Kays Translations

Chapter 51: Shower

The next day, I immediately began improving the hygiene facilities at the knight order’s training grounds. Rosalia came with me, of course. I told her the work would be dirty and boring, but she insisted that she didn’t mind.

“Lionel, take a look at this.”

“What’s this, Lord Julius?”

Lionel tilted his head as he examined the blueprint on the table.

“I want to build a place at the training grounds where everyone can wash themselves.”

“Could they not simply wash with water from the well?”

“They could, but I thought it would be better if they could clean themselves properly.”

“I see.”

He nodded, though he didn’t look entirely convinced. A shower wasn’t strictly necessary, so perhaps the appeal was difficult to understand.

“The training grounds smell unpleasant,” Rosalia said bluntly. “Shouldn’t they be kept cleaner?”

“Well…”

Lionel gave a strained smile. He probably wanted to say that every knight order smelled much the same. Even so, Rosalia’s frank criticism was evidently hard to ignore, and he approved the construction of a shower facility.

We chose a site beside the training-ground well. Water could be drawn from the well and sent directly into a reservoir. A proper building could be erected later, but I decided to make the reservoir myself.

Digging a hole was easy with earth magic. I then compressed the surrounding soil until it formed a hard, watertight lining, almost like concrete.

All that remained was to make a gently sloping channel from the well to the reservoir.

“There. The first stage is finished.”

“That was amazing, Big brother. You’re skilled at magic too.”

“Am I?”

I had seen mages dig holes at the training grounds, so the spell itself was hardly unusual. Perhaps Rosalia had simply never watched earth magic used this way. She had begun learning magic herself, so it might be useful to teach her later.

With the reservoir complete, I moved on to the magic tools. First came the water heater. I shaped an iron plate into a square container, and the ringing of my hammer echoed across the training grounds.

Several knights wandered over to see what was happening, but once they realised I was making something, none of them interrupted. Did they understand me that well now, or had they merely thought, Here he goes again? I wasn’t sure which possibility was more troubling.

The container was simple and didn’t take long to finish. I drew a heating magic circle on its inner surface, while Rosalia watched so intently that she scarcely blinked. Once I had checked the circle, I fitted a temperature-control knob to the outside.

The prototype was ready.

I filled it with water and tested it immediately.

“Good. It’s warming properly. At this rate, it should be practical as long as we don’t try to make the water scalding hot.”

“The water really is warm. You make magic tools look so easy, Big brother.”

“This one is based on an existing device, so it isn’t especially remarkable.”

Rosalia continued to gaze at me with admiration. Slightly embarrassed, I began making the device that would move the water.

My original design used propellers mounted at both ends of a shaft. A wind-producing magic circle would rotate one propeller and drive the other. Unfortunately, this world didn’t have suitable seals or gaskets, so water would leak around the shaft.

Instead, I decided to push the water directly with compressed air. Both water and air would travel through the pipes, but that wouldn’t cause any serious problem as long as the pipes were only partly filled.

Air pressure might eventually rupture a sealed pipe, so I added several narrow vents along the route. During the test, they released air with an irritating hiss. The knights would have to tolerate the noise for now. At least the system was outdoors.

Once the pipes, air pump, and shower head were ready, all that remained was to assemble them. The permanent building wasn’t finished, so I asked whether we could use some stored timber to construct a temporary shower stall.

The knights immediately volunteered to help. My standing with the knight order had clearly improved. Perhaps supplying them with good magic potions had won their loyalty as thoroughly as good food might win someone’s stomach.

The stall was completed in no time. The knights regularly practised building defensive fences, so they were remarkably competent woodworkers.

We installed the metal pipes, pump, and fixed shower head. If I had flexible resin tubing, I could have made a hand-held shower, but no such material was available. Modern science truly was extraordinary. Whoever had developed synthetic materials deserved respect.

“It’s finished. Would someone test it?”

“Allow me, Lord Julius.”

“Please give me your honest opinion. I’ll use it to improve the design.”

“Leave it to me!”

One of the knights who had helped build the stall stepped forward and tested the shower. Warm water flowed from the head exactly as intended.

“Hot water! This is excellent. We can even use it in winter.”

“You can adjust the pressure with this knob.”

“This one? Oh! That feels wonderful.”

He increased the pressure and directed the stream over his shoulders and arms.

“It’s almost like a massage. It might even relieve stiff shoulders.”

“It really does. This is an excellent magic tool.”

“Your hands remain free, so you can wash with soap as well.”

I handed him a bar. He began scrubbing himself with obvious delight.

Judging by his reaction, soap might be more expensive than I realised. I had always used it without thinking about its value.

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