Chapter 134: Glass

This morning, Owen received a report from Viru saying that the glass-melting kiln had been built as requested.

This meant that Bianshu Town could now begin producing glass products—a truly joyful development.

In the Kingdom of DawnLight, the technology for making glass was mastered only by a few families of glass craftsmen, for it was a skill passed down through generations.

Because of this, glass craftsmen were usually favoured by local lords, and glassmaking often became an important industry in the region, generating great wealth for the lord.

However, most of the glass produced by these craftsmen was tinted in various colors, with green glass being the most common. Transparent, colorless glass was exceedingly rare.

As the saying goes, rarity makes value. Colourless, transparent glass quickly became a sought-after luxury item, a symbol of noble status, with prices sky-high—affordable only to nobles and wealthy merchants.

Since there were no glass craftsmen in Bianshu Town, all glass products had to be purchased from elsewhere.

All along, Owen had assumed that glassmaking was an extremely advanced skill, one that only a handful of glass craftsmen could research and master.

It wasn’t until he learned the process from Winston that he was utterly dumbfounded.

The primary raw material for making glass turned out to be sand—or more precisely, the quartz sand in it, which is silicon dioxide.

And the principle of manufacturing was surprisingly simple. Yet, it had been monopolized by glass craftsmen for so long.

Furthermore, Owen learned that the reason glass often appeared coloured was due to impurities mixed into the raw materials, mainly iron oxide. This was why most of the glass produced came out green.

The cost of making glass wasn’t high, but the prices of glassware on the market weren’t cheap either—proof of just how large the profit margins were.

Since it was such a lucrative trade, Owen had no objections to getting involved and making a fortune from it.

Of course, profit was only one aspect. Owen had other purposes for producing glass: namely, to manufacture laboratory glassware and concave–convex lenses.

Laboratory glassware hardly needed explanation—flasks, beakers, test tubes, and so on were all glass products indispensable for chemical experiments.

At present, most of the equipment in the temporary laboratory had been transferred from Winston, and some came from remelting Owen’s own collection of colourless glassware.

Those had originally been exquisite and costly glass pieces purchased by the Eisen family at great expense, but in the end, they had all been melted down into laboratory equipment. It felt a little like the work of a spendthrift.

As for the concave and convex lenses, they were to be used in making telescopes.

With the advent of artillery, the effective range of strikes had greatly increased. Relying solely on the naked eye for judgment wasn’t reliable enough, so a telescope would serve as an essential auxiliary tool.

Besides its military uses, Owen also planned to sell telescopes to the Gemini Chamber of Commerce.

As a member of the Crescent Moon Federation, President Masha often went on overseas voyages for trade.

Out on the vast ocean, having a tool that could extend observation distance would make sailing far safer.

Such a marvelous instrument would surely sell well throughout the Crescent Moon Alliance.

Without delay, Owen ordered the already-prepared raw materials and tools to be transported over, then eagerly brought Mapel along to the site, ready to get started.

Since the cement kiln had recently gone into production, cement supplies were stable for now, so Owen also summoned Vannie, who had finally gotten a short break.

The type of glass kiln Viru had built was a crucible kiln. Its inner walls were lined with refractory bricks, and the crucibles for melting glass were made of fireclay.

While Owen was inspecting the crucible kiln, two guards arrived, pushing a wooden cart loaded with raw materials and tools.

“Eh?”

Seeing a vat of sand being unloaded, Fanny looked puzzled and asked.

“My lord, didn’t you say we were going to make glass?”

“That’s right,” 

Owen said, walking over. He grabbed a small handful of sand and explained.

“This sand is the key raw material for making glass.”

“Ah?!” 

Fanny was so shocked that her eyes went wide. 

“You’re saying glass is made from sand? My lord, are you sure you’re not joking with me?”

In her mind, the exquisite glassware she had seen and the sand that covered the ground were two completely different things—there was no way they could be related.

Mapel wore the same look of disbelief. She had glassware at home, and it wasn’t cheap. Wasn’t it supposed to be made from rare and precious materials?

“I’m not joking,” 

Owen said with a slight smile. 

“Once we finish the product, you’ll believe me.”

The raw materials brought in had already been pre-processed: blocky chunks had been crushed and dried.

It was worth mentioning that the sand used as the main raw material wasn’t ordinary sand, but had been dug up by soldiers from the Mak Desert north of Bianshu Town.

According to Winston’s tests, this sand—formed under a curse—was extremely pure, almost entirely free of iron oxide and other impurities. That meant they could skip the de-ironing process normally required.

Without all those messy impurities, the resulting glass would certainly be the rarest and most expensive kind: colourless and transparent.

If Bianshu Town could produce colourless glass in large quantities, it would inevitably impact the inflated price of such glass, likely drawing the displeasure of the lords who controlled the original glass-producing regions.

But so what? They had already made plenty of money by monopolizing glass production. Perhaps they had grown too comfortable with easy profits, becoming complacent and stagnant.

So many years had passed, yet the technology of glassmaking had not advanced in the slightest. It was about time they were given a push.

Now, it was time to start making glass.

First, all the raw materials (sand, soda ash, etc.) were mixed together in the proper proportions until evenly blended.

Then, the mixed glass batch was poured into a crucible, which was then placed inside the kiln.

Next came the melting process. Owen turned to Fanny and instructed: 

“Please use your magic. Keep increasing the output until I say stop, then switch to a steady flow.”

“No problem.”

Fanny nodded, stepped forward with her staff in hand, and began casting a fire spell—Pillar of Fire.

Meanwhile, Owen activated the data visualization function at his side to monitor the temperature readings.

When the temperature climbed to the proper level, he immediately called out for Fanny to stabilize her magic output.

Under the high heat, the glass mixture gradually melted until it became a uniform, bubble-free liquid, suitable for shaping.

Seeing this, Owen said.

“That’s enough.”

At his words, Fanny nodded, withdrew her magic, and let out a soft breath.

Compared to firing cement, melting glass was actually somewhat easier work.

Next, Owen took out a hollow iron tube about 1.5 meters long and dipped one end into the kiln to gather molten glass.

After rolling it on the marver to shape the gob, he began blowing air into the other end while slowly rotating it.

This was glassblowing—the very technique glass craftsmen likely used to shape their glass as well.

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