Chapter 827: The Power of Steam

Inuit's suggestion sparked Liszt's realization that both square sails and lateen sails are types of ship sails. A large ship can have two or three masts—why not hoist both square sails and lateen sails simultaneously?

With square sails raised in tailwinds, the ship would surge forward swiftly; with lateen sails raised in headwinds, it could maneuver in zigzag patterns.

This way, the sailing ship could essentially move freely on the sea at any time, greatly reducing sailing time. Moreover, Liszt vaguely recalled that during Earth's Age of Sail, many ships had triangular lateen sails at the bow and stern while square sails were hoisted in the middle.

Following Inuit's suggestion, Liszt immediately ordered the shipyard's shipbuilders to focus on developing combined-rig ships.

However, regarding Inuit's proposal to reinforce the sails with wooden frames, Liszt paid little attention after several veteran shipwrights dismissed it as impractical.

"Now it seems I should have a good talk with this creative magician. To earn the approval of the Smoke Mission and influence the power of fate, this person must be quite talented."

The fateful power represented by the Smoke Mission was profoundly mysterious and enigmatic. To this day, Liszt still hadn't uncovered its origins.

Yet it was undeniable that those chosen by the Smoke Mission always possessed some extraordinary traits. In simpler terms, these individuals could be considered "children of fate," surrounded by a "protagonist's aura"... Of course, no matter how strong their aura was, it couldn't compare to Liszt's "system advantage."

Emily had exceptional mana talent, Lucy and Ruth were outstanding in magic, Parris was linked to the Lightblade Warriors... And Acheronides was an exceedingly rare siren who had even become an Archmage despite her origins.

Inuit's talent remained unclear.

Liszt needed to pay close attention.

Soon, Inuit Truth was brought in by the squire knight. He was not a conventional magician—his magic cloak seemed to have been modified by himself into a fitted suit.

"Your Highness, you summoned me?"

"Inuit, you're quite fond of sailing, aren't you?" Liszt gestured for him to sit and asked casually.

"Yes, Your Highness. I grew up by the sea and have yearned for the blue sea since childhood."

Information about Inuit had already been placed beside Liszt, directly retrieved from the Magic Guild. Every magician provided detailed identity records upon joining, eventually receiving an ID card—every resident of Black Horse Island carried one.

Inuit was a native of the Blue Gem, though he hailed from the outer isles. He had come to Black Horse Island with his mentor.

His mentor was merely an ordinary magician, currently studying natural magic—specifically, druid-style cultivation and transformation—under the great magician Lars Truth. Inuit himself disliked delving too deeply into theoretical magic and was instead passionate about maritime endeavors.

Liszt tapped the table and asked, "Do you have any other inspirations for improving sailing ships?"

Inuit replied excitedly, "Your Highness, I've been studying sailing ships for a long time and have a host of designs I want to realize. I’ve discussed them with the shipbuilders before, but they’re too rigid—clinging stubbornly to conventional shipbuilding techniques and completely failing to grasp my ideas!"

"Then tell me about them now."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

Once he started talking, Inuit couldn’t stop, pouring out all his sailing ship designs. These ideas covered everything from sails, masts, rigging, to hull structures. Many were indeed far-fetched, some even baffling Liszt.

Other designs, in Liszt’s view, were outright nonsense.

For instance, Inuit found the task of furling sails too laborious and heavy, so he proposed designing collapsible masts. That way, when a storm hit, the masts could simply be lowered to the sides, doubling as outriggers to keep the ship from capsizing—making it "unsinkable."

Strictly speaking, this idea was interesting, but masts were the most critical component of a sailing ship, requiring high-quality ironwood timber—on par with the keel—to prevent breakage.

Collapsible masts would likely be the first to fail in a storm. Moreover, sails were extremely heavy, and raising a folded mast would be far more exhausting than simply hoisting sails. Ensuring hull stability during mast folding or raising would also be a serious problem.

In short, unworkable.

Most of Inuit’s designs were equally impractical.

Yet, amid his creative proposals, Liszt noticed something intriguing—Inuit had actually suggested using large paddle wheels to propel the ship forward. This was essentially the design of a "paddle steamer"!

On Earth, the era of sailing ships dominating the seas was eventually replaced by steamships, gradually relegating them to sailing competitions.

"Have you considered how much force would be needed to turn such massive wheels to propel a ship forward? Human strength alone could never achieve it," Liszt inquired with keen interest.

Inuit seemed to have already thought it through: "Your Highness, while human strength may not suffice, magic could. We could use a magic array to drive the wheels."

"Using a magic array for propulsion?" That was indeed a clever solution, but Liszt wasn’t satisfied. "Magic arrays do have many uses, and turning wheels isn’t impossible. However, the cost of creating and maintaining such arrays is enormous, making them too costly for ships."

He had long entertained the idea of combining magic with technology. Yet, with the magic network weakening, magic arrays could no longer draw magic power from it and instead relied solely on the materials within the array itself. Keeping them running would be way too expensive.

This world had no spirit stones or similar magic-storing items.

Even small magic platforms required frequent replacement of their rune materials, so even sending a message was expensive—let alone powering massive wheels.

"This..." Inuit turned red with embarrassment. As a mage, he knew the value of magical materials all too well. His idea, though creative and something he took pride in, would likely cost more than several three-masted ships just for a single magic array.

Factoring in maintenance materials, such a ship would lose money on every trade voyage.

Only an idiot would build it like that.

Seeing Inuit’s reddened face, Liszt showed no disappointment. On the contrary, he valued Inuit highly—not just due to the Smoke Mission, but more for his willingness to innovate and develop technology. What mattered wasn’t whether ideas were impractical, but whether there were any at all.

"Inuit, while magic isn’t practical for everyday use, that doesn’t mean there’s no alternative. There’s a force I call 'steam'—you should look into that. As for your sailing ship designs, I can’t judge their value yet, but I can involve you in the development of new ships. Would you be willing?"

Inuit immediately replied, "Thank you for your trust, Your Highness! I’d love to help!"

Getting to design ships to sail the seas was a dream come true for Inuit, but he still had doubts. "Your Highness, what exactly is this 'steam' power you mentioned?"

"Go home and boil some water, and you’ll understand," Liszt said mysteriously.

Truth was, he barely understood steam engines—the machines that started the Industrial Revolution. He only understood the basics: burning coal or oil to drive pistons and power machinery.

"Boil water? I’ll do it right away!"

Inuit hurriedly excused himself.

Watching him leave, Liszt shook his head. Steam engines likely wouldn’t trigger an industrial revolution here—for a simple reason: no one even knew about coal or oil. Without such fuels, burning wood alone wouldn’t generate much power.

Metal shortages would also make building steam engines nearly impossible.

Of course, steam engines weren’t entirely without potential—for an equally simple reason: Liszt had a Fire Dragon!

Once the little Fire Drake grew up, it could unleash its magic nonstop, providing an endless supply of magic power as fuel.

Then, all he’d need was to seize a few more iron mines from the legendary continent.

A steam-powered ship might actually work!