Chapter 132 - 132 Making Gold Leaf
Steve and Nick stood before the press, holding sheets of paper and checking their texture. Nick rubbed the paper with the pad of his index finger. The paper had been obtained from the Emmanuel Trading Company.
"Sir, it's very smooth."
"This will affect the outcome."
Steve was also checking the feel with the pad of his finger. Well, in Steve's case, he could measure roughness, so he was looking at Ry standards as well. Ry was a roughness standard that existed in the past, and it has been deleted from JIS Standards now, but old drawings still retain the past notation, and in Steve's past life memories, Ry was common, so he was measuring in Ry. If measured against 2024 JIS Standards, it would be Rz.
However, this time it seems fine to measure with Ra standards.
This time, we will use this paper and the press.
What are we doing? We are going to try making gold leaf. In Steve's past life memories, the gold leaf making he vaguely remembered was sandwiching gold between smooth paper and hitting it with a press.
Until now, there was no gold or press, but if Steve really put his mind to it, gold would flood the world more than iron. Doing that much would have a huge impact and become a problem, but while thinking about how to use a small amount of gold, he remembered gold leaf.
Gold has the highest "ductility" (can be drawn into the thinnest wire) and "malleability" (can be beaten into the thinnest sheets) among metals. That is why it can be made thin.
The types of gold leaf found in Japan are as follows, and those suitable for eating start from Grade 4 color with low copper content. Adding copper makes the color better, but this time he was trying to make edible gold leaf.
Five-credit color 98.91 0.49 0.59
Grade 1 color 97.66 1.35 0.97
Grade 2 color 96.72 2.60 0.67
Grade 3 color 95.79 3.53 0.67
Grade 4 color 94.43 4.90 0.66
Three-step color 75.53 24.46 0
(The numbers are the ratio of gold, silver, and copper content from left to right)
Steve did not remember such numbers. He planned to make an alloy while checking the color with Nick, based on a vague memory of the ratios. The temperature needed to melt gold can be created with magic, and the material cost is almost nothing.
Let's make the gold alloy immediately. First, he tried making it without copper, but the luster was different from his past life memories, so Steve rejected it.
Something like this was vaguely completed: 94.5% gold, 5% silver, 0.5% copper. Next, they beat and stretched it.
Normally, it would be rolled with rollers, but since the rolling machinery wasn't ready, they started beating from here.
A press machine for that purpose is right in front of them.
"It's not a two-handed push type, is it?"
Steve was dissatisfied with the press machine before him. Having only ever used presses with two-handed push switches for safety, Steve was afraid of the press machine before him that lacked safety devices.
The reason for two-handed push is that with a one-handed push, the hand not pressing the switch might enter the machine and start processing.
If this isn't done properly, improvement orders from government offices may be issued.
Nick didn't care about such things, placed the gold lump on the press machine, and stepped on the foot pedal switch.
The gold was sandwiched between the upper and lower dies and stretched thin. Its thickness was truly 0.03mm.
Taking it out of the die, they sandwiched it between paper and wrapped it further in leather. They hit it with another press machine — perhaps it was a machine called a "Chou-uchi" since it was for making gold leaf, but since "Chou-uchi" cannot be made with magic, they named the machine a press machine — tapping it gently. This finished the "Chou" (beating) preliminary process.
Next, sandwich it between smooth paper and strike it with a foil-striking machine. Well, this is also a press machine. Here, by beating the top layer, they stretch it to 0.0001mm, and the work is complete.
Looking at the finished gold leaf, Steve and Nick compared it with the gold leaf made using Kingdom of Cascade technology, which they had also obtained from the Emmanuel Trading Company.
The Kingdom of Cascade gold leaf had higher gold content, and the color was slightly different. Visually, the Kingdom of Cascade gold leaf had more luster.
"Sir, is this okay? This one looks better."
"Well, since it's for eating, we don't need to increase the gold content too much. Also, if we make it too perfectly similar, the Gold Leaf Guild will probably complain."
"Usual stuff, then."
When Nick said "usual stuff," he meant complaints from existing Industrial Guilds. Steve tries to avoid overlapping customer bases and demand, but the other side doesn't see it that way.
With gold leaf, the materials are almost free, and there is a speed difference between hand-beating and machine-beating. No matter how you look at it, they cannot win in a price war.
Steve thought complaints wouldn't come because the gold leaf's luster was inferior, but Nick thought there was a certain number of customers who were okay with such gold leaf, and sales for that portion would definitely drop, so complaints would come.
However, Nick would not do anything to respond to such complaints, and anyway, there was no one in the country who would aggressively provoke Steve. At most, it would be a request not to expand sales any further so that sales wouldn't drop any more than they already have. There might be a complaint or two of resentment mixed in.
"I thought we might get in the way of paper procurement, so I prepared myself."
"Sir, who in this country has the ability to harass Sir like that?"
"You think there isn't anyone?"
"There won't be. If they do something like that, they either do nothing or attack with the resolve to fight to the death. If Sir gets angry and comes to crush them, they can't win, so they would attack before that happens. The possibility of winning is thinner than gold leaf."
"You speak well."
Steve was seriously worried about harassment, but that was just unfounded anxiety. Unlike such Steve, Nick thought he should be worried about something else.
"You plan to do this at the factory, right?"
"Obviously."
"If so, you must think of a way to monitor if anyone steals the gold material."
"Oh, that was there too."
Thieves who steal company assets exist everywhere. However, items that are hard to cash out or hard to use are rarely stolen. Even in factories, few steal heavy iron lumps, but there are thieves for company computers and printers. Steve often heard of cases where people stole tools and resold them to competitors.
Fortunately, his own factory had no such scoundrels. So, he hadn't thought to suspect employees until Nick mentioned it.
However, the material handled this time is gold. Moreover, it is not something hard to extract like in plating solution, but a lump of pure gold.
"What should we do?"
Steve asked Nick, troubled.
"Well, just order with your magic that no one steals."
"But won't they get angry if they are suspected without doing anything?"
"They might think that in their hearts, but there won't be anyone who gets angry and punches Sir."
It goes back to Steve's past life memories again, but there were craftsmen who got angry when suspected. When defects occurred, everything was suspected, and possibilities were eliminated one by one, but even that didn't stop them from getting angry and refusing to cooperate.
"But still, if I order them to work on the gold leaf production line and then suspect them, they might say, 'If you're going to suspect me, don't order me to work in the first place'."
Although Steve was a great noble and also the president, he was weak with employees. Because he was in an environment where craftsmen were stronger than managers in his past life, he was bad at being strong.
"Well, no one would say such a thing even if they thought it."
Troubled by the too-weak president, Nick scratched the back of his head vigorously. Perhaps that was good, as an idea popped into his head.
"We can recruit volunteers. Then, write in the application qualifications that they won't mind being affected by magic and won't complain."
"Oh, a brilliant idea!"
Steve clapped his hands and rejoiced at Nick's idea. If explained before volunteering for the gold leaf line, the employees would understand and accept it.
"I'm glad I don't have to deduct the stolen amount from Nick's salary."
"Again, you're joking."
"Managing subordinates is part of the salary."
Since Steve's seriousness was unknown, Nick felt relieved that he could offer an idea. If it were really deducted from the salary, he wouldn't know what his wife would say.
With the employee issue resolved, Nick changed the subject.
"What are you going to do with gold? Eat it? Will your body turn gold?"
Nick couldn't understand why Steve was making edible gold leaf. He might have thought gold contained terrible nutrients.
"It won't be like that. Neither gold nor silver can be absorbed by the body, so no matter how much you eat, it won't become nutrition. The reason for eating gold leaf is only for appearance."
"Appearance, only that?"
"Yes. Want to try eating it?"
Saying that, Steve took out two bowls of ramen he had stored with Storage Magic. Both were tonkotsu ramen. He placed the freshly made gold leaf on one of them.
"See, putting gold leaf on it makes it look more luxurious."
Steve showed both tonkotsu ramen to Nick.
"Can I eat it?"
"Of course."
Nick received Steve's permission and ate the ramen. First, the one with gold leaf. He wrapped the noodles with a large piece of gold leaf and brought it to his mouth. He chewed it carefully. It was delicious tonkotsu ramen, but Nick occasionally frowned or tilted his head while eating.
Next, he ate the ordinary tonkotsu ramen.
"Do you notice the difference?"
Steve asked Nick with a smile.
"Sir, the taste is the same, right?"
"Yes. Only the appearance is different. But, cooking with gold must cost a lot, right?"
"Well, yes. Besides, ramen itself is not something you can eat normally."
Ramen was being reproduced by each noble. Once you ate ramen as a finale after drinking alcohol at a party, you couldn't escape its charm.
It started with only what Steve made, but when the King, Aurora, and the Macintosh family reproduced it, the taste gradually began to be imitated by other nobles.
Still, it hasn't reached the commoners' mouths yet. As Nick said, ramen is not something you can eat normally.
"I think gold leaf will make things look luxurious besides ramen. Like shaved ice."
"For someone who struggled to eat just a short while ago, food just needs taste and nutrition."
"If that is satisfied, next is appearance. Shall we have others try it?"
Steve asked Nick to clean up and teleported to his family.
Then, he personally cooked dishes and placed gold leaf on top. Those participating in the tasting were Brian, Abigail, Christina, Nancy, Cyril, and Aila.
Brian was overwhelmed by the golden-colored dishes arranged on the table.
"I feel like a king."
"The cost is surprisingly cheap, though."
Steve informed them that he was creating materials with his own magic.
Aila frowned and asked Cyril.
"Is it okay to eat gold?"
"Gold and silver are not absorbed by the body, so there are no bad effects. If it's as thin as gold leaf, it won't even get stuck."
"What about copper?"
"Copper has an effect. Well, it seems only a trace amount is included that doesn't affect the human body, so you can rest assured."
"But, we don't know about gold leaf made by other places."
"Yes. We need to set national standards and regulate the amount of copper used in edible gold leaf."
Everyone had doubts like Aila about eating metals. Even Cyril would have resisted eating it if he hadn't heard from Steve. And other citizens would be the same, so Steve thought selling would become a major issue.
"Well, that's why it's safe to eat."
Saying that, Steve ate the warm soba in front of him first. Gold leaf was sprinkled on the soba, and he ate it together with the noodles.
The other members ate cautiously, but the taste was the same as usual, and the texture didn't change. As they gradually got used to it, they said it was delicious food made by Steve, and their appetite increased.
"Except for feeling luxurious, it's the same as usual. I thought the texture would be metallic, but it wasn't."
Everyone nodded at Brian's impression.
Thinking this would work, Steve decided to mass-produce gold leaf.
Thank you always for reporting typos.