Feeling the feeling of a large hand rubbing against the top of her head, Rebecca suddenly felt a little foggy.

Her first reaction was that she had heard it wrong, her second reaction was that her ancestor had said it wrong, and her third reaction was ...... Take it as a comfort.

It can't be sarcasm, right?

Miss Viscount, who had never done anything since she was a child, never thought that she would really be praised once.

Seeing Rebecca's reaction, Gawain repeated what he had just said again, and then laughed: "Don't be stunned, I'm seriously praising you, I'm afraid you yourself won't realize how incredible your talent is." ”

"Really?" Rebecca said stunned, then blinked a little embarrassedly, "But I'm just clever...... Usually it doesn't come in handy at all. ”

Such an outstanding talent is actually classified as clever...... This made Gawain really a little speechless.

Rebecca was born too early, but fortunately, Gawain didn't come too late, and these talents still have a chance to be used.

Gawain took a closer look at Rebecca's adjusted magic array structure - although he was a knight, Gawain Cecil was half a polymath back then, and he was also quite researched in magic theory and other aspects, plus the Gondor Empire was a country with exceptionally developed magic technology, and the basic knowledge of magic was also very popular, so this kind of magic circle that was only put together with basic runes was not difficult for Gawain to understand. After taking a closer look, he was sure that Rebecca's adjustments to the runes were quite reasonable, and that the circle had gone from a superficial conceptual product to a "prototype" that fully met his expectations and could lay the foundation for subsequent applications.

Gawain asked only one question: "Have you considered expanding it further?" ”

"Expand further?" Rebecca was stunned, "How to expand?" Draw a little bigger? ”

"No, it means that it can be connected to other self-charging circles with the same framework but different scales, and even use some kind of circle unit as the basic structure, infinitely connected and expanded, and finally form a large network that can cover a wider area," Gawain looked at the neatly arranged runes, and vaguely saw a shadow that seemed to be able to be combined and repeated, so he couldn't help but put forward a rather bold idea, "Each magic unit is no longer an independent entity, but connected together - can you understand?" ”

Despite her outstanding mathematical talent and creativity, the concept of this level was still too difficult for Rebecca, and she tried to think about it, and finally she could only frown in distress: "Ancestor, that kind of thing you are talking about...... Is it really possible? ”

"Just take it as my whimsy," Seeing Rebecca's embarrassed look, Gawain knew that he couldn't rush for quick success, so he decisively stopped this extension, "You build the magic net number one now, let the blacksmith shop start running, and wait for the rest later." ”

"Good!" Rebecca nodded happily, "I was discussing the blacksmith with Hammer just now......

"Oh?" Gawain raised his eyebrows, he did see Rebecca discussing something with Hammer just now, but the surprise brought by the magic net number one made him almost forget about it, "What are you talking about?" ”

"As for the new furnace," Rebecca said, tilting her head, "I was thinking that if Magic Net One was up and running, then the blacksmith furnace would be able to draw a formal magic circle instead of those bad runes - then the furnace could be transformed, wouldn't it?" But I didn't know how to strike iron myself, so I had to come to Hammer to see what he could think of to improve the furnace and workflow......"

The old blacksmith Hammer stood beside him with some sincere trepidation, bowing his head and listening to the Viscount and the Duke discussing problems there, he was both honored and nervous that a commoner like himself could stand here and participate in the discussion of the nobles, and when he saw Gawain turn his attention to himself, the old blacksmith really broke out in a cold sweat: he didn't dare to imagine what it would be like for a noble lord who had not even pulled the bellows to guide him in the construction of the blacksmith shop, but he had to cooperate, so he was ready for Gawain's bunch of unbelievable requests, and he had to lead his apprentices to work desperately to complete the task......

This was not unusual, for it is said that a viscountess from the north had the whim to instruct the gardeners in pruning the nursery, and that every chrysanthemum should be divided into two buds instead of three when it bloomed—and a dozen gardeners were flogged until the viscountess lost interest in the matter.

"Don't be nervous," Gawain said, seeing Hammer's nervousness, in a calm tone, "Tell me what you think." ”

"I ...... I don't have any ideas," said Hammer, bowing his head and in a humble tone, "Mademoiselle Viscount is really very learned and wise, and she has devised things that poor people like us cannot understand in our lives, and it will be very difficult for me to learn to use them, how can I give advice?" ”

Gawain looked at him and shook his head: "Of course you don't understand magic, but the stove and anvil are what you know best, and you are an expert in this area, and we will all respect your opinion." ”

Respect...... The opinion of a civilian?

Hammer thought he was hallucinating for a moment, but seeing that Gawain, Hetty, and Rebecca all had extremely serious looks on their faces, he finally confirmed that it was true—at least that's what the Duke said.

So he could only bite the bullet: "I think...... I think that since the furnace will be warmed up with real magic in the future, it is better to start from scratch and make a new stove instead of fixing the old one......

Gawain raised his eyebrows: "Brand new? ”

Hammer grabbed his arm and tried to speak his thoughts clearly and clearly: "Since the real magic is used, there is no limit to the original runes - first of all, the furnace can be a little bigger, and there will be a lot more steel smelted at one time, and then since the magic circle will not have the problem of shattering, the furnace does not always need to be turned off and cooled, maybe it can be kept burning, so as to save the time and time of reheating." But then you have to use it all the time......"

Gawain listened attentively, interrupting only when he felt he could make a suggestion, while Hammer said all his thoughts in one go.

At first, he stumbled and made mistakes due to nervousness, but soon he spoke more and more smoothly, and when he was almost finished, he was completely surprised.

He didn't expect Gawain to really listen to his own story carefully - a grand duke, a real nobleman, a character that ordinary people can't even imagine, actually stood in this messy place, listening to the opinions of a commoner like himself, and it was not a disguised listening, because Gawain was not only nodding his head while listening, but even asked some detailed questions and suggestions from time to time!

From time to time, Hammer was confused by the questions and suggestions: Was this really an aristocratic man who had never touched bellows and hammers? Why did he know so much about steel smelting?

While many of these questions may sound fanciful to Hammer, there is no doubt that they revolve around the realities of steel smelting – not the myth that chrysanthemums should be divided into two buds instead of three when they bloom!

When Hammer finally finished, Gawain breathed a sigh of relief and stared into the old blacksmith's eyes.

The old blacksmith became nervous: "Old ...... Lord......"

"How many years have you been a blacksmith?" Gawain asked suddenly.

"Three...... It's been almost thirty years," replied Hammer hastenly, "but we don't remember the years ...... very well."

"A thirty-year-old blacksmith, I didn't expect you to have so many innovative ideas," Gawain was a little confused, "It stands to reason that these ideas are easy for young people with unrestricted ideas, how can you think of so many?" ”

Hammer opened his mouth and spoke after a few seconds: "...... Master, I'm not afraid of your jokes, these ideas of mine are actually not new, these ideas have been saved for many years......"

Gao Wen showed an interested expression: "Let's talk about it." ”

"I've been a blacksmith for decades, and I really don't know much about furnaces and steel, and if I'm used to it, I've been used to it for a long time," Hammer's face wrinkled and furrowed, and he squeezed out a smile, "but I still remember when I was an apprentice—my father was a village blacksmith, and I learned his trade. One year, when the lord asked us to make a batch of fine iron, I volunteered to take charge of the furnace myself, and my father thought that I had studied for many years and should be on my own, so he let me try, but this attempt went wrong. ”

Hammer paused, then continued, "I was so impatient that I didn't wait enough hours for the stove to cool down, and then it heated up again—and the runes shattered.

"As soon as the rune broke, the furnace was completely scrapped, it was the most valuable and important thing in the blacksmith shop, my father was furious, and hung me at the door of the shop for a long time, almost beating me half to death, and he said that the only reason why he didn't kill me directly was that once he was killed, there would be no one to help the family, and no one would inherit the blacksmith shop......

"That year, we failed to fulfill the lord's orders, and my father was whipped dozens of times in the castle......"

Obviously, this incident during the apprenticeship left a deep imprint on Hammer's heart.

And when he was punished by his father and saw his father go to the castle to receive the punishment, many thoughts about the blacksmith's furnace began to sprout in his heart.

Thankfully, thirty years later, the sprouts hadn't completely died in Hammer's mind – perhaps they were, but Rebecca's plan to "draw a magic circle on the furnace to replace the runes" had rejuvenated hope in the old blacksmith's heart.

To be able to re-emerge hope is already quite a breakthrough.

Since the old blacksmith was not as inflexible and receptive to new things as he feared, it seemed that something could be prepared in advance.