Chapter 6 - I Don't Forgive Busybodies Who Interfere with My Research!
I Don't Forgive Busybodies Who Interfere with My Research!
Translator : Elizabeth
Chapter 6
Archion felt his head spin at the mountain of envelopes piled before him. He wanted to tell Goldie to throw them all away immediately, but—
“Ugh…!”
He knew that failing to reply would cause a stir in aristocratic society. Clutching his aching head, he began to tear open the envelopes with Goldie.
“Let’s see….”
As he checked the contents, the messages were all remarkably similar, despite being from different senders.
“Goldie.”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“Why am I now a 'filial son' who reached out to Madam Lucretia first, and why has the fan that was stolen from you become a 'gift'?”
They were all asking him to sell them a portable fan like the one he had "gifted" to Madam Lucretia Enersis!
The culprit who had laid that groundwork must be Madam Lucretia. Had she really considered it a gift when she took it from Goldie?
“Young Master. Goldie doesn't know either….”
“Right….”
She snatched it, so how is that a gift?!
And then she had the nerve to boast about her "maternal love" for Archion in public? In Archion's 17 years of memory, Lucretia was the person who had insulted him, calling him incompetent and a motherless brat.
Of course, with his past-life mindset, he could just let it go in a "cool and sexy" way—
“I definitely need to get revenge for this.”
Like hell I will. Honestly, he was annoyed. Thus, he began to plan his vengeance.
Of course, a direct strike in the reply letters saying, "I have no such relationship with Lucretia," would be effective, but that would damage the currently rising reputation of House Enersis.
And if that happened? The Count might cut his research budget due to decreased income. Archion had suffered through bone-dry budgets in his past life. In other words, this was a matter of national security...!
And above all, this was a family matter. Whether aristocratic or not, it wasn't something to air out in public.
“I’ll just scratch her where she lives.”
“Eh? How?”
“There’s a way.”
He decided to needle Lucretia within the house. Since she had dared to interfere with an engineer's research, she should have been prepared for the consequences.
Thump, thump, thump! Clatter!
Archion rolled up his sleeves once more and began to assemble something.
One week later.
“Father, Mother. You’ve worked hard on your long journey.”
The family staff stepped forward to welcome the return of the Count and his Madam.
“Haha! Archion! You came out too!”
“I am also a child of you both, after all.”
Archion was there, standing with the rest.
‘What is this brat up to?’
Archion had never shown his face at such events since he was seven. First, there was the pressure and mistreatment from Lucretia, followed by the bullying from his siblings and the neglect from the servants. On top of that, Delford had practiced a policy of abandonment, using his busy schedule and the succession competition as excuses.
Lucretia had hoped he would stay out of sight... she clicked her tongue inwardly while wearing a bright smile on the outside.
“Ho-ho. I didn't know you thought of me so fondly.”
It was a coded message: ‘How dare a piece of trash like you call me Mother?’ She assumed a shut-in, resigned young master wouldn't understand the nuance of noble etiquette.
She could keep smiling—until that moment.
“Yes. That is why... I wish to present a gift to the Count and Madam, a product I created recently.”
Until the portable fans appeared from Archion’s hands.
“I had developed them earlier, but it took some time to test them through the servants. These are—”
Two luxurious portable fans, delicately carved from high-quality wood and coated with sap.
Lucretia’s smile began to crack.
“Are these not portable fans?”
“Pardon? Father, how did you know?”
The noblewomen had secretly told her, "I sent a letter to your son." There was no way he wouldn't know the situation, yet he...!
“Have you... ever given these to anyone else?”
“Aside from Goldie, this is the first time I have shown the actual product to anyone else….”
“No, never mind. Ahem.”
He had snitched to the Count right in front of everyone. He had proven that the wooden fan Lucretia had been carrying was not a gift!
“Or perhaps you immediately realized it from the description I gave you last time…. As expected of you, Father.”
“There is no need to flatter me so much. Haha, anyway, I shall accept this with gratitude.”
Of course, this truth was only known to the Count and his Madam. Both were smiling, but—
“Madam.”
“Yes, my Lord.”
“After you change your clothes... come to the Lord’s study.”
“……Yes.”
Their eyes said something else. The Count’s eyes were filled with anger, and Madam Lucretia’s were filled with shame.
By the time they were being escorted into the mansion, Lucretia noticed Archion looking at her. The moment their eyes met, he—
Smirk.
“You…!”
He sneered. He definitely sneered at her!! Lucretia wanted to freeze the brat’s mouth shut right then and there, but—
“Madam.”
“Yes, yes!”
She hurriedly ran into the mansion because Delford looked far angrier than she had anticipated.
“I see… so Lucretia took what belonged to you.”
After hearing the whole story, the Count called Archion into the study.
“Your treatment was... even harsher than what I had seen and heard.”
“It’s alright, Father. Since the installation of the ceiling fans, the servants have been trying their best to look after me.”
“I suppose they would.”
Woooooong….
The ceiling fan rotated above the Lord’s study with a quiet resonance. The elegant wooden blades circulated a cool breeze. Since he had provided those expensive items for everyone in the mansion, the servants couldn't help but like him.
“I have given strict orders, so you will not be mistreated again.”
“Thank you for your help, Father.”
“Mm-hmm. If you have any grievances, be sure to tell me.”
“Yes, Father.”
Archion was truly the goose that laid the golden eggs for House Enersis. And yet, that woman had stolen something the goose had gifted to the maid who looked after him? There was no way Archion didn't know. The Count had also heard that over a hundred letters had arrived for Archion.
Thus, the gift at the return ceremony earlier had been a truly fatal blow. The family elders would surely hear of it, and gossip would fly.
The Count was relieved that Archion, who had been quiet and only wanted to research, had sought such revenge. Had he not given up on the Earldom, this would have certainly turned into a massive uproar.
“Right. And you said you wanted to build an additional production line for this 'motor' thing?”
“Yes. It is an engineering component with many uses.”
Anyway, enough with the gloomy talk. Archion, who raised the family’s honor and brought in money, had brought another proposal.
There were two items. The first was the construction of a new, large-scale workshop for motor production!
Just look at the incandescent bulbs. Since the production line was built, they were selling as fast as they could be made. And Archion's share? He requested that it be used to bestow grace upon the residents of the Enersis territory.
Archion's intention was to distribute incandescent bulbs to their homes as well. Thanks to that, the reputation of the Enersis name and the loyalty of the residents were skyrocketing daily!
Because of this, Delford’s face broke into a wide grin the moment he saw the proposal documents.
“You mean something like a sewing machine?”
“Ah, yes. How did you think of that?”
“As you said, rotational motion can eventually be converted into vertical motion. I thought of it thanks to that. Beyond that, perhaps... it could overwhelmingly increase the daily production volume, including the speed of production.”
“As expected of you, Father.”
To Archion, Delford was a wonderful CEO of a major corporation. Give him one piece of academic data, and he would realize ten. He immediately understood Archion’s intentions behind a development. And he even had the sharp intelligence to quickly calculate its utility.
“So, Father. This time, I intend to improve the bathrooms.”
“The bathrooms?”
When the CEO is like this, it’s the best for the working staff. Thus, Archion immediately handed the second proposal to Delford.
“To be precise, I intend to overhaul everything from the toilets to the baths. Using this motor.”
“Hmm. Tell me more.”
Since the Head of the House owned the mansion, Archion always needed Delford’s permission to renovate a room. He explained the plan using the materials he had brought.
After about thirty minutes—
“Hahaha! Do as you wish!”
Thump!
Approval was granted with Delford's hearty laughter, and Archion stepped out of the study with a triumphant air.
“Young Master, Young Master.”
Whirrrrr~!
Goldie, who had been waiting outside, was fanning herself with her own portable fan.
“Are you the only one who's hot? Blow some my way too.”
“Yessir. But Young Master, seeing as your face is so bright, you must have gotten permission?”
“Yeah. He told me to do as I wish again.”
The implementation of the flush toilet—the primary development goal of the motor. He had received budget approval for the project. Of course, he had only made the motor so far, and he hadn't even installed a water tank to hold the water yet.
Furthermore, what about the plumbing throughout the bathroom? It would be a nightmare of high difficulty.
Therefore—
“Let’s just think about that later.”
“Eh? Then should I not call the guild members…?”
“We should call them for a consultation. But it’s obvious the schedule will be long, so there’s no point in calling them right now….”
He would put it all off. Archion himself had no particular expertise in architecture or interior design. So, the field an engineer like Archion had to touch first was—
“Then are you going to make the thing to transport the water first?”
“That’s right. A turbo pump.”
A pump that uses the rotation of a motor to spin an internal propeller—an impeller—to draw up water using pressure differences.
“With this, we could even make a swimming pool.”
“What’s a swimming pool?”
“Ah... you wouldn't know.”
Finally, stage two: he planned to create the pump motor.