Winter is almost here.

　It's the second winter since I came to this world.

　The first winter we came to this world unprepared, and we had a bad experience, but we've learned our lesson and this year we're ready for it!

　The elves have been making and accumulating charcoal since the beginning of last winter, and Batty has been sewing a thick coat of fur for me.
　Porgy and his friends are changing their fur from summer to winter.

　And I can't afford to do nothing either!

　As the owner of the farm, I've decided to make my own winter preparations.

　The stove!

　The masterpiece of heating!
　But there is no oil in this world, so they must find alternative fuel.

　And then it occurred to me....

　Firewood!
　They burn wood and use the heat to heat the room!

　We're going to have a warm winter this year with the power of the wood stove!

　　　　* * *

　In.
　Build a wood stove.

　The material is, of course, metal.

　It has to keep the fire burning inside all the time, and it can't function as a stove if it doesn't transfer the heat to the outside.

　The metal we need is manna metal.

　This manna metal. Strangely enough, when you want to work with it, it softens at an unremarkable temperature, but once it's finished and you're sure it's going to harden, it has a melting point that far exceeds that of steel, and it never burns or melts.

　It's also an ideal material for stoves with ideal thermal conductivity.
　The manna metal is really useful and can be used for anything!

No, I don't know...
Hmm?　What's the matter, Bacchus?
'I'm sure the dwarves will cry when they see this scene. But really, there's all this precious mana metal here!

　Bacchus passed by with a meaningful statement.

'Oh, even our brewery is making a bang-up batch of high-degree spirits to beat the cold!
Oh, yes, please.

　I'm sure I'll be drinking whiskey and brandy as well as shochu one of these days.

　I'll leave it at that.
　Let's concentrate on making the stove now.

　The first thing we need to think about is the chimney.
　We need to make a chimney, a way to get the smoke out of the wood burning. A chimney is a must.

　A chimney is not just a matter of making a chimney.
　The smoke that comes out of the wood has to be heated by the fire. The air heated by the fire also goes through the chimney, and the chimney itself will be heated accordingly.

　The chimney would heat up all the rooms in the house by passing the heated air through it.
　However, if you build a chimney long enough to pass through all the rooms, you have to increase the heat of the stove itself to heat the whole room.
　Naturally, there are some problems with the stove being hotter closer to the body of the stove and not heating evenly, but we'll study that in due course.

To get the inside of the stove to burn well, air intake is important, so it needs to be designed so that air can easily get inside...!

　Halfway through the process, the elves mixed in and the stove making became lively.

''It would be nice to pile it up next to us so that we can add to it as soon as we run out of wood...!
Let's make a basket for the firewood.
Wouldn't it be fun to boil water on the stove and cook on it?
If you touch it, it's very hot. If we touch it, it will be very hot. Let's put a fence around it to prevent the kids from touching it by mistake.

　One good idea after another is suggested.

Wouldn't it be better to get a good look at the fire inside?
Poel. Can you make a glass lid for the stove?
I'm on it!　I will make heat-resistant glass that doesn't melt into magma!

　The head of the Glasswork Group, Mr. Poel, is very motivated.

　After a lot of trial and error, I'm going to make it.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to make a mana metal that is much harder than steel, but don't you think it's amazing how easily it can be processed?
I'm not the greatest. What's great is this holy sword.

　The vajra silk is impervious to even the fangs of dragons.
　The reason why it is so easy to pierce and sew together that vajra silk is because it uses a needle made of mana metal.
　The Evil Saint Sword Dry Schwartz, which easily slices through that mana metal and processes it.

''I see!''
That's a holy sword that can slice through a mana metal!
"The ultimate sword given by the dark gods!
I have witnessed and experienced the awesomeness of it all with my own eyes!

　How many times this farm life has been saved by the Holy Sword!
　How fortunate I was to have met the Holy Sword early on!

"Thank you, Holy Sword!

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　* * * *

　And while we're messing around, it's finally done!

　Total manna metal wood stove!

　The chimney is spread out over several rooms in the house, so that the stove itself is not only in the room where the stove is located, but each of the other rooms also gets a heating effect.

　The top of the stove is flat so you can put pots and pans on it.
　It can be used to boil water and cook food.
　It can also be used to bake rice cakes.

My farm is now fully prepared for winter!　Anytime, Winter General!
Wait for me!　Saint-sama!

　Then Elf Elon, who calls out to him in a tight voice.
　What's the matter?　It's such an imminent situation.

This stove is missing something crucial!
What the hell?

　What is the meaning of this?
　I put all my heart and soul into building this stove, and it's still lacking!

That's wood!
Oh, yeah?

　This is a wood-burning stove!
　A stove that burns wood to keep you warm!

　Just as no machine can run without fuel.
　A wood burning stove without fuel is like a magician without magic power.

''So.........then I'm going to go into the forest right now to collect firewood......!

　But can we collect them now and get them in time for winter to arrive?
　Firewood needs a certain amount of time to dry out after it's been chopped, right?

"You saintly careless bastard!　I'm fine, I'm fine!
What did you say?
Because we elves already have the firewood!

　What?

　There's a huge pile of firewood in the back of the house.
　You mean to tell me that this is all gathered by the elves?

Oak, oak, zelkova!　We've got all kinds of wood for you!　One of the great pleasures of a bonfire is to enjoy different kinds of flames in different woods!
"Oh...?

　That's the Forest People's Elf...!
　What you say is profound...?

'This should be enough to last us a winter!　Saint!　Use it to your heart's content!
Elon, you are...!

　You really are made of elves!

　A sense of excitement and solidarity made me and Elon hug each other tightly.

'You know how the head is always setting aside wood for pottery kiln firing?　Even the firewood we're carrying is, well...!
Shh, shut up!

　Through making the stove, I could feel the bond between me and the elves deepening.

　　　　* * * *

Yes, I'm home.

　Beside me and the elves' bond value skyrocketed.

　Prati is back.

From where?

　And after Prathi, Okubo, Govt. Yoshi and the others were also buzzing around.
　Suddenly it got noisy.

　Had they all gone out together?
　Where have you been?

'What's the matter with you, sir, hugging Elon?　Now you're going to make Elon a side room?

　I won't!
　I mean, don't make it sound like there's more than just Elon in the side room!

Where was Prati with Okubo and the others?

　Thinking about it, there was no way the orcs could not be involved in the building work of stove building.
　But they were not present because they were away.

Of course. I'm getting ready for winter.
What?
Last year we got caught by surprise and had a rough year, so we better be ready to go this year.

　My wife, as expected, thinks the same way.
　Then you'll be surprised to see this!

　Look at the finished wood stove!

So I had to dig up a bunch of stuff.
Hmm?
"Coal.

　Coal!

　The black stone that Okubo and his team are carrying on their wagons is a black stone.

　Is that what they are carrying, coal?

　Coal that burns well and is used to power trains and steamships?

That's.........where did that come from.......?
My teacher remodeled the cave dungeon so we can mine the coal!　So today, Okubo and the rest of the guys came in and dug around!

　The wagons with coal on board seemed to arrive one after the other, and there was a superior amount of coal that could last all winter.

　The more I looked at it, the more me and Elon's expressions became sooty.

　.........
　.........After all, coal is more thermally efficient than wood or charcoal, right?
　It wouldn't have been an industrial revolution otherwise.

'Properly, Okubo and her friends made a coal stove too!　Now we won't have to freeze in the winter anymore!

　This winter was going to be warm this year.
　A desolate autumn wind blew relentlessly through me and the elves.

　　　　* * * *

　An aside.
　The manna metal used in the wood stove was sturdy, and I was glad to see that it worked fine with coal, which emits far more heat than firewood.

　I thought the firewood would be helplessly wasted, but it was burning up vigorously in the pottery kilns of the ailerons as usual.