Chapter 6 — Set in Motion

Ten days had passed since Xavier’s battle on the Salt Road. Aura had been carrying out her duties in the office when a dwarf wyvern arrived from a fortress that lay on the outskirts of the royal territory.

She gave a sigh and spoke. “So, the margrave’s son has failed. He brought back the particulars of the impediment, however, so it was far from a complete failure.” She rolled her neck where she sat. The sunlight coming in sparkled off her loose hair.

Things had become somewhat troublesome.

“Indeed. According to the report, over fifty raptors make up the swarm marked for extermination, so a mere one hundred men would be somewhat hard-pressed to manage it. I would say that Lord Xavier’s decision was by no means incorrect,” Fabio replied from behind her.

“I know,” she answered bluntly, not turning to face him. She agreed that Xavier’s decision had been the appropriate one. Capua had yet to recover from the war. Every hearty young man, even under the command of a feudal lord rather than the direct control of the royal army, was valuable to the kingdom. If they annihilated the swarm but lost half their men, the operation could not be called a success.

From that perspective, the third son had made a rational, intelligent decision that would hardly be expected from such a young commander on his first sortie. At the very least, Aura didn’t see this failure as any mark against the man himself. However, given her position, she could not openly praise his decision either.

“So, the extermination falls from the Gaziel family to General Pujol,” she commented with a sigh.

A thousand elite soldiers were already marching towards the fortress in question under the general’s command, under the pretense of running training exercises. They may have even reached their destination by now. Either way, the initiative would lay with General Pujol. Unable to leave the capital, Aura could only watch this development silently.

“Well,” she decided, “considering who the man in question is, the situation will be resolved one way or another.”

The general’s ambitious personality aside, she trusted in his abilities as a commander. It was unfortunate for the young local heir’s prospects, but the Salt Road’s restoration was a matter of some urgency. If it took too long, it would be the margrave’s territory that took the brunt of the damage, so while it was contrary to their hopes, they would just have to deal with it. However...

“Certainly, with the general at the helm they are unlikely to fail,” offered the slender-faced secretary emotionlessly. “The problem lies with how much higher he will aim after this success.”

“Well,” Aura returned after a moment, “you might actually consider it good timing. This way, he will not be in the capital when the prince and princess arrive from the Twin Kingdoms.”

Her tone was somewhat forceful, like she was convincing herself rather than her companion.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

There was an anecdote that Zenjirou had once heard on a segment of a music talk show. It had come from a musician’s answer to the question, “Before your debut, what was the hardest work you had to do?”

Without a moment’s delay, the musician had answered, “That’s got to be installing AC units.”

The reason being, the room where the air conditioning was being installed obviously didn’t have it yet. And since the clients wanted it, that meant it was hot enough to need it. Once he was done working himself into dripping with sweat, the musician had to head straight to the next workplace, which of course also had no air conditioning.

Moving from AC-less room to AC-less room in the Japanese summer was a practically Sisyphean endeavor. At the time, Zenjirou had laughed that (along with the musician himself) off as he’d sat there drinking tea in his nice, cool room, snacking on rice crackers.

The reason he was remembering that moment all these years later was simple.

“Damn, the sweat’s in my eye! I can’t even see the scale!”

“Sir Zenjirou, are you okay?!”

“S-Sir, watch your feet!”

Currently, he was engaged in that very task, with sweat pouring off him in a room of the inner palace, subject to such temperatures that even midsummer in Japan would have seemed refreshing in comparison.

“Right,” he muttered eventually, “that’s the backing done!” His expression was satisfied, as if he had already finished his job with that one step alone.

“Here’s a towel, sir.”

“Ah, thanks,” he answered the tall maid as he took a chilled towel from her and wiped himself off. “Ugh...I needed that.”

He had been up on a ladder in the sweltering room, carrying out work that he was wholly unfamiliar with, so that “need” was by no means an understatement. With the maids’ help in setting up the ladder and holding the backing down, he had managed to get the glittering silver backing installed on the three wooden supports with long screws.

“I’ll need to thank the carpenters. I caused Aura a bit of a hassle yesterday, so I’ll have to make it up to her,” he murmured to himself as he looked up at his handiwork.

He had gained special permission to allow the carpenters into the inner palace in order to install the AC supports in their room, which were now well-braced so that even the heavy air conditioner wouldn’t topple them.

The wooden supports were set against the white marble of the wall, with diagonal braces between them, so it looked rather unsightly, but that was unavoidable. He’d never have been able to screw it straight into the stone. His homeworld had masonry bits and power tools available, but Zenjirou hadn’t considered those specifics while making his preparations.

Regardless, as he wiped his face and took a breather, he noticed the maids still standing at the ready and spoke to them. “You can all go ahead and use them too. Make sure to drink a lot; you might end up dehydrated or with heat stroke at this rate.”

The maids had been footing the ladder and holding the backing from underneath as Zenjirou worked, so they had been exerting themselves quite a bit as well. If they didn’t cool down at least a little and drink some more water, they could find themselves in seriously poor shape.

“Right, thank you very much.”

“We’ll take you up on that, sir.”

The maids thanked him sincerely, their brows and hair dripping with sweat, before hurriedly heading for the fridge in the neighboring room.

Now alone, Zenjirou spread out the sheets he’d printed from various websites on DIY air conditioning installations and checked them again.

“Right, so with the backing level fixed to the wall, you need to attach the unit to it and make sure there are no problems, then you need to run the piping, electricity, and drainage through the wall...”

As he spoke, his gaze moved to the right of the backing to look at the round hole through the thick stone wall. It had an incline so that the drainage couldn’t backflow.

“Still, craftsmen are amazing in both worlds. It’s exactly the right size and angle,” he marveled.

He had had the hole created by royal masons the day before. It was fascinating to see it made exactly to specification, without any power tools, through a stone wall that was thicker than his upper arm was long. Royal masons used earth magic to soften the stone before they opened it up, and then once again to harden it when they were done, but it didn’t change the fact that it took considerable skill.

Once he’d wiped himself off, he unfolded the towel and then refolded it so that the cool interior was visible, wiping himself again before psyching himself back up.

“Right! Let’s get the unit in here hooked up. Then I can run the pipes outside and set up the external machine! Ugh...the external machine...”

He’d have to exert himself just as much for that step, but this time under the blazing sun in the courtyard, without the respite of shade.

He sighed, glaring at the sun that streamed in relentlessly through the window.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

While Zenjirou was dripping with sweat in the courtyard, with only parasols carried by the maids for shade, Aura had finished her office work and was visiting the rear courtyard of the royal palace.

She strode rapidly across the weedy ground, surrounded by her personal guard, who were clad in white leather armor and armed with short spears.

Compared to the front courtyard, which could well be considered representative of the palace, or the inner courtyard, where they entertained guests or held outdoor parties, the rear courtyard could only be described as “tasteless.”

In exchange, however, it was bigger than the other two put together. It was a space dedicated to allow the craftsmen assigned to the palace to do their work. The masons cut rocks, carpenters roughly cut trees to size, smiths reforged weapons for the royal knights, and leather workers repaired armor. If one had to put a name to it, it could be called the craftsmen’s quarter.

The royal palace also had large fields, a seemingly excessive number of wells, and pastures for grazing. Looking at the overall composition, it was clear that, if it came down to it, the palace could stand up to a siege and function as a fortress. Fortunately, the castle had never seen an actual fight, even during the recent war.

The craftsmen noticed her and her guards, and stopped to bow.

“Good work; continue, if you would,” Aura told them lightly as she walked through.

If they were working, they could omit paying their respects even to the monarch, so the rules were surprisingly lenient in that respect. Her mere presence garnered attention as she headed to a wooden cabin that had been constructed just that year. It had been built next to the waterway through the palace and furnished with a water wheel, so it had evidently received somewhat preferential treatment.

Several workers wearing stained clothes were standing at attention in front of the building, awaiting her visit.

“Your Majesty, thank you for going to the trouble to visit,” said an older man with a head of white hair and a beard. His hands, peeking out from the shabby but solid shirt, had hard calluses, speaking to his skill at his craft. Judging from his appearance, though, the muscles underneath that shirt had deteriorated a bit compared to one who was actively working.

On the other hand, the men shifting uneasily behind him were all in their mid-to-late teens. These craftsmen were still slender, and their hands lacked the stark calluses. The first was a retired blacksmith, and the others were apprentices who had yet to come into their own.

They were all craftsmen that Aura had gathered for the glassmaking endeavor. There were currently no expectations for the results they would achieve, so she had been unable to divert workers from their current population of smiths.

Standing in front of them, the queen pulled her shoulders back, thrusting her chest out as she spoke frankly. “I would hear your report. You say there have been results?”

The older smith nodded at her question. “Yes, Your Majesty. We followed your instructions and heated a mixture of white sand, powdered and baked shells, and powdered trona at the highest temperature we could for five days and nights. They then melted together and liquified. This is the product produced by mixing it with an iron rod and removing it from the ashes and allowing it to cool. Please inspect it.”

He took something long and thin in his callused hands and presented it to Aura.

“Very well,” she replied, gesturing with her chin and prompting one of her guards to take it. After inspecting it for any abnormalities, he passed it along to her.

Aura looked it over herself and then spoke. “Oh...I see.”

It was, frankly, something that looked like green-tinted obsidian. It was smooth and glossy, but it was also nearly pitch-black and the green was hard to see. It was certainly nothing like the “glass” the tableware and bottles that Zenjirou possessed were made of. However, taking it in hand and holding it up to the light made its slightly translucent nature clear. The greatest piece of evidence was that its shadow in her hand was not black but rather green.

“Excellent,” she said, nodding with a smile at the sight. While it was a useless lump at present, it at least demonstrated that the method on the DVD Zenjirou had shown her could eventually produce glass. As a proof of concept, it was nothing short of spectacular.

“Well done,” she praised them. “Continue to refine the production process along with increasing the resulting transparency. This is a completely unknown method, so there is no time limit on this nor are there any recriminations for failure. However, you must not halt your efforts. I expect you to continue to strive for success.”

“Y-Yes! Understood, ma’am!” the old smith said with an excessively deep bow, prompting the young apprentices behind him to hurriedly follow suit a beat later.

Her words were the unvarnished truth. Aura hadn’t expected the experiment to produce anything like what she had seen in the DVD Zenjirou had shown her. To be able to produce something that, despite its imperfections, was clearly glass, surpassed her expectations. When Zenjirou had told her that it was harder to melt than iron, she had been prepared for the likelihood of seeing no real progress for some time.

“So, what of the details? It seems you are still using iron forges, but will that be sufficient?”

The smith shook his head with a sour look. “They will not, Your Majesty. I’m loath to admit it, but maintaining the heat like this will probably destroy the forges before long. Taking five days to create this small amount will also impede us.”

“Hmm...then investigating those ‘fire bricks’ may accelerate things. It seems we need more personnel,” she announced, holding her chin in her hand as she thought. “Very well,” she decided after a moment, “I will prepare what I am able to. However, it will by no means be instantaneous, so do what you can with your current resources for the time being. I leave the decision of whether to focus on the glass or firebricks to you. Do your utmost, is that understood?” she asked, fixing him with a sharp look.

“Yes, understood, ma’am,” the old man bowed, accepting her edict.

With that, Aura left the glassmaking hut and walked along the waterway, accompanied by her guards to another area. Eventually, a slightly strange sight met her eyes.

“Hm, so this is the place.”

The sight in question was the water wheel setup. A count would have revealed that there were ten of them in a row. It was completely illogical according to standard practice. Consecutive wheels like this would lead to a lower output, but that was not a concern. These were only about knee-high; they were never intended to produce a great amount of power to begin with.

Aura gathered the skirt of her dress and stopped over to peer at them from above. It was at that moment that a slightly rotund middle-aged man and a solidly built younger man came running over.

“Y-Your Highness! Have you come for an inspection? We would have come to greet you if we had known!”

Aura gave them a slight shrug as she halted their attempts to prostrate themselves, both men still out of breath.

“It is fine; this was not a planned visit. I simply came here on a whim; my apologies for any worry it’s caused.”

“Hahh, it is an honor, ma’am.” They bowed, even though they hadn’t kneeled.

Aura didn’t have a tendency to waste time with needless words, and she cut right to the heart of the matter. “It seems you have had some interesting results yourself. From what I can see, six of the ten wheels have broken.”

“You are correct. Five of them are of standard design, and the last is the new design that you endorsed.”

“As are the remaining four?”

“Indeed so, ma’am.”

“Impressive, to think my husband had such knowledge...” she mused to herself, careful to make sure that no one could hear her.

The experiment to test the water wheels’ endurance had been his idea, enacted by Aura. When she had once idly complained that their water wheels deteriorated faster than those of the Northern Continent, Zenjirou had instantly said, “Doesn’t that just mean the number of teeth aren’t co-prime?” These ten miniature wheels had been designed to test exactly that.

The numbers of teeth being co-prime meant that the numbers didn’t share any factors other than the number one. As an example, the only shared divisor of the numbers nine and five was one, so they were “co-prime,” but the numbers ten and five were divisible by five, so they weren’t. Whether the number of teeth on each gear were co-prime or not was extremely important. If they were, the teeth would have even contact with each other. If not, some of the teeth would be in contact with the same set on the other cog more frequently, and others would never be in contact.

And what would the result of that be? Co-prime gears would wear down evenly, so the amount of wear for the amount of work would be optimal. If not, some of the teeth would wear excessively while others would barely be worn at all, so some of the teeth would be distorted faster than others.

Those distorted teeth would lead to slop in the gears, which would soon break apart. If one made the gears out of the same material, with the same precision, those that were co-prime would have a life expectancy of up to ten times longer than those that weren’t. Nowadays on Earth, modern materials with extreme durability and micron-level precision meant that the difference wasn’t as stark, but the wooden cogs and easily wearable materials in this world, as well as the lack of precision, made the difference all the more apparent.

“Your suggestion was correct, Your Majesty. The number of teeth you specified lasted longer than the wheels we’d been making until now.”

The craftsman was truly appreciative, not taking umbrage at an outsider to the specialty (even the queen) correcting him. Aura believed the praise should have been directed to her husband rather than herself, so her feelings were conflicted, but she wasn’t careless enough to show that on her face.

“It is nothing so significant. My suggestion was merely a theory. Without your skill, it would have come to nothing. Your listening to my words and producing something in such a short period of time is of true value to the country. I hope that you continue to exert those skills for the royal family, the kingdom, and even me.”

“Ha, hah ahh,” the craftsmen said, bowing deeply at her words.

Aura looked at the man and his companion with a satisfied smile as she continued. “I will want to replace the water wheels throughout the royal territory with this new style. Will that be a problem?”

At her pressing, the middle-aged man, still humbling himself as best he could, answered with an upturned look, searching for assurance. “Of course not, Your Majesty. Simply give the order and we shall begin. However, if...I may ask one thing...”

“What is it? You may ask.” She was fairly sure she knew what his question would be but feigned ignorance.

“Very well. My thanks, and please forgive my rudeness. Do you intend to spread the knowledge of these water wheels to the other lords?”

His question was just what she had expected. I predicted their concern about that. Well, considering their position, it is hardly surprising.

These new water wheels lasted overwhelmingly longer than the current items on the market. The existence of the improved versions was wonderful news for the people ordering them—royalty, nobility, and farmers—but they were a curse to a small number of people: the craftsmen themselves.

If the wheels lasted for years longer than before, it would inevitably decrease demand for the engineers. From that perspective, they would effectively be strangling themselves. Their concern was entirely understandable.

However, despite understanding their feelings, Aura maintained her poker face as she answered simply, “Ah, of course. As monarch of this country, I have a duty to share such advancements with its people.”

“I-Is that so...” The expression on the man’s face embodied despair as he replied hoarsely.

Intentionally ignoring his slumped posture, Aura continued with a slightly affected tone. “Indeed it is. As a separate matter, I have been considering altering how the commissions for your profession are handled. Rather than being paid for each water wheel and repair that you carry out, I believe it would be better to entrust the repair and maintenance of a wheel to you and pay the expenses for it all at once at the beginning of the year.”

“Eh? Wait, that means...” The craftsman didn’t immediately understand her intention but soon followed her thinking, and his face changed again, this time from a look of despair to joy.

Her suggestion was essentially a yearly contract. Until now, every time a water wheel broke, the engineers were commissioned to repair it. With this method, the new wheels would break down less, so their earnings would drop, directly disadvantaging them. They would be helpless. To avoid that, Aura would pay for the repair and maintenance for a year all at once. Even if the wheels were working without a problem, they would not have to repay any of the original sum.

Of course, the workers would also have to repair any that did break with no additional compensation later on, but as long as they kept up with the bookkeeping, it wasn’t likely to be a real issue.

Of course, I will get an estimate of the average yearly budget on repairs and specify a lower amount within the contract, she thought.

But even if the craftsmen could have read her mind, it wouldn’t have dimmed their mood. Aura herself was reluctant to allow a rapid reform to put the engineers out in the cold. A yearly contract would prevent any “unexpected expenses” as well, so it would make calculating the money flow within the treasury easier. While their income might drop a little, they would also be able to plan their year more easily.

Well, it is a compromise. Once more my husband has created a little more slack in the royal treasury. Now, what to do with it?

“Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you so much!”

As the workers prostrated themselves in thanks, the queen was already considering her next move.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Later that evening, Zenjirou and Aura came across each other in a room in a corner of the inner palace. The chamber had been set aside for their beloved son, Carlos Zenkichi Capua, or Carlo Zen for short.

It was the norm for Aura to head to his room as soon as she finished her work, but it was quite rare for Zenjirou to be there as well. That might make it sound like he had less love for his son than his wife did, but that wasn’t the case. Zenjirou couldn’t speak the mother tongue of the country, so to avoid contaminating the language that Zenkichi would learn as a child, he was forbidden from speaking in front of the prince.

But however careful he was, it was human nature for him to want to speak to his son eventually. With that in mind, Zenjirou held back his tears and refrained from spending too long in the infant’s presence. He remained silent, looking over the room. It was probably around the same size as an eight-tatami-mat room back home, or roughly thirteen square meters. For a room in the inner palace, it was rather small. That said, it had originally been much larger and had been purposefully reduced by way of wooden partitions.

There was, of course, a reason for that. Why would anyone make a large room into a smaller one? The answer became clear the moment one stepped inside: the air was cool. Although the sun had already set, the temperature was still thirty degrees. Yet the room was more than five degrees cooler. This was due to the block of ice set up in the corner and the maid standing there fanning it with all her might.

The artificial wind passed over the ice and set a cool breeze flowing throughout the room. Naturally, having a breeze fall directly upon the little prince would be bad for him, so the space was being indirectly chilled in this creative way. Fanning the ice made the room cooler overall, and the space had been partitioned to make the process just a little bit more effective. The bigger the room, the less a limited amount of ice could cool it.

“Ah, sir, my apologies for the lack of greeting,” the maid said to him, not ceasing her movements.

Zenjirou simply nodded back in thanks. While a number of maids shared the duty, fanning without rest was still hard work.

If the extension cord were longer, I could have brought the whole fan in, he thought in response to seeing her effort, but doing so would actually make the women feel bad. Fanning the ice was one of the more popular jobs for the maids. It may have been tiring work, but everything they did was tiring to some extent. Therefore, being able to enjoy the cool air by standing right next to it almost inevitably raised the popularity of the position. It was certainly heavenly compared to mowing the garden lawns under the blazing sun or maintaining the temperature of the kitchen oven.

While Zenjirou was considering all of that, Aura approached the prince’s bed and looked down on him.

“Bwah?”

Prince Carlo Zen opened his wide eyes just as his mother looked in on him.

“Hm? So, you are awake, Carlos?” Aura pouted slightly, having missed her chance to watch her adorable son sleep.

“Indeed,” said the wet nurse. Her smile was bright, but slightly dark lines ran under her eyes. “He woke a little while ago and seems to be in a good mood.”

The tiny prince had probably spent much of the night bawling, depriving the wet nurse of sleep. Each time Aura saw the evidence of the woman’s efforts, she was all the more certain she would never have been able to fulfill those types of duties as a mother. That meant she had to treasure the time she did get to spend with her child.

“May I hold him?” she asked.

It felt a bit sad to ask someone else for permission to hold her own son, but the prince was more familiar with the wet nurse than his own parents at the moment, so there was no point pretending otherwise.

“Of course, Your Majesty. Go, go, give the prince some motherly warmth.”

Aura made a short noise of affirmation as she slid her hands under Carlo Zen’s head and body, lifting the warmest and softest creature imaginable up into an embrace with careful movements.

“Ahh!” the baby cried happily from his mother’s arms, waving his pudgy hands towards her face.

“Aha ha, what is it, Carlos? What’s with those hands?”

The queen’s usual strong expression had vanished, relaxing into something almost careless as she bent her head to rub her cheeks against his hands and held his soft body near her face.

“Dah, dah, ahh.” The prince used his hand, smaller than two of Aura’s fingers, to rub her cheek.

“Ha, ha ha ha, what’s up, hm? C’mon, that tickles.”

“Ah, ah, dahh.”

Simply watching the interaction between mother and son was enough to bring a smile to one’s face. Having observed in silence until then, Zenjirou finally reached the limit of his patience and stepped forward.

“Zenkichi, it’s papa.”

He spoke the words in the local language of Capua. The year and change since he’d arrived had allowed him to learn a bit. Or at least “learn” in the same way the average middle schooler in their third year had learned English. But he had a few hundred words committed to memory by now.

Among those, “it’s papa” were two of the only words that Aura and Lady Octavia had no concerns about his pronunciation of. Anything else he might say at present would get the meaning across but with a strong accent, so he didn’t have permission to use them in front of Zenkichi yet. As a result, he packed all of the feelings he had for his son into that one short phrase.

“Zenkichi, it’s papa,” he said, waving his hands at his son with a jovial expression.

“Bah? Gahh, gahh!”

Either Zenjirou’s face had amused the boy, or he liked the movements of his fingers, as their son’s gaze now moved from mother to father.

“Mgh...”

The only one unhappy about that was Aura. She loved her husband, but when it came to their son, Zenjirou was a rival who could draw the little angel’s look and smile from her.

“Come on, Carlos. Look over here. Hmm, you love mama best, do you not?”

“Dahh, dahh.”

The rocking from his mother and her words drew the infant’s attention almost forcefully back to the queen.

“Hmm-hmm,” she hummed, smirking triumphantly at Zenjirou as she regained their son’s interest.

Naturally, this in turn irritated Zenjirou, so he stepped closer and took her up on the challenge.

“Zenkichi, it’s papa.” Sadly, that was all he could say.

“Carlos loves mama best. Papa is number two. Papa’s fine with that, right?”

“Zenkichi, it’s papa,” Zenjirou insisted, shaking his head with a desperate look as Aura grinned cruelly.

“Are you sure? He won’t be able to tell who you are if you don’t say it clearly. Right, Carlos?”

“Zenkichi, it’s papa!”

“Goodness, what a loud voice. You’ll make Carlos jump. Papa’s scary! Scary papa.”

Aura fought to hold in her laughter as Zenjirou grew flustered. She pressed Carlos to her chest as if to ward off her husband’s gaze and turned away. Sitting off to the side, the wet nurse and maid in the corner were also suppressing smiles, their shoulders shaking, but Zenjirou was in no state to notice. He knew that Aura was teasing him and had taken it far too seriously. He stomped up behind her and yelled the loudest he had all day.

“ZENKICHI, IT’S PAPA!”

The combination of his sudden appearance, his frantic expression, and the volume of his voice...

“W... W... Waaaahhhhhh!”

Their lovely son began to cry.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

“Gah ha ha ha!”

“Aura, you’re laughing too much,” Zenjirou chided her as she sat across from him in the living room, still chortling.

“A-Apologies. But...I cannot. Every time I remember the look on your face when he started crying... I c-can’t take it, ah ha ha ha!”

Zenjirou turned sulkily away from his wife as she guffawed with tears in her eyes. There was no point in replying. He had left the most precious thing in his life wailing to Aura and the wet nurse before fleeing the room and brooding in the living room. But as soon as his wife joined him, she’d burst out laughing.

Truthfully, seeing Aura pound her fist into the sofa as she laughed wasn’t a particularly pleasant sight. Watching her roll around, Zenjirou gave his final warning in a low voice, his face uncharacteristically grim.

“Aura, c’mon, leave it there, all right?”

“Bwa ha ha! V-Very well. I shall...stop... No, I cannot, aha ha ha!”

His final warning had gone unheeded. Well, there was nothing for it now but to use force. He stood silently and slowly approached her before...

“Take that! If you want to laugh that much, I’ll give you something to laugh about!” he cried before falling upon her.

“Wai—Zenjirou?!”

“And that, and that, and that!”

Seizing his chance now that he was on top of her, he used both hands to start tickling her around the waist and under her arms.

“Aiiiee?! Wai—Gyah, hee hee hee, n-no!”

“Coochie coochie coo!”

In a contest of pure strength, Aura would always win, but her position was a bad one, and she could only continue to be tickled as she lay there on the sofa.

“Ah ha ha ha, w-wai—Sto—pah ha ha ha!”

“Gotcha, gotcha!”

Zenjirou gradually seemed to be enjoying himself more, and mirroring what had happened in the prince’s room, his grin took on a teasing edge as he assailed her with more and more tickling. Her waist, under her arms, her thighs, her neck, the soles of her feet. He even slipped under her arms to her chest, around her back and down from her waist, taking the opportunity to enjoy himself as well.

“Hee, stah—ap!”

“Tee hee hee, how about that, cutie, how about that?”

“Oh! Your goal has changed since the beginning, has it not?”

The couple’s playfulness continued in ardent harmony up until the maid in charge of the baths arrived and informed them that the water was ready.

◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆

Once they had washed the dirt and sweat of the day away, the couple returned to the living room in their usual casual clothing.

“Good grief, I did go too far with teasing you in front of Carlos like that, and I apologize for the laughter afterwards. Still, that is no excuse. Tickling is one thing, but I have my duties, and I told you another child would be difficult, so that was—” Aura began before Zenjirou cut her off.

“That was just a bit of fun.”

“You would strip a woman for ‘a bit of fun’?” she asked after a moment.

“My wife, at least... Yeah, sometimes.”

As they bickered good-naturedly, the two of them did not stop in the living room for once but headed straight to the bedroom.

“Goodness... Let us move on. So, would you show me? You were successful, no? You managed to set up this ‘AC’ you mentioned?”

“More or less. Looks like it’s working for now, at least,” he answered with a slightly doubtful expression as he put his hand on the door.

He had spent most of the day installing the air conditioner. When he’d tested it, a cool breeze had blown out, so he had left it plugged in. Since then, he hadn’t opened the door.

“It’s been on this whole time, so if it’s working all right, then by now it should...” He paused, his hand on the door as he screwed his eyes shut, and with an expression almost of prayer, he took a deep breath and flung it open.

“Yes!”

Just as he had hoped, the room behind the door was unthinkably cool for the hottest time of the year.

“This is most impressive. I was surprised when I first saw the lights and fridge, but this is even more shocking,” Aura marveled as she sat on their king size bed and lifted her hands towards the wind coming from the newly-installed machine, the cool breeze pleasantly caressing her body, flushed as it was from the bath.

“Phew...” As Aura closed her eyes like a cat being stroked under the chin, she suddenly realized that her husband’s face as he sat next to her was somewhat sullen.

“What is wrong? You look unhappy. Is there an issue?”

Zenjirou scratched at his head awkwardly as she looked at him, and answered, “Yeah, well, honestly, it’s not quite right. The room’s a bit big for how powerful the AC is, and it’s not airtight enough, so even with the door shut, there are still warm drafts coming in. It’s nighttime, so it’s pretty cool now, but in the middle of the day when the sun’s shining through the gaps, it won’t be as cool as I’d hoped.”

He sighed. He had been lucky enough to get it working on his first attempt, but it was a given that the machine wouldn’t be as much of a blessing here as it would have been in Japan. The one he’d brought was intended for domestic use in a space no larger than forty square meters, but this room was at least fifty. And on top of that, the buildings in Capua weren’t particularly airtight. While the machine could handle nights like this well enough, he didn’t think it would stand up to the midday heat of over forty degrees.

“Would that not be too much of a luxury?”

Zenjirou gave his shocked wife a slight smile. “Yeah, maybe, but I have this image of an air-conditioned room being like ‘another world.’ Besides, the biggest question still hasn’t been answered.”

“The biggest question?”

He nodded, glaring up at the unit above him. “Whether I actually managed to set it up correctly. It’s not making any weird noises or leaking right now, so it seems okay. But from what I’ve heard, if you don’t do it just right, the wear and tear gradually accumulates, and it stops working after a few days.”

If that happened, the only choice he’d have would be to use Time Reversal Magic. Several days’ worth was definitely more than he could ask Aura for, so he’d have to give up on the idea entirely in that case.

My only hope is to one day learn time reversal and future expense magic so that I can repair it myself.

Future expense was another secret spell of Space-Time Magic. Put simply, one could use it to borrow the mana from ‘the you of tomorrow or the day after,’ and cast magic beyond one’s means. If he used that spell, he would be unable to use magic for a specific amount of time corresponding to the amount of mana borrowed, but since Zenjirou’s role was fundamentally a non-combatant one, he would have the freedom to do that.

Of course, once he could use magic, his mana would also likely become a national treasure to be employed for the good of the country, so he might not be able to wield it too freely. Regardless, even under the best of circumstances, it would be a year before he would be able to cast those spells, so if he were to restore the unit at that time, it would require close to a year’s worth of time reversal.

Such a length of time would lead to him needing to pay with several months of mana, and even if it was ‘his’ mana, considering his position as a royal, that was still an excessive amount to use selfishly.

“No sense worrying about it. It’s working now, so we should enjoy it,” he decided.

“Indeed,” Aura nodded. “We should also have a small table brought into the room as well. Taking our breakfast or time off together simply sitting on the bed like this would perhaps be a little too ill-mannered.”

“Aura...you’re just raring to move out of the living room and into the bedroom, aren’t you?” Zenjirou couldn’t help but smile upon seeing that his wife was even more into the air conditioner than he had expected.

Having sat down on the bed right in the path of the cold air, the very thought of returning to the heat of the living room had left their minds. With some time left before they would sleep, the couple sat side by side and chatted.

“So, you used up the majority of your day installing this machine?”

“Yeah, and that’s no exaggeration. I didn’t get anything else done, even though there’s a lot I wanted to do, like the soap and distillation,” he said with a nod.

Having recently started to take on more of a role in the palace’s operations as Aura’s proxy, Zenjirou was no longer possessed of quite as much free time, so days where he had no obligations were precious in their own right. Today, however, he’d had things he had wanted to do but had found neither the time nor the energy for anything but this one project. Completing the installation in forty-degree heat had been extremely hard on him.

Of course, the soldiers on the Salt Road could march for days on end, but if Zenjirou were to voice his utterly honest opinion, he saw them as superhuman for being able to do so.

I really will need to get used to the climate here, even if it’s gradual... Although the idea kinda loses its impact after just installing an AC.

Despite his thoughts, it was actually because he’d installed the AC that he could sit there thinking about it at all. When humans were stuck in unpleasant conditions, their minds were occupied with thoughts of escaping. More enriching internal dialogue could come only after finding relief.

Regardless, Zenjirou felt that this wasn’t the time for such a discussion, so he changed the subject by bringing up what he wanted to do going forward, providing his wife with the details.

“I’ve got the soap and alcohol-making to keep up with when I’m free, but I’ve been working more in the palace recently too, so I can’t do everything I want all the time.”

Aura frowned at that before she answered. “If there are things you wish to do, you need not work as much. I have more or less recovered by now.”

The suggestion was doubtless born of her feelings for her husband, but that didn’t mean he could take advantage of them.

“And then in a few years, you’ll be in the same state as last year? No way. I’m not proud of it, but I’m just a normal guy. I’m pretty sure if I stop doing something for half a year, I’ll forget what I learned, even if I could manage it all before.”

“That certainly is nothing to be proud of,” Aura replied with a reluctant smile as her husband thrust his chest out with his declaration. She shrugged and continued with a slightly tighter expression. “Very well. Honestly, I underestimated the restrictions my pregnancy would place upon me, and it would indeed be appreciated if you would continue with the same level of work. However, please do not misunderstand me; I do not offer to lighten your workload if there is something you wish to do out of the goodness of my heart. I suggest it because I see the potential good your efforts and creations can offer the country.”

Zenjirou scratched at his cheek, feeling conflicted. “Ah, well, I hope you don’t put too much stock in them. In the end, I’ve only got a surface knowledge of things. Honestly, I’d expect to fail eight or nine times out of ten. Although, since you’re saying that, does it mean any of my suggestions had good results?” He had only noticed her wording mid-reply.

Aura grinned and nodded. “Indeed. I visited the craftsmen this afternoon, and they’ve had far greater success than expected. First, the glass: they created something that works as a proof of concept. I will show you in a day or so. At present, all they have managed is a dark rock that is a polished green, but it verifies that the process itself has potential, at least.”

“Whoa, that’s great,” he marveled. They had created something that was recognizably glass from only the knowledge of the minimum required ingredients and a rough explanation of how the process worked, so the praise was well-deserved.

“There are still many problems, of course. The product is too dark for me to comfortably call it glass, and the methods required to create the correct shapes still need to be developed. And the furnaces we normally use have too great a burden placed upon them during the melting process. If things progress in this manner, the furnaces will reach their limits within ten more uses at most, according to the smiths,” the queen summarized, her expression turning displeased.

Zenjirou’s expression tightened in turn as he rested his chin in his hand and thought it over. “Hmm, so we’ll need those firebricks.”

“Vexingly, yes,” Aura agreed with a derisive snort.

The DVD he had shown her and the method it demonstrated for making firebricks evidently still annoyed her. The explanation “take old firebricks, grind them up with clay, and fire them in a kiln made with firebricks” was of no use to her whatsoever, so Zenjirou could hardly blame her for being frustrated.

Wanting to avoid her mood souring any further before bed, his voice took on an air of panic as he spoke quickly. “Uh, and the other problems were the color and the process of shaping it, right? I think as far as the shaping goes, using the same method as the TV show and gathering it on a long metal tube before blowing down it would be the most realistic. They generally use something called ‘float glass’ for windows these days, though,” he mused, twisting his face as he dredged up the buried memories.

“Hmm? I watched the glass-blowing with you, but this is the first I have heard of this ‘float glass.’”

Zenjirou’s gaze was drawn to her lightly-clothed form as she leaned forward with interest, but he answered her carefully.

“I don’t know the details, so I can only give a pretty rough explanation, but it’s called the Pilkinton process. You let the molten glass float on top of liquid metal with a lower melting point, and it lets you create glass panes. You don’t need to polish it after, and it gives smooth, flat glass. It might be easier to think of it like...when you melt lard and it floats on water. If you leave it alone, the fat solidifies into sheets, right? It’s just like that.”

“I see. It sounds like a rather large-scale method, but I understand the theory.”

Despite that, she didn’t look too impressed, perhaps due to the very different meanings that glass held for each of them. Unlike Zenjirou, whose first thought was the glass from a window, Aura’s focus was on spherical shapes like the marble, so naturally she was less interested in a method for making panes. And the Pilkinton process was far more difficult than glass-blowing. It required a pool of liquid metal to be maintained at a certain temperature, and the workers around the container would be at risk from the fumes.

The technique worked well on modern Earth with its automated production lines, but the level of technology in this world meant that blown glass, where the craftsman flattened the glass after the fact, might be more effective.

Zenjirou hadn’t thought that deeply about it, but he knew his wife’s heart wasn’t in it.

“The color was the other issue, right? The only thing I can think of is to do the same as the show and try our best to get the metal out of the sand. As for how, I guess grind it more finely, agitate it with water, and just take the top layer of sediment,” he suggested, moving the conversation along.

The explanation in the show had been simple, but glass mainly got its colors from metal particulates that were mixed in with the sand. Therefore, the most obvious way to avoid that was to remove as much metal as possible from it.

To do that, the sand had to be ground well with millstones, creating as fine a powder as possible, and then an environment where it could be easily separated from the metal would be needed, allowing them to pour it into casks full of water, mix it vigorously, then wait until it all settled.

This meant that the comparatively heavy metal particles would sink to form a layer on the bottom, and the top layer would host the lighter sand. At that point, you merely had to scoop up the top layer.

His answer caused her recently dulled sharpness to come back to the fore as she held her chin and replied. “Hmm, you explained it much the same when we watched the image, so I had them do exactly that. Perhaps they did not grind it sufficiently, however, or it was not agitated well enough in the water, so the results were different.”

“Huh, maybe the sand itself is the problem? Apparently, there’s a real distinction between sand that’s suitable and that’s not. If it’s no good from the start then however much effort they put in, there will be a limit to how much better the final product is.”

While it was an extreme case, black sands that were essentially made of iron itself wouldn’t give dramatically better results no matter how much they ground it. Of course, Aura’s suggestions were eminently possible, so there was no guarantee he was correct. Regardless, his opinion seemed credible enough to her.

“I see. You mean the suitability of the sand itself. Perhaps we should gather various types of sand from all regions of the kingdom.”

“That’s a good idea. Also, they showed the workers using magnets to remove the iron content as well. I’ve got a few that go on the fridge, but they’re probably a bit weak to separate out iron with. I have a lot of rechargeable batteries, though, so we could use those as a DC source and make an electromagnet if we had some copper wire.”

Aura looked askance at him as he trawled his memories for the middle-school science lessons, and she questioned him. “Copper wire? What is that? Copper that has been stretched out?”

“Yeah. If you wind copper you’ve stretched out so that it’s like a thread around and around, and then pass a current through it, the thing you wrap it around gets a magnetic field. I remember making iron into a magnet like that when I was at school, but do you not have copper wire? Iron wire might also work, but it’s not as efficient. Copper’s the next best conductor after silver, after all.”

Aura folded her arms under her large chest at the question and considered. “We do not. No such thing presently exists within Capua, at least. The issue lies with whether the smiths working in the palace could make it. Creating something so thin seems difficult. To then wrap it around something else, it would also need to be rather flexible. It may be more expensive, but perhaps we stand a better chance with silver rather than copper. Such fine work is similar to that required of silversmiths.”

Zenjirou appeared surprised for a moment before his expression morphed into one of understanding. “Oh, right. It might matter for larger stuff like power lines, but small-scale testing means silver won’t be too expensive. Yeah, that sounds promising, so I should ask for some. I’ll get ready and set up a workspace in the shade in the courtyard.”

His lack of detailed knowledge meant that he couldn’t make an accurate prediction about whether the magnetic field he created would have an impact on its surroundings. It was unlikely that standard alkalines would interfere with appliances like the computer, but making such a judgment as an amateur was risky, so it was better to take precautions. Working outside in this heat would be irritating, but the shade and spray from the water should allow him to deal with it.

“Very well, I shall make the arrangements with the silversmiths and will have sand gathered from various regions as well.”

“Great.”

That concluded their conversation about glassmaking. Aura now shifted the topic to the water wheel experiment.

“Incidentally, your idea for making the number of teeth on the water wheels ‘coprime’ is amazing; it worked exactly as you suggested. Those that were made coprime lasted many times longer than those that were not,” Aura told him, her eyes sparkling as her face broke into an irrepressible smile.

“Oh, good, so it went well. It was just hearsay; I was actually pretty nervous about it.”

“The difference was truly dramatic. Currently, we are testing the concept with miniature versions constructed from purposefully soft wood, but considering the results thus far, the craftsmen have given their approval.”

The changes would allow them to save quite a bit on the expenses of maintaining the country’s water wheels. Aura’s smile as she spoke had the full force of a monarch behind it, and it made Zenjirou back away slightly atop the bed.

Ah ha ha, he thought to himself, my wife’s beautiful and kind but also intense.

The queen, unaware of her husband’s thoughts, folded her arms under her voluptuous chest as she grew even happier. “This will doubtless lead to an increase in the royal treasury. And unlike the money from prior balance sheets, I can use it as I wish,” she chortled. “It may not be a large amount, but the yearly difference will be huge. Our options are opening up.”

Incidentally, the idea for the coprime water wheels in miniature had come from Zenjirou himself along with the idea of a yearly contract to avoid putting the whole burden on the engineers. Zenjirou didn’t see it as a particularly big contribution, but it had led Aura to increase her already high opinion of him.

However...

“Right, that’s good, that’s great,” Zenjirou replied. “But seeing as it’s so special, we should use it well. Why don’t you think it over properly once you’re less swept up in the excitement of it?” he suggested placatingly as he patted her shoulder.

Her expression abruptly changed as if her earlier joy had been a mere act. “Unfortunately, I will lack the freedom to do that for quite a while. This is the only time I can spare for it right now. I have had a report from the Twin Kingdoms that Prince Francesco and Princess Bona have departed the country. Soon enough, the prince and princess of the Twin Kingdoms of Sharou-Gilbelle will arrive here. When they do, you and I both will have exceedingly tight limits on our time,” she explained, indicating that if he wanted to work on these things, now was his chance.

Zenjirou let out a sigh. “Huh? It’s already gotten that far?”

“It has. Large processions can greatly vary in speed due to the weather and other factors, so we cannot set a precise date. However, the plan is for them to be here in a month. At that point, we shall both need to devote ourselves to dealing with them. You should prepare yourself for a period of little respite,” his wife answered before sighing, almost as if Zenjirou’s mood were contagious.

Royalty from the Twin Kingdoms was coming to visit, and their own circumstances and preferences would come second in light of that. As Aura had said, there would likely be a period where they were hiding tension and wariness under smiles. And while he might have been prince consort and thus not at the forefront of things, it didn’t change the fact that he was one of only two members of the royal family. His schedule would undoubtedly be full, at least for a time.

“Got it. I’ll do my best,” he promised, slumping and taking a deep breath to drive off the melancholy.

The evening passed much this way, with the two of them sitting on the bed and discussing a range of topics, until the phone interrupted the conversation with an electronic beeping.

“Oh, there’s the alarm,” Zenjirou said, rolling over the king-size bed to stop the noise.

“Ah, it is already time to retire. The cooler room truly is agreeable; it feels like no time at all has passed,” Aura remarked regretfully.

Zenjirou’s care to avoid losing track of time immediately showed its worth.

“Yeah, if we kept talking, we’d never stop. Shall we get some sleep?”

He fiddled with the AC’s remote, pressing a button, which beeped. Aura looked somewhat unhappily at him as she spoke.

“Mrh, are you not leaving it running?”

“I’m not turning it off,” he answered his enamored wife with a slight smile in spite of himself. “Just putting it into sleep mode. It’s meant to be used at night while you rest, because having it running at full blast would be bad for you.”

“Is that so?”

Her mournful look made him want to take it back and set the machine to full power again. Considering the temperature in the room was over thirty degrees even at night, it would probably keep things at a more reasonable level. However, he’d rather not risk it needlessly from the outset.

“I’ll get the lights. You good?” he asked instead.

“I am.”

With that, Zenjirou climbed out of bed and switched off the orange glow of the lamps. With the lights off and the shutters closed as well, the room fell into pitch-black darkness without even the illumination of starlight.

Still, Zenjirou had already spent over a year in the room and was quite familiar with it. He navigated the darkness without hesitation and felt his way into the bed where his love was waiting, crawling to the middle. Even in the darkness, Aura seemed able to make out the faintest outline of him and stretched out her hand, guiding him to her.

“Zenjirou...” she murmured.

“Nn, thanks,” he answered, joining hands, exchanging a kiss, and lying down by her side, joining them as man and woman.

“Good night, then,” she told him.

“Yeah, night.”

Queen and Prince Consort. When the royals from the Twin Kingdoms arrived, for better or worse, there would be a huge upheaval within the country. Taking that upheaval and smoothing it out would be their duty. Even Aura, a user of Space-Time Magic, had no knowledge of the difficulties that would face them. But that in and of itself was why they should allow themselves to rest peacefully like this while they could, their hearts concerned only with their feelings for each other.

The loving couple’s breaths sounded in their ears as they lay close enough to each feel the warmth of their partner, sleeping quietly.

To be continued in The Ideal Sponger Life 4.