Chapter 102
Takarakuji Ch . 102 Something to protect
September 7, 2020oniichan69
「Since then, I’ve made some baths out of the copper and tin bronze that Kazura brought me . 」
「I don’t know much about how to make a Goemon Bath, but how do you make it?」
「Well, we’re going to make a mold for the base plate, which is shaped like a pot, out of sandstone that we got from the mountains, and then we’re going to pour molten bronze into it . 」
Valetta talks happily as they walk towards the mansion .
The baths were made in collaboration with the villagers, and the villagers seem to understand the manufacturing process .
The molds are made of sandstone, which allows them to be used many times, unlike the clay molds .
As for the copper and tin used to make the bronze, Kazura had brought in 500 kilograms of each, so he was able to work on the molds without worrying about it .
「I’ve only made a few more, and they’re still in production . 」
「That’s great ... you’re mass-producing it . 」
「It’s not that big of a deal . We’re working on it little by little in our spare time . 」
The other villagers followed the two, and when they came near their respective houses, they greeted them and returned to their homes .
Balin remained at the entrance to the village, as he would continue to stand guard at the watchtower as usual .
「Oh, I see...... . . oh, is that the hut with the baths?」
A single triangular-roofed hut had been built on the site of the house to which the villagers were returning .
A dim light leaked from the entrance, and a fire seemed to be burning inside .
「Yes, sir . Yes, we’ve taken the trouble to build a shed and a washing place inside . 」
「You’re going to make that for every house? You’ve made it quite nice . 」
The hut was solidly built from a distance and looked a bit like a log cabin .
There was a small covered shed attached to the outside of the hut, with a pile of reasonably sized chopped firewood .
「If I’m going to make one, I’ve got to make it right . We had a lot of wood cut out for tax purposes, and thanks to the sawmill, we could mass-produce the wood boards, so it wasn’t that hard . 」
「You built a sawmill too?」
Valetta said it in a light manner, and Kazura looked to his side .
Isteria has also begun to manufacture a sawmill, but they haven’t even finished a prototype yet .
I’ve heard that there are already sawmills in the village that are in operation .
「It’s just one machine, but we’re using the finished prototype as is . We used a single-blade saw that the villagers made for us to make a vertical sawmill (a sawmill with a reciprocating blade) . 」
「Did they make the saws themselves too? Was there anyone who could forge them or something?」
「The people who had been in the army since the early days of the war did the main work for us . They did the simple repairs to weapons and armor themselves, and they watched the blacksmiths work . They made a few mistakes, but they made an okay one . It’s just that the blade is bronze, so it’s not as durable as it could be . 」
「After nearly six years of fighting on the front lines, we’re able to do some things, right?」
「Maybe so . Besides, those people were also repairing the chisels and other things used in the village, so they were used to the detail work . 」
「Is that sawmill in the village?」
「It’s there . It’s in the shed over there . 」
When I looked in the direction Valetta was pointing, I could see the hut in the distance, illuminated by the moonlight .
There seemed to be two waterwheels set up a short distance from the hut .
They seemed to be larger than the ones used at the riverbank, with wheels that were nearly five meters in diameter .
「It looks like these two water wheels are quite large . Is it a sawmill’s waterwheel?」
「No, that’s a pumping water wheel that feeds water to a power turbine . We wanted to use a jacketed waterwheel for the sawmill . 」
I looked into the darkness and saw that a water channel had been installed next to the waterwheel to catch the water .
The waterway extended towards the hut, where the waterwheel must have been installed .
The waterwheel is a waterwheel that pours water over the wheel from above .
The weight of the water that is poured over the wheel from above keeps the wheel turning, and the water that it receives is held to the bottom of the wheel .
As a result, work efficiency is improved and high horsepower is generated .
The lower waterwheel used for pumping water does not produce enough horsepower for its size, so the upper waterwheel is preferable to the lower waterwheel to power sawmills and other machines that require a lot of power .
「Didn’t we have a design for a jacketed waterwheel?」
「There were references with simple explanations, but there were no detailed design drawings . So I got a little creative and drew the plans myself . Thanks to the drawing board Kazura-san gave me, I was able to create a beautiful drawing . 」
「Oh, really?」
Nodding at Valetta’s words, Kazura looked around the village .
There were several buildings that hadn’t been there before, and what looked like a breeding shed with a nearly two-meter high fence could be seen .
While he was away for a while, Grisea Village seemed to have developed tremendously .
「Is that some kind of breeding house? It’s pretty big, though . 」
「That’s a poultry house . Since we started feeding them Japanese fodder, they have become so energetic that they will jump over low fences and run away . 」
「What? Do those chickens jump that high?」
When Kazura used to take care of the root-cutting bird, it had seemed like an extremely mild-mannered chicken .
They rarely jumped or ran around, and when they did, they were only ten centimeters long at best .
「I didn’t know they could jump that far either, and I was surprised when I first saw them . Maybe they’re just like us, their bodies have gotten stronger . 」
「Hmm, so it’s not just humans that will be enhanced, but animals as well . Aren’t they going to be huge?」
「They’re just very healthy and their size has not changed . They’re laying lots of eggs, and they’ve laid some chicks too . 」
「Oh, that’s good to hear . We have to make sure it doesn’t get away . 」
「The last time they ran away, it was amazing . I woke up in the morning and went to get the eggs, and they jumped up and down in unison, climbed over the fence, and ran away so fast . 」
「Well, did you look for the chicken... were you able to recover them?」
「But there was no good food in the forest, and in the evening they came back with a heavy heart . 」
While talking about this, the two returned to the mansion .
「I see, so this is what the Goemon Bath is like . 」
While soaking in the Goemon Bath, which was shaped like a large water bucket, Ichiro was checking out the construction of the bath .
The sides of the bath were made of wood, and the only part of the bath that seemed to be made of bronze was the bottom .
The bottom board was lined with wooden planks to keep his feet from touching the metal parts directly .
A large stone was placed on top of the planks to keep them from lifting up .
「I see there are holes in the walls for smoke exhaustion . There’s a washroom, and it’s very well made . 」
The interior floor is mortared and covered with wooden boards with clogs on them .
A drainage ditch had also been dug in the floor and seemed to extend outward from the mansion .
I stood up in the bath and peered out through a small window in the wall .
Outside the hut, the smoke from the firewood was billowing up to the sky .
The lights of the houses in the distance appeared to float in the village in dotted patterns .
「How’s the hot water, Kazura-san?」
As Kazura looked out, Valetta appeared from outside the window .
「It’s nice . But I think it should be a bit hotter . 」
All right . I’ll burn more wood .
Valetta took the firewood and crouched down and threw it into the hole in the wall .
The crackling sound of the firewood exploding could be heard and the temperature of the water slowly rose .
「I’m amazed that you’ve managed to get this far in just a month . The waterways are all made of mortar, and there’s a lot of new buildings going up...」
「Now that all the elderly people in the village are working, there is a lot more to do . If there is anything that is missing, everyone will get it from the forest or the mountains, so it’s a big help . 」
「Oh, I knew you were missing some materials . Do you still need anything? I’ll get some if you have any . 」
「Well, I’d like a steel saw or circular blade for the sawmill . And I’d also like to use some chemical fertilizer...」
「A chemical fertilizer? I’ve only used compost and chicken manure and stuff like that in the past, so I’m certainly curious about its effectiveness . 」
「Yes . I was curious to see how well it works here because I’ve read a lot about it in the farming books . I’d like to try a lot of things, so I’d like to get a lot of them if I can . Nitrogen fertilizer and potassium fertilizer and ... and sulfur . 」
「All right . I’ll bring you another pile . 」
「Thank you . I’d like to try different formulas myself, so if you have something that isn’t in a mixed fertilizer state, I’d like to ask for that . 」
「Is it in an unmixed state? I wonder if you can find it at a home improvement store or agricultural cooperative...I’ll look for it, but if not, can I have it in fertilizer form?」
「Yes, that’s fine, sir . 」
While Kazura admired her curious mindset, the water temperature was just right .
He asked her to stop burning the wood, he soaked up to my shoulders and exhaled deeply .
It was so pleasant as if all the exhaustion of the past month had drained away .
「Oh, by the way, I’ve started working on the cultivation on the outskirts of Isteria since then . I was afraid I wouldn’t get around to it, but it seems to be going better than I expected . 」
「...」
「I’ve started working on a prototype of a hand-push pump, so I’ll be able to make one soon . Valetta, you said that you are going to make a hand pump, but have you already made one?
「...」
「...Miss Valetta?」
「What? Oh, I’m sorry! I’m in a daze...」
I called out to Valetta, who didn’t respond, and Valetta responded in a voice that sounded like she was huffing and puffing .
「Is something on your mind?」
「Well...」
After a short pause, Valetta opened her mouth .
「I was thinking about Japan for a moment . I remember Kazura-san talking about something like that before, about living in Japan without weapons . 」
「Hmm? ...Oh, you mean when the sword came out of the carry case? We’ve talked about that too . 」
When he was checking the contents of the carry-on case he had received from his father earlier, Kazura nodded, remembering the exchange he had had with Valetta while looking at the items that were packed into the carry-on case .
It had been nearly two months ago .
「Hasn’t been a long time since Japan went to war?」
「Yes, it’s been decades since the last war we had . It was long before I was born . 」
「Wasn’t there some sort of skirmish between the countries?」
「There wasn’t any war or conflict as they call it here . There have been many tragic incidents, though . 」
「Is that... so?」
Valetta was silent again as Kazura replied .
I wonder what’s going on, Kazura thought, tilting his head in the bath .
「If you’re interested in the war, I’ll go find some books when I get back, okay?」
「No, that’s fine . Japan is a very peaceful country . 」
When I suggested that, Valetta replied immediately .
「That’s right . It seems that the area around my parents’ house was much safer when my father was a child . They didn’t have to lock the doors at all . It’s just not possible now . 」
「Is that so? ...How can we improve security?」
「Well I guess if poverty is eliminated and the way it’s governed is done well, it will be better to some extent . I’m sure it has something to do with the original nature of the people . 」
For a while they talked about Japan through the window .
Afterwards Valetta took a bath and then they ate dinner and went to bed early .
Valetta returned to her room, closed the door behind her and looked at her desk .
There were several sheets of A2 paper stacked on top of each other on her desk .
They were all blueprints for machines and tools .
She lit the lantern on the desk with a lighter and saw a drawing board floating in the window of the room .
On the drawing board was a drawing in progress, with 「Scorpion」 scrawled in the upper left corner of the drawing .
The drawing also contained notes on tension calculations and manufacturing, all written in Japanese .
The Scorpion is a small crossbowl that was used in ancient Rome .
A larger version of a similar weapon is called a ‘ballista’ .
It is a powerful weapon that looks like a bow turned sideways and uses animal tendons to create tension to shoot large arrows .
It has a range of nearly 300 meters and is powerful enough to pierce a person wearing armor with a single blow .
Valetta walked over to the drawing board and quietly sat down in her chair .
Then she stared at the drawing in progress .