episode_0158

Episode 158. Gray Tower Tower (3)

****

The owner of the gray tower who came today, Canatus.

I asked him to cooperate in a project to lay the telegraph network using the new invention.

The response seems to be favorable for now. I don’t know if they’ll really spend a lot of money, though. The process of making antibiotics also takes a long time.

It would be impossible to take care of everything that wasn’t closely related to medicine all by myself anyway. It would be a good thing if Matap cooperated.

“Then, follow me.”

Since Mr. Matapju promised to cooperate, I should show him something real. Not a toy on the desk. I got up from the desk.

“Where to?”

“I will show you the results.”

I got up from my seat and walked towards Professor Bernstaffen’s laboratory with the magician. The wizard followed me slowly.

The thought crossed my mind, “Why isn’t the rooftop girl a pretty girl?” After all, pretty girls are everywhere in this world.

It just passed by. It wasn’t something I seriously thought about or said out loud.

Arrived. I opened the door to the studio.

In Professor Bernstaffen’s studio, numerous dead animals were hung, and copper wire, metal plates, and the like were piled high into the sky.

I didn’t know it was this much. It seems that Professor Bernstaffen studied harder than I thought. I should have asked Professor Bernstaffen for his opinion.

I sat at my desk in my studio and tapped the dead frog hanging next to my desk.

“Anyway. If you look at this.”

“Yes.”

“My senior… … . Oh, isn’t it my senior? Marie Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, wrote a novel about breathing life into a monster made of a corpse with the power of lightning.”

The wizard immediately opened his mouth.

“What a curious idea. Can you really breathe life back into a corpse with the power of bound lightning? I don’t think so.”

I’ve been struggling with this question.

It would be better to answer that it is impossible.

As I said.

Galvani’s bioelectric theory was wrong, and electric shock is quite different from the process of giving life. I know where that idea came from, though.

“Well… …. It might be possible if the person died within 2 minutes. Whether this is realistically possible is a completely different question.”

“Have you tried it?”

I did it in my previous life. Of course, I haven’t done it since I came to this world. Anyway, there was no respirator, so it didn’t seem like it would be possible to revive him no matter what I did.

“It’s a bit complicated. If you cut a frog open, you have to give it an electric shock within a minute to make it move. It would be similar for people.”

This is the principle of a cardiac defibrillator. The goal is to get the heart muscles beating instead of the leg muscles.

“What is the novel about?”

“A monster created against providence eventually gains intelligence, becomes disappointed in the fact that he is a monster, and kills his creator… … . It’s a bit philosophical. It’s a novel, not a thesis.”

I wonder if it would have been better if I had plagiarized a novel instead of a thesis and published it. I don’t think that would have happened. There’s no way I’d become famous for plagiarizing a masterpiece that actually existed.

Anyway, enough rambling.

“Then. Let’s turn on the battery.”

“Yes.”

There is no way to turn off a wet battery. If you immerse the metal rods in the solution, they produce electricity, and if you take them out, they don’t produce electricity.

A vat of acid solution, roughly the size of a small bathtub, sat on the floor. When a metal rod was dipped into it, it produced an electric current strong enough to transmit signals over long distances.

I handed the two ends of the wire to the wizard, who then placed the metal rod into the solution.

This is a wet cell that was used in real history. Judging from the speed at which the drops rise, it seems to be an acid solution, not salt water.

The wizard frowned.

Fire! This time, a proper spark passed through. The electricity was visible, as it was a much larger object than the small battery on the desk.

“I see. I can see with my own eyes that the power of lightning has been confined.”

“Yes, it’s the same principle.”

Matapju stretched out his fingers and caught the lightning moving between the ends of the wires. He succeeded in catching it, even though he did not know what kind of magic it was.

“That’s amazing. As you said earlier. It may not be too far off to breathe life into a dead body with the power of lightning.”

I just nodded.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned my gaze. Was there anyone coming here?

I looked at the door.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Knock, knock. Professor Bernstaffen entered the studio with the sound of approaching shoes. I looked at Professor Bernstaffen who had just arrived.

Professor Bernstaffen also opened his eyes wide and looked at me. As if asking why we were here. This was that professor’s office, right?

“Professor Bernstaffen, right? I’m using the lab, so would you like to come back later?”

“Yes, then later again-”

Professor Bernstaffen turned around to leave, then turned back and looked at me. With a look of bewilderment. Hey, I’m not fooling you.

“No, wait a minute. This is my studio.”

I shrugged.

“I was researching what you invented. You know, the battery research you announced last time? This is the gray-haired man, Canatus.”

Matapju, Canatus raised his hand to greet Professor Bernstaffin. Professor Bernstaffin covered his mouth. Matapju is probably a very famous figure among magicians.

“Oh my. It’s the Lord of the Tower… …! I am a physicist, a magician, and Professor Bernstaffen. It’s an honor to meet you, sir.”

“Hehe, nice to meet you.”

Matapju Canatus smiled kindly. That wizard uncle also has a strange personality, so that’s fortunate. He’s just as shameless as I am.

Professor Bernstaffen was busily discussing something with the Great Sage. The alchemy used to create batteries, the runes to be engraved, and the silent magic that could control the power of lightning.

****

The conversation continued for a long time.

Professor Bernstaffen returned to my side again. Matapju turned his head to the battery. The professor looked at me and began to speak.

“How did you bring him here?”

“I found out and came here.”

“Because of the battery?”

“I think so. I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking because you didn’t go into detail.”

“That’s interesting. Is it because Professor Asterix has connections in politics?”

I thought that might be the case. Canatus seemed to have a stronger academic interest in this matter than anything else.

“So. This time, we decided to work with Matap to build a telegraph network here and there. I’ll have to think about the specific method though.”

“Did you get the money?”

“Matopju said he would give me a down payment. But in the grand scheme of things, that’s not important. How will we cooperate, and in what direction?”

Some time passed like that. Matapju turned his head towards me as if he was satisfied.

“The professor’s words were true. What the professor said seems quite feasible… … . I will invest as much as possible.”

“Thank you. I will try to make it work.”

I bowed my head to the wizard. It’s more like the job of the magician to make the business successful, but that’s what it says.

“How much will you spend?”

Matapju thought about it for a moment.

I thought he was just pretending to be worried. Maybe he had made up his mind while he was in the studio. He was silent for a long time.

“I can’t give you more than 30,000 gold right now. I don’t have infinite money. Instead, I’ll send it to you personally, Professor.”

It was a larger amount than expected.

Especially for the amount given to individuals… … . This is even more so when you consider that this was before industrialization and the industrialization of finance. Unlike modern society, money does not come out of nowhere infinitely.

“That’s a bigger amount than I expected.”

“In the end, isn’t this a problem that we need to discuss with the imperial family? After all, the imperial family owns half of the imperial company. Trust is important.”

It seems like there’s no point in saving money.

****

Istina came into the lab step by step.

With an expression that seemed more tired than usual.

Aside from his youthful appearance, his sleepy eyes and serious expressionless look gave off the impression of someone who had been through a war.

Her hair was roughly tied back, and her skin was so pale that it reminded her of a cave-dwelling salamander or an albino uparupa.

Your complexion doesn’t look good… … . We really need to hire more graduate students. The graduate students we’ve already hired are going to die first, if we keep doing this.

Istina put down her luggage and sat down.

“Hello, Professor.”

“Istina. Long time no see.”

“What brought you here this time?”

“Wang Jin. And solve murder cases.”

I was tired of explaining it again, because I had already explained to many people what had happened in the Baron’s household.

“Where did you hear that? The professor diagnosed the skeleton, but isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration?”

“The bone was broken.”

“I see… … .”

I don’t know if there is a concept called forensics in this world. The very act of examining a corpse and drawing a conclusion may be a new invention.

Istina opened her notebook with a very serious expression and wrote something down, as if she was thinking about something.

“I’ve never heard of this before. You’re saying that you can diagnose and conclude a dead person who doesn’t speak or has no sense of humor?”

“We need to look at the body closely.”

“Okay, I understand.”

It didn’t seem like he believed me. I’ll have to send a letter to the imperial family later and brag about how Matap promised to cooperate in digging up the telegraph network.