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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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