Ed thought about it. According to Eric, the other party must have arrived in the valley in a very short time. After all, Ed didn't believe they had their own boat and food. However, his plan to travel far still needed to be worked on.
Since the ships and food supplies are unreliable, the coal trade can only be conducted in that valley for the time being.
" Eric, your main task now is to trade for the black stones in that valley, but don't meet them yet. Let's trade with them a few times to build trust." There's no other way but to wait. Tell Eric to go check on things there whenever he has time.
"Yes, my lord, everyone really liked your cookies, but there weren't enough. Could you give us more next time?" Eric offered Ed a small suggestion after finishing discussing the black stones.
"Hehe, Eric, the workshop for making cookies is still under construction. Adelaide is making cookies now, so they definitely can't make many yet. They'll make more in the future."
"That's wonderful, my lord. I'll be going now." Eric left with satisfaction.
Eric left, and Ed followed him outside into the hall. He wanted to deal with the coats. He'd heard before that coats needed cleaning, but he only knew the general idea; he didn't know exactly how. Was it like washing clothes? Whatever, he'd just give them a quick wash. He was just trying it out, hoping to gain some experience.
As for other more sophisticated methods of processing coal, he doesn't know them. He only knows how to crush coal, add some clay, and make honeycomb briquettes. But he doesn't have the tools to make honeycomb briquettes right now. Even if he makes them, he doesn't have a special stove for burning them, so he just rolls coal balls.
Regarding safety, the house is currently drafty, so there shouldn't be any major issues. Also, the fireplace in the house on the estate is in a separate kitchen, not in the living room. He will also post notices in the future informing everyone that burning fireplaces in enclosed spaces is not allowed.
" Lord Ed, are you playing with black mud? I think the yellow mud used for pottery over there is more fun." Carly rode over on her bicycle and stopped in front of Ed.
" Carly, yes, want to play? I think this is much more fun than that yellow mud. That yellow mud is nowhere near as fun as this black mud."
Ed looked up at Carly and rolled the coal in his hand into a ball.
"Really? I don't see what's so fun about this black mud. Is it that black ball that's more interesting?"
"That's right, that's exactly how it is. You can make a few yourself if you don't believe me. You'll see how beautiful they are." Ed tried his best to make the coal briquettes look nice, hoping to attract Carly's attention.
"Hehe! I'm not doing it. You can do it yourself. I'm leaving now." Carly laughed and rode away on her bicycle.
"Hehe!" Ed chuckled as he watched Carly's departing figure. Getting her to do something now would be a bit difficult. He should have just told her he was going to cook Cuisine; that way, he could take a break now.
But there are no "what ifs," so Ed could only slowly turn all the processed coal into coal briquettes himself.
In fact, it didn't take long before the open space outside the castle was piled with black coal briquettes. Now all that was left was to wait for the coal briquettes to dry so that they could be used for experiments.
If there are no problems, we will continue to handle future coats using this method for now.
Now that there's a way to buy coal, Ed is much more at ease. With more people in the territory, he won't have to worry about winter anymore.
And the person selling the coat probably doesn't know its purpose yet; now is the perfect time for him to stock up. He hopes the recipient will like what he brought this time.