Evil dragon has a warm heart-Chapter 98 - 97 Clay Slag

Chapter 98: Chapter 97 Clay Slag

Chapter 98 -97 Clay Slag

Because the Baron and his wife took Lola to the Great Wind Manor to soak in the hot springs and incidentally pay a visit to Lady Ingrid.

Thus, Russell also felt bored inside the castle, and he always had the feeling that Mr. Ross, sitting perched atop the tower, bore ill will towards him. After finishing lunch, he simply proposed to go inspect the clay mine and pick out some top-quality clay particles.

“What do you want that stuff for?” Roland asked, puzzled.

“To cultivate pearls.”

“What?” Roland was totally confused.

Russell had no intention of hiding it, since if he truly succeeded in breeding magic pearls, he would still need to use the caravans from Fluorescent Castle to sell them abroad.

He laid out his plan to artificially cultivate pearls: “Scraping a living from the soil is too insignificant, even the yield from a year’s harvest of magic potions cannot compare to the profits from a single trip to the Snowfield to hunt Snow Ghosts.”

“So you think the farm’s yield is too meager and that’s why you’re thinking about cultivating these pearls to make money from selling magic pearls?” Roland shook his head and asked.

“Yes.”

“Hahaha, Russell, oh Russell!” Roland finally couldn’t suppress his laughter, “You’re just too naive. Pearls are made by magic power, and how can magic creations ever be cultivated by our hands— it’s pure fantasy!”

“What if it works?”

“There’s no ‘what if’. Dismiss the thought while you can, listen to your big brother’s advice,” After laughing, Roland spoke earnestly, “Everything we have is given by the Great Dragons, and showing gratitude to them is the most correct approach.”

Russell persisted with his plan: “I still want to try.”

Perhaps the concept of artificially cultivating pearls in the world of Dragon Sleep Continent was indeed ludicrous, but he still desired to give it a shot.

Success wasn’t important.

What mattered was to determine through such a magic-related experiment exactly how this world operated, to get a glimpse of the Great Dragon’s secrets, or perhaps the nature and fundamental logic of the world’s transcendent power.

Since it wasn’t going to cost much, it could be treated as satisfying his own curiosity.

“Do as you wish,” Roland advised no further, “If you want to go to the clay mine go by yourself. I have to go to several manors this afternoon to pick out some Qi Seeds to replenish the Knight Academy with seeds… Alas, every time we go to the Snowfield, our numbers decrease.”

Thus, the two brothers parted ways.

Russell went to a manor not far from Fluorescent Castle, where the largest and first discovered clay mine on the estate was located.

The mine was mined every year, but the reserves never seemed to diminish.

The reason was simple: as long as Ros the Clay Dragon was alive, its bloodline strength would continuously project towards the surroundings of the estate, then replenish the vein with new clay—the more peak the Bipedal Flying Dragon, the richer the nurtured ores.

“Mr. Russell, welcome to your visit,” the person in charge of the mine came out to greet Russell.

Russell threw over the waist card Roland gave him, the person in charge examined the waist card carefully, confirmed it was real, and then respectfully returned it before signaling his subordinates to open the gates of the mine and let Russell pass.

After all, the clay mine was a strategic asset of the Fluorescent Fungi Family, and even someone of Russell’s status couldn’t enter without authorization.

Once inside the mine, the inevitable messiness and chaos were part of the scenery.

Countless miners, either robust or skinny, were working hard under the supervision of the overseers, too busy to even wipe the sweat streaming down their backs.

Below the yellow surface was the red clay mine.

Lacking large machinery, the entire clay mine adopted the most primitive method of extraction with human labor. Miners descended into the pit to dig, beasts of burden were responsible for transporting the ore. The ore was crushed nearby, then sifted through screens to select the suitable clay.

Russell rode his black steed through the mine, with the person in charge following closely by his side.

Kevin the Gold and Silver Wolfhound followed Russell vigilantly, responsible for his safety.

Suddenly.

Looking at the periphery of the mining field, Russell noticed several mounds of earth and curiously inquired, “Is this also clay?”

“This is clay slag.”

“Clay slag?”

The person in charge explained with a smile, “Mr. Russell, not all the earth dug up can be used to make ceramics from clay. These are slags with very low magic power content, incapable of being made into ceramics; only the core clay can be used to produce ceramics.”

“So what happens to this slag, just throw it away?”

“We fill it back in. When a mining pit is emptied, we refill it with slag. Who knows, maybe in a few decades, Mr. Ross will be able to rejuvenate it into core clay… after all, it does contain a slight amount of magic power, which should be better for nourishment than ordinary soil.”

“Hmm,” Russell narrowed his eyes.

He suddenly realized that although the Fluorescent Fungi Family, to which he belonged, knew how to produce exquisite and powerful ceramics, they seemingly had never considered making bricks.

Thus, whether building castles or houses, they always mined stones from Curved Blade Mountain or Sharp Knife Mountain and had never thought about using earth to make bricks—which, in Russell’s view, seemed much simpler than mining stone.

After all, bricks didn’t require magic power, and the clay slag scattered all over the ground was the most suitable raw material.

“Could it be that there’s not enough coal, so they can’t afford to burn it?”

With that question in mind, Russell asked the person in charge of the mining field, “Haven’t you thought about burning this slag as well?”

“Why burn it? It can’t be made into porcelain, and can’t even make coarse pottery, but only turns into hard stone slag.” The person in charge couldn’t quite understand Russell’s idea; in his view, the only purpose of slag was to be used as backfill.

“What about making it into uniformly sized stones to build houses?”

“This…” The person in charge of the mining field shook his head, “You’d have to ask Lord Baron about that, I’m only responsible for mining clay.”

Acting on impulse.

From the highest quality clay newly mined from the clay field, Russell selected a bit to take with him, then returned to Fluorescent Castle, planning to rest there for the night.

By evening, as the baron and his wife returned to the castle with their youngest daughter, Russell stepped out to greet them.

“Russell!” Lola smiled at Russell, her teeth almost fully grown in, making her not exactly beautiful, but at least not ugly.

“Lola, did you enjoy soaking in the hot springs?”

“Comfortable!”

“That’s good to hear.” Russell was not very good at expressing emotions; even towards his own little sister, there was a sense of restraint.

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Lady Meryl asked with a smile, “What brings you over today? Your father and I just visited Lady Ingrid at Great Wind Manor. Your grandmother can’t stop praising the reading glasses you gave her; she wears them every day to read letters.”

“Does grandmother have so many letters to read?” Russell spotted an inconsistency.

“Plenty, all correspondences with your Aunt Roby. Ever since the trade routes reopened, she can write up to a hundred letters a month, discussing every little detail with each other.” Lady Meryl explained, with a hint of complaint.

After a pause, Lady Meryl muttered under her breath, “To the unknowing, it would seem as if Mrs. Roby is the lady of Glowing Valley.”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Roman frowned, “Roby comes back only once every few years; no one can shake your status as the lady of the house… Alright, let’s not talk about this in front of the children, let’s go inside… Oh, Carter, go to the wine cellar and fetch two bottles of ’71 Black Pearl. I’m going to have a good drink with Russell.”

The group entered the house.

Lady Meryl also instructed, “Carter, while you’re at it, let the kitchen know to prepare a Mint Soup to clear the heat. Lola has been soaking in the hot springs for too long; she needs to dispel some dampness and heat.”

“As you wish, sir, ma’am,” Butler Carter bowed and went off to attend to his tasks.