Kays Translations

Chapter 259: The Washing Machine

While I trembled at Brother Alex's unfathomable intentions, the conversation continued.

"Rosalia, what kind of magic tool is this washing machine?"

Sister-in-law Daniela, soaking in the bathtub, tilted her head with one index finger resting against her chin.

Rosalia turned toward us with a proud expression, her body still covered in soap bubbles. I just hoped Sister-in-law Meeka wouldn't get overexcited and pour hot water all over her.

"The washing-machine magic tool is a magic tool that cleans dirty clothes when you press a button. It dries them at the end too, so you don't need to hang the laundry outside. That means it's fine even on rainy days!"

Rosalia explained it emphatically. That was a pretty good sales pitch.

Still, the people here didn't normally do their own laundry. I'd assumed that meant the machine's usefulness wouldn't really come across to them.

"That's amazing!" Sister-in-law Daniela said. "I can't believe you made such a useful magic tool. I'm sure my friends at the academy would be delighted. Washing dirty clothes was a nuisance, and during the rainy season they hardly dried at all. We weren't allowed to use magic inside our rooms either."

"I'd love to have several of these in the academy training hall," Brother Cain said. "Julius, Rosalia, could you make some for me? Of course, I'll pay for them."

"I'd like one made for me as well," Sister-in-law Meeka added.

Brother Cain and Sister-in-law Meeka were both extremely interested.

I see. Their clothes got filthy from sword training. Once the sweaty season arrived, they'd have to change their underwear more often too, which meant the amount of laundry would only keep increasing.

"Of course we can. And obviously I can't take payment from you. You're family."

"Julius…"

Sister-in-law Meeka was so moved that she tried to throw herself at me, but Brother Cain sprang out of the bathtub just in time to stop her.

Dangerous, dangerous! If she'd moved like that, her bathing towel definitely would've come off.

Brother Cain struggled to keep hold of the towel before it slipped away. His face was bright red, but at least he had prevented a disaster.

Good job, Brother Cain.

"Julius is right," Brother Alex said. "You don't need to pay for them. The production costs will probably be covered by House Heine."

"I've never done laundry myself," Sister-in-law Daniela said, "but seeing how excited the two of you are is making me curious."

"Then we'll have Julius and Rosalia demonstrate it after we get out of the bath. It's already finished, isn't it?"

Brother Alex looked at me.

I passed that question straight across to Rosalia.

Rosalia clenched both fists and held them powerfully in front of her.

"Of course! It's already complete. We've carried out lots of test runs and fixed everything that didn't work, so I'm sure it'll work properly this time!"

In other words, it wasn't actually completely proven yet.

Where did that confidence come from?

Still, without that kind of temperament, you couldn't become a magic-tool maker. Only by failing over and over, refusing to give up, and continuing to build could you finally complete a useful magic tool.

"Hehe, I'm looking forward to it. Come here, Rosalia. I'll rinse the soap out of your hair with the shower."

My brothers and I immediately looked away from Rosalia.

Even if she was still a child, she was a young lady. My sisters-in-law seemed to understand that a little differently. I honestly couldn't tell whether they were doing it deliberately or simply hadn't thought about it.

We let the other three people and Mira get out of the bath first. Then the three brothers sat shoulder to shoulder in the tub.

"Brother Alex, why did you allow this?"

"If you objected so strongly, Julius, you should have clearly said it wasn't allowed."

"I'm your youngest brother. How was I supposed to say something like that?"

"And Cain, why didn't you stop it either?"

"Because… well… it was difficult to say no."

When bath time ended, Sister-in-law Daniela had said, "Let's all take a bath together again sometime." She seemed to have genuinely enjoyed this whole idea of bathing with the family.

Rosalia and Sister-in-law Meeka immediately jumped on the idea too.

Even Brother Alex couldn't withstand their enthusiasm and finally gave his permission. The three of them happily left the bath with Mira.

And in the process, the three of us men saw something we absolutely should not have seen and immediately sank back down into the bathtub to escape.

That's what happens when you look up while you're sitting in the bath.

I'll be more careful next time.

Once we finally got out, we headed to the salon. The washing-machine magic tool had already been prepared there.

In addition to Rosalia and my sisters-in-law, several servants were in the room. Apparently, they planned to watch the demonstration with us.

Perfect timing. Had Rosalia called them here?

Good job. Rosalia was beginning to understand who she was making magic tools for and what those people actually needed.

"So this is the washing-machine magic tool," Brother Cain said. "It's rather large."

"We designed it so it can wash a reasonable amount of laundry at one time. We can make a smaller version too, and we'll continue improving it after seeing how people use it."

"Can this really wash clothes?" Sister-in-law Meeka asked, staring curiously at the machine. "It's a little hard to believe."

That reaction was natural for someone seeing it for the first time. These days, the normal methods were to use a washboard, tread cloth underfoot, or rub it clean by hand.

Nobody in this world would think of washing clothes with a rotating drum and flowing water. I wouldn't have thought of building one either if I hadn't possessed basic knowledge of modern household appliances.

"All right, let's try washing something. We just need a dirty handkerchief, towel, or anything similar."

"Lord Julius, please use this."

Nero immediately handed me a slightly dirty handkerchief.

As expected of Nero.

Unfortunately, liquid detergent didn't exist in this world yet, so for now I had to shave ordinary soap into small pieces and dissolve it in hot water.

Oh, crap. I should've developed liquid detergent at the same time.

I'd make liquid detergent later as another kind of magic-potion product. I was sure there had been recipes for cleaning liquid in the game. It was mainly an item used to restore the original color of dyed equipment.

Once the simple liquid detergent was ready, I finally activated the washing-machine magic tool.

Show them what you can do!

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