For a while, I was at a loss.
It had been two days since I last saw Renner. The feeling sucked. It was boring without her, and I missed our discussions.
I got too distracted by the implications of her invention that its name slipped my tongue. Renner was just about to name it too. I wonder what she would've called it; I'll never know now.
I could understand where she was coming from. I'd also be irritated if my supposed invention already existed, albeit in a somewhat intangible form.
In the history of this world, Renner was the first one to have invented a motor. I didn't get the opportunity to analyse it, but I suspected it contained some magical properties.
Honestly, I would have never thought about doing it like that.
I would've fiddled around for years trying to replicate an electric motor…
Oh.
A magical motor. That's what she had created. Even if I could give her a lesson on traditional engines, what she came up with was based on entirely different fundamentals.
She must've presumed that I knew precisely how her prototype worked.
Unbelievably, Renner was wrong about something for once.
I had no clue what Renner had created; she'd need to explain it to me.
I needed to clear up this misunderstanding as soon as possible.
I didn't show up for her science lesson yesterday. It would've been too tactless. Hopefully, she's had enough time to mull things over.
With newfound resolve, I marched down the halls of Valencia palace in search of Renner.
"So, you're telling me that what I created is both a motor, yet not quite?" Climb was grasping at straws at this point.
"Exactly, Renner! Although they perform the same action, they are built completely differently. You have every right to describe it as an invention!"
When I heard the maid announce his presence outside my door, I was a little relieved. I acted too rashly the last we met, and his skipping of one lesson was punishment enough. They quickly became a constant in my life, and I found myself miserable without something to look forward to.
I was willing to drop the matter and move forward. Still, my intentions were spoilt as soon as he entered my room, blathering on about motors all over again.
I was going to kick Climb out again if he kept this up.
I sigh.
"Climb. You are an idiot."
Climb ceased his rambling and looked at me with a sincere expression.
"Renner, you don't need to point it out for me. Compared to you, of course! Everyone is!" I shake my head. He was being either obsequious or underestimating of himself, and I disliked both possibilities.
"No, not in terms of intelligence. You are probably the only person who can hold a decent conversation with me. You're an idiot in the sense that you are incapable of reading the mood."
Where I wanted to drop the subject, he stubbornly kept picking it back up.
He stared at me quizzically for a moment before forming an 'o' with his mouth. He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head in apology.
"Sorry. I was getting ahead of myself again. I guess you still don't want to talk about it, huh?" I was satisfied with his admission of guilt.
I walk up to him and place my index finger over his mouth.
"Think before you speak, Climb. Your big mouth is going to get us in trouble sooner rather than later. I don't want you spilling the secrets of the universe to anyone but me." He fervently nodded his head. "And, I want to apologise," I continued. "It was unwarranted of me to act in such a way. I will reluctantly accept your unsound explanation. I may not be the motor's inventor but of the magical variant. Now, instead of lamenting over something so inconsequential, I thought it would be beneficial for us to work together refining its design. We also need to discuss the motor's either widespread or restricted implementation across the kingdom." Climb looked reinvigorated at my words, and I was a little excited too.
"That's exactly what I was thinking!"
Even if it was just a couple days, I had missed his company.
"Good. Then, let's make haste."
In the lab, I was busy explaining the intricacies of the magic motor to Climb.
"From my experimentation, the mithril acts as a catalyst for the decomposition of heatstones. Lower-grade metals like iron do not work. I believe that the magical conductivity of the metal provides an alternate route for the heatstone's latent mana expulsion. If I had some adamantite and orichalcum, I could collect some empirical data to test my hypothesis. The minimum requirement of mithril is going to be a limiting factor in terms of cost if we are to begin mass-production."
I could see his mind turning over my explanations, trying to find flaws or inaccuracies in them.
"Is it not possible that the hardness of the metal is all that is required? Surely the expulsion of mana is triggered by the hardness of the metal. We could just make a cheaper mithril-type alloy."
A decent conjecture, but too straightforward.
"If that were the case, suppose you did it with a base metal. Hardness and collision speed go hand-in-hand. Suppose a collision between iron and a heatstone was fast enough to mimic the conditions of mithril. Shouldn't the kinetic energy required be sufficient?"
"It should be sufficient. Shouldn't it?"
"That was what I thought as well. As it turns out, both hardness and magical absorption are conditions for activating the heatstone. The only problem is that magical absorption plays a larger role of the two."
I had managed to generate some heat utilising iron once before. It took a ridiculous amount of speed and accuracy to replicate a mithril collision. The conditions were so extreme that it would be more economically viable to have just used mithril instead.
Climb looked upwards in thought.
"Well, if there is nothing to be done about it, so be it. At least, we're lucky that adamantite isn't required for it."
I couldn't help but agree. Sourcing mithril is pricey, but adamantite was too rare to acquire in large quantities. Maybe it could be sparingly used for some high-end magic motors that require maximisation of output.
I looked at the blackboard on the wall. There was a list detailing all the implementations of my invention that Climb and I had thought of.
Horseless carriages, windless grain milling, automatic portcullises…
It also included unreasonable things like a strange weapon of war, a mountedcannon on wheels. Climb dubbed it a 'tank'. I don't know why he named it after a form of liquid storage. I've learnt to suspend my disbelief when it comes to Climb's antics, but even this was pushing it. He had insisted that with some more research and development, the motor might be able to produce enough torque to accomplish something like that. Though, if we could create a 'tank', I think our worries about the foreign invaders would end. The Baharuth Empire had been instigating annual wars that sapped our manpower.
Wouldn't it be nice to roll up to Ariwintar with a trail of dead imperials behind us? Climb also mentioned another motorised weapon we could build.
Ah, yes.
A battering ram.
"Climb."
"Yes?"
"Between a granary or a tank, which would you prefer to work on?"
The grin on his face told me all I needed to know.
A few more months had passed, and in that time, I came to the realisation that both science and engineering were hard. Especially when there was no recipe book to follow. While I had an idea of what the final product looked like, attempting to work backwards from it was a troublesome task.
I knew caterpillar tracks were used in modern tanks, but I didn't have access to those. Any material I tried was either too inflexible or weak to be used in such a way. Our current prototype would sink into the ground if it was too heavy. The cannon itself was not too much of a weight issue; the cannonballs themselves were the problem. The damned things took up too much space and were too cumbersome for my liking.
We had built something that looked like a dinky Sheffield Handcar, with a cannon in place of the handpump. A perpendicular lever was located at the rear to steer it either left or right. A steering wheel was too difficult to figure out.
It could move, if ever so slowly. It could turn, but the turn radius was massive. It could fire cannonballs but itself had no cover from incoming projectiles.
And yet…
"This will completely change the face of war, my sister!"
Zanac was drooling all over it.
"Of course, brother. Two men could pilot it and be able to disrupt entire army formations from afar. This is just one of the many unprecedented advancements to come."
Renner also praised it to high heavens.
"With the next annual war coming up soon, if we defeat Baharuth on the Kazte Plains, my bid for the throne become even more tenable!"
If he thinks that something as overengineered as this could give him a chance at defeating Baharuth, he could be my guest. It needed a proper field test anyway.
"I wish to commission ten more of these before our next war! Additionally, I will require proper training for those who will be operating these 'tanks'. Renner, how much would this cost?"
Ten more of these shoddy contraptions?!
"The cost of building a tank is 5 platinum coins. 50 platinum coins in total. The training will be complementary as a sign of goodwill."
Five platinum coins each!? Renner, you're ripping him off. That's the equivalent of about $50,000 per tank. Zanac wouldn't fall for something so ridicu-
"Hmph. That seems reasonable enough for such a wonder. I will have the treasurer transfer half the platinum now, and the rest will be delivered after your end of the bargain is fulfilled."
My eyes threatened to pop out of my head. I really wanted to speak up then and there; to cease the blatant scamming that Renner was pulling.
"I look forward to your performance on the battlefield, Zanac."
Renner reached her hand out.
"And I look forward to a prosperous future relationship."
Zanac shook her outstretched hand.
As they began to talk about all the logistics and military formation based around the tanks, I noiselessly slunk out of the workshop. Falling to the ground, I hold my head in my hands as I begin to imagine the relentless ridicule its pathetic debut will garner.
I could only hope that the wheels didn't sink into the sand before the battle started.
Maybe I'll head off to the dungeons again to relieve some stress, crush a bug or two along the way.
"Climb!" I hear Renner's voice echo beyond the door. "Zanac also wants to discuss our future science projects; Your presence is required!"
Science projects.
Hah… It sure felt like it.
Character Sheet: Renner Theiere Chardelon Ryle Vaiself
Race: Human
Job: Princess, Scholar, Climb's accomplice
Residence: Ro-Lente Castle
Alignment: Neutral
Karma: 0
Job Classes:
[Princess] (lv. 2)
[Actress] (lv. 3)
[Genius] (lv. 4)
[Scientist] (lv. 6)
[Mathematician] (lv. 4)
[Engineer] (lv. 2)
Total: lv. 21
Birthday: Upper Fire Month 7th Day
Hobby: Learning new things from Climb, performing science experiments
AN: Both Renner and Zanac agree that the tank is a marvel of engineering, but Climb thinks otherwise. Is he too pessimistic, or will it fare as poorly as he believes on the battlefield? Jircniv will find out the answer next chapter.