Chapter 7, Episode 25: Dealing with Snow, and a New Branch of Slime Research
I continued my relaxed conversation with the gods, and the topic shifted from talking about farming to the weather when I was told that the winter was going to be much colder and bring more snow.
“A cold winter?”
“Actually, this is closer to normal. Do you remember why you were sent to this world, Ryoma?”
“To bring some magical energy over from Earth, right?”
“Right. All of that magic that came with you is invigorating the entire world. It’s like a malnourished person getting a good meal,” Kufo said.
“The climate is ever changing, anyway. Always keeping balance with various elements. The seasons will just be a bit more articulated,” Fernobelia added.
It sounded like the increased cold and snow was a good thing for the world, albeit with a bit of climate change. Considering that’s coming from the gods, us humans would have to prepare well for the winter.
“I guess it could be serious for humans.”
“It shouldn’t be an immediate issue as long as you’ve prepped for winter at all, but you can never be too careful.”
Kiriluel and Lulutia confirmed my concerns.
“I’ve been meaning to say this, but there’s some gaps or discrepancies in the knowledge you gave me on my way into this world,” I said, and the three gods who had guided me across the worlds gave me an apologetic look. “I don’t blame you guys for it. It’s all worked out, and it was the catalyst for me getting to know everyone at the duke’s.”
Even humans have different knowledge and outlooks depending on their culture or generation. Of course, the gods would see the world differently than humans did.
“Thanks for understanding,” said Gain.
“The passage of time can be rather fuzzy when you’ve been around as long as we have.”
“It’s hard for us to keep track of centuries, let alone decades.”
Of course, that was a feeling I could never understand... As I realized that there would be more snow than usual, I was beginning to plan how to prepare for it and even create more jobs out of this.
Serelipta grinned. “Another new venture?”
“I’ll start with prepping the city for snow, I think. Even if it only snows a little at a time, it could jam foot traffic if it piles up without melting. I could handle areas around my businesses with my slimes and magic, but I can’t cover the entire city like that. Besides, if we’re going to get heavy snow every year, it’s best to start setting up for it now.”
“What did you have in mind?”
“I’ll start by getting all hands on deck. There are still more workers coming in. I’ll prototype some shovels and other tools from Earth that can work with the snow and ice... I have a few things in mind from my slime research too...”
“Oh? And you’re not dying to tell us about it? You’re usually so excited about anything that has to do with slimes,” Wilieris said.
Apparently, the gods would agree with my human acquaintances when it came to my excitement about slimes.
“It looks useful for getting rid of snow, but it has to be handled with care.”
“Handled with care? What did you make, a bomb?” Kufo was clearly joking, but he wasn’t far off the mark there. “Wait, did you really?”
“No, no. Not a bomb. I just happened to make something that resembled gunpowder during my experiments.”
“How did we not know about this?”
“Because I haven’t told you before?” There were so many other topics to discuss. “I’ll explain if you want to hear,” I offered.
“I do...”
“Ryoma, you already have the look in your eye,” Tekun pointed out.
“I’ll keep it quick, then.” It all started with the acidic cleaner I had made during the hot springs cleaning job in Fatoma, which I had created by mixing the excretion of the acid and sticky slimes. While that seemed like a simple process to me, I realized that I had never tried mixing what the other slimes produced. With so many different slimes to evolve and plenty of ways to utilize them on their own, it had never crossed my mind. Looking back on it, I wished I would have experimented with them a lot sooner...but didn’t mention it to the gods since that was just my personal feeling. When I first created the acidic cleaner, I found a trace amount of powder at the bottom of the solution.
I produced a vial from the Item Box and placed it on the table. “And this is a sample of that powder.”
“Oh?”
“Hm.”
The gods seemed to recognize what it was immediately. When I ran Appraisal on it, I got...
Super Water-Repellent Powder (Tentative)
A byproduct of mixing the acid of an acidic slime and the sticky solution of a sticky slime. A highly water-resistant powder. Flammable. Handle with care. Contains the magical energy of the slimes.
Personally, I attributed the water-repelling properties of the sticky solution to this material.
“This came from mixing the excretion of slimes?”
“The magic contained in each material had a reaction when they were mixed.”
The powder certainly piqued the interest of the god of technology Tekun and the goddess of academia Fernobelia. Judging by their reaction...
“Not to sidetrack, but is this something even the gods don’t see often?”
“It’s not that... Well, I guess we don’t usually see it in a form like this.”
“It would certainly be a rare material for humans...” Gain said. “I will tell you that it’s a similar material to magic stones and magic potions. It would take too long for me to explain anything more.”
This powder was looking to be something a lot more complex than I had thought. “I’ll take my time researching it.”
“I appreciate that motivation, as the goddess of academia. Keep it up.”
“Getting back on track... This powder made me curious about what could come of mixing the secretions of other slimes, so I tried them out.”
“What else would you do?”
“I can just picture you having so much fun experimenting.”
Kufo and Lulutia seemed to share my sentiment, but I hadn’t shown them my result yet. I produced the product.
It was a black powder that looked like ground charcoal, but it had no sheen. The powder was made from the fertilizer of a scavenger slime and the deodorant slime’s odor-absorbing solution.
“Well, it was kind of tricky. At first I was mixing them outside, in case it made any poisonous fumes, when it suddenly boiled over and exploded. Wound up burning just about everything it splattered onto. I did manage to put it out quickly, though. Basically, it’s a bit like a Molotov—er, an incendiary bomb, that is. A weapon designed to burn as much surface area as possible. Gave me a heck of a shock, that’s for sure.”
“I’m surprised you can laugh about it, Ryoma...”
“So am I. Glad you weren’t hurt.”
“I had shields and an evacuation area ready for such emergencies.”
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say. I didn’t have to worry as long as I took all the necessary safety precautions.
“Anyway, I kept researching the powder, and discovered that it can efficiently absorb light to release heat.”
I had experimented by dissolving the powder in a glass of water and putting it in the light. The result varied depending on the light source, but the solution started boiling and steaming after anywhere from a few seconds to a minute in sunlight. Within three minutes, all the water evaporated and the powder itself ignited.
“It produces a decent amount of heat just from sitting in the light, so I think I can figure out a way to use this on the snow.”
Scattering the powder on the snow would be enough to melt the snow, but that might lead to fires once the snow melted and eventually evaporated. It would be much safer to use the standard ground charcoal, which should produce decent results safely if combined with magic. This new powder, however, could be a game changer as long as I made sure it was safe.
“Any ideas on those safety measures?” Lulutia asked.
“Yes. You’ll have some time if you just want to figure it out by the end of the season,” Wilieris added, “but you won’t have much time if you want it to be ready the next snow day.”
“I do have an idea to prevent fires. In my previous life, especially when I was a kid, these things called incandescent bulbs were very common.”
Incandescent bulbs emit light (and heat) by conducting electricity through a filament. The earliest models of the light bulb used charred paper, although by the time they were mass-produced, charred bamboo was used instead. The electrified filament produced light and heat. The question was, why didn’t the filament burn in the bulb? Because it was in a vacuum. Fire required a combination of fuel, heat, and oxygen to burn. By creating a vacuum inside the light bulb, it cuts off oxygen from the filament. As a result, the electricity only caused the filament to emit light and heat without burning.
“I see, so you’re going to cut off its oxygen. Any idea of what you’ll use to do that?”
“The sticky slimes’ hardening solution. It resists heat and is clear, so I’m thinking of mixing the powder into it. I already discovered that the black powder won’t emit heat in a lightless environment created by Dark magic, so mixing it should be possible. I’m just concerned that the powder will change its properties when it’s mixed into a secretion of sticky slime.”
“I don’t think that will be a problem. The water-repellent powder seems very stable in powder form. I expect that the black powder is stable as well. If you’re just going to stir it in, it shouldn’t change or react at all. The same can’t be said about the other stuff we know well... Cool.”
While I didn’t know what Tekun meant by “other stuff,” he was curiously peering into the water-repellent powder from every direction.
“You want to take it?” I offered. “I can make some more when I get home, so I don’t mind.” Tekun had given me a sake cup before. Not that I considered this an equal exchange, but...
“Oh, yeah? I’ll take you up on that.” Just as Tekun said so, the vial vanished from his hand. Glad to see him excited about it.
“That reminds me.”
“You got another thing up your sleeve?”
“The black powder is the one that looks useful for the snow, but the other one... The one that’s like a bomb like Kufo joked, or gunpowder.”
“This black powder isn’t that...?”
“I mean, this one does look like gunpowder.” It would be hard to use since it’s light sensitive... Wait a minute. Since it caught on fire when the light hit it, could I make a bomb triggered by light? As long as I could prevent misfires, it could work like a time bomb to—
“Your mind’s wandering to bomb-making, Ryoma. Explain this other material.”
“Oh, sorry, Kufo. I mixed the acid slime’s acid and a fluff slime’s fluff to make a cotton-like material that burns fast and bright.” It reminded me of flash cotton (nitrocellulose) which I had used once on Earth when I performed a magic trick at a work party. “Nitrocellulose is also called single-base propellant based on how it’s treated. I heard that’s what they use in bullets.”
“So it’s exactly gunpowder... Except it’s cotton.”
“And that would be very cheap to make, wouldn’t it?”
“My slimes give me plenty of material. Easy to make. To be honest, it’s extremely cost effective.”
“It’s not uncommon for travelers from Earth to seek out guns. Many gave up in the process of figuring out the process and cost of manufacturing gunpowder... I never expected you to come across it like this.”
“It was purely accidental. Besides, I’m not really into firearms, so I wouldn’t know what to do with much gunpowder.”
“Really?”
“Tabuchi, a coworker I got along with, knew a lot about weapons... He told me all that stuff about flash cotton. He’s told me a bunch of things, but I don’t have comprehensive knowledge. The firearm I’m most familiar with is the revolver, but that’s just because a few anime characters I liked used them. I’m clueless about the latest firearms.”
I had fired a gun a few times back when I went on a lot of business trips overseas. It never clicked with me, though, so it didn’t strike my interest beyond trying it for the sake of it. I could use one, but it didn’t sit right in my hand. Like it almost felt empty. I much preferred a bow and arrow if I were to choose a ranged weapon.
“Weapons I could reasonably make might be...flaming arrows, dynamite, and a musket? Even then, I only have some basic knowledge of them. I have no experience using any of them, let alone making them. Personally, I’m more interested in peaceful applications like mining or demolition. I wouldn’t mind researching firearms when I have the time... But if I do, I would keep it a secret except from Reinhart and his people. I’d actually let them deal with it entirely.”
“That would be wise,” Gain assured, followed by Kufo and Lulutia.
I felt like Reinhart’s woeful expression flashed before my eyes... Weird.
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