Chapter 305: The Age of Iron and Wood and the Age of Bricks

While Liszt was enjoying a few carefree days as a pianist, the woodworking workshop in Flower Town had already produced the first batch of ironwood furniture.

The first set of furniture, hand-polished by the carpenters working together, was delivered to the castle.

A desk with drawers, a bedside table with drawers, a uniquely shaped display shelf, a bookshelf with carved patterns, a wicker stool, a contoured armchair, a tall and sturdy liquor cabinet, and a delicate pencil holder...

These pieces of furniture were placed and arranged in their respective positions.

Instantly, Liszt's study was transformed into a style that had never been seen before.

Due to the rising temperatures, the Fire Dragon air conditioner had been removed, and the style of the study was completely unified, without any inconsistency.

"Master, I have seen the Earl's study. It is grand and magnificent, but in terms of refined elegance, this study is more astonishing," Butler Carter praised.

He had supervised the placement of the furniture, so there was some suspicion of self-praise.

But Liszt agreed with the statement: "Indeed, my study is not large, but this set of furniture is highly harmonious, and with the unified ironwood thorn style and the light gray wood tone, it looks exceptionally comfortable."

The furniture gave him great satisfaction.

But what pleased him the most was another ironwood thorn creation, the Thorn of Excitement walking stick.

The 1.3-meter-long walking stick showcased a purple-black tulip pattern.

Each pattern was engraved by the best blacksmiths, who carefully poured molten iron into the grooves, forming silver-white patterns. Then, colored varnish commonly used in woodwork was prepared, outlining the purple-black contours around the iron strips, before applying a layer of resin-like lacquer.

In order to protect the iron patterns from oxidation.

So when the Thorn of Excitement walking stick was handed to Liszt, he immediately fell in love with its understated yet luxurious patterns.

Each black tulip was interconnected, its stem and thorns resembling a thorny bramble.

It was unmistakably a hybrid design combining tulips and thorns.

It should be noted that the craftsmen may lack innovative thinking, being conservative and traditional, and not understanding what constitutes high art. But the objects crafted by their rough hands possessed ingenious craftsmanship, with their simple yet elegant details forming a grand whole.

Liszt walked slowly in the hall of the castle with the Thorn of Excitement walking stick, which might seem a bit incongruous for a young man using a cane, but paired with his frock coat and his tall, straight posture, it exuded the nobility of the noble class.

Butler Carter sincerely praised, "Master, you embody the utmost elegance of the nobility. Standing by your side, I can sense your nobility at every moment, like the distant clouds in the sky, unattainable. You encapsulate all the excellence of the Tulip family and the Longtaro lineage."

"I accept your praise, Mr. Carter," said Liszt, handing the cane to him. "I am very satisfied with these ironwood thorn products. You have the discretion to replace all the wooden furniture and items in the castle with ironwood thorn products."

Carter gave a slight bow: "As you wish, Master."

After appreciating the ironwood thorn furniture, Liszt began to initiate the smoke mission.

With the furniture products from the woodworking workshop completed, the mission was accomplished: "Task completed, rewarded with three wild tea trees."

The wild tea trees were likely to be found on Black Horse Island, possibly already discovered by Marcus and his group.

Immediately after, a new task caught Liszt's attention.

"Task: The ironwood thorn furniture is high-end and grand. The ironwood era has dawned in Flower Town, thanks to the Lord's wise leadership. Why not take the opportunity to quickly push Flower Town into the Brick Era? Please build a brick factory and produce qualified bricks. Reward: A Faulty Architect."

Following the woodworking workshop, the smoke mission began to guide Liszt to build a brick factory.

He understood that these were undoubtedly the thoughts from deep within his heart, and the power of fate reflected through the form of the smoke mission was truly astonishing.

Since the smoke mission was already pressing him, Liszt no longer hesitated.

He called for Gort: "I plan to build a brick kiln to fire bricks, which will be used to accelerate the engineering projects within the territory. You'll have to work hard for a while."

"My lord, what exactly is a brick kiln, and what are bricks?" Gort asked, perplexed.

In this world, pottery existed, but porcelain did not.

Strictly speaking, while conventional bricks didn't exist, brick-like materials were produced by firing pottery.

Although pottery wasn't as valuable as jade or crystal ware, nor did it hold the same esteem as metalware in the Sapphire Duchy,

It remained an advanced technology tightly controlled by the nobility.

The pottery workshop at Tulip Castle produced items of mediocre quality, though patterns could already be engraved on them. The Tulip family's specialty, Crescent Wine, was bottled in pottery and sold across various regions.

The "fifty-year-old" flower wine was also bottled in pottery.

Brick kilns required less technical expertise than pottery kilns, and the materials were abundant. As long as the soil had a certain level of cohesiveness, it could basically be used to make bricks.

Of course, the technical skill needed to produce high-quality blue bricks was on par with that of pottery.

So for now, Liszt planned to fire red bricks. Perhaps in the future, through continuous experimentation, the brick-making craftsmen might discover how to fire blue bricks or even porcelain.

"A brick kiln is a kiln designed specifically for firing bricks, and bricks are hardened blocks formed by firing clay."

Gort exclaimed, incredulous, "Can clay truly be turned into stone?"

"Do you think pottery originates from something other than fired clay? Some great nobles use this same method to create block-shaped stones known as pottery bricks. Pottery bricks require several processes to be properly fired from clay. I intend to simply fire common stones and refer to them as red... bricks."

He suddenly recalled that the color of the bricks, whether blue or red, depended on the oxidation of iron. Complete oxidation resulted in red bricks, while incomplete oxidation produced blue bricks.

In this world, metal was derived from dragons, and clearly, there was no iron in the soil. Thus, he couldn't predict the bricks' color—they might turn out yellow or black, but certainly not red.

"My lord, how exactly should I go about firing the bricks? I am unfamiliar with pottery, let alone brick firing."

"I will contact Tulip Castle and arrange for you to lead a group of serfs to tour the pottery workshop and bring back some apprentices. Upon your return, you will set up a brick kiln and focus on firing bricks rather than pottery."

After a moment's thought, Liszt added, "Whether you succeed in learning or manage to bring back apprentices doesn't matter. Let things take their course."

With the magical Fire Dragon at hand, all he needed to do was prepare the clay and have the little dragon fire the molded brick blanks. After a few experiments, they should be able to determine the optimal temperature and suitable clay material.

There was no need to pilfer techniques, as this task did not involve pottery or porcelain. Liszt believed he could directly fire bricks himself. Visiting the pottery workshop was just to let the serfs understand the basic steps of firing bricks.

After sending away Gort, who was still confused, he couldn't help but sigh, "It looks like I'll have to do the brick firing myself. A task that doesn't let people rest. By the way, the reward for the smoke mission is a mistaken Architect? The only architect on Coral Island is Mbappe Stonebreaker, a collateral member of the Stonebreaker family. Could it be that he's the one who made a mistake and is about to be punished?"

Suddenly, some inspiration emerged in his mind. He felt that he might not need to complete the construction of the brick factory to receive the mission reward.