However, what Border Town currently needed most were smelting facilities. The quantity of their iron production was directly related to the scale of their mechanical production and weapons manufacturing, which were both needed for the survival of the town.
“Are you painting a… tower?” Nightingale sat at the table and asked curiously.
“Almost,” Roland nodded, “but it is inside is empty and it can be filled with fuel and ore. It has the same function as a shaft furnace and can be used to smelt iron ore into pig iron.
This was upgraded version of the ancient blast furnace, a vertical shaft furnace.
To learn about Lesya’s plan for a shaft furnace Roland had visited the construction site and had taken a look, to tell the truth, with the exception that its capacity was too small, and the temperature it could reach was too low, its structure had been very close to a blast furnace, and if Soraya hadn’t evolved her magic, giving the town the possibility to produce fire bricks, Roland had intended to build a dozen of such shaft furnaces.
But now, where they had refractory brick, they naturally should consider a furnace which could reach a higher temperature, and had a higher output than the blast furnace.
The height of the new shaft furnace was nearly eight meters, enough to have as much as four times the capacity than the old shaft furnace. The furnace was tower shaped, and its largest part was three meters wide. In order to prevent the tower from collapsing, he had installed some brackets at the bottom. The furnace walls were relatively thin, with a thickness of half a meter and the innermost layer would be made out of Soraya’s heat-resistant firebricks. At the same time, it also had a ventilation hole through which a steam engine would continually provide fresh air.
In order to make full use of the power of the steam engine, Roland had also designed a set of automatic feeding equipment for the blast furnace, which included a climbing rail and a movable door at the bottom of a unique material cart.
With the help of a steam engine the cart would climb to the top of the furnace, there the buckle at the bottom of the car would insert itself into a hook, pulling open the pouring mouth and dumping the fuel or ore into the furnace. For this era, this system could be regarded as the best possible method.
Unlike the old shaft furnaces with their large openings and low heat, his new furnace, once it started production wouldn’t stop for a long time. Though they would have to continuously feed it with fuel and ore, its output would be much higher than that of Lesya’s shaft furnace. As long as they construction five or six of these furnaces the town’s pig iron production would be multiplied.
…
When Roland finished drawing all the blueprints, he rubbed his sore wrists and then took a box out of ones of the table’s drawers and pushed it to in front of Nightingale.
The startled Nightingale didn’t know what to expect, “This is…”
“Ah… I had intended to give it to you at an early time, but engraving the pattern took some time, after all, I’m also not extremely skilled with the machines in the factory,” Roland smiled, “You should open it and take a look.”
On his words, she stretched out her hand to open the box, and was unable to suppress a gasp of surprise.
Looking inside she saw two revolvers which were completely different from the prototypes used by Carter. The two pistols were made out of shiny silver and polished so much that she could see her own reflection within. Furthermore, its body and grip were engraved with delicate patterns, on top of the barrels he had even engraved Nightingales name: “dedicated to Veronica.”
This idea had already been in Roland’s mind for a long time. Compared to carrying around those inconvenience flintlocks from before, the newly developed revolver was quite perfect for her. Whether it was their security or their firing rate, it was all of a high level. And now, after giving such powerful weapons to the hands of an agility type like Nightingale, Roland was already looking forward to the results.
“Thank you,” with a big smile on her face she picked up the two pistols, jumped off the table, and directly stepped into the shooting position. “Will you teach me how to use them?”
“Of course,” Roland nodded, seeing Nightingale in her white assassin outfit coupled with a gorgeous and dazzling smile, made him instantly understand what it meant to be handsome to the point of having no friends, “Using them isn’t difficult, as long as you are able to sneak at the target side, you only have to pull the trigger and shout: ‘it’s high noon’.”
Scroll stood in front of the door, outside of the bedroom, unsure of whether she should enter, however she decided to push the door open and step into the room.
