The Sage of Einar

At night in the great room, Einar who was putting wood in the kitchen fireplace looked curiously at the fire.

Because he was seeing how ineffective it was to burn the logs in the fire, so he remembered how he had once made briquettes with charcoal with Erika.

"Dad, can you help me do my ecology homework, I have to make some charcoal briquettes.

 

According to the book, I only need paper, sawdust, water. "

 

Max stroked his daughter's hair and took the ecology book from her hand where he can see the process and all the necessary materials.

 

So without wasting time he left his house and holding his daughter's hand, he began to walk towards the carpentry in the neighborhood.

 

In which he bought a large bag of sawdust to later return to the house since it was the only material he was missing.

 

Once in the house, Max began to do the task together with Erika. The first thing he did was place pieces of paper in a bucket of water so that they were moistened.

 

After this he let them soak enough for a full day, so when the corresponding time passed.

 

Putting gloves on Erika and he with theirs, they began to knead the moistened paper until a kind of paste was formed, which they ended up adding the sawdust.

 

When they finished mixing, they used a little water to start shaping the charcoal briquettes. It didn't take long for them to have a perfect consistency.

 

So at that time they bought a plastic bottle to give it the shapes, they should have and leave the briquettes in the mold overnight.

 

They made these completely empty of the excess water in the briquettes they had made.

 

In the morning they took all those briquettes and left them in the afternoon sun so that the next day they could have some kind of porous blocks in their hands.

Remembering this, Einar scratched his chin and gazed happily at the fire.

'Briquettes have everything to be considered a strategic material and can help keep the village warm without producing a lot of smoke.'

With the idea of ​​the briquettes in his mind, Einar went to his room, and looking at Kassia and Helmi who were asleep I can only give them a silent smile.

Because the two of them looked so cute lying together.

Trying her best to avoid waking them, she put on her nightwear and silently positioned herself between the two of them.

In the morning Einar awoke with his two wives embraced and, looking at the ceiling, prepared to start work.

The first thing he did was look for his father since he had to prepare everything to show his new idea at the Thing conference.

Sven who listened carefully to everything Einar had said about briquettes and their possibilities were quite surprised as he had to see it for his own eyes.

"Very good Einar, if everything you say is true, then this is a new way to avoid going out in this climate to look for wood.

You may not believe it, but just last year many of the loggers fell ill and four of them ended up dying.

But fortunately thanks to you this year only a few have fallen ill, but it is still a dangerous profession. "

Einar smiled and confidently spoke, "Don't worry father I'll see to it that none of the lumberjacks die this year, you can be sure that next year none of them will get sick.

Of course, I cannot guarantee this 100% because there are many factors involved here, the most important thing is that I will try to make some changes so that they do not suffer from diseases. "

After saying those words, Einar sent for Seren as it was important that the craftsmen's guild fully meet.

Seren who was building some things in her forge heard a knock on her door, so she quickly stopped what she was doing and ran to answer the call.

Because it could only be work-related.

When she opened the door, she found little Laura, who looked at her with a smile.

"Good morning, artisan Seren, I came to look for you because Papa Einar asked me to tell him that the artisans' guild must meet in the great hall.

Why do you plan to show something called briquettes so it is important that you bring scraps of used paper and sawdust. "

Seren stroked little Laura's head and quickly began to prepare what Einar had asked of her.

Taking a large quantity of sawdust from one side of the forge, she placed it in a leather bag to later take all the papers that covered the meat that had been given to her when she bought food in the mornings.

Having everything ready, Seren left her house and, accompanied by little Laura, began to walk to the different workshops in the town.

After a while, all the artisans arrived along with the rest of the Thing members, who were impatient to see the briquettes that Einar was about to make.

When they were all fully assembled, Einar began to explain the process to make the briquettes.

"First, you will have to soak the paper and they will have to leave it ..."

After giving the full explanation and telling them that the briquettes could be used once dry, everyone was surprised by the ability to create a fire source other than wood or animal fat.

Furthermore, none of them had any inconvenience in using paper since only one paper cup had to be used for every two cups of sawdust.

Seeing that everyone had been interested in the use of briquettes, he proposed at the Thing conference that artisans should make them, but they should be free-for-all members of the tribe.

They could sell the stocks they have to the merchants, always keeping the creation process confidential since it was a strategic resource for the tribe with which they would avoid deforesting the island due to the lack of coal.

Fortunately, Einar was not worried that in the future the island would not be able to produce certain things due to a lack of heat energy.

This mainly because the hot springs and the Stirling engine that he thought to make could make up for all those problems.

If it was still not enough, he always had the ability to start looking for resources in rich Greenland or, failing that, send some explorers to the New World.

In which he would not only find what he was looking for but also rapidly increase the population of the tribe.

The only problem with starting a campaign to the New World was that many of the warriors would end up dying since the natives in most cases would fight.

In the end, the Thing conference ended with the approval of the use of briquettes and their ability to be produced.

Einar, who left the Great Hall and reached the courtyard, spread his hands while enjoying the beautiful aroma outside.

Seeing Papa Einar so happy, Laura walked over to where he was and used her little hand to pull his shirt to get his attention.

"Papa Eina, I want to thank you for allowing me and Daven to be with the animals that you brought back from the expedition.

I really like white foxes a lot and being able to learn more about them makes me very, very happy. "

Hearing those words, Einar looked at Laura with joy and crouched down while stroking her head.

"Laura, this is what you two have earned from your work.

Other children may be jealous of you, but you must remember that your privilege is also a responsibility.

You must be very careful when dealing with white foxes because even if they are cute, they will not hesitate to bite you.

They can even kill you if you let them, so never dare to be alone with them.

Can you promise me, Laura? "

Laura nodded and caressed Papa Einar's hand "I promise you, I will never enter the fox pen or the white bear's den without an adult.

I will also always follow the instructions they ask me to do. "

Einar stopped stroking Laura's hair and stood up "Since you promised me, how about if he taught them to play a little game.

It's called hopscotch, and it's quite fun, I'm sure you guys are going to enjoy it. "

Laura, who was happy about Einar's proposal, nodded and began to follow him. Seeing that Laura was following Papa Einar, all the children began to approach since they knew that Papa Einar would show them something.

When he got to a good point in the yard, he looked around and realized that all the children were watching him curiously.

Taking a deep breath, Einar crouched down, brushing the snow off the ground, exposing the stone floor of the courtyard.

Pulling out of his clothes a piece of charcoal that he planned to use at the Thing conference and forgot to use it.

He used the charcoal to draw some squares on the floor, in which he placed some numbers ranging from 1 to 10.

With the squares drawn and the numbers arranged, Einar pointed to them and looked at the children.

"Alright kids, I'll teach you to play hopscotch, the first thing you should know is that you need a small stone and the pictures we made on the ground. "

Taking a stone from the snow, he threw it in the square that had the number one "All of you would gather in a row, the first child to pass must throw the stone at the first square.

If they hit him like I did, they can play this way. "

Einar started hopping on one foot in the square that had the number 1, then he jumped on the square that had the number 2.

But when he jumped on the square with the number three, he touched a line so he sighed and pointed to his foot to the children.

"If when you are jumping your foot touches a line you lose your turn, if the stone they throw does not fall on the square they will lose their turn as well.

They must be careful, but whoever reaches number 10 will win. "

All the children were surprised by the simple but interesting game, so they began to play following Einar's instructions.