Chapter 224: To Study Ether
After the war was over, Leobold secured his domain by defeating Count Lantis in a territorial war.
No one in Bagran could interfere with his territory anymore.
The Vandus Viscounty had a population of 21,000 people, which kept increasing due to the immigrants who came after hearing the rumors.
As more people came, the visitors from the capital also increased. Among them was a mage named Stephina, who sneaked into the territory quietly.
“Hello, Baron… Oh, you are now a Viscount, right? Congratulations anyway. I’m Stephina.”
“Nice to meet you. But I’ve heard of Stephina as a name.”
“Ah… I have some circumstances. I’d appreciate it if you call me by my name.”
She was from Zaium and had been wandering as a mercenary, looking for a place to settle.
She came after Leobold established his authority after the war, so she seemed to have been cautious. But that was not something to blame.
It was natural for an outsider to observe the situation.
It would have been a headache if she got involved in the war and got hurt, and Leobold didn’t want that either.
Seeing that the lord welcomed her, Stephina shouted outside to unload her luggage from the carriage.
“Careful! There are some fragile things, so be gentle! Aaah! Do you know how much that glass bottle is worth?”
She seemed to have a lively personality, running with her robe fluttering to catch the falling bottle.
Anyway, she drank the tea that Arma offered and expressed her impression of the territory.
“Hmm… It’s a pretty nice place compared to the rumors. It’s not too chaotic and orderly.”
“Were you in the capital for a while? What kind of rumors did you hear?”
“I’m not sure if I should say it in front of you, my lord.”
“It must be something related to me. It’s okay, just tell me honestly.”
Leobold was someone who had heard all kinds of insults on Earth.
Regardless of whether they were justified or not, he had heard them so often and intensely that he didn’t flinch at any harsh words.
Stephina hesitated and said.
“They say that Viscount Vandus treats his people like dogs and executes them frequently…”
“And?”
“They say that he starves the children and exercises his droit du seigneur to bring in the maidens of his territory and rape them…”
He couldn’t help but laugh at the absurd rumors.
The protagonists who spread these rumors were most likely Princess Eolin and Count Lantis.
They were the only ones who had a grudge against him in the palace.
‘They must be trying to spread false rumors to create a negative perception of me since they can’t break through politically.’
That wouldn’t be the end of it.
There would be double or triple schemes prepared.
For example, if they combined it with food embargo, they could make the rumor of starving children a reality.
Coincidentally, Count Lantis had a large grain-producing area in eastern Bagran.
If he started to restrict the grains and other crops from there, it would be a big trouble for Vandus Viscounty.
He could import from the capital or other places, but due to the poor transportation situation in the east, the cost would be much higher than expected.
Of course, Arma had prepared countermeasures for that, so he wasn’t too worried.
What Leobold was concerned about was that talented people would not come to his territory because of that.
Even Stephina half-believed those nonsense rumors.
“Do you still believe that?”
When he asked that, she shook her head.
“I don’t feel that way from looking at people’s faces. But I need to see more. Oh, by the way, I heard that there is an ether research institute here?”
“That’s right. We just moved here recently.”
The original territory had almost no advantages except for the dark heat and the ability to harvest seafood including fish.
It was better to make this territory as the main base for future development since transportation was inconvenient there.
He had to reorganize the administrative districts and there were many things to do.
Anyway, Stephina seemed very curious about the existence of the ether research institute.
“Hmm… It’s unusual to establish an ether research institute in such a small territory. It’s not something that can be done with money.”
“It’s because we have a floating continent. I haven’t announced it yet, but there are many resources besides gold on the floating continent.”
“Can you tell me a little bit about them?”
“I’ll tell you what I know if you sign here.”
When a contract landed on the table, she shrugged her shoulders and sighed lightly.
“Well, I came here to settle down anyway… Is it done now? Please tell me quickly.”
“On the floating continent…”
Leobold opened his mouth when the door opened with a bang and Zion appeared with Lucia on his shoulder.
“Hey, lord. I heard my disciple came?”
“Didn’t you hear that knocking is a basic etiquette?”
“That’s only for humans. Hmm, are you Stephina?”
“Yes? Well, for now…”
“Hehe, finally the one who will be my disciple has appeared. Listen up. You will work overtime from today.”
“I don’t know what you are talking about.”
Stephina looked at Zion with a suspicious gaze.
He seemed to be from another race from the way he said human, but he looked like a fine human no matter where he looked.
He wore a strangely modified robe and had long blue hair tucked into his hat, which gave him an ominous vibe.
Zion put his feet on the sofa to catch the mood, but he was kicked in the shin by Leobold.
“Damn, who hits without saying anything?”
“First of all, fix your bad habit of putting your feet up recklessly.”
“My head must have gone crazy from working overtime every day. Who made me do this?”
“Was it too much to ask you to write a paper on ether? Anyway, Stephina, let me introduce you. This is Zion, the director of the ether research institute, and the fairy on his shoulder is Lucia.”
She didn’t mind his change of tone and looked at Lucia with curious eyes.
“It’s amazing that there are fairies in this world. I thought they were extinct.”
―I hear that a lot. By the way, you are quite a powerful mage, Stephina? I can tell even though you hide your power with a sealing magic circle.
Lucia wrote letters in the air and Stephina tried to erase them, but then she just sat down.
Leobold said.
“You seem to have some situation. Well, I’ll find out sooner or later. Anyway, Stephina, you will work at the ether research institute for a while. There must be some papers you were working on, so you can cooperate and write them together.”
“Okay. What about my accommodation?”
“I’ll show you around, follow me human.”
“Why do you keep calling me human? What are you?”
“Huhu, you’ll be surprised when you find out my identity.”
“Are you a dragon who destroyed Denova or something? Come to think of it, your hair is blue… This is not fake, right?”
“Don’t pull it!”
The three left noisily.
Leobold finally crossed out the ether research institute from his schedule.
Three people were enough to conduct basic research on ether.
When it was combined with the information that Arma had investigated, he could start applying ether in earnest.
‘That would be fundamentally different from using ether on Earth.’
He would be able to create fire in the air and cause earthquakes.
He might even find the origin of the plague and the prophet.
***
Ohmel territory did not have a proper refinery, but it had basic facilities such as a fairly large forge and workshop.
It was easy to think that they were operated actively, since it was a place rich in resources such as stone, coal, and iron ore, but that was not the case.
“That guy, the former lord, was a complete idiot. He only sold the resources and did not think about the future at all.”
“He must have wanted to secure his position as a vassal of Count Lantis. Whether that was valuable or not is another matter.”
Vulthorn looked up at Leobold at that point.
“What about you? I feel a bit awkward saying this as someone who signed the contract, but I have to ask. Do you also intend to sell the resources?”
“That depends on what you can do.”
“Ha! What can we dwarves do?”
He laughed loudly and grabbed the telescope hanging from Leobold’s waist.
“I guarantee you that there is nothing that works properly in your country without the dwarves’ technology! Don’t you know that just by looking at this telescope?”
“That’s true. But I try to separate the Imir Republic and you. Not all dwarves are the same. I don’t think you’ve been watching Ohmel sell the resources for over 20 years.”
It was a request to show him what he could do and what he had done so far.
“If you insist, I’ll show you.”
Vulthorn introduced him to a workshop that had been neglected for a long time.
“This is the ether engine we were researching.”
When his thick hand removed the dusty cover, an old engine-like thing appeared.
It was clearly a steam engine with a boiler and a piston, but the fuel was not coal but etherite.
Leobold asked, even though he roughly guessed.
“What is this?”
“Didn’t I just say? It’s an ether engine.”
“So what is it used for?”
“Wow. I thought you were a bit of an enlightened person, but apparently not. Fine. I’ll explain it to you with my kindness.”
Vulthorn then explained what an ether engine was, spitting saliva on his beard.
It was a steam engine that boiled water with etherite and made the piston move back and forth.
The structure was almost the same except that the fuel changed from coal to etherite.
Arma examined the engine through Leobold’s eyes and reported.
「It is an early type of steam engine. The piston cooling problem reduces thermal efficiency and makes it impractical.」
It must have been even more inefficient since they experimented with expensive etherite.
“Do you get it? This is what those elves are so proud of, mounted on their trains! We had trouble controlling the fire, but we made it possible!”
“You’re pulling a train with this? That’s a huge waste.”
“You know something. Airships are supported by buoyant stones, right? They would move even if people pushed them. But trains are very heavy. They have to push at least tens of tons, but the efficiency is terrible.”
“Then how do they use trains in Elvrande?”
Vulthorn snorted loudly.
“Hmph! They’re just showing off their vanity. They want to show that they can afford to pull such inefficient trains!”
“So you wanted to improve it, but you didn’t get any results.”
“Frankly speaking, I didn’t have any money. I couldn’t do anything without that bastard Ohmel giving me money. He told me to stop everything and make armor plates.”
If there was one item that sold well recently, it was Goliath’s armor plate.
The demand was high because of the high consumption rate, but the supply was delayed because there were not enough skilled workers.
The armor plate itself was heavy and bulky, so it could not be done anywhere. It was only possible where there was water or manpower.
Fortunately, Ohmel’s territory had the Ob River, which had abundant water flow, so it could generate power.
The only thing left was skilled workers, but Vulthorn shook his head and said there was no way.
“The wages are too low. The work is hard, but they pay peanuts. Who would want to do it? I tried to maintain the workshop for 20 years, but this is all I have left.”
Leobold looked at about ten blacksmiths who seemed to be Vulthorn’s apprentices.
There were too few people to be responsible for the forge of a territory with 20,000 people.
It must have been harder to make Goliath armor plates with this manpower.
‘He spent all his money on greasing instead of investing in his territory.’
He didn’t know what kind of relationship he had with Count Lantis to do that much, but he wouldn’t have to do that anymore.
Leobold looked around at the blacksmiths, including Vulthorn.
“Good. From today, this workshop will start anew. We will no longer make Goliath armor plates. What you have to do is research. This engine, to be exact.”
“An ether engine? It seems like it won’t be efficient no matter what we do right now…”
“Isn’t the problem that the piston is cooled by spraying water inside the cylinder?”
Vulthorn’s eyes sparkled at that point.
None of his apprentices understood his explanation, but the lord who saw this engine for the first time pointed out the problem.
“That’s right. That’s why the piston breaks easily and the efficiency is messed up. Do you have a solution?”
“What if we install a condenser separately? If we cool the steam with water through a pipe, the piston problem will be solved. And the efficiency will increase.”
“A condenser?”
“It’s a cooling chamber. The point is to prevent the piston from cooling by separating the steam and cooling it.”
“Will the pressure inside the cylinder be maintained if we take out the steam?”
“That’s what Vulthorn has to research. You’re a dwarf, aren’t you?”
He could easily solve the problem by making a valve and linking it, but Leobold didn’t say that much.
“You acted like you didn’t know anything, but you’re quite clever. Aren’t you?”
“I hear that a lot. So you won’t do it?”
Vulthorn started yelling at his apprentices.
“What are you doing! Get ready to tear this apart! Get the tools and contact the waterwheel!”
Leobold emphasized to him.
“You don’t have to worry about finances and resources from now on. Finish this as soon as possible. And I’ll pay you twice as much as before.”
“Twice? Aren’t you worried about emptying your pocket?”
“All I have is money, but what’s the point of not supporting this research?”
“Hahaha. People think you’re a miser, but you’re actually a bit different.”
Vulthorn laughed heartily, pleased to have a lord who recognized his research.
The arms of the blacksmiths who turned the crank were filled with strength.
The workshop, which had a new owner, was revived.
***
Leobold carried out a reorganization of the administrative districts in his territory.
The former Vandus Baronial Territory became Vandus Village, and Ohmel’s Viscountial Territory became Ohmel City.
He used the names of the deceased nobles because they were familiar words that the residents had been using for a long time.
He had to conquer all of Astera, so he couldn’t be bothered by one word.
The descendants of Viscount Ohmel, who had entrusted himself to Count Lantis, would resist, but that was expected and not a problem.
“It would be enough to organize the administrative districts into province, core city, normal city, special city, free city, district, and village.”
There was a roadmap for such reorganization in Arma’s calculation unit, but he didn’t need to take it out right now.
What he needed more was a measure to improve the poor transportation in eastern Bagran.
“To overcome Count Lantis’s pressure that will start according to the harvest time of wheat.”
“I could import from other places, but the cost would skyrocket.”
“It is expected to increase by at least three times.”
He had the means to pay even if the price went up, but it would be troublesome if it continued like this.
He couldn’t attack Count Lantis right away, so he had to find a way to solve the food and transportation problems.
Leopold drew a line connecting Ohamel City and Vandus Village.
“Is there a road here?”
“Yes. It’s not paved, though.”
“How long would it take to level the ground and lay a simple rail?”
“If we use golems and hire a lot of workers, it should be done in three months.”
It was about 150km from here to Vandus Village, and there was only one road, most of which was dirt.
The ground was soft, making it difficult to transport heavy loads, and it took a lot of time.
That’s why the only transportation between the two places was a carriage using horned birds.
Horned birds were animals with many advantages over horses, but they still couldn’t beat trains.
Arma placed a train on the road shown by the hologram.
It was more primitive than the trains that the nobles of Elvrandena and Zaium favored, almost at the level of carriages.
But it still boasted a much higher transport capacity than the existing carriages.
“How many trains do we need to meet the demand of both places?”
“One locomotive with three wagons should be enough for ten trains a day. The speed would be about 15km per hour.”
It was a pathetic speed compared to the superconducting train, but there was no choice.
He couldn’t just produce such a thing without any infrastructure.
And Leopold didn’t intend to develop Astera like Earth in the 21st century.
What he wanted was the 19th century, or rather, Medea, the capital of Elvrande.
Anything beyond that?
The Asterans would have to figure it out for themselves.
Arma bowed his head and suggested.
“Do you plan to use ether stones as fuel for the steam engine? There is a lot of coal near Ohamel City, but…”
“Coal is certainly attractive. But I don’t see any need to spew black smoke in this Astera.”
Astera had developed based on ether.
Even the relatively advanced dwarves didn’t use electricity, but only focused on ether, because it was so efficient.
Except for the fact that it was expensive because there were few ways to store it.
The current ways to store ether were only two: ether stones and intellectual life forms’ bodies, or ether hearts.
The latter would disappear somewhere soon after accumulating ether, so they used various methods to extend that period.
The chain training that knights often talked about, which involved stacking ether around their hearts, came from there.
Anyway, ether stones were too expensive, so despite the high efficiency of ether energy, it became inefficient in most cases when actually used.
The ether engine that Vultorn was developing also couldn’t escape from that.
“Then we need to create a system that can supply large amounts of ether stones stably.”
“How are they making them now? No, where does ether come from?”
“I guess it’s from that ether sun. But Asterans think that ether comes from Yggdrasil.”
It was understandable that they thought so, since it was so big that they could see its majesty from thousands of km away.
Yggdrasil was recognized as a god not only by elves but also by many races.
They just didn’t like that elves monopolized it.
It needed more research, but it was almost certain that ether came from the sun, according to Arma’s analysis.
“The output of the fusion reactor increased as we got closer to the ether sun over 50 years. It dropped a little after we settled in Astera.”
“It must come from the sun then. How do they make it?”
“First, you need a crystal. The higher the transparency and the larger the size, the more ether you can store, I guess. The key is to use dust collection magic on the crystal to collect ether over a long period of time.”
“So magicians make them.”
“Recently, it has become customary for magicians to provide only dust collection scrolls and let others make ether stones. Of course, commoners can’t touch them.”
“It seems like commoners could handle them just by hearing the process. Is it because of their ether bloodline?”
“Yes. The nobles of Astera hate it when commoners get involved with ether.”
They must think it’s their exclusive property.
Most elves could handle ether, but only nobles including high elves could make ether stones.
It was a common occurrence in Earth’s history to monopolize production means and raise their value.
And Leopold intended to drop their value very much.
“Everyone should be able to use ether to some extent.”
Of course, that didn’t mean he wanted to train everyone as magicians.
He meant that everyone should have easy access to ether, like using electricity on Earth.
He could control the dangerous magic by limiting the qualifications for handling it.
Arma pointed to the floating continent on the hologram.
“We can say that we mined ether stones from the floating continent naturally.”
“That’s the only place. No one else can land there, right?”
“Not for a while. Zaium and even Elvrande can’t figure it out. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with the ether circuit.”
“That means there’s some secret in the floating continent itself…”
It was suspicious that no one knew the reason why it rose up only 200 years ago.
Leopold thought of Zigarion, but forgot about him.
He was a stupid dragon who hid in the floating continent for 200 years and knew nothing.
“He’s fine as long as he cooperates with the research like he is now.”
The best way was to research ether and break through the Infinite Library in Elvrande.
“By the way, I got a message from Duke Prozan of Zaium. He said he would send two airships with crew, and asked me to use them well. The deadline is five years.”
“He’s trying to be clever. He must hope that the crew will gain experience when he gets them back.”
“He might also ask to accompany us when we land. Should we refuse?”
“We can’t refuse two ships in our situation. The deadline is five years, so we can use them wisely.”
By the time he returned them, he would have grown enough to not be bothered by Duke Prozan.
To do that, food reform was the top priority.
In fact, food was more important than laying rails and bringing resources from the floating continent.
Leopold’s territory was so barren that most of the food depended on imports.
Count Lantis knew that well and was preparing to impose serious sanctions.
And at that time, a fleet of three airships left for the floating continent.
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