For Callen Upperhills, life was a torment. One could tell just by looking at his surname. He was an orphan from the northern magical beast front.
The name ‘Upperhills’ was originally given under the pretense of ‘selective support for war victims.’ But the reality was a bit different. Among the uneducated, the name sounded like this: ‘This child has no parents or home, so you need not fear any repercussions.’
The name ‘Upperhills’ itself had become a perfect tag for being sold off to some mad mage. What a truly rotten world.
“It’s winter. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
“All this time… I’ve been in your damned care for so long, Master!” …However, it wasn’t always rotten.
Callen’s hands trembled slightly. With those last words, he left the Tobin Workshop. Because the workshop would only survive if Callen disappeared.
“That old geezer Tobin… why did you have to protect me and bring all this trouble upon yourself…”
Suddenly, Callen thought of a certain person who shared his surname.
Isaac Upperhills.
A hero with the same name as Callen. If Callen were like him, he would have lived without having to worry about what others thought. But Callen was not Isaac.
Isaac Upperhills was probably cut from a different cloth. Rumor had it that he was two meters tall, could fly through the sky, and could burst an orc’s head with a single gesture. The first two he could accept, but he wondered if the last one wasn’t a bit of an exaggeration.
Orcs were so strong… Callen wanted to ask him. What should one do in a situation like this…
Of course, even if they shared the name Upperhills, their stations in life were different, so he wouldn’t even be able to ask.
Clomp, clomp. Jingle, jingle.
With every step, the sound of coins could be heard from his pocket. It was because of the severance pay his master had given him.
‘…Should I have one last drink before I go?’
It didn’t seem like a bad idea. He immediately headed for a cheap tavern.
“Oh, Callen! Here to buy some liquor for the old man?”
“Today, I’m the one drinking.”
“…That’s a rare sight.”
Dammit!
Everywhere he went, he was reminded of that old man. Callen swallowed a curse and downed his beer. Like that, one glass, then two.
The alcohol went down. Thoroughly drunk, Callen staggered out of the tavern. The chilly night air cooled his flushed cheeks.
Now, he really had to leave. But his feet wouldn’t move. He wanted to see his master, hammering away at the iron.
‘He’s probably rotting on the inside, right?’
In the end, he turned his feet and headed back to the workshop. Just one last time. Let’s see him one last time.
And then, I’ll leave without any regrets.
The old man spoke as he shuffled through the blueprints.
“Looking at it again, it’s truly brilliant.”
Flip.
“How did they even think of this?”
Flip, flip.
“Callen! Come here and look at this… ah. He’s gone…”
But he would stop moving from time to time. It seemed he was thinking of the apprentice he had just seen off. He said to me, “So who is the person who designed this?”
“That would be me.”
“You’re an orphan, I heard.”
“Yes.”
“…”
“…”
Stare.
The old man looked at me.
“Could, could I ask your name…”
“It’s Isaac Upperhills.”
“You’re that… hero?”
“Yes.”
I was a bit brazen about it. The title of ‘hero’ was still a bit awkward, but what could I do when that’s what people actually called me.
“That can’t be. The Hero of the Capital is two meters tall and can smash a log with one hand.”
“…”
Just what kind of rumors were spreading around? Instead of making further excuses, I held out my Magic Tower identification.
“…It’s real?”
“I told you so.”
Tremble, tremble.
The old man’s hands shook as he took the identification.
“Please… forgive my rudeness up until now…”
“Just speak casually. It’s uncomfortable to be spoken to so formally by an elder.”
“…”
“Really. I’m not testing you.”
“Well then. Ahem… I understand.”
Afterward, some ice-breaking to ease the awkwardness followed.
Introductions.
“The name’s Tobin. I don’t have a surname.”
Things he liked.
“Drinking beer.”
“Don’t tell me you drink while you work?”
“No. If I did, I wouldn’t have any fingers left, so I don’t drink when I work. But lately, I haven’t had any work.”
“Ah.”
“…So I’ve been drinking every day.”
I remembered the story I heard when I was first introduced to this place. He had gotten on the wrong side of some noble.
“…”
Somehow, the atmosphere turned heavy. I shouldn’t have asked what he liked.
Dammit.
Let’s just talk about work.
“First, let’s handle the contract.”
“Ahem. Alright.”
Before coming here, I had prepared contracts in stages according to the craftsman’s skill. I handed him the 5th-stage contract.
[Exclusive Technical Partnership and Investment Agreement] For reference, stage 5 was the highest.
What good luck. The contract didn’t just contain the simple details of the request. It specified conditions such as additional support for the workshop’s facilities, priority supply of raw materials, and a guaranteed base salary.
Tobin, after reading the full text of the contract, repeatedly rubbed his eyes.
“…Isn’t this almost an exclusive contract?”
“That’s right.”
He was too talented to let anyone else have him, so I did. Tobin asked in a trembling voice.
“Why on earth are you showing me such kindness? Haven’t you heard the rumors about me…?”
“I don’t know what the rumors are, but I doubt they’re more important than this.”
I picked up a small metal part lying in a corner of the workshop. It might look like an ordinary piece of metal, but to my eyes, it was different.
‘…This is insane.’
A forging line so uniform you wouldn’t know unless you observed it with mana. To reach this level with a hammer is close to a triumph of the human spirit. Even in the distant future when industrialization occurs, this would not be surpassed for some time.
He could be called the Tycho Brahe of the metal craft. I looked at Tobin and answered.
“With this level of skill, you should have received scouting offers from the Magic Tower’s School of Magical Device Materials Processing. Honestly, I’ve become a little curious. Why a person like you has, until now…”
Before I could finish my question of why he hadn’t seen the light of day, Tobin cut me off.
“You can see that? How strange. You don’t seem to have learned metallurgy.”
True.
It must look ridiculous for someone with hands devoid of calluses to be talking about the quality of iron.
“I didn’t see it with my eyes. I simply used magic to calculate the ‘fatigue limit’ and ‘tensile strength’ this part can withstand.”
“Fatigue… tensile…?”
I knew it. We were speaking slightly different languages. I translated my words into his language.
“It means I calculated how long the iron can endure without getting tired, and how hard it needs to be pulled before it breaks.”
“Huh… you can see that in numbers? That’s absurd.”
I was the one who found it absurd. Doesn’t this mean he managed the tempering process to prevent martensite formation without any proper tools?
Tobin continued.
“…As expected of the hero the princess has her eye on, your knowledge is immense. To think you’ve even mastered metallurgy.”
“Ahem.”
Being praised so openly made me a little embarrassed. I only took one class during my master’s course, this was too much praise. I asked him, “So, are you not going to sign the contract?”
“As if I wouldn’t.” Tobin picked up a quill with his calloused hands.
“So. We’re going to make this. We need to process an elastic metal into this thick plate form, is that possible?”
“That’s a tricky one…”
“If you can’t, I’ll revise the design.”
“No. I think I can manage it one way or another.”
Tobin lit the furnace and picked up an iron ingot. Life sparked in his eyes. It was nearly impossible to create ‘coil springs’ capable of supporting a vehicle’s weight with the technology of this era.
Therefore, I would try using ‘leaf springs.’ In other words, plate springs. It refers to a long, curved metal plate with elasticity.
It was a spring, nonetheless. …Of course, making leaf springs was not a particularly easy task either. I wondered if he could do it well.
“Hnngh…!”
Clang, clang, klang! The sound of the hammer echoed through the workshop. He twisted, folded, and hammered the heated iron again, countless times.
Sweat poured down like rain, but there was not a hint of hesitation in his movements.
“Should I help?”
“No! I can do it alone!”
After several hours of struggle, Tobin completed four springs.
“Dammit… I wanted to do this so badly…!”
Tobin gasped for breath, looking at the finished leaf springs.
“You must have been holding back a lot?”
“If I don’t have work, I don’t feel alive.”
“Oh…”
A curious perspective. I, on the other hand, feel alive when I’m resting. Tobin asked me, “So now we just assemble the parts onto this and we’re done?”
“No. There’s still a bit more to do.”
I casually picked up one of the springs. Using this would make the carriage ride a little better. But it was still not enough.
Let’s add magic to this. F = -kx Forcefully raising the maximum restoring force calculated by Hooke’s law. σ = M * y / I Simultaneously reinforcing the bending stress to prevent failure due to metal fatigue. Finally, to act as a shock absorber, the process of converting the spring’s kinetic energy into thermal energy would complete it.
If it were just magic, it would end here, but a ‘magical device’ is different. I needed to inscribe these principles onto the spring. I drew a magic circle with a mana stone at the center.
‘It requires more mana than I thought…’
I expected it, but it’s a less efficient spell than I anticipated. That’s because the magic has to bear the force at every moment, not just as a one-time effect. Circuit creation complete.
Activate. Flash.
A stream of light spread out. With this, the suspension is complete.
“What. Is that it?”
“Yes.”
“You don’t chant any spells…?”
“I omitted them.”
“Oh.”
I asked Tobin, who was staring blankly with his mouth agape.
“Do you happen to have a handcart or something here?”
“I do.”
“Let’s run an experiment with it.”
We prepared two creaking wooden handcarts and attached the suspension to only one of them. And on both carts, we placed a cup of water. If the suspension was made properly, only one side would spill less water.
And so, we rolled them both.
“…My goodness.”
“It’s a success.”
As expected, only the cup on the cart with the suspension was intact. Tobin said, “I can’t believe this actually works. If we put this on a carriage… it will completely change the Empire’s logistics.”
That could be true. With this, fragile items like glass or pottery could be easily transported by land. The speed of transport would no longer be slowed by uneven road surfaces.
Transit times would be shortened. Naturally, logistics would become easier, and the mortality rate for workers in related fields would decrease.
However…
“We’re still a long way off.”
“What? Why on earth!”
I pointed to the blue-glowing mana stone embedded in the suspension’s body.
“This suspension requires high-purity mana stones. Four of them for each carriage.”
Each one of these was a tremendous thing, enough to cripple one Cayenne Winterheart.
“Plastering these on every carriage would be a burdensome price even for most nobles, don’t you think?”
To think that one carriage requires mana stones worth ‘four Cayenne Winterhearts.’ Even if we sold them, there would be almost no buyers.
“Dammit… what a shame.”
“If you’re disappointed…”
I continued.
“How about we try to make this possible purely mechanically, without it being a magical device at all?”
“…That would be really difficult.”
I know.
Creating ‘coil springs’ that can support the weight of a carriage is still impossible with the technology of this world.
“Do you have a method in mind?”
“Hmm…”
‘Maybe if I keep adjusting the silicon and carbon content to find the right alloy ratio…?’
First, make the spring with that… To mechanically reproduce the shock absorption, a hydraulic cylinder would be needed… From there on, I don’t know either.
I’m a physicist, not an engineer. I shrugged my shoulders.
“That’s for you to worry about, Tobin. I’ll just tell you the principles.”
“You rotten…”
His words were harsh, but the corners of Tobin’s mouth were turned up.
“You seem happy that your workload has increased.”
“When did I ever!”
But Tobin’s body was honest. The corners of his mouth were still raised. He must have been really frustrated from not being able to work all this time.
“It feels good to move my body after so long, but…”
Tobin stroked his chin and said.
“To test the alloy ratios from now on, I’ll have to repeat the quenching process thousands of times.”
“The workload is too much for the two of us.”
It would be nice to have more people. Someone competent, who we can work well with, and above all, someone who is tight-lipped.
‘Should I try to find someone from the Capital Guard?’ …No. No matter what, I shouldn’t use soldiers for private purposes.
Just then.
Creeak— The sound of the workshop door opening was heard. Standing at the door was the apprentice I had seen during the day. The apprentice’s gaze turned to Tobin.
“Did you find a new apprentice in the meantime?”
“…It’s a misunderstanding.”
“What do you mean, a misunderstanding… right. I suppose it’s possible.”
He asked me.
“…Who are you.”
“I am Isaac Upperhills. With your master, I have…”
“Haha. If you’re the Hero of the Capital, then I’m the Great Mage Valerius.”
“…”
As I stood there silently, the apprentice’s eyes turned to his master, Tobin.
“…What. For real?”
“…”
Tobin simply nodded his head without a word. I said to him, “Why don’t you work with me on something.”
“Wow…”
The apprentice stood frozen, his mouth agape. A moment later, he continued.
“I’m a fan. Please sign this for me.”