"If my teacher knew I'd made something like this using such high-grade materials, she'd definitely curse me for being wasteful!"
Carefully piling the mud bricks into the shape of a furnace, Carl looked at the brick kiln that had already begun to take shape and muttered helplessly to herself.
But there was nothing she could do about it. Apart from Mithril, Carl had no decent raw materials on hand.
Taking out the finest lump of mud, Carl repeatedly slammed it against a wooden board.
The lump of mud was kneaded like dough, gradually taking on the shape of a crucible in Carl's hands.
After being repeatedly slammed against the board, the mud crucible's outer surface became smooth and glossy. Carl made six of them in succession before stopping because she ran out of material.
Returning to the brick kiln, Carl infused a little spirituality into each of the four Mithril Alloy plates.
In an instant, waves of heat rushed toward her from the metal plates.
Although there were no flames, the four Mithril Alloy plates had already begun gradually turning orange-yellow.
Carl placed the excess mud bricks and unfinished crucibles into the kiln, then sealed its opening with discarded lumps of mud.
Next, these clay pieces would face their fate under the high temperature: transformation or destruction.
"It's lucky this giant mushroom has completely petrified. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have dared to fire things at such high temperatures on top of it."
After washing the mud from her palms, Carl sighed, then went inside to process wood.
The brick kiln would still need some time.
"C-Carl! Are you done with the work over there?"
When Carl entered the house, Hopp, who had been measuring her body, hurriedly lowered her hands and stammered.
"Mm, it's temporarily finished. Come process some wood!"
Pretending not to have seen anything, Carl had Hopp turn the gear while she continued processing the wood.
If I get the chance, I should use those materials to make two pocket watches and check the time. Right now, I can only roughly estimate how much time has passed based on the cooldown intervals of the Alchemy Jug. I don't even know exactly how long it's been.
Working on the wood with divided attention, Carl watched as time slowly passed.
When the processed wooden parts were nearly filling the room, Carl signaled Hopp to stop turning the gear.
"All right. This should be almost enough to build the right wing. Let's start construction."
"Huh? Why are we making the right wing first?"
"Because men belong on the left and women on the right. Haven't you always wanted a room of your own? Then we'll build yours first."
Carl's teasing made Hopp's already-red skin turn even brighter.
Seeing that Carl's expression didn't seem fake, Hopp pursed her lips. She wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
She couldn't exactly say, "My bust and hips have been growing lately, and I feel a little embarrassed sharing a room with you, so I'm eager to sleep separately," could she?
Opening the main door, the two of them transported the parts back and forth.
Carl had already reserved the frameworks for the left and right wings. All that remained was to install the various components.
The first time was difficult; the second was easier.
After her experience forcibly assembling everything on that rainy night, Carl was much more practiced at installing the various mortise-and-tenon joints this time.
With Hopp's help, the right wing was soon installed.
After using Hopp's axe to remove part of the wooden wall between the right wing and the main hall, Carl used the lathe to make a door and install it in the opening.
As it happened, by the time she finished, the spirituality in the four Mithril Alloy plates had been almost completely depleted.
Carl left Hopp to clean the right wing while she went to open the brick kiln.
The moment she removed the mud sealing the opening, a wave of heat forced Carl several steps back.
Seeing this, Carl had no choice but to activate Mage Hand.
From a great distance, one of the bricks inside the kiln was "dragged" over to her.
She dropped the brick directly into a nearby water trough. As steam billowed upward, the brick's temperature rapidly fell.
And just like that, a blue brick had been made.
After fishing the finished product out of the water, Carl curled her finger and tapped on the brick.
"Clang, clang, clang."
The crisp sound was like tapping on an iron block, proving that the brick's material was quite good.
Nodding in satisfaction, Carl repeated the process with the remaining bricks.
However, not all the bricks in this kiln had turned out. Some had already shattered when the kiln was first opened, while others broke during the water-cooling process.
All in all, the success rate was only around forty percent.
Only two crucibles had succeeded, but succeeding at all was already a good thing, because it meant Carl could smelt metal.
Recalling where the bricks that had broken upon removal from the kiln had been positioned, Carl felt that next time she fired bricks, she could consider how the distance between the mud bricks and the rune plates affected the success rate.
Using Mage Hand, Carl took out the four rune plates, then used the intact blue bricks to build a smelting furnace that matched the textbook specifications.
She infused the rune plates with spirituality again, and searing heat surged into being.
Carl threw the damaged parts from the goblin weapons and some wood shavings into the crucible, then controlled Mage Hand to place the crucible inside the smelting furnace.
Under the furnace's constant high-temperature baking, the wood shavings turned into carbon powder and began reacting with the rusted metal components.
Before long, the solid metal began to melt, becoming a ladleful of molten iron glowing orange-yellow.
Seeing this, Carl finally smiled in relief.
"Gurgle, gurgle~"
It was another fine day for hunting. In the Mind Flayer base deep in the woodland, one Brain Eater after another left the base and searched the forest for fresh brains.
However, in the deepest part of the base, several Brain Eaters were gathered around a transformation pod, communicating through psionics.
"It's coming out! It's about to come out! After half a year, we've finally succeeded in transforming a Mind Flayer!"
Inside the chitinous transformation pod, a Mind Flayer still bearing traces of its Hobgoblin features slept with its eyes closed.
The tentacles beneath his chin wriggled slightly, as if reacting to the events in his dreams.
"The old master hasn't contacted us for two weeks. It looks like something must have happened. We have to let the newborn Mind Flayer develop more of its kind and strive to cultivate an Overmind as soon as possible, so the old master's thoughts can revive within it!"
Directly opposite the transformation pod, a brain floated up and down in an orange solution.
This was the backup of the thoughts left behind by the Mind Flayer who had captured Carl and implanted her with a Mind Flayer Tadpole.
According to his plan, even if he died outside, as long as the base here continued developing normally, his thoughts would be reborn within the Overmind here!
The Brain Eaters discussed excitedly. Inside the transformation pod, the Mind Flayer that had completely recovered the memories of his time as a Hobgoblin opened his eyes.
Surging psionic energy radiated from his body. The transformation pod's doors opened, and the Brain Eaters prostrated themselves on the ground as if welcoming the birth of a new king.
"I'm hungry~"
His gaze drifted toward the direction of his former tribe. The Mind Flayer narrowed his eyes and slowly floated upward.
Before you continue