I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 197 Triangular Arrow
The jagged rocks are scattered along the riverbank, twisting and turning as they go west along the shoreline, embedded in the steep cliffs.

Luke stepped down the stone steps on the dry grass and said to Jason, who was coming towards him:

"How much iron ore have been mined?"

“My lord.” Jason, his hair greasy and reeking of sweat, took the last piece of cheese from the manor that Luke casually handed him, and tucked it into his arms, saying:

"It's probably over two hundred pounds. I've already ground forty pounds of it into iron powder, but the iron content varies. I estimate that all the ore can only yield about thirty pounds of iron."

The mining had been going on for four days, at a moderate pace, and thirty pounds would be enough. Luc quickly calculated in his mind and glanced at the earthen furnace beside him.

After the heavy rain stopped a few days ago, there have been several light rains recently, but they have not affected the clay stove, because there is a wooden "cage" with a removable top on the stove.

"The plan has changed. Put the smelting of the hoe aside. I need you to start working immediately and make the triangular arrowheads first!"

Luc's tone was heavy. Jason, who had a runny nose, paused for a moment, then turned around and walked quickly toward the charcoal that had been delivered.

A skilled blacksmith is already accustomed to the process of a hoe or plow suddenly turning into a sword.

The iron smelting required a large amount of charcoal. He waved for Ryan to continue hauling it by mule cart. As he was leaving, Luc called Ryan back and said to Jason:

"Are you missing any tools? Tell me, and I'll have Ryan pass the message on to Little Maiman."

“Let me think… a slightly smaller hammer, a tool for carving ridges, and a set of wooden triangular arrow molds,” Jason gave a list. “The molds must be in constant supply.”

Luke quickly drew a shape on a wooden board with charcoal and handed it to Ryan. After Ryan walked away, Luke rolled up his sleeves and personally helped Jason pour the iron ore powder into the earthen furnace.

"About three days."

"If you want a good piece of iron, it needs to be fired for at least three days."

While pulling the bellows, Jason told Luke the number of days it would take.

He knew that Luc must care a lot about time.

Sure enough, upon hearing Jason's words, Luc took a deep breath. There was still a week until the Baron's banquet, three days would be enough!
George brought a simple message: the Baron had invited Luc to a banquet under the guise of a formality.

The suddenness of the event not only disrupted Luke's plans but also served as a wake-up call for him.

Inviting myself to a banquet?

Luke glanced at the smoking earthen stove with a cold smile.

Having been a knight for over a year, Berry had hardly ever taken him seriously. The Baron had hosted banquets more than once or twice. According to George's account, he had witnessed the Baron entertaining his knights at least twice. Apart from subordinates like David who were only superficially loyal, almost all of the Baron's eight knights with fiefs were present.

Luc had long since figured out the administrative divisions of the baronies:
Excluding Ward Village, the Baron's domain comprises thirteen villages, three and a half of which are directly under Berry's control. The remaining nine are each granted to a knight. Including Berry himself and two other Inner Palace Knights without fiefs, Berry has a total of twelve knights.

This scale is enough to be considered as having a large army and many generals among the barons of the entire duchy.

After all, if Berry wanted to, he could definitely organize an army of up to a hundred men.

This doesn't even include mercenaries.

But that's the problem.

Why would such a powerful baron suddenly invite me to a banquet without any warning?
Completely clueless and harboring a secret, Luc could only imagine the worst.
"Perhaps we've really been exposed?"

He subconsciously clenched his fist. With the watchtower there, the paths to the southeast and northeast were under constant surveillance. But if there were one or two scouts hiding in the forest, the tall wooden walls wouldn't be able to conceal them.

However, there's no reason for Berry to suddenly send people into the mountains to investigate; perhaps he just wants to extort money from me.

In Marconshire, Luc had Hugo mail letters to Berry in the name of the church regarding his becoming a contractor.

The original plan was to use this to conceal the source of Luc's wealth and dispel Berry's concerns.

Upon closer examination, it's possible that it was this letter that sparked the greedy baron's wicked thoughts.

Seeing Jason switch arms and continue pulling the bellows, Luke suddenly squatted down and put his hand into the black river water.

The stream that runs through Black Ridge Valley is slow-moving and not suitable for building a hydraulic bellows; it seems that the Agate River is still needed.

Every stream eventually flows into the sea, Luc sighed. The sad thing was that, regardless of the Baron's intentions, Luc had no choice but to attend the banquet. He wasn't David; his legal sense wasn't solid. And, most importantly, he didn't yet have the right to turn against the Baron.

Yes, as long as I want to keep this territory, I will eventually have a conflict with the Baron!

but not now.

"I'll come back in three days. You'll have to make do for the next few days. Stay in Blackridge Valley tonight and keep an eye on the furnace. I'll have Ryan build you a temporary hut."

"No problem, sir. When I was with Smith, I didn't sleep for three days straight. This little thing is nothing."

To win Jason over, Luke treated him exceptionally well, showering him with food and clothing. He even told Jason that he knew a miracle-working monk who had returned from the dead, and that by asking the monk to pray, Jason's headless father could be brought back to heaven. Jason was extremely grateful.

He turned back to Knightsburg, inspected the armory again, called over old Ek, and ordered the veteran to shave all seven of the newly hunted goats to make more armor. He also instructed Jill to personally guard the watchtower during this time.

Seeing Luc's appearance, Duss suddenly appeared beside him, biting her lip and saying, "Darling, is it because of Baron Berry?"

Does he want to divide our territory once again?

Dusi gripped the handrail tightly; though her posture was upright, her slightly pale face betrayed her unease.

The shadow of her family being divided up had not yet dissipated, and now seeing her husband's alarmed appearance, a dark cloud rose in her heart again.

"It's just a precaution. For now, everything's fine. And I assure you, as long as I live, Berry will never be able to take Knight's Castle!"

Lisa helped Duss down, and Luc got up to inspect the entire estate again. In fact, only a few people knew about his lack of Valley Law. Most of the farmers did not think there was anything wrong with Luc being invited to the banquet and continued to work steadily.

Luc first checked the blueberries. Perhaps it was just a lucky guess, but the spoiled maple juice really did help the blueberries grow. He nudged the well-developed blueberry plants and, just in case it was just his imagination, told Old Eck to keep a close eye on them and collect as much maple juice as possible once it was confirmed.

They brought them plenty of food to the saltworks and warned them to return to Knightsburg immediately if they saw any smoke signals during this period. Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the Black Ridge Valley.

Jason, wearing pigskin gloves, picked up a red-hot piece of wrought iron and said with a broad smile:
"Sir, a full six pounds of iron!"

"If all goes well, we can make at least twenty arrows."

"Then let's begin!" Luke commanded in a low voice.

The three of them worked together again in the valley to hammer iron. Unlike last time, this time they patted the iron into a flat triangle like kneading dough. Then, while the iron was still red-hot, they continued to hammer the sides to make the top of the triangle pointed. This is where the arrow will be located.

He put it back into the hot charcoal to refine it until he could make a mark. Jason used a stone-polished engraving tool to carve three straight lines along the arrow. After carving each line, he would flip it over by one-third to try to form a triangular facet.

Meanwhile, wooden molds were constantly being put on, and Luke's earliest pickaxe was used instead of a small iron hammer to continuously hammer them. When the wooden molds were charred, another set was immediately put on.

Carburization was carried out several times during the process.

Even with gloves on, Jason still got burned several times and quickly dipped his hands into a bucket of cold water to cool them down. He also had to start over after carving crookedly once, taking more than three hours to finally produce a decent-looking triangular arrow.

"Next, all you need to do is cool the arrow, then temper it with wood ash and polish it, and it should be fine!"

Jason wiped the sweat from his brow with pride. This was the first time he had independently crafted an arrow, and he was overjoyed.

"Very good, how many can be produced a day at this rate?"

"Once you get used to it, the speed will double."

Luke did the calculations and found it wasn't bad, so he rested for a bit and prepared to leave.

He was heading to the banquet.

Just before leaving, he suddenly asked again:

"By the way, why is carburizing done every time iron is smelted? Is it simply to keep the iron soft?"

"I don't know the specifics, but Smith told me that only carburizing can produce truly good iron."

Luke seemed to be deep in thought.

(End of this chapter)