James, as he always did after work, continued reading books in his library until midnight. As a mechanical engineer, he enjoyed reading not only engineering books but also works on military history and scientific history. As time passed quickly, anyone who looked at his library would notice a wide range of books on engineering, military strategies, and scientific discoveries. Lost among the books, James eventually fell asleep on the couch in his study.
About an hour later, a fire broke out due to a fault in the electrical grid, and the flames spread rapidly through the house. James woke up to a disturbing smell and saw that his house was engulfed in flames. Just as he was about to escape, the ceiling above him collapsed, and everything went dark.
When James opened his eyes again, he found himself in an unfamiliar room. The room had stone walls and was furnished in a medieval style. "Where am I? The last thing I remember is trying to escape the fire when the ceiling collapsed on me," he thought. As he looked around, he noticed a mirror opposite the bed. When he approached the mirror and looked at his reflection, he was shocked by the face staring back at him. He realized that he had been reincarnated into another body after his death.
"I guess I've been reincarnated," he murmured. "Well, at least I'm more handsome than I was before." He smiled slightly and sat back on the bed, trying to figure out who he was now. As he pondered, the memories of the body he had inhabited began to emerge.
The true owner of the body he now occupied was Arthur Pendragon, the heir to the throne of an island country called Pendralis. Unlike the overly dramatic prince's he had read about in online novels, Arthur was an entirely ordinary person.
From Arthur's memories, he knew that the world was divided into two continents: Altharion and Velmora. Pendralis was located about 100 kilometers to the east of Altharion. To the south of Altharion was Velmora, and the two continents were separated by the Maraz Strait. Between them stretched the White Sea, a vast body of water that extended for thousands of kilometers.
The control of the Maraz Strait had been a source of centuries-long wars between the Kingdom of Aragon and the Kingdom of Fasi. Currently, the Strait was under the control of Aragon. To the north of Aragon was the Kingdom of Frenk, famous for its wine production. To the north of Frenk, along the coast, were the cities of Auronis, Thalissa, and Borealis. Far to the north were the raider kingdoms of the Nordheim Peninsula and the Syvatoslav Kingdom, stretching along the northeastern edge of the continent.
To the northeast of Velmora lay the Kingdom of Fasi. The rest of the continent was mostly desert, with only a few city-states along the coast. The deserts stretched deep into the continent, and no one had dared to explore it. Those who tried to venture into the desert had never returned, and no one had made another attempt in centuries.
Arthur also remembered talking to travelers and sailors who spoke of rich kingdoms and cities far to the east, beyond the end of the White Sea.
Just then, a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. A servant entered. "My lord, your father calls for you in the throne room," the servant said.
Hearing the servant's voice, James came back to his senses. "I'll join my father in a moment," he replied. After hearing the prince's response, the servant bowed respectfully and left the room.
James returned to the mirror. "Alright, I'm Arthur now. Let's see what adventures this new world will bring me," he thought.
Dressed in garments similar to the difficult-to-wear medieval clothes, Arthur stepped out of his room and began to search his memory to find the location of the throne room. According to his memory, he passed through the corridors and arrived at a room with two large wooden doors. He signaled the guard by the door to open it and then entered. Inside, there was a rectangular table with an older, stern-looking man sitting at the head, and a beautiful middle-aged woman sitting to his right. To the left, there was an empty chair. Arthur immediately recognized this as his seat and walked toward the chair, sitting down. He greeted his father with a "Good morning." His father responded, "Good morning, my son. I remember your health has been poor lately, how are you now?" Arthur replied, "I believe I've recovered." His mother, with a gentle smile on her face, said, "I'm so glad to hear that, my son."
During breakfast, they engaged in casual conversation. Afterward, Arthur went to the castle's library. For a week, he researched to deepen his understanding of this world, sometimes leaving the castle to explore the city and broaden his knowledge. This place resembled a late medieval European kingdom. The name of the city he was in was Pendragon, the same as his family's surname, and it was located in the southeast of the island. The entire island was divided into 50 counties under the king, and central governance appeared to be relatively well established.
When James looked into Arthur's memories, he recalled that the island had rich deposits of coal and iron. Additionally, sand, gravel, and crushed rock were abundant across the island. He also remembered that during his travels, Arthur had learned of kaolin deposits located along the island's southernmost coast. Overall, the island's resources were remarkably similar to those of England in his own world.
When Arthur returned to his room, he sat down at his desk and took a deep breath, staring at the blank parchment in his hands. He was certain that the greatest change he could bring to this world was the initiation of industry. First, he recalled the knowledge from his former life and then assessed the resources and technological possibilities of this world. He began to write on the parchment:
"First, I must establish the production of raw iron and steel."
He remembered how iron and steel production had been achieved in his former world. He was confident that he could apply similar methods here, but due to technological limitations, he would need to make some adaptations. He began to sketch a detailed plan in his handwriting:
"We can start with bloomeries," he wrote. These small furnaces were suitable for producing low-carbon iron and could be built using the existing technology. However, this would not be sufficient. For larger-scale production, blast furnaces would need to be established. Regular wood charcoal supplies from forest villages would be necessary for this.
He paused, scratched his head, and continued writing:
"Once blast furnaces are established, I will move on to the cementation process for steel production." In this process, iron bars heated with charcoal would be coated with carbon to turn them into steel. But this was not a long-term solution. If he could apply the Bessemer process, which he remembered from his former world—an oxygen-blowing process—earlier than expected, he could produce steel more quickly and with better quality.
Arthur became excited by the idea and began to sketch a few drafts on the parchment. These sketches depicted the first blast furnace and a simple oxygen-blowing mechanism. If everything went as planned, mass-produced steel would no longer be a dream.
But steel was only a tool. Arthur saw it as a starting point.
"I must begin mechanizing agriculture with this steel," he thought. He continued writing: The tools used on the farms could be made more durable and efficient. Steel-made plows, sickles, and other equipment would increase agricultural production and enable peasants to yield more with less labor.
He lifted his head, took a deep breath, and added:
"If the number of workers in the fields decreases, it will be easier to find workers for the factories I plan to establish." As the demand for labor in agriculture decreased, these people could work in iron mines, furnaces, and steel processing factories instead. In this way, the economic system would become both more productive and diverse.
Motivated by this thought, Arthur felt a surge of determination. The mechanization of agriculture had been the starting point of the industrial revolution in his former world. He could start the same thing here.
"This will not only increase the kingdom's agricultural productivity," he wrote, "but also create new jobs and sources of wealth." The labor saved in agriculture could be redirected to work in coal mines, iron processing plants, and the workshops he planned to establish in the future.
He paused for a moment, put his pen down on the desk, and looked out of the window. His memories flooded back: This island had rich coal and iron deposits, just like England. He also remembered that kaolin was found on the southern shores of the island. These resources would be an excellent starting point for the technological revolution.
He turned back to the parchment and added his final note:
"Our economic and military power will be shaped by this steel." Steel would not only be used for agriculture but also for armor, swords, and other military equipment. The kingdom could form a powerful army. With cheaply and abundantly produced steel, he could sell weapons to foreign countries, where steel was highly valued, making a vast fortune and potentially changing the fate of Pendralis in the future.
Arthur looked at what he had written and smiled. "Although this world seems like the late Middle Ages, we can take it much further," he said to himself. What he would bring to this world would not only be steel but the beginning of a new age.
He carefully folded the parchment and decided to present his plans to his father. As he walked toward the throne room, he was filled with the vision of the change he would create in the future.