Fool's Iron

Shiro rolled open a large scroll onto the workshop table. Bending low as the table was designed for a dwarf, not a human.

"I want to jot down some points you mentioned during the ride back."

Geraltavin stood beside him. The dwarven craftsman reached only up to Shiro waist as he stood.

"Go ahead."

Shiro began drawing symbols on the parchment.

"Magic. It's elemental, all spells start from the core 9. Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Ice, Electric, Poison, Light and Dark."

"Yeah"

"And if you carve one of these runes, like Fire into a weapon, you can make a flaming sword, right?"

"Yeah."

"So why is every weapon not like that?"

"Cost..."

Johnaquil chipped into Shiro's and Geraltavin's conversion. He was sitting off to the side of the workshop with Azura.

"Enchanting an item with runes is expensive. Even more so if mana needs to be stored in the item for non casters."

"And you guys are broke.”

"Funds are tight… Our lightning stone vines have started to dry up. All we have left to export is Feather Steel, a cheaper alternative to steel."

"Is it right for you to be telling him all this!?"

Azura lashed out at Johnaquil. Unlike the other two who had hope in Shiro being able to save the kingdom, she firmly sat in the camp that wanted to get rid of him.

"It's better he knows. We can't tell him we're hoarding lightning stones in case his plans require them."

"If he's a spy and leaks this information, the demon will come full force!"

"They have already been sending scouts, war is coming, that's why we got a hero. Stones or not.”

A tense silence filled the air.

"So... what are these stones and steel?"

Geraltavin began pulling out stones to answer Shiro's question.

"These gems are lightning stones. Native to these mountains and the best conduit for Electric Mana"

Shiro ran his hands through the gemstones. Mostly browns, reds, and oranges. As well as a single Yellow one.

"Yellow is the most powerful but those are by far ye rarest.”

Gemstones that have a high affinity for electric type magic...

Zircon? It contains small amounts of uranium… I'm no expert on gems, but the Overseer did tell me of the undiscovered uranium nearby.

“How much does material properties and composition affect their affinity to runes?"

"Ummm… can't say. Not an easy thing to test, which is bout the only way yer find out."

And that's not helpful. Guess there isn't any Internet or publicly shared knowledge.

"What about Feather Steel?"

Geraltavin began pulling out metal blocks, as well as red stones.

"This is Feather Steel, which is made from Fool's Iron."

He gestured to the red stone.

"Real iron ore is only red on the outside. Fool's iron is completely red with these grey spots tricking people."

"But if you can make steel from it, how is it Fool's Iron"

Johnaquil joined back in to add historical context.

"You couldn't at first. It was a waste material in the mining of lightning stones. It wasn't until Himmel Héroult, forefather of King Charles Hall Héroult, discovered that you could use electricity to forge this metal. Turnings these once mining towns into his own kingdom."

"So everything they mined could be sold... Sounds like Vermelionne should be wealthy. Why sell Feather Steel as a cheap metal?"

"Geraltavin could explain it better but compared to steel, Feather Steel is weaker in every way and much lighter."

"Hardness, strength, ability to hold an edge. All worse than steel. It's one third the weight, but has bout two thirds the strength..."

Wait... Almost as good as steel but much lighter? Made by electrocuting a red stone?

This is just Aluminum and Bauxite!

".... of this, it has no use for weapons. Some more agility warriors like Azura might still use it as armor. It also holds electric runes better than steel. But for weapons you'd use steel with copper engraving..."

Makes sense, aluminum is light and a good conductor...

"Wait!! You guys call aluminum 'Feather Steel' but copper is still copper!"

The three others started at Shiro. Confused by his sudden outburst.

"Sorry about that. So basically feather Steel has no best case uses, so it is nothing but a cheaper alternative. I imagine Copper is more common too."

"Yeah."

"Same in my world..."

This nation sits on both aluminum and uranium. That shitty Overseer really sent me to the most important place....

Shiro looked around Geraltavin, Johnaquil and Azura.

If I was reincarnated as a demon, this place definitely would have fallen and everyone here...

Shiro straighten himself up and began drawing on the parchment scroll

"Well good for you guys. It's time to make Alumin.. Feather Steel, your most valuable asset!"