Chapter 221: Magic-Powered Scooter

The completed prototype took the shape of a scooter with only a bare frame.
For those familiar with motorcycles, it might be easiest to compare it to the Honda Zoomer in appearance.
Originally, they had planned for a more traditional motorcycle-style design that one could straddle, but due to the increased width of the magic-powered air motor and the friction drive disc, straddling it became difficult. Thus, it was designed as a scooter instead.
Its tentative name: “Magic-Powered Scooter.”
“…This turned out completely different from the magic-powered car.”
Seeing the finished prototype, Annemarie couldn’t help but mutter.
Broadly speaking, it was still a magic-powered vehicle, but compared to the existing ones, it looked completely different.
Of course, the appearance was the most obvious change, but the technology used was also entirely new, incorporating every innovation they had discovered so far.
Isamu and his team pulled the freshly built magic-powered scooter out of the lord’s manor and headed toward the main street.
It was still early, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, so apart from the gate guards and themselves, the streets were empty.
“Alright, let’s take it for a test ride.”
Stopping in front of the lord’s manor, Isamu mounted the scooter.
He was wearing a helmet—one that had been found in an ancient ruin and taken a liking to by Tiramisu.
“First, this one…”
Muttering “Here goes…” in his mind, Isamu touched the activation magic stone on the left handlebar.
With a familiar whoom sound, the magic circle inscribed on the frame emitted a faint black-purple glow.
“How’s the weight-reduction magic circle holding up?”
Peering under the frame, Willem asked Isamu.
“It’s working perfectly.”
Isamu answered while rocking the scooter back and forth.
The first new technology implemented in this model was the weight-reduction magic circle.
Since the prototype was made primarily from metal leech, it naturally became lighter when infused with wind magic. However, since mass production couldn’t rely on metal leech, they needed a magic circle to achieve the same effect.
“Next, this one.”
After verifying the weight-reduction effect, Isamu touched the adjacent magic stone.
This time, the frame glowed a soft yellow—a sign that the earth magic reinforcement circle had activated.
The second innovation was the reinforcement magic circle.
While reducing weight improved efficiency and speed, relying entirely on weight reduction could lead to structural weaknesses.
They wanted to make parts as thin and light as possible while maintaining durability, so reinforcement magic circles were incorporated into key components.
“This one looks good too!”
“Glad to hear it. I was worried about whether it would work.”
As Isamu gently bounced the scooter up and down, Willem sighed in relief.
Since Willem had drawn most of the weight-reduction and reinforcement magic circles himself, seeing them function properly must have brought him immense satisfaction.
“How’s the seat?”
Eto asked next.
“It’s quite comfortable. The real test will be how it feels on long rides, but that will take time to assess.”
Shifting his seating position a few times, Isamu responded.
Eto had introduced new materials and techniques into the seat.
First, tree slime material was used for padding.
Previously considered for carriage tires, tree slime was too soft for that purpose but had just the right elasticity for a scooter seat.
Additionally, coil springs—possibly the first ever in the world of Ethersia—were incorporated into the seat base.
Isamu recalled an old movie where a princess rode around town on a vintage scooter, which had springs in its seat.
Although the manufacturing techniques were still primitive, and the coils were loosely wound, this was an experimental step.
If spring technology advanced, it could lead to suspensions, clutches, switches, beds, and many other innovations.
The concept had already been shared with local blacksmiths, so Isamu u hoped for further developments in the future.
“Alright, time to start the motor.”
Gripping the brake lever firmly, Isamu touched the central magic stone on the handlebars.
This was the motor activation stone.
The braking system was a rod-type mechanism like other magic-powered vehicles, but with handlebar levers like an old bicycle.
With a faint whoosh, a slight vibration could be felt beneath the seat as the magic motor started.
The disc attached to the motor shaft slowly began to rotate.
Next, Isamu shifted the lever extending from under the seat slightly to the left.
In response, the motor and its attached disc moved slightly leftward as well.
As a result, the point of contact between the motor’s disc and the wheel’s disc shifted from the center to a position slightly right of center.
This was a crude but functional gear shift mechanism.
When the discs met at the center, almost no rotation transferred to the wheels, effectively putting the scooter in neutral.
The disc surfaces were coated with metal leech, which had very low friction without magic, so the motor disc spun freely without engaging the wheels.
However, by shifting the contact point outward, the friction increased, allowing the scooter to enter low gear.
Next, Isamu touched the magic stone for friction adjustment, which controlled the lightning attribute magic flow into the discs.
As more magic power flowed in, friction increased, and the spinning disc began transferring power more effectively.
Seeing this, Isamu then touched the wind acceleration magic stone on the right handlebar—the throttle.
Each press increased the wind speed inside the motor’s whirlwind sphere, generating more power.
As Isamu held the magic stone down, he could feel the scooter tugging forward.
At that moment, he eased off the brake lever.
The magic-powered scooter began moving forward smoothly.
To stabilize balance, he increased the wind power slightly, picking up speed.
The test ride had begun.
“Oh!?”
“Amazing!”
“We did it!”
Cheers erupted from Eto, Annemarie, and Willem, who had been watching with bated breath.
Hearing their reactions, Isamu continued riding the magic-powered scooter at a brisk walking pace.
After covering about ten meters, he made a U-turn and returned to the gate at the same speed.
As he applied the brakes and eased off the throttle with his right hand, he touched the magic stone beneath the seat to reduce the friction of the power disk, bringing the scooter to a stop. Finally, he shifted the lever back to neutral and turned off the magic motor.
“Phew… It worked somehow.”
Letting out a deep breath, Isamu set the scooter’s side stand and stepped off.
“It moved quite smoothly.”
“Yeah. I’m not sure what’ll happen at higher speeds, but at low speeds, there’s no problem at all.”
“With the reinforcement magic circle in place, I’d like to think it won’t break so easily.”
“Exactly… Also, the start-up and shutdown process is a bit cumbersome. That’s something we should improve in the future.”
“It’s probably fine once you get used to it, but making it simpler is definitely better.”
Seeing that the prototype functioned without issue, the entire group surrounding Isamu let out relieved smiles.
“Alright, let’s move on to full-scale testing.”
“Understood.”
“Yeah.”
“Yes!”
For the next few hours, until the city fully awakened and people began moving about, they took turns test-riding the scooter.
It was important to rotate riders, as it wouldn’t mean much if only Isamu could operate it.
They tested speeds up to the expected 30 km/h (estimated by feel) and confirmed that there were no problems. With that, the day’s testing came to an end.
However, Eto, due to his small stature, was unable to ride the scooter, leaving him utterly devastated.
A smaller model would likely be developed for him in the future.
That afternoon, the team split into two groups—one conducting a durability test on the first prototype, and the other beginning mass production of the second unit and beyond.
“Why can’t I ride it!?”
Tiramisu’s frustrated screams echoed through the knight order’s outdoor training grounds, where the durability testing was taking place.
“…Because you’d break it.”
“…Because you’d break it, obviously.”
“…Because it will break.”
“…Because you always break things.”
“Guh! That’s total rejection!?”
Felix, Mizeroi, Liddell, and Marcela all shot back in perfect unison.
“Nyaaahh…”
“E-Even you, Sensei…?”
To top it off, Orihime let out a grand sigh, delivering the final blow. Tiramisu collapsed to her knees in despair.
“Isamu-sama specifically ordered it. He said, ‘You tend to push too hard, so until we have enough units, do not let her ride—especially in high-load endurance tests.’”
Having previously lost her magic vehicle license and been labeled a hazard even in operations involving magic golems, Tiramisu had long earned Isamu’s caution.
Thus, as she watched from the sidelines, the durability test continued under the supervision of Isamu’s personal knight guards.
Meanwhile, the mass production team had also sprung into action, led by the usual three crafting enthusiasts and supported by various artisans from the city.
“First, we’ll need a mold.”
“That’s right. If we had a massive amount of Metal Leach, that would be ideal, but that’s just not realistic.”
“…No, no, Isamu-sama, the fact that you even had enough to assemble a prototype in the first place is already insane.”
A man with a magnificent beard muttered in disbelief as he examined the prototype, which was almost entirely made of Metal Leach.
“Hahaha! Zarid, if this much surprises you, you’re in for a rough time ahead.”
“Eto, you might be used to this kind of thing, but I’m not! Any normal person would be shocked!”
The bearded man, whom Eto called Zarid, was a blacksmith from Klaufendam.
He was the master craftsman of the oldest blacksmithing workshop in the city and, as his long beard suggested, a dwarf.
Dwarves and gnomes were said to be brother races created by the Earth God, both naturally gifted in craftsmanship. As a result, they generally got along well.
Eto and Zarid were no exception. They had been close both personally and professionally for years, with Zarid assisting the research lab with metalworking for magi-guns and other projects.
“So, Isamu, what are you planning to use for the mold?”
“We could stick with sand molds, like before, but they break every time, which feels wasteful. So this time, I plan to use this.”
Isamu knocked on the frame of the magic-powered scooter—made of Metal Leach.
“…See? I told you this was insane.”
Zarid sighed, shaking his head.
“First, we’ll craft exact replicas of the prototype parts using wood or clay. Then, we’ll take those and make molds using softened Metal Leach.”
Metal Leach had the unique property of becoming soft when infused with magic power and instantly hardening when magic power was removed.
When soft, it stuck to metals but barely adhered to anything else. On top of that, it had far greater heat resistance than iron or copper.
This property made it perfect for reusable molds.
“I see. As long as we craft the wooden models first, the rest should be quick. The Metal Reach molds will be sturdy, making mass production easier.”
Eto nodded, arms crossed.
“Good grief… I never thought I’d see the day when Metal Leach was used for molds… But fine, let’s get started.”
“Alright! First, we make the models!”
Zarid sighed, but there was a hint of excitement in his voice.
Eto, grinning, clapped him enthusiastically on the back before they headed toward the workbench together.
“Alright, everyone, I’m counting on you!”
Isamu called out loudly.
“Leave it to us! We’ll have the molds done by the end of the day!”
Without looking back, Zarid simply raised his right hand in acknowledgment.
Thus, with not only Zarid but also woodworkers, leather-workers, and other artisans joining the effort, the full-scale production of the magic-powered scooter in Klaufendam was set into motion.

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