NOVPUB
Chapter 215 - 215
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It took a few hours of discussing my designs with Mum to justify my need for the gold. Even though she wasn't savvy on the technical aspects of what I was explaining, she understood that with better tools, I could increase production on more complex pieces with greater precision and speed. And if what I was commissioning performed as I claimed, the revenue I would generate would more than cover the cost.
"I can see why you will need to outsource for this project, there are simply too many parts to make in a timely manner. How many craftsmen are you approaching for this project?" Mum asked me.
I started listing off the craftsmen I needed while counting with my fingers. "I would need the local blacksmith and most likely the blacksmiths from the surrounding villages, a carpenter and mason to expand and renovate my workshop, and an alchemist to make some tools and chemicals I want to try using in my craft. I will handle all the enchantment and array work when all the parts are delivered to me."
Mum nodded and called in a scribe, "Write up ten blank Writs of Commission." she ordered the scribe as she took off the signet ring that Dad passed to her so she could perform administrative tasks in his absence.
She then passed me the signet ring and a stick of red wax to stamp into seals with the signet ring, "Go commission your parts." She provided me with a sack of gold and told the knights on standby to escort me into town.
***
Commissioning what I needed went without a hitch. I got a few weird looks from the craftsmen and women who I ordered from, but they were happy to take my gold all the same. The main reason I got weird looks was that I commissioned each part separately, so they did not know how it was to be assembled, nor did all the parts come from the same craftsman, so they did not fully know what I was making.
The only slight complication was getting the local blacksmith to subcontract his work to blacksmiths in the nearby villages, as he was trying to keep all the work for himself, at least until I provided a deadline to adhere to before I started piling on heavy penalties. 𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
While waiting for all the parts to be manufactured, I had to build what would power all my future tools. I bought up most of the blacksmith's copper supply and an expensive ingot of pure mithril. I went to a general supply store to buy up two of their largest caldrons, each big enough to fit an adult man inside.
When I got back to my workshop, I got to crafting.
***
For almost a month, I hammered, shaped, extruded, and even did some welding with the help of instinctive magic. All for the sake of creating the beating heart of my workshop.
With the final pipe fitted and welded into place, I took a few steps backward to look upon what I created.
To a person from this world, what I created resembles two enormous caldrons fused together at the edges to form an oddly shaped, egg-like tank. From the tank, copper pipes extend to a metal casing with arms protruding from two openings on the side; these metal arms connect to two points on a wheel next to the metal casing. A most bizarre creation to most people in this world.
If an engineer from my old world saw what I had created, they might have had a stroke at the sight of my cobbled-together steam engine. And while what I created might be an abomination in the sight of the engineering gods, this was my magic steam engine and I love it.
Now all I had to do was test it and pray it does not blow up.
I filled the tank with water, placed a mana crystal in a mana circuit that connected to the mithril plate at the bottom of the tank, and bridged the mana circuit. The moment I did that, ember runes flared on the mithril plate, heating up the tank.
I then walked out of my workshop with a towershield and peeped in through the window, towershield at the ready in case my engine blows up and shoots shrapnel at me.
I waited... and waited... and waited even longer. It took a good twenty minutes before I noticed the first puff of steam escaping from the small pressure release on top of the tank. I waited another five minutes for the pressure to build up before I picked up the string I had prepared for this moment and pulled.
The string was connected to a long valve handle, enabling me to open the valve remotely and release the accumulated steam pressure.
I tensed and activated my Primal Aura in case I needed to run away, but to my relief, nothing blew up, and my steam engine was chugging along just fine, rapidly spinning the wheel.
Just to be safe, I let the steam engine run for an hour before breaking the mana circuit to the mana crystal to depower the mithril heating plate.
Right off the bat, I could see some issues that needed to be addressed. First was the heating element; it took too long to heat up. I might need to attach the heating plate directly to the bottom of the tank, or even better, have the heating element in direct contact with the water; that should speed things up.
Another major problem was the humidity. With all the steam being expelled, the workshop has become a sauna. And I think I have a solution to the problem, all I need is some inverted funnels to catch and condense the steam, and if it works, the condensed water can be reintroduced into the cycle.
I then got to work while the ideas were still fresh in my mind.
***
A week after the first test of my steam engine, the first batch of commissioned parts arrived, but I could not assemble anything because I did not have a full set of parts. But on the other hand, my steam engine was chugging along like a champion, and the best part was that it was totally silent unless you stuck your head inside the silencing array surrounding it.
And the sliencing array was not the only improvement added on, besides the dozens of tweaks to refine the system, the water now heats up in less than half the time, and the steam is condensed into a separate tank that can be fed back into the boiling tank with the turn of a valve.
Despite the hideous design, my engine works like a dream.
My admiration of my own handiwork was interrupted by a knock on my workshop's door. When I went outside to see who it was, I was greeted with a horse-drawn wagon escorted by one of my house's butlers.
"Young Master, there is a delivery for you." the butler said as he handed me a stack of papers that turned out to be the delivery order of the last batch of parts I needed to start assembly.
It was time...
