Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Summer Vacation's Mage (4)
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Air Conditioner Development, Day 4.
Thanks to Odette and the princess's nursing, my cold vanished in just one day.
The problem was that the moment the fever broke, the sweltering summer heat I'd forgotten came crashing back down on me.
"Ughhh..."
The room was a steam bath.
Sweat trickled down my back even when I was just sitting still, and the bedsheets clung stickily to my skin.
Every breath filled my lungs with hot, muggy air that turned my stomach.
"R-Rather..."
I muttered from the bed, melted into a puddle like a slime.
"R-Rather, it was better when I still had the cold..."
At this rate, developing the air conditioner wasn't optional anymore—it was a necessity.
"But... how?"
Compressing air with telekinesis was too dangerous.
I'd learned that it made natural mana go berserk.
"I need a stable power source..."
Ideally one that didn't cost a single coin.
As I stared blankly at the ceiling, a sudden spark lit up in my mind.
The ancient magic golem.
The magic circle engraved in its core.
"It definitely absorbs surrounding natural mana to use as its power source..."
A flash of inspiration hit me.
What if I could convert the abundant natural mana into cold energy?
Then I wouldn't need expensive magic stones for fuel.
Still lying on the bed, I used mana as ink and my finger as a pen to scribble formulas in the air.
The plan shaped up something like this.
First, magic circle design.
Install a circle on the wall to draw in natural mana dissolved in the air.
At the same time, draw a conversion circle to change the mana's attribute to cold.
Next, cooling core fabrication.
Create a core to store and control the cold mana.
Since it's just for storage and release, a cheap catalyst should do fine.
I'd also need to design separate mana circuits to define the circulation system.
The cold air couldn't just linger around the circle—it had to circulate throughout the room.
At the same time, the humid hot air needed to be pulled back to the core.
Guiding such a simple airflow shouldn't be too hard.
The real issue was the heat exhaust system.
I had to vent the excess heat generated during cooling somewhere...
"Hmm, how should I twist the pipes to make the heat exhaust smooth..."
This felt less like magic theory and more like engineering design.
I racked my brain every which way, but no good ideas came.
Propping my chin, I scattered whatever popped into my head across the air.
Before I knew it, the room was packed with formulas, magic circles, and circuits I'd drawn.
*
Air Conditioner Development, Day 5.
I stayed up late wrestling with it, but no ideas came.
So I left all the magic circles and formulas floating in the air and crashed.
Trusting that tomorrow's me would sort it out somehow.
But I woke up with no sudden flashes of genius.
"Muuuh..."
I sprawled on the bed, staring blankly at the 'blueprints' filling the room.
My head was on the verge of exploding, physically overheated and mentally fried.
"...What if I just dump all the heat and excess mana out the window?"
The bad idea flickered briefly, but I held back from trying it.
Not out of any sense of conscience.
Blasting hot air out randomly would melt the window frame or turn my room into an oven from backflow.
-Knock, knock... knock.
Someone timidly knocked on the door.
It was so faint, I half-thought an ant had headbutted it.
Too lazy to get up, I replied in a drowsy voice.
"Come in."
"Um, excuse me... Lu, Lunaris student...?"
The door cracked open just a sliver.
A fingertip's width, and someone peeked in.
Messy hair sticking out every which way, round glasses.
It was Lilliana Gearheart, head of the Ma Engineering Department.
"A-Are you okay...? I heard you got caught in an explosion accident the day before yesterday... Any injuries...?"
"As you can see, I'm fine. But you're checking awfully early."
"Eek! S-Sorry! I was in the workshop until late last night on the way back...!"
Department Head Lilliana shuffled in cautiously, hesitantly.
"Anyway, glad you weren't badly hurt. Really... Lo..."
She trailed off.
Her gaze locked onto the circuits and formulas crammed into the room.
"Uh... huh?"
Her eyes widened hugely behind her glasses.
"Um... Lunaris student?"
First bewilderment.
Then doubt.
And finally, shock.
"N-No way... Are you making a magic tool to cool the room?!"
"Yep."
As expected of the Ma Engineering Department head.
She took one glance at the room's magic circles and circuits and instantly knew what I was aiming for.
"Absorbing natural mana for cooling conversion... a self-sustaining system without magic stones... What beautiful circuits... Haa, haaa...!!"
Her timid demeanor was gone.
Now fully in ma-engineering otaku mode, she sparkled as she pored over each of my formulas.
"My god... This is an upgraded ancient magic golem core circle, right?! Stacking them like this for stability... Kyaa! Look at this formula! So beautiful and efficient...!!"
Her excited face puffed with snorts—it was downright perverted.
"Th-This... it's revolutionary! Better than anything at yesterday's expo!!"
"But I'm stuck on how to implement it. Specifically the heat exhaust."
I let out a deliberate heavy sigh and pointed to the tangled red circuits.
"I guess you could say I'm blocked on the pipe design..."
"No! You're stuck because you're trying to solve it with pipe structure!"
...Whoa.
Department Head Lilliana suddenly raised her voice an octave, making me flinch involuntarily.
"Using low-conductivity mass-produced metal is causing bottlenecks!"
"Ah... huh?"
"For this junction, use an alloy of mithril, silver, iron, and copper in a 4:2:3:1 ratio, and design the circuits as double spirals... Oh! When making the alloy, base it on the alchemical principles of philosopher's stone creation..."
Department Head Lilliana jabbed at the air with her finger, unleashing a torrent of words like a machine gun.
Hmm, got the gist.
Don't cheap out on materials.
"Ooh-"
I casually sat up a bit and nodded along.
My instincts told me interrupting would get me nowhere.
"Oh, right—I have some spare mithril ingots in my lab... W-Wait a sec! I'll grab them right now!"
Department Head Lilliana bolted out of the room in a blink and dashed down the hall.
I watched her go, then waved blankly at her back.
It was absurd, but a chuckle slipped out anyway.
I never imagined the problem I'd agonized over until yesterday would resolve so easily.
Definitely the right call joining Ma Engineering.
*
Exactly one week since I started developing the air conditioner.
I finally completed it.
-Whirrr.
The magic circle hummed, tickling my ears.
It didn't mean much, but white chilled mist began pouring from the vent I'd added for atmosphere.
Basking in the cool breeze, I flung myself onto the bed.
"Fuaaa..."
In the refreshingly chilly room that made my skin prickle, I pulled the blanket up to my nose.
The blanket's touch against my skin felt exceptionally warm.
"This... this is it..."
A languid happiness washed over me.
My mind went blissfully blank as my whole body relaxed.
Ah... I wish time would just stop like this...
As I rolled around under the covers, my eye caught a lump of metal sprawled on the desk.
-Th-Thanks to you, it was so... fun!
-So... p-please use the leftovers, Lunaris student...!
-A-Anytime you need materials... come to the department head's office!
-But you have to show me those fun designs too! Got it?!
The mithril alloy Department Head Lilliana had left behind.
I beckoned with a finger, pulling it over with telekinesis.
"Quite a bit left."
Enough to make exactly one more air conditioner...
*
"Is this heaven...?"
"I feel alive...!"
Linea Hall basement, break room.
The maids were huddled together against one wall.
Overhead on the wall loomed a large, crudely designed metal box etched with a magic circle, whirring away.
Some closed their eyes in bliss.
Others covered their mouths, eyes glistening with emotion.
I watched the scene from a step back, scratching my head awkwardly.
Seeing them tear up from joy made me embarrassed for no reason.
"Thank you, Miss Lunaris."
Odette approached my side.
Her posture was as straight and impeccable as ever, but her expression was noticeably more relaxed.
"Thanks to your thoughtfulness, we maids can now serve in a much more comfortable environment."
A crisp, sincere bow without a word wasted.
"No big deal. I had leftover materials and hated to waste them, so I whipped one up."
I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Besides, those uniforms look hot just looking at them."
What if they collapsed from heatstroke?
Nothing sadder than falling ill on the job.
I knew that better than anyone.
"Well, if you're that grateful, go easy on me next semester."
"Hehe. That won't do, miss. If anything, I'll redouble my efforts out of gratitude."
...Tch. What a stubborn one.