CH 117

Chapter 117 – Calculating The Upgrade

“So you’re saying you want some time off?”

“You could say that.”

The next day, I went to visit Isla. But it wasn’t just the two of us here; this was Isla’s workplace. In other words, it was the Erichburg branch of the Research and Development Department.

Incidentally, the ape-beastman Sykes was not here. This is because he has been appointed as the head of the Research and Development Department at what used to be called the frontline base but is now called the central base. I heard that he and his wives are working hard day and night over there. In many ways. I’ll send him a dozen of stamina recovery medicine next time.

Since we invaded the former Merinard Kingdom’s territory far ahead of schedule, the base we built in the Great Omit Wilderness ended up being quite far behind.

Erichburg would be the front line, but it would take more than ten days to get from Erichburg to the Great Omit Wilderness on foot and three to four days even by carriage. From there, it would take five days on foot to reach the central base and two days on foot to reach the main base further back, which is now called the rear base.

Moreover, once you enter the Great Omit Wilderness, the speed of the carriage is not as fast as it should be, so the speed is not much different from walking. So, if you traveled from Erichburg to the rear base normally, it would take at least ten days one way. A round trip would take more than 20 days. It’s quite a long way. Thanks to the golem communication device, information can reach us rather quickly, though.

Well, it doesn’t matter now. It’s important, but it’s not the information I need right now. My big problem right now is that I have nothing to do.

“It’s not healthy to be dependent on Kosuke for everything. Of course, there will be many more situations where I will need to rely on Kosuke’s help, but this is not the time. It’s also important to relax and do nothing.”

“But I feel restless if I’m not doing something.”

“Kosuke’s work ethic is too high.”

“In my original, it was normal to work from morning till night every day. Of course, there’s a day off once or twice a week.”

“It’s like slave labor.”

“That’s very accurate.”

You work from morning till night and sleep like dirt on your days off. Rather than working to live, it becomes the norm to live to work. Maybe you can have a little time for your hobbies during your breaks or when you get home before going to bed… No, let’s not think about it. It hurts my heart.

“But if you have nothing better to do, I have a suggestion.”

“Oh, what’s that?”

“Over here.”

Isla gets out of her chair and starts to walk around. Yes, she is petite, and her feet do not touch the floor when she sits on the chair. Cute.

That being the case, I followed Isla. Perhaps curious, the other members of the Research and Development Department also followed us. Incidentally, including Isla, there are thirteen subhumans and three humans in the Research and Development Department of Erichburg, for a total of sixteen people. There are four mages, four alchemists, two apothecaries, three blacksmiths, one engraver, and two woodworkers.

“Is this a warehouse?”

“Hmm, yes. This is where we keep the materials we use for our research. Of course, there are also magical materials.”

“Magical materials… Oh, a granting table!”

“I was wondering the same thing.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely give it a try.”

I checked the recipe for the granting workbench again.

・Granting Workbench ―― Materials: Mithril x 5, Gemstones x 12, Magic Stone x 20, Magic Wood x 10, Magic Clay x 10 ※Materials are not available!

“Five mithril, twelve gemstones, twenty pieces of magic stone, ten pieces of magic wood, and ten pieces of clay.”

“Hmm, I’ll get the mithril and gemstones out of the vault. The stone is over there, the wood is over there, and the clay is in the corner over there.”

“Okay.”

While Isla went to open the vault, I put the stone, wood, and clay in my inventory as instructed.

“Oh, it’s gone.”

“There really is no flow of magic, is there?”

“It’s not a magic spell, as Isla-san said, but a miracle, or a phenomenon related to that?”

“It’s strange.”

The new members of the research and development department, who watched the scene, raised their voices in surprise. This kind of reaction, no matter how many times I hear it, always lifts my spirits.

“I’ve brought it.”

“Oh, thank you. But is it okay? I think this is worth a lot of money.”

“It was originally mined by Kosuke anyway.”

“Oh, I see.”

This is the stockpile of materials that I released before I was kidnapped by Qubi. Maybe the material with the magic power was arranged for me in case I came back.

“Thank you, Isla.”

“Hmm.”

Isla smiles, her cheeks flushed. I patted her on the head. She’s cute.

“Geez, enough with the petting, let’s try it.”

I guess she was a little uncomfortable with being treated like a child, but she was pouting and angry with red cheeks. It’s hard to endure because Isla is so cute, but let’s quickly make a granting workbench to satisfy Isla’s curiosity.

I take out the improved workbench from my inventory, set it up here, and start crafting the granting workbench. The work will take… two hours!

“It will take two hours.”

“Gaahh… that’s a letdown.”

Isla’s eye widen, and then she looks disappointed. Yeah, I’m sorry too.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions too, okay? I want to hear opinions not only from Isla but from everyone.”

“Hmm, sure.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

“If I can be of any help.”

Everyone agreed, so we left the improved workbench here and moved once again to the research and development department’s room.

The development room was quite large. Workbenches were placed here and there, and in the center was a large table for discussion. This table also seemed to be set up for some work.

After confirming that everyone had taken their seats, I opened my mouth.

“The truth is, I’m having a hard time growing in my abilities.”

“You’re having trouble…?”

“Yes. I can create a lot of new things with my item creation ability, but in the end, the key to my ability is the workbench. By improving the workbench, I can increase the amount of materials I can process, make things more precise, and make the same thing in less time.”

“I see. In other words, you need to improve your basic skills.”

“You don’t mean in terms of your own skills, but in terms of equipment.”

“I see. But isn’t that quite difficult to achieve? Breakthroughs in processing technology can’t be achieved overnight.”

Isla and the workers began to discuss the matter. I’m glad they understand so quickly.

“I think I have a rough idea, though. Maybe it needs a powerful external power source.”

“External power?”

Isla tilted her head. The workers in the research and development department also seem to have no idea what to do.

“I want you to take a look at this first. This is the initial workbench.”

I took out an ordinary workbench from my inventory before I upgraded it and set it up. Basically, it’s just a simple wooden workbench with a toolbox and a vise to hold the workpieces in place.

“And here is the improved workbench. And this one is an improved workbench, a level 2 workbench if you can call it that.”

So I took out the improved workbench, which had the elements of the workbench plus a foot-operated lathe. The improved workbench dramatically shortened the processing time for various intermediate materials and items and greatly enhanced my crafting abilities.

“As you can see, the main difference between the workbench and the improved workbench is the lathe. If you’re a blacksmith or woodworker, have you ever handled one of these?”

“No, I have not. What’s this all about?”

” Oh, I’m not that familiar with it either. I feel like it’s something I use, though.”

I’ll explain what the lathe can do, but only briefly. It’s used to cut materials by fixing them on a rotating table and pressing a blade against them. Just think of it as being able to cut hard metal to make screws, tubes, holes, etc.

The improved workbench can also be used to make bolt-action rifles, so the improved workbench may actually contain elements of milling machines and other processing machines as well as lathes.

“Hmm, I see. It’s good for making large quantities of the same thing, isn’t it?”

“It’s not suitable for making swords and spears, but it’s useful for making small parts for magic tools.”

“Depending on how you use it, it could also be used to polish jewelry.”

The blacksmiths seemed to be quite intrigued by the lathe itself. The engraver, who also worked as a jeweler, seemed to be just as interested as the smiths.

“I understand the difference between the workbenches. So, what do you mean by external power?”

“Oh, I digress from the topic. As you can see, this thing is currently powered by human power. My idea is to use magic instead of manpower to power it.”

“You’re going to use magic to do this?”

Isla tilted her head. Yeah, you can do it with human power, so you can’t find any reason to use magic power? That’s a fair question. But there is a good reason.

“With human power, there will always be unevenness, right? Sometimes you step too hard, too fast. If you step too hard or too fast, the rotation will be uneven. In other words, the quality will be uneven. So what if using magic power, the machine could run at a constant output, right?”

“…You can make a lot of products with the same quality?”

“That’s what I mean. In addition, if the output can be made variable, it will be easier to perform various kinds of processing, and if the force and timing of pressing the material against the cutting blade can also be made constant, that would be even better.

“In other words, you can control the output with the golem core and process it with the golem arm?”

Isla tilted her head and muttered. As expected of Isla, she understands quickly.

“Yes, that’s it. It would be great if the final product could be made from scratch according to the data you input.”

“Hey, hey, that’s going to leave us, craftsmen, out of business.”

The blacksmith made a complicated expression. Yeah, that’s right.

“In fact, that’s the way I think. In my world, those machines were working automatically from morning to night, producing large quantities of goods. Of course, even in my world, there were skilled people who were called craftsmen.”

No matter how much mechanization progressed, there were still craftsmen who made high-quality, one-of-a-kind products, although there are very few.

“In other words, if you’re not a skilled craftsman, you’re not going to survive… This guy is scary.”

“That’s right. To be honest, my power is a power that fights head-on with the craftsmen of this world. This is the reason why I’m going to be careful about how I use my power.”

It’s not that I want to wipe out the craftsmen of this world by putting them out of business.

“Some of the products created by the research and development department are strictly controlled and prohibited from being taken out of the country because anything involving Kosuke is dangerous in many ways. Also, the lathes are already in practical use at the rear base for magical and hydraulic power. If we can get the results of that research, it should be easy to combine it with golem technology to create a variable output type of magical power.”

“I see, so can I have you make one for me? I’ll help you.”

“Leave it to me.”

Isla nodded her head. If this works, the workbench can be upgraded. After that, we can wait for the granting workbench to be completed… and upgrade the blacksmithing facility.　It’s also possible to use golem technology to upgrade that as well… I’ll discuss this with Isla separately as well.