Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: Mass-Produced Golem (1)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Don Quixote memorial event—which I'd attended half-forcedly, or rather at their invitation—wrapped up without a hitch.
Fortunately, Prince Nayden didn't press me any further.
He even thanked me for accepting the sudden invitation.
Well, if he had any conscience, he wouldn't have kept me around longer than that.
Anyway, once the event was over and I'd returned, I finally headed to my private laboratory.
Due to those unexpected happenings, I was only now getting to see the lab that had been completed three days ago.
The lab was located on the outskirts of the city, just in case of any accidents.
You couldn't exactly handle an explosion going off in the middle of downtown.
"Of course, I'll make sure nothing like that happens."
As I walked slowly, a single building came into view.
Being brand new, its clean exterior naturally brought a smile to my face.
My steps quickened a bit with excitement as I approached the building.
Thankfully, there were no signs of anyone trying to break in or anything like that.
Rlangbur had good public safety, but you could never be too careful.
Still, since I'd deliberately skipped windows and only added ventilation ducts, it should be fine.
Well, to begin with, no one would dare touch it since my family had built it directly.
That is, if they wanted to keep sticking around in Rlangbur.
I pulled out the key I'd brought and inserted it into the hole below the door handle.
Click.
The lock let out a satisfying sound as the key turned smoothly.
I gripped the handle of the now-unlocked door, gave it a light push, and swung it open.
"Oh, worth every coin I poured into this."
I'd reinvested most of the funding I'd received right back into this place.
On top of that, I'd dumped in the money from book sales too.
Since I was doing it, might as well make it top-notch so it'd last.
Of course, the materials and equipment weren't cheap either.
Besides, even without focusing on civilizational advancement, I needed a solid lab for the Magic Stone Engine and mass-produced golems.
In short, it was built to serve multiple purposes.
Stepping inside, a spacious laboratory came into view.
The floor was laid with pristine white marble, and a table with drawers sat in the center of the room.
The walls were lined with various equipment and storage units.
But that only occupied about thirty percent of the first floor.
The rest of the space was left open for conducting large-scale physical experiments.
It could easily fit two or three horse-drawn carts.
Of course, the first floor wasn't the end of it.
The building had three floors in total.
The first floor, as you could see, was suited for large-scale experiments.
It had a wide floor area and high ceilings.
The second floor was ideal for smaller experiments.
For instance, creating scale models for each stage before building the real thing.
Or setting up theories and plans.
Or even conducting chemical experiments.
Finally, the third floor served as living quarters and storage.
It was set up so I could stay here without going back home.
And it had space to store necessary supplies too.
"Nice, they built it exactly to my specs."
After touring all three floors, I was thoroughly satisfied.
Of course, there were still some missing pieces, but those could be added gradually.
And among the most important things...
"I'd need an assistant researcher."
I could manage research on my own, but having help would make it so much easier.
Naturally, I already had a few candidates in mind.
Like Pretina or Esili, or some of my grad school juniors I was close with.
Of course, it'd be under formal employment with proper wages.
"Though Pretina and Esili probably won't come, unlike the others."
Both were nobles who would eventually have to lead their houses.
Even if not as the head, they'd still need to use their talents for the family.
So recruiting them would be tough.
"Well, it's not urgent right now anyway."
I could make mass-produced golems without any help.
Plus, I'd seen those ragtag golems in the dungeon recently.
"Man, even thinking about them now, those were a work of art."
Anyway, with Don Quixote done and dusted, it was time to build mass-produced golems for the Magic Association.
I was just about to head inside when Katiranya's voice came from behind me.
"You've seemed busy lately."
"Ah, Katiranya."
Turning around, I saw her standing at the door, cloaked in a cape.
She was gazing at me with a faint smile, and from this angle, she almost looked like a doll.
But how did she get here?
I hadn't told her about this place.
As I looked at her puzzled, Katiranya let out a light sigh and spoke.
"Do you think I can't track your location? As long as you haven't left Rlangbur, I can manage it well enough."
"Whoa... that's straight-up stalking."
"Stalking? What's that supposed to mean?"
She furrowed her brow, tilting her head as if she didn't understand.
Typical immortal.
Of course, "stalking" was a twentieth-century term anyway.
In other words, a modern concept unfamiliar to people in this medieval world.
So rather than explaining, I decided to let it slide.
No point if she wouldn't get it.
"Anyway, care to help me out?"
If Katiranya helped, I wouldn't have to do everything alone.
Assuming she'd agree, that is.
"Very well. What do you need?"
Her eyes lit up readily as she accepted, somehow feeling familiar.
Like she was asking what fun thing we were doing this time.
I wanted to live up to that expectation, but sadly, this would be a bit boring.
"First, I need some rocks. At least as big as my torso."
"Rocks? Can't you just ask the quarry?"
"Yeah, but having them transported would cost a fortune."
Katiranya's expression turned subtle at my words.
But there was no helping it.
Stones from the quarry came out in massive chunks.
And unfortunately, you couldn't transport them as-is.
So the workers would break them down further and cart them away.
It was unavoidable.
This era didn't have cranes, after all.
Well, technically they did, but not the heavy machinery kind.
In the modern world, excavators and loaders handled dirt and stone.
But in the medieval era, they used fixed pulley-based manual cranes.
Sometimes with wheels, but maintenance was a nightmare.
Since wood was the main material.
No way the quarry owner would make one from iron.
Thus, efficiency was inevitably much lower than modern standards.
Which meant it cost a lot more here.
But if Katiranya used that shadowy power of hers, it'd be a breeze.
She'd shown some serious strength before.
"Can you do it?"
"Hah, you're probably the only one who'd ask so little of a vampire's master."
Was she refusing?
Then I'd have to find another way.
As a sense of dread washed over me at the thought of doing it alone, Katiranya chuckled.
Her face said she found it amusing.
"This is why I stick around this place."
"Huh?"
"I'll do it. But you need to steadily prepare your next work. You have talent for writing too."
Come to think of it, Katiranya had been hanging around because of the novels.
Her nudge reminded me once again.
"Haha, got it."
Talent for writing, huh.
Honestly, I didn't think I had any talent for it.
All I'd done was bring Earth's works here.
Sure, maybe my originals would sell well.
But that was just wishful thinking.
And I couldn't exactly explain they were from Earth.
So I brushed it off vaguely and asked Katiranya for the favor.
I pulled out a nearby map from the table and pointed to a specific spot.
"The quarry's over here. I've already let them know, so no need to pay or anything."
"Understood. I'll be off then."
"Yeah. Bring back as much as you can. Oh, and one more thing."
Just in case something came up.
It probably wouldn't, but the quarry workers might chase off Katiranya.
So I handed her a brooch engraved with my family crest.
She took it with a puzzled look, and I earnestly warned her.
"As long as you have this, any issues should be fine. But you have to return it later. Otherwise, my dad will chew me out."
"Fine, fine. Now I'm really going."
Katiranya moved quickly, as if eager to get this chore over with.
One blink, and she was already far off in the distance.
"...So she usually walks leisurely on purpose."
A new fact learned, but no time to dwell on it.
"Mass-produced golem. No, first things first—finish up the Magic Stone Engine."
I entered the lab and spread out the various materials Professor Herman had sent.
Among the documents on the table was info on the mineral dubbed Mana Explosive Stone.
"Mana-reactive explosive mineral. Yeah, the professor named it Mana Explosive Stone."
He'd named it that because it reacted to mana and exploded.
It was currently being officially registered in academia, with me listed as the discoverer.
Strictly speaking, I wasn't the first discoverer, nor the one who named it.
But the professor took advantage of the fact that I had no prior official registrations and put me down as the first.
"He didn't even add his own name as co-discoverer."
Did he feel bad about it?
Whatever the reason, it was his kindness, so I gratefully accepted.
Better to snap up these opportunities quick.
"Anyway, he analyzed this mineral in detail."
Now I needed to reverse-engineer it to create a substitute.
Because a steady supply of the mineral itself was uncertain.
The method was simple.
There were several ways, but I'd reverse-engineer it from the data.
It might be a little—or a lot—tricky, but I could do it.
I had the documents and enough of the mineral for experiments.
"Once this is done, initial heavy machinery tech is complete."
And so, with the professor's materials in hand, I diligently reverse-engineered and analyzed the mineral.
Katiranya came by once to drop off rocks.
She returned the brooch soon after.
The new lab nearly exploded one time.
But in the end, after two weeks, I pulled it off.
I'd reverse-engineered the Mana Explosive Stone and figured out how to artificially produce it in a pseudo-artifact form!
Just like with the Mana Crystals!
"Ugh... that was tough."
"Good work, Edn."
Katiranya lightly patted my slumped shoulder over the table.
Her calm consolation made all the hard work feel rewarded.
After resting with my face down on the table for a bit, I lifted my head again.
I glanced at the blueprints and the paper on artificial Mana Explosive Stone formation, then said.
"Now I just need to send this to the professor for evaluation."
"And that's it?"
"No. After that, register it with academia for recognition. Though I can submit for registration before evaluation, so I should handle it quick."
I wrote two letters.
One asking the professor for evaluation.
The other requesting paper review from the Magic Association.
For reference, I wouldn't sell the improved engine to the nobles at the council.
Well, precisely—if orders came in, I'd always push them to the very back of the queue.
About three months ought to do it?
I included that in the letter to the professor too.
As I finished the letters, Katiranya—who was already on her third full read-through of Don Quixote—spoke up.
"But you can't send the same paper to both places."
"Huh? Oh."
The paper was just one copy, right?
Looking back down at it, I could only smack my forehead.
Ah, guess I'd have to write it out all over again by hand.