Volume 4 Chapter 5 Ideas Are Always Free
Randy and Liz had been bouncing around in the carriage for about half a day. By the time the sun was high in the sky, they saw a big city they had never seen before.
"Wow, this is amazing. It's more than I expected."
"Yeah, it really is impressive."
The city was smaller than a regional city, but the strong walls and the big tower behind them made it stand out a lot.
For Randy, who knew the old, run-down Fishing Village, the difference was so huge that he almost thought he took a wrong turn. Plus, the port was still being built, which was pretty incredible.
As Randy felt nervous about whether he should really go in front of the impressive walls, Harrison said, "You're doing great," and led the carriage through the gate.
'Sir Randolph, Lady Elizabeth, welcome!'
Hearing the cheerful voice from outside the carriage, even Randy could only manage a shy wave and a "Th-thank you."
"Harrison, what's with all this grandeur?"
After passing through the walls, Randy called out to Harrison, who was driving the carriage.
"Huh? You didn't know?"
"I had no idea. The last time I came, there was just a small port being built, right?"
Harrison explained that after that, the port grew bigger and more people and goods started coming in. Right now, the town was mainly filled with engineers and workers sent by the Marquis family, but once the town was finished, they planned to invite people from nearby areas to move in.
"Apparently, there have been a lot of inquiries about it."
Harrison laughed and said that not just Victor, but other regions and even the capital city had shown interest.
"That's awesome."
As Randy was amazed by the size of the city, the carriage went straight down the main street and arrived at the governor's mansion. It was in a prime location where you could see the sea and the town, but the mansion looked like a small fortress.
"Looks like the old geezer's hobby."
Randy frowned as he got out of the carriage.
"You're right!"
Coming out of the fortress-like door was Volcan, whom they hadn't seen since the Harvest Festival.
"You're still alive, huh..."
"I won't die until I see my great-grandchild."
Volcan laughed heartily, and Randy sighed,
"You'll probably live long enough to see your great-great-grandchild. Anyway, just like we talked about, I want to meet the workers and engineers."
"They're all here."
Volcan nodded and pointed with his chin towards the port that was still under construction. It seemed like the workers were still busy, but Randy and Liz followed Volcan to meet the workers who were still battling the cold.
* * *
"Wow, this is amazing."
"Yeah..."
In front of them was a huge tower and a big port stretching out. The tower was definitely the one they had seen from behind the walls. It looked like it would serve as a lighthouse, but everything was much bigger than they had imagined.
From the direction of the port, 2 people were walking towards them.
One was a small, hairy man, and the other had cat ears. They both remembered them from their previous visit to the Fishing Village.
They were Gaston Smith, the chief engineer, and Glen Fang, who managed the workers.
"Long time no see, you two."
Randy reached out his hand, and both of them smiled and shook it.
"I heard you made warm clothes?"
Glen's ears perked up with interest. Even though he was a beastman, he looked a bit bundled up, probably because he was sensitive to the cold.
Unlike regular animals, beastmen don't grow fur, so they have the same tolerance to cold and heat as regular human.
"I heard it's warm by the river, but it's still too cold for us."
As Glen scratched his head, he pointed out that many beastmen were using their high physical abilities to work as laborers. Most of them came from the southern continent, so the cold here was especially tough for them.
"Can you bring the workers over one by one? We need to get started right away."
Randy said, and Glen replied, "That would be great," before quickly heading back to the construction site.
Gaston, the chief engineer, let out a big sigh as he watched someone leave.
"I hear you want my opinion, right?"
Randy turned back and said, "Yeah. It's about the new heating equipment," showing him the blueprints.
"Let me see it closely."
As he said this, Gaston spread the blueprints on a nearby stone. He wasn't great with formal language, and when he focused, he tended to speak roughly, but his skills were definitely solid. No one here cared about his choice of words.
"These are pipes... and this is a pump, right?"
"Yeah."
Randy nodded and handed over another blueprint.
"This one looks like a heater."
Gaston muttered, and Randy explained the details.
This is a part of the heating equipment that uses geothermal energy.
Randy remembered from his past life that the ground temperature stays pretty constant throughout the year, inspired by how the Black Serpent hides underground during winter.
In his past life, it was similar to a geothermal heat pump system. It circulates antifreeze through pipes buried underground and uses heat exchange pipes to warm the air.
But using geothermal energy isn't that simple.
──You need to dig a hole more than ten meters deep, and there are many other challenges.
Choosing materials for the heat exchange pipes.
Selecting the antifreeze to run through the pipes.
Creating the circulating pump.
Choosing insulation materials.
These are just the big challenges, and once they start running it, smaller problems will likely pop up.
Still, this time, both Randy and Liz plan to push their skills to the front, just like with the heated underwear.
They believe that making something only they can do is pointless. But for this project, they are putting that belief aside. Their goal is to shape it during this winter and crush their opponent's plans.
So, they are ignoring the usual planning for processes and personnel, charging ahead with a powerful approach. They will think about the process and personnel after the geothermal circulation system is built.
"I see. This is quite interesting. We dwarves also know that the ground temperature is constant since we build our cities underground."
"Do you think you can do it?"
Liz tilted her head as she handed Gaston a piece of paper. Randy's eyes widened at the complicated equations written on it.
"I measured the ground temperature once. Based on that, I calculated the energy and time needed to raise the water, since the antifreeze is still undecided, and the required length of the pipes."
Gaston looked down at the calculations, saying "Hmm," while Randy could only watch in silence. He had no idea what it said.
"When did you prepare this?"
Randy whispered, and Liz smiled, saying, "Last night. I had fun calculating it," but Randy couldn't laugh. Just looking at the numbers gave him a headache, while Liz found it "fun" and couldn't hide her excitement.
Thanks to the warm innerwear, they could be active during the day without bundling up. Randy reminded himself to be happy about their increased energy.
"'Milady', what are you planning for the insulation and antifreeze?"
"Well, we need to test the actual materials, and the problem is we don't have any materials lined up."
Liz sighed deeply, and she was right; they currently had no materials for insulation and antifreeze. Not only did they need enough material to cover the mansion, but they also needed it to be easy to get and in large quantities for the workspace.
"I have some ideas for insulation, but──"
"Wow, you're amazing, expert."
Randy and Liz had actually come here hoping for that. It's faster to ask an expert about building and pipe insulation.
"But I really can't think of anything for the antifreeze."
Gaston turned his gaze back to Randy, who slightly slumped his shoulders. He thought a dwarf who builds cities underground might have some ideas.
But if he didn't, they would have to find it themselves.
"Antifreeze... what about using groundwater as a last resort?"
"Groundwater?"
Randy drew a quick sketch for Liz and Gaston. He explained that they could use water pumped from underground, convert it into energy with a heat exchanger, and then return the water back underground.
"Then we need to find the underground water veins. And there's also the problem of the freezing temperatures..."
"Yeah, that's true──"
Randy looked up at the clear winter sky. The wind blowing towards the river made the edges of the blueprints flutter.
"Hey, can't we just heat the air directly?"
Volcan, who had been quiet until now, suddenly spoke up. He crossed his arms and frowned, looking around at Randy and the others.
"Air circulation system, huh?"
"That sounds tough."
It's no surprise that Liz and Gaston looked a bit worried. The air circulation idea was something Randy suggested first, but Liz had shot it down. The heat conductivity of air is pretty low.
"Then how about improve the heating stove in between, like this..."
The idea was to send the air down to a big heating stove to warm it up even more. Since the air would already be somewhat warm underground, it would use less energy from the magic stones.
"The idea is interesting, but it's more efficient to heat the antifreeze."
"Should we calculate how much energy we need?"
Liz, looking oddly cheerful, picked up a stone pencil and started writing calculations on the ground. It was a bit rude, but since it was just Randy and the others around, they decided to quietly watch Liz concentrate without bothering her.
"Air circulation... it really does need a lot of energy."
Liz sighed but then tilted her head slightly, sensing something and switching places with Ellie.
"Hey, young dwarf..."
"Milady, what's wrong?"
Gaston frowned, and Randy chuckled, saying, "It's like a Trance situation..."
"If it's a dwarf, you guys should have runic infusions, right?"
Randy's eyes sparkled at the exciting idea, but Gaston shook his head to deny it.
"I want to say you know a lot, but that technology is already lost."
"What?"
Gaston explained to Ellie that the use of magic stones for simple magic tools made runic infusions fade away.
Runic infusions are a technique where you carve runes into materials to amplify the desired magical power.
If you want heat, you target heat.
If you want wind, you target wind.
It works on the energy of what you want to amplify, but how much it increases depends a lot on the skill of the engineer and the base material. Plus, the runes are complicated, and if they're not carved properly, they might not work at all or even lose their effect.
As a result, simpler magic circuits were created, which anyone could use and could be applied to most things, using magic stones or magic ore. Ironically, these tools ended up replacing runic infusions.
"If there were ancient texts, we would have the runes needed for the engravings, but unfortunately, no one can read the ancient language."
Gaston shrugged, and Volcan spoke up.
"If it's ancient texts, Aaron should have some. He's a collector of antiques."
"Aaron? Who's that?"
"He's an old friend of mine. Now he runs the Adventurers' Guild in Dukedom."
Randy remembered the old man he met on his first day back home and said, "Oh, that guy."
"Perfect. While we're at the Guild, let's ask to see the ancient texts too."
Randy was excited, but Gaston tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Hold on a second."
"Even if we can make runic infusions, it will be super expensive."
Gaston shook his head, and Randy said,
"I was just thinking... We're carving the runes, right? What if we made a mold or a press that shapes the runes?"
Instead of custom runic infusions, they could create ready-made ones. This time, they would apply the runic infusions to pipes. So, they could use a press to engrave the runes and then shape it into pipes.
Gaston widened his eyes for a moment at Randy's suggestion, but then he shook his head.
"The runes have to be carved evenly. That's why the technique is..."
"What if we carved a rune that says 'apply pressure evenly' on that mold or press?"
This time, Gaston's eyes went wide open, almost as if they might pop out.
"...I never thought about that."
"Of course, an engineer has to carve it with their own hands."
Randy smiled, and Gaston got excited, saying, "Alright, let's try it right away! So we need the ancient documents──"
"Both of you, before that, we have a problem to solve."
Ellie sighed and pointed to the port, saying, "It's about the heating clothes..." There were many workers coming this way, led by Glen.
"...Ellie. First, let's take care of that."
"My part is done. I'll leave the rest to Liz."
Since they decided to go with Power Rei, they couldn't back down. Until sunset, the two of them worked hard to process the innerwear the workers brought.
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