“OK Nairi, that should be the list of ongoing projects I have. Is there any particular one you’d like to work on in my absence?” I gave her the illusion of free choice- this was actually a test. I’d be a crappy teacher if I didn’t occasionally torment gift my students with the opportunity to prove themselves, right?
After tilting her cute head sideways as she read the list, she absent-mindedly replied. “Either finish the drop-hammer forge project or get started on the steel boat project…”
“Why?” I asked with a smirk. It was then Nairi knew this was no casual conversation. She started to really think in earnest.
Nairi stammered a bit. “Because we… we can immediately increase our food yield by hunting the mana-beasts in the river.” She then collected herself. “But at the end of the day, improving the quality of our steel output would be the most important.”
“Correct. In fact, the quality of the steel we’re outputting would be insufficient against those aquatic mana-beasts. Sending people out there with that crap is downright dangerous.”
Nairi hung her head. “Sigh, guess I should shelf all the wonderful ideas for the boat for now.”
I patted her head. “Cheer up, my apprentice. Be proud that you get to give birth to the 2nd generation of steel!” So far, I've used cast steel to make all my stuff. It was a quick and dirty way to make intricate steel parts needed for firearms. But their tensile strength was nowhere near that of drop-forged steel thanks to the molecular structure of the steel. An upgrade was due.
The basic concept of a drop-hammer forge was a ram suspended above the anvil, and using gravity and/or external power to strike the workpiece that was fixed on a die. For a power-drop hammer forge, the ram was connected to an air pressure based piston system where an input of <
This was obviously a difficult technology to emulate with only medieval tech on hand. So I made it a priority project right after Pridwen was founded. After years of work, I’d gotten most of the hard part done for my power-drop hammer forge. And boy, what a troublesome journey it had been.
For starters, I had to look for rubber or rubber-substitutes for the pistons and to seal the hole that allowed the beam to connect to the ram. This resulted in a rubber hunting trip that involved slashing the barks of trees near Elf territory, which made me nervous. We ended up stumbling into a colony of dandelions growing in the nearby plains. Fun fact: Dandelions are a great source of natural fiber. Sure, they smell like shit, but once I vulcanized them (just heat treatment, since I didn’t have the chemical expertise to optimize it), it was tolerable.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Getting the air pressure system right was a pain in the neck, but after tinkering with it for 8 months, I got a working prototype. Operators basically need to have a mastery of <
“Nairi, your tasks while I’m gone are to finish assembling the dies, the anvil, and the ram to the air pressure system in addition to making sure they’re perfectly aligned. Can you do that?”
“Yes, Forge-master.”
“Excellent. I look forward to your results. Now get started!” I shoo’ed her away as I left the forge for my residence. It was time to say goodbye to the wifey.
***
“Take care of my husband and my best friend, Sapphy.” Emma ordered as she took a break from the makeout session before diving right back into my mouth. My hand was playing with her left tit while my other hand was groping her ass.
“Of course, Mistress.”
Emma and I were lost in our own world, drowning in each other’s scent. It wasn’t until the noon bell that forced us to seperate. My trousers were uncomfortably tight for some reason~
“Bye love, see you in a fortnight.” I said with a wry smile.
Emma nodded and gave me a chaste peck on the cheeks. As she pulled back, she whispered. “I’ll miss you like how I missed my period this morning.”
I stared in silent surprise. Looked like I did it again! While it was entirely possible that she was just late, it was way more likely that she got pregnant with my fourth child. My beautiful family would soon add another member! I embraced Emma tightly and took in the scent of her violet hair. “Take care of our growing family. We’ll properly celebrate when I get back.” I reluctantly let go and walked towards the caravan, afraid of looking back.
Man, this sucked. I miss her already. I missed her beautiful lake-blue eyes. I missed the fragrant smell of her violet hair. Not to mention- I’d missed out on 2 weeks of hormonal preggo sex. In fact, after years of regular daily sex, asking me to go without any kind of sex for 2 weeks was simply unreasonable. Sure, I have Sapphy with me for quickie BJs, but there wouldn’t be many opportunities for me to fully take advantage of, not with that many people around us in close quarters.
After all, my main quest for the next 2 weeks would be to escort Tali and 5 militia-trained cart drivers to the Carnwennan orphanage and bring people back in 5 wagons. My side quest would be to “creatively acquire” iron and additional wagons as needed. Since Sapphy and I were the heavy hitters of the caravan, we took shifts in overwatch (I took night shift with Loki while she took day shift as we slept on the wagon). Because of that, there wasn’t a lot of time available to fool around.
Well, at least I got to loot. As much as those holy asshats would vehemently disagree, I was put into this world to fuck and to loot. And unfortunately for the noble brats of Carnwennan, I’d just ran out of fucks~