Strange Dragon – 97

Chapter 97 – Making a Sink

---

There were four houses, each occupied by five people.
And then there was Hippolius’s house and the infirmary.
But these six buildings did not have water.

As for the dining hall and kitchen, as well as the bathing house and toilets, they were all connected to water pipes.

And so I sat down in the center of the base.
There, I recalled the positions of the underground pipes that had been installed.

When laying the pipes, I did not have enough metal.
And so in order to save material, the pipes were as short as possible.

“Hmm.”
“Pii! Pii!”

Kuro noticed me and squeaked for attention.
And so I patted Kuro on the head and thought.

“Au!”
‘Play?’

Roro and Ruru came as well and tried to climb onto my lap.
And so I petted them as well.

“Kuro, Roro, Ruru. I cannot play with you right now.”
“Kyu.”
“Aaau!”
“Fun-fuun.”

Fio then picked up two of the cubs, and Shiro picked up the other one and moved them away.
And then a moment later, Hippolius climbed up onto my knee.

“Kyuo.”
“Do you want to play too?”

I thought as I petted Hippolius.

“I suppose I should connect each household’s water facilities to the existing water and sewer system.”

I had made the pipes for the dining hall, bathing house and toilets quite thick.
And so it should be fine if I made them branch out.

“…It really is easier when you have metal.”
‘Easy?’
“That’s right. Still, I have to prepare for it.”

Processing metal was easy.
When using wood and stone materials, it was necessary to use the appraisal skill carefully.
This was because there was no wood or stone that was exactly the same.
For instance, with wood, the place it grew and the age would affect its characteristics.
And stone was made of different substances if you looked close enough.

“But with metal, if the refining is done well, then they will be very uniform.”
‘I see!’

I had already had Hippolius crush the ore, and I had used the crafting skill to turn them into metal ingots.
And so I could go into crafting without using the appraisal skill as thoroughly.

“It’s thanks to you Hippolius. You helped with gathering it.”
“Kyuo!”

Once the positions of the pipes were decided, the next thing to do was design the sinks that would be installed in each house.
I should probably make them 0.8 meters tall.

There just needed to be one in each building that everyone could share.
It would also be very convenient if they could use hot and cold water.
Having hot water would be especially helpful during the winter.

“As for the infirmary… That will be difficult.”
“Difficult?”

Fio asked.
The cubs were currently playing nearby with Shiro.

“Yes. It’s difficult.”
“Why?”
“Because the infirmary is a building that is used when people are sick. It is not normally used every day.”
“I see…”
“Besides, what is needed depends on the sickness or injury.”
“Hmm.”

Fio considered this with a serious expression.
If an Adventurer who is badly injured is brought in, it might be necessary to have a place to wash the wounds.

“I suppose the sink should be lower and wider.”

It would be easier to wash the wounds on an injured leg that way.

“I could do it later… But you never know when someone might get sick or injured. And it will be too late to make it when it happens.”
“Yes!”
“Now, there is also the sink for Hippolius’s house…”
“Hippo’s house!”
“Well, that can be the last one.”

But it should be low enough for Fio to use.

And so we headed to the houses of the Adventurers.
Just in case, I let them know what I was doing, and then started to make the sink.

“As for the shape, it can be a sink with four supporting legs.”

I checked the spot where it would be installed, and decided on a general shape.
0.8 meters high and 0.5 meters wide. And the sink could be about 0.2 meters deep.
As it was a simple structure, creating it with the skill would be easy.

The challenging part was the composition of metals.
While using iron as it is would be simpler, iron was weak to water.
It would get rusty very quickly.

And so Fio and I left the house once.

“Uh…I think…”
“Hmm?”
I started to take the ingots out of my magic bag.
I would use iron as the main component, and chromium and nickel would be added for rust prevention.

“You’re going to mix?”
“That’s right. If you mix these metals, they won’t rust easily.”
“Amazing!”
“Normally, you are supposed to raise the temperature really high, and there are other steps to the method.”

But with the crafting skill, you could do it all at once.

The ratio had been devised over many years by alchemists and craftsmen in a certain industrial city.
It was a closely guarded technique, but I had come to understand it by appraising processed products made from their alloy.

As it was very useful, I put the knowledge to good use.
Of course, I did not want to disturb their business and hurt alchemists and craftsmen, so I did not tell anyone else.

“Well, just watch.”

And so I lined up the iron, chrome and nickel ingots and transformed them into an alloy all at once.

Next Chapter