Chapter 20 - A Nobleman's Revenge is Taken After 10 Years.
A Nobleman's Revenge is Taken After 10 Years.
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 20
In truth, all the components needed for the bathhouse had already been prepared.
The most important part was the water pump system capable of supplying a mansion-scale building. Added to that was the boiler to shoot hot water throughout such a building, and the insulated bathtubs he had created to prevent heat loss.
“Did you prepare all of this just for this moment?! As expected of the Young Master!!”
“No. It was just luck.”
“Indeed, you are Archion! As this one’s disciple, you are truly— Mmph! Cough! To put your hand in my mouth, what do you think you’re doing?!”
“Your nonsense made my hand move on its own.”
Archion possessed all the technology necessary to recreate the public bathhouses he used to visit with his parents in his past life.
Well, everything except the land and a few additional facilities.
“There’s no land in Lidasid….”
“Whimper….”
First, the land. There was no land available to build a bathhouse in Lidasid, the city where the most people lived…!
Of course, with the authority of the Count of Enersis, he could just declare, “This land is mine!” but Archion didn't want to engage in that kind of plundering just because of his status.
“I am sorry, Young Master. This land has been used by my family for generations for our business….”
“There is no need to be sorry.”
When he tried to buy it with his overflowing funds, most people were reluctant to sell. Many of the spots in this commercial city were prime real estate, passed down through generations for the family trade.
Since selling the land meant their livelihood would vanish, they couldn't hand it over, no matter how much they respected Young Master Archion for looking after them.
“No, my public bathhouse!!”
And Archion wasn't so conscienceless as to steal it. To think it was impossible despite having both money and status! Archion beat the ground and wailed loudly.
“Stop making such a fuss.”
“Yes.”
Actually, he didn't really cry. He was just in a bind. Anyway.
“Archion. You want to build it close to the citizens’ residences so it’s convenient for them to visit, right?”
“Exactly. It has to be close to their homes for them to visit frequently.”
To have a bathhouse, it had to be near the residential district, but the problem was that most of those areas were the aforementioned prime real estate. However, there was no more prime land left in Lidasid. There were buildings belonging to the Count’s family, but it would take an eternity just to demolish and rebuild them.
Just as he was wondering if there was a more efficient way….
“Um… Goldie was thinking, and I think there might be one place.”
“Huh? Really?”
“Goldie, where are you talking about?”
Goldie raised her hand, having thought of a place. Both Archion and the Tower Master looked pleased, but—
“Well….”
As they both stared intently at her hesitating mouth, Goldie finally spoke.
“There is land next to the monastery….”
“Ah.”
Archion remembered it too. The Lidasid Diocese, where the Saintess had welcomed him last time. There was a fairly large empty lot next to it. Based on his past-life knowledge….
“The place about the size of a soccer field?”
“Soccer field? What is that?”
“A stadium for a good sport.”
It was a quite spacious empty lot. It was flat and had no uneven terrain.
“Good. I’ll send an inquiry to the Diocese.”
He would have to negotiate with the Vatican and the church to obtain it somehow. Honestly, there was no other solution.
Next were the additional facilities.
“I can't leave sewage treatment entirely to the slaves.”
The sewage treatment plant! The scale of the plumbing facilities to be installed in Lidasid, including the bathhouse, was beyond imagination.
An immense amount of wastewater would flow through those pipes. If he dumped it directly into the river, the downstream area would be completely contaminated. If the downstream territories could no longer use that river water….
“The downstream nobles will be furious, right?”
“Mm. It would create a justification for war.”
The lords over there would wage a territorial war to the death. Because the water for farming would disappear. In Archion’s past life, agricultural water was Grade 2 to 4. Even then, Grade 3 and 4 water required separate chemical treatment.
Would it be any different here? If the quality of the water used is bad, farming will be ruined anywhere.
“Sigh, isn't there some monster that just takes care of all the waste on its own?!”
“Would such a thing exist, Young Master?” “Would it?”
“Right?”
So, Archion wanted an easy win. Honestly, environmental engineering for water purification was a daunting field given the scale. Furthermore, there were many materials that were currently hard to obtain.
If he tackled it properly, construction would be delayed significantly. When would he ever get to see the bathhouse at that rate?
“Actually, there is.” “It is called a Slime. Hehe.”
“What.”
It turned out there was a "cheat" item. Archion had been deceived.
Squirm, squirm~!Squish~!
“It’s a Slime.”
The low-level mob Slime that appears in games, manga, anime, and novels was right in front of Archion.
“Hehe, isn't it sturdy?”
“It is sturdy.”
John, the manager and owner of the waste disposal site on the outskirts of Enersis. A wealthy man of commoner origin, he had turned waste disposal—which everyone avoided—into a business. Thanks to the subsidies he received, he was reportedly earning a tidy sum.
The method was:
“I raise these fellows in a large pit and then pour the waste in for them to eat.”
He utilized the Slime's trait of devouring anything. Whether it was trash or sewage, everything was thrown into the pit filled with Slimes to be dissolved.
But Slimes are monsters. Demonic creatures. Since they are fragments of demons, they are creatures that also eat humans, yet this man was hugging a small Slime as if there were no problem at all.
“Is it alright to reveal everything like this?”
“Oh my~!! When the Tower Master and the genius young master of Enersis grace us with their presence, how could you believe me unless I show you all my cards!”
“Even that Slime-taming technique?”
“Please give me a pass on that one~!”
John possessed the ability to tame Slimes. It wasn't something bestowed by a god, but a skill he had realized through intuition. Archion realized for the first time that the profession of "Monster Tamer" existed.
“If you scrape away even my techniques, how will I make a living! Oh dear, Tower Master! Young Master! Please have mercy on this poor John just once!”
Seeing this dramatic behavior, Archion suddenly thought this must be how he looked to the Tower Master. Vowing to be a bit more restrained for the sake of his elder, he said:
“Stand up.”
“Yessir!”
He raised John, who had been prostrating himself half in jest and half in flattery. Archion hadn't come here to listen to flattery.
“John. How much waste do you receive in a day?”
“I can't count it precisely... but I am comfortably processing a day's worth of waste currently produced in Lidasid!”
His ability was outstanding. Considering how big Lidasid was, processing all the trash coming from there in a disposal site of this size! Seeing the rate at which the Slime swarm devoured the trash, it was clear he wasn't lying.
Therefore, Archion asked:
“Could you process ten times... no, nearly a hundred times that amount of waste?”
“……Pardon?”
“Can you process all the trash that comes with it as well?”
He placed an order that was incredibly demanding for the current John. Could he handle the massive volume of wastewater and trash coming from Lidasid—now equipped with a bathhouse and all sorts of plumbing—which might make the Slimes burst from overeating?
John didn't become a CEO by accident. He had a merchant's intuition for quick calculation and judging feasibility. To him, the request was:
“Oh dear, Young Master. To be honest, that is far beyond the amount we can receive—”
“I will invest. As an advance... would a hundred times the subsidy you currently receive be enough?”
“I am eternally grateful for Young Master Archion’s grace—!!!!!”
Was "impossible" even a thing?!! Especially when Enersis, who was thousands of times wealthier, was investing!! From that day on, John swore lifelong loyalty to Archion Enersis.
Archion’s savings had melted away, but he was grinning even more.
“Young Master, to waste money like that…!”
“Ahem, Goldie. A sewage treatment plant is essential for public hygiene!”
It was a world where waterborne diseases were terrifying. If proper sewage treatment wasn't done, an epidemic might break out in the downstream territories and reach all the way here! Archion was a young master of House Enersis, so the clergy would stick to him and heal him, but what about the poor residents?
“The residents will all die. We have to invest at a time like this to prevent an epidemic from spreading.”
“Fufu, Archion... you are truly kind-hearted.”
Archion wanted the residents, who loved the engineering products he had recreated, to not fall ill.
Anyway, he had signed a contract for the sewage treatment plant with John, and John said he would risk his life to expand and improve the facilities. Archion decided to trust him and leave him to it. However, after throwing out a few ideas inspired by modern sewage treatment facilities, John understood them so well that….
“Sigh. Should I have brought him with me?”
“Hieee, the Young Master is going to turn another innocent person into a research slave…!”
“Sometimes, when Archion acts like that... even I get a slight chill.”
He felt the urge to throw him into his graduate school... no, his lab…. Specifically, into Archion’s workshop.
Was this how my wicked professor felt? Reminiscing about his memories with the professor while chewing over the past, he felt:
“Ack.”
He suffered internal damage thinking about the hair loss that flared up during his Master’s defense. Becoming displeased after recalling such unpleasant things, he said:
“Let’s go to the boiler workshop.”
“Yes!”
“Hoh? That place... she was there. Fufu, how malicious.”
He decided to vent his frustration.
The targets of that frustration were….
Thud!
“Is everyone doing well?”
“A-ah! Archion!”
“Welcome.”
It was Hermione and Lucretia. Archion was in the boiler research workshop where they were.
The reason was that Archion had entrusted the research for the bathhouse boiler to Hermione and Lucretia. Including the large hot water boiler to provide underfloor heating and supply hot water to the baths.
“You two, did you do everything I told you to?”
“Of course! Look, see!”
“Ta-da!”
Of course, Archion was the lead, and Lucretia, along with the fire mages and water mages who followed her, were essentially the slaves in the lab. Archion had ordered them to directly manufacture the Prototype Hot Water Boiler Mark 2, which he had pre-sketched.
“Let’s see….”
In the case of the electric heater from before, it was easy because the structure and difficulty were relatively simple compared to this. Furthermore, the creators were artisans who had been in sync with him for a long time. It was something they could handle.
But a boiler? Honestly, it’s hard. Implementing a design meant to withstand high internal pressure exactly as it was—was that easier said than done? Moreover, the mages in front of him were encountering engineering for the first time.
“Mmm, well. You did this part well.”
Of course, he had intentionally assigned them something difficult to give them time to adapt to engineering. Archion inspected the Hot Water Boiler Mark 2 here and there, touching it.
And then—
Snap!Pop!
“Kyaak?!”
“Archion! Are you alright?!”
The boiler burst as a warped section, where rivets weren't properly driven in, exploded. Of course, since it wasn't operating, Archion only ended up with a light bruise, and the surrounding mages hurriedly approached to check on him.
“What on earth is this?”
“Ugh.”
They froze at the sight of Archion’s eyes, filled with a lethal intensity they were seeing for the first time.
“I clearly told you to heat the rivets to 800°C to soften them slightly before driving them in. You were in a hurry or found it troublesome, so you just hammered them wildly because they felt somewhat soft, didn't you?”
“H-how did you—"
“That’s why this mess happened because the rivets weren't properly fastened.”
Dusting off.
Archion stood up, dusting himself off, and his gaze, shimmering with killing intent, swept across the mages. In fact, these were the very people who had tormented Archion for nearly ten years.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Aren't you going to do it properly? Is your research a joke?”
“N-no, sir!”
But hadn't the fellow who went to the Magic Tower last time suddenly advanced his Circle and returned, saying Archion was an incredible genius and that just listening to his knowledge leads to breakthrough?!
“Sir—?!”
“Gasp! No, it’s not!”
The mages, having learned the circumstances, were all struggling to enter Archion’s workshop, and Archion had unexpectedly accepted them with a smile. He even said he would give lectures!!
However, that very happy smile Archion wore….
“Th-the thing is….”
“When I went to the Capital last time, the hot water boiler kill switch disappeared, and did you or did you not see the mess it made when it went out of control and exploded? Did you or did you not see the floor of the main hall get completely blown away? Huh?!”
And all of them realized too late that the smile had been the smile of a devil.
“A pressure tank is something that can blow up an entire mansion if it explodes the wrong way. We’re barely containing something trying to expand with ultra-high pressure inside that one piece of iron, and you call it finished when you didn't even do the fastening, the most basic of basics, properly?”
“A-Archion. We were wrong, so….”
“Calm down, please calm down for now. Let’s first look at the mistakes—”
“Isn't this mess because my sister and the Madam didn't test it properly either—!!!”
They never imagined he would scold them this much…! But every word he said during the scolding was true... so none of them could refute it. The mages who had bullied him and the mother-daughter duo all hung their heads like graduate students getting chewed out by a professor for ruining research.
To them, Archion said:
“Sigh. This won't do. I am canceling this week’s lecture.”
“WHAT?!!!”
He handed down a punishment no different from divine retribution. He had stripped them of their "free ride" Circle advancement opportunity for a week!
“N-nooooooo!!!” “We’re sorry, we’re sorry, we’re sorry, we’re sorry!!!” “Just kill me instead! No, I’ll kill myself, so please let go of your anger—!!!”
Most of the mages were at a stalemate in their Circles and were so desperate for advancement that they were at their wits' end. To them, Archion’s lecture cancellation was... literally the highest level of punishment.
“Young Master, why are you doing this?”
Archion might one day be asked if such an act made him no different from a wicked professor.
“I simply... went from being the victim to the perpetrator.”
“That is quite a profound statement.”
Like he cared. They were the ones who had subtly tormented him even while he was developing the incandescent bulb!
Actually, both Goldie and the Tower Master knew very well how merciful Archion was for not casting them out immediately. But above all….
“Everyone, don't worry! If we just wait one day, the Young Master will return and give the lecture!”
“He said in a week, so what do you mean he’ll return in a day?”
“Because every time 24 hours pass, we can just strike our heads to erase the memory—!!! Yaaaaah—!!!”
Clang!!!
Archion teaches them well even if they don't do that. It was something he neither cared about nor was concerned with.
Meanwhile, in the Lord’s study.
“So, that sound is….”
The Count was currently listening to the sound of a bell from outside the window….
Clang!Clang!Clang!
“The sound of my wife, Hermione, and the family mages striking their own heads…?”
“Yes. They’ve gone mad because Young Master Archion canceled the lecture intended only for them.”
“It’s understandable.”
He pitied them. To not be able to hear Archion’s lecture. How agonizing must that be?
“Send them all to the clinic and keep them locked up for a day. I have to listen to my son’s lecture.”
“Yes. I will return as quickly as possible.”
That was the extent of it. He only thought of them as pitiful.
Two weeks later,
“Young Master! A message has arrived from the Church!”
“Finally!!”
An answer had come to the letter Archion sent to the Vatican.
“The Saintess asks to see you in the Capital. She left a note saying she really hopes the Young Master will come up!”
“No, why?”
Telling him to come up again.
Archion felt like crying.