Chapter 37 - 37 Separation
The approval for Cyril and Aila's marriage went smoothly. Marquess Earhart understood that opposing Cyril, who had already established his status as an independent noble, would be futile. The issue of Aila's social standing was also resolved by having her temporarily become an adopted daughter of House Archibalt, so it was no longer a point of contention.
To be honest, the Marquess had wanted to use Cyril's marriage as a bargaining chip in negotiations with other houses, but considering the negative impact of making the rift with Cyril public by forcing the issue, he decided it was wiser to simply grant his approval.
In fact, the Marchioness Earhart, Cyril's biological mother, was currently in high demand in social circles, with everyone wanting to hear her secrets for successful child-rearing. The Marquess did not want to dampen that situation, nor did he wish to invite his wife's wrath.
However, to make the most of his son, he made it a condition that he, the Marquess, would oversee the wedding ceremony. To showcase his clan's power, the Marquess would handle everything from selecting the guests to the date and the details of the ceremony. Cyril accepted, thinking that much was reasonable.
With the permission for the marriage granted, House Archibalt in the Royal Capital was in a celebratory mood. While Aila was happy, she also felt a complex mix of emotions, including fear of the rigorous education that awaited her. Abigail, since Aila would be her house's adopted daughter even if only temporarily, was fired up to educate her in etiquette so that she could be presented anywhere without shame.
The day after this celebratory mood, Steve was at the Royal Research Institute with Cyril. They were there today to witness a separation experiment. They were extracting substances in a high state of purity from rare ores, and since Steve's Measurement magic was the most suitable for confirming what those substances were, he had been invited by the Royal Research Institute.
Currently, they were witnessing the extraction of molybdenum. This also benefited Steve, as magic is used for separation and extraction. In other words, it meant Steve would become able to use Separation Magic.
"Now we have both chromium and molybdenum. It looks like we'll be able to create steel that's easy to quench."
When Steve said this, the face of the Chief Engineer directing the separation work clouded over.
"Truthfully, I would like to separate more various substances and try trials with different conditions, but there's a request for the use of Separation Magic users from the agricultural research department as well, so I can't find the time."
"Ah, that matter?"
Steve had an idea of what the Chief Engineer was talking about.
When he had mentioned to Cyril that fertilizer was essential for improving agricultural production, they had discussed how to procure that fertilizer.
There, Steve remembered seeing jellyfish, those nuisances from his previous life, being spread on fields. They had water-retention capabilities, contained nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, and even had weed-suppressing effects.
In the Kingdom of Cascade, jellyfish were also nuisances of the sea, and fishermen were irritated by their appearance. They couldn't be sold, yet they damaged the fish that could. Sometimes they even ruined the nets.
If they could be put to effective use, the fishermen would be happy, and the lords would be happy.
Then, the magic user who had been listening to the conversation joined in.
"Thanks to you, my treatment has improved. Until now, people said Separation Magic was only useful for fixing things when you messed up the seasoning, but now I'm in high demand for ore separation and removing salt from jellyfish. This is all thanks to His Excellency the Dragon Wing Medal holder."
"Um, could you please stop calling me by that title? It's embarrassing..."
The magic user, thinking it would be rude to call him by name, addressed Steve by the grade of the medal he had received, which made Steve very embarrassed. However, this was a common practice, and it wasn't that the magic user was lacking in common sense.
The magic user, told to stop, was perplexed. For his part, it was his utmost expression of gratitude toward Steve, who had raised the status of Separation Magic, but he took it as Steve being displeased.
Cyril, sensing this, followed up.
"Steve-dono is shy by nature. Besides, since he only recently received the medal, he isn't used to being addressed that way."
"Is that so? I shall be careful from now on."
As for the magic user, since his magic—which had been considered worthless—was now necessary for the cutting edge of research and his treatment had improved all at once, he strongly desired not to lose that status. Even with Separation Magic, you cannot set the effective range unless you know what the substance being separated is.
That is why, until now, they could only separate things like salt, which was widely known. Substances discovered through the research of alchemists can also be separated once they become known in that manner.
Furthermore, through this magic, one could separate Hg-196, an isotope of mercury, and by irradiating it with neutrons, it would become Hg-197, which would then turn into gold through electron capture—thus completing the art of alchemy. The problem was that there were no magic users who could irradiate neutrons (T/N: not in glossary — rendered as [chuuseishi]).
The concept of isotopes had already been conveyed from Steve to Cyril and turned into a report, so if a magic user capable of Separation Magic read it, separation would be possible.
There were many such untouched research projects, and since substance separation was involved in all of them, the magic users' schedules were packed tight. And since the priority for food was inevitably high, agricultural research took precedence over research into creating special steel.
Steve already knew from his knowledge that nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium served as fertilizer, but there were many time-consuming research projects, such as confirming growth rates with other substances or the separation and removal of acids within the soil. Currently, the search for additional individuals who could use Separation Magic was an urgent task. It was a rough method—setting a budget and checking every person with magical aptitude one by one—but since it was the only means available at the moment, that was what they were doing.
"Ah, it's not something to be so formal about. Besides, even Cyril-san hated being called 'Chief Engineer' at first, and eventually settled on being called 'Cyril-san'."
"Now that you mention it, that did happen."
Laughter broke out when Steve said Cyril was the same. Although they were busy, a massive budget had been set, and they were given high status and a sense of purpose, so the atmosphere was very good. Then, Steve, having learned Separation Magic, secretly teleported to Emmanuel's place and ordered a large quantity of jellyfish.
Since he now had a prospect for improving lean land, he had moved to procure them all at once.
For the time being, it was about boosting agricultural production, but Steve had a goal of eventually creating a sixth-sector industry involving agricultural production, food processing, and sales.
Acquiring Separation Magic for the sake of improving agricultural production, which was the first step, was a great achievement, and for Steve, it was something more valuable than receiving a medal.
In the afternoon, Steve used magic to create tracks in the garden. There, he ran a trolley also made with magic.
It was a so-called see-saw trolley, where the up-and-down motion of the see-saw rotated the wheels.
There were no sleepers, but since it was only for demonstration purposes, it was enough as long as the shape of the track could be maintained by Steve's magic for now.
"The reason the wheels are conical rather than cylindrical is to prevent derailment. By being conical, a force is constantly at work to return it to the center of the track."
Steve and Cyril had already conducted a prototype of the trolley in the Archibalt Territory. They had transported earth, sand, and cargo between the Main Village and the New Village, and its effectiveness had already been verified. However, considering the cost-effectiveness of a railway construction project, it was the kind of thing likely to be put on the back burner, so he had unveiled it while he was visiting the Royal Capital.
If he could have run a Steam Locomotive as well, the priority might have risen sharply.
However, if they were to use this for mine development, it would be the original job of the technicians. Naturally, a person in charge would be decided upon, and research toward practical use would begin.
An older Chief Engineer said with a laugh,
"This is intriguing, but the institute staff are all already at their limits. Even if a budget were attached, there would be no researchers available."
In fact, a debate was occurring within the Royal Research Institute over whether they should increase the hiring quota for researchers next year, even if it meant potentially lowering the quality.
Despite being called 'Royal,' the situation was such that nobles from various regions were eyeing the vested interests and scrambling for the research results. All the researchers thought that, if things went poorly, people would think nothing of crushing other research projects just to prioritize their own profit.
"I'd like Cyril-dono to return to us, though."
The older Chief Engineer from before said that while looking at Cyril, in an atmosphere where it could be taken as either a joke or a serious suggestion. Cyril looked at Steve with a troubled face.
"If Cyril-san were to be promoted, that would be a joyful thing. Though it would be lonely."
"I still have many things I must learn from Steve-dono. Rather than returning, I would resign from my post here and bury my bones in the Archibalt Territory."
"Ah, that would be a problem. I wouldn't be able to dump research I can't handle onto this institute through you anymore, Cyril-san."
"It would be a problem if information stopped coming from you two. No, in the current situation, it's a problem even if it does come."
While saying it was a problem, his interest as a researcher seemed to have been piqued, and he asked Steve and Cyril various questions while observing the trolley and the rails.
The trolley Steve and his companions had laid in the Archibalt Territory was a straight one on flat land; to use it in a mine, they would have to add mechanisms to prevent backward rolling and innovations to prevent derailment even on winding tracks. Furthermore, sleepers would originally be necessary, so he explained that as well.
By the time the sun had completely set, Steve and Cyril returned to the Archibalt townhouse in the Royal Capital.
There, Steve was informed that he had a visitor waiting in the salon.
"Lady Daphne Shields is here. She has been waiting in the salon for your return, Steve-sama."
When he heard that name, Steve had a very bad feeling.
The information he had heard from Aurora flashed through his mind.
He had wanted to avoid getting involved, but it seemed trouble had come looking for him.