Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: From Primitive Era Chieftain to Space Age Emperor
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Seeing the copper ore, I had no choice but to ponder deeply.
Copper by itself couldn't be used for much.
In truth, it was the copper-tin alloy that properly deserved the name of bronze, but neither metal was particularly common.
With about 10-12% tin mixed in, the melting point dropped from copper's roughly 1084°C to around 900-1000°C, and castability improved dramatically.
Naturally, it also became hard enough to use as a weapon.
The problem was tin itself.
Even if you deliberately sent out expert prospectors, it was hard to find, so expecting to stumble upon surface tin ore scattered around? Better to abandon that hope.
In fact, arsenic bronze had been used even before that.
Not that they mined arsenic in primitive times—it was just that, while smelting copper ore that happened to contain arsenic, they noticed a garlic-like smell and discovered that the metal had hardened.
Even a small amount of arsenic in copper increased its hardness and toughness, making for a decent early bronze.
But the cost was far too steep.
Arsenic poisoning shortened lifespans and caused all sorts of diseases, so it could never be recommended.
So until we found tin, we'd go with iron bronze.
The discovered site was called a copper mine, but I'd seen iron mixed in there.
Mix in about 3% iron, and that was iron bronze.
It wasn't a perfect alloy—more like fine iron particles embedded in the copper—but while castability wasn't as good as tin bronze, quenching it produced bronze of fully satisfactory quality.
The downside was that the two metals didn't mix well, requiring temperatures up to around 1300°C.
Just 200°C higher and we could produce iron tools, so in a sense, we had the technology ready but lacked the materials.
With the bellows we had now, smelting seemed entirely feasible.
I hadn't visited the mine yet, so I couldn't be certain, but who knew.
If the iron content was high enough, we might skip straight to the Iron Age?
For now, I decided to lead a scouting party to check out the mine.
"Wide Foot! Guide us to the mine."
"Got it!"
"Black Stone, send wagons and laborers to the mine."
After giving my orders, I mounted my horse and galloped straight to the mine.
*
Arriving at the copper mine, the smell hit me first.
A faint fishy odor rising from the damp limestone strata.
With iron mixed in, it even faintly resembled the scent of blood.
A cliffside slope stretched long from northwest to southeast, one face having collapsed come spring, exposing its innards.
It wasn't an artificially created mine; cracks from contraction and expansion had caused one side to crumble away—that explanation fit perfectly.
Beneath the collapsed terrain lay scattered rocks in verdigris and navy blue hues.
Scraping one with the tip of my knife flaked it off like scales.
Glimmers shone between the layers.
Malachite and azurite were interspersed, crossed below by copper veins with yellow striations.
Occasionally, thin bands of red iron oxide, dried-blood-like, were sandwiched in.
It was certain.
A rock stratum blending copper and iron.
Just like we'd seen back at the tribe, though, the iron content was low.
"Hm."
"What do you think, Chieftain?"
"We'll take some ore back today, but long-term, it would be best to build a village here."
"No one would want to come, probably."
"Not right now."
Safe walls provided psychological comfort in themselves.
We had a standing army—questionable if such a thing even existed in this era—and we'd developed all sorts of weapons, boasting monstrous combat prowess.
Who would leave a city guarded by such a force for a place teeming with wild beasts and primitives?
Right now, you'd have to commit a crime close to exile for that to happen.
But.
Once a market economy took hold and the concept of 'property' emerged, things would change.
We'd use grain as currency, of course, but the metals produced here held more than enough value as substitutes.
People would insist on working here even if you tried to stop them.
We didn't have surplus production yet to even attempt a command economy, but within a few years, it seemed entirely possible.
I surveyed the surrounding terrain.
Not far from the collapsed cliff was flat land perfect for a settlement, with a small stream nearby—ideal for dumping slag or drawing water.
A prime candidate for a satellite city.
Once we made pickaxes and mining tools from iron bronze, we could develop the mine proper.
"Chieftain! The wagons are here!"
We mobilized three wagons and twenty laborers.
Population really was key to progress.
We could casually round up twenty able-bodied men without a second thought.
I immediately directed the work.
They gathered and loaded ore with golden bands and that tinged with red.
I had them sweep up any that bore both traits.
The rough stone for initial use was plentiful, so the job wrapped up quickly.
*
As the ore piled up in heaps on one side, I started on the furnace first.
Dig a shallow pit in the ground and layer it with clay, gravel, and limestone.
The furnace itself could be stacked with bricks, with an opening for airflow.
That was where the bellows would go.
We had bricks and lime, so this part wasn't too hard.
While building the furnace, I roasted the rocks in the brick kiln.
Next, crush the ore.
The roasting was to make the ore easier to pulverize.
Charcoal was overflowing from all the brick-making; we'd even built a storage shed for it.
I hadn't sorted it by grade for the Bronze Age specifically—just made it convenient to use—and now it was paying off.
Fist-sized chunks on the bottom, palm-sized in the middle, small pieces on top, layered accordingly.
Top that with crushed rock, mixing in flux (lime + fine sand) at about 10% of the ore volume.
This was the key: it bound the iron oxide into silicate slag and dragged it downward.
Heat slowly to draw it out as much as possible; with the bellows, we could hit 1300°C.
I didn't know exactly how long to heat or how much time it would take.
My knowledge came from Primitive Era Online, where a single 'click' did it, but reality wasn't so forgiving.
Sticky verdigris flowed like gloss on the ore's surface, while below, reddish-brown droplets of mixed iron and copper formed.
Pull out the clumps of reddish-brown metal and slag, tap with wood to shake off the slag.
Once the slag thinned, put it in a clay vessel, reheat to liquefy the metal, and cool it.
Collect the harvested metal into ingot forms.
With my first two ingots, I forged a sword shape.
No metal hammer, so stone hammer it was.
Forge while maintaining the red glow.
The classic scene from dramas and movies.
Copper alloys work-harden quickly, so reheat after a set number of strikes to avoid cracking.
Hammer for about five minutes, then reheat.
Repeat to shape the blade.
For the hilt, wood and leather.
We lacked metalworking, but woodworking and leatherworking? No problem.
We made bows and round shields; this was child's play.
Of course, there were trial-and-error mishaps along the way.
I'd seen something somewhere and foolishly quenched in water, shattering it; or missed the reheat timing and ruined it mid-forge.
Still, I completed it in the end.
Sharpened the edge on a whetstone, and it was impressively keen.
The first bronze sword was born.
Not even the easier tin alloy—this was iron bronze.
A tone darker than red copper, slightly eerie in appearance, but to primitive sensibilities, it looked cool.
"A sword that has drunk blood!"
"Ooh! Yes! The chieftain hammered blood into sharpness!"
"Uwo!"
"......"
It was copper, so a slight red tint made sense.
But 'drunk blood'?
Anyway.
Having made it, time for testing.
"Bring a bone knife!"
"Here!"
Red Rock handed over the bone knife, his hand trembling slightly as if overwhelmed by the bronze sword.
I had him hold it, then struck down.
Serack!
"No way!"
"A weapon like this in the world!?"
Obviously.
Not steel, but leagues beyond some bone knife.
Next, a stone knife.
Stone seemed tough at a glance, but it couldn't be made as long as a bronze sword.
Shorter reach.
And since it had to be thin to function, it shattered mercilessly against the iron bronze blade.
The red-haired folk went even wilder at the sight—the blade's color matched their hair.
"The spirit's sword!"
I raised the sword high.
"Uwooo!"
These guys were getting way too excited.
Well, a metal sword born in this era—eyes rolling back wasn't surprising.
The Bronze Age had dawned.
And with our iron-handling tech nearly complete, find an iron mine and we'd leap to the Iron Age.
The ripple effects from metals defied description.
Truth be told, this was the true start of civilization.
I declared to the primitives.
"Once we're all armed with metal weapons, we begin war."
"War! War again!"
We could sweep the surroundings even now.
Amateurs with crude spears, stone hammers, stone knives? Barely after-dinner snacks.
But absorbing populations raised food issues, and to perfect our tech further, I set harvest time as war season.
Yet the world doesn't always bend to one's will.