Chapter 219
Chapter 219
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 219
Chapter Title: The Generator's Triumph
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The person in charge asked Simo.
"What the heck... is that?"
Simo explained the principle behind electricity generation.
It was based on a few assumptions he hadn't fully verified yet, but theoretically, it was all factual.
Simo worked to suppress his pounding heart.
'But it's impossible for a battery this size to produce that much electricity, obviously...'
Simo glanced up at the ceiling.
The person in charge followed his gaze out of simple curiosity.
The ceiling was completely empty.
Owen, who had silently fired electricity at the battery in Simo's hand, had already hidden himself without a sound.
To Simo, it was a truly astonishing feat, but he was too anxious about the scam being exposed to appreciate it right then.
The person in charge said,
"Truly... it's no different from a miracle of an invention."
"Ah, yeah, something like that."
"It's difficult for me to decide on an investment amount right away. I'd like to show it to the higher-ups if possible... Could you give me some time?"
Simo took a deep breath.
It was unfolding exactly as Owen had predicted.
They had pulled off such a massive con that it was too big for a single guild employee to handle.
"Sure. But I need money urgently..."
"How much do you need?"
Simo named an amount, and the person in charge readily drew up the paperwork.
Simo set a follow-up meeting with the person in charge, pocketed the money, and walked out of the guild building.
Owen was already waiting.
"Looks like it went well. How much did you get?"
"...Enough to hole up in a hotel eating and sleeping while researching for a year."
Owen had told him that if they balked, they could just haggle down, so he should start with a big number. That's what Simo had done.
But the person in charge had handed over that sum, saying, "Is that all? Well, you'll be back anyway..."
Owen said,
"Should've asked for more."
His words fell on deaf ears.
"Wh-what do we do now?"
"About what?"
"We went from hawking medicine to outright scamming?"
"Too bad."
"Why are you talking like it's someone else's problem?"
Owen let out a hearty laugh and patted Simo on the back.
"You're always such an entertaining little inventor kid."
"Not entertaining at all."
"Rest up at the hotel first. You'll find it amusing after that."
Simo had only mentioned a hotel as an example and had no real intention of going to one, but Owen insisted he deserved a break after all the hard work and dragged him to Polybia's grandest hotel.
He led Simo to a suite he could never have afforded alone—not the largest, but still beyond imagination.
"Rest here and focus on your research. I'll fetch any rare materials you need, and the hotel staff can handle errands."
Simo cut in.
"The Etimo family will want another demonstration."
"Of course. I'll pull strings then too."
"But you can't do that forever. No matter how amazing the invention, I can't pull it off alone. Those flashy displays are your ability, not my invention."
Owen said,
"Do you really think that flashiness is so important?"
"The person in charge lent me money after seeing it."
"No, do you think it's important? That 'scientific' stuff?"
Simo frowned at the word.
"It's flashy, sure, but not really. If you want to kill someone, just shoot a gun."
Owen said,
"Exactly. What I showed pales compared to the electrified society you described, Miss Simo. You'll achieve something far greater than my little trick. When people call it a lie, just show them something even better. Got it?"
Simo grasped what Owen was driving at.
He might be right.
But there was a problem.
"It could fail. It might just be... my wild delusion."
Owen smiled.
"I believe in you. I've got a good eye for people."
Simo was too exhausted to respond.
To avoid becoming a full-blown scammer, Simo threw himself into tireless work.
'No need to borrow Owen's electricity next time. One scam is enough.'
He had plenty of excuses lined up.
Discharging electricity into the air was pure energy waste, and flashy visuals had no bearing on practical utility—arguments that would hold water.
'But to sell it, I need to show something even more impressive.'
The world already had rubber motors, magic engines, steam engines—devices that generated energy to drive machines.
'Electricity's edge is... distance.'
Unlike rubber accumulators, magic engines, or steam engines, which required on-site energy production.
For instance, accumulators needed waterwheels under waterfalls to wind the rubber.
Technicians had nearly automated it, but the catch was transporting them on carts or trains for use elsewhere.
'Electricity doesn't need that.'
This energy just needed a long wire run to it.
No waiting endlessly for accumulator deliveries or cranking rubber by hand when power ran out.
Magic engines demanded hands-on mages, steam engines guzzled coal, and even the latest internal combustion engines couldn't overcome the limits.
Gears to transmit power ultimately just wore themselves out turning more gears.
'Old tech won't vanish. It'll all generate electricity.'
Simo hunted for low-resistance wires, refined capacitors, and sketched transformers.
He rented a warehouse, roped in Polybia technicians—night scholars with interest—as temporary assistants, and pored over the latest Vaseniol research materials Owen procured.
But it was grueling.
Simo wasn't designing mere light bulbs; he aimed for a full system to generate and distribute electricity.
Progress stalled on the crucial generator.
His builds weren't hitting expected efficiency, making it hard to prove superiority over existing engines.
'So close...!'
That night, collapsed in the warehouse, Simo dreamed.
Someone stood by his generator prototype.
'Short stature...?'
Many races matched Solotl's height, so nothing surprising: kobolds, dwarves, halflings, pengolians... But the silhouette was off.
A plump body with a flat beak...
"...Oguri?"
Oguri didn't hear his mutter and slowly inspected the generator.
As Oguri reached out, Simo bolted up and approached.
"Wait, don't touch it!"
Oguri finally turned.
"Shoddy design."
"What?"
"But tweak it a bit, and it'll be much better."
"Who are you?"
Oguri ignored him, wrench in hand, loosening and tightening screws.
"I said don't touch!"
Simo rushed to stop him but inexplicably couldn't close the gap in the modest-sized warehouse.
Oguri finished in a flash, pocketed the wrench in his tool apron, and dusted his hands.
"There. Wanted a full overhaul, but my allotted karma's only this much..."
"...Karma?"
Panting, Simo stared at Oguri.
Work clothes protected his fur head to toe; the leather apron bristled with tools for building and fixing machines.
Above all, the iconic goggles perched over his eyes.
In a trembling voice, Simo said,
"Are you, by any chance...?"
"Oh, you know me?"
Oguri looked bashful.
"...Lord Toolbo?"
Gufaviran Federation—now the Blacklin Empire's—renowned genius inventor.
Idol of all tinkerers, creator of the spiralwing, rubber virtuoso who banished lonely nights.
Eighth Stone Apostle of the Pantheon: Mad Toolbo.
Toolbo adjusted his goggles and said,
"An inventor's prayer reached the Wingless Golden Bird. I came at Her call to aid you. Didn't tamper much."
"An honor!"
"I'm bound by karma, but you can realize my vision freely. Fear nothing."
"...Yes!"
Toolbo strode out into the warehouse's radiant glow.
For a moment, Simo glimpsed something enormous shifting... then he awoke.
Simo rubbed his eyes.
"...Stupid dream?"
Dragging his stiff body, he staggered to the generator.
He saw it instantly.
The issue he'd agonized over for ages was solved perfectly.
"The dream... was real?"
When Simo demonstrated his invention to the Etimo family again, many were disappointed.
No trace of the dazzling electric barrage from the rumors—the spectacle only one employee had witnessed.
Simo showed connected wires, glowing bulbs, and a noisy, spinning generator.
He explained simply.
"That was just eye candy to snag the first investment. Won't happen again. Too dangerous and wasteful. Oh, and the manager might've overreacted. It wasn't that powerful."
The elf manager from before wanted to protest but held back against Simo's steadfast tone.
If he stayed composed, Simo's salesman-honed tongue was formidable.
But dissatisfaction wasn't limited to that manager.
"Isn't this machine awfully noisy?"
"Fire up a candle for light."
"Those long wires... 'transmission lines'? Needing to string them everywhere seems wasteful."
Exactly the reactions Simo expected.
'Yeah, fair enough. But I just need to sway one person.'
Simo eyed the guild leader, Phillina Etimo.
She pondered briefly, then rose.
The others reacted as if it were a given.
But Phillina's words defied the guild's consensus.
"Provide this inventor with as many people, as much land, and funding as needed."
"Pardon?"
Phillina approached Simo.
"And you're Simo, right?"
"Y-yes."
"Follow me. A blank check won't cut it for that thing. Let's discuss equity."