Ah! The Old Man's Condition...?!
Akion Energies knew all too well that securing steel was a critical issue for constructing the public bathhouse.
"Hey, Cobb! When are you gonna fire up the forge?"
"We haven't even finished making everything yet!!"
It was all because of the reinforced concrete Akion planned to introduce.
He'd designed the bathhouse with a basement level for the boiler room, the first floor above ground for the baths themselves, and the second floor for other facilities.
The second floor wouldn't bear too much load, so he figured they wouldn't need massive amounts of rebar for this phase... but.
"The construction's delayed because of the steel shortage, young master!!"
"Steel... is gone?"
This era's smelting technology just couldn't keep up with demand.
And his tight schedule wasn't helping.
Concrete?
Mix quicklime—roasted at high heat—with brick dust or volcanic ash.
This was the Roman-style concrete, perfectly feasible here.
Aggregates?
With a major river flowing right by Energies territory and Ridaside, high-quality river sand and gravel were abundant.
Just sift and densify them.
"S-sorry!"
"It's just our tech falling short. No big deal, no big deal."
But steel supply had clear limits.
Even expanding the forges had its bounds, and there weren't enough skilled workers to man them.
Should they pour every ounce of steel into the bathhouse?
Akion's other engineering ventures would grind to a halt for months—years, even.
No wages for employees, straight-up bankruptcy.
I bit off more than I can chew...
"Akion looks down... Guess I gotta cheer him up with some beauty therapy."
"The Tower Master? If the young master calls you 'past her prime'— hieek!! That's not gonna happen~!!"
He could request aid from the family head, Delpord, but Akion didn't want to owe the count any more favors.
He just regretted having to push back the bathhouse timeline.
Of course, it wasn't entirely his fault—a mix of factors at play.
"Everyone, as you've probably heard, this is Sir Clad Steelbern."
"Huh?! Clad Steelbern?!"
"The first blacksmith to earn both Sword Master and Blacksmith titles—!!"
In the midst of that situation... the Steelbern forge, masters of steel production, shows up?
"An honor to meet youuu!!"
"Hoho, looking forward to working together."
Akion's mouth started watering.
*
Akion knew he was an engineer at heart.
Which meant his medical knowledge was laughably inferior to a modern doctor's.
"How's the sensation in your fingertips?"
"Still numb."
But a dietary regimen could ease it somewhat.
The humans here had survived natural selection, after all—improvement was gratitude enough.
If questioned, he'd just claim it was food engineering. Anyway.
There were four methods in total.
"Isn't this just molded charcoal...?"
"It's been specially processed, so it's safe to eat. And sweet—I mixed in honey."
First: Feed him activated charcoal, made by steaming high-quality powdered charcoal under high heat and pressure.
Activated charcoal was used in modern medicine for poisoning. It'd surely help Clad.
"Mm. Subtle, but this sweet-bitter taste is pretty good!"
But inhaling it was bad, and plain it tasted awful... so Akion had the mansion's chef mix it with honey and shape it into pills.
"Take it two or three hours after meals, and drink plenty of water. Absolutely."
"Young master, this is perfect for Goldie's taste!"
"Why are you eating it?"
Goldie got hooked and begged Akion for more. Anyway.
Second: Pectin.
"Apple peel jelly. Have it as a post-meal dessert."
"Apple peels... into jelly? Hm. A grown man eating women's sweets—."
Pectin in apple peels and cores had polysaccharide chains that latched onto heavy metals like pincers.
That made them water-soluble, aiding excretion.
At least it'd cut down on buildup from daily work.
"Then can benny have some too?!"
"Why are you obsessed, Tower Master...?"
This time, the Tower Master got addicted, forcing Akion to extract pectin all day by a copper pot.
Anyway, third: Amino acids and sulfur compounds.
"Truth is... my nephew said it stinks and banned garlic. But roasted like this? Delicious!"
"Sir Clad, you're a true foodie!!"
"Why are you suddenly excited about garlic, young master...?"
Just feed him roasted garlic and egg yolks consistently.
Fourth wasn't food, but baths.
"Ooooh. Never thought I'd enjoy such luxury in my old age...."
"Heh heh, even a blacksmith can't resist a bath!"
"Of course! It's our young master's masterpiece!"
Bitter-tasting salt contained magnesium sulfate; dissolve in water, filter residue, and bathe in the warm solution.
Salt was pricey here, but the high concentration drove magnesium ions through the skin.
"Mm. Skin any noblewoman would envy!"
"Thanks to Sir Clad, we got this treat, but... ugh, I want it daily now."
This would aid neurotransmitters like acetylcholine, wrecked by heavy metals.
"Even as family head, I never had such luxury. Thank you, Young Akion...."
"Just returning the favor for your service to the empire."
Above all, Clad was worth the expensive salt.
Akion dreamed of more than shared steel knowledge—Clad directing at the forges himself.
He couldn't swing a hammer, but he could guide and command from the side.
Akion hadn't even hoped for a full cure anyway.
"So get better soon."
"Kuhahaha! You got it! I'll follow Young Akion's orders to the letter!"
The day Clad turned Energies' blacksmiths into true smiths...
High-purity steel rebar would rain down.
Akion was already blissed out imagining it.
*
Exactly two weeks passed.
- Vrrrrm!
- BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!
"Woooaaahhh!!!"
"Incredible, Sir Clad! Shattering logs you couldn't even hug with both arms—barehanded!!"
Clad had returned to his prime Sword Master form in just two weeks.
Modern doctors would foam at the mouth—relief, not cure?!
"Prime power! Youthful vigor!! And, uhihihihihihi...!"
"What the...?"
It actually happened.
"Master poooower—!!!"
- CRASH!!
As the old man's booming laugh shook the mansion,
Akion stared blankly at the millennial wood smashed in Clad's hand.
Wondering if he'd really just done palliative care.
"Young Akion! My youthful vigor is back!! Thanks to your methods, I feel like my prime self!!!"
"It's only been two weeks?"
"Look at this!"
Clad's bumpy, discolored skin and feeble grip were gone.
- SPLAT~!
- Crunch...!
Replaced by bronzed, masterpiece muscles worthy of humanity's pinnacle.
"A-ahh—!! As expected of Sir Clad...!!"
"As expected of Young Master Akion! Curing a Master!! An feat we mortals couldn't dream of, done so casually!!"
The workshop blacksmiths cheered, calling Akion a genius alchemist.
Alchemists here often doubled as apothecaries anyway. Whatever.
"That's what makes it thrilling, right?!"
"We're in awe!!!"
"Don't idolize me."
How many times had an unintended result been both worst- and best-case?
Akion stopped thinking.
Any more, and he'd go mad.
"Young master...."
"Akion...."
"Don't ask."
Goldie and the Tower Master watched, eyes full of admiration.
"What sorcery did you work...? A Master back to his peak...!"
"Is this magitech too...?"
"It's engineering. But this isn't even that...."
Akion was exhausted just explaining.
He wanted to crawl into bed, call it a dream, and snore it away.
But his beneficiary, now bursting with health, had other plans.
- Whoosh!
"Waaah?!"
"Hahaha!! Young Akion!!! Truly grateful!!"
"I get it, put me down!!"
195cm musclebound blacksmith Sword Master Clad.
He hoisted Akion like a grandchild.
"If you'll allow, I'd treat you like my own grandson and cherish you!"
"Fine, just put me—."
- SWOOSH!
"Waaaahhh—!!!"
Thus Akion learned people could fly.
For about six seconds.
Clad had tossed him skyward.
"Long live Young Akion! Long live Energies!!!"
"Long live Sir Clad!! Long live Energies—!!!"
"Please put me doooown—!!!"
Akion wanted to cry.
* * *
As Energies' steel production muscles gradually bulked up.
- Clang!
"Young Akion."
Sixties face on a murder-optimized body that made gym rats shrink: Sword Master blacksmith Clad.
He laid out two blueprints before Akion again.
"I joined your workshop to repay my debt... but these two machines would revolutionize forge efficiency."
A forging machine and mana furnace—or electric arc furnace.
The forging machine was a hammering device powered by Akion's motors.
Easy with dampers as buffers... but.
"So... this melts scrap to ore all at once, like a dream furnace?"
The mana furnace was the problem.
From Clad's explanation, it wasn't quite an electric arc furnace.
"Exactly! Blast powerful lightning magic, and massive arcs erupt from the electrodes. Hot enough to melt plate armor in seconds!"
Up to here, it resembled his past life's electric furnaces,
"Then layer coal and limestone like in Steelbern's old blast furnaces. At least forty layers."
Actually similar to modern ones.
Just swapping 1200°C hot blasts for ultra-high-voltage arcs.
"Do Steelbern's furnaces use pre-processed coal at high heat? Sounds like you preprocess ore too."
"Hoh...! That's our Steelbern smelting recipe. You know your stuff, young one...."
"And this skips all preprocessing."
"Spot on. You're a genius!"
Unlike traditional furnaces, it omitted preprocessing.
A COREX smelting reduction furnace.
Too complicated—Akion decided to call it the COREX furnace.
"Already prototyped small-scale back home. By now... one's probably done! Kuhah!"
Conceived at medieval tech levels?
Prototype tested??
Akion thought the ripped old man before him was the real genius.
"Sir. Really okay not returning home?"
"Hoho. I understand your concern."
Why hand over such talent so freely?
The previous family head's will? Current viscount's?
"No worries. We've long eyed ties with Energies. Snag a few smiths and a furnace design for that? Bargain! Heh heh!"
"So that's why you mentioned Steelbern smiths migrating...."
Clad dispelled Akion's worries, revealing intent.
Seemed generous, but each piece was exactly what Akion and Energies needed.
"And... ahem! I have a lovely granddaughter... I'd like to introduce to you."
"Good with her hands?"
"Of course! Taught her myself! My grandniece and apprentice!"
For Akion desperate for steel: a steel facility build deal, right on time?
With designer/blacksmith lead + skilled workers migrating as bonuses?!
The grandniece mention was iffy, but...
- Clap!
"Fine, let's build it. How about 'COREX Furnace'?"
"COREX! Perfect name! Here's to the future, Workshop Head Akion!"
Just meeting her once—what's the harm!
If it meant stepping closer to his peaceful engineering world... Akion steeled himself for any price.
"Oh, getting late. I'll head out."
"Good night, Workshop Head! Uhihi, gotta write that letter. Maybe grandgreat-kids soon...!"
A slightly ominous mutter trailed him.