Under Edgar's strange gaze, Todd picked up a piece of ore that was placed in the open field.

Judging from their appearance, these do not look like washed and sorted ores, but rather like slag, the waste product of fire refining.

At the craftsman's instruction, a smelting apprentice covered in charcoal dust put down his work and approached Todd, who was examining the ore repeatedly.

"My lord, what can we, your humble servants, do for you?"

Hearing this, Todd looked at the child, who was about the same age as him and was bowing low, with a hint of surprise. He realized that the child's submissiveness was probably due to the monk's robe he was wearing.

Frowning, the novice monk glanced at the cross on his chest and desperately tried to recall the Western religious works he had read, using the most reasonable language possible to avoid arousing suspicion: "As a preacher authorized by the Father to walk on the earth, I have a few questions to ask you."

puff!

Behind me came the sound of Edgar's mouth spitting out wind.

Cold sweat dripped from Todd's forehead, but thankfully the apprentice craftsman in front of him didn't show any unusual expression.

Holding up the slag in his hand, Todd asked, "Where did this stuff come from?"

The apprentice replied respectfully, "The North Stone Mine was a gift from the Silver Ring Kingdom to the monastery."

"North Stone Mine?"

"Yes, I've heard that the mines there produce silver ore."

After a moment's thought, Todd used his X-ray vision to see through the surface of the slag and looked at the shimmering silver light within. He asked thoughtfully, "Tell me, does the North Stone Mine use the 'ash-blowing silver refining method' for silver smelting?"

"Ash-blowing silver refining method?"

Seeing the other person's puzzled expression, he scratched his head and explained to the apprentice the general process of the "Ash Blowing Silver Refining Method" from his previous life.

The so-called "ash blowing silver refining method" is a method for separating silver and lead. Silver ore generally has a very low silver content, and the key to silver refining technology is how to concentrate the silver. Since lead and silver are completely miscible and have low melting points, lead is added during silver refining to dissolve the silver in the lead, thus concentrating the silver; then air is blown in to oxidize the lead, which is then added to the furnace ash to separate the silver.

It sounds simple, but in the previous life, the ash blowing method was further divided into many categories. In medieval Europe alone, there were nearly ten types, including the English ash blowing method, the German ash blowing method, the fan-coil ash blowing method, and the template ash blowing method.

Todd had only explained a fraction of what was happening when suddenly a pair of large hands appeared in front of him and tightly covered the ears of the astonished apprentice.

A dark face appeared before the monk, its deeply lined features revealing tension and unease. The old craftsman, who looked to be about fifty years old, lowered his voice and whispered to Todd, "Sir, please come with me."

He was led into a workshop, sat down on a wooden chair, and watched as the old craftsman chased all the irrelevant people out, leaving only one person who swaggered in with him.

Edgar, with an indifferent expression, entered the room, found a clean corner, and leaned against the wall, leisurely watching him. This made Todd's forehead crease with annoyance. He cursed inwardly, "I know you're a bastard they sent to spy on me, but who in the world can spy on me so blatantly? Could you at least observe me discreetly from the shadows?"

The old craftsman closed the door tightly, waved away the curious apprentices by the window, stood respectfully in front of Todd, and said cautiously, "Sir, you will get us killed."

With wide eyes, the monk asked, puzzled, "Hmm? What does that mean?"

The old craftsman removed the cloth hanging around his neck, wiped his forehead, and swallowed hard. "I haven't heard of the 'ash-blowing method' you just mentioned, but I have heard of a similar silver-refining technique. This technique is called 'Nathaniel's silver-lead refining,' and the general process is similar to what you described, but only royal craftsmen are qualified to access the detailed procedures. However, casually mentioning these things in this setting would be very disadvantageous for you and for us..."

Looking at the man in front of him, Todd subtly pointed to the top of his head as he spoke, and Todd instantly understood what he meant.

But this is really frustrating. If I remember correctly, the "ash blowing method" was invented by astrologers in my previous life as early as 2500 BC. How come in this world, it is being treated as a treasure by the royal family and a "technical barrier" has been set up?

That's what I thought in my heart, but I still had to let the other person know that I meant no harm.

Todd said, "I see, I was quite ignorant about that..."

Upon learning that the monk before him had not done it intentionally, the old craftsman visibly breathed a sigh of relief, draped the cloth he had been fiddling with to his waist, and said, "Sir, there is no need to blame yourself. You are the spokesperson of the Heavenly Father, and naturally you would not care about worldly matters."

"what your name?"

“Aiden, Aiden Colm, sir.”

"Aiden, I need to ask you some questions."

"My lord, please ask me anything and I will answer to the best of my knowledge."

Using his X-ray vision to examine the metallic particles, Todd said, "I heard these things come from the North Stone Mine? They don't look like freshly mined ore."

Glancing at the slag in the monk's hand, the old craftsman continued, "Sir, as you said, this is waste material from refining silver at the North Stone Mine."

Why would the Silver Ring Kingdom donate this waste to the monastery?

Perhaps misunderstanding the question, Aiden quickly waved his hand and said, "My lord, you may have misunderstood. The Silver Ring Kingdom sent these items with no intention of humiliation or belittling. Although these are waste products after refining silver, they still have great value. The molten lead obtained through pyrometallurgy is an important source of materials for pencils and roofs used in monasteries."

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