Before Kousuke’s eyes, there was a magic tool.
He had been researching it for a long time, but it was a magic tool that he couldn’t improve as he wished.
Many years had passed since he decided to make it, but it finally took shape recently.
It was currently in the final stage of checking.
Kousuke inserted a magic stone held in his right hand into the magic tool.
It fit perfectly into a recess the same size as the magic stone.
After confirming this, he flipped the switch to activate the magic tool.
With a faint “buon” sound, the magic tool activated as intended.
After waiting for tens of seconds with it activated, he opened the front of the magic tool with a “pakari”.
The interior was hollow, and he reached his hand into the cavity.
As his hand entered the cavity, a distinctly cold stream of air blew on it.
Confirming this, Kousuke grinned.
It seemed to be activated successfully for its intended purpose.
The magic tool that Kousuke now had before his eyes was, without a doubt, a refrigerator.
While Kousuke recognized the magic tool as a refrigerator, it was not actually the first magic tool of its kind in this world.
Magic tools that functioned as refrigerators existed even before Kousuke started creating them.
However, like lighting fixtures, they were extremely expensive and were not widely distributed in ordinary households.
In terms of size, it was comparable to a refrigerator for a single person, and its price was more than ten years’ worth of income for an average family.
Not only ordinary households, but even top-tier restaurants rarely used them.
When Kousuke learned of this, the magic tool before him was the result of his various efforts to bring the price down to around an annual income.
Over three years had passed since the concept came to mind.
To Schmidt, it might seem like Kousuke was constantly creating new magic tools, but in reality, most of them were things he had been struggling with for a long time.
There were many other magic tools he had conceived but had not been able to make successfully.
The improved refrigerator was one of them.
The finished product before him was what had gone according to his intentions.
After a few days of observation to check for any malfunctions, Kousuke began gathering members to spread the use of refrigerators.
The members Kousuke had summoned were gathered in the management layer’s conference room.
This time, Kousuke had various plans in motion, so he couldn’t just call Schmidt alone.
Before Kousuke were Floria and Alec from the Razekamamiya Kingdom, and Schmidt and Dales from Crown.
Upon seeing Kousuke enter with the magic tool, Floria spoke first.
“We heard you developed a new magic tool, but why did you call us?”
All the magic tools Kousuke had created so far had been handled exclusively by Crown.
Razekamamiya Kingdom had never been involved as a nation.
The only involvement was probably the substantial taxes paid by Crown.
“Before I explain that, can I talk about the magic tool first? It will be easier to understand that way.”
“Understood.”
Floria meekly nodded at Kousuke’s reply.
Although they were certainly busy, she knew that Kousuke wouldn’t call them without reason.
“First, about this magic tool, I’m sure you can tell what it’s used for. It’s something that already exists.”
Saying this, he handed the magic tool to Dales.
Dales looked at the magic tool for a while, then opened the refrigerator door and confirmed that it was cold inside, nodding with understanding.
“It’s a Cooling and Preserving Room.”
“Cooling and Preserving Room” was the name for refrigerators in this world.
“However, it seems quite small?”
“Ah. The small size isn’t particularly significant. I just made it a size that was easy to create for experiments.”
Dales nodded understandingly at Kousuke’s words.
“Kousuke-sama wouldn’t produce an ordinary Cooling and Preserving Room… in other words, is it the same as with the lighting fixtures?”
Schmidt brought up the development of lighting magic tools in the past.
Due to the creation of affordable lighting magic tools, they were now installed in about one out of every middle-class household.
“In a word, is that it? However, that’s not the main topic this time.”
Saying so, Kousuke removed a magic stone from the back of the Cooling and Preserving Room.
Dales, who received the magic stone, tilted his head quizzically.
“What is this?”
To Dales, the magic stone looked almost identical to the ones in common use.
And then, with Kousuke’s next words, the expressions of everyone present changed.
“It’s a Reusable Magic Stone.”
Magic stones, in principle, were disposable items that ended when the magic contained within them ran out.
The ones used in the appliances of nobles and wealthy merchants were of the type where the magic could be replenished when it lessened, but most of them were integrated, could not be removed, and were extremely expensive due to the effort required to create them and the rare materials used.
Ordinary magic stones, like minerals, were mined from veins or collected where they occurred naturally and used as materials for magic tools.
Alternatively, one could wait for magic power to accumulate by leaving them in places with high magic concentration for several years.
The existence of such magic stones was the fundamental reason why magic tools were generally expensive.
The inexpensive lighting Kousuke created did not use magic stones, which was one of the reasons it was inexpensive.
“…What do you mean?”
Schmidt cautiously asked Kousuke.
Depending on the circumstances, this could have an even greater impact than the lighting.
“Simply put, it’s a magic stone that can be recharged with magic after it’s depleted and used again. Of course, it can only be used with magic tools that can accommodate it.”
As expected, everyone present breathed a sigh of admiration at the answer.
This was because it was easy to imagine that the cost could be significantly reduced if they didn’t have to mine anew or wait for long periods.
Seeing the reactions of those around him, Kousuke continued.
“However, I’ve put a slight modification into this magic stone.”
“Modification?”
“Yes. And that modification is the reason I called Floria and the others.”
To Floria, who tilted her head in confusion, Kousuke grinned.
“Charging this magic stone with magic is designed so that it cannot be done unless certain conditions are met.”
“Certain conditions… In other words.”
Floria raised her face as if she had a sudden realization.
The other members also seemed to grasp what Kousuke was implying and nodded in understanding.
“Yes. You’ve probably guessed it, but I was thinking of making this magic stone a specialty product of the Kingdom, or rather, of the Royal Family.”
If empty magic stones could be collected and recharged magic stones could be reused, the cost could be significantly reduced.
Conversely, without these magic stones, the magic tools would not function.
Kousuke intended to standardize the specifications so they could be used with other magic tools.
Simply put, he intended for them to function as Rechargeable Batteries.
If the Royal Family monopolized these magic stones, it could become a very stable source of income for them.
“If that’s the case, I’d be happy to, but is that really alright?”
Floria glanced at Schmidt.
“I don’t mind. I’ve been concerned that the Kingdom doesn’t have any unique specialty products.”
The specialty products from Crown’s tower were becoming quite substantial.
However, those were strictly Crown’s products and not something the Kingdom itself was putting out.
Of course, taxes were paid from them.
Although, officially, it was just one guild within the nation, its influence already extended to other continents, making Crown the superior entity.
Considering the possibility of Crown distancing itself from the Kingdom, not having even one specialty product would drastically reduce the Kingdom’s influence.
However, since most of Crown’s specialty products were based on materials from the tower, it was almost impossible to consider their current relationship breaking down.
Putting that aside, it was better for the nation to have something rather than nothing.
In that sense, Kousuke’s proposal was very welcome.
Furthermore, the magic tools that used these magic stones would undoubtedly be handled by Crown.
Considering the relationship with the Kingdom that possessed the tower, there was no problem in transferring the rights regarding the magic stones.
In the discussions that day, it was decided that the Razekamamiya Kingdom would handle the Reusable Magic Stones.
The Cooling and Preserving Rooms, equipped with these Reusable Magic Stones for the first time, quickly spread due to their low cost, much like the lighting fixtures.
I made batteries lol.
More precisely, rechargeable batteries.
As mentioned in the text, until now, magic stones could only be obtained through natural occurrence or by mining.
Monsters do not drop them.
They are completely different from the ones used in the Divine Power Engraver.
(Note) Materials imbued with magic power do exist.
