Chapter 9
Since that day, the Tower Master stopped her indecorous behavior.
Instead, she began “reporting to work” at Akion’s workshop.
“Um, Tower Master.”
“Hmm.”
“What sort of document… is this?”
“Documents for me to approve. They include upcoming projects the mage tower will undertake, as well as certain confidential documents.”
That was exactly what she meant. She was handling her mage tower duties in his workshop.
As a result, a neat, massive desk for the Tower Master and countless document boxes moved into one corner of Akion’s workshop.
Akion wanted to ask why immediately. Why was she doing this?
“Under the contract, I am to assist with your research. However, I cannot neglect the tower’s affairs either.”
“Wouldn’t conducting mage tower business near an outsider, outside the tower, work to the tower’s disadvantage?”
Even if it was because of the contract, why was she approving important documents somewhere outsiders could see them?!
“You may look while in my presence. If you are prepared to use what you see against me.”
“Ah….”
Put that way, Akion had nothing to say.
What lunatic would steal and exploit a dragon’s work documents?
More importantly, her indecorous antics had decreased noticeably. That alone was more than enough for Akion.
- Squish~!
“Ah, my apologies. Are you all right?”
Sometimes, while watching him assemble an engineering machine, she would accidentally lean against him and quietly offer him a soft cushion.
Anyway, this was great!
“If you want to increase the mana output, this is the proper material to use.”
“W-wow! The motor really is spinning faster!”
And finally, the Tower Master began providing a genuine boost to his research efficiency.
“How did you know that?”
“Every magic wand we use is an alchemical creation. And my mind contains thousands of years of magical knowledge.”
Namely, magical knowledge that could be applied directly to engineering.
The engineering Akion knew ran on mana instead of electricity, so he needed quite a bit of knowledge about magical materials….
“Then, alchemy too?”
“Alchemy has been a discipline within magic from the very beginning. And our Ridasid Mage Tower is quite well versed in alchemy. Did you not know?”
“No… I assumed every mage tower handled alchemy on as large a scale as Ridasid.”
“We are prominent only because potion production is our primary business. When it comes to advancing magic, our tower’s mages also put alchemy on the back burner.”
A magical culture that neglected alchemy.
Because of that, it had not been easy to find anyone deeply knowledgeable in alchemy.
That was why Akion had struggled so much when improving incandescent bulbs and motors….
But now that the Tower Master was here,
“Hmm. So, if the level falls below a certain point, the sensor detects it and activates the device…. Is this sensor a device that sends a signal when exposed to a particular situation?”
“Yes. Is it possible?”
“Aqua Absol. It is an alchemical material that rapidly absorbs water. A Blue Tower mage would be sure to put it in their wand.”
The development of the pump motor now accelerated.
“Its volume decreases when it absorbs water and expands when it dries. It also dries quickly. This should allow it to replace the sensor.”
“I love you, Tower Master!!”
“Wh-what nonsense are you spouting?!”
It was now possible to operate the pump according to the water level in the tank.
The motor’s output had also been improved, so it now had plenty of power.
“So… what Young Master means is that the water gets sucked in because of the pressure difference created as it rotates?”
“That’s right. Goldie understands well.”
“A pressure difference… Akion. Is it perhaps the same principle by which wind blows from a place where the air is heavier to a lower place?”
“How in the world did you detect and even understand high and low pressure?”
They had entered the full-scale assembly of the pump motor.
The pump motor Akion would develop this time was a centrifugal pump.
It was also called a turbine pump, and inside it was a peculiar propeller called an impeller.
The impeller spun at high speed, generating centrifugal force, which created a pressure difference that sucked in water.
- Whiiir!
- Trickle~
“W-wow! The water really is being sucked in!”
“Can the force and volume of the expelled water be adjusted?”
“By increasing the rotation speed, yes. But since it’s meant to fill the water tank for now, we can just increase the impeller’s thickness and size.”
Making prototypes was easy by now.
The craftsmen from each guild had been put through Akion’s exacting demands.
They had worked in sync with him for over half a year, and when Akion explained what he wanted, they could carry it through to implementation.
“It isn’t magic, but it’s amazing… Wait, can this be used to wash your butt?”
“Are you out of your mind? You want to put water spraying out like this into your rear end?!”
“It’s not that I’m into that! I mean it’d be nice to wash it clean after taking a dump!”
Watching the two craftsmen bicker, Akion resolved to develop a bidet someday.
A perfect modern bathroom would be lacking without one.
- Boom!
“Whoa!”
“Gasp! The output on this thing is incredible!”
Of course, that did not mean trial and error had disappeared.
Just as with the previous incandescent bulb, its efficiency was insanely high, and the pump made of sturdy cast iron by medieval standards exploded.
“Hmm. If we make the casing thicker─”
“I don’t think that’ll be enough. It looks like cracks formed because of the motor’s vibrations, causing it to burst….”
“What are cracks?”
“Ah, that’s a matter of materials mechanics. It’s called fatigue failure….”
To address this issue, Akion poured out engineering theory, and Goldie, the Tower Master, and the craftsmen listening to him….
“Young Master, please explain it in simpler terms. I don’t understand….”
“Oh. Sorry.”
They fell into confusion like freshmen looking at a textbook for their major for the first time.
Materials engineering? Rib reinforcement? Dampers?
Their eyes spun at the unfamiliar words.
“Basically, we make a mold and cast the whole thing at once. That should also let the bubbles inside escape… and while we’re at it, we can replace the molten iron with steel….”
“Ah! By ribs, you mean an external framework! We can carve grooves in advance when making the mold!”
“Akion. When you say steel… do you mean wrought iron heated at high temperatures for several days together with charcoal? The smiths affiliated with the tower call it silver iron, and sometimes they add finely ground animal bones as well─”
“No, if you all know how to make it, why did you ask me…?”
Still, once he explained it in simpler terms, everyone understood and quickly got to work.
Even by medieval standards, all of them were masters in their respective fields.
They could understand what Akion explained when he broke it down.
Besides, he was putting into theory what they had learned through experience. From their perspective, simply staying by Akion’s side made them feel as though their skills were improving.
“Fire magic at maximum output? Unnecessary. My breath can melt everything. Hngh…!”
- Fwoooooosh!!!
“Aaaargh?! Tower Master! Lower the output, the furnace is about to blow!!”
“Eeeek! Goldie’s tail is on fire─!!”
Of course, the smithy burned down completely during this process.
“Oh, dear, oh dear… My workshop….”
“Ahem. My mistake has caused you trouble. However, I salvaged the important equipment, so─”
“Nooo! My lab!!”
“A-all right, I understand! I’ll replace everything with equipment on par with the mage tower’s within a week, so stop crying! There, there!!”
“The entire workshop? You promise?”
“What…? Don’t tell me that was an act?!! You tricked me─?!!”
And so, as a bonus, Akion even upgraded the smithy with the Tower Master’s money.
“That doesn’t change the fact that the Tower Master burned my smithy to the ground. Isn’t that a serious violation of the research-efficiency clause stipulated in the contract?! Oh, my workshop!!”
“It wasn’t the workshop; only the smithy burned!”
“Tower Master, are you a dragon who says one thing and then another?”
“Grrr…!”
It was a summer in which the Tower Master trembled with a sense of betrayal(?).
*
The Tower Master, unwilling to say one thing and then another, found her purse growing lighter,
and by the time Goldie’s burned tail fur had grown back,
“The youngest young master is unveiling a new machine?”
The estate was bustling thanks to Akion.
Today was the day Akion would unveil a new engineering machine he had developed.
“What kind of machine will it be this time?”
“Whatever it is, it’ll make our lives incredibly convenient. Young Master Akion always says he develops things to make life more comfortable, doesn’t he?”
“The incandescent bulbs and ceiling fans were wonderful… But this time, he’s going to draw water up from the well?”
A machine capable of sucking in and expelling large amounts of water.
Akion called it a “turbine pump.”
“It’s crowded….”
“I wonder what kind of magic the young master has worked this time!”
Beside the estate ran a river from which the servants drew water.
The turbine pump demonstration was being held there.
Residents of the county, mages from the tower, the Tower Master, and even nobles from nearby territories had all gathered, making the place noisy and lively.
“Hmph.”
Naturally, members of the Enersis bloodline were also present.
The head of the house, several family elders, Countess Lucretia,
and Hermione Enersis, the third young lady and one of her children.
She was a cadet at the Imperial Academy and had returned to the family estate for summer vacation.
But the family she had returned to after so long had changed far too much.
“I hear this time it has something to do with drawing water….”
“That would be wonderful. Drawing water every time is such a chore.”
“Replacing it with water magic is only possible for the third young lady.”
They were all praising Akion and utterly enamored with the things he had made, calling them magical tools.
Incandescent bulbs, ceiling fans, and even the culture that had grown from them.
“Even so, its output must be weaker than magic.”
Both had been installed in Hermione’s room as well, and she had found them quite satisfactory.
However, Hermione was a magic absolutist.
She belonged to the camp that wondered why he would go to the trouble of developing things like this when magic could do everything.
On top of that, she was a rising prodigy of the Blue Mage Tower.
A genius of water and ice magic.
A turbine pump that drew in and expelled water, for someone like her?
“It’s definitely weaker than my magic. Do you really think you can mow down monsters with something like that?”
She was certain it would be nothing special─
“Isn’t that right, Mother?”
“Hmmmm….”
Until she saw her mother, Countess Lucretia, wearing an extremely troubled expression.
“Mother?”
“For now, just watch.”
Lucretia calmed her daughter down for the moment.
And Hermione could not understand her mother at all.
Just how great was Akion’s alchemical talent that even her mother, a high-ranking mage, was hesitating?!
“We’ll begin now!”
As if to provide the answer, Akion began the product demonstration at that very moment.
He pulled the lever of the machine called a turbine pump,
- Chug-chug-chug… Vroooom!
- Pop!
Soon, the pump began operating with a resonant hum.
Air and water spewed out mixed together from the pump’s outlet.
“Hmph. As expected.”
Having seen this much, Hermione was convinced the demonstration had failed.
- Rrrrr… ROOOAR!!!
- Whooosh~!
“W-whoa?!”
“G-good heavens! What sort of stream shoots higher than the roof of the estate?!”
“Hahaha! It’s raining even with the sun out!”
Then, upon seeing a water jet that soared far above the five-story Enersis estate amid a thunderous roar….
“What is this?”
She was horrified to realize her prediction had been completely wrong.
“A water jet this powerful where there’s no magic?!”
“But if it’s alchemy, doesn’t that make it part of magic…?”
“Idiot, it’s magi-engineering!”
“Aha!”
The river water shot dozens of meters into the air before scattering into a downpour.
- Crack!
Hermione, standing dazed beneath that rain, felt a crack form in the pride inside her heart.
“This isn’t magic…?”
That day, Hermione began to question her magic absolutism.