Chapter 86
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Reflections on the Dwarf Kingdom's Rise and Isolation
Accommodating and feeding all 127 dwarves was no small feat.
Renting inns in the capital would have been easy, but treating a national delegation that way was out of the question.
Thus, the imperial princess offered them a palace annex.
But Vulcan refused. There wasn't even a special excuse.
He simply said, "We dwarves can't sleep in human palaces."
In the end, I led the dwarves to the Uphills Foundation.
Fortunately, the new dormitory building, prepared ahead of next year's second recruitment round, had just been completed.
The beds might be a bit small, but considering the dwarves' stature, they could be a perfect fit.
Inside the carriage on the way, I asked Vulcan,
"Why refuse the palace, though? It would have been comfortable and nice."
"All dwarves have sworn to it. We avoid unnecessary mingling with other races."
"...Pardon?"
I tilted my head.
Then what am I?
"Don't tell me you still think of me as a dwarf?"
"...It was confirmed at the大会 that you are one of us. Helping you isn't aiding outsiders. It's helping kin."
"What kind of miraculous logic is that?"
"It might seem strange to human eyes. Just know that dwarves value promises above our own lives at times."
"I see..."
Free-spirited, fiery-tempered dwarves abiding by rules?
It felt somehow inconsistent.
Upon arriving at the foundation, I understood what he meant.
"What's this shoddy statue?"
One dwarf poked at my statue in front of the main building, frowning.
"The alloy ratio is all wrong. I'd have mixed in more copper."
"Leave it. Anything humans touch turns out like that."
They held a critique session on the statue modeled after me.
It felt oddly surreal.
Then it clicked what Vulcan meant.
'Ah, that's why they need rules.'
According to the dean, dwarves are "willful folk who complain nonstop the moment they open their mouths and itch to hammer anything they touch."
Without strict rules or oaths binding them, they'd have fought among themselves to extinction.
'Like social selection rather than natural selection?'
After settling into the foundation, I led the dwarves to the workshop.
Ooooh...!
Exclamations erupted the moment we opened the workshop doors.
"Bigger than I expected."
"The equipment's decent too. Not bad for humans—they put real effort in."
Heh heh heh.
This was the power of our workshop.
The current Uphills Steelworks Workshop had doubled in scale in preparation for airship construction.
We'd added ten more furnaces, refurbished workbenches, anvils, and tools.
All of it had been tuned to peak condition by our workshop crew.
Vulcan said to me,
"...You've expanded it considerably."
"The workshop folks and I put in the work."
For the record, Dolloren had handled the building expansion overnight.
According to Giuseppe, she'd be off hunting ruins soon, so I planned to squeeze her dry until then.
The dwarves waddled energetically through the workshop on their short legs.
One tapped the furnace wall with a hammer and remarked,
"Can't compare to the grand furnaces back home... but the insulation's excellent. Should give solid heat efficiency."
Another dwarf nearby shot back,
"Come on, be honest. Better than that furnace in your backyard, right?"
"You bastard! Take that back!"
"What? It's true! A hoe made here would outlast any knife from that thing."
Tobin approached through the bickering dwarves, wiping sweat from his brow.
He greeted Vulcan first.
"We've been waiting, Senior Vulcan."
"Tobin. How have the last few weeks treated you?"
It was a bit odd seeing the elderly Tobin fuss over Vulcan.
Moments later, Tobin came over to me, beaming.
"The paper mill boomed so much I nearly forgot our roots are in steelmaking."
"Good thing we expanded now. Usable, right?"
"Yeah... impressive."
Tobin nodded in satisfaction.
Some dwarves swarmed Callen with questions.
"Human! How do you know tempering without intuitively grasping metal structures?"
"Mostly by color. And my name's Callen."
"Hey, Callen! How does the power hammer's drive system work?"
"Oh, that...!"
Callen answered the barrage enthusiastically.
Then Vulcan approached me.
"I heard you designed this entire workshop, Isaac."
"Yes, that's right."
He pointed to the 10-meter-tall furnace inside.
"Impressive beast of a furnace... but one question."
"Go ahead."
"I know human lands lack coal. Without coke, operating something that massive is tough. How'd you solve the fuel issue?"
"Ah, that. We decided not to use coke."
"What?"
Coal and coke from it are the lifeblood of steelmaking.
Yet this world widely uses charcoal instead of coal.
Fossil fuels like coal and oil are scarce here.
Mana given, fossil fuels taken.
What an exchange.
I told Vulcan,
"Coal's too scarce; no choice."
Whether due to microbes breaking down plants too early or everything burning up like in the Permian extinction...
I'm no geologist; I wouldn't know.
The only coal sources are reportedly in the Steel Mountains, dwarven homeland.
That must be why they live there.
Vulcan tilted his head.
"No coke, and you run that big furnace how? Charcoal crushes under its own weight inside, blocking airflow."
"You keep clients' secrets, right?"
"Of course. I stake my cherished hammer on it."
...Dwarves have cherished hammers too?
Anyway, with his word, it was only fair to answer.
I whispered so only Vulcan could hear,
"Improved mana crystal efficiency. Enough for steelmaking."
"What...?"
"I'll show you."
I headed to the mana crystal-dedicated furnace he had pointed out.
F = ma
Using telekinesis, I loaded the furnace with iron ore and charcoal.
Rustle.
Crack.
Filling the 10-meter furnace caused the charcoal to crumble under its own weight.
This drew every dwarf's attention.
"Hey! What're you doing?!"
"What's going on?"
"Isaac stuffed that huge furnace with charcoal, not coke!"
"Insane!"
Murmurs spread.
Even dwarves at other tasks abandoned them to crowd around me.
"No way... He only designs well but knows nothing practical?"
"It won't even light like that..."
I told them,
"Everyone, quiet down for a moment."
"Does this look like a time for quiet?!"
No good.
Better to just show them without explaining.
My mana flowed into the magic circle beneath the furnace.
This circle had no special function itself.
It simply sustained the spell I cast on it long-term.
First, I calculated the heat needed to melt iron.
Then I adjusted the pressure to prevent the internal charcoal from burning up before reacting with iron oxide.
Finally, I converted the mana from the mana crystals placed inside the furnace into thermal energy.
The mana crystals inside began glowing and vibrating.
With oxygen blocked, the charcoal didn't ignite.
But the energy from the mana crystals raised the furnace temperature to iron's melting point.
I said to Tobin and Callen,
"You two, put on safety goggles."
"Got it."
"Yes."
They donned the goggle-like safety glasses.
Now I could relax.
F = ma
I opened the furnace outlet with telekinesis, and molten iron flowed out.
My eyes stung.
Dwarves would shrug off the radiant heat from the molten metal.
But a delicate human mage like me? Not so much.
A = εbc
I manipulated the absorption coefficient of water vapor.
A black shield floated before my eyes.
The dwarves muttered at the glowing molten iron.
"...Heavens. With just charcoal?"
"Where'd the heat come from? The charcoal didn't even burn..."
Heh heh heh.
They had to be wondering.
How mana crystals replaced fossil fuels.
But before I could speak, an elder dwarf beat me to it.
"Heavens... the prophecy was true."
"Prophecy?"
"...The reincarnation of Vulcanus."
He looked at me and declared,
"The son of the purest flame has appeared!"
Murmurs erupted.
"Reincarnation of Vulcanus?"
"No way... that kid's not even a dwarf."
"Heavens. Doesn't Vulcanus favor only dwarves?"
Chaos spread among the dwarves.
And amid it all, I...
"..."
Just stood there utterly still.
I had no clue what they were on about.