11. Clumsily Making an Air Conditioner
"······!!"
Seria's eyes went wide as saucers. The determination from moments ago had vanished, her face turning red as a ripe apple in an instant.
"W-what are you suddenly talking about! I-I won't give in just because you say stuff like that!"
Seria mumbled while hiding her face behind her fan. But with her ears turning red too, the effect was clear.
"Seria, if you help me finish this magic research, I'll make you some patbingsu."
"Pat... bingsu?"
Her red eyes peeked out from behind the fan.
"Yeah. You finely shave ice until it's like snow, then pile on sweetly boiled red beans and drizzle a ton of thick, nutty condensed milk that's even richer than honey."
"······."
Seria swallowed hard.
"One bite and it's so refreshingly cool your head goes ding, melting smoothly in your mouth. Sound good? Can you picture it?"
"Sw-sweet red beans... and condensed milk..."
Seria's pupils shook like they were in an earthquake. No matter how mature she was for her age, how could an eight-year-old resist the temptation of something cool and sweet on a sweltering day like this? No such kid existed in this world.
"······Is it really true?"
"When have you ever seen me lie?"
"I've seen it plenty."
"Ahem. This time it's real. All the ingredients are in the kitchen."
Seria pondered for a moment, then snapped her fan shut with resolve.
"Fine. But if anything happens, I'm telling the lord right away."
"Okay, deal!"
"What's 'deal'?"
"It means yes. Let's go!"
I excitedly grabbed Seria's hand and pulled her up. She stood with a show of reluctance, but a smile was already creeping across her lips. She was probably already imagining downing three bowls in her head.
We snuck down the hallway to my room, careful not to be seen. For the birth of my great invention, Magic Air Conditioner ver. And for my comfortable summer.
The moment we reached my room, I pulled magic books from the bookshelf—ones I'd wheedled from Dad. I opened the thickest one, Understanding Elemental Magic: Cold Edition.
"Let's see..."
I perched on the bed and flipped through the pages. Seria sat in a chair, swinging her legs with a curious expression.
"Young master, what are you planning?"
"Hmm, first we approach it scientifically."
I skimmed the contents.
The essence of cold magic is deceleration. By binding water particles in the air with mana and suppressing their vibrations, it robs them of thermal energy.
Oh ho. Interpreting with my past-life knowledge, it meant forcibly stopping molecular motion to lower the temperature. I got the principle. Now for practice.
I closed my eyes and extended my palm forward. I could feel the water particles floating in the air. I pictured grabbing them by the collar and yelling Freeze!
"Hup!"
······.
Nothing happened. The room was still a sauna.
"Hm? What was that just now?"
Seria tilted her head. I cleared my throat.
"Wait. It's loading right now."
"Loading?"
"Preheating the mana."
Second try. I focused again, harder this time.
"Yah!"
······Failure again. Only a lukewarm puff escaped my palm.
"Not working?"
"Nah, nah. I got the feel. That was just zero-point calibration."
Third try. Fail. Fourth. Fail.
Seria's eyes narrowed. She rested her chin on her hand, glaring at me with dead-fish eyes.
"Young master, the ice is gonna evaporate before it melts."
"Ahem. Don't rush me. Magic's a delicate art. This time it'll really work!"
Fifth, sixth. And the grand seventh try.
Please freeze, damn it! I poured out every ounce of mana.
Then—
Paaat!
White frost bloomed from my fingertips. A tiny ice crystal formed on my palm.
Success!
"See! I told you it'd work!"
I held up the ice shard triumphantly. But Seria's reaction was lukewarm.
"Young master, you said 'this is really, really the last one' about five times."
"Ahem. It's the result that matters, not the process, right?"
Actually, magic has attributes. The stuff I'd done so far, like "extinguishing fires from bed" or "lifting a cup," was close to non-attribute telekinesis. Just converting mana to physical force, so low difficulty.
But attribute magic like cold or fire was on another level. You had to transform mana's very nature. Attribute mages were rare and revered, so nailing it on the seventh try? Pretty genius, if I say so myself.
Good. Now to apply it.
I held the ice crystal, deep in thought. Just making ice wasn't enough. For a cool room, I needed a continuous cooling system.
What was the principle of an AC again?
I recalled my past life. Compression, condensation, expansion, evaporation. Compress refrigerant to heat it up, cool it down, then rapidly expand to absorb surrounding heat.
To replicate with magic...
Use mana as refrigerant. Circulate air with non-attribute physical force, steal heat with cold magic. Run both together—that's a magic AC!
"Seria, watch closely. This is the pinnacle of civilization."
"Making something weird again..."
"Don't worry. This one's a total game-changer."
I stood in the center of the room. Right hand stirring wind with physical force, left hand blasting cold.
A high-level fusion technique.
Blow, wind! And freeze!
Wooong.
The air vibrated. A vortex swirled around me. At first it was just cool breeze, then the temperature plunged.
"Whoa! Young master! It's suddenly cool!"
Seria's eyes sparkled. Success. I felt my sweat cooling.
But I didn't stop. Human greed knows no bounds, and we repeat mistakes.
I wanted stronger cooling.
Output, 200%!
I dumped all my mana.
Then—
Kwaaaang!
"Huh?"
Uncontrollable mana storm exploded. An arctic blizzard ravaged the room.
"Y-young master? Kyaaah!!"
"Wha—what?! Stop! I said stop!"
It was a disaster. Desk frozen solid, bed blanketed in frost. Icicles hung from the window.
In seconds, my room became Elsa's ice palace.
······.
A bit later, the storm died down.
"Hoo..."
White breath puffed from my mouth. Freezing.
"Y-young master..."
A chattering voice from beside me. Seria was buried under the bedcovers up to her head. Frost dusted her hair; her lips were blue.
"A-are you alive?"
"If I... f-freeze to death... who'll be your g-guard?!"
Seria poked her face out from the covers in protest. Her chattering teeth sounded like castanets.
"S-sorry. Couldn't control it."
"This an assassination attempt!?"
"No! Total accident!"
I apologized quickly, but Seria huffed and burrowed fully under the covers.
Room temp: sub-zero. My talent scared even me... but staying here meant we'd freeze for real.
"S-Seria. Let's get out first. And I promised something."
"······What."
"Patbingsu."
The covers stopped squirming.
"Ingredients are in the kitchen. Ice... well, plenty right here."
I pointed at the clear ice frozen on the desk. A blessing in disguise—no need to shave; just scrape it off.
We shivered our way to the kitchen. I made patbingsu as promised. Magic ice was clearer and colder.
Piled high with boiled red beans, drenched in condensed milk.
"Here, eat."
"······."
Seria sat at the table, still wrapped in the blanket like a cape. She scooped a spoonful and ate.
"······Good?"
"······Hmph!"
Instead of answering, she whipped her head away. But the spoon kept moving. Nom nom. Stuffing her cheeks full like an angry hamster.
"Tastes good, huh."
Glare!
"Y-yeah. Eat lots."
Seria polished off the bowl. But she still snorted "Hmph!" whenever our eyes met. Definitely sulking hard.
Now what? My room was still a freezer. Sleeping there meant waking up as a popsicle. And it couldn't be found out. If I asked Dad, "Any empty rooms?" he'd go, "Son, what mess did you make now?!" Totally reasonable suspicion.
One option left. I glanced sheepishly at Seria.
"Uh, Seria."
"What."
"Can I... maybe sleep in your room tonight?"
"······Pardon?"
Seria stared, spoon in mouth.
"My room'll take time to thaw... on the floor. Okay?"
I made my saddest face. But Seria was ice-cold—colder than the patbingsu.
She scraped up the last of the condensed milk, stood, and left.
"Don't know. Figure it out."
"Eek."
"Self-inflicted. Sleep in the hall."
She stormed off. But ten minutes later, she slunk back with a pillow.
"Th-the floor's cold, so sleep at the foot of the bed."
"Oh! My Seria!"
"Cross the line and I'll kick you."
"······Yes, ma'am."
That night, I curled up in the corner of Seria's bed. Cramped, but better than the ice box. Though I got a few kicks from her sleeping habits.