The smithy in the south of the town was called Big Hammer. It was said that the first owner of the smithy was nicknamed Big Hammer. He moved to Whitestag a few decades ago to escape the chaos of war. He didn't have much money when he first arrived, so he built a furnace to help the fishermen in town forge some fishing equipment. As time went by, the people named the smithy after the owner of the smithy, Big Hammer.
The current boss was the grandson of the first boss. He was a tall and sturdy man. His voice was as loud as thunder. His name was Mike.
The place where the open-air furnace used to be had also become a large courtyard, with a four-storey chimney and a row of large tile-roofed houses. The sound of forging iron could be heard from the tile-roofed houses, and it had become a very busy small workshop. Various kinds of iron ore, coal, charcoal and other sundries were piled up on the ground in the courtyard, and apprentices and porters were coming and going …
Welikro called Mike out. It couldn't be helped. The yard was too noisy and he wouldn't be able to hear anything if he lowered his voice. He would have to shout instead.
Claude gave him the blueprint of the sight and told him how to use the musket.
Mike wasn't interested in what Claude wanted to build or where to put it. He only asked if Claude could legally own a matchlock.
However, when Welikro introduced Morssen as Claude's father, Mike's attitude turned a little more attentive. He sincerely expressed his apologies and explained that if he didn't figure out Claude's identity, he would be implicated due to the part he made on the gun. So, he had to figure it out before making a decision on whether or not to accept the sight.
Since he already knew that Claude and Morssen were father and son, it wouldn't be a problem to forge it.
After that, Mike carefully checked Claude's blueprints and carefully measured the diameter of the muzzle with his tools. After doing some calculations, he felt that there were no problems and that the sight could be made.
However, because this thing was relatively small and complicated, it was difficult to create a complete outline by hand. Therefore, Boss Mike decided to use plaster to make a mold and pour molten iron. He wanted to shape it in one go before repairing and polishing it by hand.
It would take about a week, and the fee would be one thale and seven riyases. This was a discount for Mr. Morssen's sake. According to the market price, it should have been around two thales …
By the time Claude came out of the smithy, he found himself penniless once more. The three thales he got from Egret had already been spent and he only had three riasos left.
In less than ten days, Claude had spent almost all of Morssen's monthly salary on his adventures.
The next day, Claude found a chance to have a private chat with Borkal and brought up his old plan to get him to sell the shaliun.
During the adventure in Egret, Claude took out five shaliuns to give himself a perfect excuse to go to the basement.
Everyone got one after splitting the loot, but Claude got an extra one for killing the python.
Now, he wanted Borkal to sell the extra shaliun and keep the other one as a souvenir like everyone else.
Naturally, he had another 30 shaliuns hidden under his bed in the attic that nobody knew about.
"You're a coward when you don't have money!"
Claude sighed, "I didn't feel that way before, but now that I have money, I feel like I've lost a lot of courage.
I don't even dare to look at the mutton pancake stall when I walk past it in the morning, afraid that I won't be able to resist the temptation of the aroma and buy one. "
Borkal rolled his eyes. "Well, it's your fault for being so extravagant when you're rich.
Let me see, it's pointless for you to spend one thale on three trash items at Wakri's shop. Not to mention the fishbone dagger, the door plate and the fish pen holder aren't even worth three riyases. You were the only one who foolishly bought all three of them for one thale.
"Also, you asked Wero to take you to Big Hammer's smithy to get a sight custom-made for one thale and seven riyases. You don't have any money on you now, do you? I really don't know what to say to you. You have to have a plan when you spend money. You can't just buy whatever you like. Before you buy it, you have to think about whether it's useful to you or not."
Claude covered his mouth and said, "Alright, that's enough. Stop nagging like a sissy.
I know where I'm spending my money.
You'll understand when my sight is ready. With that thing, you won't have to adjust your aim and shooting distance anymore. You'll be able to shoot wherever you want. "
Borkal pushed Claude's hand away and looked at him suspiciously. "Really?
You're not lying to me. "
"Why would I lie to you?" Claude didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "That's for my own use. I'm building one for my experiments, so I'm more than willing to spend more money. You'll understand when it's ready. Think about that target. Didn't you complain that it was too crude at first?"
Borkal thought about it and agreed. "Alright, if that sight you mentioned is useful, I promise I'll sell that shaliun of yours for a high price."
Since the sight would take another seven days to complete, Claude didn't plan to waste his gun and gunpowder in the forest outside the town after school in the afternoon.
Since he had already paid for the horsemanship lessons, he couldn't let it go to waste. Even though he already knew how to ride a horse and passed the assessment, he still had to ride it from time to time.
Welikro, on the other hand, was a little angry. He felt that it wasn't good for Claude to give up on shooting practice like that.
This was because only through more shooting practice could the body's memory be strengthened, and each step of shooting would become an instinctive reaction of the body. Only then would there be no mistakes, and it would be a great help to familiarize himself with the performance of the gun …
Of course, Welikro had good intentions. He felt that Claude was talented in shooting and that Claude should work harder.
As for Borkal, Welikro had already given up on healing him. That fellow only wanted to know how to use it and not be proficient in it. What a waste of the aubass mark 2 musket his father bought for him. It was like throwing pearls before swine for the kingdom's newest military equipment.
However, there was nothing Welikro could do about it if Claude refused to go for shooting practice.
Even though he was tall and burly, he wasn't good with words and had a good temper. He wouldn't force his companions to do things his way. That was one of the reasons why the four of them had such a good relationship.
So, the four of them went to the Altronis' private jetty after school.
When they arrived at the jetty, Claude noticed that the jetty was unusually empty after the Shark of the Redsea set sail.
However, there was a row of bonfires in a corner of the jetty. The Altronis' original Surfer was being roasted on the bonfires.
They're probably dismantling the planks of the ship, right?
Welikro mentioned that there were grooves between the planks to prevent them from leaking. So, they had to use fire to melt the glue and separate the planks. But wouldn't they burn the wood of the planks?
There's no one around to watch.
Claude walked up to the bonfires and noticed that there was a thin layer of metal beneath the planks. It was about two to three centimeters away from the planks of the ship. The flames licked at the bottom of the metal, causing the heat to rise and burn the planks. As the temperature rose, a clear gap appeared between the planks. Occasionally, a glue-like liquid would drip onto the metal.
It was no wonder they said dismantling a ship was a technical job. If they didn't dismantle it like that, there wouldn't be a single plank left.
Didn't Welikro say that it would be a waste of strength? Even after the planks were torn in two, the glued parts were still connected firmly together.
The glue, on the other hand, was rather sturdy. The only downside was that it would melt on its own if the temperature was too high.
But he didn't have to worry about using it on the planks of the ship. The sea wasn't like a cauldron of fire. It couldn't be heated to 70 to 80 degrees Celsius.
"Claude, come over here," called Altronis as he stood in front of the broken flipper.
Borkal and Weliksson stood beside him and watched as Pegg worked on the remaining beam with his tools.
Claude walked over and looked at the frame of the flipper that only had a frame left.
"Help me clean the glue and paint on the frame. There are scrapers and scrapers in the box on the ground. Then, help me think about how to arrange the cabins.
Oh right, there's one more thing. Originally, I wanted to install a moveable mast on this flipper, but this flipper's hull is a little short. Also, the flipper's head and tail are connected to the bottom beam, so it's different from the low bow and tail of the flipper. There's no way to install a moveable mast. Do you have any ideas? "
Altronis gave everyone a difficult problem.
The flipper was seven meters long and the mast was four meters tall. When lowered, it would be level with the bow of the flipper.
On the other hand, the flipper was only about five meters long, and the bow and stern of the flipper were raised high. Even if the mast was two-thirds of the length of the flipper, it would still protrude about a meter from the bow of the flipper, making it inconvenient for the flipper to dock.
However, if the mast was cut by one meter, then the sails would have to be lowered. Not only would they not be able to catch the wind, but it would also block the sight of the helmsman at the back of the ship. How could he steer the ship if he couldn't see the front?
In the end, Claude suggested that since it was a small fishing boat, they might as well just make it fixed. That way, the boat would be sturdier and more stable.
There wouldn't be a need to raise and lower the mast, which would save them a lot of trouble.
Eriksson furrowed his brows and pondered for a long time. He really wanted to install the movable mast from the wave-piercing boat onto his small fishing boat. Firstly, it was to make use of waste, and secondly, it was cool. The mast of his small fishing boat was movable.
However, the flipper had a movable mast to reduce storage space and allow it to sail with the wind at sea.
This flipper, on the other hand, was meant to sail on Lake Balinga, so there wasn't a need for the mast to be movable.
"Alright, we'll do as you say. We'll just install a fixed mast." In the end, Altronis reluctantly accepted Claude's suggestion.