Chapter 64

When I returned to the blacksmith's, I saw two of Garam's dwarf apprentices entering the Rubicon River, apparently doing some work there.

The two dwarves were about 150 centimeters tall and had arms like logs. Both had beards and brown hair, making them look like identical twins to me.

Strangely, a penguin was flapping its flippers vigorously beside them, which was quite surreal.

I know, I know. That penguin isn't what it seems. His intellect is sure to bring blessings to the Cumberland borderlands.

Still, from just the visuals, it looks like the penguin is splashing water and bothering the two dwarves.

What are they doing, I wonder?

Sequoia walked to the riverbank, her tail standing straight up.

From her appearance, she seemed very interested in the dwarves' movements.

"Master Joshua!"

This time, two young men, apprentices of Torre, and a young boy, Nathan, who has the gift of purification, came out of the blacksmith's.

The two young men were human, one carrying a wooden gear about a hug wide, and the other holding what looked like an iron shaft.

"Are they replacing the water wheel's shaft?"

"Yes!"

When I asked Nathan, who had his hands free, he nodded with a big smile, his curly blonde hair swaying.

That's nice. Innocent boys are great.

But that girl over there is only cute on the outside...

Noticing my gaze, the fox girl turned her head towards me.

"What's the matter? Staring at my butt like that."

"Shouldn't your skirt be a bit longer? It shows when you jump."

"Ts!"

Sequoia, holding the hem of her skirt, bristled her fox ears.

It's a bit late for that, yeah.

"The Sage and Master Joshua have a good relationship, don't they! Master Joshua even brought a professor. Is it that wisdom attracts wisdom?"

"Ah, y-yeah."

When said with sparkling eyes, I can't just brush it off.

The professor must be the penguin, right?

He's still playing in the water...

But, wait.

"Sequoia, can the penguin speak the Principality language?"

"Maybe a little. Pointing at 'left' or 'right' should be enough."

"Even that much? He's overpowered..."

"That's because he's talking to me in my head. Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah. It's really amazing."

Regardless of Sequoia's magic, mental conversation probably just aids language understanding, right?

How does he pronounce things, and other mysteries. Can mental conversation learning cover that?

One thing is clear: the penguin's learning ability is incredible.

I could just watch the water wheel renovation, but it feels wrong to rest while Alru is working.

She's gone to catch fish, a bit upstream so as not to disturb the water wheel work.

Still, I can see the cat-eared girl in the river from a distance.

I caught Nathan's eye, who, like me, didn't have any parts.

"Nathan, can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Yes!"

"It's not urgent, but there's something we'll definitely need. The other day, I found the material and hung it under the eaves of the blacksmith's."

"Is there something I can do!?"

"You're perceptive. It's something only Nathan can do."

I reached out to check the branch I had hung with leaves.

It had only been drying for about two days, but it was quite dry. Honestly, I don't really know how to make it, but let's just try.

"Nathan, this branch is called stucca. It's used to make paper."

"Paper? Wow. So wood and leaves can become paper!"

"Yep. In the Principality, they make it in paper mills using a lot of magic tools. But we don't have those here. No magic stones... yet."

"Are you going to make paper another way! That's amazing, Master Joshua!"

"Right, I want to use Nathan's gift of purification for this."

"Mine? My gift! Thank you, Master Joshua!"

Nathan had been feeling down because he thought his gift wasn't very useful.

I told him that wasn't true.

Just off the top of my head, there's another use for it besides paper. If I leave Nathan with the penguin, he'll happily extract scientific substances and the like.

Now, how do you make paper again?

I remember the process of boiling the fibers in water with soda ash.

I thought I'd try it now because I managed to make soda ash the other day.

"The soda ash should still be in the blacksmith's."

*Penguin's voice* "Soda ash, you say. I improved your refining method."

"What the—"

I suddenly felt a cool sensation around my waist, and the penguin was patting my waist with its flippers.

Since it had been in the water, its flippers were wet, hence the cool feeling.

*Penguin's voice* "What's the matter? You shouldn't be surprised now. You know I'm a penguin."

*My voice* "I thought you were just playing in the water, but suddenly standing behind me was a shock."

*Penguin's voice* "Hmm. I apologize. I just got curious when I saw you about to start something interesting."

*My voice* "I'm trying to make paper. The leaves and branches can be turned into paper, according to the appraisal results."

*Penguin's voice* "Appraisal results... a kind of magical technique? Fascinating, but let's focus on papermaking."

*My voice* "I don't really understand the difference between gifts and magic. But from a scientific perspective, they're both mysterious. And this young boy, Nathan, has the gift of purification."

*Penguin's voice* "Oh, how interesting."

*My voice* "We can talk while working. Can you get the soda ash? I'll boil some water."

*Penguin's voice* "Understood."

The penguin waddled into the blacksmith's in a clumsy manner.

So, I'll get the pot.

"I have a pot here."

"Thanks."

I took a pot, slightly larger than a household earthenware pot, from Nathan and fetched water from the river.

While fetching water, I ended up next to Sequoia, who was watching the water wheel.

"Science? Why didn't you call me?"

"Well, you were seriously watching the water wheel."

"Of course. Sosuke's plan is to improve the water wheel's mechanism."

"Huh? Improve? More than just replacing it with iron?"

"Yes, the gears. Changing them will make the generator's magnets spin even faster."

"Oh, I see. I completely forgot about that."

Oops. Sorry, and thank you, penguin.

I was satisfied with the electricity generation, but I hadn't thought about the low output.

The penguin must have noticed and, while changing the shaft to iron, also suggested changing the gears.

The new gear production must have been underway before I went to get Sequoia.