Chapter 89
There are other methods besides vapor-compression refrigeration, such as absorption refrigeration and thermoelectric cooling, but….
“Uegh.”
“Guegh.”
“The sisters are broken again….”
“Akion, humans break down if they go without sleep for three days….”
If you make us build that too, the only two graduate students you have might actually die.
Above all, thermoelectric cooling uses semiconductor devices, so we might really work ourselves to death trying to make one.
So, out of consideration for his small and precious graduate students, Akion decided to focus on vapor compression.
“The Saintess is right beside us, healing us herself, so we won't di— Aaargh!”
“Managing slaves is the master's responsibility, you brat!”
“That's right, Saint! The health of your slaves—er, graduate students in the lab—is your responsibility!”
“Were we… slaves?”
“Wiiing….”
That didn't mean they weren't being ground down, though.
“Grandpa Clad….”
“Akion, please rein Akion in….”
“Heh heh. Even this old man has no way to help.”
For the sake of their degrees and atoning for their past sins, the two slaves tearfully shaved down the blueprints again and again.
“Oh, dear… That's what you get for bullying the Young Master and Goldie….”
“Tsk, Goldie, you…!”
“Do you even know who you're talking to right now…?”
Of course, Goldie, the Tower Master, merely watched in comfort.
There was nothing in particular for her to do, and she could simply sit by and slurp up knowledge.
“Are you angry because Goldie said she was beneath you?”
“N-no. I was going to say I'm sorry for bullying her all this time….”
“Wiiing….”
“Hee-hee, the Tower Master is behind Goldie and the Young Master!”
Naturally, as the lowest-ranking members of the lab, the two could say nothing.
“Now, now, you two. I'll shine some holy power on you, so close your eyes and rest for a while.”
“You poor things. Have some of this. It's a Montblanche cream puff.”
“Waaaah….”
“I-I'll serve Her Highness the Princess loyally for the rest of my life, sniff….”
It was a good thing the Saintess and Flare were looking after them.
The two were somehow managing to survive another day.
*
And so, the coffee-cherry fermentation automation project,
with the refrigeration-unit construction project piled on top of it, turned the lab into a living hell.
“The sisters are broken again. I did use them a lot!”
“Young Master, do you have no human feelings?”
This was a situation that absolutely required someone talented in materials engineering.
Akion waited endlessly while soothing the dying Hermione and Astera….
- BANG!!
“Akion, my little brother!!”
At long last, their relief pitcher had arrived in the capital.
“Your big brother has descended in response to your earnest request!”
It was none other than Juan Enerysis, master of earth magic and the man in the process of turning the Enerysis family from two sons and two daughters into one son and three daughters!
“Welcome, Sister.”
“Welcome, Big Sis.”
“Eh, eh? Why is everyone calling you something other than Big Brother…? Um, Sis…ter?”
“You fucking bastards.”
Of course, he was thoroughly rubbed the wrong way at being called “Sister” the moment he arrived.
“Huh? Huhhh? Big Bro, did you just curse at a beastkin in front of Goldie? Tower Master!!!”
“Ha, I'm no longer afraid of that person!”
And Akion was always whipping out the Tower Master shield, to boot.
But who was Juan Enerysis?
Wasn't he the hero who had cycled through nearly a hundred women without being murdered even once?
“Because I've regained my manhood!!!”
“What, did you rank up?”
And, more importantly, he had risen in rank and finally become an eighth-tier master mage!
“Oho, has something else come along for me to break? Akion, just say the word. Your big brother will turn you back into a sister.”
“Please, just let it slide this once.”
Even so, he was a feeble little creature before the Tower Master, who had long since broken through the tenth tier. Anyway.
After Juan immediately prostrated himself, the Tower Master withdrew in satisfaction.
“Anyway, congratulations. So, have you regenerated?”
“That is true. But, uh, lend me your ear for a moment, Akion.”
Apparently he had recovered, but Juan seemed to think there was a problem and said he wanted to whisper in Akion's ear.
Wondering what on earth the problem could be, Akion went over and lent him an ear,
“I only recovered halfway.”
“Gasp.”
“I asked the cardinal to examine me, and it seems the rest probably won't be resolved until I reach the ninth tier. Sigh….”
Thus, Akion learned that Juan was only half a big brother.
“Then… what should I call you?”
“Call me what?”
“Big Sis-Bro?”
“You're making me wonder if I should kill you right here….”
Akion, who couldn't have talked back like this just a few years ago, was now needling him like this.
Despite trembling at the reversal of their relationship, Juan… reluctantly backed down first.
“Sigh. Still, if it weren't for you, I wouldn't have even dared dream of reaching the eighth tier in the first place… So, in my magnanimity, I shall forgive you.”
“That's only because you were an idiot—.”
“Fine. I'll kill you.”
- Rumble rumble!!
“Whoa?! The ground is flipping over!!”
“I told you to tease him in moderation, Young Master!!”
Of course, after Akion needled him one more time, genuine killing intent surged violently out of him. Anyway.
*
“Hmph, you called me here for something like this?”
Even so, several problems were solved as soon as Juan arrived.
“This is a materials-stress problem. Once the stress exceeds the endurance limit, fatigue failure naturally occurs. In cases like this, you need to increase the radius of curvature in areas where stress is concentrated, such as corners and holes.”
“Ah…!”
“A-ah….”
In terms of materials engineering, Akion honestly considered Juan to be far more gifted than himself.
More precisely, it was a matter of talent.
Akion couldn't keep up with Juan's understanding of materials engineering and intuition bordering on instinct.
“Tsk, Akion must have taught you everything. If you can't even put it to use, what are you studying for? You might as well give up your degrees and get married as soon as possible.”
“Grr…!”
“Wiiing…!”
And whenever he had the upper hand, he was still just as eager to lay bare their ugly tempers and mock them mercilessly.
Of course, Akion left him to it.
There was no need to stop him when he was volunteering to be hated in Akion's place.
“Isn't that right, Sir Clad?”
“Ha-ha-ha! Good pupils emerge under good teachers as a result of the pupils' tireless efforts, don't you agree? Don't be so harsh on them!”
They say Clad's Volkov reconstruction project played a major role in establishing this materials-engineering knowledge.
He had handled rebar nonstop back then, and built up his skills by detecting and analyzing Volkov's undeveloped ore veins.
“So he says, Akion.”
“It's a little embarrassing to be praised like that.”
From Akion's perspective, he wanted to bring Juan into the lab immediately.
He was good at flattery, good at needling people just the right amount, and skilled at using that to motivate them appropriately.
If there was one drawback….
“Akion. Who is that beautiful red-haired young lady over there? She appears to be a dragon… If you don't mind, could you introduce me?”
Perhaps it was his shameless playboy streak kicking in the moment he regained his manhood.
Akion let out a long sigh and,
“Her Highness Princess Flare.”
“The Seventh Princess whom His Majesty the Emperor chose as your fiancée?”
“Yes. And it seems she overheard us.”
“This humble one dared utter such foolish words, Your Highness the Princess!!!”
He promptly made Juan prostrate himself.
Of course, Flare wouldn't press charges, but if things really went awry, she could charge him with insulting the imperial family.
“I'll let it pass this once, for Young Master Akion's sake.”
“I am eternally grateful, Your Highness!!!”
Watching this, Akion had a thought.
‘I think Father was like this too.’
His biological father, Delford, had bowed his head the moment he saw the incandescent light bulb,
and Hermione had talked back once, gotten badly burned, and then immediately bowed her head.
Juan had also thrown away all his pride and prostrated himself the moment he became an eunuch….
And Astera hadn't thrown away her pride for the sake of her degree and crawled straight to Akion, too?
“Is this an Enerysis family trait?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The speed at which you change your attitude.”
“Hmm. Elena was a bit like that too.”
And right on cue, the Tower Master, who knew the first Enerysis well, even provided testimony.
She said that his distant ancestor, Elena Enerysis, had also been a master of changing her attitude.
“Aren't you a bit like that too?”
“I suppose I am.”
It wasn't as though the Enerysis family had never found itself on the brink during its thousand-year history.
Still, the fact that it had survived all this time as a family of archmages and billionaires likely owed a great deal to this ability to change its stance.
“Her Highness the Princess is watching, and you're not working right now?! Focus on your research!!”
“Eek, I can't take it anymore! Hey, bring it on!!”
“Eek! I won't hold back anymore either!!!”
“Ha! Does Juan Enerysis look like a joke to you? Come with me!”
Even now, looking at them charge in without holding back, how adept at changing their stance were they?
“Lady Aysirel… Is it all right to leave them alone?”
“Children grow up by fighting, you know.”
Thus, the Enerysis family went outside so they wouldn't wreck the lab.
Thinking they'd come back after letting off just enough steam, Akion waited for the magical thunderclap that would soon follow….
- Silence….
“What? Why is it so quiet?”
It was so quiet—far quieter than expected—that he was growing flustered.
“So, Young Master, you wanted a commotion to break out…?”
“No, all three of them are high-rank mages. I thought the three of them fighting would turn into a complete mess….”
Wondering if something had happened, Akion went outside himself,
“Juan…?”
“Scarlett, what brings you here….”
“Oh my Heavenly Lord.”
He found Scarlett, carrying a Montblanche box, facing Juan.
Hermione and Astera?
The two had already scampered away and were watching them from the alley across the street.
“You…!”
“Scarlett… This is….”
Scarlett, owner of Montblanche and daughter of a count, looked at him with a tender, wistful gaze.
Juan, the former golden-boy playboy of the Enerysis family, called her name with unmistakable regret.
“Scarlett. I'm grateful that you seem willing to welcome me again, but there's something I need to tell you first.”
Fortunately, Juan had spent the past few years doing quite a bit of self-reflection.
He thought about how much pain the countless noble ladies and commoners he'd used and discarded must have suffered… and often visited a monastery to pray in repentance.
This had only been possible thanks to the days when his Egen concentration had grown high, so in a way, he had Akion to thank.
“I must apologize to you for─.”
That was why he intended to ask forgiveness for casting Scarlett aside that day,
- Rumble!!
“Young Master Juan, who abandoned me all alone that day and laughed and joked with other women?”
“Uh, uhhh.”
“I warned you then. I told you never to show your face to me again.”
Scarlett was absolutely furious.
“And yet you show up in front of me again.”
- Thump!
“If you insist on dying by my hand, then I'll gladly kill you─!!”
“W-wait! Just wait!!!”
A tremendous storm of red mana gathered in Scarlett's fist,
and Juan realized where she was aiming, hurriedly drawing up mana and surrounding himself with a defensive spell.
- Craaack!!!
“Kueeek!!!!”
“Oh my God!”
“Heeek, the Enerysis line is going to end…!!”
In that exact spot again.