Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Historically, Tie Feng Mountain had changed hands several times. Neither the Herders nor the Paratu People would pass up such a natural iron mine.

Therefore, the surface outcrop mines on Iron Peak had been exhausted long ago.

Seventy years ago, the Suta Faction among the Herders once again occupied this place. They followed the ore veins to dig shafts, gradually exploiting the shallow deposits. The remnants of their old smelting furnaces still exist on Iron Peak.

Then, thirty years later, the land was recaptured by the Paratu People.

Driven off the land, the Suta Faction sadly sang, "Without Tie Feng Mountain, our swords and blades dull; without Nine Bend River, our livestock lack fence and stall."

Forced to migrate west after losing Tie Feng Mountain, the Suta Faction was ultimately crushed in the brutal tribal warfare of the wilderness and was swallowed up by the Terdon Tribe. The once powerful Suta Faction was thus swept into the dustbin of history, much to everyone's lament.

There is no need to mention the past of the Herders, as the pages of time have already turned.

Thirty years ago, the blacksmith Poltan moved here and lived off the mountain. He mined the ore, forged iron, smelted agricultural tools, and then sold them to new immigrants.

The newly arrived farmers were in dire need of agricultural tools, and ironware was in short supply. Seizing the opportunity, blacksmith Poltan made his first fortune.

With money came ambition. To obtain better quality ore, blacksmith Poltan led his men to dig a slanting mine shaft two hundred steps into the mountain, then extended the working face to both sides.

The ore veins here were sandwiched between layers of quartz, making mining even more difficult.

But compared to the Herders' method of vertical shafts, baskets, and slave labor as the main workforce, the mining efficiency of old blacksmith Poltan's era had greatly improved.

Forging Village became prosperous, and Iron Peak County even started exporting ironware to neighboring counties.

After that, the winds of change shifted once more—after years of negotiation and debate, the Senas Alliance was officially declared.

The various Republics reduced tariffs among themselves, beginning to trade on a broader scale. This promoted commercial prosperity, which was good for the Republics but bad for Forging Village and blacksmith Poltan.

Cheap ironware and bar iron produced in the Steel Fortress were transported through waterways into Paratu, devastating the Paratu blacksmiths who were still at the stage of handcraft workshops, quickly overtaking the Paratu ironware market.

Old blacksmith Poltan was one among those "routed."

What Winters saw later was the result—almost no Paratu blacksmiths were smelting iron anymore, all were buying ready-made bar steel; nobody was forging swords, all were buying ready-made sword blanks.

This might have been good for the Alliance as a whole, but it was bad for the present Winters, a terrible misfortune.

He intended to change this phenomenon.

…

Winters had already sent people to explore the mine tunnels, and he ordered Sasha and Carlos to mine small-scale ores in preparation for trial building a blast furnace.

It was impossible to restart the abandoned Iron Peak Mine all at once, but it was not difficult to extract a few hundred kilograms of ore for a trial.

That's because the very act of "mining" had not seen any significant leaps forward in thousands of years.

Slaves centuries ago and today's miners still carried chisels and hammers into the mines, chipping away with their arms "cling-clang." It was simply a matter of changing from bronze chisels to iron chisels, and then iron chisels to steel ones.

According to old blacksmith Poltan, there was also a "cracking method" that involved burning with fire before dousing with water. But in poorly ventilated mines, this method often resulted in fatalities, so few mine owners would use it.

Finally, Winters stood before Senior Mason, "Senior, I trust Revodan to your care."

Juan was addicted to hunting, Andre to leisurely horse-runs, and Colonel Moritz to alcohol; with Bard absent and Winters leaving, the only reliable decision-maker left in Revodan City was "Richard Mason, Military Protector of the People."

"Don't worry," Mason said with a reluctant, bitter smile, "nothing will go wrong."

In fact, Senior Mason had recently been carried away by his new cannon carriage and casting plans. However, the Senior had a strong sense of responsibility and was easy to talk to, unlike the other three who, when they said they would disengage, truly did disengage.

Without a word, Winters saluted the Senior with his hand—an unspoken acknowledgment that of the six people in the military council, three did no work, leaving the pain known only to the remaining three.

Mason solemnly returned the salute—but his mind was still on his new cannon carriage.

"If the axle is strong enough," Mason mused as his thoughts drifted far away, "perhaps it could work even without a shock-absorbing structure?"

After a simple farewell, Winters mounted his horse, nodding a final salute to the others.

Anna approached Winters with a cup in hand, presenting him with the parting Stirrup Wine before his departure.

He drained the cup in one gulp, raised his whip, and began his journey.