CH 295

Yesterday, we stayed at Cien Villa, and I’ve been feeling nervous since this morning. I’m going to the Technological Research Institute today. I’m thinking of starting some mechanical engineering development there.

I just… don’t know if I should really do it. I’m still conflicted and wonder if it’s okay to teach that technology to the people of this era…

The technology I’m planning to develop is too groundbreaking and has too much impact on the world. Is this really the right choice? Can we go ahead with this?

I don’t know. And hence, I’m not confident…

Until now, I’ve given them concepts and research knowledge and technologies that are far ahead of their time, as I pleased… but I’m still worried about whether this is the only thing I really should hesitate to share…

Why didn’t I teach them about this kind of technological innovation until now…? Once you know it, you can see how much I was worried. I’m still worried, but…

But I’m at my limit. Without this technological innovation, further progress cannot be expected. That’s why… I should have told Eins to develop it at the Technological Research Institute… I should have been certain… but even this morning, I’m still hesitant…

“Miss Flora, are you in a bad mood? If so, today’s inspection can be…” Katharina started.

“No, it’s okay…” I said, after swallowing the lump in my throat.

I’ve made up my mind… haven’t I given the go-ahead for everything else so far? If that’s the case… then I have no choice but to make up my mind and do it.

After finishing my morning routine and work, I came to a secret facility that was quietly built away from the town of Cien. My heart is pounding again… is it really fine? Bringing this into the world, that is…

“If it isn’t you, Lord Caan, what kind of business do you have today?”

“Dr. Eins…” I replied.

We’re finally here. I can’t escape anymore. I have no choice but to hold my stomach when I’ve come this far…

“I have something important to tell you. Let’s talk privately,” I said.

“Huh?” Eins said, looking confused. “Understood. Then please head this way.”

It seems I was led into Eins’ personal laboratory. Katharina also stepped out, I was completely alone to talk with Eins.

“The truth is… I would like you to research and develop something new from now on,” I said.

“Hou! You will be teaching me more of your wonderful skills and inventions, Lord Caan?!” Eins cried, standing up in excitement.

But on the contrary, though I can feel my heart beating very powerfully, I feel cold as if my blood is drained from my body. It’s not like when you’re excited and jittery. That’s what you feel when you’re extremely tense.

“That thing is……” I started.

“That thing is?” Eins says, eager to bite.

I have to finish it when I come this far.

“It’s a steam engine,” I finished.

“Oh! Is that what it was?!” Eins said, his eyes lighting up. “A … steam… engine?” he said, as the words caught up to his mind, and sat down on his chair with a look of disgust.

He looks completely disappointed like his expectations were betrayed.

“So you mean a steam engine…?” Eins said quietly.

“Indeed. A steam engine,” I said.

I can understand Eins reacting like this. It is said that the first steam engine, the first thing on earth to use the power of steam, was invented around the 1st century or so. Even if we don’t know if it’s true, people have long understood that steam has power.

Then why did Eins’ tension suddenly drop so much? Even though people knew that the power of steam could move things, it was thought that the power was negligible and not practical. In the first century, even on Earth, things using the power of steam were developed. But it wasn’t until the eighteenth century that it was put to practical use.

For example, there is a whistling kettle that uses steam. It’s a kettle that starts to make a noise when the water boils. That blows the lid off the spout and the steam escapes to make the sound. It also uses the power of steam.

But steam in normal conditions can only be used to that extent. However, just boiling water on the stove at home and generating steam can only make the “whistle” part of a whistling kettle.

I talk to Eins while assembling and preparing the experimental materials that I had prepared in advance.

“I can understand why you’re disappointed, Dr. Eins,” I said. “We all know things that can be powered by steam. It’s common knowledge that steam is useless. That’s why when you hear about a steam engine, you can’t expect much, yes?”

“Indeed I cannot…” Eins said bluntly, without hiding the upset on his face.

Eins is clear on this point. If you say it’s because he is a scientist or a researcher, it most definitely is.

“That’s because people don’t know how to use the steam engine or how to apply it,” I said. “But if you know how to use it, there is no technology that is more useful.”

“Hou… might you expound?” Eins said.

I complete the assembly of the first experimental device without answering Eins’ question. For a long time, I’ve been thinking about putting a steam engine into practical use, so I’ve been making only the disjointed parts. The metal workers who crafted it and those who stored it for me probably didn’t even know what it was.

I push the experimental equipment out of Eins’ laboratory and go out onto the terrace. It’s not something you do indoors.

“This is the first one,” I said.

With that said, I fire up the boiler of the first experimental device. It’s a simple device that looks like a scale. There is a weight on one side. The other side has a boiler on the bottom, a cylinder on the top, a balance on the top of the cylinder, and a tank that sends water into the cylinder is installed on the side.

“Hmm…? Mh? Mhmm?” Eins went, increasingly fascinated.

Steam heated by the boiler below is sent to the cylinder and pushed it up. When the cylinder reaches the top, the pipe that sends steam from the boiler is closed, and conversely, it opens the tank valve which sends water into the cylinder. As cold water is sent into the cylinder, the water vapor that has accumulated inside the cylinder is cooled and returns to liquid water. What happens then?

When steam is sent to the cylinder, the weight of the balance is overcome, so the cylinder is pushed up and tilted. Water is then sent into the cylinder and the steam cools, causing the steam to return to liquid water. When this happens, the inside of the cylinder becomes almost a vacuum, and negative pressure acts. Simply put, the top of the cylinder is pushed down by atmospheric pressure.

This causes the balance to move up and down once.

Steam is also sent into the cylinder to lift it, cool it down, and push it down. This all repeats. The scales move periodically with a “gakon-bakon” sound.

“Th-This is!” Eins choked before he gulped loudly.

“Did you understand the usefulness of the steam engine?” I asked.

Eins must have understood the applications of this experimental device and how to start realizing it. But this is very inefficient. This is just the beginning of the steam engine.

While Eins observes the first experimental device and ventures off into his own little world, I assemble the next experimental device. This is a very dangerous device. Considering the possibility of failure or being unable to withstand the pressure, I set it a little farther away than the first.

“Next is this one,” I said.

“Wa-Wait, are you saying there’s more still…?” Eins said.

Well, this is actually the practical version… the efficiency and the power that can be obtained here are a league of differences.

“Well then…”

For our safety, I turn on the boiler and leave it for a while. This is different from the simple steam engine that moves up and down with negative pressure. It is a modern-day steam engine equipped with a slide valve and a condenser.

The crank started to move by turning the valve and began to rotate without stopping. Looking at it, Eins opened his eyes so wide, you’d think his eyeballs would pop out.

“TH-THIS IS IT~~…!” Eins squealed.

Steam generated by heating in the boiler is sent to the cylinder in the same way as before. But it’s very different from here. The cylinder is separated by a piston and steam is sent to only one side. While steam is being sent to the right of the piston, the air on the left is made to escape.

When the piston reaches the leftmost position, the slide valve moves in conjunction with the movement of the crank, changing the flow of steam. This time, steam is no longer sent to the right and steam is sent to the left. And the water vapor sent to the right is sent forward from the outlet of the cylinder.

The destination is the condenser. Steam cooled in the condenser returns to water. Yes. Same as before. When the water vapor cools and returns to water, the inside becomes almost a vacuum. So it pulls the piston. The other side is pushed by the steam, and the other side is pulled by the vacuum.

The water that returns to water through the condenser is sent to the boiler again, where it is heated and sent to the cylinder.

The vertical motion steam engine shown at the beginning cools the inside of the cylinder directly. Therefore, in order to gather steam again, it is necessary to start from the place where the cold cylinder heats up. This is because when the cylinder is still cold, the water vapor turns back into water prematurely. So in order for the cylinder to fill with water vapor, it must be hot enough to keep the vapor in a gaseous state.

Compared to that, the improved version shown later, which rotates with a crank, has very good thermal efficiency because the cylinder is still hot, and the steam is released to the outside and cooled by the condenser. In addition, it uses both “positive pressure” where steam expands, and “negative pressure” where steam returns to water and becomes almost vacuum, so it can produce strong power.

In addition, if the structure of the device can withstand it, it is possible to use high-temperature and high-pressure steam, and the force that can be taken out becomes overwhelmingly strong.

However…if the device can’t withstand the pressure, it will explode… it’s a very dangerous device.

Why didn’t I develop a steam engine from the beginning…? Of course, it’s not a lie to say that there was no fuel. But when coal became available, the fuel problem was solvable. So why didn’t we proceed with the development? … That’s because it’s a technology that’s too far ahead of its time.

Galleon ships, cannons, and other things, the inventors who could have made them aside from me could have conceivably made them now. But on Earth, gunpowder was discovered and used in the 12th and 13th centuries. Of course, there are various improvements and research on how to use it from there, so it’s not like it’s being used in the same way as modern gunpowder. It was still invented so long ago.

A galleon ship would be far more advanced than the current level of technology in this world. But it wasn’t created from scratch. It was made possible by lending a little help to the shipbuilding technology that has been handed down from generation to generation. The basic skills and knowledge were already sufficient.

And above all, even if you can do these things, you don’t have the influence to change the world suddenly.

If gunpowder weapons such as handheld firearms became popular, it would overturn all warfare and concepts in this world, but they were also used in warfare on Earth in the 13th century. 1 Regardless of how old this world is compared to Earth, the discovery and use of gunpowder is not faster than on Earth.

Its development is unique and different from Earth, so it’s not possible to compare it simply, but the use of gunpowder is probably slower compared to Earth. Is it because of magic that gunpowder is underdeveloped? Well, that’s going off the rails, so I’ll put it aside for now…

What I have brought so far is nothing more than things that should already exist in this world, and basic skills and knowledge that existed and I helped develop more advanced levels. But the steam engine is clearly alien to this age.

Even on Earth, steam engines were not used until the 18th century. Moreover, the change brought about by the steam engine brought about a dramatic change unprecedented in the history of mankind called the Industrial Revolution. I can’t even imagine what would happen if steam engines were popularized in this world, this early.

Above all, steam engines are extremely dangerous. If you don’t have basic industrial capacity, materials, processing, technology, etc., it will explode. The inefficient steam engine that uses negative pressure, which I showed at the beginning, has a simple structure and does not require much pressure. Even immature industrial power can make it.

But improved steam engines that use positive pressure are so pressurized that they explode if the equipment can’t withstand the force. Even on Earth, those who conceived of this improved version prohibited the application of high pressure at first. Later, when the patent expired and everyone could use the technology freely, high-pressure steam engines were finally made.

If the steam engine were to become available, the effect would be tremendous. Besides, if you try to build a high-pressure steam engine when the materials and processing are still immature like now, there is a high risk of explosive accidents here and there.

Still, I’m trying to build a steam engine now… is this choice really correct? I’m not sure of that. Even so… the steam engine has already left my hands, and now it’s in the world.