Chapter 183: Chapter 174 – Turbine Engine Production

While the finalized blueprints for the first generation production type turbine engine was readied quite quickly, the actual production of them took much longer. The number of parts as well as their complexity meant that it would take even the best smiths weeks if not months to make.

While Orphne was safely kept out of trouble being so busy with the work at the Postal Guild, I still felt bad that she was being worked as hard as Peitho. At least that elf was mostly just running away to her work rather than being forced into it.

Hopefully.

Thinking about it, after I 'borrowed' Garland from her, it was possible that Peitho's work load had shot up quite a bit and now she actually had to spend all her time at work.

...

(It's probably alright. Peitho hired Garland and promoted her without me needing to do anything, so she'll get a new assistant guild master on her own.)

Either way, the important thing for me was to get the Postal Guild running properly.

Aurelia and I split up the blue prints for the production model and had different craftsmen work on different parts. By reducing the different number of parts each person was responsible for, as long as they met the standardized specifications properly, it should significantly increase the speed of production.

In other words, we used the Ford assembly line model. Though technically there wasn't an assembly line involved in our version, the theory was the same.

Reduce the number of actions a single person was required to do, and their production speed will rise in addition to reducing the chances of errors. For example, having four different craftsmen work on each of the four different sized fan blades meant that despite each person was responsible for making dozens of fan blades per engine, they would be able to make all those blades quickly and even more uniformly than through other means of production.

Though I did want to introduce some machining tools like a lathe or milling machine to further increase our production capabilities, we didn't really have time to develop that in addition to the turbine for the time being.

That, and the fact that we'd have to develop forging technology to allow the production of quality blanks to be used with the new tools. While we could get ingots easily, there was a strict limit to things that could be made from the dimensions of such things.

If I remembered right, fire bricks that were used to make most furnaces were a form of silica. The material was quite abundant, as it was just purified sand. But the purity and quantity as well as forming it into an open hearth furnace would be quite a bit of work. Not only that, but there was the issue of producing the fuel to heat things up in the first place. And then there was a lot of experimentation that would be needed to actually make sure it worked as intended.

Finally, there was the refractory lining that would have to contain the molten metal.

On earth, porcelain and alumina were some of the most common materials used to make them, though here adamantium was an option. There was also the possibility that the other two mythical metals could be used, but I'd need to consult Njordr as well as experiment with it.

Either way, the time it would take to consult, construct, experiment, and adjust it all would take away from the actual production of the turbine engines.

It was completely putting the cart before the horse, as the entire point of this current iteration of the turbine engine was to alleviate the issue of not having enough for the Postal Guild.

It was entirely my mistake to have started it up with only a trial level of personnel and equipment, with no ability to increase our capacity in equipment in the near future.

While my own defence was that I had never expected the service to take off so quickly, in reality I was only half right. The problem was that businesses were using the Postal Guild to move around their own goods.

Most likely Garland, the 'temporary' master of the Postal Guild had allowed for such a service as it was better than simply being idle. Industrial applications of the Postal Guild was fine presuming that it was only an occasional thing, as it wasn't like the services would be used that much until we were firmly entrenched in the psyche of the populace.

At least, that was the theory as far as I understood it.

But to think that the various crafters and merchants adopted regular use of the service so quickly.

(Capitalism is scary!)

People who understood the basics of capitalism were really quick. It really went to show how shallow my own understanding of the economic system which I had used my entire life was.

That said, the production of the turbine engine parts were going great. A priority order spread across a large number of craftsmen meant that the parts of it were being delivered every two days. Another day to have another group of craftsmen put the parts together, then finally a team of fairies including Orphne to test the final product to make sure there's no issues with it before putting it into active service.

It really was fortunate that we had already started training on Orphne's prototype model. Despite all the issues regarding its operation, by getting at least the basics down on that inferior model first, transitioning to the production model should be quick.

In fact, the testing for the first of the production models should be starting soon. As long as that went well, then our capacity would almost double in an instant. After that, it would be the training of new fairy deliverers that would be the bottleneck for the time being, though if demand rose substantially, then we would have to think about relocating the guild buildings themselves so that we had the capacity to expand further.

(I did promise the fairy elders that I'd have enough turbines produced to start an air show team or something as well...)

I only hoped that the number of turbines that ended up being produced wouldn't cause some other sorts of trouble.

(Maybe the next version should have lights and something to muffle the sound as well?)

It wasn't like the mana efficiency drop would be that big of a deal for something like that. It was different from the first production model in that they wouldn't be used hours on end at a time after all.

Either way, with the issues regarding the Postal Guild and the mana powered turbine engine looking like it would soon be resolved, I arrived at the fairy elders' place.

They had called for me, though they didn't specify why.

Most likely they just wanted to hear about the state of the turbine. Though seeing how Orphne showed it off in front of them, I wasn't exactly surprised about it, despite the fact that fairies were creatures that had innate flight capabilities.

Flix had taken Alicia and Fate to watch a small Goddess' Realm tournament which was being hosted this day, so I was free to meet with the elders.

"Hey, you guys called for me?"

"Ah! Scarlet! You came!"

Aurae looked up and called out the moment she heard me.

But what I saw in front of her was the figure of a Celestial on a Goddess' Realm board suddenly stopping its attack before being countered and pummelled by its opposing pair.

"Gyaaah! No fair! No fair!"

"Eheheh. It's your fault for losing focus! Gyahahahaha!"

The elder across from Aurae started laughing as a buzzer went off, indicating the end of a match.

Seeing the magically imbued board dominating the audience chamber's floor space made me really wonder what these elders were doing with their job, though technically it wasn't any of my business as long as I didn't hear any complaints.

"Umm...so anyways, what was it you guys wanted to see me for exactly?"

After giving them a few minutes, I went and spoke out, or else risk this taking all day. I wanted to get home before Alicia and Fate were done watching the tournament.

"Ah right...but still, that was cheap."

"Eheheh. It's still your own fault."

"Umm...so?"

Before they could restart their bickering again, I quickly cut in.

"Oh, right right. Lemme get it for you then."

Aurae flittered of with no indication of having remembered about her depressing defeat. Soon enough, she had returned with a magic bag, which she handed over to me.

"Here you go!"

"Hmmm?"

I opened the throat of the small bag and stuck my hand inside without any particular idea of what I was looking for. Once I felt something cold and hard against my fingers, I grabbed the object and pulled it out.

It took a little bit of effort as it was oddly shaped and the bag's throat was small, but soon enough I managed to get the object out.

"Is this...?"

"It's a gift! From everybody in the eastern city!"

What I held in my hand was a scythe. Another scythe.

Though this one was far smaller and lighter than my usual one. Maybe half the dimensions overall? The weight was far less than half, or even a quarter than that though.

The main reason was obvious when one looked at the weapon's surface. This scythe was a pearlescent white, complete with a vibrant rainbow sheen. These were the particular characteristics of orihalcum.

In addition, the curved blade was heavily stylized and had fancy engravings and jewels embedded in it. This weapon, while the basic design was similar, was a far different weapon from the adamantium scythe I had received from Njordr.

If I had to say, it was more like a wand in the shape of a scythe.

Though I didn't really know much about wands, being that I've never used one, it made me wonder if this sort of shape was fine? I was under the presumption that wands had to be stick shaped, be it as long as a quarterstaff or as short as a conductor's baton.

The grip itself was odd though. Rather than a proper rod shaped grip, the thing was hollow, and a seam ran down its entire length. On top of that, there was an enchantment engraved into it. A quick glance told me that the enchantment was a shape changing enchantment, though what sort of shape it was supposed to change into I wasn't sure without a closer examination.

Otherwise, the engravings on the blade itself appeared to be all sorts of enchantments, from self repair to focusing mana.

While I lacked experience when it came to wands, I was sure that this was a top rated item.

And to think that this was a gift to me out of nowhere.

"You say it's a gift, but..."

"...?"

Aurae and the other elders tilted their heads to the side at the same time.

"How come you're giving me a gift like this all of the sudden?"

"Ah, it's because of that!"

Raising a finger, the fairy elder exclaimed with all her energy.

"That?"

"That black one! The western city give you a black weapon made of adamantium right?"

"Ah, that thing."

I nodded. While the details were a bit wrong, considering that it was made from the efforts of several of the top craftsmen of the western city, what she said wasn't that far off.

"So this, is our gift, from the eastern city!"

"I...see."

"Is that...really alright? I mean, to suddenly commission such an expensive looking gift out of nowhere?"

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"Don't underestimate us elders! We have this thing, called taxes! And because of these taxes, everyone gives us lots of money! And they were just collecting on their own, so we decided to use it!"

"..."

I looked at the smug looking fairies. None of them refuted this point at the slightest. Or rather, they all looked like they thought it was an amazing idea.

"You fucking morons..."

I buried my face in my palms as those words leaked out.

The fact that Orphne was an idiot was already well established and I had gotten used to it. But sometimes I forgot that it was actually genetic. Orphne's stupidity just happened to be more obvious, especially with how outlandishly she acted.

But the problem was that the majority of fairies weren't actually that different. The difference came from the fact that they were better at moderating themselves and understood when and where they could get away with their selfishness.

It seemed like we had found a blind spot in regards to all of this.

Despite these people being the leaders of the fairies, the truth of the matter was that on a day to day basis, it was mostly a ceremonial position. Fairies were quite autonomous and free. While they had no problems with rules as long as they didn't encroach too much on the things they cared about, fairies did have the problem that as they didn't proactively make rules in the first place. Instead, they just use the ones others made while changing them to suit their needs.

And in the Hourai Commonwealth, it seemed like they simply copied the rules the rest of us had established wholesale without any consideration of what the point of those rules were.

The taxes being the example I was confronted with.

From what I had heard, they didn't have a monetary based tax system in the past, and instead the elders received goods as a form of tax. These goods were then bartered for the things they needed, and thus were basically personal belongings in exchange for being the figureheads of their sects. They were in charge of handling disputes, major events, and other official duties, but those sorts of things were by far in the minority.

They were effectively being paid to laze around, being on eternal standby in case something happened which needed their authority.

And now those same people were receiving actual taxes in the form of coin, within an economy that was growing explosively.

Once I realized what was happening, it became quite obvious what was going on, yet there was two issues. The first was that these elders weren't used to the idea of being in charge of civil projects and operations, which was the main way these taxes were supposed to be used.

Even for myself, I was receiving taxes being one of the leaders. But I was properly spending them between Philia's orphanage, the Hunter's Guild, and other operations that were under my wing. Technically the taxes were supposed to go to the Postal Guild's operational costs until it became profitable, but as the startup cost was entirely footed by my own personal funds and the guild became profitable so quickly, the taxes I had originally reserved for it was now free, and I wasn't sure what to do with it.

The other issue was that, frankly, I wasn't sure what they could actually use those taxes on.

I was already helping to fund the construction of roads throughout both cities and rather than more money we needed more workers for that. And fairy society was already used to operating with relative freedom, so there wasn't much public projects and services I could think of that would actually be of a benefit.

Frankly speaking, they were at a point where they could just lower the taxes, but I wasn't sure if that was really a good idea. As things stood, the taxes each of us leaders charged were mostly the same, barring the fact that some of us covered certain industries that others didn't.

In the end, what was better was to use those funds that were just sitting around on random projects.

In other words, making this scythe was exactly the sort of thing which the fairy elders should be using the tax money on.

(How can their use of other people's money be so wrong, yet so right at the same time?!)

For the sake of the economy, in a capitalistic system, what was most important was for cash to continue to flow. Despite what people usually said in regards to capitalism, it wasn't the accumulation of wealth that was evil, but the accumulation of cash that was the greatest sin against capitalism there could be. Wealth and cash were two different things, even though they were often interchangeable.

A rich person purchasing a yacht using personal cash was a good thing, as was the act of owning stocks. But hording cash was an act which stifled the economy, even though you could freely exchange stocks for cash almost whenever you wanted without significant loss.

This, in the grand scheme of things, wasn't really any different.

As long as the taxes didn't accumulate too much, it wouldn't be an issue.

"I see. You have that much taxes sitting around huh?"

"Yup! One of two of those orihalcum weapons isn't a big deal for us!"

(A weapon like this isn't in the same league as a yacht!)

*Sigh*

I forcefully calmed myself down with some half-assed breathing exercises before continuing.

"Anyways, if you've got so much taxes just sitting around, then I can think of a few fun things you can use it on."

"Oooh! What sort of fun things?"

"Well, we're getting the production of the turbine engines up, and it shouldn't take too much longer before the second generation design is completed. When it is, how about you buy a few of those and hire a group of fairies to perform regular air shows?"

"Air shows?"

Aurae's eyes were glued to me as she leaned in.

"Yea. Like flying complex formations together. It's a show where people fly and show off, a bit like a dance."

"I see, I see."

"Since they'll be a specialized version just for this purpose, it'll be expensive, but I think you guys'll be able to afford it."

"Oh yea! Of course we can!"

Even without stating how much it would cost, Aurae was confident that they would be able to pay for it.

Though thinking about it, the reason was more likely that they didn't understand the costs nor how much they had rather than simply having so much the cost didn't matter.

"So anyways, back to this..."

"Oh yesyesyes. So this orihalcum scythe, we had it made to go together with your adamantium scythe."

"I see..."

Well they were both scythes, even if the materials, style, size, and even purpose were all completely different.

"So, you could use one for physical attacks, and the other for magical! You're a big girl, so you can probably use both at once!"

It felt so odd being called big, considering that most people were taller than me, but when compared to a fairy, what she said was technically true.

"Well, maybe here and there, but they're both two handed weapons. Duel wielding them is more likely to just get in the way most of the time."

"Well, sure. That's why we put in the transformation enchantment to it as well!"

I had certainly noted its existence, though as to exactly what form the weapon would take when activated I wasn't sure.

"Take our your other weapon, and place the two weapons on top of each other."

I did as Aurae told me, the blades and hilts stacking on top of the other. It was clear at a glance that the blade of the orihalcum scythe was made to match the adamantium scythe. Though it was only half as long, it overlapped the other quite well, aside from the adamantium scythe's extended blade closer to the base. The hilts, stacked on top of each other, was far too thick to be wielded, as I had figured.

All this made me quite curious as to what the elders had planned.

"Now activate the enchantment."

Next, I allowed my mana to flow directly into the enchantment built into the shaft. Specifically the entry point was at the shaft's base as it was made so any other point would channel the mana to the blade itself.

All of the sudden, the weapon warped and reconfigured itself. The hollow shaft opened up before swallowing the shaft of my adamantium scythe, and the blade flattened and stretched out to cover the surface of one side of the curved blade.

When all was done, it was as if I was holding a single scythe, one side black and the other an iridescent rainbow.

"Wow..."

The balance was a little off and the added weight required a bit of practice to get used to, but overall it was surprisingly usable as is.

Pushing my mana into the orihalcum scythe once again, I was able to quickly separate the weapons and duel wield them without issue. Though actually using them as a pair this way was a different story. It would be difficult to use the adamantium scythe with one hand, and that didn't take into consideration what I'd be doing with the orihalcum scythe.

"And! If you stack the two scythes up pointed the other way and transform it...!"

Doing as she said, I stacked the weapons again, but this time the blades pointing in opposing directions. When I applied my mana, the orihalcum scythe's shaft once again enveloped the adamantium scythe's shaft, but that was it. Suddenly I had a double bladed scythe.

The resultant weapon looked quite impressive. It was stylish and imposing and incredible looking. As a result, I had a strong impression of this weapon configuration in my mind.

(Yea, this is a useless feature.)

Wielding a weapon this way seemed far from useful, and the difference in materials in regards to the two blades further caused countless problems. Chief among them were the fact that the two blades had vastly different levels of armour penetration as well as weight. The balance was terrible and made the weapon highly unwieldy.

I couldn't think of a single use of this configuration, though most likely it was added because it was easy to apply after the previous, much more useful configuration.

After all, the other form, even if it didn't actually increase the adamantium scythe's penetrative and cutting power, at least it didn't impede on the scythe's regular use. In addition, it could theoretically be used as a wand that way.

Presuming I learned how to actually use a wand.

"The other enchantments on the weapon pretty much what you expect. There's the enchantments for self repair, sharpness, durability, as well as the most important one, the mana focus!"

"In other words, it's basically a wand in the shape of a scythe?"

"Yup! Isn't it amazing?"

Certainly, I had to admit that this weapon, despite how much it focused on style over substance, was still quite an amazing article.

At the very least, it certainly warranted time devoted towards learning to use it.

"I've never used a wand before though. Can you teach me?"

"Sure! I'll even teach you how to do my lovely pretty genocidal beam!"

"Ummm, I'm fine on that front."

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