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Translator: Kazumi
Editor: Kabur & Silavin
There was a Magic Tool in front of Kousuke’s eyes.
He had been researching this Magic Tool for quite some time, but had not been able to improve it as much as he would have liked.
It has been quite a few years since he came up with the idea of making it, but it finally took shape recently.
Currently, it is in the final stage of checking.
Kousuke inserted the magic stone in his right hand into the Magic Tool.
It fit perfectly in the hollow of the same size as the magic stone.
After confirming this, he turned on the switch to activate the Magic Tool.
With a faint “boom” sound, the Magic Tool was activated as planned.
After waiting a few tens of seconds with the Magic Tool activated, Kousuke opened the front side of the Magic Tool with a snap.
The inside of the Magic Tool was hollow, and Kousuke stuck his hand into the cavity.
The hand that had been inserted into the cavity was firmly infused with cold air.
When Kousuke confirmed this, he smiled.
It seemed to have been activated as intended.
The Magic Tool in front of Kousuke’s eyes now was unmistakably a refrigerator.
Kousuke recognized the Magic Tool as a refrigerator, but it is not actually the world’s first Magic Tool.
It originally existed as a Magic Tool before Kousuke created it.
However, like lighting fixtures, it was very expensive and not widely used in general households.
In terms of size, it was about the same as a refrigerator for a single person, and it cost more than ten years of an average family’s income.
Not only ordinary households, but even first-rate cooking establishments rarely used them.
When Kousuke learned of this, he tried hard to reduce the price to at least the same level as his annual income, and the result is the Magic Tool that is now in front of his eyes.
More than three years have already passed since he came up with the idea.
Schmidt thinks that he is making a new Magic Tool one after another, but in reality, most of them have not worked well for a long time.
There are many other Magic Tools that he has come up with but have not been able to make work.
The improved refrigerator was one of them.
It worked as planned, which means that the finished product he had in front of him now was the final product.
After a period of observation for only a few days to make sure there were no glitches along the way, Kousuke gathered the members to help spread the word about the refrigerator.
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The members that Kousuke convened are gathered in the conference room of the Management Floor.
This time, Kousuke had set up various tricks, so he could not call only Schmidt.
In front of Kousuke were Floria and Alec from the Kingdom of Razequa Amamiya, and Schmidt and Dulles from Crown.
After confirming that Kousuke had entered with the Magic Tool, Floria cut him off first.
“You say you have developed a new Magic Tool, what is the reason you called us here?”
Up until now, Crown had been the sole contractor for all Magic Tools created by Kousuke.
And Razequa Amamiya has never been involved as a country.
The only thing that has been involved is the huge amount of taxes paid by the Crown.
“Can I start with the Magic Tool before I explain it? It’s easier to understand.”
“Okay.”
Floria nodded in agreement to Kousuke’s answer.
She was certainly busy, but she knew that Kousuke would not call her for any reason.
“First, about this Magic Tool, I think you know what it’s for. It’s something that’s already here.”
Saying this, he held the Magic Tool out toward Dulles.
Dulles looked at the Magic Tool for a while, but after opening the refrigerator door and seeing that it was cold inside, he nodded his head in agreement.
“It’s a cooling and thermal chamber, isn’t it?”
The cooling and warming chamber is what we call a refrigerator in this world.
“But it seems quite small, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Small doesn’t really mean anything. It’s just a size that makes it easy to make for experiments.”
Dulles nodded in understanding at Kousuke’s words.
“There is no way Kousuke-sama would produce a normal cooling and thermal chamber… So is this the same as with the lighting?”
Schmidt brought up a time in the past when he developed the Magic Tool for lighting.
Because of the creation of the Magic Tool for inexpensive lighting, there is now at least one of those Magic Tools installed in every mid-Floor or so home.
“In a nutshell, is that it? But that’s not the main story this time.”
Kousuke said and took out a magic stone from the back of the cooling and warming room.
Dulles tilted his head quizzically as he was handed the magic stone.
“What’s this?”
Dulles looked at it and saw little difference from a normally used magic stone.
Then Kousuke’s next words changed the complexion of everyone present.
“It’s a magic stone that can be reused.”
A magic stone is basically a disposable tool that ends when the magic contained in it runs out.
The ones used in the household appliances of aristocrats and wealthy merchants can be replenished when the magic power is depleted, but most are one piece and cannot be taken out, and are very expensive due to the time and effort required to create them and the rare materials used.
Ordinary magic stones, like ores, are dug out from veins or naturally occurring materials and used as materials for Magic Tools.
Or, they can be left in a place where magic power is dense for several years to wait for the magic power to accumulate.
Because of the existence of such magic stones, Magic Tools are basically expensive.
Kousuke’s inexpensive lighting does not use magic stones, which is one of the reasons why it is so inexpensive.
“… What do you mean?”
Schmidt asked Kousuke, cautiously.
In some cases, the impact is even greater than with lighting.
“Simply put, it’s a magic stone that allows you to put magic power back into an empty magic stone for further use. Of course, it can only be used with a Magic Tool that can use that magic stone, though.”
Everyone there let out a sigh of admiration at the answer, which was as expected.
This is because it is easy to imagine that the cost can be greatly reduced if it does not have to be newly mined or left unused for a long period of time.
Seeing such surroundings, Kousuke continued.
“However, I’ve done a bit of Workmanship on this magic stone.”
“Workmanship?”
“Yes. That Workmanship is the reason why I called Floria and the others.”
Kousuke grinned at Floria, who tilted her head.
“Putting magic into this magic stone is something that can only be done if certain conditions are met.”
“Specific conditions… That means…”
Floria looked up with a huff.
The other members also understood what Kousuke was trying to say and nodded in agreement.
“Yes. I’m sure you’ve guessed, but I was wondering if we could make this magic stone a specialty of the kingdom, or rather, of the royal family.”
If the empty magic stone could be recovered and reused again with magic power in it, the cost would be considerably reduced.
Conversely, the Magic Tool would not work without these magic stones.
Kousuke intends to make the standard a certain one so that it can be used with other Magic Tools.
Simply put, he intends to make it have a role similar to that of a rechargeable battery.
If the royal family monopolizes that magic stone, it could become a very stable source of income for the royal family.
“If that’s what you mean, I’d be happy to do it, but are you sure you want to do it?”
Floria glanced at Schmidt.
“No problem. I was wondering why we, as a kingdom, don’t have one of your specialties.”
The specialties from the tower that Crown is putting out are getting to be quite a lot.
But they are only Crown’s products, not put out as a kingdom.
Of course, taxes are paid from it.
Although it is only one guild within a nation, Crown is superior in terms of influence as it has already had an effect on other continents.
Considering the fact that the Crown has a certain distance from the kingdom, the kingdom’s influence would be greatly reduced if it did not have even one of its specialties.
However, since most of Crown’s specialties are based on materials from the tower, it is almost impossible to think that the current relationship will break down.
Be that as it may, it is better for a nation to have something than nothing.
In that sense, Kousuke’s proposal is very much appreciated.
Besides, the Magic Tool itself, which uses this magic stone, will definitely be handled by Crown.
Considering the relationship with the kingdom that owns the tower, there is no problem in giving up the rights to the magic stone.
After the discussion that day, it was decided that the Razequa Amamiya Kingdom would handle the magic stone.
The cooling and thermal chambers equipped with reusable magic stones for the first time were inexpensive and spread as quickly as lighting.
