"Phield, you don’t seem worried at all. You actually look happy."

Hearing how grim the situation was, Tisiana’s mind filled with concern. She anxiously said, "My lord, if they start taking an interest in our territory, we’ll be in serious trouble."

"Taking an interest?" Phield shook his head. "Don’t think like that, little angel. Stay calm."

He looked up at Annie Rui.

"Did you have any interest in Nightfall Domain before this?"

"No! Damn it, I didn’t even know there were living people here, I swear!"

Annie Rui instantly exploded in anger and nearly jumped to his feet.

"Let us leave already. We never had any intention of invading."

From their perspective, having lunatics nearby certainly felt terrifying.

The problem was that the other side had never imagined Starnight City had been reclaimed. Even if they had known, they would never have cared much about such a ruined place.

"Relax."

"How can I relax? The Empire’s peace is under threat. I need to report this to Her Majesty the Empress immediately!"

"As expected, only a name can be wrong, never a title."

Phield’s expression remained calm as he lowered a hand, signaling Annie Rui to settle down.

Then he shamelessly added, "You truly live up to your title of Little Fierce Stallion, just like how my title is the Lion of the North."

It was finally time to promote his own incredibly cool nickname.

"Your title is only the Baron of Joy. The commoners prefer calling you a devil."

"Good. Very good."

Phield burst out laughing before instantly changing expressions.

"Get him out of here."

After all his equipment had been confiscated, Annie Rui was sent to Kai for questioning.

Phield obtained a complete set of second-tier knight equipment.

A second-tier magical beast Nightmare Horse, classified as a warhorse species. It was fearless and extraordinarily resilient. The downside was its stubborn nature. It would only acknowledge a single master, meaning it could only be kept for breeding.

In addition, there was a complete suit of plate armor, a lance, a longsword, and a war hammer. Every piece was a custom-made second-tier masterpiece worth an enormous amount.

"Why is everyone so rich? How am I the poorest one here?"

Phield sighed.

He was still riding a horse with magical beast bloodlines, while this guy rode an actual magical beast horse.

"Phield, should we deliver the news to Her Majesty?"

Still worrying about the rebellion, Tisiana stepped forward and grabbed Phield’s arm, shaking it repeatedly.

Report it to the Empress?

If she would generously reward him for it, then sure.

"Let’s wait a little longer. I have a feeling things aren’t as simple as they seem. Besides, I need to plan quite a few things."

Every now and then, her chest brushed against his arm, putting him in a noticeably better mood, though he didn’t say so aloud.

As for the planning he mentioned, he was naturally thinking about how to profit from the situation.

"Let’s wait until Kai finishes interrogating them before making a decision. Right now, come with me to the industrial district."

Upon returning to the industrial district of the Great Manor, Phield could hardly wait to begin iron smelting.

He summoned the little fox girl Gogris and every blacksmith in the territory.

Well, there were only three blacksmith apprentices, and they had barely started learning. Simon had essentially dumped them on him to cut corners.

Still, that wasn’t a problem.

As long as they studied diligently, they would eventually become competent blacksmiths.

His gaze swept across everyone present.

"Everyone’s here. Let me see your workflow. I need to evaluate our iron-smelting technology."

Because farming remained the highest priority, Phield had not yet found the time to construct a proper blast furnace.

For now, he would observe the blacksmiths’ methods and learn how iron was produced in this world.

"Yes, my lord!"

The three apprentices looked healthy and energetic.

Since arriving in the territory, they had not forged new tools. Instead, they had focused on repairing and maintaining iron equipment, earning respectable incomes.

"My lord, this is the smelting furnace we prepared in advance."

"Huh?"

Phield pointed at the structure in disbelief.

"You mean those little clay chimneys? I thought children built them."

The three waist-high structures looked like hollow volcano-shaped mounds made entirely of clay.

They resembled something primitive tribesmen would use and hardly seemed connected to an industrial process like iron smelting.

Throughout most of the Empire, iron was produced using the extremely primitive bloomery method.

"Ahem, my lord, this technique was passed down by my teacher. It can’t be wrong."

One apprentice scratched his head awkwardly.

"Then we’ll begin."

"Ignore me. Just do everything exactly as you normally would."

Meanwhile, Phield prepared paper and pen, recording everything.

The ancient bloomery method was astonishingly primitive.

Put simply, it amounted to burning rocks. Even modern farmers could probably figure it out.

Crushed iron ore was poured into the small furnace.

Once a fire was lit beneath it, a prepared clay door sealed the base to prevent heat from escaping.

Charcoal was continuously added while bellows blasted air into the furnace.

The entire process revolved around one goal: increasing temperature and removing impurities.

After working for a long time, the blacksmiths became drenched in sweat, looking as though they had just crawled out of a river.

Eventually, the lead blacksmith nodded confidently.

"That should be enough. Open the furnace."

The other two picked up hoes.

Yes, actual hoes.

They smashed open the sealed bottom of the furnace, breaking the clay structure apart.

Phield stared in shock.

"It’s disposable?"

Building a furnace like that required most of a day, and they destroyed it after a single use.

"There’s lava coming out."

Tisiana widened her eyes and pointed at the bottom of the furnace.

"Those are impurities from the ore. Calling it lava isn’t entirely wrong."

Many people would mistake the flowing substance for molten iron.

In reality, charcoal fires only reached a little over eight hundred degrees Celsius. The bloomery process could not melt iron into liquid metal. It could only produce bloom iron.

That was why casting gun barrels directly from molten iron and molds was impossible using this method.

"There should be glass-like substances mixed in there."

"Glass? Impossible."

Tisiana shook her head immediately.

"Glass is one of the most precious minerals in existence, especially crystal glass."

Like soothing a child, Phield patted her head.

"Heh. Glass and crystal? One day I’ll be able to supply them to you by the bulk."

"No, no."

Tisiana shyly drew circles on the ground with her toe.

"That’s far too valuable."

Phield remained completely focused as he continued evaluating the Empire’s industrial standards.

After dismantling the furnace, the blacksmiths shoveled away the slag and used tongs to pull out a glowing red mass larger than a basketball.

"Just as I thought. Bloom iron. This is incredibly primitive." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Phield’s brows relaxed.

Because of the existence of magical constructs and rare magical ores, he had always approached the world’s technology with caution. For all he knew, there could have been some miraculous magical smelting process.

But now the answer was clear.

This was exactly the ancient iron-smelting method he remembered from history.