Day 79 of Banishment: Iron Production (2)
Thus, the next day arrived. Day 79 of her banishment.
… Her life on the deserted island had now surpassed two months, with nearly three months approaching.
When she first arrived, it was early summer, but now the island was showing signs of late summer. Before long, autumn would come, followed by the creeping chill of winter.
On such a day… Marylia was finally going to make iron.
To produce the iron, Marylia prepared a furnace, bellows, charcoal, and iron sand.
From here, she would melt the iron sand and turn it into iron... The process was actually quite simple. Layer charcoal and iron sand, and burn them relentlessly. That was it.
… Of course, there were some steps to be taken, like creating a hole in the side of the furnace to remove impurities or using the bellows to keep the fire strong. But on the whole, that was all there was to it.
And so.
"Light it up!"
Marylia quickly ignited the charcoal in the furnace. At first, she did not add the iron sand, using only the charcoal to heat up the furnace.
"Now… let's see how strong the fire can get. This is a challenge. Hehehe"
Marylia smiled fearlessly at the furnace as if she were facing a formidable foe.
… Hopefully, this would work.
Once the furnace was sufficiently heated, it was time to add the iron sand.
"I think the purity of the iron sand should be fine... Hmm, well, if it isn’t, I should be able to remove the impurities…"
There were many things to worry about, but in any case, nothing would begin unless she gave it a try.
With a bit of nervousness, Marylia used a roof tile as an improvised scoop to add iron sand to the flames spewing from the furnace.
The iron sand trickled into the furnace, sparkling beautifully. Once added, the color of the flames changed; with a sudden flare, the orange flames danced, and Marylia smiled with satisfaction.
"It's going well. Now, to add more charcoal."
She continued by adding more charcoal to the furnace. As it filled with charcoal, she murmured to herself.
"This is going to take patience."
From here, it was mostly a waiting game. She watched as the golems (and slimes, too) continued to pump air through the bellows, occasionally adding more iron sand and charcoal to the furnace… and simply waited.
"... Ahhh~ but it's so hard to stay calm~..."
Still, her anxiety refused to subside. She felt restless. Very restless!
Pacing around the furnace, Marylia muttered, “Will this work?”
Even though muttering wouldn’t change anything, it was understandable; the effort invested until now was substantial. The thought of all that hard work potentially going to waste made it difficult to stay calm.
"... Times like these, it would be nice to have someone else to worry alongside me… haha, maybe I’m being greedy?"
Marylia chuckled softly, picking up a nearby slime to help calm her nerves. Its cool, squishy texture was just right for a reassuring hug.
"The golems and slimes are helpful, but... it's still different from having another person around…"
She murmured absentmindedly.
… Back in the army, she had companions to fight alongside her. Many of them were uneducated, rough, or sometimes even vulgar, but… the presence of other people around her wasn’t something she took lightly.
A lonely struggle wears on one’s spirit. No doubt, the degree varies greatly from person to person... but even someone like Marylia, who was used to living alone with her golems, was no exception.
If only her fellow knights were here now.
… Thinking such idle thoughts, Marylia gazed at the flames in the furnace.
"… Oh, I shouldn’t daydream. It’s about time to open a side hole in the furnace."
After daydreaming for a while, Marylia remembered her task and hurriedly prepared.
"I don’t think the quantity is that much, so it should be fine… but well, nothing for it but to try, right?"
Muttering to herself, Marylia began driving a rod into a spot on the side of the furnace where she had previously planned to make a hole.
"Um, like this… right? Ah, it worked!"
When the rod finally pierced through the furnace wall and was removed… a red-hot liquid, a mixture of melted minerals, oozed out in a thick stream from the hole!
This substance was the result of melted sand mixed with the iron sand or other non-iron materials that had been inadvertently included. These substances had a much lower melting point than iron, so they conveniently flowed out through the hole when it was opened on the side.
"... It's a strange feeling, seeing stone melt like this."
Marylia sighed in wonder as she leisurely watched the melted minerals flow out.
As they reached the ground, their temperature gradually dropped, and they began to take on a darker, mineral-like color once again.
"... I wonder if I could use this to cook some meat."
With such a whimsical thought, Marylia prodded it gently with the tip of a wooden stick. Of course, even though the red-hot glow had started to subside, the minerals were still far from room temperature. After poking it for a while, the stick began to burn, and Marylia quickly let it go, extinguishing the flames with a quiet chuckle.
"... I’m bored."
In truth, she should probably be observing the flames, peeking into the furnace through the side hole, and adjusting the air flow or the proportions of charcoal and iron sand. But unfortunately, Marylia had almost no experience in ironworking. She could only observe and gather information for future attempts.
Which left her with time on her hands! Plenty of time! With little else to do, Marylia watched the flames rising from the smelting furnace, relaxed.
After about half a day of working the furnace, it was time to add the last of the iron sand and charcoal, and Marylia took a deep breath.
"Haah... I hope it worked..."
By now, there was nothing more she could do. All that was left was to wait for the charcoal to burn away, let the furnace cool, and… finally, break it open and retrieve what was inside.
"... I'll get to that tomorrow."
With an anxious and tense heart, Marylia set her sights on the following day, watching the furnace idly.
And so, the next day arrived.
The morning of her 80th day on the island.
"Alright… time to break it open.”
Feeling tense, Marylia started pounding the furnace with bricks and stones. With the golems helping, the clay-packed furnace quickly came apart, revealing what remained inside.
"... At least there’s something here…"
At the bottom of the furnace was a mass, dark and grayish, looking more like stone or glass than iron.
This was because the mass was a mixture of various minerals that had melted from the clay of the furnace and sand mixed with the iron sand. Essentially, it was waste material, like what she had periodically removed through the side hole.
The key was… what lay inside this mass.
"Let’s give it a go."
Resolving herself, Marylia instructed four golems to bring over a large rock... and had them drop it onto the mass!
After several impacts, the mass finally split.
With a crisp crack, the outer layer broke away, and Marylia peered carefully inside…
"... Oh! I did it~!"
… Glimmering within the fractured black fragments was iron.
It was so beautiful that she was taken aback, amazed that iron could look like this.
She took a small piece of the iron and held it up to the morning sunlight.
The iron had no smooth surfaces, with a rough, uneven shape. But that irregularity reflected the light, giving it a sparkling, brilliant quality.
"... Beautiful."
It was beautiful.
No other words came to mind.
The embodiment of human ingenuity, the fruit of civilization. Now, in Marylia’s hand, ‘iron’ existed. Captivated by its beauty, Marylia continued to gaze at the iron for a while.
… Thus, Marylia had finally obtained iron!
"... Alright, then."
She smiled, looking down at the contents of the furnace once more.
"As for the iron… let’s see, I should be able to make a few tools with this."
There wasn’t much iron. Although she had filled a clay vessel with iron sand, reducing it down to solid form made it shrink significantly.
But this was enough. For now, it was plenty to prepare for the next stage.
"Ahaha. Now, I can make an ax and a hammer~”
Smiling, Marylia happily set about constructing a kiln to advance her next plan: a more efficient way to obtain iron.
What do you think about this chapter?
