Kays Translations

Chapter 207: I Completely Forgot

Using the insulating wood that had already been delivered, I should at least be able to finish one side of the icehouse wall. I activated Craft and sliced the boards lying on the floor to exactly the widths I needed.

I hadn't noticed it in the game, but processing this material in the real world was surprisingly troublesome. No wonder nobody wanted to use it.

“Julius, you're really good with your hands.”

“Any decent magic-tool maker could do something like this.”

I deliberately made it sound as though this was perfectly ordinary work for any magic-tool maker. I did not need Axel and Ijidol deciding that I deserved yet another ridiculous title.

“Is that so?” Axel picked up one of the scraps and bent it lightly. It snapped almost at once. “Either way, this wood really is fragile.”

You would think a tree that broke that easily would topple over in no time. Yet while the tree was alive, its wood was apparently extremely hard and strong.

It probably absorbed mana from the ground and used it to reinforce itself. If so, it made sense that it would become brittle once it was cut down and could no longer draw mana through its roots.

Animals weren't the only living things that used mana. There were even plants that supposedly strengthened their roots with mana and “walked” around.

“Even something this fragile can be useful if you know how to use it. All right, the pieces are ready. We're going to fit this wood against the wall.”

“Okay, I'll help.”

“Leave it to us.”

It wasn't just the three of us. The servants and the knights escorting us joined the work as well. There were some jobs that a child's strength and height simply couldn't handle.

Because I had measured everything beforehand, the pieces fitted neatly into place. Ijidol stared at the finished section in admiration.

“Amazing. It fits perfectly.”

“Of course it does. I measured it properly.”

“So magic-tool makers have to be precise too.”

“Not just magic-tool makers. Magic pharmacists have to measure the amounts of their ingredients accurately as well. If the measurements are wrong, the quality drops, and if the mistake is serious enough, the potion itself can fail.”

“That sounds like a lot of work. I don't think I'd be very good at it.”

Axel looked ready to give up just from imagining it.

Was he clumsy? No, he handled a sword well enough, so I thought he was fairly dexterous. Maybe the idea of painstaking measurement simply didn't appeal to him.

To keep the installed wood from rotting, I coated it with preservative. This was another item I had included in my materials request. It was normally used in textile dyeing, but it could protect wood like this as well.

“That should do for today.”

“We're already done?” Axel asked. “Are you going to leave the inside of the icehouse with wooden walls?”

“No. The finished inner wall will be stone. Remember the stone walls in Ijidol's building? I'm going to use that kind of stone.”

He nodded as though relieved. He must have been worried that I intended to leave this brittle wood exposed. I couldn't blame him.

As soon as the stone arrived, I would draw the freezing system on steel plates. If I placed the plates between the insulating wood and the stone lining, nobody looking at the finished icehouse would be able to tell that there were magic circles hidden inside the walls.

Now I only had to figure out how to provide a legitimate explanation for that freezing effect.

Time for a visit to the royal castle library.

“Well then, thank you for your help today. Let's call it here.”

“So you're going home now, Julius?”

“Huh? Yeah. That's right.”

I didn't want the two of them following me to the library and watching me frantically search for a way to justify a freezing magic circle. Sorry, but I was going to lie this time. Sorry.

After saying goodbye to Axel and Ijidol, I headed straight for the library. The servants followed without saying a word.

When I arrived, I asked a librarian to show me where the books on magic circles were kept.

As expected of the royal castle library, there were an enormous number of books on the subject. Apparently, the restricted section Princess Chloe had taken me to before was only a small portion of the collection. The ordinary books could be browsed freely.

Maybe one of the restricted books contained an actual freezing magic circle.

No, no. If I used a restricted source, I wouldn't be able to make the icehouse design public afterward. I had to find an answer somewhere among the books in front of me.

I picked up as many books as I could hold in both arms and carried them to a reading table. Another visitor nearby stared at me in surprise, but I pretended not to notice.

If I didn't find what I needed quickly, it would interfere with the rest of the icehouse work.

Still, searching through books like this was painfully inefficient. I wished they came with some kind of Search function.

Unfortunately, no such convenient thing existed, so I kept turning pages one after another.

No. Not this one either.

Next.

“Lord Julius, it's time to go home…”

“What? It's already that late?! You're right, it's dark outside. Why didn't you tell me sooner? Brother Alex is going to be furious with me!”

“Well… I did call out to you several times, but you didn't respond.”

“You don't need to be that considerate. If it's important, shake my shoulder or something.”

They worried about me in the strangest ways.

If they were going to show me that much consideration, I would rather they ask whether it was all right before reporting everything I did to Brother Alex.

I hurriedly put the books back and rushed towards the townhouse.

At least all that searching hadn't been for nothing.

There was no established “freezing magic circle” exactly as I needed it, but I found that combining two existing magic circles should reproduce essentially the same effect. I also had to confirm that linking or overlapping multiple magic circles was an accepted technique rather than some unheard-of invention of mine.

That confirmation was what had taken so much time.

“Brother Alex, I'm back.”

“Welcome home, Julius. I hear you were doing some research in the royal castle library.”

Apparently, one of those considerate servants had reported ahead.

Good work. Maybe this meant I could avoid a lecture.

Well, whether I actually escaped one would depend on what I said next.

“Yes. I was researching the magic circles I intend to use in the icehouse. I wanted to see whether there was a more efficient arrangement. I found something promising, so I'm going to test it.”

“You're certainly putting a lot of effort into this, Julius. If it goes well, you'll give me the icehouse blueprints too, won't you?”

…That's right.

I had completely forgotten that I had promised to draw up the icehouse blueprints and give them to him.

But I couldn't hand over plans for a magic tool that hadn't even been completed and tested yet.

“About that… I'd like to draw the final blueprints after I know the icehouse I'm building now works properly. It would become a matter of credibility if someone built one according to my plans and it failed.”

“I see. You've thought that far ahead too. All right. I'll tell Princess Daniela that the icehouse blueprints will probably be completed after the renovation itself succeeds.”

“Thank you.”

Phew.

It looked as though I wasn't going to be lectured after all.

Somehow, I had managed to survive another day.

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