Clock (4)

“What is this…?”

The dwarf asked with wide eyes about the unfamiliar object. He wasn’t surprised by the sudden appearance of the object. With a dragon beside him, something like this wouldn’t be shocking.

“It’s called a clock. I’m thinking of spreading proper timekeeping in this world.”

There is a sundial in the capital’s Palace. But it divides time into six large parts and is only used in the Palace.

And I’m the only one who uses systematic time in this world. There’s no benefit to monopolizing the concept of time. It needs to be known by everyone for its effects to be realized.

“Clock?”

On the outside, it looks just like a wooden box. The clock hands on the front are metal, but it doesn’t appear intricate. Thus, the dwarf’s expression was indifferent.

“Come over here.”

I led the dwarf to the back of the clock. I removed the back panel and showed him. The intricate world of gears. The arrangement was beautiful.

The dwarf didn’t respond. He just stared blankly at the back panel.

His body was trembling. The chain of gears meshing intricately. The dwarf’s expression was one of awe. It was like the look of lovers at the height of their emotions, gazing at each other and trying to get closer.

“Do you understand the concept of dividing a day into 24 hours and each hour into 60 minutes, and can you create a machine that represents that?”

The dwarf slowly turned to me. His trembling hand reached for the gears but stopped himself.

Given the characteristics of the dwarf race, their approach to such objects is unmatched by any other race. Randol now knelt with a look more earnest than when he met his grandson.

“I have never seen such a beautiful machine. I will understand it, even if it kills me. Definitely, definitely!”

The mechanical grandfather clock. The pendulum clock principle was invented by the Dutch astronomer and physicist Huygens, who applied Galileo’s discovery of regular pendulum motion. In this world, a spring-driven grandfather clock using brass gears could be implemented as long as the principle is understood.

Especially if a dwarf with over 200 years of experience in intricate craftsmanship is involved.

“Alright. Please come to the factory in Dedran City for now. Spread the knowledge you understand there and train technicians. You can even bring your grandson if you want. The pay will be very generous.”

Randol nodded unconditionally with a mesmerized expression. If I had shown this clock from the start, he might have jumped at the chance regardless of humans or anything else.

But that would have been a temporary interest in the clock. I am neither specialized nor have the time to understand and teach this technology to human technicians.

I’m already busy with the restaurant and taking care of a dragon.

If he follows sincerely like now, we can introduce clocks to the world faster.

Leaving the dwarf engrossed in the large grandfather clock, I approached Rurin, who had been passively watching since the dwarf wasn’t rebellious today.

Rurin, bored, was drawing on the ground with a twig.

“What are you drawing?”

On closer look, it seemed like a picture of food.

“Meat!”

That must be the correct answer. Rurin threw the twig away and jumped up to cling to me.

“Hungry?”

“Hungry. You. Are you done?”

“Yes. It’s done. Good job. Let’s go back, I’ll cook you a lot of that meat you just drew. You’ve earned it.”

“Oh! Meatmeatmeatyouyouyou!”

“Why me? So I can eat too?”

“Hehehe.”

Rurin laughed and teleported.

Greek City and Dedran City.

Greek Mountain at the border. On the vacant land owned by the Greek family in that area, a huge clock factory was built.

And a mine producing resources, including the primary metal for clock parts, brass, was purchased.

When clocks spread across the continent, the resources used for parts will naturally increase in value. Currently, copper is only used for crafting items, but the demand for copper will rise with clocks, changing its value entirely, making this an investment.

“Rurin, I’ll soon turn this brass into gold and paint the lair with it.”

“Are you an alchemist? Even dragons can’t do that!”

Rurin was so surprised by what she heard for the first time that she dropped her meat and gaped.

“No, not that. It means that much royalty will come in.”

“Royalty? What’s that?”

Rurin tilted her head, not understanding the modern term.

And a month later.

Randol, who understood the principle with the various materials I translated, finally made a prototype.

The gears of the grandfather clock aren’t as small and intricate as those of a wristwatch. Therefore, Randol, with 200 years of accumulated skills, made the clock in a month.

There is a vast difference between coming up with and inventing something and understanding something already invented.

After confirming for several days that the pendulum of the grandfather clock worked correctly and time flowed, I instructed him to make a prototype.

The prototype, a special limited edition, emphasized luxury by using real gold on the front, which had a second and minute hand.

There is a reason for this.

Just introducing this in Dedran City could take a century to spread across the continent.

The faster we shorten that period, the sooner the reward for our efforts will appear.

“Ultimately, it has to come down from the top, where the most influential people are, for it to spread quickly below.”

“Is that so?”

The Greek boy, the owner of the factory site and the City, just nodded. At first, the boy suggested providing the clocks free to the people of Dedran City, to which I objected.

“Saving money on clocks is meaningless. The clock industry must become the main business of New Greek City. We will go to the capital. Follow me if you want to learn.”

“Of course, I’ll go!”

The Greek boy clenched his fists and nodded.

Thus, the journey to the capital began with the special edition clock. With the Greek boy and workers, I purposely didn’t use teleport, making the journey quite long.

However, since the clocks will be supplied to the capital from Dedran City via this route in the future, it was worth experiencing.

The main figures of this journey are the boy who temporarily left Greek City to Berna, Rurin, Randol, and me.

From top to bottom.

In a hierarchical society, this is the best method. Special items used by royalty quickly become trends among nobles.

One of the main desires of nobles is to use the same items as royalty, feeling vicarious satisfaction as if they too are royalty.

And what the nobles use quickly becomes a trend among the wealthy merchants and landowners in the common class. They can’t become nobles but have plenty of money, so they try to imitate everything nobles do.

And because they are still commoners, the influence spreads to other commoners in the same way.

Conversely, if it starts with commoners, nobles tend to look down on it, making proper dissemination take a very long time.

That’s the nature of a hierarchical society, and since the place I live in is strictly hierarchical, I have no intention of foolishly spreading it against the grain.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Isn’t that a universally applicable saying?

That doesn’t mean I intend to gift it to nobles for free. The best way to spread the rumor quickly is for those nobles to understand the value of this clock and buy it themselves.

So, how do I sell this to the nobles?

Going around to individually sell items to influential nobles is really bothersome.

Even if I give one to the Emperor as a gift, I want to gather the rest and induce them to buy it all at once.

I have no intention of revealing my identity. That would be self-destructive.

With such restrictions, the only solution is to get help from Medlinne, who knows everything about the capital.

After arriving in the capital, we had a meeting at Medlinne’s house. By ‘we’, I mean, of course, just me, Rurin, and Medlinne.

“What is this? The round part looks like a magic circle, could it be…?”

Medlinne looked at the magic circle with curiosity, wondering if it was a magical tool.

“Unfortunately, no. This is called a clock.”

“A clock?”

I slowly explained the principle and effectiveness of the clock. In a way, this clock can also be very helpful to mages.

Because the importance of timing in magical experiments is often paramount.

So, Medlinne’s disappointed face at it not being a magical tool quickly changed to one of keen interest as she looked at the gold-plated grandfather clock.

“Oh, that’s yours. A gift. I planned to give one each to you and the Emperor in advance.”

“Th-thank you. I’ll put it in the Magic Tower!”

Medlinne answered with a joyful face. But that’s not the main point.

“More importantly, is there a way to sell this to the nobles all at once? A good method to make the dukes and lower nobles compete to buy it.”

This was the main point. No matter how much I think, I can’t come up with an event that gathers nobles in one place without revealing my identity.

Either move the Emperor or reveal my identity. With only these two options, I asked Medlinne, hoping she might come up with something different, knowing the capital well.

“Hmm, I’m not sure.”

But Medlinne, defying my expectations, rubbed her chin with a perplexed look.

“Oh!”

“Huh?”

“There is!”

Medlinne clapped her hands in excitement. There’s a way? That was welcome news, so I asked again with a bright expression.

“What is it?”

“There is an auction in the capital. It started after the war, where each trading guild showcases and sells rare items they’ve collected from around the continent to the grand nobles first. An auction is scheduled for this month. I’ve also received an invitation…”

“I see.”

After all, Medlinne is a count and has connections to a powerful duke, so it’s only natural that she would be invited. Why is she hesitating and watching my reaction?

I nodded and asked for more information.

“To participate as a seller there?”

“I believe any trading guild registered with the Merchants’ Guild can participate.”

“A trading guild?”

“Yes, with the duke’s influence, it might be possible to exhibit independently…”

“No, that’s not necessary.”

It’s better if they buy the clock naturally without the duke’s backing. Since we’ll need a trading guild to sell clocks in Dedran City anyway, we might as well establish one.

Since it’s not a difficult task, I nodded again.