Because I've Been Reincarnated As A Girl I Just Want To Do Yuri Things, But Things Aren't Going Well Chapter 296

Published at 27th of April 2023 05:49:07 AM

“Dr. Eins… please, please… I’m begging you, please be careful when handling the steam engine,” I said. “Also, don’t share details about it so easily… and please only collect a limited number of highly trustworthy researchers.”

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“For you to warn me this extensively, Lord Caan…” Eins said. “Is it truly that dangerous?”

Usually, I just give Eins random blueprints and theories that I wrote down. Orally explaining, demonstrating in front of his eyes the experimental equipment that I made… after that, I often just hand over the drawings and theories with proper documentation and leave the rest to him. I guess he understands the meaning of me being cautious and speaking in such dire tones.

“In order to extract a large amount of force, a large amount of pressure is applied to the device in turn,” I said. “And then… equipment made with immature processing techniques and materials will not be able to withstand that sort of stress. If it fails and just does not work, it’s fine. But if it fails catastrophically, it will explode. So please, please… make sure to be very careful.”

No matter how much I say it, my anxiety won’t go away. “Then why did you tell him that?” you might ask, but…

I think it’s too early to tell. It does not involve steelmaking or processing technology. I’ve tried to advise on various things, but the technology in this world is still immature. However, House Caan lacks manpower and labor, so they need technology to make up for the difference. And a ship that can’t move in calm waters requires a power source.

I plan to go out to sea in the future. So… right now I’m thinking of going out to sea on a galleon ship, but eventually that alone won’t be enough. If I want to bring about technological innovation while I’m still alive, I have to start as early as possible or I won’t make it in time.

Besides, our territories are scattered far away. If it becomes possible to transport not only via ships but also inland railways, the distance and transportation problems can be solved at once. I’m worried, but I’m just starting the research. This isn’t something that will come out of nowhere…

“Hmm… then I think we should build a test site somewhere far away so that the Technical Research Institute won’t be caught in a blast,” Eins said.

“It doesn’t matter how many buildings are blown away!” I yelled. “However, an excellent researcher is an irreplaceable asset for the country! Again, it doesn’t matter how many buildings and equipment end up blown away! You as well, Eins… and all the other researchers as well… please pay close attention so that no one will be sacrificed!”

If a building is destroyed, it should be rebuilt. If the equipment is broken, you can fix it. But when a person dies, it’s over. There is no substitute for an excellent researcher. People are the greatest treasure. We know it all too well because we don’t have enough manpower.

“Hooo~~!” Eins swooned, blushing and wriggling. “To have you think so much of me, Lord Caan… but unfortunately, I love my wife, so I can’t respond to your feelings, Your Lordship.”

“Don’t you go and mock me! That’s disgusting! Even if it’s just a joke, I’m not going to let it slide! …… ah.”

The sight of Eins like that made me lose myself.

“Fueh-fueh-fueh!” Eins cackles. “That’s the serious Lord Caan I know! Let us finish this steam engine!”

“Ah~…”

It seems that I was put on by this old man… My true nature has just come out. Eins has the temperament of a researcher, so I don’t think he’ll care too much, and he won’t take advantage of my secrecy, but from now on, I’ll have to be more careful not to show my true nature…

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“Then… I’ll leave it to you,” I said, bowing.

“Yes. I’ll make sure to live up to your expectations,” Eins said.

Eins will do the rest well. I’ve already handed over the blueprints, theories, and notes for the experimental equipment that I made. That experimental device and the documents I gave him should be enough for Eins to start.

It doesn’t take a lot of pressure if you don’t do anything with such a small toy. However, if you try to extract a larger force, a higher pressure will be applied to the device itself.

An early-type steam engine or a device that raises and lowers a balance would be fine. That should be enough to push up the almost completely balanced parts with a cylinder. Of course, the larger the device, the greater the force it takes, but since it’s just pushing it up, the internal pressure isn’t that great.

Originally, the first use of the steam engine was to drain water from coal mines. This was because the device scoops up and discharges the water as it moves up and down. On the opposite side of the cylinder, there was something attached to the balance that scooped up the water, and every time it went up and down, it raised the water further and threw it out of the mine.

However, that balance type moves with negative pressure. Negative pressure, even if there are some discrepancies, can be simply understood as using the power of the air, atmospheric pressure.

When the steam in the cylinder pushed up by the power of steam is cooled and returned to liquid water, it becomes almost a vacuum state. In other words, there is no pressure. All matter on earth has air on it. People probably don’t feel the weight of the air because they’re used to it, but they live under constant air pressure and atmospheric pressure.

When the inside of the cylinder becomes a vacuum, it is pushed down by atmospheric pressure. Therefore, only the force of the negative pressure that pushes down the cylinder can be lifted by the balance type. If the object to be lifted is heavier than the negative pressure, the cylinder will not go down.

Moreover, as I said before, this is very thermally inefficient. You want to fill the cylinder with steam, but if the cylinder is cold, no matter how much steam you send, it will cool down too quickly and return to liquid water. Unless the cylinder warms up to a temperature where the steam can remain as a heated vapor, the cylinder will not rise again.

This method is very inefficient, so the improved type is the one that rotates with a crank. As mentioned above, the steam extracted from the cylinder is cooled in the condenser and returned to liquid water, so the cylinder does not cool down. It is very thermally efficient.

While it is said that the balance type consumed one-third of the fuel excavated from the mine, the efficiency of the slide valve/condenser type is said to be one-fifth of the balance type. If you listen to this overwhelming difference in fuel efficiency, it will be obvious how revolutionary the improvement is.

However, the slide valve/condenser type has a complicated structure, and the internal pressure increases. With today’s immature steelmaking and processing technology, there is a high possibility that if you make something with too high pressure, it will not be able to withstand it and it will explode.

Besides, there’s no need for this world to undergo exactly the same evolution as Earth. There may be a useful way to use negative pressure from a different point of view, idea, or technology. That’s why I tell Eins not to make things that generate too much pressure, and to research if there’s any potential for something like a balance.

If you think about it normally, there may be no good use for it on Earth, even in modern times, so there may be nothing you can do about it. But in this different world… something else might happen…

If they fail to make it a reality, they can do whatever afterward. But… I just hope that important researchers won’t be lost in a big accident…

I left the Technological Research Institute with only that wish.

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I’m tired every day~… I have to think about when I’ll be returning to the capital soon and act…

Even considering the tide and wind, it would take 3 days to return from Cien to the capital via Steltin. Well, it will actually arrive in a day, but even if you estimate potential delays… you can easily get the difference in 3 days.

Thinking about various things, I have to return to the royal capital in 3 weeks. While doing what I can do in the meantime, I have to think about the future…

“Excuse me. Miss Flora, Admiral Schwartz has arrived,” Katharina said as she knocked on the door and entered.

It seems the person I summoned has come.

“Please let him through,” I said.

“Ah~, pardon me,” Katharina said as a tanned man follows her in. “I thought that would happen, so I already let him through.”

Normally I would get angry, but it’s nothing to worry about. Rather, you should think that she saved unnecessary time and effort.

“I suppose you would guess that, Katharina,” I said. “It’s no trouble. Please, come inside.”

Schwartz does not have much free time, either. He’s my admiral, so he must be very busy now. In particular, the transportation to the Caan Knights Nation is almost entirely outside of our direct hands, so Schwartz should be doing the work instead.

I receive requests from the field, for example, I just give instructions on how many cows and horses, how many tons of wheat, and where to transport them. In response, the House Caan Merchant Fleet finds vacant ships, formulates sailing plans, selects sailors, secures port labor, and unloads their goods.

I just tell them what to carry where and how much. All of them are managed and organized by the people of the House Caan Merchant Fleet, including Schwartz.

In such a situation, Schwartz himself would be on a ship almost every day, going back and forth between Cien and Koenigsvelg. I don’t think it’s a job for a Grand Admiral, but we don’t have enough candidates for captains, so I can’t help it. He’s a precious asset, someone who can stand on top and give instructions to those below him. You can hire as many regular sailors as you want, but you can’t

easily get a competent commander or captain.

“So what is it I can do for you?” Schwartz said as he took some tea. “… Wait, this tea is delicious! Can I have some to take home with me?”

“Well… I don’t mind if I share some with you, but… we don’t have that much yet in total, so only a small amount,” I said. “And if you carry it around normally, it might get damp while you’re at sea. Also, there’s a trick to brewing. So even if an amateur brews it, it won’t necessarily taste the same.”

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Schwartz has a lot of nerve around asking for freshly made tea without hesitation. If he is a man of the sea, he must be this brazen to get by. Well, they’re almost no different from pirates…

“I’ll put it in some kind of container and drink it sooner than later,” Schwartz said. “So? What can I do for you?”

He was in a good mood when he received the tea and now he’s hurrying me to get on with it. You almost can’t imagine he was talking to his boss.

“Indeed… I’m looking for people who will go out from Floren to the Hermann Sea to secure a base for the House Caan Merchant Fleet within the latter, and to go out to the ocean and explore,” I said. “You don’t happen to have any recommendations, do you?”

In response to my words, Schwartz happy face turned troubled, and now he fell silent. After a while, he finally opens his mouth and says,

“………… It shouldn’t be difficult to go out to the Hermann Sea. Just going down the Welzel River would be fine. Even the Kingdom of Frasia won’t be watching all hours of the day, every day of the week. We can break through to the Hermann Sea as soon as we see an opening.”

I nod along. I agree with him.

“However, the trouble is after going out to the Hermann Sea,” Schwartz continued. “To the east is the Demon Country and the Kingdom of Del, to the south is the Kingdom of Hollant, and beyond even Hollant is the Kingdom of Frasia. And then this is the place where we’ll have the most trouble, the Blish Isles to the west. This is a small state of even smaller nations that have been divided since long ago…but it’s dangerous to land there.”

“So they’ve been warring for so long…” I said.

I don’t know how accurate it is, but I exchange opinions while looking at the map for the time being. As Schwartz says, if I wants to leave the Herman Sea, I’d have no choice but to pass through the strait between the Blish Isles in the west and this continent or go around the Blish Isles to the north.

If you go north, it will be a long detour and you will not be able to secure supplies or bases. If you go to the northeast, you will find the country of the Kamaal Alliance, the northern peninsula. But there’s no way we can make such a place our base.

Thinking realistically, it would be normal to hold down the coastal areas of the Kingdoms of Hollant and Frasia and pass through the strait between the Blish Isles. The strait is not particularly narrow. It’s just not wide, so it’s essential to secure sea superiority.

It’s also difficult to have a base… if it had been my plan, I would have conquered the Kingdom of Hollant and made it my port, but… it would be rude to say so, but now that they have grown quiet, there is no basis for us to start a war.

“If you really want to do it, you have to send soldiers to the Blish Isles and unify them. At least we have to conquer some small country or put it under our control,” Schwartz said.

“I agree……” I said.

No matter how much I think about it, I can only come up with the same answer as Schwartz. Now that the Blish Isles has not yet been united into one country… it would be quicker to land here, establish a country, and unify the islands.

“I just have a question,” Schwartz said. “To put it bluntly, the Blish Isles is a small rural kingdom. Why are you heading west? What do you mean by going out to the ocean, Your Lordship?”

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“…………”

I close my eyes and think for a moment. Okay…. I’ll tell Schwartz sooner than later.

“My aim is not the Blish Isles. From here, we go further west and then south.”

I point my finger at the map. Schwartz’s expression changed again.

“Impossible… are you planning to head into the Mediterranean?” Schwartz asked.

Certainly, there is the Mediterranean, the Inner Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea ahead. If you go south after crossing the Blish Isles, you will come to a peninsula. If you go along that peninsula… you can enter the Mediterranean, the Mediterranean Sea, through the straits between the southern continent and the peninsula.

However, the Mediterranean is already in the sphere of influence of the coastal states. Even if we get on board from now on, it will only become a war. Besides, it’s difficult to secure sea superiority without contact with the Mediterranean on land.

“Certainly, there is the Mediterranean here… but my destination is even further… the southern continent.”

“Your Lordship… that’s… the Dark Continent, don’t you know?”

Even in this world… the existence of a continent located south of the Mediterranean is, of course, known. The Mediterranean coast has been known for so long that it is clear that there is land there. In fact, it seems that they are repeatedly attacking and being attacked in conflicts between coastal countries.

“My objective is to go south through the Dark Continent, and then…go further west across this great western ocean.”

No one in this world has headed west from this continent. There may have been, but no one came back to tell us what happened. But I’m sure there must be a continent that I haven’t seen yet. At least as long as the stars are round, they will always appear somewhere. Even if there are no undiscovered continents, we should be able to go to the eastern countries around the West.

“Are you insane?” Schwartz said. “Even if you go to such a place, won’t you fall off the edge of the world like going over the edge of a desk?”

Even as he said that Schwartz had a face that couldn’t hide his excitement. After all, he is also an adventurer.

“Don’t worry about that. I just don’t know how long we’ll have to go without supplies,” I said. “Even so… I’d like to recruit people to join us on this adventure.”

This world is different from Earth. New continents don’t always exist. Even so… even if it means putting my life on the line… I want to send people out on adventures.

Chapter end