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　In addition to attack magic, such as sending stone gravels flying, much earth-based magic can be used for non-attack purposes, such as building earth walls, digging holes, and turning earth into stone.

　In fact, I have heard that some of the walls of large cities are made of magic. However, it is said that the number of earth mages is small nowadays, and magic is rarely used for large-scale civil engineering projects.

　I can use Earth Attribute but its level is not going up steadily, partly because Liddy can’t use it.

　In addition, it is better to master the attributes that I am good at, and one of the reasons is that I was not able to use it as frequently, but in the future, in order to make cellars for distilled liquor in the basement of Castle Hill, using Earth Attribute will be useful. So I think it’s better to raise its level.

　When I returned to the mansion, I immediately started drawing the plans for the baths.

(I want it to be big enough for my family, so I’ll make it a big bathtub that can hold seven or eight people. No, I might as well make it available for the neighborhood watch to use on their way home from training. …The boiler should also be directly connected to a large water tank made of rocks so that it can be fed to the washing area and the bathtub. …The building could also be made semi-open-air with just a roof to keep costs down. The cover could be a fence…) (Zack)

　I made up a simple plan and went to explain it to my father the next day.

　I explain to him the purpose of the bath and the approximate cost.

　My father is not that attracted to the idea of a bath, and he doesn’t seem to like the idea of the cost and the time and effort involved.

“…I don’t see the need for a bath at this moment. …A bathtub is a luxury that is only found in royal palaces or in the mansions of great nobles like dukes. It is not appropriate for our family.” (Matt)

　I suggest building a small open-air bath to show him the charm of the baths.

“I will build a simple bath for you to try, Father. I ask your permission to build a bathtub on the south side of Castle Hill.” (Zack)

“That’s fine, but according to your description, you need some sort of cauldron, don’t you? What are you going to do?” (Matt)

“ We will put the baked stones in water and boil it. The water will be a little dirty, but it won’t affect your experience.” (Zack)

　From that day on, my magical training would also include making a bath.

　First, I would mow the grassy areas with my [Whirlwind blade – Wind Blade].

　Then, I use earth magic to make stone blocks and pile them up.

　A five-year-old boy cannot pile up very large stones, but with Liddy’s help, he builds something about the size of a brick and piles it up.

　Then, the soil is poured into the joints and the joints are also petrified to make a stone wall. The four sides of the bathtub would be built, and the soil on the bottom would be converted to stone to complete the bathtub.

　With this, a bathtub measuring 2m x 1m and 50cm deep were completed.

　Furthermore, a channel was magically dug to draw in water from an irrigation canal, and a pump borrowed from Bertram was installed.

　This was a simple task, but it took 20 days to complete.

　The amount of magic power I had was only about 130 MP, so I could not use the [Stone Creation] spell to create stones in succession. The amount of MP consumed per stone is not that much, but even so, after creating about 50 block-shaped stones, I was about to run out of MP.

　Although it is just a block because the part that becomes the wall is built thick so that it can withstand water pressure, nearly 700 pieces were needed, and it took about 15 days just to create them.

　As for the magic, the way of consuming magic power differs between the one that permanently maintains its shape like this and the one that generates phenomena such as wind blades and fireballs.

　Magic that changes earth into stone or generates water consumes a large amount of MP when invoked. On the other hand, magic that produces fire or generates wind does not consume much MP when activated but continues to consume MP to continue the phenomenon.

　This time, since the stone generation magic was inspired by concrete, it seems to be able to create stones rather easily. Still, the MP consumption is not ridiculous.

　As for the concrete, I first thought of making cement with lime, which I had available, and using it to make a bath. However, considering the time and effort required to transport sand and lime, he decided that it would be quicker to start making stones for the purpose of magic training.

　The pump was installed and the bath was finally completed.

　The next day, using my nap time, I began preparing the bath.

　Using the pump, we filled the bathtub with water while building a fire next to the bathtub to bake the stones.

　When the water is finished, I use the blacksmith tongs borrowed from Bertram to put in the baked stones.

　The water turns into hot water with a sizzle, but the clear water turns cloudy white, and ashes float in some places, which does not look good.

　When the water reaches the proper temperature, the ash on the surface is scooped out.

　Two hours had passed since we started filling the bathtub with water. Finally, the bath was hot and ready.

(It was quite a task to pump up the water, and it took quite a long time even for a bathtub of this size. I might as well use cement to make a bath that can hold at least ten people…) (Zack)

　I go to call my father and show him the bath.

　My father says, “I guess I can soak in this,” and begins to undress.

　Under the clear blue sky of late October, my father, now naked, sinks into the tub.

　Father exhales a content sigh and relaxes.

“How about it Father? It feels good, right?” (Zack)

　I said, “Yes, it does,” he replied, lifting his arms and stretching.

“It certainly feels good, but I still don’t see the need to make one, considering the effort involved.” (Matt)

　My father has not yet awakened to the allure of baths.

　But so far I had guessed. So I had a secret plan.

　After soaking in the water for about ten minutes, my father got out of the bath.

　As he was wiping himself off, I said, “Try this,” and offered him a magically chilled beer.

　My father, thirsty as he was, accepted the beer and downed it in one gulp.

　When he drank the large mug of beer all at once, he exhaled a deep sigh.

　I noticed that my father’s expression had changed.

“How is it, Father. Where I was from, I was told that there was no better way to drink ale than after taking a bath.” (Zack)

　My father still didn’t seem to have enough to drink.

“It sure tastes good, and I feel more refreshed. Is this the effect of the bath?” (Matt)

　I think it’s because of the beer that he feels refreshed, but I just nodded silently,

“The bath has the effect of improving the circulation of blood. A slow soak in hot water at the right temperature can have a variety of beneficial effects, such as relieving fatigue and preventing illness.” (Zack)

　My father thought for a moment and then said,

“I give permission for the baths to be installed. Make it something that can be used by the patrol and the villagers. The budget will be 5,000 Crona (= 5 million yen). You can use Nicholas and Enos.” (Matt)

　My father was enthused by my “beer after the bath” strategy, it is also probably because of the profit from the sale of the soap manufacturing business.

　My own father may think I’m a bit simple, but I thought I couldn’t stop drinking beer after taking a bath for the first time, so I can’t say the same for others.

　In fact, due to this plan, I had come up with a Fire Attribute spell… a spell for cooling down [Cooling].

　Yes, the spell Cooling is not “Water Attribute” but “Fire Attribute”.

　At first, I thought I would try to cool the beer quickly by making ice with “[Ice Needle], a spell to make ice needles, but then I tried to see if I could cool the beer itself directly.

　For a start, I tried a method commonly used in novels to suppress molecular motion, but I could not imagine how to suppress the movement of countless molecules.

　Next, I tried to think of magic to freeze a liquid, but I couldn’t get a good image of it because I thought of it as a physical phenomenon. I tried to freeze water by imagining the freezing of water in the air and the formation of snow crystals in a slow-motion picture. I could make ice, but when I tried it with beer, it seemed to freeze partially and did not look tasty.

　As a last resort, I could have made ice and put it in a tub and soaked the whole mug, but I wanted to develop a way to quickly cool a wooden mug to the right temperature.

　Therefore, I decided to take heat away from the liquid by imagining the Peltier effect—a thermoelectric effect in which heat absorption and heat dissipation occur at the junction point when voltage is applied between different kinds of metals. Since the Fire Attribute is a heat-related attribute, I thought it could also transfer heat.

　I imagined a heat-absorbing element inside the beer and a heat-dissipating element outside the beer. By channeling the spirit’s power into it, a pseudo-Peltier effect is created. The result was perfect, and if I adjusted the magic power properly, I could cool the beer from room temperature to a crisp temperature in about five seconds.

　The actual Peltier refrigerator must have been inefficient, but this magical system is more efficient, cooling the beer quickly and using considerably less magic power. Above all, it is a very useful magic because it does not become watery. If this magic could be made into a magical tool, I think it could be applied to air conditioning and baths.

　After the success of the Cooling spell, I laughed and said to myself, “I am not one to spare no effort to drink well.” but my father, who got a taste for cold beer, began to ask me for it every time he drank.

　Even now, I chill Liddy’s wine, thinking to myself, “I can make ice and cool it, so I can be a bartender in town.”

A/N: I’m sure he won’t be able to resist a nice, chilled beer after his bath!

As always, he spares no effort in making his drinks taste good.

(He still can’t drink it himself, though.)

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