Kays Translations

Chapter 148: Making a Magic Vehicle – Step 3

“I’m back. Sorry for being late.”

“Oh, welcome back, Isamu. Wait, has that much time passed already?”

Willem, who had been engrossed in his work until Isamu greeted him, lifted his head, cracking his neck.

“It’s been about two bells (three hours), I think? I managed to get some usable materials. Wow, that’s a lot…”

Isamu placed the items he brought back on the table and looked around at Willem’s workspace, where several mock-ups of disc brakes were scattered.

“Oh, you found the materials. That’s great. Right after you left, Eto also went to the blacksmith to prototype some discs. I’ve been figuring out how to handle the part that clamps the discs.”

Isamu showed a rough design. He had explained the basic structure of bicycle rim brakes, which he was familiar with, and Willem had been experimenting with the caliper part based on that explanation.

“By combining two U-shaped components and pulling the ends upward, the bottom closes, allowing them to clamp.” 

Willem explained, showing a mock-up that mimicked the action of a bicycle rim brake.

“Wow, that’s amazing! It works exactly like that!”

Isamu praised Willem for creating such an accurate replica despite his vague instructions.

“Haha, I’m glad I could meet your expectations. We’ll need to attach these to both front wheels, right? We’ll have to make sure they can be operated simultaneously.”

Isamu planned to install disc brakes only on the front wheels. While the vehicle wouldn’t reach high speeds, installing brakes on just one wheel would be dangerous, so he agreed they needed to be on both sides. He intended to use a different braking system for the rear wheels.

“Let’s continue making the model. We need to build the clamping mechanism first.” 

“Sure. By the way, did you find a substitute for that thin but strong rope, the wire?”

“Yes, here it is. They said it’s made from magic whale whiskers.”

“I see, magic whale whiskers. I’ve never seen them before. They’re quite stiff yet flexible.”

“Yes, I think these will work. However, we’ll need to create parts and tools to secure the wire. I plan to use rods and shafts initially, then replace them with wire.”

“Got it. Trying too many new things at once can be overwhelming… But magic whales must be enormous if their whiskers are this long.”

“Haha, you think so too? I thought the same thing.”

Apparently, even in this world of Ethersia, the size of magic whales was astonishing.

“Alright, let’s build the part that moves the clamping mechanism. Ideally, we’d like to control it with foot pedals since the hands will be on the handle.” 

With Willem having already prototyped the caliper part, they started working on the mechanism to transmit force to it.

Since they didn’t have power steering, it was best to keep both hands on the handle. This meant they preferred a foot pedal system for the brakes. Unable to use cylinders to amplify force, they began prototyping pedals using leverage principles.

“Sorry for being late… You’re really going all out here.” 

“Huh? Oh, Eto-san, welcome back. Wow, it’s already dark!” 

Eto, carrying two bundles under his arms, sighed at the state of the workshop. Isamu was surprised to see how late it had become.

“Judging by the state of things, I guess you found some good materials.” 

Eto remarked, glancing at the unfamiliar items on the table.

“Yes, I got two types of pads and some good wire. How about you?” 

“All good on my end. The shapes were simple, but making four pieces with different diameters and thicknesses took time.” 

Eto replied, pulling out four black, shiny discs.

“The thickness is 1 mel (1 cm) and 1.5 mel, with diameters of 20 mel and 35 mel.” 

The sizes were based on Isamu’s intuition, remembering the brake discs of the SUV he once drove, which were around 30 cm in diameter. The thickness seemed slightly less necessary for the slower speeds they expected.

Larger discs provide better braking but also increase weight and attract more dirt. Given the vehicle’s limited grip, overly effective brakes might just cause wheel lockups, so moderate effectiveness seemed sufficient.

“Thank you! These should work well for our prototype. I’d love to test their effectiveness right away, but let’s finalize the mechanism first.” 

Isamu suggested.

“Indeed. It won’t work if it doesn’t move. Let me help.” 

Eto offered.

The three of them continued refining the brake mock-up, making significant progress. Just before midnight, Isamu realized something crucial.

“Of course! The pedals aren’t returning because we don’t have springs!”

This revelation came right after they successfully replicated the clamping motion with foot pedals. While the pedals moved the calipers, they didn’t return to their original position. Isamu hadn’t considered the pedal mechanism seriously before, so this detail had slipped his mind.

“Of course, it would be scary if the pedal returned without doing anything. We do have leaf springs here, but I’ve never seen coil springs. Leaf springs could work, but they would add weight and require more force to operate.”

Most pedals and levers come with return springs that restore them to their original position, using their resilience. This also means they offer resistance when pressed or pulled.

“It might be a bit cumbersome, but let’s go with alternating pedals for now. Adjusting the springs might take too much time.”

After considering various factors, they decided to add an extra pedal that moves in the opposite direction. This simple mechanism would restore the original pedal to its position.

Although it would require using both feet, the lack of an accelerator pedal meant it shouldn’t be a problem.

After repeated operational tests confirmed it worked fine, they decided to move on from the front brake prototype.

“We’ve sorted out the front wheels, but what about the rear wheels? Are we just installing brakes on the front?” 

Eto asked, taking a break after midnight.

“We won’t be adding disc brakes, but I plan to use a different, very simple mechanism.” 

Isamu replied with a small smile, sipping his tea.

“The rear wheels rotate on an axle with fins, right? Like this.” 

Isamu said, blowing on a miniature model of the magic vehicle’s rear wheel, making it spin.

“The windmill spins forward when wind hits the top half, but spins backward when it hits the bottom half. I’m thinking of using this to slow down the wheel.”

In other words, it was like an engine brake. Similar to a fixed-gear bicycle, pedaling backward would slow it down.

“Interesting. So we could either add another wind-catching ball for the reverse direction or change the position of the existing one. It’s a simple concept.” 

Willem said, nodding as he spun the miniature wheel back and forth with his fingers.

“Yes. Ideally, we’d attach it in reverse, but that would require activating another magic device, making operation more complicated. Instead, I’m thinking of making the position of the wind-catching ball adjustable.”

To activate the magic devices, one needs to touch the activation magic stones. If another wind-catching ball was installed for reverse direction, they would have to stop or lower the output of the forward magic device before activating the reverse one to decelerate, then stop the reverse and restart the forward for acceleration.

Attaching a switch to the steering wheel for easy operation was a possibility, but connecting a circuit from the magic circle to the rotating steering wheel was challenging. Cars use a mechanism called a clock spring for this, but Isamu was unaware of it, and even if he knew, replicating it would be difficult.

Attaching a lever behind the steering wheel, like a turn signal lever, was another option, but it would still be difficult to use while steering, making it ineffective.

As a result, they decided to install a lever to adjust the vertical position of the forward wind-catching ball. This would allow one hand to always control the steering, making speed adjustments possible without fiddling with the forward power.

Additionally, they straightened the curved windmill turbines to make them easier to catch the wind in the reverse direction. If curved, they wouldn’t catch the wind well in reverse.

In the future, if they could get the pedal to return with a return spring, they might be able to create a pseudo-accelerator pedal similar to a car’s brake and accelerator pedals.

With the implementation plan decided, they called it a night.

They couldn’t finish everything overnight, but if they could, they would have naturally pulled an all-nighter.

In the following days, they integrated the mechanisms into the prototype vehicle based on their mock-ups.

“Both brake pads seem usable.” 

“Yes. The rush rhino horn is harder, but the armor buffalo is cheaper. Let’s start with the buffalo.” 

Eto suggested.

“Let’s do that. If it wears out too quickly or doesn’t stop well, we can switch to the rush rhino.”

Isamu felt relieved that the monster materials they obtained could be used as brake pads, despite slight differences in hardness.

After three days of assembly, the prototype magic vehicle, version 1.5, equipped with front disc brakes and a rear engine brake plus parking brake, was completed.

Even with the brakes installed, they hadn’t done a test run, so they towed the vehicle to the training ground with a horse for safety and began the test run.

Considering safety margins, they first ran at a jogging pace to test the brakes and cornering.

“At this speed, the rear brakes can slow us down enough.” 

Isamu observed.

“Yes. If we don’t need to stop completely, the rear brakes alone are manageable.”

Willem replied, sharing his thoughts while Isamu operated the lever for the engine brake or pseudo-accelerator, installed overhead for easy access with either hand.

“Conversely, if you try to stop using only the front wheels without adjusting the rear, it won’t be efficient.” 

As Eto mentioned, trying to stop only with the front wheels without reducing the force from the rear would cause the rear wheels to skid.

The vehicle’s rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive (RR) setup made it tricky to handle, but if you got used to it and liked it, it could offer good cornering performance by intentionally swinging the rear end. It ultimately came down to familiarity and personal preference.

For the time being, they confirmed that the brakes functioned properly at this speed.

Even though this pace was considered slow for a magic vehicle, it was already faster than the average cruising speed of a standard horse-drawn carriage, making it a revolutionary vehicle at this point.

Next, they increased the speed to the cruising speed they aimed for, which was comparable to that of a typical city bicycle. This, too, was confirmed to brake effectively without issues.

Following this, they moved on to test runs with passengers, essentially using them as ballast.

The driver’s seat was now equipped with pedals, a steering wheel, and a temporary frame for adjusting the position of the wind-catching ball. Although there were more attachments compared to the initial state, they were still far from the vehicle’s full load capacity.

To quickly determine how much weight the vehicle could handle, they needed human-shaped ballast.

“Amazing, Isamu-san! The magic vehicle is really running without a horse!” 

Annemarie exclaimed excitedly, clinging to Isamu since there were no seat belts.

“Thankfully, things have gone smoothly so far. If it can carry everyone, we should be able to use it as a box wagon instead of a canopy wagon.” 

Isamu replied with a smile as he glanced back.

In addition to Eto and Willem, who had been with him from the start, the vehicle now carried the lord and his wife, their son Julius, their bodyguard Felix, as well as Mizeroi, Liddell, Marcela, Tiramisu, and Ulysses, totaling nine passengers packed tightly together.

Despite the load, the vehicle successfully ran, turned, and stopped as intended.

They were pleased that the magic vehicle could carry a considerable load, but on the way back from the test drive, a new issue arose.

Confident in the vehicle’s ability to stop and turn, they all piled in for the drive back to the manor. The horse that had pulled them there was happily trotting behind, with Orihime riding on its head.

The vehicle navigated the forest path without trouble, but nearing the manor, they encountered a steep uphill climb. Maintaining cruising speed became difficult without significantly increasing the wind power.

Although they didn’t come to a stop and could resolve the issue by increasing the wind power, such steep slopes were rare on the main roads. Still, they wanted to have a safety margin to handle unexpected situations, like carrying heavy loads or facing strong headwinds.

Returning to the lab, Isamu and his team decided to aim for even higher performance and began further improvements.

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