The weapons I forge are absolutely flawless.

To be honest, I am indeed a semi-professional.

At least Wiener once owned a blacksmith shop and was the owner of a shop that handled both production and sales.

As for why Anna behaves so differently inside and outside the store, Wiener believes it is due to her calling.

Although the constraints of her calling had been removed—otherwise Anna wouldn't have been able to go from being a general store owner to a student at St. Freya Academy.

However, the subtle influence over the years cannot be completely eliminated overnight.

Just like when Wiener was in the grocery store, he simply accepted the price without even thinking that he could bargain.

When Viner dragged the cart back to the dormitory, the logs he had purchased earlier had already been delivered.

The processing of the raw iron ore is not urgent, but the ash wood logs still require several more steps before they can be used.

Wiener dragged the cart into the workshop, and while he was at it, he pulled out the blunted cleaver that was stuck in the ground.

With a single stroke, the log was vertically split in two.

Wiener plans to make a batch of steel guns, and this half log is enough; the extra can be kept on hand for now.

A steel sword weighs at least five pounds, and the raw iron ore alone requires more than ten pounds.

The muzzle of a steel gun weighs only half a pound, yet both items are sold at the same price.

It's hard to say that this isn't a particularly egregious bug.

You mean there's also a battle axe?

That won't do; it would be too wasteful of materials.

I absolutely refuse to do it unless it's a contract that includes both labor and materials.

Although it cannot yet unleash the true power of the chopping knife, its sharpness alone surpasses that of any axe or saw.

In the past, if you wanted to grind out a gun barrel, you had to saw and chop, which was not only time-consuming and laborious, but also caused a lot of damage.

Use a knife to scrape off the outer bark of the ash wood.

Then, with a few more slashes, twenty long wooden sticks, each six centimeters on each side, were cut out in a matter of minutes.

The cross-section is smooth, flat, and burr-free.

Even so, most of the logs used for material production can still be left.

I never imagined I'd be shaving ash wood like I'm slicing noodles. Tools really do change lives, it's not just a saying.

Wiener cleverly used a knife instead of a plane to precisely shave off the excess parts of the square wooden stick along its edges and corners, gradually grinding it into an octagon.

Then, carefully shave the octagon into a hexagon.

With each cut, the outline of the wooden stick gradually takes on a rounded curve.

In the past, it would have depended on his condition for Viner to achieve such a stable feel, but since awakening the power of Gondorav, his concentration has also improved, and he has become more adept at using these tools.

Using a blunt knife to carve wood is, in itself, an extension of sword practice.

Wiener decided to take on a greater challenge and attempted to carve the stick into a more refined 32-sided polygon.

As a result, a small tremor caused a good piece of material to be ruined.

So I decided to stick to polishing it properly.

There's no need to dull the blade for now when polishing; Wiener simply stuck it in the ground.

Then, with one hand holding sandpaper, firmly pinch the front end, and with the other hand, pinch the end of the stick and quickly rotate it.

Wood chips flew everywhere with his skillful movements, and the stick spun rapidly in his hand, so fast that it was almost a blur.

The hard wooden stick gradually became soft in Wiener's hands, while its toughness steadily increased.

After a long time, the wooden stick was completely polished into the shape of a gun barrel that was both flexible and resilient.

Wiener, who accomplished all of this, seemed to have fallen into a state of sagehood.

"Once I've earned enough credits, I need to order a lathe."

Wiener suddenly remarked.

Aside from the two pieces he had on hand and the two scrapped pieces, there were still eighteen wooden sticks waiting to be processed by his craftsmanship.

The night is still long.

-----------------

After processing all the gun barrels, they are placed in a large vat and soaked in a prepared solution of chemicals.

By the time I finally lay down in bed, it was already 2 a.m.

He roughly understood why alchemy students never got up early.

It's not that I'm sleepy, but rather that I'm physically and mentally exhausted and need more rest to recover my energy.

Wiener closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, it was already eight o'clock in the morning.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

There was a rapid knock on the door.

"Vina, help me, Vena! Only you can help me!"

Then came a familiar voice.

If it weren't for that unpleasant sound, Wiener would have slept at least half an hour longer.

Once awake, it becomes difficult to fall back asleep.

Wiener checked his appearance and, finding nothing amiss, opened the dormitory door.

"what's up?"

Wiener's tone was somewhat indifferent.

Since leaving Lumiel Village, two people have sought his help.

Lisette has his contact information; there's no need for her to knock on the door so early in the morning.

The one outside the door is naturally the other one.

"Vina, you're so wonderful!"

Felix's voice trembled slightly with a hint of a sob.

"Didn't Professor Wilford say yesterday that he would call on me to answer questions again in the next class?"

"Even if you don't listen in class, you should be able to learn that kind of thing by just going to the library, picking up an introductory alchemy book, and glancing at it."

"I went there as soon as school was over yesterday, but the problem is I just can't understand it!"

"...It's alright, there are so many enthusiastic senior students in the Alchemy Department. Just ask them for help, they'll definitely be happy to answer."

Wiener replied expressionlessly.

If you disturb his sleep over something so trivial, Venus will really get angry.

"That's the biggest problem! I clearly told them not to fawn over me like they're pursuing a girl, that I'm not what they imagine. And instead they said something like, 'Wouldn't a boy be better?' That's terrifying!"

Felix was still shaken by what had happened yesterday.

If he hadn't punched all those scheming seniors to the ground one by one, it would have been a major crisis concerning his reputation!

"..."

Wiener recalled Sylvan's assessment of the upperclassmen in the Alchemy Department: "These virgins in the Alchemy Department are hilarious."

Well, thankfully I'm not from the Alchemy Institute.

For the sake of her future reputation, Wiener decided to take this opportunity to distance herself from the Alchemy Institute.

But seeing Felix's pitiful and helpless appearance, he still couldn't get an erection.

“I haven’t had breakfast yet,” Viner suddenly broke the silence. “Equivalent exchange, go and get me some breakfast, and I’ll think of something to help you.”

“Okay, I knew you wouldn’t abandon me, Venus—” Lix’s face lit up with a relieved smile.

"boom!"

Before he could finish speaking, the door was slammed shut by Viña.

"Vina, wait for me, I'll be right back!"

Felix's voice pierced through the door.

Completely ignoring what Felix said, Viña yawned wearily.

"I'll take a bath first."

Chapter 29 Wiener's Teaching Methods

If taking a bath is an excellent way to relieve fatigue, then taking a short break here and enjoying the tranquility of a nap is even more wonderful.

The sound of flowing water shuts out the noise of the outside world.

It wasn't until half an hour later that Venere suddenly realized that Felix was involved.

"What are you doing, Venus?! It's been so long since you opened the door!" Felix said angrily. "The breakfast I brought is all cold!"

I specially brought Vina some meat fried rice from the cafeteria. Although it wasn't cold, it was still past the best time to eat it.

"I'm thinking about what method I can use to teach you so that you can understand."

This is a lie; the real reason is simply that he fell asleep while taking a bath.

"...You're not kidding me, are you?" A hint of doubt flashed in Felix's eyes.

“No, I’ve almost decided,” Viner replied quickly, adjusting her expression.

Actually, I'm only starting to think about it now.

"Since you can't absorb what's in books, let's start with practice."

Vena led Felix into the workshop and pointed to the raw iron ore on the cart. "This is the raw ore I bought yesterday, and it needs to be refined. If I were to entrust this to you, how would you proceed?"

"Uh, just throw it into the furnace to burn, and then hammer it while heating it?" Felix tentatively replied.

“...At least you knew to burn it.” Viner sighed and said, “Watch closely.”

As he spoke, he brought out several large vats and filled them with water until they were half full.

"Impurities do not refer to a single substance, but are a collective term. Different treatment methods should be used to deal with different impurities."

Wiener put on gloves and dropped a piece of blackish-gray ore weighing about twenty pounds into the first large water vat.

The originally clean and transparent water was instantly stained a deep yellowish-brown color after the minerals were infiltrated.

"The impurities and dust on the outermost layer of the ore are mostly soluble in water, and can be removed by simple rinsing or soaking."

"But when encountering impurities that are more tightly bound, water alone cannot dissolve them."

Wiener then precisely added varying amounts of acidic reagent to several subsequent tanks.

He then used a filter to scoop out the preliminarily cleaned iron ore, turned around and put it into the second water tank, and began to stir it in the tank with a tamping stick in his hand.

The color of the solution in the water tank also changed quickly.

"By using acids of different concentrations, impurities with different solubilities can be separated."

As Wiener performed the operation, he explained it to Felix in detail.

Then repeat the above steps.

With each soaking, the iron ore gradually decreased in size and its color became clearer.

Shortly after being placed into the last water tank, the intact ore broke into more than a dozen irregular small pieces.

After removing all the fragments and rinsing them with clean water, the resulting ore was similar in quality to the forging stone provided during the entrance examination.

“You try it on.” Viner took out a new pair of gloves and handed them to Felix.

"Oh, oh." Felix quickly took the gloves.

He may look rather foolish, but he is by no means stupid.

"Clumsy and adorable" might be a more fitting description for him.

With just one hands-on lesson, Felix was able to perfectly replicate Wiener's technique, matching her every step perfectly, from the amount of reagents added to the stirring speed.