kscans

Chapter 88 - Chapter 6: Part One, The Greatest Invention in History

"Oh, by the way, that thing you asked for is ready."

Just as Alfina and I were about to leave, Noel opened the front of her alchemist’s robe, revealing the contours of her body that had been hidden.

Not that there was any issue, she was wearing her academy uniform underneath. Even so, my eyes were momentarily drawn to her.

"Here you go. This was a lot of trouble, you know."

Oblivious to the slightly resentful gazes from the other two women, Noel pushed a box toward me. I opened the rectangular box, and the glint of precious metal caught my eye. It was the gleam of magimetal, no bigger than the head of a nail, encased in a wooden shaft.

"As expected of Dr. Noel. Or rather, Doctor Noel."

"Hakase? Doctor? Come on, you can't normally ask someone to do personal work like this. And you even had me make spares. Even if it only needs a tiny speck of magimetal, the fine craftsmanship makes it incredibly difficult."

"Yeah, I'm grateful. I really am."

What is humanity's greatest invention? If limited to tangible objects, I would answer with the pen. The reason is simple. With a pen and paper, you can invent everything else.

Though it was made with alchemy, I only asked Noel to create the refill component. The tip, consisting of a one-millimeter ball and the part that holds it, and the tube for the ink.

I prepared the other parts myself. The body and the nib housing are a single wooden piece, which makes it look more like a pencil, if anything. The leather-wrapped grip is a personal touch. Of course, it’s a capped pen.

In short, any parts that couldn't be processed with this world's technology were made from magimetal. That's why I gave up on mass production. The tip is far too intricate to be made with a die.

As a result, each one costs a gold coin. A super premium ballpoint pen worth 100,000 yen. When I submitted the expense request to Mia, I felt like a husband trying to convince his wife to let him buy a new set of golf clubs.

In my past life, by the way, I was fond of a ballpoint pen with a name that sounded like a doctor's. Its forward center of gravity was comfortable, and the ink, which boasted a moderately low viscosity, provided an outstanding writing experience.

Incidentally, I’ve heard that ballpoint pens are one of Japan’s hidden specialties and are popular worldwide.

I preferred a 0.5 millimeter point, but I had to compromise. Over here, even high quality paper is probably too coarse for the ball to rotate smoothly. And if I started complaining about ink viscosity or color, the list would be endless.

"I'll try it out right away."

I took a piece of memo paper from my breast pocket and lightly pressed the tip against it. A black line appeared with a smooth stroke. It was simply incredible.

The writing experience is a world of difference compared to a quill. After all, those things catch on the paper all the time. Above all, being able to write continuously without worrying about running out of ink is a huge advantage.

Replacing the ink is a bit of a chore, but this amount should last about a month. That was roughly the lifespan of a single ballpoint pen for me in my previous life.

"Is this a pen? It can write such fine letters."

Alfina leaned in for a closer look, her sparkling, curious gaze fixed on my messy handwriting.

"This one can write continuously without being dipped in ink. The ink is stored inside the barrel."

"Hmph. I had high hopes since you're the one who came up with bearings, but a pen is just a pen, I see."

"...And it cost one gold coin."

Fulsy sounded disappointed. Mia’s gaze was equally harsh. They probably couldn’t accept that I had spent a great deal of money, even using alchemy, to create a pen that was only marginally better than a quill.

Someone with a methodical mind like Mia's probably can't grasp just how crucial that difference is. Fulsy is a genius, too. They must have their own large, freely erasable notebooks inside their heads. Plus, he's likely the type who dislikes putting constraints on his thoughts.

"People who just write down things they've already thought of won't understand how I feel. I think by writing."

To me, this is more important than the bearings. No, in a sense, it is a bearing. It just rotates my brain instead of a wheel.

"I am interested. I am always impressed by your ideas, Ricardo-kun."

In contrast to the other two, Alfina looked at me with expectant eyes. She’s intelligent, to be sure, but not a genius or a prodigy. If it was her...

"Well then, since we have a little time..."

I stopped mid-sentence. A black blotch was spreading from the tip of the pen on the paper. I hastily lifted it.

"Ricardo-kun? Ah, was that perhaps something I shouldn't have asked?"

Alfina looked apologetic. I realized the reason for my hesitation. Tree rings, French toast, bearings, and anko. All modern knowledge and concepts that were the result of other people's efforts in my original world.

Standing on the shoulders of giants from Earth, I have freely shared this knowledge whenever needed. I’ve sold it cheap because it was something I just happened to know.

But this method is different. It’s a skill I acquired for myself after filling over a thousand notebooks in my past life. That must be why I felt possessive of it. Such a selfish thought. It’s not as if I invented the method myself, strictly speaking.

"No, it's not the sort of thing I'd keep secret."

I shook my head and took out a fresh sheet of paper. The Ricardo-style thinking method... it wasn't anything so grand. It's the most basic of basics, what's known as Sky-Rain-Umbrella.

"There is a set process for thinking through a problem."

In the consultant jargon of Earth, it would be called logical thinking. What I was about to explain was its simplest and most versatile framework. I decided to demonstrate it in practice.

"We have to go out soon, don't we."

As I spoke, I pulled back the heavy curtains in the director's office and opened the window to look up at the sky. At my sudden action, Alfina tilted her head but nodded. We were, in fact, scheduled to leave the academy for a tasting event shortly.

"First, I look at the 'Sky'. From that, I get the 'information' that it's cloudy."

"Next, based on the information that it’s cloudy, I form a 'hypothesis' that it might 'Rain'."

"Finally, I decide on the 'action' of bringing an 'Umbrella'. This is the process of thought."

You could also call it the flow of information input, processing, and output. It's the foundation of information processing.

My explanation was met with bewildered looks from everyone. In Alfina’s case, the very concept of preparing an umbrella for herself was probably foreign. Still, I once asked her to go to the garden shed on a rainy day when she came to help. I remember it vividly because I went pale when I later realized I had sent her out into the rain.

"That's just common sense. Anyone would do that."

"Input values, a formula, and an answer. The basics of mathematics."

Fulsy and Mia's comments were just as I expected. But one shouldn't be fooled. It’s easy for Fulsy, a genius, and Mia, with her outstanding mathematical talent, to say that. And for them, it really is that simple.

Of course, even I can glance at the weather and decide to grab an umbrella in an instant. But the true effectiveness of this framework reveals itself in more complex situations.

"Alright, let's apply this process to a more complicated problem. We'll use the current anko project as our subject."

This would also serve to explain the anko project to Alfina. I dipped my pen and wrote a sentence at the top of the paper.

(How to popularize anko in the kingdom)

I circled the sentence I had just written. This defined the problem. It was the starting point for our thinking.

"Okay, first is 'Sky'. Information gathering."

With that, I began to jot down a series of words.

Not sweet enough, poor mouthfeel, unfamiliar, regular jam is better, honey is better, looks unappetizing, bread is hard, bread is sour...

I listed the comments from the Central Garden members who had tried Natalie's anko bread at the fair, along with my own thoughts. More and more words filled the page. Unlike my usual loner technique of solo brainstorming, this was the result of a real brainstorming session with the Central Garden members, so the list was long.

Thanks to that, it made for a more effective example.

It’s said that the number of meaningful units a person can hold in their mind at once is five, plus or minus two. It's very difficult to remember many things at once. It's like trying to juggle three beanbags with only two hands.

But thanks to pen and paper, I don't panic even when faced with a flood of information. In fact, writing things down frees up my mental workspace. Think of it like a computer. If you load too much data into memory, you run out of space for the actual computations. Though that analogy is useless in this world.

"Next is 'Rain'. In this case, it means deriving a solution from the feedback on the anko. In other words, it’s about forming a hypothesis along the lines of, ‘This might solve the problem’."

I said this while looking at Alfina. Fulsy hadn't tasted the anko, and I had already reported the details to Mia.

"What would you do, Alfina-sama?"

At my prompting, Alfina fell into deep thought.

"Umm, if it's not sweet enough, we could add more sugar. If the texture is poor... how about mashing it more thoroughly? But if people say jam is better... oh dear, this is difficult."

Just as I expected, Alfina started down the wrong path. Having gathered so much information, she was trying to use all of it at once.

This is the biggest pitfall when moving on from the 'Sky', or brainstorming, phase. That's why, as a personal reminder, I've given the Sky-Rain-Umbrella method another name. Which is...

"Why are you looking at me?"

Noticing my gaze, Noel tilted her head.

Hahaha, as if I could ever say it out loud.