Chapter 101: The Sprinkler

I finished writing letters and requests. It was just about time for the afternoon snack at three o’clock. I wonder if Rosalia is still working on magical tools in the salon? I put the completed documents in my inner pocket and left the room.

As I passed by a servant, I asked them to prepare tea and headed straight to the salon. There, I saw Rosalia, her arms crossed and a frown on her forehead. It seems things aren’t going as she planned.

“What’s wrong, Rosalia? You’re making such a difficult face. It ruins your cute expression,” I said.

“Oh, Onii-sama!”

“Kyuu!”

Mira launched a sharp tackle. I barely managed to hold back the “Ouch” that almost escaped. That’s the behavior of a gentleman.

“I asked the servant to prepare tea, so let’s take a break. Maybe we’ll come up with something good,” I suggested.

“I hope so.”

“Kyuu~”

It seems Mira was also thinking along with us. Well done, Mira. I gave her a pat. She looked really happy. But Rosalia seems quite exhausted.

The servant quickly prepared the tea set. It seems today’s cookies are from a famous shop in the capital. The red jam decorating the center emitted a fresh, vibrant glow.

While eating the cookies, I asked Rosalia. Of course, I fed some to Mira as well. They looked delicious.

“Rosalia, is there something wrong?”

“I want to make a portable shower-like device, but no matter what, it becomes big and heavy.”

I see. Rosalia is having trouble downsizing magical tools. Come to think of it, some magical tools like lamps have been downsized, but most of them are still quite large.

The reason is that the effects generated depend on the size of the magic circle. In other words, if you want to release a large amount of water at once, you have no choice but to enlarge the magic circle, which in turn makes the magical tool bigger.

“Do you really need such a big magic circle?”

“If I make it smaller, the water won’t come out with enough force. Then I won’t be able to sprinkle water far enough.”

Ah, I see. It seems Rosalia took my comment of wanting to water plants from a distance seriously. I feel like I did something wrong. It doesn’t seem like the kind of situation where I can say it was just a joke. I need to find a solution.

“In that case, why not make the pipe narrower?”

“Narrower? Oh, Onii-sama, please explain it to me more later.”

Seems like Rosalia thought it wouldn’t be appropriate to bring magical tools onto the table during tea time. Well done, Rosalia. If it were me, I would probably have put them on the table and gotten scolded by Mother.

“Understood. Let’s work on it together after tea.”

“Yes!”

While we were having tea, I asked the servant to deliver the documents I wrote earlier to Father’s place and the Adventurer’s Guild. It will probably take a while for any further actions to be taken. In the meantime, let’s prepare for the tea party at the Hein Border Count’s residence.

I have to arrange everything for this tea party. I’ve been observing Mother’s preparations, so I think I can manage somehow… Well, we have servants, so if things go wrong, I can just delegate. Though if I say that, I might be scolded for not taking the initiative.

After tea time, we immediately started making magical tools. I wanted to leave everything to Rosalia, but it seems a six-year-old isn’t capable of handling it. Still, it was a good experience. I’m looking forward to the next magical tool.

“Make this pipe narrower. That way, the water will have more force,” I instructed.

“Narrower… I see. Onii-sama, please explain it to me more later.”

Rosalia was working on processing the metal while making a displeased face. It’s amazing that she can manage with her ‘Craft’ skill. Once the joints are seamlessly integrated, it will be complete. Meanwhile, I was working on miniaturizing the head to attach to the tip.

“Let’s attach this and see how it works. Next, we need to downsize the magic circle. I don’t know exactly what size would be ideal, so let’s make a few variations. Rosalia, please make magic circles of this size.”

“Understood.”

I asked Rosalia to make relatively large magic circles. Meanwhile, I continued drawing smaller magic circles. I think this approach will be faster. As the magic circles get smaller, it naturally becomes more difficult to draw. It requires more precision and time.

After creating about five patterns of magic circles, I made corresponding storage boxes for them. It’s easy, just bending metal plates. In no time, the test devices were completed.

“Alright, let’s test them out. Shall we start by sprinkling water in the garden?”

“Understood.”

I had the completed prototypes brought by the servant. There were quite a few of them, and they were somewhat heavy. It was impossible for us to carry them all at once.

Since the water outlet is the same for all devices, I only made one. If it works well, we can start mass production. If not, we’ll make improvements before mass producing. Either way works.

Five prototypes lined up in a row. They have a good appearance, I think. Rosalia connected the nozzle to the smallest device. She confirmed that it was securely attached and nodded at me. Alright, here we go. Just to be safe, I asked Rosalia to step back. It wouldn’t be enough to just punch her if she got drenched.

“Alright, let’s go. Prototype number one, switch on!”

Drip, drip. Feeble drops of water fell from the nozzle. The magic circle was too small. I put so much effort into drawing it.

Mira drank the water with a satisfied expression. Oh dear, her face is all wet now. I should have told Rosalia to hold onto Mira. I failed.

The testing continued, and the “Prototype Three” incorporating the third smallest magic circle had the right amount of force and size. I think this one is good enough. Mira was already completely soaked. I should wipe her with a towel before letting her back inside.

The fourth prototype couldn’t withstand the water pressure and the nozzle blew off. I knew what the result would be, but I also tested the fifth prototype. Naturally, the nozzle flew off with even more force than before. Mira was extremely delighted. It seems she really liked it. She picked up the nozzle that flew away and brought it to me, wagging her tail.

Is this like when a dog retrieves a thrown stick? It seems that dragons also enjoy the same game. I’ll have to tell Marth about it later.

And I ended up getting soaked by the water that spouted out when the nozzle flew off.

It’s a good thing I didn’t let Rosalia do the testing. That’s what I thought as I threw the nozzle that Mira retrieved into the distance.

We decided to name this new magical tool “Sprinkler.” The name can be freely chosen by the creator. Maybe I should have gone with something more comical like “Golden Shower”?

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