285th Day of Banishment: End of Winter (2)
A week passed, and Marylia and her team continued forging iron.
They burned vast amounts of iron sand with an equally large quantity of charcoal, removing impurities and transforming it into high-quality steel. With such a scale, everything involved was monumental: the largest furnace, the most charcoal, the most iron sand. Standing before the massive equipment and materials, Marylia couldn’t help but feel deeply moved.
Beside the brightly blazing furnace, golems operated foot bellows, pumping copious amounts of air into the furnace. Thanks to improved bellows efficiency, the resulting iron this time would undoubtedly be of exceptional quality.
Once a round of forging was complete, the furnace would be dismantled, and the lump of iron, covered in impurities, would be extracted. Immediately, construction on the next furnace would begin—kneading clay, mixing in crushed, fired earth, stacking it up—and once the new furnace was ready, charcoal and iron sand would be loaded in again, bringing it to life with fire.
This cycle repeated endlessly. In front of Marylia’s home, now converted into a forge, the constant roaring flames made it feel like summer—an endless summer right after winter’s end!
The hard work paid off.
On the 285th day of banishment, Marylia finally succeeded in processing all the iron sand in the furnace.
And then...
“... Amazing. This is high-quality steel.”
Marylia gazed at the resulting lump of iron, her cheeks flushed with excitement.
“And the quantity is incredible... With this, how many more Iron Golems could I make?”
During winter, golems led by Iron Golems tirelessly worked to gather iron sand, and their efforts bore fruit.
The iron produced was enough to create 20 Iron Golems.
“We need to plan our next steps carefully.”
On the 286th day of banishment, as the Iron Golems supervised the Terracotta Golems in manufacturing new Iron Golems, Marylia sat with parchment and a quill, deep in thought.
“At this rate, if we continue increasing production, we should reach 100 Iron Golems in less than two years... but what should I do?”
Marylia had two main goals.
One was to assemble at least 100 Iron Golems. The other was to return to her homeland.
If she couldn’t achieve these two objectives, her banishment would have been meaningless. She had to accomplish them within the promised three years.
“I need to set up another site for gathering iron sand. We must increase the efficiency of iron sand collection... With more Iron Golems, productivity will multiply exponentially.”
Thus, to reach the goal of 100 Iron Golems as quickly as possible, she decided to collect iron sand at multiple sites simultaneously.
As Iron Golems were created, producing additional ones will become easier. Therefore, producing as many as possible should be the top priority.
“At the same time, I need to think about the ship...”
However, one significant and unavoidable challenge loomed over Marylia.
“... I can’t design a ship.”
Indeed.
Even if she prepared 100 Iron Golems, she lacked a means to return to her homeland.
Ships were marvels of human ingenuity, expanding humanity’s reach and enabling efficient transport of goods over sea routes. They contributed to prosperity—and even to the concept of banishment. Without ships, banishment and exile to remote islands wouldn’t have been possible.
While Marylia felt conflicted about this, the issue boiled down to one fact: ships required immense knowledge, skills, materials, and time to build, and on this island, constructing one seemed nearly impossible.
The reason was simple: she lacked the necessary knowledge.
Despite her extensive reading, Marylia didn’t know enough to design a ship. She understood the basics of ship structures and types but had never seen detailed blueprints. The Odeil family engaged in maritime trade, but Marylia wasn’t involved in those operations. It was natural, as she wasn’t the heir.
“Making something half-baked that sinks and kills everyone... That’s no joke. What should I do?”
If it weren’t a ship, Marylia might have been able to create it through trial and error, improving it bit by bit. But a ship was different. Once at sea, lives depended on it. Could she entrust her life and the Iron Golems to a vessel made with incomplete knowledge? The answer was no.
In short, Marylia lacked the expertise to build a ship.
“... I wonder if there’s a ship somewhere on this island.”
She murmured this to herself, sighing, “Probably not.” It was only logical. Even the foolish King of Fractalia wouldn’t banish someone to an island with a ship.
“That means I might have to sacrifice Terracotta Golems for repeated experiments to create ship blueprints from scratch...”
The thought made Marylia feel faint, but she continued pondering.
She had mentioned three years. She had also said it might take longer, but she didn’t want to make her loyal comrades wait too long.
Her knights had wept bitterly and raged against the king when her banishment was decided. Marylia had told them not to worry about her, but their loyalty might have already wavered—likely even shattered.
She couldn’t make them wait too long. If she did, they might assume her dead, and their grief and fury could drive them to destroy the kingdom.
“Ahhh, I really don’t want to take too much time!”
Just thinking about it made her feel pressed for time. The longer it took, the more despair her knights would feel—and the kingdom would be at risk. Of course, the knights’ lives would be at risk too.
“It would be great if a ship washed up here.”
Hoping for a repairable wreck seemed unrealistic. So far, everything that had drifted to the island had been fragments of broken ships, likely destroyed upon striking nearby reefs. The chances of an intact ship washing ashore were slim.
"A ship... a ship, is there one somewhere... Even just blueprints would be fine... Hmm, I wish someone from the indigenous people had left a ship behind."
Marylia muttered, deep in thought.
… And then, it struck her.
"That's right. People used to live here..."
The traces of someone who once lived on this island were still vividly present.
"I wonder what happened to those who once lived here."
And if those "people" are no longer here, then the answer must be one of two:
Either they died, or they "left this place."
With this thought in mind, Marylia resumed the production of Iron Golems. For now, she simply needed manpower—competent golems capable of directing the Terracotta Golems.
Once the parts for the Iron Golems were completed, she engraved patterns onto each piece.
She couldn't invest as much effort into them as she had for the first golem. However, she was determined to spend a reasonable amount of time and energy on this task.
The harsh winter had taught her just how invaluable a capable Iron Golem could be. While they wouldn't be as exceptional as the first one, she wanted to ensure their effectiveness.
Moving forward, the work needed to be divided into distinct tasks: "iron sand collection," "iron production," "Iron Golem manufacturing," and "sustaining daily life, including food acquisition." These four roles needed to operate seamlessly, and ideally, the iron sand collection alone would be carried out at least twice, if not more, simultaneously.
Thus, no amount of manpower would suffice.
Marylia suppressed her impatience, diligently engraving patterns on the Iron Golems. As soon as one was complete, she activated it and assigned it to assist with engraving the next golem, thereby accelerating her workflow.
… And so, on the 292nd day of banishment,
"Welcome to our base. I warmly welcome you, my beloved companions."
Marylia smiled radiantly at the 21 Iron Golems standing before her.
The newly created 20 golems, adorned with intricate patterns, gleamed brilliantly. While they bore fewer patterns than the first one, each had all the essential engravings. Marylia felt confident that she had done everything she could for them.
With 20 Iron Golems, it was now conceivable that she had acquired enough strength to destroy an entire town.
Marylia shivered at the realization of the formidable power she now possessed, feeling both a chill down her spine and an exhilarating thrill.
There was no turning back. She had to keep moving forward.
Without delay, she began issuing commands to the Iron Golems.
"It's time to assign you to different tasks. Hmm... Oh, there's more than one of you now, so I need a way to differentiate between you all."
But her plans hit a snag immediately.
"Until now, there was only one Iron Golem, so calling it 'Iron Golem' was sufficient. But now, with multiple golems performing different tasks, not being able to distinguish them would be problematic..."
Pressing her fingers against her temples, Marylia realized the importance of giving them names.
The Terracotta Golems had already been assigned numbers for ease of instruction and management, which greatly simplified task delegation.
Now, with multiple simultaneous tasks ahead, Marylia decided to give names to her Iron Golems.
"Alright, let's do this. Starting from the right: 'Collector No. 1,' 'Collector No. 2,' 'Collector No. 3,' 'Collector No. 4,' 'Ironmaker No. 1,' 'Ironmaker No. 2,' 'Ironmaker No. 3,' 'Ironmaker No. 4'..."
And so, she named them.
The four golems tasked with collecting iron sand were named "Collector."
The four responsible for iron production, including making charcoal and managing the furnace, were named "Ironmaker."
The four tasked with crafting Iron Golems and iron tools were named "Smith."
The four assigned to food gathering, producing daily necessities, and maintaining the base were named "Livelihood."
Lastly, the four designated to explore the island with Marylia were named "Guard."
With the convenient naming of 20 golems completed, Marylia turned to the first golem.
"And as for you... the first one..."
Marylia smiled at the Iron Golem kneeling by her side, adorned with a proud jade ornament.
"Your name will be Jade. Nice to meet you, Jade."
As Marylia extended her hand, the newly christened "Jade" respectfully took her hand and kissed its back.
Then, Marylia began assigning tasks to the golems.
The "Collector" golems were immediately sent to collect iron sand, accompanied by all Terracotta Golems.
The "Ironmaker" golems were ordered to produce charcoal, which involved building kilns, burning wood, and gathering materials.
The "Smith" golems were tasked with crafting iron tools from surplus iron, including six swords... and a pot. Yes, finally, a pot. After all this time, there was enough leeway to make one.
The "Livelihood" golems were instructed to manufacture more Terracotta Golems. With food supplies from the winter leftovers still sufficient, Marylia prioritized increasing manpower.
Additionally, the Terracotta Golems would use the pot crafted by the "Smith" team to produce salt—an essential resource, along with ash.
Finally...
"Jade and the Guard team, you’re coming with me on an outing."
Marylia addressed Jade and the four Guard golems.
"I don’t know if we’ll find any information about a ship, but I feel like there’s something on this island—maybe a way to escape, or perhaps something even more intriguing."
What do you think about this chapter?
