Jiawen rejected Reggie again, which put Reggie in a very passive situation. He didn't want the Third Army to establish a strong relationship with Chris, but he couldn't find anyone who could take over the army.
Maybe it's time to bring Erwin back, or let Will Rogers take over the Third Army...
There are still many issues that need to be considered, and the Third Army is just one of them. That night, Reggie called Hurley, and he wanted to witness the boy's abilities with his own eyes.
"What do you want me to do?" Hurley was a little nervous. Although his face was very disdainful and his tone was very unfriendly, he never dared to look into Reggie's eyes.
"I heard that you can burn off the hinge of an iron door?"
"I am a melting elf. I can melt pure gold. A door axis is nothing."
"Very good," Reggie took out an iron plate, "Can you burn a hole in this iron plate?"
"A hole? What kind of hole?"
"A uniform hole," Reggie made a mark on the iron plate, "is about one-half inch (twelve millimeters) in diameter."
"I don't know what diameter is. I'll just burn a hole for you. It's easy."
"No, no, no," Reggie shook his head and said, "You must learn the concept of diameter now."
Reggie drew a mark eight millimeters in diameter on the iron plate against the caliper made by Khalaf.
"It's such a big hole, I just want it to be this big and it must be even."
Hurley took the iron plate, which was about two inches thick. He stretched out his fingers and gestured, and said to Reggie: "I need a moment to prepare."
Herlimer sat for more than ten minutes, until his right index finger became hot, and then he placed his fingertip on the iron plate.
A line of sparks flew up, and the mark on the iron plate slowly burned red. Reggie opened his eyes wide and looked at Hurley's fingertips. Flames as small as needles drilled out of the nails, following the fingertips on the iron plate.
Turn upward.
The marked position began to melt slowly, and the molten iron slowly flowed down. In about five minutes, Hurley easily burned a hole in the iron plate.
The location is accurate, just where Reggie marked it, and the diameter is not satisfactory, almost ten millimeters.
But the shape cannot be described. It is not a perfect circle at all. It is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, much like a strawberry.
"It seems I didn't make it clear," Reggie took out a compass and drew a perfect circle on the iron plate.
"See? It doesn't matter if it's thinner, this is the shape I want."
"This is too harsh."
"It's indeed very harsh. Can you do it?"
"I'll give it a try."
Hurley prepared for another ten minutes. This time he moved very slowly, trying to burn along an arc as much as possible. Ten minutes later, he burned a nearly circular hole, which was still barely in shape.
But this hole is not straight, but slanted, and there is a significant deviation in the positions of the entrance and exit.
"It still doesn't work." Reggie took the compass and caliper. Now he drew a circle on the front of the iron plate, and then drew a circle on the same position on the back of the iron plate. "Do you see these two circles? The entrance and the exit.
It must overlap completely, can you do it?"
"What's the use of this?" Hurley said impatiently, "Do you want to make a stove or a bellows? Do you want to make a keyhole?"
Reggie nodded and said, "You're right, what I want to do is similar to a keyhole."
"Then why come to me? Just find a locksmith."
"A locksmith can't do this."
"I can't do this either!"
"Giving up so quickly? Doranor said you are the most talented elf," Lei sighed, "Now it seems that he is still a little too arbitrary."
"I'll try again."
Although he didn't have much patience, Hurley was a competitive young man. He tried again. This time the hole was straight, but there was another problem with the shape. Then there was no problem with the shape, but the thickness was uneven. He tried six times in a row.
This time, Hurley sat on the ground and said, "I have no strength. I can't do this."
"Don't be discouraged. Take a rest first and I'll ask someone to get you something to eat."
"That's not necessary," Hurley waved his hands repeatedly, "You are my master, I can't let you do this kind of thing for me."
"You can call me lord, but I am not your master. Don't use this title again in the future." Reggie opened the door and saw Natalie standing by the door.
"When did you come? Why are you standing here?"
"I, I, have been here for a while," Natalie said with a blush, "I have some questions to ask you."
"Silly girl, why didn't you come in earlier?"
"I heard that you have guests here..."
"What does it matter?" Reggie brought Natalie into the room. The moment he saw Natalie, the young man's eyes never left her.
"This is Natalie, she is my student." Reggie looked at Hurley, who was still sitting on the ground, his eyes shining, but he didn't make any response.
"This is, uh..." Reggie kicked Hurley and told him to stand up quickly, "This is the melting elf Hurley. From now on, he will become a member of Shattered Snow City..."
Reggie reached out to Hurley's eyes, and his eyes were completely fixed on Natalie's face.
"Hey!" Reggie frowned and looked at the young man, "You should at least say hello!"
"Hello, beautiful, beautiful girl."
Natalie's face turned redder, and she was a little disgusted by such a title and the burning eyes.
"I'd better leave first," Natalie lowered her head and said, "Lord, I'll come back to you tomorrow."
"Tell me the question you want to ask first."
Natalie has passed secondary education and is receiving higher education in science. However, there is currently no Bachelor of Science in Syracuse, so Reggie can only serve as her tutor.
"I still don't understand some parts of the quadratic equation you taught me yesterday. For example, I really can't find the answer to this question. I've been doing calculations all day long."
"Not every quadratic equation has an answer, I thought I told you that."
"I... don't quite understand. I tried to decompose the prime factors, but I couldn't."
"Don't do that kind of thing yet. Do you remember the solution formula I told you?"
"I plugged in the formula, but I can't find the answer."
"That's right, before you learn about imaginary numbers, there will be no answer to this question at all. Let me explain the reason to you first, and then tell you the definition of imaginary numbers..."
Equations, formulas, decomposition, prime factors, imaginary numbers, unknown quantities...
The two people seemed to be speaking the language of another world.
Looking at Natalie's adoring eyes and looking at the close distance between the two, thick jealousy rolled in Hurley's chest.
After half an hour of explanation, Natalie roughly understood the concept of imaginary numbers. She organized her notes and saluted Reggie: "Thank you for your advice, I'll leave first."
Natalie walked to the door, and Hurley suddenly stood in front of her. He knew it seemed rude, but he couldn't restrain his inner impulse.
"My, my name is Hurley, I, I am the elf, the melting elf, you, you should have heard of it."
Natalie shook her head and said, "I haven't heard of it."
"Yes, really? It, it doesn't matter," Hurley wiped the sweat from his face, "I, I am the Lord... Lord, your Lord..."
Reggie added for Hurley: "He is the engineer I invited."
"Yes, engineer!" Hurley smiled. Although he didn't understand what engineer meant, the name sounded very good. "I, I came to the adults to do, do something..."
"Do some academic discussions." Reggie added.
"Yes, it's an academic discussion. I, I'm discussing the diameter with the lord..."
"Diameter? Are you studying geometry?" Natalie looked at the young man in surprise. Unexpectedly, there was another person studying science in Xuexicheng.
"Yes, geometry!" Hurley nodded excitedly, even though he didn't understand the meaning of geometry, "I will study hard with the lord."
"Good luck to you, Hurley." Natalie trotted away from the castle, feeling very bad.
She is the Lord's only student, and she has always been proud of it. Where did this young man come from?
Are those rumors true? Does the lord really like the young man?
Returning to her apartment, Natalie covered her head with a pillow. It seemed that she was destined to have insomnia tonight.
…
Hurley stood blankly at the door for a long time. Natalie had already left, but her figure still lingered in front of his eyes.
Reggie coughed and said, "Have you had a good rest?"
Hurley did not answer Reggie's question, he murmured: "She is my kind, right?"
Reggie said: "Yes, she is also an elf, a wind-controlling elf."
"She is so beautiful."
"It is indeed beautiful."
"Thank you, my master," Hurley finally turned around. His face was no longer unruly and disdainful. This thank you was full of sincerity, "Thank you for not revealing my identity."
Reggie asked in surprise: "Do you have any hidden identity?"
"I, I am... a slave," Hurley blushed instantly, "I, I don't want that girl to know..."
Reggie shook his head and said: "This is the last time I repeat this sentence. From the time you came to Broken Snow City, you are no longer a slave. Don't call me master again. I'm tired. I will continue drilling holes tomorrow."
Come on, you can rest in my guest room."
"I can try a few more times, as long as I'm here alone."
Reggie nodded approvingly: "You look like a promising young man, don't stay up too late."
Reggie left, and Hurley picked up the iron plate, followed Reggie's example, and drew a mark on the iron plate with a compass.
"One-half inch diameter, uniform, smooth hole," Hurley closed his eyes and carefully imagined what the finished product would look like.
"I am an engineer who studies geometry," Hurley tried hard to recall every unfamiliar word. "I can drill a perfect hole. I can do it."