The Cornerstone of Light
The very first thing I intended to introduce to this city was the widespread supply of light.
Light was an indispensable necessity for human life, yet until its invention, people had regarded it as an incomprehensible force beyond human control. The people of this world were no different. When night fell, they simply went to sleep, waiting for the sun to cast its light upon the land once more. During the day, they worked diligently until the light faded away. They believed this was the natural order of things—an absolute law that could never be changed.
"But not anymore."
Two of the three most crucial elements for distributing light had already been completed: a generator to produce electricity, and the wires to transmit it. And what I was building right now was the transformer—the device that would ensure the electricity could be safely and efficiently distributed.
"What a marvelous phenomenon," Andersen remarked, diligently taking notes and nodding. "Making electricity spin in a spiral form to generate a magnetic field, then using a highly magnetic iron core to keep that field from dispersing..."
"It is utterly fascinating that so many laws I never even perceived exist in this world."
"There's still plenty you don't know, I imagine. Magical scholarship is like that by nature, after all."
There was a reason Andersen marveled like this every single time. Mages, for the most part, learned magic through sensation, experience, and insight rather than theory. As a result, becoming a mage was difficult unless one possessed talent, and learning itself was no easy feat either. Furthermore, passing on the magic they had developed and researched to their disciples was equally challenging. Was that not why mages were always searching for talented successors? They had to make others understand their abstract explanations through pure insight and talent alone.
"Science is the discipline of analyzing and researching the phenomena of this world. Engineering is about applying the theories discovered that way to the real world."
"Remarkable. And to think you awakened to all of this on your own, without anyone's guidance..."
"Hahaha... I learned it from books, of course."
With the knowledge of the ancient empire of Tesleia, it was the perfect cover for a lie.
"But is it true that you can regulate the strength of the current simply by the number of times you wind the wire?"
"Yes. The windings are the heart of this transformer."
Windings referred to copper wire coated with insulation, wound multiple times into a coil. The principle was that as the wire was spiraled and current flowed through it, a magnetic field was generated.
"Since the generator is here, we need to install a step-up transformer nearby to raise the voltage and minimize power loss during long-distance transmission."
"I see. Then install another transformer in the city to lower the voltage again?"
"Exactly."
Teach Andersen one thing, and he grasped at least three more on his own. As a 6-circle mage, his mind was exceptionally sharp.
"If the current is too strong, it becomes difficult for ordinary households to use, so we lower the voltage in the city."
"When traveling far, the voltage must be high to reduce power loss..."
Scritch-scritch—
He rapidly took notes, murmuring softly to himself. At this rate, was he going to gain some sudden enlightenment and grow even stronger? That was the sort of thing that happened in novels and comics, after all.
"The real issue will be people's perception when electricity is supplied. Even if the wires are coated in insulation, touching them carelessly could be quite dangerous."
"You're right. That's why I won't supply electricity all at once."
"Then?"
"I plan to do a pilot distribution."
"...A pilot distribution."
He stroked his chin thoughtfully before slowly nodding.
"A fine idea. They will be able to fully experience both the convenience of light bulbs and the dangers of electricity."
"Yes. Before that, though, I'll install them first in Blædwin Castle."
Zzzt—flicker—snap.
The light bulb illuminating the research conference room finally reached the end of its lifespan and went out.
"Tsk. There was one more problem remaining, wasn't there."
"Indeed."
The filament of the light bulb. Until now, they had been using the power of mana circuits to prevent the wire from melting as much as possible, but unless the material of the filament itself improved, the problem would never be solved. They couldn't exactly engrave mana circuits on every single wire and mix in mana powder, after all...
"I'll have to start working on the tungsten."
The reason I was trying to invest as much as possible in the mining village was precisely for things like this. In industrial development, the discovery of new minerals was so influential that each one could advance the stage of industry by several levels. One of those was this very wolframite.
"Just as you said, Young Master, I mined a few in small quantities and gathered some information."
Miner, who had returned to the research institute to report on the mine's situation, handed over his written report.
"I looked over the concepts about ores you gave me last time and rewrote it in my own way."
Color, hardness, streak color, discovery environment, surrounding ores, and so on. He had organized various pieces of information and was completing his own mineral encyclopedia of sorts.
Better than I expected.
His speed of learning and absorbing knowledge was remarkably fast. And applying it to make it his own as well. Analyzing and recording the characteristics of minerals in various ways and comparing them to others was a highly desirable habit. He might even discover minerals that only existed in this world, like mana stones.
"Good work. And the wolframite?"
"Here it is."
He had filled a bundle as large as my own body with wolframite and brought it by wagon.
"You mined this much?"
"Yes. Once I dug a few, it wasn't as hard as I thought."
"Did you bring everything else I asked for too?"
"Yes. If you look over there, it's in the other bundles."
I went to the wagon and checked the others as well. Mm, that should be enough.
"Is there anything you want?"
Miner was someone I had appointed and was raising myself. Just as I received compensation for work from Father, it was now my turn to reward this guy.
"I don't want anything. Just the fact that Young Master thinks of me like this is more than enough!"
"No, that won't do. Even if you say you're fine with it, public and private matters must be clearly separated. There has to be proper compensation for work done. Don't say things like that again."
"Yes!!"
The way he looked at me sparkled. It was a little burdensome.
What would be good?
As I pondered and shifted my gaze, his wagon suddenly caught my eye. Come to think of it, hauling ore from the mining village all the way here every time couldn't be easy work.
"Want me to make you a truck?"
"Pardon? A truck?"
"Yeah. You've seen the Brutal Force, right? It's a vehicle with an even bigger cargo bed than that."
Miner was so startled he dropped the book he was holding onto the floor.
"C-Can I really accept something like that?"
"Of course. So keep working hard from now on."
Thud.
He suddenly dropped to his knees, prostrating himself and pressing his head to the ground.
"If Young Master tells me to die from now on, I'll die!"
"What are you doing? Get up, you idiot!"
Even if he was happy, that was too much. What would be the point if he died?
"Instead, I need a lot of wolframite, so mine as much as you can and bring it."
"Yes, sir!"
After Miner left, I had to wrack my brains for the purification of the wolframite.
"I know the purification method roughly. The problem is whether the yield will come out properly..."
Finding the manufacturing method was easy enough—just a few calculations of chemical formulas on top of the knowledge I already had. But that was where it ended. We didn't have a proper environment set up to fix and vary multiple variables in order to raise the yield. In the end, it meant I would have to try things one by one myself and fine-tune them as I went.
Money's going to pour out like water again.
I had built the Brutal Force for Father, received support funds from His Grace the Grand Duke, and earned a considerable amount selling crossbows and portable water purifiers. Yet the money remaining in my hands now was less than a mere 500 gold.
It's a large sum if you think of it that way, but...
Once electricity supply began, I would have to collect electricity fees for it. That meant making and installing electric meters for each household, and also creating protective shields so they couldn't be tampered with artificially. All of that was money. Money! Money! Money!
"I'm going crazy."
At this rate, I would have to go to Samuel and beg him for more funds. How much that robot-like guy would actually approve was anyone's guess. My head already ached just thinking about it. Wasn't a money shower going to fall from somewhere?
"Young Master. Please have your meal."
Rachel came striding up the mountain path with a tray balanced on her head.
"Thanks as always, Rachel."
"It's nothing. Looking after you is my job, Young Master. And lately, thanks to you, I've been so happy."
"Because of me? Why?"
"I'm your personal maid, aren't I? Since you've been doing so much for the family lately, everyone has been treating me better too. And my salary went up as well. Hehe."
Rachel playfully made a circle with her thumb and index finger and grinned.
"I'll take even better care of you."
"No, no! Come on! You know I was joking."
She waved her hands in flustered surprise. I had expected that reaction, but my thoughts remained unchanged.
"I'll work you even harder for it, so don't feel burdened."
"You can work me as hard as you like. Please don't say things like that."
"That's for me to decide. Anyway, I'll enjoy the meal. You can go now."
"Ah, and there's a letter that arrived for you, Young Master."
"I told you not to bring me useless things."
"It was sent by Lord Erdin Lobel."
"Erdin?"
How long had it been since he went to the Lobels, and already? As I looked at the letter, an unnecessary anxiety crept over me. Surely he hadn't caused some incident already?
"Thanks. You can go."
"Yes."
I sat on the wooden chair in the research institute's courtyard and carefully opened the letter.
Robon, it's me, Erdin Lobel. Our family held an important meeting this time. And my proposal was adopted. Namely, our family will invest a large sum in you and apply your inventions to our house. How about it? Pretty good, right?
Irritation flared up in an instant. What the hell was this bastard suddenly talking about? Had he seen the light bulb or something? I wondered—but the very next paragraph contained exactly that.
Back then, that light bulb thing looked good. Our family members will be shocked! I guarantee it. Sir Gast and Lady Sernia thought so too.
A sigh escaped me on its own. How was I supposed to supply light bulbs there? There was no electricity! No electricity!
This idiot...
I had told him to please keep quiet, yet he couldn't even wait that long and went and caused an incident? At this rate, the temporary alliance was over as of today...
Of course, it will naturally cost a great deal of money. I know how amazing the technology of making light is. So I tried to get as much support funding as possible, but it didn't work out. Only a mere 10,000 gold. Sorry about that.
"One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand... only ten thousand gold...?"
I currently had 500 gold on hand. Exactly twenty times that. He was giving me twenty times my entire fortune. And saying he was sorry it was too little.
"Ha, hahaha. I had completely misunderstood. Our Erdin."
It wasn't an accident—he had pulled off something huge. Something enormous.
"With this money... after finishing all the development I'm currently doing, how much would even be left...?"
I was suddenly struck by just how wealthy the Lobels were. From what I had heard, last year's annual budget for Blædwin was around 30,000 gold.
"Making light bulbs is nothing... no, wait."
Come to think of it, most of the Lobel family's lands were granary regions, weren't they?
"If I made them a cultivator or a tractor, they'd go wild for it, wouldn't they?"