Chapter 36

On September 30th, the wheat harvest had ended, and the next day was the Harvest Festival.

Around 7:00 PM, when the music of the pre-festival could be faintly heard, Jean, Nicholas's daughter, gave birth.

It was her first childbirth, and everyone was worried, but she safely delivered a baby girl.

Regarding the "child of destiny" I had been concerned about, as expected, I felt nothing from Jean's child.

I had thought that this child would not be born in this village. This is because even if the child were to be born near me at this timing when I am five years old, it would not be realistic for me to take the lead in protecting them.

Therefore, the child must be born somewhere else and meet me when I have gained enough strength.

Jean's daughter was named Shirley and would be raised alongside my younger brother Theo, my younger sister Sera, Mel's younger brother Ryle, and Sharon's younger sister Unis.

Grandfather calls us, Mel, Dan, and Sharon, the "Zack Quartet," but perhaps they will also be called the "Theo Quintet" or the "Sera Quintet" in the future.

On the day of the Harvest Festival, October 1st.

The Harvest Festival is the biggest event in the village. Although a traveling bard comes, there are not many interesting attractions.

Like the Summer Solstice Festival on July 1st, the music played by the villagers creates a festive atmosphere.

Last year's Harvest Festival was hectic due to the installation of the distillery and magic training, so I couldn't enjoy it much. This year, with the end of the childbirths and the partial success of the reform plan, I planned to enjoy the festival leisurely.

Regarding the reform plan, the composting started with the toilet reform seems to have been successful.

However, it is unclear whether the compost is effective because the amount of fertilizer is unknown.

Nicholas's field is being used as a test farm, divided into several plots, but we need to test whether the successful fertilization amount will yield the same results next year.

We also need to ensure that parasites and pathogens in the excrement do not spread with the compost. There is no way to investigate this, but the compost reaches a high temperature during fermentation, so most of them should be killed. At the very least, compared to the initial state where excrement was left around the houses—initially in the grass around the houses and even near water sources—it is a significant improvement. For safety, it should be used as fertilizer for grains and other foods that are cooked.

I lack both knowledge and tools. It is impossible for me, an amateur, to achieve 100% safety. Instead, I should consider ways to reduce the risk.

The effects of the compost and the emergence of parasites will not be clear for several years. As an engineering student, I tend to think that agriculture, which does not yield immediate results, takes a lot of time.

Regarding agriculture, the wheeled heavy plow is being deployed smoothly, and three are currently in use.

The prototype has been improved, and its usability is gradually getting better.

Regarding education, Ridi's itinerant classes are going well, and adults are gradually showing interest. Nicholas's wife, Kate, has started classes for adults, and she seems quite busy during the agricultural off-season.

As for my primary concern, the distillery, the distillation is progressing smoothly.

The number of barrels has increased significantly, and Scott's brewery warehouse is getting quite cramped.

I was thinking that we needed to build a storage facility, and my father said,

"We will build a storage facility for the distilled spirits using the proceeds from the sale of the soap manufacturing method. You know best what kind of facility is needed, so discuss it with Nicholas."

This was an unexpected development for me, but I thought there should be other priorities for the village.

"The storage facility can wait a bit. If the brewery is full, we can store them at the manor. Shouldn't we use the funds for more urgent matters?"

"I thought the same, but Nicholas said there is nothing urgent to do right now. The distilled spirits will become a specialty of this village, so he said the storage facility is a worthwhile investment. Besides..."

My father paused, and I asked, "Is there another reason?"

"Yes, Nicholas said that you are the one who is most invested in the distillery. He said you would be happy if we build the storage facility."

I didn't know what to say and was speechless.

"Well, think about the future and let us know if there are any necessary items."

For now, I can't think of anything that needs to be built urgently.

If we had a bit more budget, we might invest in road improvements or the development of the eastern forest, but the budget is too small to do much.

The only thing I can think of is improving the flour mill.

This is more for my own benefit than for the village, as I want to improve the quality of bread, which is our staple food.

There is also the introduction of new crops, but this is for personal reasons, so I don't plan to invest money in it.

There are many things to consider, but today is the annual Harvest Festival, so I decided to forget about work and enjoy it.

When I asked Ridi if she wanted to go to the festival grounds, she replied, "Hmm, I'm still not good with crowded places."

"Two of my girlfriends are waiting for me, so I'll go. In return, when I come back, I'll stay with you."

I was given permission to go out with Mel and the others.

As usual, I went with Mel, Sharon, and Dan.

The festival grounds are in the center of the village, where the only tavern is located.

This year's festival also features the "Scotch" we made last year, and the villagers are trying it with interest.

The straight Scotch seems a bit too strong, so it is served with water.

I checked the feedback later, and it wasn't very positive, similar to Nicholas's initial reaction. We need to think about a sales strategy.

Incidentally, the result of sending the Scotch to the capital of the Kingdom of Kaum, Ars, in December last year, as Beltram had predicted, was very well received by the dwarves. They are asking to buy all of it and to produce without hesitation, so the distillery is running at full capacity.

The current production volume would be sufficient to export to the Kingdom of Kaum, but there are many transportation issues.

Ars is about 300 km away, and it would take about half a month by cart. The transportation cost is high, making the selling price quite expensive.

Moreover, the Kingdom of Kaum has many mountain roads, and the vibration of the carts is significant. If we transport the spirits in ceramic bottles, we need to wrap them in straw or other cushioning materials, like the old Chianti wine bottles, but we still need to expect a significant number of breakages.

Since dwarves drink spirits like water, we could sell in barrels, but I want to take a high-end approach, so I would prefer to sell in bottles.

I think it would be better to set up sales offices in major towns and bottle the spirits there.

The festival grounds are filled with a unique atmosphere of eating, drinking, and revelry.

We walked around the grounds, getting some treats, and headed towards the slope of East Hill, which is a pasture.

We could hear the festival music, but it wasn't noisy, and the time passed leisurely. We chatted about trivial matters and ate the treats, and once we were full, we headed back to the manor.

On the way back, we decided to make a detour at Dan's suggestion.

We went north around the east side of North Hill to see the pond.

Originally, the area between Manor Hill and North Hill was a wetland due to a tributary of the Aarn River. To convert the wetland into farmland, the river was dammed, creating a pond about 100 meters in diameter.

This pond is rarely used for agricultural water storage and is mainly used as a water source for the irrigation channels that flow between the hills.

The water in the irrigation channel on the south side of Manor Hill is quite clean and is used for summer water play.

Children are not allowed to approach the pond alone, and we had no intention of going there.

We floated grass boats in the water flowing out of the pond and followed them back to Manor Hill.

While looking at the water, I was thinking about installing a bath at the manor.

The manor is on top of a hill, and the water for daily use comes from wells and rainwater.

Because of this, there isn't enough water for a bath, and I had been hesitant to build one.

I had been thinking about using this water but couldn't figure out how to pump it up the 30-meter elevation difference to the manor.

We could install a water wheel on the irrigation channel and use it as a power source for a pump, or use a windmill, but the water flow in the irrigation channel is not stable enough, and the windmill would be too large.

(A 30-meter lift... A pump with a discharge pressure of 0.3 MPa is the bottleneck. Both the water wheel and the windmill are low-speed power sources... It's not impossible, but it would be quite costly...)

While thinking about this, we arrived at the entrance to Manor Hill.

(If the manor were located here, we wouldn't need to pump the water... Ah! We don't have to build a bath at the manor. We can build one at the foot of Manor Hill. It's a bit far, but it's not that strange to think of it as a public bath... We could even make it a public bath. Fortunately, we have a relatively abundant supply of coal for fuel, and there is plenty of water. With a boiler, a bathtub, and a simple building...)

I decided to build a bath on the south side of Manor Hill.

(Although the boiler and building are necessary, I will use my earth magic to create the bathtub. My earth magic level is low, and this will be good practice for digging tunnels for the Scotch storage facility...)

Earth magic has many uses besides attack spells, such as creating earth walls, digging holes, and turning earth into stone.

I have heard that some large city walls were created using magic, but currently, there are few earth mages, and it is rare to use magic for large-scale civil engineering projects.

My earth magic level is low because Ridi cannot use it, and I have not been actively using it, thinking it is better to focus on my strengths.

However, I believe it is important to improve my earth magic level for the future, especially for building the Scotch storage facility under Manor Hill.

I started drawing the plans for the bath as soon as I returned to the manor.

(I want the bath to be large enough for the family, so I'll make a big bathtub that can fit seven or eight people. Or, I could make it even larger so that the vigilantes can use it after training... I'll connect the boiler to a large water tank made of rock and set it up to send water to the washing area and the bathtub... If I make the building a semi-outdoor style with a roof, the cost will be lower. I can use a hedge for privacy...)

I created a simple plan and went to explain it to my father the next day.

I explained the purpose of installing the bath and the approximate cost.

My father, who did not find the bath particularly appealing, did not look very enthusiastic when considering the cost and effort.

"...I still don't see the necessity of a bath. Bathtubs are a luxury found only in the palaces of kings and dukes. It would be inappropriate for our home."

To help my father understand the appeal of a bath, I proposed building a small outdoor bath for him to try.

"I will build a simple bath for you to try. Please give me permission to build a bathtub on the south side of Manor Hill."

"That's fine, but you said you need a pot. How will you do it?"

"I will heat the water by putting hot stones into it. The water might get a bit dirty, but it should be fine for the experience."

From that day on, my magic training would also involve building the bath.

First, I used the Wind Blade spell to cut the grass.

Then, I used earth magic to create stone blocks and stack them.

With the strength of a five-year-old, I couldn't stack very large stones, but with Ridi's help, I made blocks about the size of bricks and had her stack them.

I added soil to the joints and petrified it to create a stone wall. I built four walls and turned the soil at the bottom into stone to complete the bathtub.

This resulted in a bathtub that was 2 meters long, 1 meter wide, and 50 centimeters deep.

I then used magic to dig a channel to bring water from the irrigation channel and installed a pump borrowed from Beltram.

Although I wrote it simply, this work took twenty days.

My magic power was only around 130, and I couldn't use the "Stone Creation" spell continuously. The MP consumption for each use wasn't high, but after making about fifty stone blocks, my MP would be almost depleted.

The blocks needed to be thick to withstand water pressure, so I needed about 700, which took about fifteen days to create.

Regarding magic, the consumption of magic power differs between spells that maintain a form, like the stone blocks, and spells that create phenomena, like Wind Blade or Fireball.

Spells that turn earth into stone or create water have a high initial MP cost. On the other hand, spells that create fire or wind have a lower initial MP cost but continue to consume MP to maintain the phenomenon.

The Stone Creation spell was relatively easy to use because I imagined concrete. Still, the MP consumption was significant.

Regarding concrete, I initially thought of using it to make the bath by creating cement with lime. However, considering the effort to transport sand and lime, I decided it would be more efficient to use magic to create the stone.

After installing the pump, the bath was finally completed.

The next day, I started preparing the bath during nap time.

I used the pump to fill the bathtub with water and started a fire to heat the stones.

Once the bathtub was filled, I used a fire poker borrowed from Beltram to place the well-heated stones into the water.

The water turned into hot water with a sizzling sound, but it became cloudy and had some ash floating in it, which didn't look good.

Once the water reached a comfortable temperature, I scooped out the ash on the surface.

It took about two hours from the start of filling the bathtub to boiling the water.

(Filling the bathtub is quite a bit of work, and it took a considerable amount of time even for this size. If we want to make a bathtub that can fit ten people, it might be better to use cement...)

I called my father to show him the bath.

He started to undress, saying, "So, I just need to soak in this?"

Under the clear blue sky of late October, my father, naked, sank into the bathtub.

He exhaled deeply and closed his eyes.

"Father, how is it? It should feel good."

When I said this, he only replied, "Yes."

"Indeed, it feels good, but considering the effort, it might not be necessary to build one."

My father still didn't see the appeal of the bath.

However, this was as expected, so I had a secret plan.

After soaking for about ten minutes, my father got out of the bath.

While he was drying himself, I offered him a cold beer I had cooled with magic.

My father, who was thirsty, drank it all at once.

After finishing a large mug of beer, he exhaled deeply.

I noticed a change in his expression.

"How is it, Father? Where I come from, they say there's nothing better than a cold beer after a bath."

My father seemed to want more.

"Indeed, it's delicious. I also feel less tired. Is this the effect of the bath?"

I think the feeling of being less tired is due to the beer, but I nodded silently.

"Bathing has the effect of improving blood circulation. Soaking in warm water for a while can help with fatigue recovery and disease prevention."

After thinking for a moment, my father said,

"I will allow the installation of a bath. Think about something that the vigilantes and villagers can use. The budget is 5,000 C (5 million yen). You can use Nicholas and Einos."

With the proceeds from the sale of the soap manufacturing method, my father seemed to be more enthusiastic about my "cold beer after a bath" strategy.

Although I thought my father was simple, I couldn't criticize him because I couldn't stop drinking cold beer after a bath the first time I tried it.

Actually, I had been thinking about a cooling spell using fire magic for this strategy.

Surprisingly, the cooling spell is a "fire" spell, not a "water" spell.

At first, I thought about using the "Ice Needle" spell to create ice and cool things quickly, but I first tried to cool the beer directly.

I started with a common method from novels, trying to suppress molecular motion, but I couldn't imagine how to suppress the movement of countless molecules.

Next, I tried to think of a spell to freeze liquids, but I couldn't come up with a good image because I was thinking about it as a physical phenomenon. I tried to freeze water by imagining the slow formation of snow crystals, but while I could create ice, it only partially froze when I tried it with beer, which didn't look good.

As a last resort, I considered making ice and putting it in a bucket with the mug, but I wanted to find a way to cool it quickly and to a comfortable temperature, even with a wooden mug.

So, I decided to imagine the Peltier effect, which involves heat absorption and release at the junctions of different metals when a voltage is applied. I thought that since fire magic is related to heat, it might be possible to move heat.

I imagined a heat sink inside the beer and a heat source outside, and by channeling the power of the spirits, I created a pseudo-Peltier effect. The result was perfect, and with proper magic power adjustment, I could cool the beer to a crisp temperature in about five seconds.

While actual Peltier coolers are inefficient, this magic method is quite efficient, cooling quickly with minimal magic power