Lord: My Shop Connects to Modern Times

"Research...steam engines?" Leah almost choked on the piece of meat she had just put in her mouth. She swallowed it with difficulty and stared wide-eyed. "My lord, please spare me. At most, I can recognize which mushrooms in the forest are edible. Your lumps of iron and your winding lines give me a headache just looking at them."

She quickly waved her hand, as if to say, "Go by yourself, don't take me with you."

"I didn't ask you to actually build that thing." Lynn had noticed that this girl had become quite unruly since they got to know each other, so she had no intention of letting her off the hook: "Aren't you curious about the new thing I'm researching, Lord?"

That makes perfect sense; she doesn't need to create it anyway.

Moreover, Lynn's last sentence did indeed pique Leah's curiosity. She wanted to know what that cold, aloof guy, who could even make Master Hal infatuated, was up to.

"Well... alright then." Leah relented, picking up another bite of food with her chopsticks. "But you have to wait until I finish eating! Ada's cooking is getting better and better, we can't waste it."

Martha, munching on chocolate, her eyes crinkling into crescents, looked at the lord, then at Sister Lia, and raised her hand: "Lord, I...I want to go see too."

"Okay, let's go together after we finish eating," Lynn readily agreed.

After the meal, Lynn and the others brought the steam engine to the brightly lit workshop next to the blacksmith's shed.

Before even entering, one could hear rhythmic creaking and the soft scraping of metal coming from inside, along with Hal's deep admonition and Rod's echoing voice.

Pushing open the door, a wave of heat and a smell mixed with metal, grease, and coal smoke hit you.

In the center of the workshop, the hand-cranked lathe was in operation. Rod was sweating profusely as he cranked the handle, while Hal was intently controlling the tool holder, cutting and processing a block of iron, with sparks and tiny iron filings constantly flying out.

"Master Hal, Master Rod."

"My lord! Miss Lia? Miss Martha is here too?" Hal stopped what he was doing upon hearing the voice, and Rhodes also released the crank. The two wiped their faces with the towels hanging around their necks and looked at the door with some surprise.

Lynn walked to the lathe and looked at the objects on it.

"How's it going, Master Hal, Master Rod?" Lynn looked at them. "Have you both gotten used to operating the lathe?"

The two nodded, and Hal said, "I'm basically familiar with it now, thanks to your operating manual."

Lynn nodded, then walked to the table.

Lynn slowly unfolded the steam engine blueprints on a large wooden table in the workshop.

"Take a look at this."

The light from the oil lamp illuminated the intricate lines, unprecedented cross-sectional structures, and densely packed annotations on the drawings.

Hal and Rod immediately gathered around, and Martha couldn't resist going over to take a look as well.

Their eyes were glued to the blueprints, and for a moment the only sounds in the shed were the rustling of the blueprints turning and Hal's suppressed gasps.

"My lord, what... what is this?"

Hal spoke, his finger hovering above the cross-sectional view of the cylinder, his brow furrowed: "Such a large cylinder, does its inner wall need to be so smooth? And it also has to withstand... the force of water vapor?"

"This is called a steam engine." Lynn quickly sketched a simplified schematic diagram in the blank space of the drawing with charcoal:

"The boiler heats water and produces steam. The steam enters this cylinder and pushes the piston inside to move back and forth. The piston is connected to this connecting rod, which drives this crankshaft and flywheel, turning the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the flywheel."

His pen tip touched the flywheel: "The rotational force can then be transmitted through belts or gears to drive other machines, such as winches in mines, or other machines in the future."

Everyone was completely confused, even Hal was baffled.

Boiling water? Steam? And it can even power the mine's haul baskets?

My lord, you must be drunk. How could that be?

However, Hal didn't question anything. Everything the lord had made before had worked so far, and this hand-cranked lathe was still there!

What he's considering now is whether this thing called a steam engine can be built.

Hal's gaze was fixed on the tolerance markings on the cylinder and piston. As a blacksmith, he understood better than anyone what those minute dimensional differences meant:

"Sir, the smoothness of the cylinder wall, the roundness of the piston, and the required gaps... are absolutely impossible to achieve with a hammer and file."

That's why I'm letting you get familiar with this lathe.

Lynn patted the blueprints: "Use a lathe and follow the steps in the blueprints to try to build a steam engine. Don't rush to look at the whole machine; start with the most crucial and difficult parts: the cylinder and the piston."

He pointed to a detailed drawing of the cylinder component on the blueprint: "We need to figure out a way to make a cast iron cylinder with a smooth inner wall and accurate dimensions. This isn't the small part you tried before; it will be very difficult, and we might fail many times."

Hal took a deep breath, his gaze shifting between the blueprints and the quietly standing hand-cranked lathe beside him. "I understand, sir. No matter how many times we fail, we will make it!"

Hal picked up the blueprints and began studying them with Rhodes. Lynn stopped disturbing them, knowing that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the basic form of the steam engine could be completed in about three days.

Lynn led Liya and Martha out of the shed.

The door to the workers' shed closed behind them, and bursts of discussion could be heard from inside.

"They... seemed to have a headache, but also a lot of energy?" Leah recalled the atmosphere in the shed that had just been filled with a mixture of immense pressure and strange excitement.

Lynn glanced at Lia, smiled, and said, "Of course. The headache comes from not understanding new technological products and scientific power. The excitement comes from exploring the truth and seeking new knowledge, which is itself a joyful thing."

Lynn glanced at the sky; the moon was already high in the sky. "Alright, this can't be rushed. Let them figure it out first. Liya, you've had a hard time on this trip. Go back and get some rest. But don't go too far. We'll need your eyes and ears to keep track of what's happening in the north."

Lia nodded, pleased with Lynn's approval. She straightened her expression and said, "Understood. I'll also go and get the equipment you gave me maintained."

Martha, listening nearby, gently tugged at Lynn's sleeve with her small hand: "My lord, that steam engine... can it really pull something that heavy?"

Unlike Hal, she would directly ask questions when she was curious.

"Of course, you'll find out when the time comes," Lynn replied, patting Martha's head.

After sending Martha back, Lynn and Lia parted ways at the crossroads.

Back in the stone house, he didn't rest immediately. On the table lay a simple topographical map of the north and several lists of supplies.

He sat down and, by the light of the oil lamp, rechecked the weak points in the wall's defenses and the number of arrows in stock.

Hal needs time, but the threat from the north probably won't give them much time for peaceful research and development.

He needs to prepare for both possibilities.

Outside the window, the lights were still on in the direction of the work shed, clearly indicating that the master and apprentice were planning to stay up all night to study.

Three days, Lynn silently repeated to himself. At least he needed to see a rudimentary form that could emit steam.