Making Philly’s Laboratory
Eric and Goran ate lunch before going back home.
There was a lot that they would have to deal with, including the Most High King and the dragon ruins.
I had great respect for what they did.
As things became more relaxed, I asked Tama and Philly,
“How much does Tama need to walk every day?”
“Ah, yes… He usually just randomly walks around in the area.”
“I see. Grulf likes to run for great distances. I guess they won’t like to go on walks together then.”
“Woof.”
Tama barked quietly. It was as if he was insisting that he could be a long-distance runner if he so chose.
I patted him on the head.
“Well, you’re still quite skinny, so it may be a matter of strength. Still, it will be hard on Philly if there is too much running.”
“Woof.”
In that case, it cannot be helped. He seemed to bark.
Milka listened to our conversation and then added,
“Oh? Is Philly allowed to go out and about? Didn’t the Hero King say that she was being targeted like Lord Gerberga?!”
“That’s true.”
“If Tama needs to go on a walk, you can leave that to me.”
“But still. I don’t think Philly wants to stay cooped up the entire time.”
“In fact, I do not mind being cooped up at all.”
“Don’t act like that now. It’s bad for your health.”
Philly may have been a genius, but she was still a child.
It would have a bad effect on her growth if she stayed inside all the time.
And we did not want her to get sick.
“You can come with Grulf and me on our walks starting tomorrow. We’ll go around the house once, then you can return and Grulf and I will go a little further.”
“Woof.”
“Thank you. You’re very kind.”
“Grr?”
Grulf didn’t seem to quite understand what was being discussed.
He was rolling around on the floor and showing his belly.
And so I petted him, just in case.
“Now, since we have some time, we can make Philly’s laboratory.”
“Really? I mean, you can make it?”
“We have leftover materials. And we just need to use a little magic.”
I had the materials we used when fixing and reinforcing the secret passage.
We could use it to expand the room.
“I see!”
“But it might be hard to make water usable down here today.”
“Hmm. Yes, I can understand that… You will have to get a professional to do it.”
“No, we can’t get outside help. It’s not really a matter of ability, but that we don’t have the right materials now.”
If we hired a professional, they would know our secret.
And so I had no choice but to do it myself.
What we needed now, was metal pipes for the water.
As I explained this, Milka said,
“If you need some, I could go and buy them!”
“It’s too heavy for you to carry by yourself.”
“Then I will go too.”
“Thank you, Nia.”
“You should leave the hard work to your big sisters.”
“Exactly.”
Nia, Shia and Serulis said that they would go too.
“Thank you. But I’ll let you take the magic bag, anyway.”
I said as I handed Milka the bag and the money.
After they left the house, I started to work.
First, I carved away at the rock walls and widened the room.
“Do you want it to be bigger?”
“If possible…yes.”
“Understood.”
I discussed it with her as we expanded the room.
I couldn’t forget to reinforce it with magic. The passage and door were important too.
We didn’t want there to be any explosions while the Princesses were passing through.
By the time I was finished with the room, Serulis and the others returned.
They had bought a lot of metal pipes to carry water.
“Thank you. You were all a great help.”
“But what are you going to do with this?”
Shia asked as if it were a huge mystery.
“First of all, an easy sewage system, I suppose?”
“Oh, I see. There is an underground sewer nearby, after all.”
“Well, we can’t really dump it into there.”
“Why not?”
In general, everything in the city was just discharged into the sewers. That’s why it smelled.
“But this isn’t normal sewage water. It’s water used in alchemy.”
“Actually, that is not something you have to worry about, you know?”
“Really?”
“Yes. Because I will have it processed before flushing it down.”
In that case, that would make things simpler.
But then again, connecting it directly to the sewers will give the enemy an opening to get in.
There were people who used rats as familiars.
Not only that, but there were magical creatures made of gas and magic attacks that would be able to travel through the pipes.
I would have to make some magic traps to prevent this.
The sewage pipes were finished in less than an hour.
“Now that the sewage is done, we need to do the water supply!”
Milka seemed to be very excited by all of this.
“It’s just connecting some pipes together. I’m not sure why you’re so excited…”
“But how are you going to connect it? We’re surrounded by rock walls!”
“Rock walls are easy to penetrate.”
I said as I pierced through the wall in order to reach the water pipes that went through the house.
Once the pipes were exposed, I connected the new pipes to it.
It was easy with magic.
“Magic really is amazing!”
Milka said as if she was very moved by this display.
“Would you like to learn it, Milka?”
“Oh? Really?”
“If you want to, sure.”
“Please! I would like to learn!”
“Alright.”
Philly also looked very impressed.
“This is a wonderful laboratory. …I am very thankful. I don’t know how I can thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”
“Well, that won’t do at all. You gave me a place to live and even added a laboratory…”
Philly began to think.
“I doubt you are short on money, Mister Locke… If only there was something I could do…”
Then I had an idea.
“In that case, you could help teach my apprentices, Milka, Nia and Luchila.”
“Alchemy?”
“Not really. Just a general education. It’s rather sad that they aren’t being taught anything in spite of being apprentices.”
“It is easy enough to teach… But that is all you want?”
“It would be an incredible help to me, if you did teach them.”
I had heard about Philly from Eric before.
She was a genius and new all kinds of subjects, not just alchemy.
We could not ask for a better teacher.
“Well, if you say so. I shall teach your apprentices everything they need to know!”
“Thank you.”
And like that, the search for a private teacher came to a surprising end.