Chapter 459: You’re Already Used to It

Since the water had just come to a boil, I thought I’d make some tea—but unfortunately, there was no space in the workshop for drinking tea. That’s not ideal. To always be able to refresh our minds when they get stuck, I should set up a little rest area. Naturally, I’ll place some tea there and make it available for everyone to enjoy.

As I was thinking about this and wondering where to create such a space, Rosalia arrived at the workshop. It looked like her morning lessons had just ended.

“Julius-niisan, so you were already here.”

“I wanted to check on the state of the workshop. I’m relieved to see things are going well even without me.”

“That’s not true at all. There have been many failures… Oniisan, what is this?”

Rosalia keenly spotted the water boiler surrounded by the craftsmen. She stared at it intently, her eyes fixed. Could it be that Rosalia was involved in the development of this magic tool too?

“When did this happen…? Is it already finished?”

“Y-yeah, it’s more or less done, I guess? Though I think there’s still room for improvement.”

Rosalia asked the craftsmen how to use it and turned it on. The water boiled again, the switch flipped, and music played. It trembled a little. That’s not good. I should have done the work while Rosalia was around. But I didn’t know when she’d show up…

“I wanted to see you working on it too, Oniisan.”

“Whoa! I-if that’s the case, I’ll start drawing the blueprint for this magic tool right now—let’s make it together. Everyone else is okay with that, right?”

“I-I understand.”

“Of course we are!”

Seeing Rosalia nearly in tears, everyone started to panic. I hurried to start creating the design plans. I’ll have Nero set up the break area in the meantime.

And so, while teaching everyone how to build it, the morning hours passed.

“With this, even I can make tea.”

“Everyone’s free to drink the tea here. There are also dried fruits.”

“Kyuu!”

Nero did an excellent job. It’s a bit cramped, but being able to take breaks right next to where we work is a blessing. Mira also looked happy to be getting some dried fruit. The craftsmen took turns using the rest area.

“With the water boiler, we could drink hot tea even in the garden. It’s going to get colder from here on, so it’s just right for warming up.”

“When we carry hot water from the kitchen in the mansion, it always cools down a little. This magic tool is very helpful.”

Nero seemed to like the magic tool as well. His expression was cheerful. Of course, it’s possible to heat things with magic, but it requires precise mana control, so it’s not commonly done.

Naturally, Nero can do it—but it probably takes a lot of concentration. Sometimes he furrows his brow while doing it.

“We might want to make a luxury version for nobles and the wealthy. If we decorate the outside, it would look the part.”

One of the craftsmen, sipping tea with a “hmm-hmm,” took notes. I’m expecting some stylish designs from the glass pen-making experience. It looks like I can leave the rest to the craftsmen. It’s better if I don’t get too involved—I might end up hindering their growth.

As we were enjoying tea together, it got close to lunchtime. A message had come earlier from Alex-niisan, so I had to return to the mansion for a bit.

The inspection of the merchant company will be after lunch. Looks like I stayed at the workshop too long.

“Julius-niisan, I’ll take this home with me. I bet Alex-niisan will be surprised.”

“Yeah, he might be—Ahaha…”

It looked like Rosalia planned to bring the water boiler home and boast to Alex-niisan. I figured it’d be discovered eventually, but I didn’t think it’d happen so soon. If I build a new magic tool the day after coming back, he might be exasperated. Well, maybe he’s used to it by now.

I returned to the mansion and headed to the dining hall. Alex-niisan and the others were already there. Just as Alex-niisan asked for lunch to be brought out, Rosalia slammed the water boiler down on the table.

“Rosalia, what exactly is that?”

“It’s the magic tool I mentioned before—it boils water in an instant.”

“If I recall, didn’t that one end in failure?”

Alex-niisan and Sister-in-law Daniela exchanged glances. It seemed they were aware of the attempts to create the water boiler magic tool—and also that it hadn’t gone well.

“Julius-niisan completed it. This is the finished product!”

“…May I try it?”

“Of course!”

Then the melody signaling boiling water echoed through the dining hall. When the lid was opened, steam poured out. The room fell silent. The servants in the dining hall widened their eyes and stared at the water boiler.

“As expected of Julius-chan.”

“Indeed. I never imagined he’d make a new magic tool the very day after returning.”

“Alex-niisan, that’s not quite right. This magic tool was already nearly complete. I just made a few tweaks.”

“Hmm… Julius, you might see it that way, but this was a tool that we considered over and over and just couldn’t get to work.”

I almost blurted out, “Huh?” but I held back. It seems that not only Rosalia and the craftsmen, but Alex-niisan was also involved in the development of this magic tool. Probably Sister-in-law Daniela too—she was staring at the boiler with eyes that said, “No way…”

In other words, I had easily completed a magic tool that everyone else had given up on. No wonder they’re treating me like the inventor. If I knew this would happen, I should’ve just given advice without actually touching it. How did it end up like this…?

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