Tired from playing, the twins had gone down for their afternoon nap.
Terry was only seven, and since his stamina was still lacking, he was resting in a separate room.
During that time, I remained behind to speak with His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness.
"Ah, I see. So in short, that water can overcome differences in elevation as long as a path is made, and that waterway is still operational now?"
"Yes, the important thing is that the path the water travels through is filled with water without any air entering. As long as the water source is higher than the destination, if you reinsert a pipe filled with water, it should operate again."
I explained the experiments and the movement and properties of water to my younger brothers, basing it on actual demonstrations.
Then, His Majesty told me that for some reason, there was a system that sent water to high elevations.
So I explained the principles I could deduce, and had them prepare some straw to practically demonstrate the siphon phenomenon as well.
"So it truly was made through alchemy."
"It is written so in the Imperial Library, but even in ducal houses with deep ties to the Imperial Family, has the knowledge of what alchemy was used for not been passed down?"
I couldn't help but ask the surprised Her Imperial Highness.
Because no matter how you looked at it, this should be essential knowledge for the people maintaining the current infrastructure, so not knowing it was bad, right?
I didn't want to suddenly hear that they couldn't send water to the top of the mountain and have the palace run short of water.
Ah, I see.
Even in my previous life, important people didn't know the details of infrastructure maintenance. They would plan and provide funding, but technical matters were outside their jurisdiction.
In other words, the technicians died off first and the knowledge was lost?
And the scholars without the skills or knowledge treated it as legend because they couldn't reproduce it?
"I heard from Wearere, but you truly rediscovered and understood this from the books in the library alone."
As I was worrying seriously about the current situation, Father murmured this, and Her Imperial Highness gasped.
"Your Majesty, this is a splendid achievement. If we publicly announced that Asha, who will soon be ten, made this rediscovery—"
"Ah, Duke Lukaios might somewhat..."
"Please wait."
Wait a moment.
Why are the Imperial couple being so optimistically proactive?
"There is neither necessity nor benefit in pushing me forward right now. It would only create a reason to attack Terry, who is still young and unable to accumulate achievements. What we should be wary of is not allies with minor differences, but the malicious schemes of those who do not think well of Your Majesty's reign."
What would happen if they pushed me forward?
Duke Eurasion, who despises His Majesty for his low birth, and the high nobles who share his views, would definitely move to complicate the succession after His Majesty.
They would prop me up as a rival horse to weaken Terry, Father's successor.
"Above all, it is Your Majesty who should be accumulating achievements now. The information has always been in the palace. If you make it public, it would be far more beneficial for Your Majesty to command and claim the rediscovery. For example, you could frame it as having glimpsed the possibility after seeing my experiment today."
"Bu—but, however... I cannot steal my son's achievements."
"If it is an achievement, it belongs to the past emperors who used alchemy to develop this capital. For the current Emperor to step forward and take the lead would be the legitimate course."
I said things that sounded right, but fundamentally, I simply didn't want to appear in public.
Because if I made such an announcement, they would tell me to do the alchemy for infrastructure maintenance.
Right now, alongside brewing alcohol, I want to make medicines called Elixirs.
I had received Mori's support on the condition that it could be applied to alcohol brewing, and I was even collecting anecdotes about Elixirs from outside the palace.
If I could do this, the day might come when Fer could eat his favorite sweets again, and I didn't want to take detours that would delay that.
"...Indeed, should we not entrust that territory to Asha after all?"
"Indeed, I hear it yields materials essential to alchemy."
"Ah, I shall decline the territory as well. It is still too early for me. Without a deputy and without proper education, the territory's people would suffer."
When I offered the excuse I had prepared, they both made subtle faces.
"To be able to say that already... Is education necessary?"
"Indeed, his current state is precisely because of his talent. Therefore, one must say there were problems with his education due to its bias. Should we not do as Asha says and first select proper tutors?"
At Her Imperial Highness's words, she seemed motivated for some reason, and Father opened his eyes wide as if he had just realized something.
But that was a flag for having my alchemy time stolen away.
Also, if I got homework, I wouldn't have time to slip out, so I wanted to decline.
Generally, studying here was mostly rote memorization and explaining case interpretations.
If it was just reading assigned books, that would be fine, but if I had to write thesis-style homework by researching books myself, I wouldn't have enough time.
My current tutors mainly explained things, partly due to my limited range of movement.
However, Wearere had recently said that with Her Imperial Highness as an ally things had become easier, and as a preliminary stage before going full-scale, he assigned very short thesis-style homework.
Since he considered the days I slipped out when assigning this, I was somehow managing.
"If we consider the Luciusaria Academy, we have four years left. First, we should think about meeting the minimum requirements to enter the Alchemy Department."
"Ah... Will the Alchemy Department still exist in four years? There has been no academic movement, has there?"
To His Majesty who was thinking seriously, Her Imperial Highness expressed her concerns with great anxiety.
Please wait, if it doesn't exist, that would be a problem.
If the public institution disappeared, everything I did from now on would stand out terribly.
With the alcohol matter as well, it couldn't remain a学问 [field of study] of disinterest and unwarranted suspicion as a cover forever.
"If only the Academy would stand out more than me..."
When I murmured this without thinking, not only His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness, but also the pageboy and maids in the room looked at me.
The pageboy in particular had a face that seemed to say, "This guy's going to do something."
Though that might be my imagination.
"Her Imperial Highness's concerns are most valid. First, I would like to ask the tutors who have supported me until today for their opinions. Wearere has connections to the Alchemy Department at Luciusaria."
"Ah, now that you mention it. Indeed, it would be more certain to ask there directly."
"Indeed. The opinions of those who know Asha's abilities best are important."
Somehow, I managed to prevent the increase of tutors with His Majesty and Her Imperial Highness's consent.
Feeling somewhat accomplished, I returned to the left-wing residential area.
I met up with Ikuto, who had not been permitted to enter the section where the Emperor's close family lived due to jurisdictional differences, and began walking toward the deserted left wing.
"Your Highness Asha, was something troubling you?"
"Hm? Ah, I was just thinking. Hey, Ikuto. Do you know how to acquire a Small Thunder Lamp?"
"Well, if there is a dismantling of an old house, sometimes... However, in such cases, the dismantler usually hands it over to the construction company for a discount or requests it be installed in a new house."
From what I heard, Ikuto had only seen Small Thunder Lamps in the central region of this continent.
As Hercof said, they were relatively common in the Imperial Capital, but became rarer the further one went into the provinces.
In cultural spheres outside of humanity, they were apparently treated as particularly rare items.
"Even a broken one would be fine."
"In that case, perhaps a provincial noble's mansion? Though they are for commoners, there are not a few provincial nobles who value practicality, so I have seen mansions that possess them."
"Hmm, I'll ask Harti about it when I send a letter."
So it wouldn't be that simple, huh.
I returned and called out to Wearere.
"Is the alchemist at the Academy that Wearere knows someone who makes tools with alchemy?"
"No, they pursue the investigation of truth, so they do not make things much. They may know the theory, but actually doing it would be different."
"Ah, I see."
"What is it, Your Highness?"
Hercof came over as well, interested in my sudden question.
So I told them about how the Alchemy Department might not exist in four years, and how that would be troublesome as a cover for my activities.
"Come to think of it, the equipment I gave Your Highness was also discarded due to downsizing. They tearfully made it scrap to free up rooms for other departments..."
Wearere had taken it upon seeing his acquaintance lamenting this, and it became my toy.
The other party had even packed it carefully with instructions, thinking it was better than just throwing it away.
"The alchemist Wearere knows has been researching for many years already, right? So I thought, if I sent a Small Thunder Lamp with a note saying it was made by alchemy, couldn't they research it and reproduce it?"
Small Thunder Lamps were in such demand that even old ones were reused, so it would stand out.
"If it goes well, their status would rise, and even if they can't do it immediately, the demand for Small Thunder Lamps won't disappear soon, so wouldn't the Academy promote research?"
For my part, I wanted convenient tools like Small Thunder Lamps that resembled the science of my previous life to spread.
After this luxurious life ended, I wanted to live as comfortably as possible.
I wanted gas and water as much as possible, and for places that already had Small Thunder Lamps, I wanted the alchemists currently here to work hard on reviving them.
"Kuh, to think Your Highness Asha has more foresight than I... Let us do it."
Wearere lamented but accepted positively.
To be honest, I had no real sense of being a lord or the Academy, and in the end, I was the eldest son but not the legitimate heir.
If I didn't find a way to do something about that, it would be difficult to leave the palace.
It was about time to move from stopgap measures to designing for the future.
Regular Update
Next: The Younger Brother's Heart, the Older Brother Does Not Know 1
Update 9/8 (Inserted after Chapter 40)
Side Story 8: A Certain Gardener