He spent a whole week translating the notebook, only to find that there wasn't anything he wanted in it.
Things like how to become a magus, how to raise one's magic tier, what magic was, and so on weren't there.
Strictly speaking, the notebook was more of a blueprint for magical designs. The idea behind the design was to conserve mana and consume fewer magic materials to achieve the same effect as the original design.
Or rather, it could be done without using mana at all. Instead, it could be done through various technical means, just like the improved design of the flintlock.
However, Claude didn't really understand what magic was and could only make guesses.
Just like the blueprint in the notebook, Claude was able to translate the text and understand what the blueprint was about, but he wasn't sure what kind of effect it could achieve.
There were many strange symbols on it that he didn't recognize. He could only guess that they were runes in magic.
Another thing was that the most common term in the notebook was alchemy. That was also one of the reasons he couldn't understand it.
Had it not been for the improved design of the flintlock, he wouldn't have known what alchemy was at all.
In the end, he could only rely on the text on the blueprint to figure out what it was.
In his previous life, he had seen videos of how flintlocks were made on the computer. They weren't much different from matchlocks. The only difference was that the firing method was different. One relied on a match rope, while the other used flint.
More importantly, the two were similar in the manufacture of the barrel. Without a good barrel, no matter how good the firing method was, it wouldn't work.
The manufacture of the barrel was also the most important part of a flintlock. For example, the reel type was made by wrapping a metal bar around a metal rod and hammering it. Then, the rod would be pulled out, leaving behind a rough metal barrel that would be processed into a gun barrel.
There was also the link type, which was made by connecting three short metal barrels together to form a longer barrel.
There was also the more extreme version, which was to drill holes into the metal rod to form a barrel. Naturally, that was more time-consuming.
When flintlocks first appeared, the processing of the barrel was the biggest problem.
The methods of making a gun barrel in the video could be said to be like the eight immortals crossing the sea.
At most, they would imitate ancient craftsmanship to make the barrel, hoping to achieve the best shooting results.
There were also some netizens who were creative and discussed whether they could use modern methods to make a good gun barrel in a more convenient and efficient manner.
However, the production of gun barrels in this world was not that troublesome at all. It seemed that mages had used alchemy to set up a magic array with runes, put all kinds of materials into the array, and calcined them with magic fire. Then, they used magic to precisely control the metal materials in the rune magic array to fuse and form a long gun barrel …
Had it not been for the improved flintlock blueprint, he wouldn't have thought that tempering metal would be that easy.
Because most of the instructions on the blueprint were backwards deductions, researching how to make the village's small blacksmith forge a suitable long gun barrel without using alchemy and mana, as well as expanding the production scale for mass production.
That was how Claude understood that the technology of Faslan's world was alchemy.
Using alchemy to make a gun barrel was easy. Ten or even a hundred barrels could be made by a magus using alchemy through favors and money.
However, it was simply impossible to make tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of gun barrels. No mage would take up such a task. Not to mention other things, just the various magical materials spent on the Rune Magical Array alone would be an astronomical figure. Moreover, it would also require a mage who knew alchemy to precisely control and synthesize each gun barrel …
However, making a gun barrel without alchemy or mages was equivalent to a massive project.
At the back of the improved flintlock blueprint, there was a list of metal ratios for the magus to use alchemy to make the barrel. It was obvious that the metal used in the rune magic array wasn't suitable for use in the forge of the village's smithy. So, Landes listed another seven metal formulas and made it clear that experiments were needed to find the best material for the barrel.
The next page was the blueprint of a blast furnace that Landes had specially designed to temper the metal formulas. It also had a tall chimney and a big belly. The description beside it stated that the furnace needed to be made from a high-temperature magic-resistant material called cinderstone, which had to be mined from volcanoes.
Having a blast furnace was only the first step. The next step was to pour the molten gun barrel into a mold and forge it into a long shape before forging it.
What could be easily done by a magus using an alchemy array was broken down into a complicated process.
In the last few pages of the furnace blueprint, Landes designed five types of processing machines to replace the magus' precise control in the alchemy array.
There was also a hammer machine, a cutting machine, a drilling machine, and a polishing machine that used water and wind to repeatedly forge the metal. There was also a machine that used a foot pedal to control the barrel.
In order to make the gun barrels standardized, Landes also designed a cutting blade, a drilling bit, and five special measuring tools. It was indeed a complicated system that required a huge investment.
In terms of quantity, alchemy had an advantage when it came to making gun barrels on a small scale. However, when the number of barrels reached a thousand or ten thousand, the scale of production would reveal its power. There was no need for magi, alchemy array, or magical materials. Even a commoner would be able to make a standard gun barrel as long as they received technical training and cooperated with each other.
He remembered that in the diary hidden by the magic cookbook, Landes had mentioned that Baron Regus Aug Hill had requested him to improve the manufacturing process of firearms five years ago. He requested that even an ordinary blacksmith could make a passable firearm without the assistance of a magus's alchemy.
It was obvious that the ten pages of improved flintlock blueprints were designed for Baron Regus O'Hill.
It was thanks to Landes's design that Regus O 'Hill was able to organize the Brotherhood and start a rebellion against the magi on Freia.
They had a weapon that could threaten magi — the matchlock gun. Even better, the creation of such a weapon didn't require magi's alchemy, so the magi couldn't control the proliferation of such weapons on Freia. That was why the baron was able to build an army of eight thousand muskets.
It was a huge investment, but it was worth it to Baron Regus O 'Shil, the largest magic stone merchant on Freia. He could also use the mining as an excuse to train his men and open a spear-making workshop. He wouldn't have to worry about arousing the attention of magi.
From that point of view, his success wasn't due to luck. It was inevitable.
Claude put down the notebook and sighed deeply.
If he was a magus and had some knowledge about alchemy, the notebook would be a priceless treasure in his eyes.
Many of the magical designs were designed to reduce the consumption of magical materials and mana while still achieving the same effect.
Unfortunately, Claude wasn't a magus. He could only be considered a normal middle schooler with some talent in magic.
It was a magical notebook with 38 pages of rune leather. Apart from the ten or so blueprints that he was able to understand, the purpose of the modification was to allow normal blacksmiths to make a passable product.
The other blueprints were hard for him to decipher.
For example, the input of mana, the setup of the rune alchemy formation, the usage of magic crystals and other magical materials, etc. It was like a heavenly book to Claude.
It was like a middle schooler reading an advanced geometry textbook. He could understand the words, but he wouldn't be able to understand what they meant when they were put together.
Especially the conversion formula and the runic alchemy array's standard settings, as well as those runic units of measurement. Without systematic magic knowledge training, one simply wouldn't be able to understand the meaning behind them.
If only he had a basic magical book to teach him, he might be able to become a low-ranked magus by himself.
That was what Claude thought, but he knew that it was a ridiculous idea.
All the kingdoms of Freia viewed casters as evil and banned anything related to them. Even the word 'magic' was taboo. How could there still be books on magic?
The only good news was that Claude's understanding of ancient Hez improved after spending the week translating the notebook. After all, the current Hebraic language was also derived from ancient Hez and the two were closely related.
If he had a book written in ancient Hertz, he would be able to understand it even if he didn't check the dictionary. He would be able to understand the general meaning of the words.
"Brother, it's time to eat," Angelina called from the door.
Claude snapped out of his thoughts. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he lost track of time and didn't even hear his sister's footsteps.
"Alright, I'll be right down."
Claude stood up from his chair and stretched his arms a couple of times. The sound of his sister skipping down the stairs could be heard.
After tidying up the table, Claude went downstairs.
Mr. Morssen was seated at the dining table. When he saw Claude coming down, he ordered, "Claude, go outside and bring in the wooden chest from the back of the carriage."
They didn't have a horse or a carriage.
It wasn't that they didn't have space, but that Morssen didn't want to spend money on a stable and a groom.
Morssen had done some calculations and felt that it would cost more to keep two horses for a year than to buy a horse to pull the carriage. He also had to hire a groom to take care of the two horses, which wasn't worth it at all.
Morssen believed that since he spent most of his time in Whitestag, he didn't need a carriage for himself. Not to mention, the cost of a carriage wasn't a small one. It would wear down quickly after being exposed to the elements and had to be cleaned and maintained frequently. Hiring someone to do it would cost money and he would be asking for trouble if he didn't hire someone to do it himself.
Moreover, the town hall owned a carriage. As the chief executive of Whitestag, Morssen was allowed to use the carriage for his own personal use.
The fact that the town hall's carriage was a little old and worn out was something he could ignore. Morssen preferred to drive the carriage home himself. He felt that it was a way to get closer to the townsfolk and he could greet them on the way home.
Claude, on the other hand, felt that he was being stingy because he would have to tip the groom for him to send him home.
The carriage outside belonged to the town-hall, and late in the evening the town-hall coachman would come and drive it away, and return the next morning to take Mr. Morssen to the town-hall. This was a common occurrence.
Claude opened the carriage door and saw the long wooden chest.
It was rather long and was even taller than Claude when it stood up. However, it was only a flat wooden chest. While it was a little heavy, it wasn't that heavy.
Claude carried the chest to the dining room and asked, "What's inside?"
"Open it," said Mr. Morssen. "It's a present for you."