A discussion regarding the installation of a water supply system in the Principality area began on the bridge of the Adriana.
"The key issues will likely be the water source, water treatment plants, and water pipes, right?"
Jin began by stating the basic premises.
"And maybe we will need pumps for water conveyance, too."
Elsa supplemented his thought.
"In addition to that, or rather, how to carry out the construction work will be an issue as well, I suppose."
Reinhard also brought up practical challenges.
"We will need a realistic plan."
Saying this, Jin proposed categorizing the issues.
"Let's divide them into technical problems and everything else."
"That would make things much clearer."
"Mm, agreed."
With that, Jin said,
"The technical challenges would probably be the water pipes, pumps, and water purification facilities."
Then Hanna followed up,
"Would the water treatment plants and construction be more on the personnel side?"
"Kufu, going by that, I personally think the water pipes will be the real issue."
Saki shared her opinion. Jin agreed with her.
"That's just it... In my world, it seems they used steel pipes and lead pipes in the past. After that, they were replaced by plastic called PVC pipes."
"Hmm, there's also the question of thickness... what to do about the inner diameter."
Reinhard mentioned that the difficulty of the construction would vary depending on that.
"True..."
Jin pondered. If it were on Hourai Island, they would use Ground Spider resin without a second thought.
It had virtually no degradation over time, possessed high strength, and its flexibility made it resistant to rupturing.
"However, for the general public..."
Jin figured that even magi-resin pipes would be cost-prohibitive.
"...Metals are... out of the question cost-wise, too."
Bronze or 64 light silver were utterly impossible no matter how one looked at it.
"How about hollowing out wood?"
"Hmm, would that be the safest bet? But the diameter is the problem."
Jin almost agreed with Reinhard's suggestion, but realized a flaw.
"Considering future needs, we'd want the diameter of the water pipes to be around one meter."
"You're asking for the impossible, Jin..."
Marcia was exasperated.
"In that case, wouldn't it be fine if we set things up so additional work can be done later?"
Marcia suggested that whether they replaced them with thicker ones later or laid one or two additional pipes in parallel, it would be best to plan ahead so future construction would be easy.
"That's true... There will also be a need for maintenance."
If a water pipe were damaged in some kind of accident, it would need to be repaired promptly, so it seemed necessary to proceed with construction while keeping that in mind.
"Aah, large-scale construction is such a pain..."
"Jin-nii, your true feelings are showing."
As Jin inadvertently let out a complaint, Elsa chimed in with a retort.
"It was the same with the circuits and airfields, but without realizing it, I've drifted really far from common sense... Not that it's anything new."
"Truly, not new at all."
Elsa retorted once again.
"Ugh..."
Jin hung his head.
"But that is precisely who you are, Jin-nii."
"Huh?"
"That is why you can accomplish things no one else can. That is a truly wonderful thing."
Elsa praised Jin as he was.
"There are many people who can do ordinary things. But there are hardly any people who are out of the ordinary. And among them, Jin-nii, you are exceptionally far from ordinary."
"O-Oh."
Encouraged by Elsa's somewhat awkward support, Jin regained his composure.
"Taking it step by step with what we can do, right?"
"Mm."
"Well then, moving on."
Reinhard got the conversation back on track.
"Long ago, when you, Mattheus, and I headed to the Shouro Empire through the Trockenbahn, do you remember there was a plant that resembled bamboo?"
"Ah, yes, there was."
Its leaves did not look like bamboo, being shaped like a palm, and while it looked like it had segments, they were not actual segments, just bulges in the bark.
Jin recalled that they had considered whether it could be used for pipes, but it swelled when absorbing water, shrank when it dried, and its dimensions were unstable...
"It didn't have a particular name, so after discussing it with the 'previous' Jin, we named it 'takemodoki.'"
"...Right."
The naming sense was certainly his own, Jin thought as he listened to Reinhard's explanation.
"I think the best approach would be to treat that so its dimensions Stabilize and use it."
"Indeed."
Apparently, takemodoki had no notable uses. Furthermore, it grew quickly.
"If we can turn that into an industry, I think the nearby towns will prosper more as well."
"I see, as expected of you, Reinhard."
Jin fondly recalled place names like Hatata, Amberg, Lindau...
"Actually, the 'previous' Jin investigated dimensional stabilization to see if it could be commercialized."
"I see, he did a good thing."
"He impregnated it with drying oil so it wouldn't absorb water."
"So that's how it worked."
A "drying oil" was an oil that had the property of hardening when exposed to air.
It hardened through oxidation rather than actually drying, but for convenience, it was called a "drying" oil.
Examples included linseed oil, safflower oil, walnut oil, and sunflower oil.
In contrast, oils that did not harden were called "non-drying oils," which included rapeseed oil, camellia oil, olive oil, and the like.
"He had sunflowers cultivated in that region and soaked the wood with that oil."
"Makes sense."
"Those around two centimeters in diameter are used for household piping, around five centimeters for rain gutters, and around ten centimeters for household drainage pipes."
"Oho."
"There are standardized lengths of one meter, one point five meters, and two meters."
"I see, I see."
"For connections, there are dedicated bronze joints."
"That's quite well thought out."
"Though Jin was the one who decided most of it."
"I-Is that so?"
Jin was thoroughly convinced by Reinhard's explanation.
"It has become a fine local industry there....So, I was thinking, what if we applied Toughening and Stabilize to it?"
"That might just work!"
Jin was fully in favor, thinking that Reinhard's proposal sounded promising.