The Journey (18)
When word got out that we would be leaving the next day, the congregation at the temple came pouring in, all of them asking if we couldn't stay just a few more days.
I hadn't even done anything special here, so their reaction was almost enough to make me a little afraid.
But the decision had already been made, and there were other important matters waiting, so I declared it impossible. When I refused firmly, the man who was the bishop put on the face of an abandoned puppy, and it took everything I had not to laugh.
And so, early on the morning of our departure, we began to prepare.
The luggage was already packed; all that remained was to load it onto the carriage.
"You're really leaving, then."
"I have work to do."
Behind him, I could see the nuns racing over with some kind of basket in their arms.
"Th-this is a packed lunch."
"Thank you."
I didn't check inside, but from the solid weight of it, there was quite a lot in there.
They had already loaded us up with provisions, and now they were packing us a lunch on top of that… Receiving so much and giving nothing in return left me feeling a little guilty. Just as we finished our goodbyes and I was about to climb into the carriage and set off, someone came sprinting hard from behind.
"S-Saintess! Please, please wait just a moment!"
Huh? The carriage had already started and was just beginning to roll forward.
Priest Daniel must have heard the shout as well, because he brought the carriage to a halt.
"Hah… hah…"
The man who had come running was the leader of the blacksmiths. I had no idea how far he had run, but he was gasping for breath.
"Th-the… hah… item… is finished…"
"Breathe. Just breathe."
The other worshippers nearby fretted over him and helped him stay upright.
The moment I saw the object cradled in his arms, I understood why he had come tearing after us like that.
"There—it's finished."
I hopped down from the carriage in one light bound.
"You ran all this way just for this?"
He could have simply sent it to the temple in the Meyer Territory… Looking at his face, I could see dark circles under his eyes; he must have worked through the night.
"Heh heh. I stayed up all night making it, so of course I had to get it to you quickly."
"Thank you."
"Not at all. I'll put everything I have into the rest of the equipment as well."
"I'll be waiting, then. I trust you."
I carefully accepted the flask he had made and lifted it. Being forged of iron, it had a solid, satisfying weight.
Once I climbed back into the carriage, Priest Daniel took the reins, and I stood at the window and waved to the congregation watching us go.
Before I knew it, the young master had slipped in from behind and was studying the flask with curious eyes.
"For something made of Black Iron, the color is a little strange."
"The alchemy cauldron is the same way, you know."
I said it while glancing at the large cauldron stowed on one side of the carriage.
"It's probably because fossil material was mixed into the ore."
"Have you tried using it yet?"
When would I have had the chance? The carriage had only just left the mining city and turned onto the open road.
"I'll try it now."
Sister Mary showed interest in the flask as well.
"What is it for?"
"It's something I designed to artificially produce sparkling water."
I gave her a brief overview, and Sister Mary nodded.
"It's expensive and hard to come by, so if you can make it yourself, that would be wonderful."
I smiled and used magic to create water, pouring it into the flask. About two-thirds full? No—closer to three-quarters. Once the water was in, I prepared a wind spell.
"I wonder if this will work…"
What I used was a powerful gale spell. I sealed the mouth of the flask with my right hand and cast the magic inside. At the same time, I channeled Holy Power through my left hand into the flask itself, reinforcing its strength.
The wind magic activated, and the water inside began to churn. The force of the spell set the whole flask vibrating.
"Mmm…"
For about five minutes I held on, enduring the shaking.
"How is it?"
"I don't know. I'll have to check."
I carefully peered into the mouth of the flask. There was no telltale hiss of escaping carbonation. I took out a cup and carefully poured some of the water. As expected, no bubbles rose to the surface.
"A failure?"
I took a cautious sip.
A little? There was something almost like a carbonated sensation… or was there?
"It's a failure."
"Is that so?"
The young master looked faintly disappointed.
"Time to change the method a bit."
Giving up after a single failure would be premature. I needed to try several approaches at least.
I dug carefully through the knowledge of my previous life. Carbonation, carbonation…
I had to pull something useful out of those fragmentary scraps of information.
Compression—did I need to force it in under pressure?
"Ugh, this is hard."
I prepared the magic again. A sphere of wind, compressed down to a tiny size. Smaller, smaller, smaller still, until it was small enough to fit through the mouth of the flask.
"Whew. Making it this small is exhausting."
I slipped the wind sphere into the flask. Maintaining it was so taxing that increasing the number of spheres seemed out of the question.
Now I just needed to seal the mouth, right? I wrapped the flask in Holy Power to reinforce its strength, then released my hold on the sphere.
Wind roared violently inside, and a sharp blast of air shot out through the narrow mouth of the flask.
"Wah?!"
The wind slammed upward into the ceiling and shredded the canopy cloth.
"Hah?"
I looked up to assess the damage, and my breath caught in my throat.
"J-Julian? Are you all right?"
The young master fretted over me first. But this was not the time to be fretting over me. I slowly lowered my gaze to Sister Mary, who was sitting directly across from me.
Sister Mary was smiling.
It was an uneasy, deeply uneasy smile.
"Saintess…?"
"I-I didn't do it on purpose. It was a mistake. A mistake."
"I know that. But if you were going to use magic, shouldn't you have been more careful from the start?"
Well… she wasn't wrong…
"Still, it was a clean cut, so it should be easy enough to mend."
I had been told this cloth was no ordinary fabric… I hadn't expected it to tear so easily…
"I'll try sewing it up at the next rest stop."
There were needles and thread in the luggage, so we would manage somehow…
Once things had settled a little, I checked the water still inside the flask. When I transferred it to a cup, fine bubbles appeared.
"Did it work?"
I took a small sip of the water in the cup.
It was carbonated. Faint, but unmistakably carbonated.
"Did it succeed?"
"Yes! It's weak, but it worked!"
Of course, injecting a stronger carbonation would probably require a different method.
"Since the flask can withstand magic, I should be able to try all sorts of approaches."
I said it with a bright smile, and Sister Mary beside me began giving me pointed looks.
"In any case, congratulations."
I wanted to experiment further, but I held back for fear of shredding the carriage canopy again.
I could just get down from the carriage at the next rest stop and do it there.
And so, when the horses stopped to rest, I quickly climbed down and set about trying the various methods that had occurred to me.
First, I filled the flask with a moderate amount of water and blew my breath into it.
Carbonation is the process of dissolving carbon dioxide into water. I had no way of artificially gathering carbon dioxide, and I had no idea whether the people of this world even knew the concept existed, so asking was out of the question.
Still, human exhalation was supposed to contain a slightly higher proportion of carbon dioxide…
I diligently breathed into the flask. Then I sealed the mouth, formed another wind sphere, carefully slipped it inside, and stoppered the flask with a cork. Finally, I cast a defensive spell over the entire flask.
"This should be fine, right?"
"Don't tell me you mean to use magic while it's sealed?"
"Yes. Is… is that dangerous?"
"Possibly…"
The young master stepped closer and took hold of the flask with both hands.
"I'll hold it."
Would he be all right? He even clamped down firmly on the cork. Since he had volunteered, I decided to trust him.
"Then please hang on."
I released the wind sphere inside the flask.
The young master's hands began to shake violently, and the cork started trying to force its way free. He gritted his strength and held on.
I worried the flask might shatter, but whether it was the defensive magic or the young master reinforcing it with mana, I couldn't say for certain—the flask held.
"Kh."
A strained grunt escaped him; it must have been taking everything he had.
"Y-young master? You can open the cork now."
"I-is that so?"
Pop!
The moment he pulled his hands away, the cork shot skyward.
"Hah?"
I stared up at the cork soaring into the air. Why had it flown so high? It arced slowly back down, and the young master snatched it out of the air.
"Caught it."
I clapped for him—clap, clap.
"Th-this is no time for that."
I took the flask from his hands and checked the water. From inside came the distinctive crackle of carbonated bubbles bursting.
When I poured it into a cup, a bright, refreshing fizz spread through the air—shhhh.
"I-it worked."
Yes! Increasing the carbon dioxide and then compressing it—that was the key!
"It really does seem to be sparkling water."
"Yes. Heehee."
I had found the method. Setting the flask aside, I pulled a notepad from my bag and organized the results of this experiment. First I wrote down the trial-and-error process, then pinpointed the critical points and jotted them down.
Critical point: blowing breath into the flask to increase the carbon dioxide content.
But wouldn't the smoke from a candle or a campfire work just as well? Maybe I should try that later.
I recorded that idea as well, for now.
I probably ought to verify it properly before writing it down… but I might forget, so better to note it now.
Next, notes on the magic and the cork…
Having the cork fly off was dangerous, so I would need to find a way to prevent that…
I couldn't rely on the young master's help every time, so I would need to be able to make it on my own as well…
I thought through this and that, sorted it all out, and wrote it down.
"Hm?"
When I roughly finished my notes and looked up, my companions were standing around waiting.
"Wh-what is it?"
"Are you finished?"
"Uh… um? Yes, more or less."
"We should be getting back on the road soon."
Priest Daniel's words brought me back to myself.
"Were you all waiting for me? You should have said something."
I could have done the notes in the carriage…
"You were so focused, we didn't want to interrupt."
Priest Daniel and the young master both smiled. Sister Mary nodded as well.
"I'm sorry."
I quickly put away the notepad and fountain pen and climbed into the carriage.
"Then we'll be off."
Once everyone was aboard, the carriage began to move again.
Really—everyone was far too kind.