kscans

Chapter 53 - How This Iron Was Forged

Yuri let his thoughts wander for a moment on the romance of special steel, but the immediate problem was the step before that, how to obtain ordinary, non special iron. Now that he had stumbled upon the raw material, Iron Sand, he wanted to at least collect it and turn it into an ingot. If possible, he wanted to go even further and create various iron items. Even though Magic Stone Tools were sufficient for most things, there were still many things he wanted, like a heavy bladed knife, an axe, or a hammer, which required weight, and pots and pans with good heat conduction. But…

"The problem is the method for reducing the iron oxide…"

From ancient to modern times, various iron and steelmaking methods have been developed, but they all share the basic principle of reducing iron oxide by reacting it with carbon monoxide. The reaction temperature determines things like the carbon and impurity content, and whether the result is solid or molten, which in turn dictates the processing method. That was about it.

"In that case… the question is how to make carbon monoxide…"

It all came down to burning a carbon fuel of the highest possible purity in an oxygen deprived state. The problem here was this "carbon fuel of the highest possible purity." In short, he needed charcoal or coke. Coal was not recommended because it contained a lot of impurities like sulfur, which would result in poor quality iron.

"Coke is made by baking coal, so I can’t get it here where there’s no coal. And making charcoal consumes a lot of wood, which leads to deforestation… so both are out."

He thought it might be fine just for the amount he would use for his own ironmaking, but the time, effort, and labor required remained the same. Then what about magic? That was an option, but while Fire Magic could generate heat, it didn't produce something as unrefined as carbon monoxide. Therefore, for the purpose of ironmaking, it had to be discarded.

Well then, what about alchemy, another staple of otherworld stories?

He consulted his master, the Rural Life Guide, and it seemed that Alchemy could directly remove oxygen for reduction. It sounded like a cheat, but since Yuri didn't have Alchemy at the moment, it was out of the question. According to the Rural Life Guide, it was possible to acquire, or rather, unlock the skill with effort, so he had only checked just in case.

It seemed possible to generate carbon monoxide with Wind Magic, but as mentioned before, his skill level was currently insufficient.

"Is this… a divine oracle telling me to give up for now and wait for the right time…?"

Normally, he would give up here and wait for the next opportunity, but Yuri’s motivation, now at a boiling point, was not so easily extinguished. Searching for any kind of hint, he examined the magic he possessed, and then…

"Dark Magic’s… Corrosion?"

He had used it during papermaking, but apparently, it was originally a spell that corroded materials to make them brittle. By casting it on an iron weapon, for example, he could make it crumble.

"...If it can make iron rust... then that means it's oxidation, right…?"

If there was oxidation, there must be reduction too. With that thought, he eagerly searched, but he couldn't find "oxidation" or "reduction." However…

"Poisoning…?"

Dark Magic was filled with skills with rather alarming names, but contrary to their names, they included a surprisingly versatile set of chemical reaction type skills. And one of these, Poisoning, included a reaction that converted carbon dioxide into carbon monoxide.

He had found a way to secure carbon monoxide.


A few days after bringing back a large amount of magnetite, or rather, Iron Sand, Yuri could be seen in a corner of the village, attempting to make iron. However, the furnace that was essential for ordinary ironmaking was nowhere in sight. To avoid consuming large amounts of precious fuel, Yuri intended to use magic as his heat source. Thus, neither fuel nor a furnace was necessary.

"Okay… I’ll hold the iron with Non-Elemental magic, heat it with Fire Magic, reduce it with Dark Magic, and shape the resulting iron with Earth Magic. On top of that, I’ll need to ventilate with Wind Magic to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning… yeah, impossible."