Construction Mage - Chapter 52: Demonstration

AN: I may or may not have fallen asleep while editing, but fret not! Today will be a double chapter release. The second one is coming in a few hours!

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“A noble’s retinue had evolved quite a lot over the years. Today’s standard is to have at least four knights, so one could have two protectors at all times. At least two attendants to deal with the lord’s own needs and one to facilitate meetings with others. Then, came the scholars. There wasn’t an agreed-upon number of scholars one should have, but most lords had several of them. After all, no lord could have too many helping hands when it came to administrative work, and their unspoken role as information gatherers was too useful to ignore. Only an incompetent lord would neglect their scholars.”

-Excerpt from A Noble’s Retinue, a mandatory read for first-year students of the Royal Academy.

***

Clay let out a sigh of relief the moment the carriage turned into one of the fancy estates that he had been constantly seeing. He would finally get some respite from the barrage of questions about how the toilet worked and various methods to handle the waste.

Once they were away from the guards, the man who had introduced himself as Hal quickly flipped from distant and cold to overtly friendly. It was like talking to a child with insatiable curiosity, and Clay realized that too late. The moment he mentioned that there were various ways to manage the waste, such as building a sewer system, it was over for him. Hal would not stop picking his brain about the matter despite the vague answers he gave in an attempt to change the topic.

“It seems we’ve arrived!” Clay exclaimed as their vehicle crossed into a well-maintained garden. “Why don’t we use the remaining time we have left to talk about you, instead? I don’t think I’ve been introduced to your position among the prince’s retinue yet.”

“Hmm, very well. It is only fair. I am Prince Caelan’s head scholar,” Hal declared, as if that needed no further explanation.

“Head scholar? So you keep track of the prince’s literary pursuits?”

“Yes, that is among my responsibilities,” he replied, dragging out the last part as he put on a thoughtful expression. “There are a few more things I am in charge of, such as managing administrative tasks relating to the prince’s fiefs and businesses.”

Despite sensing there was more to what was said, Clay simply nodded along. Just as Hal was getting into where he was from, the carriage came to a halt before a three-story mansion. The building was wider than five typical houses put together. A regular room on this estate was probably larger than the entirety of Clay’s house.

“Well, we can continue later.” Hal shrugged. “For now, let us set this interesting toilet of yours. I want to see it in action!” 

The scholar excitedly welcomed the guests into the manor, but their stay indoors was short-lived. He barked orders to the few servants who came to welcome them, not stopping his steps for a single second.

They cut through to the back, exiting to a courtyard behind the manor. Neatly trimmed hedge walls greeted them, surrounding a white gazebo. It was the picture-perfect setting for what Clay imagined being where typical noble afternoon parties took place.

“The prince will be here shortly. Feel free to set up the toilet here. I’m sure he will want to see a demonstration before accepting your work.”

“Then, in order to give a thorough demonstration, am I allowed to dig in the courtyard?”

“Within reason. A small ditch should be enough for a demonstration?”

“Understood. Thank you.”

Once the two guests had no more questions, Hal simply retreated into the background, watching them work silently.

Setting up the toilet wasn’t difficult, but setting up the drainage was. Even a small ditch required quite a bit of labor, but thankfully, Clay had his summon to rely on. The two men and one elemental worked quickly under the blazing sunlight and managed to set everything up before noon.

The servants thoughtfully bought some fine linen cloth for them to wipe their sweat and some refreshments the moment they were done. As if everything had been timed carefully, the prince arrived not long after that.

There weren’t any heralds announcing his arrival. It was sudden or casual, subjective to the observer, but he did arrive with an entourage even larger than the one he had when he visited Clay’s home. The same three attendants followed closely along with the knights, but there was also another well-dressed young man with what appeared to be his own attendants and protectors.

Remembering the etiquette drilled into him the previous night, Clay got down on one knee and placed his right hand on his left shoulder. Malik quickly caught on and mimicked his pose. The two stared at the ground even when the nobles approached. Once Clay saw their shadow on the edge of his vision, he breathed in and recited the line he had been taught.

“May Lestionora’s blessing be upon you, milord. I, Clayton Stratton, am here with the completed toilet. I hope the threads born from our meeting can be woven into a tapestry of harmony and purpose.”

“As do I,” a regal voice replied, holding no semblance to the casualness the prince had in their previous meeting. “I am happy to see you have finished my request so soon, but before we start, allow me to introduce you to Lord Varek Talon. He happened to have overheard your arrival and would like to lay eyes on this toilet of yours.”

The man beside him stepped forward with a cheerful smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He wore a dark green tunic with a dark brown mantle that was a shade darker than his hair. While he appeared a few years older than the prince, likely in his mid-twenties, everything about him screamed unpleasant to Clay. He had the aura of what a stereotypical greedy noble would have.

“Yes, I have been looking forward to seeing what this so-called toilet is, especially with Prince Caelan giving it so much praise. Nevertheless, if my presence here is a bother, feel free to inform me.”

While he supposedly spoke to Clay, every single word uttered appeared to be directly at Caelan instead. It was apparent the prince thought the same, as he answered.

“Of course not, my friend. Please take a seat so Mr. Stratton here can start his demonstration.”

Almost immediately, the attendants behind each noble dove into action. They directed the nearby servants to work while helping their lords to their seats. Once the servants rushed back out from the estate, they were also the ones to do the final inspections on the pastries and drinks before placing them on the table within the gazebo themselves.

Hal had fallen in line behind the prince at some point, quietly conversing with his lord. He glanced over at Clay only once the attendants were done, urging him to begin.

Clearing his throat, Clay began his demonstration.

“Allow me to begin, milords. The toilet I have created for today is made of superior materials and craftsmanship compared to anything before it,” he introduced as he pulled off the canvas hiding it. “It is made with a variety of materials like glazed ceramics and Stillwood, and coated in a layer of ooze membrane.”

The unveiled toilet was completely white, unlike its dull, ash-brown predecessor. The white paint uplifted the look of the earthen bricks while the membrane covered its weaknesses. It also curved in the right places, like a proper modern toilet. It even had a water tank. 

Of course, Clay didn’t replicate the same mechanisms for drawing water into it as he had access to something arguably better—water crystals. The only tricky part was finding something to replace plastic for the flapper. Metal alternatives were considered, but it was solved with a wooden stopper coated in ooze membrane, and lots of fine-tuning that was done by the elemental.

Overall, it was a simple water tank with nothing but a place to hold the magic crystal and a handle that connected to the wooden stopper.

“Unlike the prototype version my prince had previously seen, there is no need to fetch a bucket of water to flush this toilet. I added a water crystal into the tank in the back here, that can be released by pulling the lever here.” Clay continued. “This will cause everything inside the toilet to be swept away. In this case, we have it set up in a small ditch we dug off to the side here. The remaining water in the toilet bowl will be able to block any smell from rising back up.”

At the end of his explanation, he flung a small pile of dirt into the toilet and flushed the toilet. It caused the prince and Lord Varek to walk over from their seats so they could try it out themselves.

“I see. You incorporated the water crystal from your water heater into the toilet,” Prince Caelan muttered. “That means there’s no need for me to get someone to recreate your water heater. Wonderful!”

“Yes, it is wonderful indeed,” said Varek. “I am quite curious about the mechanism within that allows for some water to remain despite there being a hole for the water to flow out to. May I lay eyes on what makes this possible?”

“Um, its unique shape is what enables this, but unfortunately, it is sealed tight. There’s no way to see it without breaking it,” Clay replied.

“Hmm, very well.”

Everyone then turned to the prince, waiting for him to finish his inspection. Caelan was in no hurry as he slowly ran his finger over the Stillwood toilet seat and examined the water tank. He then flushed it one more time and walked to the ditch they had dug to watch the water flow out.

After that, he still didn’t say anything as he gestured for his head scholar to come speak privately with him. It lasted no more than fifteen minutes, but to the people waiting, especially Clay, it felt like over an hour.

When the prince finally turned toward the two-meter Delver, it was with eyes that reminded Clay of customers who were troubled with the decision of whether to make the big purchase or not. It made his heart skip a beat, and his mind raced to figure out what he could have possibly done wrong.

Was he dissatisfied with the toilet?

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