Chapter 48 - Wall
Morning training session, the next day.
"Bent, what happened to your training clothes?"
Bent didn’t come wearing his usual training uniform.
"I quit."
“What are you talking about? Just because it didn’t go well yesterday doesn’t mean you have to quit. Look, today we will use a different sword….”
"I don't want to learn swordsmanship anymore. Leave me alone!"
Arnold tried to give Bent a long wooden sword to train his left hand, but he ran off without even touching it.
“I didn’t think he’d give up just because things didn’t go well yesterday....”
Arnold scratched his head.
“Father, just leave the unmotivated kid alone and let’s start the training.”
"You are right. The entrance test is just around the corner, so let's focus on your training."
“Yes, sir!”
Arnold and John began sparring as if it were a real fight.
Is Bent really going to give up like this?
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Bent didn’t say a word during breakfast, finished eating first, and quickly left for school. John also headed to school a little later.
“Aina, Bent said he didn't want to learn swordsmanship anymore. He seemed really shocked because yesterday’s new training didn’t go well.”
"There are times when you don’t improve no matter how hard you try. I’ll try talking to him later, but if he doesn’t overcome it himself, he’ll just keep running away every time he hits a wall.”
"I hope he'll be in a better mood tomorrow and start training again."
It's the same with work. When you hit a wall, it's hard to overcome it if you don't have a clear goal. Especially if they feel like they're being forced to do it. They'll never be able to overcome it.
There’s nothing I can do for Bent this time. I’ll just have to leave it to Arnold and Aina.
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Miguel showed up, so the usual group immediately headed to the forest. Since Arnold just got chewed out by Aina yesterday, he didn’t try to follow them today.
"Bent said he quit learning swordsmanship."
“I see, it must have been quite a shock for him that things didn't go well."
“He doesn’t seem as dedicated to the sword as John, so I'm worried he might really quit for good.”
“If he doesn’t want to do it, he doesn’t have to. He’s the lord’s son, so he won’t be starving even without sword skills.”
“That’s true, but…”
“He doesn’t understand how lucky he is to get direct training from a hero. That’s why he can say he’ll quit so easily. If it were someone who had no choice but to become an adventurer to survive, they wouldn’t say they’d quit even if they coughed up blood.”
That’s true. If you’re someone living on the edge, you’d never throw away a chance like this. This world isn’t a gentle place to live. Those who waste their chances are the ones who die first.
Miguel immediately ran into the cabin as soon as the group arrived at the usual training ground.
"Kiddo, let's open and check the boxes!"
No wonder he was in such a rush.
"First, the regular wooden box."
When Miguel opened the box, all the ice had melted and the water was lukewarm.
"Well, it's just as I expected."
In this hot season, it’s only natural that a wooden box with no insulation wouldn’t keep things cool.
"Kiddo, you open the cooler box. You made it, after all."
"Got it. But don't punch me even if all the ice has also melted, okay?"
"Just open it already!"
He didn't even bother deny it. Is he really planning to punch me if this fails?
Gail cautiously opened the cooler box.
"Ah!?"
"H-How is it?"
"It's.... success! It's success, Bossman!"
About 80% of the ice remained. This should be perfectly usable even in the middle of summer.
"You did it, kiddo! How much do I have to pay for this?"
Miguel was already planning to buy a cooler box for himself.
"Come on, don't get ahead of yourself. This is just a prototype, so we need to show it to Pops first."
"Y-You are right. We need to show it to Big Bro."
"Yep."
"But we can mass-produce it, right?"
"I don't think that's possible yet."
"What do you mean?"
"You have to make the inside of the metal panels a vacuum. I don't think Pops has the tools for that."
"What is vacuum?"
Of course, he wouldn't know what vacuum is. This is going to take some time to explain.
"I need to explain about vacuum to Pops too, so let's stop by the trading company on the way back. I will explain it there."
"You are being such a pain again."
Miguel grumbled. The table and chairs were almost finished, so Gail opened a hole in the wall for a door connecting the newly added room and the original cabin.
I've secured a space for kitchen with this.
The group ate grilled rabbit for lunch like usual, and in the afternoon, Gail made up for the training he missed yesterday until it was time to go home.
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The group stopped by the trading company on the way home.
"Pops, I brought the prototype."
"What? Is it in this box?"
"No, this box is the prototype."
"Here, Big Bro. Take a look at this!"
Miguel opened the lid and showed the inside of cooler box to Dwan. There was still about 70% of the ice left.
"What's this? It's filled with ice and water. The inner walls of the box are made of the aluminum I gave you the other day, right?"
"That's right. It's called a cooler. It's a box that can keep things cold for a long time."
"What!? Does this mean if I put chilled ale in it, it won't get warm?"
Of course, his thoughts went straight to alcohol. It was a good thing I didn't say anything yesterday.
"Big Bro, when do you think we put this ice in?"
"This morning, maybe?"
"No, it was yesterday. It’s been a full day now."
"What?! If you make a box out of aluminum, the ice won't melt for that long?"
"No, that's not how it works. Bossman, can you remove the panel from the lid?"
Miguel removed the panel and showed it to Dwan.
"That's a pretty thick panel. You wouldn’t be able to make it this thick with just the aluminum I gave you. What's going on here?"
"This is called a vacuum panel. It's hollow inside and a vacuum."
"What's a vacuum?"
From there, Gail explained about air itself and thermal conductivity. He skipped over the details about nitrogen and oxygen in the air.
"We can’t see it, but there’s air around us, isn't that right?"
Dwan waved his hand in front of his face.
"That’s right."
"But how do you suck the air out of this hollow board and make it a vacuum?"
"I did it with magic, but it’s pretty hard. I don’t think you could do it with tools."
"Why not?"
"You might be able to suck the air out, but you can’t seal the hole you used to suck it out while keeping the vacuum inside."
"Well, it does take time to plug a hole in metal. So, kiddo, how did you do it?"
"I’ll show you. Lend me some metal."
"Here, use this."
Dwan handed a lump of iron to Gail.
"Okay, watch me."
First, Gail imagined the iron became soft, tore a chunk of it, and then inflated it like a balloon.
"Whoa, what's this? The iron inflated like a balloon."
Since I'm not making a panel, I will just make a hole in it while it's still round and inflated.
"Pops, try putting your finger into this hole."
"O-Okay."
Still looking surprised, Dwan stuck his finger into the iron balloon.
"Next, I use magic to suck the air out from inside and close the hole."
"What?! The hole closed in an instant...."
"This is how I make them. You can't do it with tools, right?"
"Y-Yeah. There's no way I could close it that fast."
"That’s why I don’t think this can be mass produced."
"Then, why did you make it?"
"I thought I would need it for when I go fishing at the lake next time, so I can bring back some fresh fish."
"You went through all the trouble just for that...?"
"I mean, without a cooler, the fish will lose its freshness by the time I get home...."
"You can make ice with magic, right? If it melts, you can just make more."
". . . . . . . . . ."
"Then, since you don't seem to need it, I will use it for myself."
"Hey, Big Bro, that’s not fair! I called dibs on it first!"
"What did you say!?"
The dwarf brothers started fighting over a cooler box.
"Hey, stop, stop! I will make another one, so stop fighting!"
I can use ice magic, so I don't really need a cooler.
Why didn't I realize it sooner?