Vol. 4 - Chapter 31 - Circumstances of Maguire Territory
When I set my foot in the research institute for reinforced concrete in Shirokane village, researchers who were relaxing in the rest area stood up in panic and bowed.
"It\'s fine, you don\'t have to."
I waved my right hand to indicate they can continue what they were doing originally and went to the room fitted with glass in the back.
The head maid May-san comes up to me with a group of white coats in tow and reported with extremely joyful expression,
"The quality of silk has been preserved at 99.98% this time when processed with alkali. We have succeeded in getting non-poisonous silk without changing its nature."
"Brilliant! You have splendidly achieved the long standing wish of your ancestors!!"
The sobbing sound leaks out from the elderly people who participated in the research.
The white luminous worm is poisonous but as long as you don\'t get stung by the stinger in its tail, there\'s no need to worry about it. There\'s not much danger as long as you just collect the cocoon.
The problem was how to process the silk produced by white luminous worms. Because that silk had the characteristic to produce volatile poisonous liquid when heated. So it was a must to remove all the poisonous components.
Many of the poison have acidic properties. Therefore, after a series of chemical experiments, it was realized relatively quickly that it could be neutralized and made non toxic.
The problem was when they tried to alkalise the silk to make it non toxic, the composition of silk changed and turned stiff and hard, making it difficult to process.
After that was the repetition of steady experiments. As a result of testing out with all sorts of heating, cooling or adding various metals and chemicals, it was discovered that zeolite, also known as boiling stone that is generally used as catalyst, can stabilize the quality of silk.
Zeolite is a substance that can selectively incorporate and react with molecules that are convenient in shape within its fine pores. This substance has a variety of uses, including catalytic, ion-exchange, and adsorption.
Although we haven\'t yet specified what kind of chemical reaction it is catalyzing, it\'s an undeniable fact that silk quality has rapidly stabilized. It should be fine to proceed with the research step by step.
"There is still a long way to go. Next we have to start with the specific industrial equipment. I want you to decide on the people who will continue the research and the people who will participate in the production of equipment."
"As Lord\'s will"
Immediately all the staff members including the village chief old woman bowed their heads with their hands on thier chest.
Lately, more and more staff members are now using such anachronistic gestures. It was quite unpleasant for me so I urged them time and time again to change their mind saying I\'m just an investor but they don\'t listen to me at all. It was annoying so I left them on their own accord.
In the one and a half year of time, not a single force has thought that I may be after Maguire\'s territory. Well, it\'s just a problem of my feelings. So, it doesn\'t matter in a sense.
When I stepped out of the research laboratory, a car was parked on the side of the roadway. In comparison to Ruddle, there are still more carriages. However, the coming few years should be enough for the carriages to be replaced by cars in the Maguire territory.
I thought about transferring at once but since May-san had an errand to do and was returning to the mansion, I decided to hitch a ride on May-san\'s car as I also wanted to know the development of territory.
"So much has changed into Maguire territory, right?"
May-san, sitting in the driver\'s seat, asked me while handling the steering wheel with a familiar hand.
It was expected that she would have to move quite a lot together with the feudal lord in the territory. So I had thought of presenting her with a car but it wasn\'t possible a year and half ago because the roads weren\'t paved yet at that time. Therefore I decided to give her a four wheel drive car which doesn\'t have any problem in running on mountain road but she showed an abnormal obsession with it and quickly became an expert in handling it that was on the same level as earth. This should be her talent. Now, she has learned some simple mechanics about cars and is doing the maintenance by herself.
"Yeah, it has become a lot livelier"
The roadway and footpath are paved with asphalt. Glass fitted stores are lined on both sides. Nowadays, I just transferred into the mansion to show my face to my mother and haven\'t looked at the outside scenery. That\'s why such an abrupt transformation honestly overwhelmed me.
"The government official who had come from the imperial capital just a few days ago was shocked to the core seeing this scenery"
May-san giggled in amusement.
This Maguire\'s territory is also turning into a second Toto village.
I recently visited Toto village, after all it\'s the hometown of Sagami Company\'s executives. I was stunned at the drastic transformation.
The village has already expanded to a considerable extent within the [Ancient forest], and it can no longer called a village. I\'m sure it\'s scope is now on the same level as Empire\'s mid-sized city. Moreover, it\'s advancement in science and technology has even surpassed Ruddle faintly.
"I deeply sympathize with the government official from the bottom of my heart"
The shock can be understood if you think about how a barren land has suddenly transformed into the scenery of the mid-sized city of Taisho(1912-1926) and the show era(1926-1989). That would be so.
Crap. I am suddenly assailed by unthinkable drowsiness. I haven\'t gotten enough sleep because I\'m devoting almost all of my time to training, so I guess this reaction was just a matter of course.
When I yawned loudly,
"I will wake you up when we arrive at the mansion so please take your time"
May-san just made a suggestion I desired.
"Ok, I will take upon your words then"
As soon as I close my eyelids, my consciousness falls into a pleasant slumber.