The Nebula's Civilization

Chapter 219: The Great Inventor

The representative asked Simo, "What on earth…is that?"

Simo explained the principle of electricity generation. Though Simo's words were based on a few assumptions that they hadn't yet fully verified, theoretically, they were all true.

Simo suppressed their racing heart.

'But it's obviously impossible for this much electricity to come from a battery of this size...'

Simo glanced at the ceiling.

Then, with simple curiosity, the representative followed Simo's gaze and looked up.

The ceiling was empty. Owen, who had shot electricity toward the battery that Simo was holding earlier, had already hidden himself without a sound.

It was a truly astonishing skill, but Simo was too anxious that this scam might be discovered to admire it.

The representative said, "It's really...a miraculous invention."

"Ah, yes. Well…I guess it kind of is."

"It’s difficult for me to decide the amount to invest immediately. If possible, I'd like to show it to the higher-ups... Could you give me some time?"

Simo took a deep breath. It was just as Owen had predicted. Because they had pulled off such a big scam, it had become a matter too difficult for a regular employee of the company to handle.

"Alright. But I urgently need money, so..."

"How much do you need?"

Simo named an amount, and the person in charge promptly wrote up the paperwork.

Simo had set up a future meeting with the representative, received the money, and walked out of the company building.

Owen was already waiting outside.

"Things went well, I see. How much did you get?"

"...Enough to eat and stay in a hotel for a year while doing research."

Owen had suggested Simo name a high price saying that if the amount was rejected, they could always lower it, and Simo had done just that.

However, the representative had handed over the money, asking if that all would be enough, then sent Simo off with the money saying that Simo would be back anyway.

Owen said, "Should we have asked for more?"

Simo didn’t seem to have heard Owen's words and said, "W…what do I do?"

"What are you talking about?"

"That I've gone from a medicine seller to a fraudster?"

"That's unfortunate."

"Why do you speak of it as if it's someone else's business?"

Owen laughed while patting Simo on the back.

"You always are an amusing little inventor."

"This isn’t amusing."

"First, get a good rest in the hotel. You'll find it amusing then."

Simo had mentioned staying in a hotel as an example but hadn't really planned to go to one. Nevertheless, Owen, thinking Simo had worked hard, took Simo to the largest hotel in Pollivia.

While it wasn't the largest room, Owen brought Simo where they wouldn’t have dared to go alone and said, "Rest here and continue your research. If there's something hard to get, I'll get it, and for minor errands, the hotel staff will do it for you."

Simo shook their head.

"The Itimo family will want to see another demonstration though."

"Of course, I'll assist you then as well."

"But we can't rely on that forever, can we? No matter how impressive the invention is, I can't showcase it on my own. The flashy device is your ability, not my invention."

Owen replied, "Do you think that flashiness is truly important?"

"The representative lent me money after seeing it."

"No, I mean, do you find it important? What did you call it again? Scientifically?”

Simo frowned.

"It's extravagant, but not necessarily useful. If you want to kill someone, wouldn’t it be better to just shoot them?"

Owen said, "That's exactly it. The vision you described of a society using electricity is more impressive than what I showed. You'll achieve something greater than my little trick. And if people later say it's a lie, just show them something even better. Understand?"

Simo realized what Owen was trying to say.

Perhaps Owen was right. But there was a problem.

"I might fail. It might just be...a deluded dream of mine."

Owen smiled. "I trust you. I have a good eye for people."

Simo was too exhausted to reply.

Simo worked hard to ensure they wouldn't become a fraudster any longer.

'I won't need to borrow teacher Owen's electricity next time. One scam is enough.'

There was plenty to say in Simo’s defense. In reality, discharging electricity into the atmosphere was an unnecessary waste of energy, and the visible fanfare didn't necessarily correlate with its practical use. This argument was compelling enough.

'But to achieve that, I need to show something more spectacular.'

The world already had rubber-powered generators, arcane power, and steam engines as ways to produce and utilize energy.

'But the strength of electricity...is that it can go far.’

Devices like rubber-powered winders, arcane-powered machines, and steam engines that could store energy but only generate power in a short distance. Take the rubber-powered winders as an example, it involved winding rubber using a water wheel under a waterfall.

Through the engineers' efforts, they had almost reached automation, but the issue was that they had to transport devices like winders on carriages or trains to use it elsewhere.

‘Electricity doesn’t require that.’

This energy called electricity just needed a long wire. By moving along this wire, there was no need to wait anxiously for the device to be wound up again once its energy was all used, nor was there a need to manually wind the rubber.

There was no need to even mention that the arcane-powered machines that required wizards to directly handle, and the steam engines that consumed a lot of coal, or the latest technology, the internal combustion engines, couldn't overcome their respective limitations.

No matter how many gears the machines utilized to transfer power, in the end, all the energy was consumed in turning the gears themselves.

‘The old technologies won't disappear, but they'll all be used to generate electricity.’

Simo searched for electrical wires with low resistance, improved capacitors, and made plans for transformers. They also rented a warehouse and called in technicians based in Pollivia, who were scholars of Jeya but were interested in temporarily assisting Simo, and Simo also referred to the latest research materials that Owen had brought from Vaseniol.

However, it was a challenging task. What Simo intended to design was not merely about lighting a bulb, but an entire system to generate and supply electricity. But there were difficulties in producing the crucial power generator.

The prototypes Simo had created so far did not show as much efficiency as they had anticipated, which made it hard to find any particular advantages over existing machines.

‘I’m almost there though...!’

On a particularly exhausting night in the warehouse, Simo had a dream. In the dream, someone stood by the power generator Simo had created.

‘They’re…short.’

It wasn't surprising as there were many species as short as the Xolotls such as Kobolds, Dwarfs, Halflings, Pangolins...but their figure differed from those species.

This person had a relatively plump body with a broad beak.

“...A Platy?”

The Platy, who didn’t seem to have heard Simo mumbling to themself, was carefully examining Simo’s generator. Simo shot up and rushed to the Platy when they reached out to touch it.

"Wait, don't touch it!"

Only then did the Platy turn and look at Simo.

The Platy said, "This is a terrible design."

"What?"

"But with a few tweaks, it could be improved."

"Who are you?"

Without answering, the Platy quickly began loosening and tightening screws with a wrench.

"I told you not to touch it!"

Simo hurriedly ran to stop the Platy, but for some reason, despite the warehouse not being very large, Simo couldn't reach the Platy.

Moreover, the Platy seemed to have finished working on it in an instant and slid the wrench into the front pocket of their work attire, dusting off their hands.

"It's done now. I would prefer to take it all apart entirely and start over, but I guess this is the extent of causality permitted..."

"...Causality?"

While gasping for breath, Simo looked at the Platy. Simo had recognized the Platy’s appearance a bit late. The Platy wore work clothes that covered their whole body to protect their fur, and in their leather apron, there were tools needed for building or repairing machines. Above all, this Platy had their signature goggles over their eyes.

With a trembling voice, Simo asked, "C…could you possibly be...?"

"Oh, do you know me?"

The Platy looked at Simo, embarrassed.

"...Toolbo?"

He was a famous genius inventor of the former Fabirang Union, which was now part of the Black Scale Empire. As the creator of the Helix Wings and the rubber genius who made lonely nights more bearable, he was admired by all inventors. He was the eighth apostle of the Pantheon, the madman Toolbo.

Toolbo put their goggles back on and said, "The prayer of an inventor reached the Folded Wing Golden Bird. I came to help you at their call. I didn’t fix too much."

"I…it's an honor!"

"While I am bound by causality, you can express your will freely. So do not be disheartened by anything.”

"...Alright!"

Toolbo walked out of the warehouse where it was bright.

When Simo turned around, there seemed to be something huge moving...and then Simo woke up from their dream.

Simo rubbed their eyes.

"...Was it a silly dream?"

Waking up in the warehouse groggily, Simo walked over to the power equipment.

At a glance, Simo noticed right away that the problem that had stumped them for so long was suddenly resolved.

"It wasn’t…a dream?"

***

When Simo demonstrated their invention again to the Itimo household, many were disappointed because they didn’t see the brilliant burst of electricity that was said in rumors, and only one representative had witnessed.

What Simo showed was a connected wire, a shining light bulb, and a power generator that made a noisy sound as it operated.

Simo simply explained, "That was just a treat for the eyes to get the initial investment. I won't do such a thing in the future. It's too dangerous and merely wasteful. Oh, and it seems the representative might have exaggerated a bit. The electricity wasn't that strong."

The Elf representative present at the time wanted to refute, but couldn't respond to Simo's confident statement. Simo had quite a silver tongue for a medicine peddler as long as they weren’t taken off guard.

However, the representative wasn't the only one dissatisfied.

"Isn't this machine too noisy?"

"We could just produce light with candles."

"Connecting that long wire... Was it called a power line? It seems like a waste to have to connect it too."

Simo had anticipated these reactions.

'Right, one can think that way. But all it takes is to change the mind of just one person.'

The one Simo was looking at was the head of the household, Philina Itimo.

Philina seemed to ponder for a moment and then stood up. The other members of the company thought her answer was obvious, but what Philina said was completely different from what most of the company anticipated.

"Provide this inventor with as many people, land, and money as they want."

"Pardon?"

Philina approached Simo and said, "And Simo, is it?"

"Oh, yes."

"Follow me. A blank check won't be enough to buy that device. Let's discuss shares."

***

[The world has begun being supplied with ‘electricity’.]

[Current generator producing country: Pollivia]

[Current generator patent holder: Simo]