"What should we do with this steam engine?" Michael looked at the machine he had used to fool Annan.
"You call this a steam engine?"
"The steam engine you described uses steam to drive a machine. Mine uses goblins. There's not much difference." Even as an Alchemist, Michael still retained some of a Mage's prejudice: they had all seen steam. How much power could it possibly have?
"Why not use a goblin engine instead of a steam engine?"
"Well, it's not... No. Absolutely not."
Even if they caught a hundred goblins—or a hundred Ratfolk—and stuffed them inside, they still couldn't get a section of train moving. Besides, how would that be any different from a carriage?
What Annan wanted was a machine that didn't rely on manpower, not something old wrapped in a metal shell.
Annan opened the Alchemy Room door and let the three little goblins hop out. Then he turned to Michael. "Take a few days off. And have a bath."
"Who are you going to get to keep developing the steam engine?"
"No one. I'll do it myself."
No one in the Allen World understood steam engines better than Annan.
Why bother with a damn Alchemist? I'll do it myself!
The principle of a steam engine was simple: boil water to produce steam, use the steam to push a piston, and have the piston turn a wheel.
Given the strength of materials in the Allen World, Fine Iron would be stable enough. Tempered Steel would be safer, and he could even use Mountain Copper for the cylinder—
Annan settled on Tempered Steel as the raw material. He spent half a day drawing up plans, then took them to Copperbeard and asked him to forge a set.
Copperbeard dropped his forging hammer, snatched up the plans with a