farming in the Magical World

"But the patterns on the glass... it seems like we can't do that for now!"

As soon as Cody finished speaking, seemingly worried that the master would be angry, he quickly explained, "It's not impossible. If the solution hasn't solidified yet, I can still press out a rough shape!"

"What I mean is, strictly following the dimensions you specified seems impossible!"

"Oh!" Lanny nodded, understanding Cody's meaning.

Simply put, molten glass is very viscous and soft, but it is still a solution and it will flow. If it is made according to the dimensions of Lanney, it will be very difficult to control!

He had anticipated the difficulty of this task, but he still had some hope that the people in the workshop, who dealt with glass every day, might have a solution. However, it seems that there are no surprises now!

"Then make me a plain one according to the dimensions first!" Lanny calmly instructed, but sighed inwardly. It seemed that the only option was to try carving in water!

While Alex was working, Lanny asked Cody to find a bucket of clean water and a carving knife, as these were tools needed for the experiment later!

It wasn't that he disliked the water in the workshop for being unclean; the problem was that he wanted to try carving in it, and the water used for cooling was currently murky. If he used water like that, would he be carving glass or carving his own finger?

To his surprise, Cody took quite a while to arrive. It wasn't until Alexander had adjusted the mold and the poured solution was almost completely cooled that he returned with his things, followed by a little tail—Iron Hammer!

"Sir, I saw that you wanted to carve something on the glass, so I took the liberty of having Brother Hammer get a new carving knife. I'm afraid an ordinary carving knife can't cut through this glass!" Cody explained as soon as he returned, and Hammer smiled and nodded in agreement.

Nodding at Hammer and patting Cody on the shoulder, Lenny didn't say anything, but in his heart he once again admired Cody's intelligence. This guy really was a talent that had been wasted.

He had already calculated the time it would take for Alex and even guessed Lanny's next move. He actually dared to have Iron Hammer make tools on the spot. If this isn't talent, what is?

Even though Cody had considered the issue of hardness, and Lanny had some expectations about the hardness, they both realized after trying it that they had seriously underestimated it. Even without being submerged in water, this thing could barely leave any marks when you tried to scratch it, let alone in water!

Even though Iron Hammer was not convinced and rolled up his sleeves to try it out, it still didn't work!

Of course, Lanny wouldn't give up easily, so he had Iron Hammer try it in the water again. The result was as expected: it still couldn't be chewed up!

With a sigh, it seems the only option left is to try the second method: modifying the mold!

Lanny was unwilling to try the second method first because it was more complicated and likely to cause more problems.

First of all, there is the issue of molds. Nowadays, glass molding uses ordinary copper molds, which conduct heat quickly and are easy to shape. This is why Yali can quickly complete mold adjustments. There is a furnace here, and after heating, it can be hammered according to the size!

However, the biggest problem with copper molds is that they are not easy to demold; in other words, the finished containers tend to stick to them.

At first, making cups was fine, but later when Cody started making small bottles for his apprentices to practice on, he reported this problem. Many bottles had changed shape, and the failure rate was high, and many of them were due to this reason!

This defect already caused problems with the glass bottle, and it would become a fatal problem with the magic circle he was about to create.

The lines of the magic circle are very thin, only one or two millimeters. This makes it difficult to demold. Pulling on it will either cause the lines on the mold to fall off or change the shape on the glass substrate.

What is the most basic requirement for a magic circle? It is, of course, precise engraving, but copper templates simply cannot achieve this!

Actually, the best mold material for making this array substrate is iron, or steel, but processing iron is a problem. These lines are too thin, how can they be processed?

Moreover, it's a raised positive line, which means that the excess part needs to be cut off. He doesn't even have a machine tool. To think he can cut steel is just wishful thinking!

"Sir, could we use the clay we used to make the crucibles to make the mold?" After watching Lanny's entire process, Cody roughly understood where the difficulty lay, and after thinking for a while, he came up with an idea!

"Well, let's give it a try!" With no other options, Lanny had no choice but to try anything, just in case.

Upon hearing that the master had agreed, Cody felt as if he had returned to the time when he was developing glass. He immediately went to the next room—the crucibles always needed to be replenished, so the workshop naturally stored the materials in the carpenter's workshop next door, where there was more free space!

The carpenter's workshop was indeed quite empty, with plenty of space and few people around. When Cody told him that the master had come to make something new, Jimmy immediately followed him over!

Well, the four-person R&D team has reunited!

"Master, hehe, I was just curious... so I came to take a look!" Seeing Lanny looking over, Jimmy chuckled, but his eyes darted away.

"Jimmy, what's wrong?" Lanny asked immediately after glancing at Jimmy.

Normally, he would probably ponder why this was happening, but right now his mind was completely focused on creating the formation, so he had no time to think about such things.

"Sir, I'm fine, it's just, it's just..." Jimmy's face flushed red, and he hesitated for a long time before continuing, "There's nothing much going on at Number Two lately, sir, could you, could you give us some work?"

"Oh, I see—" Lanny nodded in sudden realization!

To be honest, the woodworking workshop is in a somewhat awkward position right now. Of the two earliest workshops established, Iron Hammer's workshop was responsible for making Dark Pattern Swords and Red Tassel Spearheads, with Dark Pattern Swords generating particularly high profits.

The third workshop, which was established last, was responsible for glass production. Although the profit margin was not as high as that of weapons, it had the advantage of large volume and was directly managed by Cody.

Unfortunately, Jimmy's carpentry workshop is currently the least busy, only responsible for repairing weapon handles, shields, and some miscellaneous tools, which brings almost no direct economic profit to the castle.

He was one of the three who participated in the research and development. How could he not feel awkward in front of Iron Hammer and Cody? If it weren't for the fact that it was rare for Mr. Lanny to come to the workshop, he would have preferred never to show his face in front of these two again!

What kind of tasks can be arranged that are both within the castle's current capabilities and can be sold?

"By the way, how's the sofa project you were asked to work on going?"

Lenny suddenly remembered the task he had given this guy, but he hadn't had time to deal with it recently, and Cody hadn't mentioned it either, so he had almost forgotten about it!

"Cough cough... ...almost there, cough cough... ...it's much smaller now than before!" Hearing Lanny ask about it, Jimmy became even more embarrassed, coughing awkwardly incessantly!

Lanny only provided an exterior view; there was no internal structure shown at all. The first batch of sofas he made were huge and thick, essentially just beanbag chairs. He thought about it day and night, but the chairs he made were either rock-hard or limp and floppy, never meeting his requirements!

On the contrary, his chair-making skills have improved dramatically during this period!

"Okay, go and bring what you made here so I can take a look!"

Lenny was too lazy to go over there. Since he was already the one who "made a living by talking," he decided to skip the errands.

After Jimmy left, Lanny began his own experiment. Unsure of his chances, he didn't bother to finish carving the design first. Instead, he used a carving knife to carve a few raised lines on the adobe block that matched the width of the grooves, and then threw the thing directly into the furnace to be fired.

If this meets the requirements, it's not too late to add details later. Finishing it now would be a waste of time!

Just as Jimmy put the mud bricks into the stove, he brought over a few oddly shaped "sofas" with two apprentices!

After a quick glance, Lanny frowned. It seemed that Jimmy had never seen a real sofa before and didn't understand its internal structure. These samples were quite strange!

It was one of the designs that most resembled a normal chair that caught Lanny's attention!

Calling this a sofa is definitely not right. To put it bluntly, this thing is just a wooden chair stool covered with a layer of fabric. I pressed it with my hand, and it seems to be stuffed with something inside!

Isn't this just a foam-covered conference chair that we often saw in my past life?

"That's not bad!" After sitting down and feeling the soft seat, Lenny patted Jimmy on the shoulder and praised him with a smile!

After being patted by Lenny, Jimmy felt his body become much lighter. He looked at Lenny with narrowed eyes and said, "Sir, do you really think it's good? But it doesn't look like the sofa you painted!"

"Give me a little more time, and I'm sure I can make the sofa you want!"

This Jimmy is really... ...Lani waved his hand, both amused and exasperated, "This is definitely not a sofa, it's called a soft chair!"

Lanny wasn't sure if these upholstered chairs existed at the moment. If not, it would still be a business opportunity. If they did, well... it would still be a business, but the profit margin might not be as high!

But Lanny was still confident that he could make a profit. The castle's wood processing was already semi-mechanized. They had tools for manual sanding and cutting. Once they got some polishing equipment, he didn't believe anyone could do it faster and better than him!

"Take care of this part, double the thickness of the filling material at the bottom, and send a few sheets to my study when they're done!" He pointed out a few areas that needed improvement, then waved his hand and turned to check the samples he had just put into the furnace!

Jimmy had the apprentices carry the samples back with great effort, while he stayed behind, watching Lanny's actions with curiosity!

Of course, he also kept the sample that Lanny had his eye on... ...just in case the master gets tired, he can sit on it, right?

He always thought he was quite careful in this regard, so it was impossible for him to make the silly mistake of moving again!

"Sir, it's done. Do you think it's alright?"

Alex had already taken the contents out and placed them in front of Lanny!