Chương 35: 1.2.13 - Treat Yo' Self

I probably exaggerated when I thought of Team Rocket blasting off. In reality, I only flew a few feet and landed in a bush behind me, which saved my tailbone. I gasped in air when I landed, as the stock of the gun had knocked the wind out of me. The first thing I did after getting my bearings was to check the condition of the gun, hot to the touch but still completely intact. Thank RNGesus, if there was one in this world, that Mark II did not do a reverse Ikea.

I looked the gun over in detail and noticed that the runes were still clean, the weld and leather bindings held, and the barrel was not deformed — exactly like the previous 20% test shot.

"Pheww~ At least my baby girl is still in one piece" I would have held the gun to my face if not for the fact that the heat coming off it would give me second degree burns. I tried to untangle myself from the bush, holding the gun over my head, which made the task more difficult.

"Hmmm, the recoil is still an issue. I guess conservation of momentum still applies even if I solved the heating and structural issues." The current Mark II was a one trick pony. One shot and I would need to wait for an hour before I could fire again. Most fights would be over by then — I could probably use it as an ambush weapon to fire the opening shot, and finish up with my own spells if the target was still not down. I looked back to where I had aimed earlier.

The recoil had caused the shot to go wide, only hitting a branch instead. It would take forever to retrieve the slug, which I could not be bothered with as they were cheap and easy enough to make. I needed to make improvements to their designs anyway to make them more aerodynamic. After making the final assessment, I could not help but let a grin out despite the limitations of the recoil. It was definitely a success and a step in the right direction.

"I'll need to do more research but there are probably ways I can use magic to solve for the recoil". While physics gave me an edge, I needed to stop constraining my thinking to just solving the issues using traditional science. Given the intensity of the last few weeks — working on the suppression plate as well as Mark II — I decided that it was probably a good time to take a short break and work on my side project that was more fun.

"As a famous public official once said, 'Treat Yo' Self'" I said, recalling the line Tom and Donna famously said in a documentary. The summer heat was killing me, and while I used to soak in the river to cool off, I did not dare to do that in the middle of the forest where all kinds of predators lurked in the water. I decided to fully lean in to the mantra of 'Treat Yo' Self' and used one of the Storm Steel ingots as part of this side quest.

I made small square sized plates of Storm Steel as well as copper plates and stacked them together while alternating them. I had to make sure there was enough clearance on both sides so I could weld additional plates there. Before assembling the stacked plates into the final device, I ran a current through it to ascertain the effect I wanted could be achieved. I knew the theory behind it but had never really built one in my previous life.

I was making a cooling device that relied on the Peltier effect by using two metals with different conductivity. It took a few minutes but I began to feel a cooling sensation on one side of the device, which confirmed that it worked.

"Time to surprise the kids, hehe" It took a total of two days to make all the components and assemble it. I needed to find a solution for charging the batteries eventually but for now I would do it myself every few days. I assembled the medieval fridge from a combination of wood, clay, mud and my cooling device. With the poor insulation and limited cooling capacity, it would not be enough to achieve freezing temperatures but it was enough to cool drinks and keep some food cold to extend the shelf life.

I had filled a pitcher with water earlier and kept it in the fridge for the grand reveal.

"Ta-daa~! I present to you, cold water in the middle of summer~" I said with exaggerated fanfare, doing a little jazz hands when I opened the container to retrieve the cold pitcher of water. I had decided to just keep the reveal to Merv, Thal and Marta for now and let them decide how they wanted to use the device for the orphanage. Now they would have heating in winter and cooling in summer. Thal looked at the pitcher suspiciously before actually touching it, confirming that it was indeed cold.

"Wait, I thought you had a Lightning Affinity, how did you do this?"

"Science! Bitch!" I said excitedly, referencing a famous meme I saw. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"I had no idea what you just said but I had a feeling it was offensive" Thal gave me a side glance.

"Uh hmm. Sorry, I got caught up in the moment. What I meant to say was I had used enchantment to convert my Lightning Mana to create a cooling effect. Though it is not very efficient. Someone with an Ice Affinity would do this way easier and with better efficiency. This is the coldest it can go" I gave the lengthy explanation using enchanting to plug in the gaps.

"Wow~ I didn't know you could enchant as well" Merv said as he unceremoniously gulped down a glass of water from the pitcher.

"Ahh ~ This is a drink for kings, maybe I should stay back at the orphanage like Thal" Marta glared at Merv when he said that.

"Oh this is wonderful dear, we can use it to make some of our food last longer. They usually go so fast during the summer." As usual, Marta's main priority was saving coin. I guess it couldn't be helped since she had been making do with a lot less before things turned around at the orphanage.

"I'll need to err.... refill it with mana every few days. If you avoid opening it too regularly I'll need to refill it less" I added, opting to keep things simple for them instead of explaining how batteries worked.

"For sure" Marta said while glaring at Merv again. He had his back to the fridge with the door open but quickly closed it the moment he got the stare down from Marta.

"Do chill some water for the rest, it'll be nice for everyone to cool off" I added so that Marta did not just use it for storing food, before helping myself to some of the water from the pitcher. Three days tops was the max I was willing to spend on a side quest. I was back at the grotto by the next day, finally checking out the hide from the Storm Runner. It was tanning nicely, though the quality would probably be better if it was done by a professional.

Red cored beasts were one thing, but hide from a Yellow Cored beast being 'donated' to the orphanage would raise quite a few eyebrows around town. Garrick was used to my shenanigans by now but people would ask questions if he brought a freshly skinned hide to the leather worker. Most adventurers would just do it themselves, seeing no point to give a merchant a hefty cut just for a quick errand.

"Hmm, pity I don't know an armorer. I wouldn't mind some leather armor. Though I probably need the cash more at my current juncture. I still owe money to Garrick and Branwen" I decided that I would sell the hide. I would need to do it through the black market so there would be less questions asked. People would just assume Garrick got it through illicit means and decided to sell the hide there rather than through the proper channels. I rolled the leather up for easy storage before deciding to pay Garrick a visit.

"Hello there" I said sneaking up on Garrick.

"I saw you coming up the road earlier, you won't find entertainment from scaring me today." Garrick turned to face me.

"I assume you got out of..." Garrick paused for a beat, realizing we were in public and needed to be careful with what he said "... whatever troubles you had, considering you're in such a chirpy mood""Yes I did. Thank you for coming through. I still owe you for the last purchase. I don't have as much coin left but there's a way to pay you back quickly — and make a little something extra" I gestured to the bag I was holding.

"What have you got this time?" Garrick looked at me suspiciously. I gestured to the inside of his wagon so that there would be less prying eyes. When we were both seated inside, I took out the contents and unrolled the Storm Runner hide in front of him. The hide had seen better days since I had zero tanning skills, doing it just based on theoretical knowledge I had once learnt on a survival show.

"It's hide from a Yellow Cored Storm Runner, so it does have some innate resistance to Lightning Magic" I said. The second fact I had tested with the trimmings I cut loose from the leather.

"Light above~" Garrick was shocked, having rarely interacted with hide from a Yellow cored beast.

"Where did you get... never mind... I don't want to know" Garrick thought for a minute.

"It'll be difficult to sell this quickly, as most adventurers usually bring their kill straight to the guild."

"Exactly. Which is why I think we need to go back to the camp where I first bought the claw from" I suggested, having already thought of this possibility.

"I don't mind selling it a little cheaper."

"What~! I'm not taking you back to that place. It was a one time deal! And that is no place for a kid, regardless of what special circumstance or ability you have." Garrick declined the request immediately. Garrick did have a point, that bandit camp was no place for a kid. While I was not at all defenseless, I would just be attracting unnecessary trouble if the regulars at that camp found out there was a kid with lots of coin in their midst. People have killed harder targets for less.

Nevertheless, I did not want to wait weeks for Garrick to try and fence this off somewhere else when there was a quick solution ahead of me.

"I already know where it is, I can just go there myself. I only thought you would want your 25% cut from selling this. If I go myself not only will you not get your cut, a kid like me might get ripped off you know~" I said, knowing I probably needed his help to maximize the sale of the hide. I did not even know what the going price for leather from a Yellow cored beast was.

"Fine! But make sure you stay quiet this time. No talking. Wait, I could just go without you. Why do you need to come?" Garrick realized halfway that he did not need to take me.

"Oh come on! Where's the fun in that? Besides, I wanted to see if they sold any copper in a grade that I need" Garrick just rolled his eyes.

"Fine, we leave in three days' time. I've got something I need to finish up in the next two days."

"Great! I'll be here at the break of dawn like the last time. I'll leave this here with you" I promptly jumped out the wagon, before Garrick could change his mind. Fingers crossed that this trip would just be as uneventful as the last. Author Note: This is the work of Josh Shoniix. This work of fiction will only be published on Royal Road and Space Battle for free. If you're reading this on another site or paid through Google Books, this work has been stolen.