Chapter 105 Experimental Facility For The Future
As Teresa the Blacksmith Girl and Fran started moving to set up the distillation furnace, Sara left the two of them behind and exited the laboratory. Then, Amelia the Pharmacist Girl quietly handed over some materials. They were lists of medicine names, lined up one after another.
"I've made a list of medicines that can be created from the medicinal herbs in the garden."
"There are this many?"
There were medicines that were effective against human illnesses and injuries, of course, as well as ones that were expected to have an effect on beauty and plant cultivation. Moreover, not only medicines with good effects, but also poisonous ones were listed without exception. Most of them were insecticides, rodenticides, and anti-monster agents, but there were also many that were harmful to humans. It was clear that medicine could also be poison.
"The amount of each plant is not that much. If we want to create a specific medicine in large quantities, we'll need to take seeds or seedlings from the garden and cultivate them in another location."
"Then, let's choose the ones that will be in high demand in the coming season. If necessary, we can even borrow the power of the fairies to increase the amount of medicinal herbs and secure the medicine, don't you think?"
It was currently autumn, and it would only get colder from now on. The chill in the mornings and evenings was already quite severe. Probably, the number of people catching colds and other illnesses would increase from now on. There might be many situations where medicines like fever reducers would be needed.
"We'll need to consult with the Pharmacist Guild as well. I'll go meet with Sir Alexander-sama."
"That sounds like a good idea. The guild might have some plans in the works."
"Are there any medicine recipes in Paracelsus's alchemy materials?"
Alicia the Alchemist Girl responded to this.
"I think there probably are, but the materials are so vast that we haven't been able to organize them yet. And, I'm a bit embarrassed to say this, but I'm not as knowledgeable about medicine as you, Ms. Amelia..."
"What are you saying? I've always thought that if I had knowledge of alchemy like Ms. Alicia, it would be amazing!"
"Instead of just focusing on your own work, wouldn't it be better to collaborate and get better results? You two're already living together, after all."
Rebecca's comment made the two of them look at each other in surprise.
"That's true! I want to learn more about medicine from Ms. Amelia. And your plant sketches are really amazing, so I want to compile the data."
"Please teach me about alchemy too."
'Hmm, both of them are really close friends, aren't they?'
"Why don't you two co-author a book?"
"Really?! You think we could write a book? But isn't that something only researchers who studied at the Academy can do?"
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl looked at Sara with a bewildered expression.
"That's exactly why I think it would be interesting. The people at the Academy probably wouldn't take a book written by us girls seriously anyway. But how long can they ignore us? I'm not going to be stingy with the funding either."
Sara stopped and turned to face the two of them, with a sly smile on her face.
"We have access to a vast array of medicinal herbs and a laboratory where we can conduct various experiments freely. Of course, we'll need to do clinical trials eventually, but we can ask Mr. Alexander for help with that, right?"
"That's true, Lady Sara."
Then Alicia the Alchemist Girl chimed in.
"Plus, I'm planning to establish a merchant guild, and I want to create a publishing department within it. The books we have now are too decorative, don't you think? Honestly, I think they're too heavy and inconvenient. So I want to publish books that focus on the content alone, without any unnecessary extras. And since the covers will be simple, I plan to keep the prices low."
"I'm sure that'll be absolutely interesting. We have the advantage of Paracelsus's materials, after all, so we must have a good chance of winning!"
"If research progresses, many textbooks will be rewritten, so I agree that publishing books at a low price is a good idea, but will people appreciate the value of such books?"
Indeed, ordinary books are extremely expensive, and even in noble families, they're treated as assets and cataloged. Well, Robert's doujinshi, of course, isn't listed in the Grandchester family's catalog.
"That's why the content's value is important. And if we're talking about the Grandchester territory, how many alchemists and pharmacists can ignore the works of Mr. Theofrastos and Mr. Alexander's direct disciples?"
"In that case, why don't we start by publishing the herbal encyclopedia illustrated by Ms. Amelia under Mr. Alexander's supervision? The medicinal herb garden's plants are almost all covered, right? She must have learned a lot about plants from the fairies."
"Right. But the thing is, printing illustrations requires a huge amount of expensive magic to create the original plates. The workshops that can do photographic printing keep their techniques secret, so it's hard to lower the price."
'Hmm, so in this world, photography is supplemented by magic.'
In Sarasa's world, photographic printing became possible due to scientific advancements, but in this world, it's apparently possible through a combination of earth and light magic.
"I see. First, we need to solve that problem, or else we'll hit a wall. I think illustrations are necessary for books too."
'Ultimately, I'll publish manga too!'
It seems Sara's otaku spirit was stimulated in a weird way.
"It's nice that you're all getting along. I'm not living in the tower yet, though..."
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl's voice came from behind. It seems she's finished setting up the distillation furnace.
"But shouldn't Teresa be living near the workshop? However do you really need to live alone... I mean..."
Alicia the Alchemist Girl glanced at Fran, and Fran slightly averted his gaze. Sara decided to slightly take Fran's side.
"If the distillation of Elma liquor goes well, I think we'll get a lot more requests to create distillation furnaces. It might become hard for you to leave the workshop. Maybe even Mr. Fran will have to quit his current workshop?"
"That sounds like a lot of fun!"
"I also want to work on many more distillation furnaces, just like my great-grandfather."
With a mischievous grin, Sara spoke to Teresa the Blacksmith Girl and Fran, and both of them reacted like fish in water.
"That's really reassuring. Mr. Fran seems like a knight who protects the maidens of the garden."
"A, no, I'm not a knight or anything..."
Fran's face turned red as he blushed. For some reason, Teresa the Blacksmith Girl next to him was also blushing, and the atmosphere was palpable.
"E, um, Alicia. We can start distilling now."
Teresa the Blacksmith Girl changed the subject, unable to bear the atmosphere.
"Oh, then let's get started right away."
Alicia the Alchemist Girl agreed.
"Lady Sara, I'll be distilling Elma liquor with Teresa and Fran, so I'll excuse myself."
"Yes, please take care, everyone."
"""Yes!"""
Later, Sara was guided by Amelia the Pharmacist Girl to check out the completion of her room, and she was surprised by its spaciousness and equipment.
"I didn't expect to have a bathroom this big just for myself."
"The tower has a complete water supply system that utilizes water attribute magic. And, thanks to the magic stone-powered water heaters installed throughout the tower, both hot and cold water are available from the faucets."
"That's convenient, isn't it?"
"Yes. Which means, Lady Sara, you can take a warm bath whenever you want."
'Hmm, I wonder if the person who came up with this system was a reincarnated person...'
"Also, the wastewater from the tower is sent to the purification tank developed by Paracelsus. When it came to repairing this system, we received a lot of help from Mr. Theofrastos."
'Ah, I guess that's because he was interested in it himself...'
"The water purified by this tank is clean enough for people to drink, but apparently, even Paracelsus was concerned, so it's been diverted to the water storage tanks for the garden and fields. Oh, and some of it is also used for the water closets."
"That makes sense. It's efficient."
"Actually, the water closets have a separate piping system from the rest of the water supply, and when you flush, it uses water from the purification tank, but the wastewater goes to a different processing tank. I don't fully understand the details, but apparently, it's used to make compost."
'Well, that figures.'
"If we were to implement this system throughout the entire territory, it would be convenient, but... it would probably cost a lot of money. Let's put it on the backburner for now."
'I guess this place was an experimental facility for the future city for the previous Marquis Grandchester.'
By repairing the tower's facilities, Sara finally understood why the previous marquis had invested so much money in this tower.
'I should probably tell Grandfather and Uncle about this. They might not know about it.'
While she was at it, she also took a look at the facilities for the servants. Alicia the Alchemist Girl and Amelia the Pharmacist Girl were using individual rooms, but those rooms were so small they were almost filled to the brim with just a bed and a desk.
"You two should use a bigger room, don't you think?"
"No, I'm actually more comfortable with a room this size. Ms. Alicia agrees with me too. After all, it's just a room for sleeping."
"Really?"
"We spend most of our day in the garden or the library, so we don't need a big room. If we're going to do joint research, we'll probably end up sleeping in the lab with the two of us."
"Hmm... That sounds fun, but don't overdo it and get sick, okay? Get some rest, but not too much."
"Got it! I understand!"
Then, they went downstairs to check out the staff cafeteria, break room, and bathroom. By the way, there are multiple toilets on each floor, separated by gender.
"Compared to my bathroom, the staff bathroom is pretty small."
It only has a few shower booths, but no bathtub.
"Hehe... But there's something special here that Lady Sara's bathroom doesn't have!"
"Really?"
"Yes!"
Amelia the Pharmacist Girl showed her a huge steam room.
"Wow, there's a steam room here!"
"Yes! You can take a steam bath, then take a shower in the shower booths we saw earlier, and then come back to the steam room again. Sometimes Ms. Alicia (Alchemist Girl) and I will chat in the steam room, and occasionally Ms. Teresa or the other maids will join us too."
"That sounds like fun!"
"Yes, it is!"
"I might just have to join you guys sometime."
"That might cause some trouble, though--who's going to wash Lady Sara's back?"
"Hmm... I think Maria would never give up that job."
"Hehe... I wonder what would happen if I volunteered to do it?"
Rebecca looks like she's having fun too. She seems really interested in the steam room.
"Hmm... But then, it would be great if we had a big bathtub that we could all use together. Like an outdoor bath..."
"Whoa, you mean a bath outside, Lady Sara?!"
"Of course, we'd make sure it's not visible from outside, with a fence or something. But don't you think it would be great to soak in the hot water while looking at the moon and stars?"
"That might be nice..."
However, setting up the outdoor bath took several months. The reason was that Theofrastos, who was knowledgeable about Paracelsus's magical tools, stubbornly refused to let his daughter take a bath outside. In the end, Alicia the Alchemist Girl solved the problem herself.
Incidentally, due to this incident, Theofrastos was told straight to his face by his daughter, "Dad, you're annoying," and became deeply depressed. However, for Alicia the Alchemist Girl, this became an opportunity to further solidify her abilities as an alchemist magician.
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