Chapter 9 - 09 Refrigerator
Having accumulated experience points through his activities in the Royal Capital, Steve's magic level increased.
【Industrial Magic Lv2】
・Steel Creation
・Copper Creation new!
・Industrial Machinery Lv2 new!
・Measurement
・Standard Operating Procedure
He was now able to create copper, and new industrial machinery had become available to him as well.
With the ability to create copper in addition to steel, the management of Archibalt Territory became dramatically more stable. With the welcoming of a new family member, it was a desirable situation where expenses would increase, but income would increase as well.
That new family member, Christina, was warmly welcomed by Steve's mother, Abigail, and his older sister, Sherry. Abigail rejoiced that she had gained another daughter, and Sherry was delighted to have a sister of a similar age.
"I wonder if today's meal will suit Chris-chan's palate?"
"Mother-in-law, please don't go to such trouble,"
As Abigail laid the food out on the dining table, Sherry chimed in competitively.
"I helped with tonight's dinner too."
"So Onee-sama helped as well."
"Even though I'm a year younger, it feels a bit strange being called Onee-sama. Just Sherry is fine."
Thus, there was a harmonious atmosphere at the dining table. Furthermore, regarding the ingredients, since there had been a windfall of income, Steve used that money to teleport to the Royal Capital and procure fresh ingredients each time. The shops he became a regular at assumed that Steve lived in the Royal Capital.
Additionally, the windfall was also used to repay debts, and Emmanuel, who received the payment, ended up being glared at by the great merchants who had been eyeing Sherry. He came to Steve to vent his grievances.
"Honestly, ever since I got involved with Steve-sama, it's been nothing but trouble—being detained for interrogation and getting glared at by the head merchants."
"Well, you're making a profit, so it's fine, isn't it? In our territory, even if we have cash, the only place to spend it is with Emmanuel. It's a small price to pay in exchange for the right to monopolize this territory's money. Why don't you just set up a shop here?"
"Please let me consider that positively."
"'Considering it positively' is synonymous with not doing it, right?"
"No, no, if this place develops, other merchants will surely come in the future. I want to monopolize the business here before that happens."
"Whether you can monopolize it or not depends on your own talent, Emmanuel. Excluding other merchants wouldn't be in the best interest of the territory's people."
Such was their conversation. Emmanuel said he would find someone he could entrust with a shop here and bring them soon. Steve said he would develop a new product by then. Sensing the scent of a profitable venture, Emmanuel said he would come back early and departed from Archibalt Territory.
To develop the new product, Steve prepared two jars—one large and one small—sand, a bottle of water, and a cloth in the backyard of the manor. Beside him, Christina watched with interest.
Incidentally, these jars were items Steve had created with magic.
"Steve-sama, what are these?"
"They are tools to make a refrigerator, or a device for cooling called a cooler."
"Cooling... is it? Is that magic?"
Christina, knowing that Steve was a magic user, immediately thought of magic when she heard 'cooling.' However, what Steve was trying to do was create a cooling facility that didn't require electricity, utilizing the phenomenon where heat is taken from the surroundings when water evaporates. On Earth, it is known that the Double Pot Refrigerator existed around 2500 BC. However, no such thing existed on the continent where the Kingdom of Forest was located. Because magic had existed since ancient times, and the noble classes who also served as the intellectual elite hired mages who could use cooling magic, the intellectual class had never felt the need for cooling technology that didn't use magic.
"Like this, you put the smaller jar inside the larger one, and fill the gap with sand."
As Steve began to pour in the sand, Christina helped him. It was their first joint task. Four eyes watched them from inside the house. They belonged to Abigail and Sherry. They felt relieved seeing the son and his fiancée working harmoniously together.
"We have to find a fiancé for Sherry soon too."
"Now that we have money and can eat the same food as in the Royal Capital, I don't want to leave this place."
Unaware of such a conversation between mother and daughter, Steve, who had been working, finished filling the jar with sand.
"Once that's done, we pour water on the sand and cover it with the cloth."
After completing those steps, Steve used magic to perform a Measurement of the air temperature. Summer in Archibalt Territory is hot. Or rather, summer in the Kingdom of Cascade is hot. Currently, the temperature in the sun had reached 30°C, and staying in the sun carried a high risk of heatstroke. Furthermore, since a Double Pot Refrigerator would rise in temperature from sunlight more than it would cool from evaporative heat if left in the sun, he had chosen the shaded backyard as the site for the experiment. It was currently 28.5°C.
After waiting a while, the water poured on the sand began to evaporate. Waiting a bit longer until the timing seemed right, he moved the cloth cover aside and tried putting his hand inside the jar.
"It's gotten chilly. Chris, you try too."
Prompted by Steve, Christina also put her hand inside.
"It really is chilly."
The Measurement result was 19°C. Since it had cooled by nearly 10 degrees, the experiment was a success.
"Now, I just need to give the territory's people the job of making these jars during the off-season. It's a technology that's easily imitated, so I don't know if it will last long, though."
"I suppose so."
Though he worried about it, because there had originally been little demand for jars of this size, a system capable of supplying the sudden demand for jars hadn't been established elsewhere, so for a while, they were able to sell the jars as a local specialty. As a result of having prepared the kilns and production system beforehand, they were able to have the merchandise ready before others could make preparations.
He didn't know that yet at this time, however.
A short while later, Emmanuel arrived. Having developed the new product as promised, Steve prepared to give a presentation on the Double Pot Refrigerator, but he was curious about the young woman with auburn hair tied back who was with Emmanuel.
"By any chance, is she the person in charge of the shop you're opening in this territory?"
"Yes, her name is Sophia. Come now, greet Steve-sama."
Only after being addressed by Steve, who held a higher status, was Sophia permitted to give her greeting.
"My name is Sophia. I have been entrusted with the shop in Archibalt-sama's territory. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise. Even so, to send a young woman alone to such a rural area... is Emmanuel an ogre?" (T/N: Steve uses 'oni' to mean heartless/cruel).
"Steve-sama, I don't know what an 'ogre' is, but I can somehow tell it's meant in a bad way. However, I am entrusting the shop to Sophia because she is talented."
Steve figured there was definitely an ulterior motive behind Emmanuel's smiling face. Then he reached a conclusion.
"You're planning to use the fact that she's a young woman to make the men buy unnecessary things, aren't you?"
"I have no such intention, but if that happens as a result, it cannot be helped."
"Well, shop sales are subject to tax, so I welcome higher revenue. What will you do until the building is finished?"
"Today is just to introduce her to the Lord. Now that I have received permission for the shop's construction, we will begin work."
Before coming to Steve, Emmanuel had introduced Sophia to Brian and obtained permission for the shop's construction.
And finally, the presentation began.
"Steve-sama, is this the new product?"
Seeing the double jars placed before him, Emmanuel immediately began appraising them.
"That's right. Please make sure to caution people to use it in a shaded, well-ventilated area."
"Steve-sama, why is that?"
"First, if it's in the sun, the influence of the sunlight is stronger, so the temperature won't drop. It will go up more than it goes down. Also, 'well-ventilated' means the water evaporates more easily. Conversely, if it's humid like on a rainy day, it won't cool."
Saying so, Steve poured water on the sand. Then he waited for it to cool. Once it was cold, he encouraged Emmanuel to put his hand inside the jar.
"Try putting your hand in here."
"Alright. Oh! It's very chilly."
"Right? It's a jar that can cool things even without magic. Don't you think it will sell?"
"Yes, it should sell in certain places. Steve-sama, what kind of usage do you envision?"
"Merchants selling vegetables can use it to cool their goods at the market. Also, for a diner, if they can secure cold water, that alone would give them an advantage over their competitors. Depending on the price, it might even spread to general households."
From his memories of his previous life as a Japanese person, Steve knew that refrigerators spread to households. Since there was potential demand, he thought it would sell explosively if that demand surfaced. In fact, these Double Pot Refrigerators were already being installed in every household in Archibalt Territory and were highly valued. To Emmanuel, it was an unknown quantity, but it had been confirmed that there was solid demand.
"I understand. It seems interesting, so let me stock them. The ability to cool things without using magic seems like it would have a fair amount of demand. By the way, if it can cool things, can it also heat them?"
"The principle is different, but it's not impossible. I can't do it right here, though."
A heat exchanger came to Steve's mind. Since he had done that kind of work in his previous life, he knew the basic principles. When a liquid becomes a gas, it takes heat from its surroundings, but conversely, when a gas becomes a liquid, it releases heat. It's the mechanism of an air conditioner using refrigerant and a compressor.
However, he had neither refrigerant nor a compressor. Even if he knew the principle, he couldn't reproduce it.
"Come to think of it, it's not like I can't do it at all."
There, Steve remembered that he had newly become able to use Copper Creation magic. If it was a primitive heat exchanger using copper pipes, he could at least turn water into hot water and run it into a bath without a compressor. Since there was no pump, he would need to draw water up with something like a water-lifting wheel, but it wouldn't be impossible if he spent the money.
"In that case, I would certainly like to sell that as well."
Emmanuel, sensitive to the scent of money, sent an imploring gaze toward Steve, but Steve did not nod.
"The installation would be on a large scale, and it wouldn't lead to jobs for the territory's people."
Yes, the copper pipes used for the heat exchanger would have to be made with Steve's magic. And since that was the main component, the labor of the territory's people wouldn't be needed to make the product. In that case, there was no merit in establishing it as an industry.
"That is a pity."
To Emmanuel, who was genuinely disappointed rather than acting, Steve offered a follow-up.
"I think by the next time Emmanuel comes around, a new product will be ready. That one will work as an industry, so bear with me for now."
"You're making yet another new product!?"
Emmanuel was once again amazed by the boy before him. He had come up with the refrigerator in no time, and yet he was already thinking of the next product. Furthermore, he was thinking of running it as an industry. His imaginative power, which put adults to shame, was nothing short of astonishing.
"Well, yeah. Originally I was thinking of it as emergency rations, but the crops Emmanuel procured for me have grown reasonably well, so I thought I'd sell them rather than stockpile them."
"I am glad to have been of service."
Among the crops cultivated in the thin soil that Emmanuel had procured, the early ones had already reached harvest time. Beans similar to kidney beans were among them, and sowing was already being done with the aim of a second crop. Besides those, several types of potatoes were also growing steadily, and some were nearly ready for harvest.
Since he was an amateur regarding agricultural knowledge, his strategy of introducing things that had already succeeded elsewhere had proven successful. Once the potato harvest began, the food situation would likely improve all at once. Furthermore, if soil improvement could be achieved with beans and potatoes, the wheat yield could also be expected to increase. Combined with the spread of iron farming tools, it was a situation of seeing how much the harvest would increase.
With that background, regarding the Soba for emergency rations, he intended to stockpile a very small amount and sell most of it as noodles. However, if he actually made them into noodles, they would spoil quickly, so he was thinking of selling buckwheat flour. Since he didn't see Soba even in the Royal Capital, he judged that it would be sufficiently competitive.
And since the Soba harvest was just a bit further off, he intended to wait for the harvest and try making a prototype.
"However, you see..."
Emmanuel's face suddenly clouded over. Steve braced himself at that. Just what kind of bad news was coming?
"Is something wrong?"
"The weight of the steel and copper I've procured from the Lord is quite substantial. I'm thinking it's finally time I have to form a merchant caravan. Until then, it seems it will be difficult to procure too many goods here."
"Ah."
Steve understood Emmanuel's dilemma. Since Emmanuel had been buying metals from him, his return load was quite heavy. Furthermore, there were still orders for Reversi that he was buying up. If the jars for the Double Pot Refrigerators were added to that, the question of what to do about the buckwheat flour would arise.
"Come with a large caravan next time."
"The investment is piling up, isn't it?"
Emmanuel gave a wry smile.