A Stay-at-home Dad’s Restaurant In An Alternate World

Hydle walked in, and was amazed by the decorations. But, his mind was on something else right now. He turned to Mag. “Thank you.”

“Please take a seat. I’m also quite interested in this kind of stuff.” Mag went into the kitchen, poured a glass of water for him, and sat opposite him.

Mag was very familiar with steam engine. His bachelor’s thesis had been about the improvement on two-stroke engines. He had proven in theory that the improvement would be able to raise the engine efficiency by 3%. Although it had been impossible in practice, his thesis had resulted in him becoming one of the Outstanding Graduates.

It had been the only thing that he had put his heart and soul into during the four years in university. He had carefully studied the steam engine, the internal combustion engine, and the steam turbine. Of course, he couldn’t make one himself, but he was still able to draw a detailed engine diagram—in other words, he could make one with the help of a masterful blacksmith.

He would surely go down in history if he made one, but he didn’t want to be remembered. He was curious about the mechanical level in this world, though.

Hydle opened his briefcase, took out several pieces of paper, and put them on the table. “After years of experimenting, we have finally managed to convert the thermal energy of steam into kinetic energy. The produced kinetic energy is not stable, but we have some ideas to stabilize it. The only problem right now is how to use this energy.”

Mag took a look at the diagrams on the pieces of paper. “Impressive,” he said, looking at Hydle with respect. Mag really admired scientists, and believed they were the ones who were accelerating the pace of technological development. This man before him was unmistakably one of them.

The one-cylinder engine on these pieces of paper was crude, but it was theoretically doable. They had really managed to convert the thermal energy of steam into kinetic energy, but they still had a long way to go before using the engine in everyday life. Nonetheless, it was impressive in this world of sword and magic.

“Thank you,” Hydle said. Few people appreciated their effort. Most criticized them while envying their high salaries. No one knew the pressure hanging over them. No one knew some of them were even using their own money to do experiments. Hydle and his wife were still living in the free housing provided by the Chaos School. He walked to school every day to save on carriage fares.

His wife could understand him, but not his two children, who came home only once a year.

“But why are you doing this?” Mag asked.

“After a hundred years of peace, commerce is developing fast. Although businessmen can hire magic casters to do hard labor, they’re very expensive. There’s an urgent demand for machinery to take the place of manual workers.”

Mag nodded. “I see.” Steam engines will surely change this world. But, judging from his drawings, a proper steam engine won’t be invented anytime soon.

Mag’s eyes lit up as a thought occurred to him. “Can I sell him a steam engine diagram, system?”