Another World Metal Factory

Chapter 41

By the time Richel and Shellen had finally calmed down, Illia and Marsha, who had gone to the forest to pick mushrooms, returned.

Illia, upon hearing about the near-accident, threw her basket aside and ran to the Factory Manager.

“Are you alright?”

“Ah, yes. I’m fine. I just twisted my back a little. Kapuntar, that fellow, jumped down from the tower, pulled me down with him, and landed with a thud, so I didn’t get hurt. Orcs really have incredible athleticism.”

The Factory Manager acted more exaggeratedly than usual to soothe Illia, whose face had turned pale. However, Illia’s shocked expression showed no signs of returning to normal.

Shellen, who had now calmed down, lifted Illia up.

“Illia, the mister is safe, so you don’t have to worry. More importantly, you picked some good mushrooms. Shall we go and make soup together? Marsha, come along too.”

Illia nodded, and Shellen carried her inside the inn building.

After Marsha followed them, the Factory Manager straightened his back and looked at Richel, who was sitting next to him.

“Are you alright, Richel?”

“Yes, I’m fine… I thought you were dead.”

“I’m just getting old. Who knew I’d slip there?”

Richel nodded at the Factory Manager’s grumbling and looked up at the wooden tower. Channing and Tehez were precariously hanging, completing the final assembly.

Richel sighed as she watched them.

“Tehez is really amazing.”

“Ah, yes. She is. She doesn’t seem scared at all at that height.”

“She wasn’t even surprised when you fell, mister. I’ve never seen a girl like her.”

“She’s a very smart young lady.”

While Richel and the Factory Manager were looking up, Channing and Tehez, having finished the installation, came down.

“Installation complete!”

“Try it out! Does the water come out?”

The Factory Manager shouted at Channing’s exclamation, and Channing pulled down the large lever next to the rotating shaft with force.

The gears attached to the lever turned, connecting to the gears attached to the shaft, and the sound of the pump operating could be heard.

It was the sound of the pump’s cylinder moving up and down in sync with the rotation of the windmill blades on top of the wooden tower.

At the same time, the sound of water flowing through the connected hose could be heard.

Channing followed the hose to the water tank placed on a 2-meter high frame next to it. The sound of the tank filling with water could be heard.

Channing carefully reached out, climbed down from the wooden frame, and turned the faucet connected to the water tank. With the sound of air escaping, water began to pour out.

“Wow! It’s coming out!”

Channing shouted, and Kapuntar and the other Orcs gathered around the faucet curiously.

“It’s working properly. It’s not even that loud.”

“So, Master, how does it work?”

“Whoa! You surprised me!”

The Factory Manager, who had been looking up at the rotating windmill, was startled by Tehez suddenly approaching him with a question and grabbed his back as he moved.

“Ouch, ouch, ouch… You scared me!”

“Ah, I’m sorry, Master. More importantly, what’s the principle behind that windmill? It seems similar to the principle of a windmill-powered mill, but I don’t understand how the water is being pumped up.”

Tehez’s eyes sparkled as she took out her notebook and pen, and the Factory Manager sighed and said,

“The windmill blades at the top rotate when the wind blows. They’re installed high up because the wind needs to be strong enough to generate a certain speed.”

“You installed a large circular ball bearing at the top and attached blades extending from the back of the windmill on top of it to make it rotate in the direction of the wind.”

“Yes. That way, the windmill blades will rotate at a constant speed even if the wind direction changes. The rotation generated by the rotating blades is then transmitted to the pump through the rotating shaft, causing the cylinder inside the pump to move up and down.”

“Cylinder?”

At Tehez’s question, the Factory Manager took the notebook and pen and explained while drawing a picture.

“Look. It’s like a smaller cylinder inside this cylinder. The inner cylinder moves, sucking up and drawing up the water.”

“Ah! I know this. It’s like what the southern people make with wooden cylinders. They use it to spray water.”

“Like a water gun. It’s a similar principle. Well, it’s a little different, but look here, there’s a hole in the inner cylinder like this, and there’s a metal ball inside, right? This metal ball opens the hole when it goes down and closes the hole when it’s pulled up. That’s how it draws up the water.”

Tehez’s eyes sparkled as she listened attentively to the Factory Manager’s explanation, and Richel smiled as she watched the two of them.

“Oh! Marsha! Are you here to get water?”

While the Factory Manager and Tehez were discussing the principle of the pump, Channing smiled brightly at Marsha and Illia, who came with a wooden bucket.

“Brother Channing is acting strange.”

“Yeah, he’s more annoying than usual.”

Even while listening to Illia and Marsha’s blunt remarks, Channing laughed heartily and took the bucket from Marsha’s hand.

“Look at this. Now, if you need water, see this metal thing here?”

“It’s a faucet.”

Just as Channing was about to explain excitedly, Illia opened the faucet.

“Wow! Water is coming out.”

“I guess that strange tower is drawing water from the well and putting it into this wooden tank.”

“Hmm… That’s amazing. By the way, Illia is really smart.”

Marsha and Illia chatted as they filled the bucket with water and went back into the building. Channing, who had been fully prepared to give various explanations, deflated and slumped his shoulders.

***

In the middle of the night.

The Factory Manager left the building, leaving behind Channing, who was snoring in his sleep. Leaning on a cane roughly made from a piece of wood, the Factory Manager walked carefully along the forest path towards the hot spring.

The hot spring was more comfortable to use thanks to the Orcs who had built a fence and laid stones around it.

The Factory Manager hung the gas lamp he had brought from the kitchen on a hook next to the hot spring, undressed, and carefully immersed himself in the water.

“Ahh… I feel alive…”

He immersed himself up to his neck in the hot spring water and relaxed his entire body. The Factory Manager hummed a tune, enjoying the feeling of his aching back being soothed by the hot water.

“I guess I can’t deny my age… Back pain, huh…”

“You’re still in good shape, what are you talking about?”

The Factory Manager was startled by the reply to his murmur. It was Shellen.

“Shellen?!”

“You seem to have a habit of secretly taking baths at night.”

Shellen hung the gas lamp she was carrying on another hook and began to undress. The Factory Manager turned his head at the rustling sound of the fabric against her skin.

A moment later, Shellen, completely undressed, entered the water.

“Ah, I’m using the gas lamp you made for me. It’s so convenient.”

The Factory Manager nodded awkwardly.

It was a simple item made with a brass body, a glass shade on top that he had asked the glass craftsman in the alley to make, and a handle made of bent wire for carrying or hanging.

“It wasn’t anything difficult.”

“No, I’m really grateful. Ordinary lamps use oil. Compared to that, coal is easy to obtain in this area.”

“I’m glad it’s helpful.”

The Factory Manager replied curtly, but his face flushed slightly with pleasure. Shellen, watching him, carefully moved closer.

The Factory Manager’s face flushed even more.

“You’re like a wizard from legends. You can make anything. I was really surprised by the machine that automatically draws water from the well.”

“It’s nothing special.”

“That’s why I’m worried.”

The Factory Manager turned his head to look at Shellen at her slightly somber voice. Her expression was dark.

“Um… What…?”

“I’m talking about the incident earlier today. You do dangerous things so casually. You could get seriously hurt.”

The Factory Manager recalled the incident where he almost fell. It was a mistake he wouldn’t normally make.

The Factory Manager thought that if it hadn’t been for Kapuntar’s incredible physical abilities, he would have died or been seriously injured.

“My husband died after falling from the roof.”

Shellen suddenly brought up a heavy topic.

The Factory Manager momentarily wondered how he should respond, but he thought that Shellen wouldn’t want his answer and remained silent.

Perhaps noticing this, Shellen continued speaking.

“My husband was good with his hands. He used to fix the house and make everything we needed. One day, the roof was leaking, so he went up to fix it and fell to his death. There was nothing I could do. It happened when Marsha was just born.”

It was a story the Factory Manager didn’t know. He thought it would be a lie to say he wasn’t curious. He couldn’t help but be curious about the past of an attractive woman.

The Factory Manager suppressed his curiosity. And the woman was explaining her past.

The Factory Manager wondered how he should take this.

“Ah, I don’t grieve or anything anymore. Back then, I thought about dying with him, but I managed to hold on somehow because of Marsha. And then, I was so busy trying to keep this inn running that I ended up like this. It’s an old inn with hardly any guests. Now, when I think of my husband, I feel lonely.”

Shellen stirred the hot spring water with her hand. The still, white water rippled and spread.

“But at the same time, I remember the fun and happy times, and I smile. Sad feelings don’t come up easily. Around that time, I start to think, ‘Ah! He has become a memory to me now.'”

Shellen scooped up the hot spring water with both hands and rubbed her face.

“I’m sorry. I’ve said a lot of strange things to another woman’s husband. I apologize to your wife.”

“Ah… You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t have a wife.”

“Yes?… Ah, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“No, she’s not dead, so you don’t have to worry. I guess you could say we’re separated… Anyway, I don’t have a wife now.”

Shellen’s eyes widened as she looked at the Factory Manager. The Factory Manager, embarrassed, hurriedly got up.

“Ah, then I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, good night.”

Shellen glanced at the Factory Manager’s back as he hurriedly got dressed, then blushed and submerged her face in the hot spring water.

******

The Factory Manager, who had come outside, walked towards the lake, feeling the coolness of the night breeze.

The lake water sparkled under the moonlight, and the splashing sounds of fish hunting for food could be heard in the distance.

“Damn it… Saying such unnecessary things…”

The Factory Manager clicked his tongue and took out a cigarette. He lit it with a lighter and took a deep breath.

He felt that his back pain had subsided considerably compared to earlier, and he deeply inhaled the cigarette smoke.

“Acting foolish in my old age… Damn it. Saying I don’t have a wife now… What kind of thing is that to say…”

The Factory Manager scratched his head, ruminating on his earlier words. He clicked his tongue and deeply inhaled the cigarette smoke again, thinking how foolish his answer had been.

And he exhaled. The white smoke sparkled in the moonlight as it rose into the sky, and the Factory Manager took another drag.

Only after the cigarette burned down to the filter could the Factory Manager calm down a little.

Thinking that his body, which had been heated from the bath, had cooled down somewhat in the cool breeze, the Factory Manager leaned on his cane again and headed back to his room.

A large fish jumped out of the lake with a splash, disturbing the reflection of the moon on the water’s surface.