Chapter 47: GlassBlower
"These are... quite the first try?" Celi muttered, watching the deformed beakers and shapes of glass that had accumulated beneath their feet. Belk, Vagnis, and Sylvi hung their heads in shame, staring at their abominations with furrowed brows.
"This is actually the eighteenth try..." Sylvi murmured. Her words weighed on them even more, shame gnawing at their heels. The caws of birds littering the land fluttered up to the sky as dawn approached, their cries adding mockery to their hubris.
"I don’t get it! Just what are we doing wrong here?!" Belk exclaimed, gripping the notes Astra had given him. He glanced between the scribbled sketches and the misshapen glass they had created, frustration bubbling within him.
"This blows—" He spat, dropping the paper onto the pile. "Where’s Astra when you need her!?"
"She’ll be gone for a few days," Celi informed them. At her words, everyone turned, intrigue and concern flickering across their faces. "She set out to gather the required materials for the battery... and a few other things."
"That long, huh..." Vagnis muttered, his gaze shifting back to the ironmill.
"Well—let’s end it there for today. It’s getting late." The scientist stretched, trying to shake off his fatigue before walking off. He waved a dismissive hand as if shooing away his problems.
Celi nodded and followed, while Sylvi lingered, taking a closer look at the broken glass scattered around them. "What do we do about these?"
"Leave them..." Vagnis muttered, picking up his metal pipe once more. His hands, slightly pink from handling molten glass, tightened around the sturdy metal. "We’ll just try again from scratch."