Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 43 - 40: Mysterious Baron

"This is a printed copy of the paper." Kano carefully retrieved a worn-out booklet. Seeing how carefully his mentor handled it, and noting the paper was already somewhat tattered, Rorschach was also exceptionally careful as he looked through it.

The Movement of Energy in a Magic Field and Its Principles, by Baron William van Leipzig.

These days, there were no standardized journals for publishing papers; one had to print and publish their own booklets.

Rorschach first read the abstract at the beginning. The author believed that when the concentration of Magic Power in the environment fell below a certain threshold, and the density of other energies rose above a certain threshold, energy would have a tendency to convert into Magic Power.

The author’s proposed method was to continuously input energy from the physical world into an extremely small area while simultaneously consuming or exporting Magic Power. This, he theorized, might achieve the conversion of energy into Magic Power.

"This paper was published nearly ten years ago but was never taken seriously. After all, we’ve always held that only Ether can transform into other elements and energy."

Rorschach focused on the experiment that verified the principle. The author had spent a fortune to acquire three grams of high-purity Mithril, a metal resistant to high temperatures and sensitive to Magic Power. One end was inserted into a 1,100-degree Forging Furnace, while the other was connected to the circuitry of a Light Technique Scroll.

In the paper, the author claimed the Scroll was successfully activated. Rorschach was a bit skeptical. "Has the experiment been successfully replicated?"

"We used a different kind of energy. By constantly bombarding a block of silver with the Middle Tier Magic, Chain Lightning, we also detected trace amounts of Ether." Paulina handed over a schematic of the device.

"Just silver, not Mithril. But using Magic to generate electricity doesn’t seem rigorous enough. It would be best to use strictly non-magical means to produce electricity."

"So that brings up a new problem: we need a better power generation and discharge device. The Alchemy Department sent over several prototype blueprints, and we’re now looking for the most efficient one."

’So, for the sake of the original project, we came up with a prerequisite project, and now there’s a prerequisite for the prerequisite project?’

Fortunately, both prerequisite projects had great practical value.

"This Baron William... based on his name, we suspect he’s one of the Empire People, but we can’t find him among the Empire Nobility. And this booklet quickly went out of circulation. Even the transcontinental Magic Guild only managed to collect three copies," Kano recalled.

Either not many booklets were printed in the first place, or the Empire realized the value of this paper and implemented controls before most Mages could.

Perhaps it was a combination of both factors.

Pascal opened the vellum bag, revealing a large number of mechanical blueprints. "We’re Mages! Why is the Alchemy Department giving us this job of fiddling with machines? Do they think we’re Dwarves?"

’Since when did *you* become a Mage? I’m the only Apprentice here.’ But Rorschach kept the thought to himself.

Paulina said, "What the Alchemy Department means is that none of the existing Steam Engines on the market meet our requirements. If they were to build test models of all these prototypes, they’d go over budget, so they want us to choose one ourselves."

"Shirking responsibility! If we build it and it still doesn’t meet the requirements, they’ll just say, ’Well, you’re the ones who chose it.’" Pascal tapped on the table.

What surprised Rorschach was that the Dwarves had already figured out the power-generating rotor branch of the tech tree back in the Old Empire. Iron Magnetic Material was considered a sacred substance by the Dwarves, and then, during a sacrificial ritual to the first Dwarf King, they discovered: hey, this stuff can generate electricity!

There was even an illustration in the documents: Dwarves circling a device that looked like a Tesla Tower, singing and dancing amidst electric arcs. Perhaps the illustrator’s skill was limited, as the Dwarves were drawn to look like goblins.

’These guys... er, Dwarves... were really putting their lives on the line for that ritual dance!’ Rorschach thought, marveling at the information.

As for the numerous Steam Engine prototype blueprints submitted by the Alchemy Department, Rorschach took them and began to look through them. The Alchemy Department was a peculiar part of the Magic Guild and the Magic Towers, occupying a lower rung on the Mages’ pecking order. ’You’re going to study Alchemy? Are you really that poor, or is your Casting just that bad?’

But the Alchemy Department was also an indispensable part. It was the body responsible for maintaining the magical facilities, and it also mass-produced Alchemy Potions and Scrolls, making it a major cash cow for the Magic Guild. They might not be able to turn stone into gold, but they were definitely making money!

The guys in the Alchemy Department, whose work making Magic Guide Devices was already a sunless grind, suddenly received a task from the head professor one day: to crank out a Steam Engine more awesome than the Dwarven Power Furnace. As for the budget? They’d see how much was approved after seeing the results.

The guys were furious! After angrily pulling several all-nighters, the average hair volume of the Valuvanan people successfully dropped by a few ten-thousandths of a percent. In exchange, they produced the less-than-reliable-looking blueprints now in Rorschach’s hands.

’This boiler is so bizarrely shaped, can it even be built? Carving a Magic Array on it for insulation is a good idea, though...’ Rorschach realized that the guys in the Alchemy Department were all great inventors, but they were only "inventors."

"I’d like to go see the Alchemy Department," Rorschach suggested. Kano thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "You can, but whatever you do, do not give any official opinion or make any commitments regarding their current proposals."

The Alchemy Department wasn’t full of madmen like some academy, setting off bouncing bombs and leveling mountains every day. Of course, the guys’ mental states probably weren’t entirely normal either.

The man who received Rorschach was of an indeterminable age—he could have been thirty, forty, or fifty. His presence was somewhat faint, the only memorable thing about him being his deep, dark circles under his eyes. "Snow. Head of the Alchemy Department. Tier Two Mage."

"Rorschach. A pleasure to meet you." Rorschach saw the man’s sparse, drifting, straw-yellow hair, fluttering precariously in the blasts of hot air from the machinery.

"The first through third floors are our Alchemy Potion production lines. Rorschach Mage, you’re still young and don’t have children, so I’d advise against going to the second floor... The machines on the first floor are our packaging workshop. We put a lot of thought into ensuring the Potions’ effectiveness..." 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Why do you produce them here?"

Master Snow took out an exquisite purple Potion. The liquid inside the glass vial was a slightly viscous, oily fluid. "This is our exclusive product. To maintain secrecy, we keep it right under our noses. It’s also convenient for us..."

As he spoke, Snow pulled out the stopper, tilted his head back, and downed the Potion in one gulp. His facial features seemed to scrunch together, and when they relaxed again, he was glowing with vigor. "...for personal use. Need one? It’s an Energy Potion, purely herbal, and it also has... that effect all Valuvanan men love."

"Thanks, but I’ve had a bit of a surplus of energy lately..." Rorschach remembered the warning about not going to the second floor. ’So it has reproductive toxicity, huh? Then how can they claim it has *that* kind of effect?’

"Youth is the most precious treasure, Rorschach Mage!" Snow patted the young man’s shoulder solemnly and finally got to the point.

The Magic Guide Device workshop and the blank Scroll production facility, both belonging to the Magic Guild, were located on the banks of the Seine River, using the power of the current to drive the machinery in the workshops. Once a design was finalized here, the blueprints could be sent to the workshop for trial production.

"The Dwarven boilers and Power Furnaces are excellent, truly excellent..." Snow rubbed his hands together. "But I think our Alchemy Department’s designs aren’t bad either. As long as you finalize one of the twelve proposals..."

"I’m sorry, Master Snow, but I don’t have the authority to make that decision." Rorschach and Snow walked to the Alchemy Department’s design office, where several men were hunched over their desks, drawing blueprints and fiddling with slide rules.

Spread out on the central table were hundreds of parts, each with a tag tied to it. The smell of metal and animal grease reminded Rorschach of his past life, of the machinist’s workshop during his metalworking internship.

"The Dwarven Power Furnace. Three thousand shiny gold His Majesties. Pity we can’t seem to put it back together after taking it apart." Snow scratched his head—soon he might not have any hair left to scratch. He drank another Energy Potion.