Chapter 559: Rapid Growth
I felt that the morning hours had been spent in a genuinely meaningful way. Going to visit the gardeners first thing had been worth the effort. With this approach, I could create a fertilizer that promoted plant growth without anyone suspecting, Isn’t that actually a magic potion? No matter how you looked at it, it would appear to be nothing more than fertilizer in the making—and that was exactly what I wanted.
“If possible, I’d like to make the fertilizer-type plant nutrient this afternoon.”
“Is that what you intend to call it?” she asked.
“Oh—right, good point. That name won’t do. Okay, let’s call it Rapid Growth.”
“Rapid Growth?”
“Yes. Rapid Growth.”
Fabienne made a delicate, hard-to-read expression. Was it no good? Then maybe… no, even Nero and Lionel were wearing the same strained looks as her. Judging from their faces, the name was clearly unpopular.
“Uh… then what kind of name do you think would be better?”
“No, I believe Rapid Growth is perfectly fine,” Fabienne said gently. “It feels very much like you, Julius-sama.”
“What’s that supposed to—well, never mind. If I give it a stiff, serious name, people might mistake it for a magic potion.”
“When you put it that way, you may be right.”
This time, she nodded with an expression of understanding. My priority was to avoid giving it any sort of ‘magic potion’ vibe. Honestly, if there were a potion with a name like that, I’d probably throw it away without hesitation. But for this purpose, that was exactly why it worked.
After finishing lunch, we headed first to the magic stone crushing site. I wondered if the automatic magic stone crusher was still running. It had been in continuous use all morning, so if there were any issues with durability, something would have gone wrong by now.
When we arrived at the indoor training hall, it looked like work was just about to resume. The automatic magic stone crusher was… happily pounding away. At a glance, everything seemed fine.
“Julius-sama! This automatic magic stone crusher is incredible. It feels like we’ve gained the equivalent of three extra workers.”
“We adjusted it to prioritize frequency over raw strength,” another worker explained. “Thanks to that, the strain on our bodies has been greatly reduced.”
“You do understand this already, but please make sure you take proper breaks, okay?”
“Of course! We’re resting properly while we work.”
The response was reassuringly earnest. Looking around at the people returning from lunch, none of them seemed exhausted or worn down. It appeared they were keeping their promise to me.
Letting out a quiet breath of relief, I checked the condition of the automatic magic stone crusher more closely.
There didn’t seem to be any particular problems. Because the power had been kept in check, deformation of the container was minimal. This should hold up even with long-term use. After that, I asked them about how the machine felt to use.
The most common suggestion was that the speed of the hammer’s downward swing could be increased a bit more.
So, while listening to everyone’s opinions, I adjusted the speed. Increasing it naturally made the noise louder, but after discussing it together, we managed to keep it within an acceptable range. Everyone was wearing earplugs anyway, so it should be fine.
We also made improvements to make it easier to remove the crushed magic stones afterward. After stopping the machine, the hammer could now be lifted manually. It added a bit of complexity to the operation, but by having the assigned operators learn the procedure properly, it should be manageable. This would work.
“Well then, have we gathered everyone’s opinions for now? I’ll bring additional completed versions of the automatic magic stone crusher as soon as possible.”
“We’ll be counting on you.”
Perhaps because expectations for the machine were so high, everyone’s eyes were bright with anticipation. If we increased the number of automatic magic stone crushers, we could reduce the number of workers needed here. Making Rapid Growth was important, but I couldn’t forget about building more crushers, either. It looked like things were about to get busy.
After inspecting the stone-crushing site, we headed next to the compounding room. Giovanni-sama and the others should be hard at work there. A decent amount of magic stone powder should have arrived by now, and the production of purification powder was probably progressing smoothly.
“It looks like they’re at the stage where they’re cooling the purification powder,” I said.
“About two sacks’ worth, it seems,” Fabienne replied.
The containers on the worktable were filled with purification powder spread out to cool. If someone were to sneeze in here, they’d probably get scolded pretty harshly.
Looking around the compounding room, it seemed they were currently making beginner-grade stamina recovery potions. There were also others working separately—likely developing magic potions aimed at restoring greenery.
“Professor Julius, you’re here? You should have called out to us if you were coming.”
“Everyone looked busy, so I didn’t want to get in the way. The purification powder seems to be coming along nicely.”
“That’s because the magic stone powder has been arriving without delays. I’ve heard about it, you know—apparently you developed a magical tool for crushing magic stones, Professor Julius?”
“So the news has reached you as well. I plan to increase the number of those tools, so the supply of magic stone powder should gradually rise.”
“That’s wonderful news.”
Despite the fact that their workload was only going to increase from here, they looked genuinely happy. It must mean that everyone truly wished for the swift restoration of the nation’s lands. I couldn’t afford to slack off either.
After that, we briefly discussed the development of new magic potions.
Giovanni-sama and the others were surely aware that magic potions promoting plant growth were circulating in the Heine Frontier Count’s Territory. The reason they didn’t bring it up here was probably out of consideration for me. If we were going to use those potions, I would be the one to mention it.
They must have assumed that I had my own reasons for not addressing it yet.
What should I do—should I talk about it? But I already had a solid plan to create it as fertilizer instead. So I wanted them to wait just a little longer. It felt like tearing my own heart out, but for now, I chose to stay silent.
Once the development of Rapid Growth was complete, I would apologize to everyone properly.