Chapter 115 (From engineer to Conqueror)

Miguel was sitting in his office, eyes focused on the sketches before him, holding a glass of wine. The end of winter brought new life to Drakmoor. The streets were busier, people returned to work, and he could feel the renewed optimism in the air. Projects that had been paused during the cold season were now being resumed, and the city, under his leadership, was thriving at a pace even he hadn’t anticipated.

The available workforce had grown considerably. Refugees from distant lands came seeking a new life, and Drakmoor, with its growing infrastructure needs, offered ample employment for everyone. Miguel, attentive to the situation, had organized work to absorb this new population. Men and women eager for a fresh start found in the kingdom a place where they could settle, work, and slowly rebuild their lives. He knew integration was essential for stability, and this also made Drakmoor stronger.

One of the projects he resumed with winter’s end was road construction. Within Drakmoor, the infrastructure was nearly complete, and he could already see its impact. Urban mobility had improved, with paved streets facilitating the transport of goods and the movement of people. The city was beginning to take on an organized and modern look that set it apart from neighboring regions. The paved roads also facilitated communication between different parts of the city and ensured that Drakmoor remained connected, ready to expand its operations.

But he didn’t stop with the paved streets. Miguel designed and implemented oil lamp posts, a simple yet effective innovation to illuminate the city at night. These posts were powered by soybean oil and kept lit by cloth wicks soaked in oil, spreading a soft yet sufficient light along the main streets. At night, Drakmoor came alive under the lamplight, making the environment safer and more vibrant.

Miguel extended the lighting beyond the city, installing lamp posts along the roads leading to the brick factory outside the urban walls. With the roads illuminated, workers could travel safely even after sunset. This facilitated continuous work at the factory, where he had implemented a divided production line, optimizing each phase of production. Each group of workers was responsible for a part of the process — from raw material collection to shaping and firing the bricks — which accelerated the production pace. With this strategy, Drakmoor could build faster and more efficiently, ensuring that each new building was erected as quickly as possible.

Another project that concerned him was housing. He had designed simple yet sturdy buildings with apartments capable of housing refugee families. Although construction was a slow process, he had already managed to provide shelter for approximately 50% of the newcomers to Drakmoor. The housing complexes, located near factories and work areas, offered affordable housing and helped strengthen the local economy. By ensuring that refugees had a safe place to live, Miguel promoted the social stability he so desired for his kingdom.

As he reviewed the sketches and construction progress reports, Miguel thought about the need to further expand Drakmoor’s production capacity. Metallurgy was among his top priorities. He needed a specialized place where swords, armor, tools, and essential machine parts could be forged. A strong foundry would be key to making Drakmoor independent in iron item production. It would ensure that the kingdom could arm itself with quality equipment while providing more job opportunities to the refugees.

The foundry, as he called it, would be a significant endeavor. In his sketches, Miguel already envisioned the structure, imagining it as a large building with powerful furnaces, where raw ore could be transformed into pure iron and then forged into everything the kingdom needed.

Just over a year ago, Miguel had made an important decision for Drakmoor’s growth: to build a large smithy. The kingdom needed weapons, tools, and essential parts for war and infrastructure. He knew they depended on a specialized place where skilled craftsmen could forge everything they needed. The smithy soon became a success, attracting blacksmiths from various baronies who, seeking a better future, came to join the emerging kingdom of Drakmoor. Many of these blacksmiths began working under the master blacksmith Arthur, a man of great talent and experience, whom Miguel fully trusted to organize production.

At the smithy, the blacksmiths worked tirelessly, forging weapons and equipment. They were responsible for a wide range of projects: ammunition, cannons, swords, spears, and more. Each piece was hand-forged, and though the quality was exceptional, the process was slow and labor-intensive. With the war against Árdia demanding a constant supply of ammunition and weaponry, Miguel quickly realized that production needed to increase. The smithy was not enough to sustain the growing demand of the army.

Miguel had also shared his firearm and ammunition designs with the beastmen, who were warring against human forces in their own lands. In some areas along the front lines, the new weapons were already in use, but Miguel knew there was a long way to go before all soldiers were fully trained in using them. The shift to this new type of weaponry required training, practice, and adaptation, and Miguel didn’t have the luxury of time.

To solve the production issue, Miguel conceived an audacious idea: to build a metallurgical plant in Drakmoor. Unlike the smithy, which heavily relied on skilled blacksmiths, a foundry would allow for mass production of steel and related products through machinery. He envisioned a production line where each worker could be trained in a specific task, operating a machine without needing the extensive knowledge of a blacksmith. The process would be much faster and allow for meeting the growing demand for weapons and supplies.

However, the foundry presented its own challenges. Miguel knew he would need many special tools to bring this vision to life. The mechanisms for large-scale steel forging, machines to shape projectiles and weapon parts, systems to cool and treat the metal… all of this required tools and materials that were still scarce in Drakmoor. Moreover, he knew he would have to improvise with the resources at hand.

The smithy, though efficient, relied on blacksmiths with years of training. However, at the foundry, he could reduce the need for specialized labor by training workers in standardized production processes. But first, he needed the right machines, and to design them, he relied on the skills and knowledge of the blacksmiths.

The problem was that with the constant demand for weapons and ammunition, the blacksmiths were already overworked. Arthur and his team worked almost without rest, and Miguel knew that asking for help in designing machines would increase their workload even more. Yet, it was a crucial step, and he needed to devise a plan so that Arthur and the others could contribute the necessary knowledge to shape this new phase of Drakmoor.

Miguel leaned back in his chair, looking at the sketches scattered across the table. He knew this was the future of Drakmoor, and despite the challenges, they couldn’t afford to stop.

Miguel spent days locked in his office, surrounded by a pile of papers, charcoal, and ink. Every piece of paper on the desk displayed a line, a sketch, or a calculation. He knew that to make Drakmoor a self-sufficient force, he would need to design a metallurgy plant capable of producing steel on a large scale, something beyond what traditional forges could achieve. The task was colossal, and he would have to use every existing resource and improvise where necessary.

Fortunately, Drakmoor already had a well-planned furnace system, furnaces that Miguel had previously designed. They were sturdy, powered by coal, and adapted for high temperatures. But for truly efficient production, he needed much more than just the furnaces. He required specific machines for each stage of the steel creation process and its derivatives.

Miguel began with the first sketch of the production line: a smelting machine. He knew that steel production started with heating and melting iron ore and coal. The smelting machine he was designing used a large cast iron cauldron capable of withstanding extreme temperatures. The cauldron would be powered by one of the existing furnaces, but Miguel improved the design to include an air control system with bellows that would be operated by workers. This bellow system would be strategically positioned to ensure the temperature remained stable, ensuring a more efficient and homogeneous melting of the ore. The workers, working in shifts, would take turns controlling the bellows, a task that didn’t require a high level of skill and could be done with quick training.

The next step was to design a machine for molding the steel. Miguel drew a manual conveyor belt that would be operated by cranks. When the molten steel was poured into the mold, it would slowly flow into the shapes, and the conveyor would be moved manually so that the still-hot metal could be cooled with running water. For this, Miguel planned a series of stone containers positioned along the conveyor. As the steel passed through these cooling stations, it would solidify into the desired shape, becoming blocks or ingots ready for the next stage. This rudimentary but effective method would ensure that steel could be molded on a large scale, and with the workers operating the cranks and keeping the water fresh, the process would become a continuous flow.

Moving forward, Miguel needed to think about steel rolling, a crucial step for producing thinner and more flexible pieces, such as plates or sword blades. He designed iron cylinders that could be fixed on large axes, creating a rudimentary rolling system. The cylinders would be heated by the same smelting furnace, and then the steel would pass between them to be pressed and stretched. With a system of levers and wheels, Miguel planned a way for workers to control the thickness of the steel by turning cranks and adjusting the spacing between the cylinders. It wasn’t a perfect method, but it was a system that Drakmoor could sustain and that would allow for the production of plates for armor, shields, and even parts of weapons.

Another essential element Miguel knew he needed was a cutting machine. After molding and rolling the steel, the pieces would need to be cut precisely. He designed a robust guillotine with a massive, sharp blade that would be operated by a long lever and operated manually. Workers could position the ingots or plates at the base, and the blade would cut them to the exact size. This process would save time compared to the manual cutting each blacksmith would have to do in a traditional forge. Furthermore, Miguel knew that this machine, once assembled, could be operated by any worker after quick training.

Finally, he designed a machine for heat treatment and steel hardening. Miguel knew that to produce quality armor and swords, the steel needed to be treated precisely. He developed a system of smaller furnaces, powered by coal, where pieces could be heated and then cooled in tanks of water or oil, depending on the desired type of piece. These smaller furnaces would be simple, just big enough to hold a few swords or armor plates at a time, but their operation would be easy and efficient. Miguel envisioned that this particular machine could be adapted for different needs, making it a versatile tool in the production of weapons and agricultural tools for Drakmoor.

Day after day, Miguel adjusted and revised the sketches, considering every detail and thinking about how each part of the process would fit together. He knew that building these machines wouldn’t be easy, especially with Drakmoor's limited resources. But at the same time, he trusted that the blacksmiths could help bring his ideas to life. Arthur and his blacksmiths had the experience and skill to build the more complex parts, and Miguel knew he would have to rely on them for the finer details and installation.

When he finally finished reviewing the last sketches, Miguel stepped away from the table, feeling the exhaustion of days of incessant work. He picked up the glass of wine beside him and walked over to the window. He looked out at the city of Drakmoor in the soft morning light, realizing how much they had already achieved. The new roads, the oil lamp posts, and the movement of workers and refugees through the city gave the impression of a place that was growing every day.

Taking a long sip of wine, Miguel allowed himself a brief moment of satisfaction. The vision of the metallurgical plant began to materialize in his mind, and he knew that, with the help of his blacksmiths, he could turn Drakmoor into a self-sustaining realm.

Suddenly, a soft sound broke the silence of the office. A knock on the door. Miguel set his glass aside, turning toward the entrance with curiosity, wondering who was there.