Volume 5 Chapter 20 More People, More Fun In The Prototype
Once they decided to start the prototype, Randy and the others moved quickly. They took Catherine and Leon, who still didn't fully understand the situation, and dashed out of the academy.
Their destination was, of course, Randy's rented house and its backyard. This time, they needed a decent amount of space and an open area for the heat-generating device.
When they arrived at the backyard, it was a familiar sight for Randy and Liz, but for Catherine and the others, everything was new and interesting.
Especially the Japanese-style house that couldn't be seen from the front made Catherine's eyes widen in surprise. As a former Japanese person, she was clearly curious about this building.
Randy wanted to show off, but time was tight, so he spread out the blueprints and spoke up.
"Okay, show me what you got."
He held out his hand, saying "gimme, gimme," and Catherine raised an eyebrow, confused. She had no idea what he meant. Seeing her puzzled expression, Randy frowned back.
"No, no. There must be a prototype of the prototype, right?"
Randy's question made sense. After all, the blueprints were well-developed, and the ideas were solid. It wouldn't be surprising if they already had a first prototype. Even if they didn't, they should have gathered some basic materials.
With hope in his voice, Randy asked, but Catherine looked at him blankly and said, "Of course not."
"Are you kidding? You have these blueprints, right?"
"Just because we have blueprints doesn't mean we have a prototype or materials yet..."
Catherine hesitated, and Annabelle silently nodded beside her. Randy was shocked, saying, "Seriously?" The two explained that the reason they had just passed by that place was to discuss materials. They had been consulting Cory about any beast materials he might know of. So, they were still in the planning stage.
There were many other things to think about, like arranging craftsmen and establishing a production system. Randy thought they should at least have a prototype by now since winter was almost over, but he quickly changed his mind.
(It's amazing that 2 ordinary girls came together and developed ideas this far.)
After gaining the power of Craft, Randy started working on various projects. Thinking about it, creating plans and drawings, and even picking out the materials shows he has a lot of drive.
Catherine and Annabelle both looked a bit sorry, but Randy clapped his hands and said, "Alright, let's start from scratch!" This changed the mood in the room.
"Luke, tell Harrison to bring the wood."
Luke nodded and ran off, saying, "Leon, help me out!" Randy turned to Liz.
"The magic stones... Rita, you were in charge of them, right?"
"Yes. They're an important energy source. Should we get a few?"
"No, I'll go get them. I also need some cloth."
Randy shook his head and raised his hand, telling Liz, "Just shape it for now." He went inside the house. With that much said, Liz would understand she needed to make the outer shell for the heating device.
In fact, when Randy returned from getting some magic stones and extra sheets from Rita, Liz had already built the heating device.
"I made it from cheap and easy-to-get iron first."
As Liz explained, Randy lifted the device. It looked like a round grill, and to Randy, it almost resembled a container for mosquito coils.
"It's a bit heavy."
"Is it?..."
Liz looked thoughtful, but Randy decided to put off any improvements for now and fitted the magic stone into the device. The inside glowed a dull red, and when he brought his hand close, he could feel a little heat.
"Luke──."
Luke, called over, handed him the wood, saying, "Here you go." Randy took it and shaped it into a table and chair for now. He would think about the base later; first, he needed to test if this shape would actually warm up.
He placed the small, tall table over the device and covered it with a thick cloth made from the sheets.
"Alright then, Lady Annabelle. Want to give it a try?"
Randy pointed at Annabelle, and she was surprised, saying, "Huh, me?" It was sudden, but he didn't just pick her randomly. They had made the table tall on purpose and adjusted the chairs to match.
The chair was high enough that Annabelle's feet barely touched the ground.
This meant that Annabelle was the farthest from the heat source.
So, they wanted to see if the warmth would reach up high enough. Annabelle was the best choice for this test.
After hearing this, Annabelle said, "Well, okay..." and used a step stool to sit on the chair, sticking her feet under the table.
After a little while...
"Oh. It's warm."
Annabelle's eyes sparkled with joy, and Randy and Liz exchanged glances, then said, "Sorry for a moment," as they reached into the table. Warm air definitely wrapped around their hands. But neither of them smiled at that feeling. They just looked at each other.
"What do you think?"
"I think it's less efficient than the theory."
Catherine was frozen in surprise as the two of them seriously pointed out the problems.
"Hey, Miss Catherine. This was your idea, right? Do you have any thoughts?"
Catherine jumped a bit when Randy asked her, stammering, "Uh... um──"
"Sorry about that. I didn't think it would come together so quickly."
Looking apologetic, Catherine added, "So, about the feelings and problems..."
"Of course it would come together quickly. We have such detailed plans."
"Yeah, it even has the magic circuit drawn out."
The two nodded, praising Catherine's plans, saying, "That's impressive." They were right; while it wasn't fully formed yet, the design was efficient, and it even had a working magic circuit.
Thanks to their Craft ability, it would be quick for them, but even if they took it to a workshop, it wouldn't take too long to make it real.
"Be confident. With all the effort you put in, you should see the improvements needed for this prototype."
With Randy's push, Catherine nodded and said, "Lady Annabelle, I'm sorry," as she lifted the sheets that Annabelle had stepped into and reached inside.
"First of all... the chair is too high, and there's a big gap in the sheets."
"Well... my bad. That's my mistake."
Ignoring Randy, who bowed his head, Catherine put the sheets back and continued with her ideas for improvement.
Here are some issues she found.
Heat conduction efficiency: The grill might not be designed correctly or could use a thicker material.
Lack of insulation: There's that big gap he mentioned earlier. Also, the sheets themselves don't insulate well.
Weak heat source: Their magic stone isn't very strong.
Poor air circulation: Heat gets stuck around the grill, and there's not enough movement in the air.
All of these points seem valid. Especially how the shape and thickness of the materials affect heat efficiency is an interesting topic for Randy.
"Okay then. Let's tackle the easiest part first."
Everyone nodded at Randy, pointing to the sheets, and they started exchanging ideas around the table. As the brainstorming began, Catherine felt a sense of nostalgia from the parade, but she still held back a bit. However, Randy and the others continued to share their thoughts without worrying about her.
"We need more thickness."
"How about making it so only the feet can go in?"
"That sounds pretty good."
"Ah, maybe we want holes for the feet to stick out too. If we keep our feet in there the whole time, they might get sweaty."
Before she knew it, Leon joined in, and even Annabelle raised her hand to speak, making Catherine involuntarily say, "W-well, a double structure..."
With all eyes on her, Catherine's voice trailed off, but everyone nodded at her idea. What she whispered was a type of fabric that covers in layers. The inner fabric has a big cutout from the start for the chair and lower body, so even if the outer fabric lifts up, the inner fabric can cover it.
"For now, let's set aside the thickness and change the shape of the fabric."
"Alright, let's make more prototypes."
In a flash, Randy and Liz quickly created 2 prototypes. The device was the same type as before, but they changed the shape of the cloth covering the table.
Slit type.
Two-layer cloth.
And a double structure.
Everyone took turns trying out the new prototypes.
The result...
"The double structure is nice. But I think the two-layer cloth isn't bad either."
"Then, why not make the outside a 2-layer cloth structure?"
"Sounds good."
"Hey, that was my line!"
Ideas flowed, and everyone felt a sense of teamwork. Before they knew it, Catherine was sharing her thoughts with everyone, looking just like them.
"Next is the heat efficiency... or rather, the heat conductivity issue."
Randy turned off the device, poked it lightly, and said with a wry smile, "It's pretty hot," as he dragged the device out with a wooden stick.
"I wonder how it is. This is according to the design, right?"
Squatting down to look at the device, Randy got a nod from Liz, who then turned to Catherine.
"I can't say for sure since I haven't seen the processing, but the original plan was to use copper for the device's material."
"Copper, huh..."
Randy murmured, looking back at the device. If they used copper, which has a much higher heat conductivity than iron, it might warm up quickly. It's more expensive and heavier than iron, but considering efficiency and corrosion resistance, choosing copper might not be a bad idea.
However, for Randy, this would be the first time using a material other than beast materials. This meant that everything from sourcing to processing was unknown for him. Plus, if Catherine had asked Cory along with Annabelle...
"Miss Catherine. Do you have a plan for securing the copper?"
Catherine shook her head, and Randy muttered, "I thought so." He had designed based on copper, but it seemed they had no leads on obtaining and processing it. That said, they probably didn't have any leads on beast materials either.
Still, with the Adventurers' Guild around, it might be easier than finding copper.
"For now, let's redo the device based on copper."
Liz nodded at Randy's words.
"Cecily, please help Lady Catherine," she said, and the two of them started drawing detailed plans. They looked at the thickness of the copper, its shape, and reviewed the magical circuits.
All 3 of them were quite smart at the academy. Liz was a given, and Cecilia was sharp too, and Catherine──though a bit lacking──was still much smarter than Randy.
With these 3 sharing ideas, there was no doubt they could create a great heating device using copper.
Randy glanced back at the 3 of them and let out a small sigh.
"Copper, huh..."
He muttered again, remembering that there were copper mines in this country. A huge mountain range stretched near the border with the Empire. He learned that there were copper mines there. If he could make connections with the lord of that area, they could get a stable supply of copper.
Plus, it was a place known for producing copper. They probably had good processing skills too.
If there was a problem... he looked back at Liz and the others, no, at Catherine.
It was probably the relationship between Catherine and the lord there. She likely understood this, which is why she put the copper materials on hold.
"Right, it was called [North Wall]..."
He recalled the fearsome lord with a tough nickname he heard in class. He protected part of the border with the Empire and controlled the copper mines, one of the oldest noble families alongside Cecilia and Liz's families. And...
"It's the family of that guy named Arthur."
What Randy feared the most was that. The one who acted freely at the academy and seduced his fiancée, the so-called Witch Who Brings Ruin to a Kingdom. Convincing them to accept that proposal would be the biggest obstacle, and Randy sighed again.
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