Brute Force It Is
We solve it with muscle power.
It had already been three years since the observatory was built.
Haha. People were in a sorry state, to put it mildly.
They'd refused to listen when I said we weren't just observing shadows anymore — the calculations were beginning — but still. Though the precise figures hadn't come out yet, they had figured out on their own that the Earth was tilted, and that a year was somewhere around 365 days.
"So Haneul-nim, you're saying 365 days isn't exact?"
"Yeah. It's a little more than that."
"How much more?"
Calculating it precisely is probably still beyond them. Look at that sour face. Aigoo.
"No can do. What if you know the answer and just reverse-engineer it? Figure it out yourselves."
This process, my friend, is what could lead you all to space. How many times must I tell you to be patient?
"Ugh..."
"For now, just use 365 days and work the correction out on your own as you go."
"Yes, ma'am..."
Aigo, he looks like he wants to crawl into the ground.
"It's not completely wrong, so hold your head up. You've got this."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Is this really something worth getting worked up over over a single word of encouragement? Well, praise makes even a whale dance, as they say. Keep at it.
"As for you — you're going to focus on this, and we're handing the ships over to someone else."
"What a relief..."
Look at him relax. I'd originally planned to assign him both, but it turned out he wasn't just ordinarily bad at it.
There's no such thing as an easy trial-and-error crash course, after all. Just keep grinding away at it.
"I'll check back in a few more years, then?"
Solar observation being the foundation, a year at the very earliest?
"Yes. I'll work as hard as I can."
"Mm. Keep it up~"
"Oh! Haneul-nim."
"What?"
"Is that thing true? What you did when you were young, Grandfather said—"
Whoa. Out of everyone here, you should be the last one bringing that up out loud. Mara's only still alive because I like her, you brat!
He still hasn't come to his senses, has he.
"Yeah? Curious, are you?"
"...What?"
"Want to touch them yourself?"
*Gulp*
"C-can I... really?"
Wow. When is this kid going to grow up? You have a two-year-old child!
*Crack-crack-crack*
Hm? What's that sound?
*THWACK!*
Jiwoo went down. And standing behind him, fist clenched, was Mara. Was she wearing something on her hand?
The sweet, delicate Mara was nowhere to be found — in her place stood a powerhouse of a mother.
"Haneul-niim!?"
"Huh? What?"
"You cannot indulge him like that. Not with this man."
Ooh. I think that's the first time I've ever seen veins bulge on someone's forehead! Kind of want to poke it...
"Uhh... riiight. Got it. I was just teasing."
"He doesn't take teasing lightly."
"Understood..."
Yikes, she's terrifying. First we had the Iron-Blooded Chancellor, and now it looks like we're getting an Iron-Blooded Chief Secretary.
"This gentleman here is Jutae."
Ah, so this is the ship-obsessed one I'd heard about. Are two-syllable names the trend these days? Surely not just because I've been using them?
Whew~ He looks about Jiwoo's age, but man, young people these days have such good bodies. Tall, and those muscles look solidly powerful.
"Have you studied any mathematics or geometry?"
"Yes, ma'am. I chewed through the textbooks page by page."
That's his way of saying he studied hard, right? Those teeth of his haven't actually been chewing fibers that are paper... have they?
"You're quite the joker. Haha."
"I'm serious."
Seriously? Is he a herbivore or something?
"Uh... well, as long as he builds good ships, who cares if he's a herbivore."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
"No no, nothing. That just slipped out. Let's get ready to build some ships."
To train up master shipwrights, I spent a week holding lecture sessions. The pros and cons of sharp-bottomed versus flat-bottomed hulls, the roles of sails and oars, basic seamanship — I covered only what I actually knew. I don't know all that much myself, after all.
"The real challenge is seamanship. You'll need to keep meticulous records of wind direction and currents through the seasons and learn the rest through firsthand experience."
"So this wasn't going to be a day or two's work after all..."
"Nope. You may be devoting your whole life to it."
Even a lifetime might not be enough to see the end of it. Give it your best.
"Start with small boats that can help with inland water transport."
"Yes, ma'am."
Inland water transport really is crucial.
A few months later, I found myself gazing at something truly fascinating.
"Ooh... you made this fast."
"Well, you walked us through the prototype design, Haneul-nim."
Hah. Knowing how to build something and actually building it are two different things, you know. Impressive stuff.
For now it looked like a ferry piloted by a single person. A small boat, I suppose?
The beam looked to be under two cubits, the length roughly four? It resembled one of those boats that always show up in historical period dramas.
One odd detail, though: they'd fitted the boat with wheels — apparently for rowing and adjusting the sails.
Huh, not bad.
"Let's take it out!"
"...I'm sorry, what?"
Why the surprise? Is something wrong with it?
"What? Can't I?"
"Well, the thing is... it leaks a little."
"So what? Let's go!"
It wasn't exactly a large vessel, so I simply picked the whole thing up and set it on the water.
*Trickle-trickle-trickle*
Ah. We're not making it a single step, are we. I quietly picked it back up and hauled it out.
"Still a long way to go, huh."
"Yes. Sealing the seams is proving difficult."
"Find something sticky that doesn't dissolve in water. I don't know what this region has to offer either — try tree sap too."
"Understood, ma'am."
As far as looks go, it passes. Get the waterproofing sorted and we can try a test run.
Since I'd bothered to come outside today, I decided to have a look around the city's back alleys.
If I just walked around as myself, people would recognize me, so I'd need to throw on a light face veil — I'd made sure these things were in fashion long ago, precisely for occasions like this.
The moment I stroll into a chapel wearing one, boom — it becomes the trend.
"So many people wearing these? They do keep the dust off. Handy, I guess."
Here and everywhere, the women went about with veils lightly covering their noses and mouths.
Not a full proper veil like a true face covering, but you couldn't exactly call it a mask, could you?
I'd always been curious whether the city was actually being run well. And the easiest way to check was to dig through the seedy back alleys.
I was a little worried about how much of a mess I'd find...
"Huh? It's... clean?"
These were the back alleys, but the sweeping was thorough and everything was spotless.
What? This is good and all, but this is not what I was hoping for?
I wandered this alley and that alley for a long while — everything was clean, and there wasn't even a whiff of that sinister air that makes you expect local thugs to come crawling out.
Kind of disappointing, honestly?
"Heh heh heh. Missy~"
Ah! An event! This is what I came for! Come on now — show me your true colors!
"Y-yes?"
"Heh heh. What's a pretty thing like you doing all alone in a place like this~"
"I, um... I just got a little lost..."
Oh dear. You really can't make toothpaste in this era, can you — that breath is something else.
*Snnnkt*
Hm? I don't see a weapon, but he's reaching for his waistband? No way — surely he's not about to pull something like that in broad daylight on a public street!?
"No no! Missy, you don't even know the roads and you wander into alleys like this? I thought that face looked unfamiliar. The main road's that way — hurry along now. Won't your parents be worried sick!"
I got thoroughly scolded.
"Thank you..."
"And next time you're lost, knock on any door, for heaven's sake!"
"Y-yes sir!"
Damn it. I got played. Turns out he was an upright, decent old fellow despite his appearance.
I tried a few more spots after that, but to no avail — every time, I got shooed back to the main road.
"What a relief. At least this city is doing well."
Still, my mind was put at ease. They're doing a good job. I just hope the other cities manage half as well.
"Silk for sale~"
"Wooden bowls here~"
"Freshly hand-copied books, hot off the brush!"
Ooh, there's a market here? Though I wonder if they even have currency. Is this all barter?
"The potato count is right! Eleven!"
"Are you kidding me? You stuff in eleven runts this small and call it even?"
"Then what am I supposed to do, the potatoes ARE small!"
Ah. Yep. Called it... They'd be better off weighing things instead. No wait — then people would just cheat with the scales, like the fish markets of my old world.
Scales, currency... hmmm...
For the economy to actually take off, we need two things...
Let's talk it over with the others.
"So, weights and currency?"
"Yeah. What do you think we should do?"
"Use your body weight as the standard, Haneul-nim."
Excuse me? Why is it me again?
"Why? Shouldn't the standard be something that never changes?"
"Exactly. And you never change, do you?"
"Ah..."
So that's why length was based on my height too. But wait, weight means clothes, doesn't it?
"Chief Secretary!"
"Yes, Chancellor."
"I'll have the tools ready shortly, so we'll need to measure Haneul-nim's weight."
"Of course."
Huh? Do we even have scales? What are they measuring with?
After a short wait, in came a rod, some cord, a basket, and a whole pile of sand.
Ahaha. So they do have the concept of a balance scale.
"Haneul-nim, what are you doing? Take your clothes off."
"Ah. Um..."
Oh, so THAT'S why she went and fetched Mara first — because this involves undressing.
And so I found myself hanging from one end of the rod by a cord.
"Aigo, Haneul-nim!"
"Huh? What?"
"If you sit like that, everything is on full display!"
Was I sitting with my legs spread too wide?
"But... it's just us here..."
"Sit up STRAIGHT!"
"Yes ma'am..."
Anyway, what was my weight, even? At this rate I couldn't measure it in kilograms, could I? Same problem as my height.
They kept piling sand into the opposite pan until it balanced, but — hold on? Barely any sand fit on there?
Am I really that light? What is going on? Is something hiding in here? Poke as I might, it's all soft and squishy — am I some kind of slime?
"Would you HOLD STILL! The scale keeps moving!"
"Ah... sorry..."
Geez... I feel robbed here...
After much struggle, the weight was finally measured, and once I'd put my clothes back on, the workers crept in, reverently gathered up the sand, and carried it out.
That much would be about 30 kilograms? 40? I'll have to weigh myself properly someday once we get kilograms.
Weights: done. Done...
Now, how were we handling currency?
"I'll take care of that one. Why should you have to suffer, Haneul-nim?"
"It's fine, really..."
Mara changed a lot after getting married. Is Jiwoo that much of a handful? Though no — I've seen her whaling on Mara too...
Come to think of it, the poor guy. Dazzled by her looks, he got involved, got her pregnant, and got marched straight down the aisle.
He only found out she was nine years older than him around the wedding, I hear.
"So how do we do the currency?"
"What's to figure? Just draw it on paper, no?"
"Anyone could copy the design, that's the problem. Counterfeit bills — that's how they happen."
The moment counterfeits start circulating, that currency is doomed. Countless nations from antiquity through the Middle Ages watched their money fail for exactly that reason. That's why gold and silver coins came about.
It was a problem even in modern society, so maybe it's simply inseparable from money itself. And right now, counterfeits would pour out of every workshop the moment we started...
"Isn't there some kind of ink nobody could copy..."
"Hmm. There just might be..."
"Oh? How so?"
"It's not exact, but there's a record. From Master Turu."
Hm? Turu, the first Master Craftsman? Whew. Now there's a name I haven't heard in a long time.
The last time, he nearly pulled my hair out whenever I touched a bow. It genuinely hurt, you know.
"According to the record, if you burn Haneul-nim's hair and mix the ash into oil or water, it produces a mysterious iridescent color."
What? What kind of nonsense is this?
What exactly did this man do with my leftover hair?
"Haha. My hair, of all things~"
"Well, it would make sense. Haneul-nim, your hair is rainbow-colored."
"...Excuse me?"
"What? You didn't know?"
Now what is this...
"It just looks black normally, doesn't it? But hold it up to the sunlight and it shimmers like a flowing rainbow."
Is my hair a neon sign or what...
"Pulling out my hair hurts like crazy, you know? And if we need it for ink, wouldn't shaving my head work just as well?"
"I'm told only a little is needed?"
No. It HURTS, my guy. It hurts a tremendous amount.
"Nope. Because it hurts."
"Then why not cut some?"
"...Huh?"
Come to think of it, have I never tried cutting it? I've only ever pulled it?
"Should we try?"
"Yes, let's just trim a little."
"Okay."
Mara pulled a sharp little dagger from the drawer. Why is something like that IN the drawer?
"Why do you have that in there?"
"I have heaps of them. Do you know how many gifts the craftsmen keep sending?"
"Heh heh..."
*Snip-snip*
Whoa. I told her to and she just chopped right through it. She'd be great at pulling kids' teeth.
Aigo. She just lopped it clean off. If it had actually hurt, I probably would have died of shock on the spot.
Bob cut in one stroke.
"Hm? My hair's so much shorter — this feels really nice, actually."
"Doesn't it? Hair weighs more than you'd think."
"Ooh. I could keep it like this."
"You should. Still as beautiful as ever, Haneul-nim."