Chapter 80: Building a bath

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Translator: Soafp

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As a former Japanese person, I am dissatisfied with the current bathing situation. Well, it might be more accurate to say that I have nothing but dissatisfaction.

Until now, I had no power, so all I could do was endure it. But now, I wonder if I can create something that satisfies me!

Afternoon classes at the academy were over. Normally, we would start self-training, but this week, I plan to make a bath. It’s a mystery whether I can actually make a bath in a week, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

“Lewis, Nero, Faristea, I’m thinking of taking a break from self-training this week.”

My words seemed to spark some dissatisfaction. Lewis started speaking with a hint of frustration.

“Self-training isn’t mandatory, but you were the one who brought it up. If you’re taking a week off, there must be a decent reason, right?”

“A reason, huh…”

“Yeah. There’s something, right?”

“I’m thinking of making a bath.”

“…Ha?”

“I’m thinking of making a bath.”

“A bath, as in the bath where you wash your body?”

“I don’t know any other kind of bath; do you?”

“Well, I don’t know any other baths, but…”

Lewis looks at me like I’m an idiot….why.

“I’ve been waiting for this. Let me tell you about the wonders of baths.”

Seeing that Lewis wasn’t convinced, I passionately spoke about the pleasures of baths, the benefits of cleanliness (body odor, shiny hair, overall cleanliness), and the secondary effects like disease prevention. I still had much more to say, but Lewis interrupted the conversation, his eyes filled with fear.

“I… I get it. You’re going to make a bath… I’ll support you.”

“I see. I’m sorry about that. Once it’s done, let’s bathe together. You’ll definitely understand what I’m talking about.”

“…Looking forward to it.”

It wasn’t just Lewis; even Nero, Faristea, and Anna-sensei were looking at me with warm eyes. I couldn’t understand.

When we left the school gate, Noel was waiting.

“Aldo, you’re early today.”

“Yeah, taking a break from self-training this week.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No, thinking of making a bath.”

“Ha?”

“You too, huh…”

Noel also had the same reaction as Lewis. Is it so strange to want to make a bath? Now, I’m determined to make a bath.

“That’s enough. I’m going to make a bath in the garden. Once it’s done, I’ll let you use it… just once.”

Being ridiculed by everyone, my heart was on the verge of overflowing with darkness…

I’ll let them experience the pleasure of a bath, and then I won’t let them use it anymore.

Switching my mindset, I headed to the cooper in the western district of the commercial area.

Actually, a little while ago, I stopped by the cooper and asked about the price of a bath bucket. It was said to be ten gold coins.

In Japanese yen, that’s 100,000 yen. For a 13-year-old, it’s a considerable sum. However, for me, who earned some pocket money during the summer vacation with guild requests, it was an amount I could easily afford.

I have no reservations when it comes to a bath. I’m more than willing to spend on it!

After about an hour’s walk from the academy, I arrived at the cooper.

It’s not like there were buckets lined up like in a store; it had the appearance of a workshop with only a sign that read “Cooper.”

“Excuse meeeee, is anyone here?”

When I shouted loudly towards the back of the shop, a response came back.

“Yeeeess. Just a moment, please wait!”

A male voice echoed from the back. True to his words, a craftsman-looking man soon appeared.

“Sorry for the wait. What’s your business?”

As expected from his appearance, he seemed more like a craftsman than a merchant. He got straight to the point, asking about my business without any embellishments.

“I want you to make a tub.”

“Mu, aah. You’re the kid who came to ask about the price of a big tub a while ago, right?”

“I want the same kind of tub we discussed before.”

“If I recall, it was a diameter of 2 meters, a depth of 1 meter, with the strength to hold water, and a drain plug at the bottom, right?”

“That’s right. Can you do it?”

“If it’s holding water, it needs to be sturdy. As I said before, it’ll cost you ten gold coins.”

As soon as the cooper mentioned the price, Noel, with a shocked expression, exclaimed, “Ten gold coins? What’s with that amount? Are you joking?”

In response to Noel’s words, the cooper visibly became annoyed and retorted.

“Who’s this girl… To hold even a meter of water, you need a thickness of at least 5 centimeter in the wood. Don’t interfere, you ignorant amateur!”

The cooper’s anger was justified. With a diameter of 2 meters, an area of πr² (approximately 3.14 square meters), and a depth of 1 meter (approximately 3.14 cubic meters), assuming the water density is 1, it would hold 3140 liters of water. In reality, even if we assume it holds only 50 cm of water, that’s still 1570 kg. Noel probably imagined something like a hand bucket, but it’s fundamentally different.

“Noel, be quiet!”

I immediately ordered Noel to be quiet and apologized to the cooper.

“Sorry, my companion said something rude. I’ll pay the ten gold coins as agreed.”

I took out ten gold coins from my pouch and stacked them on the table.

“Ten gold coins. Count them.”

“…Alright.”

After glancing at Noel, the cooper counted the coins on the table.

“…8, 9, 10. You did give me ten gold coins. I’ll write up a receipt, so wait a bit.”

The man, after giving Noel a glance, started writing on a piece of paper, noting the size, quantity, and price of the buckets.

“Kid, what’s your name?”

“Aldo von Blue Ring.”

“Blue Ring… of the Reversi, huh?”

“Yeah.”

The cooper briefly showed surprise but quickly regained his composure and continued the conversation.

“I heard that it was the idea of a Blue Ring kid from Reversi…”

“Yeah, I came up with it.”

“Is that so…”

“Just that I don’t have the authority to decide. Everything is managed by my grandfather. I apologize.”

“I see. If you ever come up with something else, let me know, and I’ll take a piece too.”

“If such a time comes, I’ll remember that.”

The cooper chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.

“Should I deliver the tub to the Blue ring mansion?”

“Yeah, please.”

The order was placed, but I forgot to ask one important thing.

“When do you think it will be ready?”

“Right….. there’s nothing special about the size….. The lumber is ready too….. I’d say three days. I’ll have it done in three days.”

“Can you deliver it by the upcoming Dark Day?”

“Got it. Dark Day it is. Any specific time?”

“I’d like it as early as possible.”

“Alright… Even if it’s early, I think it’ll be around 10 o’clock.”

“Understood. I’ll leave it to you then.”

With the order for the tub placed, I need to quickly return and prepare the installation location for the tub in the backyard of the mansion.

As I turn on my heel to leave the shop, the bucket craftsman stops me.

“You forgot the order form. Here.”

With a wry smile, the craftsman hands me the written order.

“Thank you. Looking forward to Dark Day.”

With that, I left the bucket shop.

Walking back towards the Blue Ring Mansion alongside Noel, she suddenly asks me, her frustration evident.

“A tub for ten gold coins is clearly absurd. What are you thinking?”

Seemingly dissatisfied with the earlier transaction, Noel’s face is flushed with irritation.

“Noel, do you have any idea how much water a tub with a diameter of two meters and a depth of one meters can hold?”

“Hmm, water for a tub… Maybe five buckets like the ones we use for the well… about ten buckets?”

“If we assume the tub holds about 5 liters, that’s roughly 630 buckets.”

“630 buckets? That much can fit in there?”

“Yeah, if we use your weight as 50 kg… approximately the equivalent of 62 people like you.”

“It can fit 62 people in there?”

“That’s right. The bucket needs to withstand the weight of 62 people without breaking.”

“…”

“…What’s wrong?”

“I thought that bucket craftsman was trying to deceive you, Aldo. However, if it’s a bucket that can hold 62 people without breaking, then ten gold coins would be reasonable. I apologize for jumping to conclusions.”

Noel seems visibly downcast. However, grasping the concepts of this world’s mathematics quickly is challenging for her.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I’ll explain it nicely.”

“I appreciate that…..”

Noel, looking a bit embarrassed, was surprisingly cute. Adding the years on my side, I’m now 47. Noel, who is almost 30, is like a daughter’s age. The thought of Noel as a daughter stirs complex emotions as we continue our walk towards the Blue Ring Mansion.

After returning to the Blue Ring Mansion, I immediately moved to the backyard.

I need to decide the specific location for the bath. Why would I build it in the backyard in the first place? Because it’s a position where buildings create blind spots, and it’s not visible from surrounding houses.

Even someone like me wants to make an effort to hide it.

Walking through the backyard, I roughly decided on potential locations. The next step is to pour 1570 liters of water in one go, considering drainage as well.

Considering the distant view, distance to the irrigation canal, the space for both the dressing room and the tub, and the view from the bath, I comprehensively decided on the location.

Ultimately, I made the decision based on my personal judgment.

“Shall I install the bathtub here?”

Alone in the empty backyard, I muttered to myself. Noel returned to the mansion and went back to the Knight Order.

It’s sudden, but there is a magic in earth magic called “Stone Plate.” As the name suggests, it’s a chanting magic to create stone plates.

If it were my reincarnated brothers, they would probably use earth magic to create an entire bathhouse. However, due to the nature of chanting magic, this magic doesn’t have such versatility.

It’s essentially a magic to create a stone plate of 50 cm × 50 cm × 5 cm in thickness.

Certainly, in battles, I think non-chanting magic is more useful than chanting magic. However, I don’t think non-chanting magic is superior in every situation.

It’s about using them appropriately. In fact, if I were to reproduce this Stone Plate with non-chanting magic, I would need to imagine the size, material, and thickness every time. However, with chanting magic, magically, the same-sized object is created. This is not possible with non-chanting magic.

I walked through the backyard and made a decision about the location where I muttered to myself.

“Shall I install the bathtub here?”

No one was around to hear my self-talk. Noel had already returned to the mansion by this point.

Abruptly, but this Stone Plate magic requires giving a mental image. As for the bath, I’m thinking of a bathtub with a size of 2 meters. The problem is the dressing room… The other day, while searching the mansion’s warehouse for something good, I found a tent.

Ideally, I wouldn’t use a tent for the dressing room, but let’s compromise and use a tent for now.

In the end, the boards made by Stone Plate magic… For a bathroom of 3 meters by 4 meters and a dressing room of 3 meters by 4 meters… I would need 96 pieces of stone boards if I calculated it… Ugh.

“Elmon…? Is it okay if you give me your mana?”

El was looking at me as if I were an idiot.

“…Ah, it would be helpful if I could receive mana.”

I must have been a bit strange in my enthusiasm for building a bath. El looked at me as if he saw the real me again.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“What have you been doing when you ran out of magic?”

“I’m building a bath in the backyard.”

“A bath…?”

“Yeah, I’ll let you use it if it’s done. It feels great, you know.”

Honestly, El probably didn’t understand. However, he’s kind enough to support me.

“Yes, I’m looking forward to it.”

I filled up with mana and returned to the backyard.

If there’s mana, the task remains the same. Relentlessly creating stone plates with the Stone Plate magic… Create… Relentlessly create…

Suddenly, my mana proficiency increased, and after creating about 30 pieces, my mana was reduced to one-third. There was nothing more I could do, so I returned to the mansion.

I’ll probably finish making the stone plates by tomorrow. Next is leveling the ground… I need to ask El to share magical power with me tomorrow too.