"Thank you," I said as he set down the cup.
The tea Noah makes is always good, especially since he picks clean, light leaves to match what I like. When I drink this tea, my head clears up, making it much easier to pull my thoughts together when I'm making magic tools2.
"The tea is good today as well," I remarked.
"Thank you, Lord Finn. I am glad it suits your taste," Noah replied.
Noah gave a little bow and quietly left the room.
Alright, time to get right to making magic tools again today. The first prototype air conditioner's main body is a desktop size you can set down, so I've gotta run the magical circuits a bit thinner to fit it. Too thin and the mana flow gets bad, but too thick and it won't fit in the body. Good thing I bought that fine-tipped pen-type magic tool, because with this, I can draw the small magical circuits with no problem.
I slowly push mana from the pen tip while carefully drawing the magical circuits onto the magic tool's body. These are pretty much the same circuits as the blower, so aside from small differences, they're actually easy to draw. I used to watch this a lot in Grandpa's1 workshop when I was little.
"The circuits-don't rush, one stroke at a time," Grandpa had always taught me.
Stroke by stroke, with no rushing, I draw the magical circuits. It took a bit of time, but the circuits turned out clean. Right when I was about to fit in the magic stone and looked over the layout again, I paused.
Hmm... yeah, this spot's a little too cramped after all. If I leave it like this, the mana flows for cooling and for blowing air will crash into each other, which won't just lower efficiency-it could even drop the cooling power.
"I guess I have no choice... I'll have to redo it," I muttered to myself.
I erase just the problem part with a magical circuit correction pen, which is a tool no craftsman can do without since it lets you fix magical circuits in just one spot. This circuit here, I'll pull it a little more upward than before while keeping it straight so the mana flows don't touch... no, I'll bend it gently so mana doesn't get stuck at the next corner.
...
...Okay, everything looks good.
"Let's try putting in the magic core3," I said to myself.
However, right when I picked up the magic core, I noticed something-I forgot to make a switch. Sometimes that just happens when you're absorbed in work. If I'm just putting a switch on the body, it's easy, but it'd be way more convenient if I could work it from anywhere in the room.
So I guess a remote it is, which should make it easier to fine-tune the temperature and air flow too. For the remote's material, something light and easy to hold would be good, making wood probably the easiest to work with. And if I think about keeping costs down, Uncle Alex would love that.
Alright, I'll make the remote's outer shell out of wood. If I sandwich a thin iron plate for magic tools inside to hold it, the mana flow will be stable, and it should be just right for remote control. Making the remote's outer shell is easy work that takes five minutes, tops.
The problem is how to fit the remote-control magical circuits into this tiny casing. I need something to take the place of infrared. In this world, mana communication using non-attribute magic is probably the closest thing, so if I build in a remote-control spell formula, I can simplify the magical circuits a lot more.
That means it comes down to whether a small magic core can keep the communication stable. No-if I use separate magic cores for the body and the remote, the mana won't interfere and it should run stable. Using a magic core for each one costs a bit more, but if I think about ease of use and comfort, it's a necessary expense.
Yeah, I'll have Uncle Alex work his butt off for this.
The magical circuits alone are no problem now, so what's left is tuning the magic circles that control the cooling and the airflow. Lately, new magic circles have started coming out again. But they're too good, making them a little hard to handle for the magic tool I'm making now. Thinking about the mana they eat up and the size of magic core they need, it's still too early to use them.
For the next magic tool I make, they might have a use.
Using a magic circle with non-attribute magic built in as the base, I place the cooling and airflow spell formulas before adding the letters to control them. I tune the existing magic circle and check the connections with the magical circuits. After that, once I put in the magic core, it's done.
"Alright, now I can finally live comfortably..," I whispered with satisfaction.
When I ran mana through it, the cooling magic circle started to glow faintly. Next, the airflow magic circle reacted too, and a quiet sound rang out from inside the magic tool as cold air started flowing out.
...It worked, meaning now I won't have to suffer from the heat anymore.
While thinking that and fine-tuning the temperature, a voice suddenly called out.
"Big Brother Finn-"
"Cold!!" I yelped instinctively.
"...Huh?" the voice echoed back in confusion.
Trivia:
- The habit of drawing circuits one careful stroke at a time was drilled into Finn by his grandfather, hinting that his crafting skill has deep family roots rather than being purely from his otherworld knowledge.
- Finn automatically thinks about cost and ease of manufacturing before building, a merchant-like reflex that shows he was raised as a noble son who understands money and supply chains.
- The remote uses separate magic cores from the main body specifically to prevent mana interference, a small detail that hints at how mana behaves like a physical force that can collide or cancel out.
Translation Notes:
1 ↩ An affectionate, childish way of saying grandfather in Japanese. It carries a warmer, more familiar feeling than the standard word for grandfather, which fits Finn's fond memories of learning at his workshop.
2 ↩ Finn's preferred term for his enchanted devices, keeping the literal English phrasing from the source rather than using a localized fantasy term.
3 ↩ The power source component inserted into magic tools, treated as a distinct item from a magic stone.
Notes:
• Noah - Finn's personal attendant. Has been by Finn's side since childhood. Knows Finn well.
• Finn - Third son of a marquis family and a magical tool maker. Graduated from an academy and became a full magical tool maker after apprenticing. Currently staying at the family estate during summer. Working on a prototype magical tool that can cool the air, using a fan blower's magical circuit as a base. Has a tendency to forget meals when absorbed in work, though this has improved. Finds the dining room and hallways uncomfortably hot. Wears his shirt with two buttons undone at home. Knows Noah well since childhood. Third son of a marquis family living in the royal capital. Aspiring magical tool maker who retains memories of a past life. Currently working on creating a cooling magical device to deal with an unusually hot summer. Gets absorbed in work and loses track of time.