CH 249

Chapter 249 – Ice-Type Beer Server

After making a prototype of the refrigerator and consulting with Melty, it was decided to test the ice refrigerator and ice shop. It has been installed on a trial basis in several restaurants in Merinesburg and so far seems to be well received.

But with that came new requests, and I was back in the R&D lab working on them.

“…What are you working on this time?”

Then I was visited by Ifrita. She seemed to be spending a lot of free time in the R&D office these days. Why is she not doing more work as a princess? I thought so, but I left it alone because it would be troublesome if I offended her.

“I’m working on a device that uses ice to make cold beer drinkable.”

…Why?”

Ifrita asks, looking seriously puzzled.

“You do know that the fridge is being tested in a restaurant in Merinesburg, right?”

“Yes, Sylphy told me about it. It seems to be very well received. I just gave you some advice, and she thanked me for it.”

“Yes, some stores have started serving their liquor chilled in the sample refrigerators. They’ve been very popular with the customers.”

“I see.”

“As a result, the refrigerators are now used to keep liquor cold, and they are hardly used to keep food cool, as they are supposed to.”

“Isn’t that a complete reversal of the original purpose?”

“Yes, it’s a complete turnaround. The capacity of a refrigerator is not enough to cool a large amount of food. So, we were asked to do something about it, and we suddenly had to make a cooling system for liquor using ice.”

What I am making is an ice beer server. It chills beer by passing it through a metal tube chilled with ice. The metal tube is coiled and made of copper. I believe it has a high thermal conductivity. I wonder if other materials would be better when considering corrosion resistance, et cetera…? Well, it’s a prototype for now, so this will do.

“Okay, let’s do some experiments. Maybe it will work.”

“You’re confident, aren’t you?”

“It was already made in my world, you know. So, can you bring out some ice, please?”

“I’m not very good at ice magic…”

While saying this, Ifrita produced several fist-sized pieces of ice with her magic. Well, from her name and appearance, she seems to be better at fire magic.

I crushed the ice Ifrita had given me with a hammer and laid it on the coil pipe. Then I put a funnel on the end where the liquor would exit and pour water into it.

Hmm, how do you actually serve the liquor? We can’t just pour it into a funnel every time, can we? There is also a sanitary problem. If we just connect the keg directly to this pipe, the liquor won’t flow. On the other side, you can pressurize it by connecting a soda cylinder, but we don’t have such a cylinder here… I’ll talk to Isla about it later and ask her to make me a magic tool that emits very weak wind magic.

If we use it as a CO2 cylinder and pressurize it, we can probably get there, right? The problem is whether the wooden barrels can withstand the pressurization… Well, if the barrels are placed in a high place, and the output of the magic tool is fragile, will it be okay…? I’m afraid the liquor barrels will explode from some kind of negligent operation. 

“How cold will it get?”

“I think it’s cold enough.”

Well, let’s just do the cooling experiment for now. With Ifrita giving me a curious look, I turn on the faucet, pour some of the water that comes out soon after into a glass, and drink it. Yes, it’s very cold.

“The experiment was a success for the time being. See?”

I filled a glass of water and offered it to Ifrita, who was looking at me with interest.

“…Yeah, well, it’s cold.”

Hmm? What a sudden attitude… I see.

“I didn’t pay enough attention to you; I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing.”

Ifrita sipped the well-cooled water while saying so.

“It’s really cold. Well, if you use this much ice… it’s very efficient, isn’t it?”

“That’s what I mean. This structure is also good for making hot water in a short time.”

The structure of a gas water heater is almost the same as that of an ice heater; only the ice is turned into fire. But since the heating time has to be controlled, the golem core will probably have to be incorporated as well.

At any rate, now that the proof-of-concept model was ready, I called Isla and the other members of the R&D department to discuss the commercialization of the product.

“Hmm, it uses copper tubing. I guess even a blacksmith in town could make one of these.”

“The casing is basically the same as a refrigerator, so I’m sure the same workshop could make it.”

“A barrel and a wind magic tool…? I think we could make this funnel like a large tank and lightly cover it to keep bugs and debris out.”

“As for draining the water from the melting ice, I think we should put a stopper at the bottom, pour it into a bucket or something, and dump it out. The problem is the consumption of ice.”

“Or rather, let’s cool the beer.”

The R&D department members came up with the idea of a prototype from the proof-of-concept model of an ice beer server. The people in the R&D department are both talented and enthusiastic, so when I come up with an idea like this, they immediately understand it and develop it into a commercial product. In fact, if I used all my abilities to the full, I could create the perfect ice beer server, but I’m not going to do that. It’s fun to think together with everyone in this way, and above all, there are magic and magic tools in this world. Possibly, some revolutionary product will be created based on an approach I would never have thought of.

A dwarven blacksmith brought a small keg of beer from somewhere and started chillin it.

“I love it! This is a great cold!”

“I never knew a cold beer could taste so good.”

“Another one, please!”

The R&D members who had started drinking became useless after this, and other busybodies who heard the commotion joined in, and it became like a banquet.

“This will sell well, won’t it? Kosuke-san, please make more of this kind of thing.”

“That’s unreasonable.”

Melty, who had joined the banquet before I knew it, asked me to do something reckless. It’s not as if ideas like this come out of the blue. The ice beer server was only brought to my mind after I received a request from a restaurant in the castle town.

“Please do your best, Kosuke-san; you have the ability to do it. It reminds me of the convenient goods that were very popular in the other world…”

“What a money-happy person.”

“If only Melty didn’t have that thing… I know she’s doing it for the good of the country, but…”

A little further away, Isla and Sylphy were looking at Melty as if they were looking at something pitiful. No, you two, don’t just look at us here; help me, will you?

☆★☆

While I was striving to improve the lives of the people, the international situation was gradually changing. First of all, the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, located to the west of the Merinard Kingdom and beyond the Confederation of Small Nations, welcomed the independence of the new Merinard Kingdom and announced a statement to the effect that it would recognize it as an equal nation.

With this announcement, the Western Confederation of Small Nations movement, which had been suspiciously attempting to seize the territory of the disorganized Merinard Kingdom after the defeat of the Holy Kingdom’s army, came to an abrupt halt. The statement by the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom was very favorable to the new Merinard Kingdom and contained the nuance that the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom would not remain silent if the new Merinard Kingdom were harmed.

According to what I have heard, the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom is an opponent that the Confederation of Small Nations should never oppose. It is said that there are many nations in the Western Confederation of Small Nations that are enriched by the flying dragon trade with the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, and if they make an enemy of the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, they will not be able to enjoy the benefits of this trade. So, I hear that the Confederation of Small Nations is beginning to show an attitude of following in the footsteps of the right and coming closer to the newborn Merinard Kingdom. I think they are a bunch of cash grabbers.

Next is the Empire, which established an embassy in the capital city of Merinesburg and also issued a statement welcoming the independence of the new Merinard Kingdom from the Holy Kingdom. The content of the statement was not extremely friendly like the Dragonis Mountain Kingdom, but it was something like “We are glad to see the appearance of a comrade who opposes the Holy Kingdom, which advocates the elimination of subhumans and human supremacy.” It seems.

“The phrasing is so roundabout that it doesn’t seem very likely, does it?”

“Well, when it comes to the higher-ups in the empire, they don’t use very straightforward expressions. It’s a kind of aristocratic or royal language, I suppose.”

“Sylphy and Seraphita-san are very straightforward in their speech.”

“In fact, the Merinard kingdom does not have a very long history. His Majesty Ixwill was the second king.”

“I see.”

Come to think of it; I know very little about the history of the Merinard Kingdom. I’m going to ask someone about it next time. Well, that’s okay for now. Let’s get back to the story.

Of course, the response was not all friendly. The Holy Kingdom has been bitterly criticizing the new Merinard Kingdom, saying that it is outrageous that a rebel group that massacred innocent civilians and soldiers and occupied many cities by force should call itself a nation.

It is unlikely that any of these countries will take concrete action during the winter, but who knows what will happen when the weather warms up, and they are ready to prepare their troops, etc.? No, they will certainly turn on the new Merinard.

The Liberation Army, or the new Merinard Kingdom, has finished the battle to regain its homeland, and now it will be involved in the battle to defend itself.