Dark Fairy Tale: Tyrant, Conquered Cinderella at the Beginning - Chapter 46

Chapter 46 Sand Casting Method!

This month, only a little over ten days remain.

In just over ten days, relying on these ten or so blacksmiths, let alone forging five hundred sets of breastplates and helmets, even forging fifty sets seems impossible!

Isn’t this a death sentence for them?

Despair appeared on everyone’s faces, and they all knelt down, kowtowing:

“Lord, please forgive us. We simply cannot complete this task!”

“Yes, Lord! Our skills are not enough to reach this speed. We beg you to see clearly that while it’s a small matter for us to fail, if we don’t manage to complete it and delay your important affairs, that’s a crime worthy of death!”

“Lord, you might as well just kill us now!”

Everyone began to complain.

Since failing to complete the task meant certain death, at this moment, they dared to say anything.

Rather than working themselves to death only to be executed anyway, they preferred to have it done quickly now.

Seeing their reactions, Richard couldn’t help but laugh.

“You think I’m deliberately making things difficult for you, giving you an impossible task?” Richard asked.

“We wouldn’t dare, Lord! We definitely wouldn’t dare think that!” Even though that’s exactly what they thought, some grumbled inwardly.

Richard could see through their thoughts but didn’t bother to argue further. He simply said,

“I’ll demonstrate it once for you. Pay close attention.”

Everyone perked up and stood, looking excited.

After all, they had just witnessed Richard’s extraordinary craftsmanship, a true master of forging!

Was he now about to teach them some secret, powerful techniques?

However, they were also a bit nervous, unsure if they could learn the lord’s skills with their current abilities.

Richard started preparing the tools.

He didn’t ask them to help since teaching them to make the tools would be a waste of time.

That said, he did have tasks for them to do.

“Go and stoke the furnace, get it burning hotter, and prepare some molten iron for me!”

Meanwhile, Richard began preparing casting tools.

He made an iron bucket and attached two long iron rods to either side of it.

After finishing the casting tools, Richard called over two blacksmiths:

“When the iron melts and I instruct you to fetch it, the two of you will lift this bucket and get the molten iron. Understood?”

“Understood, Lord!”

The two of them were thrilled to participate in the lesson personally.

Little did they know that this was just the simplest step, a tedious task with no real technical content.

Of course, this didn’t stop them from learning on the side.

After preparing the tool for holding the molten iron, Richard began making the framework for the sand casting.

After some quick forging, he had made three square iron frames, each about a hand’s width thick.

Richard planned to teach them the sand casting method.

“Go get some lime powder and clay!”

He casually pointed to a few people, who immediately set off to carry out the orders.

Even in the modern world, sand casting was still widely used and showed no signs of being phased out.

Even with technological advancements, adjustments were made to the iron used for casting rather than the casting process itself.

It’s like eating — whether you use chopsticks, a spoon, a ladle, or a fork, the tools may change, but the process of eating with your mouth remains the same.

Thus, sand casting was a highly valuable, versatile craft with endless potential for exploration.

Richard was teaching them this technique not only to help them complete this current task but also to allow them to grasp the method early on so they could further develop and refine it.

After all, teaching someone to fish is better than giving them fish; by empowering them, they could serve Richard even better, benefiting him in the long run.

At this moment, Richard began using some scrap materials to quickly fashion models for the breastplates and helmets. Since they were only for the sand casting, they didn’t need to be perfect, and he finished them quickly.

Soon, everything was ready, and the molten iron was prepared.

Richard had the molten iron poured out, and he stirred it with a long rod, checking its flow:

“Remember, if the flow isn’t smooth enough, you need to add some carbon powder!”

As he spoke, he sprinkled a precise amount of carbon powder and stirred it in.

“Remember this flow — keep the carbon powder ratio according to this.”

Then, he added some silica powder:

“Adding silica powder lowers surface tension, increases corrosion resistance, and improves water and fire resistance, as well as oxidation resistance!”

Although silica was a chemical substance, it was also one of the easiest materials for Richard to obtain.

It was abundant in rocks, sand, and dirt — over 90% of the earth’s crust was made up of silicate minerals.

Silicon was the second most common element in the Earth’s crust, after oxygen, so it was virtually everywhere.

After finishing, Richard had the two blacksmiths pour the molten iron into the prepared molds.

As the white smoke rose, the molds quickly filled up.

Next came the waiting period for the iron to cool.

Once it had fully cooled, Richard removed the frames, and everyone was stunned by what they saw.

“My god, it actually worked!”

“With this, making 500 sets of breastplates and helmets in eighteen days is no problem at all!”

Everyone was overjoyed.

Richard then instructed the head blacksmith to record the casting process in detail.

The blacksmiths treated this knowledge like a precious treasure.

Afterward, Richard left them to their work and walked out of the smithy:

“Send word to Sinton to gather those kids who don’t like studying but know at least three hundred characters. Have them come here to learn blacksmithing and forging!”

Richard needed more literate blacksmiths; it would make things much easier in the future.

Those with no interest in learning were a perfect fit for this job.

As for those who hadn’t even learned three hundred characters, they didn’t deserve to learn the forging trade at all.

Once the Eagle’s Domain prospers, having a skill will be a huge advantage.

But for those who don’t study or acquire any skills, they’ll be left with only the hardest, most basic jobs.

If they want to enjoy the benefits of the domain’s development, they’d better not even think about it; they’ll just have to envy others!

As for the campaign against the Swamp Witch, Richard had officially moved it up on the agenda.

He planned to carry out the attack at the beginning of next month, not wanting to wait any longer.

There could only be one master in his territory!

Moreover, from the more detailed information gathered over time, it seemed the Swamp Witch possessed a considerable amount of wealth and food.

And Richard certainly needed to reclaim this wealth and food, which were rightfully part of his territory but currently beyond his control, to fill his own treasury.