Volume 3 Chapter 15.19 - Sequel 2.2 (1/2)

Volume 3 Sequel 2.2

Translator: Reflet

Editor: Weasalopes

「At the current moment, it seems like it’ll be tough to mass produce bikes, mate.」

「Why’s that？」

「We gotta get a gear-cuttin’ machine or some sorta contraption or else it’ll be super tough to make a bunch of high-precision parts, I think.」

「……I’m getting the feeling that we’ve suddenly plunged our way into the world of modern-day technology. You agree?」

「Hey mate, ya can’t worry about li’l things like that.」

They were finally done eating. As they drank their tea, Hiroshi and Tatsuya discussed the work they’d been doing. Rayna came back after being gone for a while and invited Makoto to join the knights in their training. Makoto, who had no crafting skills other than the one she gave up on early on, didn’t have any reason to get into making things, so she usually had a surplus of free time in situations like this. This resulted in her going solo or Tatsuya accompanying her a lot, since he also had too much time on his hands.

Haruna and the others either said they’d be attending lectures after lunch or cleaning up, or taking a nap because they were kids, or whatever reasons they had, so the two men were the only ones here.

「So what’s the issue here？」

「The most troubling part would be the bearing cause ya gotta make the precision of the ball inside super good or else it’ll overlap and won’t rotate.」

「But isn’t it lighter than just stabbing in the axle?」

「Guess I can try it, but I don’t think it’ll get all that heavy.」

Tatsuya attempted to steer Hiroshi’s thoughts away from his bad habit of trying to replicate current technology. This world was already quite advanced, but much of its advancements were due to magic and had strange controls. Even inventions that Hiroshi considered to be safe were quite revolutionary here.

And the bearing was the newest example of this. Fast-moving golem parts could always be substituted. In addition, with carriages or carts, no one really cared if the axle shook a bit too much or if it was too heavy and stiff. So technology that you lightly revolved with your hand was hardly valued, and the current technology simply relied on magic whenever you were in a pinch.

So even without super precise technology from the modern period, Hiroshi could just make something with the concept and construction of a bearing without anything extra.

「And is there even any point in making such a complicated bike？」

「Whaddya mean？」

「I feel like one of those super primitively designed ones you’d find in a museum would be great to start with. How about it？」

「Maybe not for the feet-pedalling ones, but I’m purty sure the tires directly connected to the pedals would be way too inconvenient.」

Things went out of fashion for a reason. Everything other than the initial stage foot-pedalling variant was directly connected in the current bike genealogy (front pedals attached to the front wheel). But even those ones had issues with user friendliness and had gone out of fashion to where you couldn’t find them in any town.

「You can go ahead and make the basic structure the same as present-day bikes, but I don’t think it’ll ever reach the feet of commoners unless you make the design simple enough to where the workshop can make it too.」

「Yup. I did think I might wanna go further with the heavy industry approach, but that’d prolly be a bit much.」

「Well then again, I get the feeling you already passed that threshold when you made that instant ramen.」

Hiroshi just grimaxed at Tatsuya’s comment. The instant ramen production line also came about because of the royalty and knights fiercely pushing for it, which ended up making it quite the business.

They were currently in the middle of discussing where to put the production line, but there were plenty of other aspects in discussion such as what other kinds of ramen to make, the ratio between bagged and cup noodles, how much to produce, wholesale or no wholesale, and so on.

And the most pressing of all these issues was whether to leave it all to Merizza Trade Guild or not. Merizza Trade Guild had recently become a sort of purveyor to the imperial household. They definitely couldn’t just leave the rights to instant ramen in the hands of one guild. In this world, where you could just enchant food with Prevent Rot, packed food wasn’t as much of a thing. Instant ramen, which could immediately be eaten as long as you had a pot, water, and fire would make quite the impact in this world.

And Merizza knew just how much of an impact it would make, which was why even she hesitated to handle all of the involvement in this business. This was the same reason why she chose to not monopolize the curry powder, soy sauce, and miso. While it could certainly expand the business, she also knew that having too much of a say in the business would make things impossible to handle by herself.

「Anyhoo, first we make the trial products and then simplify ‘em to where Teres and the others can also make ‘em.」

「Yep. For now, ignoring the first one, the second one should be prioritized so that Fum and Lime can ride on it.」

「An why’s that again？」

「Well dude, it’s super taxing to get from here to the east gate with those childlike legs of theirs.」

「Ah, right.」