Chapter 5: Ambition and Innovation

Chapter 5: Ambition and Innovation

The night before the presentation, an exhausted Daniel hops off of the cart at the castle gates. He's late for curfew, especially for cart traffic, but he told the guards he was going to be a little late. He checks in with the guardhouse at the portcullis, and the guard lectures him briefly, “When you said 'a little late', I thought you meant a few minutes, Daniel.”

“I'm sorry, Chullene. One of the cart's wheels broke. I had to borrow one from an acquaintance. I don't mind if you log my entry, but please allow me to enter. I need to get this set up for the presentation tomorrow.”

Chullene, the rather burly wolf-eared guard with mostly human features, sighs. “Yeah, that is happening tomorrow, isn't it? You know, Gunther's been running around saying you forfeited.”

“It took a little longer to finish than I hoped. I haven't even been able to test it fully, yet.”

“What is it?”

“A water pump.”

“Ohhhh! Like the one you put on the fountain down in Cobbler's Bank?”

“Uhh... Is that Cobbler's Bank?”

“Pfft! You crack me up, Daniel. You'd do well to learn local names for the people you're selling your equipment to.”

Daniel shrugged. “I don't care who the customer is, so long as I can make it work. Speaking of, how's the water cooler treating you?”

“Ohhh, god, Daniel. I don't think I'll be able to do without. The entire guard makes their roves over to our shack for water. Our squires are constantly running to your pump.”

Daniel smiles. “Well, if you like that one, then this pump will hopefully change the game entirely. At least for delivering water.”

“Really?”

Daniel yawns from his weariness, nodding to acknowledge him. “Apologies. Running on fumes, myself.”

“Have... you slept, Daniel?”

“Hmm? Yeah. Some. I'll be alright. So, may I?”

Chullene scratches his neck and sighs. “Fine. But, I’m logging a late entry. Expect to be reprimanded by the Captain of the Guard tomorrow. Good luck in the duel.”

Daniel nods gratefully, “Thank you so much. I’m just glad it’s this kind of duel.”

They both share a chuckle, and Chullene coordinates the gatemen to open the portcullis, allowing Daniel to drive the cart into the courtyard. He parks near the clearwater creek, which is the clean water feeding the castle. The downstream side is on the edge of the courtyard, and it contains the castle’s blackwater -dirty water from various functions-.

Daniel pulls the heavy case pieces for his pump to the ground, staging them in their relative positions. He’s still not sure how to thread and counter thread nuts and bolts like his old world, but he was able to make some crude ones that should at least allow his pump to be serviceable, if a little leaky. Fortunately, he didn’t need any additional money from Wenlianna, since he was able to afford the raw materials and cast the casing pieces himself, tempering them in water baths thanks to the town blacksmith. When the townfolk heard about it, many of them asked if they could help, but he explained he needed to do the work himself, since it was something he was presenting, so he needed to know how to explain every part.

The piston itself is rather simple, using a rocker valve that he was able to make that will rely on the wind-crystal pressurizing the service lines. The rocker valve, similar to a solenoid valve, will prevent the pump from stalling by using a ‘break before make’ setup. With the backpressure of water, it should be unbalanced, meaning it will always have to make it to one side or the other, allowing the air pressure to cycle the pump the opposite way until it flips the rocker valve, flipping direction back and forth. In essence, it’s a scaled up version of the lever pump he put on the well, utilizing a single mana crystal and a wind crystal with a switch to automatically pump water. Piston pumps aren’t the fastest at moving water, but they generally don’t need to be primed, can pump to very high pressures, and generally have good service lifetimes. Of course, he’s comparing that knowledge to carefully machined, well-lubricated, and precisely engineered electrical-driven pumps, but he’s pretty happy with the core of this machine.

After assembling it, he’s pretty sure it’s after clockset; this world’s ‘midnight’. He has no idea, of course, since he hasn’t seen any timepieces anywhere, and Wenlianna never spoke of specific times. Even the duel is to take place ‘after dawn and the morning Court’, which Wenlianna’s explanation made it seem like an hour after full sunrise.

Daniel tests the pump briefly, yawning as it puffs and slurps, pulling water from the creek and spitting it out rather forcefully from the outlet. It seems to be working, though it’s too dark to tell for certain.

He hears Chullene call out, “Daniel? You alright over there?”

“Yeah! Sorry! Just testing it. Not much to see, but it sounds like it’s working.”

“Awesome. Can’t wait to see it in action.”

“Haha, thanks. Uh... the cart...”

“I’ll send for a stableboy to come get the nougen and the cart. Go get some sleep, Daniel.”

“Thank you. I’ll take you up on that.”

Daniel yawns as he takes a seat on the grass just off of the stone wall of the creek the pump is sitting on. He decides to rest his eyes for a moment, since technically, his place to sleep is a spare space in Wenlianna’s personal quarters within the castle, and he’d rather not wake her up this late by entering.

Before he knows it, he’s asleep.

Daniel wakes up to his hand being licked, and he jolts a little. He hears a small creature scampering away, and he spots the cause. It’s a small, feline-like weasel creature called a ‘benki’, about the size of a cat, but elongated. They aren’t known to be aggressive to people, and they hunt and eat pests around the castle, so the denizens of the castle leave them alone.

However, as he’s stretching, he finds he’s covered with a light blanket. At first, he assumes it was the guards, but it has a faintly mint-like scent, which instantly reminds him of Wenlianna. She stores her clothes with herbs to make them smell a little better, since her laundry is done the OLD fashioned way of washing with bland soap, rinsing, and then air-drying.

Daniel relaxes a little at the thought that she came by sometime in the night to give him a blanket. While his circumstances in this world aren’t always ideal, it’s very rare that he feels truly alone, thanks to kind people like Wenlianna and the people of town who he’s come to know.

With a renewed sense of determination, Daniel climbs to his feet, folding the blanket briefly and setting it on top of the pump. The first rays of light are peeking over the horizon, and the morning magic lanterns are on, giving enough light for Daniel to do some final checks. He cycles the pump again, and it shakes, but spits water out successfully, as expected. For a permanent fixture, he’d likely choose to anchor it with flared pikes, since he doesn’t have an abundance of options without machining equipment. Two crystals that he surprisingly hasn’t seen much of are water-elemental magic crystals, and electrical crystals, which he has reason to believe exist, based on the descriptions of some tools Wenlianna mentioned, but he hasn’t seen anything yet. Even light crystals for the magic lanterns don’t use electricity; they emit light when exposed to appropriate mana.

There’s a lot of research he has to do if he’s ever to fully understand the magic crystals, and he has quite a few questions for when he meets Wenlianna again.

For now, though, he takes a seat on the pump’s casing, waiting patiently for the sun to rise.

A crowd begins to gather, murmuring and whispering. He doesn’t overhear much, but he’s able to piece together enough to know that his strange device is extremely interesting, but his own appearance is a deterrent. A couple people even assume he’s merely the servant guarding the machine. That’s not entirely innaccurate. In his case, he’s both master and servant.

And, he’s exhausted, but satisfied.

Wenlianna’s voice breaks through the dull murmur, “Daniel? There you are! And, plenty early. You make a lady proud.”

Daniel smiles at her, nodding politely as he stands up. “Thank you, My Lady. I hope I have performed satisfactorily.”

She peeks at the machine behind him, and she smiles. She whispers, “Something tells me more than satisfactory.”

Daneil picks up the blanket, asking softly, “My Lady, did this...?”

“Never seen it before. But, when you’re done with it, put it in the cabinet in my lab. All these witnesses here, you can go now if you want.”

Daniel agrees as he suppresses a yawn. “Thank you, my Lady. I’ll return shortly.”

Daniel walks the blanket to her lab, finding the empty space it came from in a cabinet with ease. And, sure enough, it smells similar to mint inside. He smiles, placing the folded blanket inside and returning to the courtyard. People are crowded around Daniel’s pump, asking Wenlianna, who fends them off with, “I keep telling you, I don’t know! This is my first time seeing it, too!” She grins at Daniel, and they notice him, backing away. He realizes why; he’s absolutely filthy. His arms are bandaged. His pants have tears. His hands are dirty, as well as his face, most likely. He probably looks like he crawled out of a chimney. He asks Wenlianna, “Should I... clean up, My Lady?”

She smiles, “Nah. It says a lot. Just relax. We’re still waiting on Gunther and the Royal Court. Shouldn’t be too long, now.”

Daniel nods in confirmation, taking a seat once more on the pump. He rests his eyes as he listens. Wenlianna explains the duel to those who ask, and that she remained hands-off for both of them.

Gunther appears, and Wenlianna has him set up his presentation a few yards away. Daniel notices the design looks awfully familiar, but when he made it, he only made a simple lever pump because he knew how, and it would be a gateway to making better devices if he could source the right materials, as his automatic pump will prove. He has no way of knowing for certain that this town is representative of the technology of the world, since there doesn’t seem to be any artificers who reside in the town, and the only Artisans are Wenlianna and a Viscount that hasn’t worked on equipment for some time since opening a trade business.

And then, the Royal Crier calls out, “All hail His Majesty, King Greydald, Her Majesty, Queen Orphialxia, Her Highness, Crown Princess Heralesse, Her Highness, Princess Erimaya, and His Majesty, King Regent Rikuto!”

The crowd rises to their feet -those that have seats-, and they kneel for the Royal procession arriving, and Daniel hops off of his pump, kneeling in suit. In addition to the named Royal Family members, the Crier names off the various Court mages and nobles that join them. Elegant chairs are provided by servants for them all, and they take seats. Princess Erimaya gasps, and the others look at her. Her gaze is locked on Daniel in horror, but she notices the stares, who don’t seem to realize what startled her. In contrast, they seem to believe she’s horrified by his unkempt appearance, and she shakes her head when they silently look at her.

Rikuto stands back up, and Princess Heralesse joins him, indicating some sort of relationship, likely due to Rikuto’s ascension to the role of King Regent. He begins reading off of a scroll, “Thank you for waiting, loyal subjects. Today, we are here to bear witness to the duel of wisdom between one Lord Gunther of the Montarre household and the Assistant Artisan,...” He looks directly at Daniel this time, and his eyes go wide. “Daniel,... of the otherworld.”

The crowd gasps, and Gunther bursts out, “WHAT!?”

Wenlianna grins deviously, straightening her face when Rikuto looks at her, as well as the King and Queen.

Rikuto clears his throat, continuing reading. “This duel is for each participant to present something to demonstrate their knowledge of any one of the fields of magic, and to demonstrate expertise in magic. The stakes have been determined and notarized by the contestants and shall remain private...”

Erimaya jumps up, crying out, “You can’t allow this!” Her delicate voice trembles, as genuine concern fills her expression. “Daniel is devoid of all magic! He can’t...”

Wenlianna holds up her hand, saying confidently, “Please fret not, your Highness Erimaya; my chosen assistant accepted this challenge knowing the stakes. His success or failure is his own.”Yôur favorite stories at novelhall.com

“But...”

“The contract has been signed. Voiding the contract now would null the benefits, and I have no intention of replacing my assistant.”

The audience members murmur in surprise, and Syaroa raises her hand again. Wenlianna nods at the woman, “Countess. Please go ahead.”

Syaroa stands up, flattening her dress as she folds her hands in front of her. “L-... Er, uh... Mister... Daniel; your pump is interesting, but must it be so loud? I dread the thought of such a device in one’s home.”

Daniel confirms, “Indeed, my Lady Countess. A pump this size isn’t practical for a single home’s use. Rather, it’s better suited to feeding a water storage unit above the level of use; for instance, a rooftop or a purpose-built tower. Gravity feeds the water from the tower to users. The pump itself would be stored in a pump-room out of the way where the noise would be avoidable, or in a subfloor. Because a properly designed pump can lift rather high, it would be suitable for feeding the castle’s upper floors.” Daniel realizes how long he was talking, and he flinches. “Forgive me for speaking so long. Please allow me the chance to clarify if I didn’t answer your question, My Lady Countess.”

She’s stunned for a moment, but she replies, “No... that... was adequate.”

Count Brostilar stands up, asking, “Mister Daniel; you claim this pump can service multiple homes?”

Daniel explains politely, “Depending on the water usage of the combined households or whatever the load is, yes. As I mentioned, with a storage vessel, the pump can be run to fill the vessel, ideally for a short period of time throughout the day. I could probably rig a demand switch for whenever the water pressure drops, which is partially how our systems work, but it becomes more complex and finicky.”

Brostilar nods, cupping his chin with his fingers as he envisions it.

Baroness Veriuv raises her hand. Wenlianna gestures, “Baroness Veriuv? You have a question?”

The baroness stands up, saying, “Yes, thank you. Mister Daniel, did you say your device uses a wind crystal?”

“Indeed, my Lady Baroness.”

“Can you explain how mere wind is capable of such strange action?” Many members of the audience nod in agreement.

Daniel gives his own nod, replying warmly, “Of course, my Lady. This pump proved my hypothesis, actually. Magic crystals don’t appear to have an upper limit on their output, save self-destruction, and because magic crystals store a massive amount of material and energy, when a wind crystal emits air in an enclosed space, it can pressurize that space. By harnessing the pressure, I can use that pressure to cycle the piston, with a rocker valve that swaps the piston back and forth on its own.”

Princess Heralesse raises her hand, standing up. She speaks before Wenlianna can properly address her. “Daniel, this pump defies logic. Are you saying it could deliver water to neighboring kingdoms?”

“No, nothing that far, your Highness. At least, not this pump type.” Rikuto silently nods when she looks at him. Daniel continues, “There are limits, and the volume of flow is too low with this style of pump to make it worth it. The best way I can think to explain it is trying to lift too much weight with a rope, or to try to push the weight with an unwieldy spear.”

“I see... So it wouldn’t be able to lift the water to the roof of the castle?”

“Actually, for a lift pump going that high, a piston pump like this has the advantage. This one was made with the best I could do with this world’s technology, but I believe this one in its current form should have the pressure to reach the roof of the castle.”

Again, the audience murmurs, and Heralesse ponders for a moment. She remarks, “I have no further questions. Thank you.”

Daniel bows, “You grace me, your Highness.”

She sits back down, and Wenlianna scans the crowd. “Anyone else?”

Syaroa remarks with a smirk, “I have many more questions, but not requiring a formal audience.”

The other Court mages nod in agreement.

Wenlianna then says, “Very well. If there are no more questions, I’d like to leave it to the judges to rate each competitor. Please consider whatever factors you feel suit the presentation." The Court Mages nod and they, along with Wenlianna, depart the courtyard to deliberate.

Rikuto excuses himself from the Royal Family, insisting they give him a moment alone with Daniel. The Japanese man turned King Regent approaches Daniel with a smile. He speaks in English, "Daniel, judging by 'sodium chloride', you still speak English, yes?"

Daniel nods as he replies, "Still my mother tongue, but I can converse comfortably enough in Imperial Common."

"I'd rather talk alone, actually, so English is better. Excellent work learning the language and finding a niche."

With a chuckle, Daniel admits, "I'm supremely lucky I was a maintenance mechanic. A lot of principles apply here.”

“Hahaha, and I’m lucky I was studying economics at university. But, you seem to carry yourself pretty well with authority. You don’t seem anything like I thought.”

Daniel rubs his neck, asking, “No?”

Rikuto shakes his head, adding, “And, not because I thought you were American. You just seem... mature. For your age, that is.”

“My age?” Daniel looks at his hands. He’s had suspicions for a while, but he never bothered to confirm it. He asks, “How old do you think I am?”

“Well... I wouldn’t put you much older than me. Twenty five at most, given your appearance alone. And that’s assuming you look young for twenty five.”

Daniel sighs. “I thought so, too. So, for some reason, when I transported here, I got younger.”

“Really? Wait! Don’t tell me you’re a sixty year old man in there!”

“What? No, not quite that high. I’m thirty two. Er, thirty three, now, I think. Kinda haven’t been comparing time. Did a sentence in the military, which gave me what little spine I have.”

“Thirty three? Oh! Happy birthday, then.”

“Pfft! Thanks. Anyways, I’m aware of how precarious I have it here, so I’ll do my best to stay out of your way and provide what support I can.”

“Thanks. But, did you say ‘sentence’?”

Daniel smirks, and Rikuto nods as he makes the connection. “Ahh. Because it was LIKE prison. Alright. Well, regardless of the outcome of this duel, I’d like to add you into my cabinet anyways. I have a prime minister, already, but I can...”

“No! No, please, don’t. In spite of my age, I specifically avoided leadership responsibilities. I don’t have it in me to be assertive when it’s imperative. I’d sooner prefer you send me to the front lines. At least there, I can fumble my way through something on my own merits without risking the whole kingdom.”

“I see.”

“From what I can tell, Rikuto-san, you’re doing a pretty good job, so far. Lady Wenlianna speaks positively of you, and from what I gather, she’s not easy to impress.”

“Yes, I suspect this duel had something to do with that.” Rikuto looks into Daniel’s eyes. “From what I gather, she’s well-respected in the Court for her intelligence and ingenuity, but many are wary of her. She’s secretive and deceitful. Regardless of your personal feelings for her, I ask that you be cautious of what she asks of you.”

“I’ll try not to make trouble for anyone, but... I suspect we’re about to get to the real reason you want to talk to me.”

Rikuto sighs. “Yes. Apologies for beating around the bush, but... Something we two must discuss;...”

“How much of the other world we should bring over here, correct?”

Rikuto nods grimly, solidifying how serious it is to him.

It’s a question Daniel has pondered every day when he is running through everything he can think of that he might be able to make. Firearms were one of his first impulses, since it would give him a way to defend himself against even the monsters that he’s heard rumor of. While he probably doesn’t have the means to make a fully automatic machine gun, a rifle, even a bolt action, would go a long way.

Daniel replies, “I’ve worried about that, too. With the water pump, I figured it was harmless enough, and would improve people’s lives. While... I can probably make weapons, I’m not interested in altering the military might of this world. Not until we know what we’re really dealing with.”

Rikuto sighs. “I’m thankful you feel that way. Yes, I believe creature comforts, such as moving and cleaning water, improving food production and storage, and improvements of existing technology should be okay. I’ve been implementing modern agricultural techniques as best as I can, as well as some architectural changes that can be done with current technology, which will give this kingdom an advantage, but help the world overall. So, with that in mind, I give you my blessing to pursue any advancements not involved with warfare. If I’m forced to change my mind, I’ll make that call as king, rather than as an Earthling. Sound fair?”

Daniel nods eagerly, joking, “You just told me to pass it up the chain. That’s music to my ears, Boss.” He grins, and Rikuto smiles and nods. “Very well.”

Rikuto switches to Imperial Common, the language most of the world uses, and he says, “I look forward to implementing this system, Mister Daniel. If you wouldn’t mind, while we have a few more minutes it seems, Princess Heralesse wanted to pick your brain on the other fields of your knowledge. Princess?”

She excuses herself from her family, walking rather hurriedly over. “Are you two finished speaking in your otherworld language?”

Rikuto smiles and replies with a nod. “Yes. Though, I don’t know that you’ve been formally introduced; Princess, this is Daniel, who arrived with me. Daniel, this is Crown Princess Heralesse.”

Daniel bows, “A supreme honor to meet you, Princess Heralesse. I am Daniel.”

She replies a little curtly, but mostly because she seems to have a spicy personality; “Pleasure’s mine. But, I’m also fiancee to his majesty, King Rikuto. Please continue to serve us faithfully when we officially become King and Queen.”

“To the best of my ability, your Highness. Long may you reign.”

She crosses her arms, “Now. I want to know what sort of devices you could make that could help us defeat the demon army.”

Daniel only glances with his eyes at Rikuto. Rikuto was warning him, since the Princess would ask. Again, though, Daniel doesn’t get the sense of a war monger before him. He sees an overly mature teenage Princess -probably deprived of sleep and a little cranky- who desperately wants to protect her people, while trying to maintain proper decorum. He doesn’t take her tone personally. Instead, he explains as best he can why he’s limited to services that will benefit living and potentially trade, but unlikely be able to benefit the war effort.

He’s lying, of course, but destroying another nation with a gigantic boost in technological advancement all of a sudden is likely to only destabilize the world, not save it. As Rikuto said, there will be a time and place for that discussion if their backs are against the wall. And for now, an empire and united kingdoms and territories are united in a battlefront holding the demon territory at bay.

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