Volume 4 Chapter 3 Two Is Better Than One; Three Is Better Than Two; Expanding Perspectives Is The Shortcut To Success
Randy got back to the mansion just as the sun was setting. Without the sunlight, Victor felt even colder. Because of that, Liz, who welcomed Randy, was dressed so warmly that she looked like an Eskimo.
A beautiful girl wrapped up in warm clothes is pretty cute, but...
"What's with that outfit, Liz?"
"I made it just now."
Wearing such warm clothes inside the house seemed a bit much, Randy thought. Plus, it was so cold that she had to make it herself. Should he think that the Marquis's daughter has become strong, or should he feel ashamed of his own weakness for letting it get this bad?
As Randy walked down the hallway, lost in his thoughts, Liz handed him a piece of paper.
"This is the budget for making cold weather gear. It's thin and light."
"Huh?"
Liz assumed that since it was Randy, he would be the one to make it, so she adjusted the budget accordingly.
"By the way, we plan to have the Guild cover half the costs for the road to Beast Forest."
Her serious expression and her fluffy outfit were quite a contrast. It was a bit funny, but Randy couldn't laugh, so he just shrugged and looked at the budget proposal.
He could tell it was tough for her to come up with this, so he knew he couldn't mess it up.
"So, how did it go? Did you figure anything out?"
Liz tilted her head, and Randy replied, "For now, I've made a prototype of a prototype," as he rolled up his sleeves.
"What's this?"
Even though she heard it was cold weather gear, it looked like an inner layer. No matter how thin and light it was, it still didn't fit the image of cold weather gear.
"It's a heated undershirt."
Liz touched the prototype Randy was wearing and asked, "Heated?" but she couldn't tell if the warmth was from Randy or the undershirt.
"Well, seeing is believing. Let's try making it."
Liz looked puzzled when Randy pulled out some dried grass from his magic bag. It was understandable since he said it would generate heat, but he was showing her dried grass.
However, when Randy pointed to Liz's office nearby, she reluctantly nodded, and they both went to the office to start the prototype.
Following Randy's instructions, Liz turned the dried grass into fiber and looked at Randy.
"What's up?"
"Um... I'm going to wear it into the undershirt──."
"Oh, my bad."
Randy hurried outside and waited for a bit. When Liz came back in her fluffy outfit again, she frowned and said, "It feels a bit prickly."
"The comfort is okay... But what do you think? Isn't it getting a bit warmer?"
"Hmm... Actually, it does feel warmer than before──."
As she said this, Liz took off her thickest outer layer and smiled, "Oh, this might actually be pretty good."
"Alright! It's not just a placebo effect!"
Randy cheered, but Liz found the effect really strange.
"How does it work?"
"I don't know!"
"Really?"
Liz looked confused, and Randy told her he would check it out now while showing her the remaining dried grass. He had used quite a bit for the fiber, but there was still enough left to satisfy 2 Grim Bears. He had more than enough for testing.
And the best part was that the Grim Bears had prepared it. If they brought it, that meant it was a plant that grew in the Beast Forest.
"Let's eat first, then we can test everything."
Liz nodded at Randy's words but said, "Please wait a moment," and went back to her office... After a while, she came out looking satisfied.
"What's wrong?"
"I made it more comfortable."
"Nice. Can you do mine too?"
As Randy tried to take off his clothes right there, Liz blushed and said, "W-wait a second──"
"You've seen it during sumo, right?"
"Yeah, but that's not okay!"
Liz puffed out her cheeks, and Randy pouted, saying, "Tch," before quietly going to his room to take off his innerwear and hand it to Liz.
* * *
"Okay, let's start the test."
After dinner, the two of them sat down in chairs with their innerwear in one hand, away from the fireplace in the dining hall. Near the fireplace, Clarice was drawing a new dress in her notebook, while Cecil was quietly reading. It was a really relaxed atmosphere.
"First, let's talk about the conditions for heat to happen..."
The discussion started, but not many hypotheses came up.
Heat.
Force.
And moisture.
Those were the 3 main things. Heat and force were obvious since Randy was holding and sitting down, which would make it warm.
The only thing that seemed less likely was moisture...
"There might be a combination of factors."
Liz suggested that the damp air in the cave could be affecting things.
"The stems we dried by the fire didn't heat up because there might not have been any moisture around... maybe."
Randy crossed his arms and took out the 'failed product' he brought back, squeezing it in his hand.
"What do you think?"
"Nah. It's not warm... wait a second."
Randy squeezed the stem to focus, while Liz watched him seriously. It was a pretty funny scene, but they were both very serious.
"I feel like it's warm. No, it is warm."
Liz nodded when Randy handed her another stem, saying, "You're right."
"This is getting more mysterious... should we crush them one by one?"
With Randy's suggestion, they decided to do a pressure test first. They would see if applying a certain amount of force would make it heat up. If it heats up with pressure, they might be able to control the temperature.
Since it got warm when Liz squeezed it, they decided to put some weights on the stems to check if the temperature would rise.
Clarice and Cecil helped make several samples.
"Elder Brother, is this test really necessary?"
Cecil tilted his head, and Clarice also tilted her head, saying, "Yeah, didn't you already make warm innerwear?"
"We did, but if we don't understand how it works, the amount needed and how to process it will change. It's an important process."
Randy lightly tapped the weights, and Clarice looked at the end of the stem, saying, "This is tough."
"It is tough. But what the old guys are doing with land reform and crop improvement is even tougher."
They were making hypotheses and testing them step by step. Their current life was built on a lot of hard work.
Feeling a bit serious, Randy clapped his hands. The loud sound brought everyone's attention back.
"Alright, let's get to the testing..."
At Randy's signal, everyone touched their assigned test samples. They didn't just touch the tips of the stems but also the parts where they applied pressure.
"Nothing's changed."
"Same here."
"Me too."
"Yep."
Since all 4 of them felt no change in temperature, it seemed like force might not be a factor. Whether it was dry or slightly moist, none of them showed any temperature change.
"Well, it was warm even when mixed with regular innerwear."
Randy sighed as he looked at the prototype he made. It wasn't something like a pressure innerwear, just regular innerwear. Of course, when it was made with fiber, it was pulled and had outside force applied. If force triggered heat, it should be warm even when not worn.
But touching it didn't feel warm.
Of course, sometimes heat and pressure could be combined factors, so they couldn't completely rule it out, but for now, it was put on hold.
"Next, let's check heat and moisture."
Even though he said that, they had already proven that squeezing it made it warm. Plus, getting rid of moisture was pretty hard. Removing the tiny bits of moisture in the air and just applying heat was impossible for Randy.
"Teacher, it's your turn."
At Randy's words, Ellie appeared with a frown.
"Why do I feel like I'm being made fun of...?"
"That's not true. It's just an old-school way to call someone."
With a smile, Randy said so, and Ellie, said, "Well, okay," as she placed her hand over a stem. A translucent layer formed around the stem, but it didn't look any different.
"Touch it."
Randy nodded at Ellie's words and touched the translucent layer.
"Oh. It's a bit warm."
"The stem vibrates the magic energy, and the friction makes it──."
Ellie's explanation started, but Randy barely understood it. The stem felt warm, but he couldn't tell if it was because the air was warm or if the stem was heating up.
Randy, with the tip of the stem slightly sticking out of the translucent layer, waited for a while as Ellie continued her explanation.
Just when he thought it must have cooled down, Randy touched the stem again... and felt a slight warmth. It definitely meant the stem was generating heat.
"So this advanced magic is──"
"Ellie, can you raise the temperature more?"
"Huh?"
Ellie frowned a bit since her explanation was interrupted, but she added more magical power to the translucent layer, saying, "Who are you talking to?"
As Randy felt the temperature rising while touching the layer, he kept using his other hand to touch the stem. When the translucent layer became quite warm, like a summer day, Randy said, "Stop," to halt the temperature increase.
The stem he was touching was still warm, but it felt different from before. It seemed like the heat was slowly fading away.
(Is this the heat limit...)
If that's the case, it's too fast. This won't work as an inner layer, Randy thought, remembering the stem he had dried by the campfire.
"Ellie, does this mean the moisture in the air──."
"I'm not messing with it."
Since she had heard it from Liz, she seemed to understand what he was getting at. So this must be the heat limit.
Randy sighed in disappointment and pulled the stem out from the translucent layer. The part that was outside no longer felt warm. The part that had been inside was still warm, but it would probably cool down soon.
Randy shook the stem and thought, "I guess I just need to adjust the moisture," as he set the now-cool stem aside and turned back to Ellie.
"Ellie, next I want to adjust the moisture level and test it."
"That's fine, but if it can't handle this much, it won't be useful, you know?"
Randy nodded, saying, "I get it," but he felt like there was a breakthrough waiting to happen. He felt like he was missing something.
Force.
Moisture.
Heat.
Bonfire.
Heat limit.
As all these thoughts raced through Randy's mind, Clarice poked the earlier stem with her finger and spoke up.
"If it gets too hot, it won't work, right?"
"Even in summer, if it gets too hot, this plant will have a hard time, right?"
Just a casual conversation between siblings. But it gave Randy a hint to solve his confusion.
"Temperature. There might be a limit to the temperature it reacts to."
Suddenly, Randy grabbed the stem he had set aside. After a moment, it started to warm up just like he thought it would.
"Ellie. Before testing the moisture, we need to test the temperature. This plant might have a structure that prevents it from heating up too much for self-defense."
"Is there really something that convenient?"
Ellie frowned, and Alan, who had just appeared at the door, said, "There might be."
"I remembered something when I heard about a plant that heats up during dinner time."
Alan was holding a book.
"It's a plant dictionary from the Empire. I heard the winters are harsh up north, so I thought there might be something we could use."
Alan smiled as he opened the dictionary and said, "Here it is," handing it to Randy and Ellie. It showed a strange-looking flower. It blooms in cold weather and heats up to melt the surrounding snow.
It only generates heat during the cold blooming season and doesn't heat up at all when it gets warm. This means the plant generates heat inside to match the outside temperature.
"The heating mechanism might be different, but it could be a type that heats up for self-defense based on the temperature."
Normally, you would use breathing to boost your metabolism a bit. With the higher body temperature, you can burn the energy stored inside the stem or cause some chemical reactions.
Right now, the dried grass isn't using metabolism; it's reacting to heat from outside, which is probably what's happening with the stuff left inside.
Anyway, it only heats up to a certain temperature. If it goes beyond that, the reaction stops. This shows that it doesn't keep reacting and using energy by generating heat on its own.
"Maybe it can last just enough for the bears to get through winter."
If it can hold up like that without any processing, then improving its insulation would probably make it last even longer.
"Did that help at all?"
"That was the best help ever!"
They figured out the direction for the prototype. Now, with Randy, Liz, and Ellie, they moved on to test the relationship between reaction temperature and moisture.
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