kscans

Chapter 127 - A Beginning for the Otherworld Thermostatic Chamber 2. The Culture/Cultivation Laboratory (Part 1)

Although Yuri was indulging in the demonic and forbidden piece of furniture known as the kotatsu, he hadn't forgotten that his original motive was to test the operation of the constant-temperature magic formula. Now that he had completed a long-term durability test, which was in reality just him snuggling and lazing about in the kotatsu all day, he was finally about to begin the production of the real thermostatic chamber.

"That said, turning the fermentation storeroom into a thermostatic chamber is still a ways off."

After all, the fermentation storeroom was, as its name implied, a storeroom, and it was large. Eventually, it would be lined with miso and soy sauce barrels, so it was true that a certain size was necessary, but,

"I can’t build such a large-scale system right away. I need to start with a smaller thermostatic chamber first."

A small-scale thermostatic chamber. For what on earth would such a thing be necessary?

The answer lay in the plants Yuri had been observing for some time. They were goods he had obtained from the market in Laurenzen.

"...Yes, it looks like I can culture the sugar beets and other turnips without any problems."

"Tissue culture." That was the name of the technology Yuri was attempting, or rather, trying to replicate in this world, and it was also the reason he needed a thermostatic chamber.

For some time, Yuri had been bringing back branches of potentially useful trees and trying to propagate them from cuttings, for which his Wood Magic had been a great help. However, at the Laurenzen market, many crops were only available as edible parts, such as leaves and fruits, and even then, quite some time after they had been harvested. As he was pondering whether he could cultivate such things, he remembered... the "tissue culture" that was practiced on Earth in his past life. Fortunately, Yuri’s `Storage` had a "chilled setting" option added to it, which allowed him to store biological tissues and the like without killing them. If he bought something in a fresh state, couldn’t he culture and replicate the original plant from its tissue? He seemed to remember that actual tissue culture required the addition of various plant hormones besides nutrients, but couldn’t their functions be substituted with Wood Magic...

Having come to entertain such a plan, Yuri needed a sterile or sterilized clean room and a thermostatic chamber to maintain the room at a suitable temperature for his experiments. He figured he could manage sterilization with Light Magic as usual, right?, and the bottleneck seemed to be the thermostatic chamber. However, by applying the temperature control magic formula embedded in the magic tool he bought in Laurenzen, its realization was now within sight.

"First I'll start with normal tissue culture... but if I use Wood Magic well, I wonder if I could revive and culture dried tissue."

If that became possible, he could revive and cultivate the plants that were the raw materials for medicinal herbs and insect repellents... but he had a feeling it would be difficult. However...

"I wonder if I can get something like pepper to sprout from seeds?"

If the cultivation of spices, not just pepper, became possible, his diet would become richer in an instant. Selling them as crops seemed a bit problematic... or rather, it felt risky, but surely it would be permissible to modestly consume them for his own use.

"Well, even if I could get them to sprout, the temperature in this land would probably make it difficult to grow them in a field."

Many spices originated from tropical or subtropical regions, and cultivating them in this country, which was similar to Europe in his past life, was all but impossible... without heating facilities.

"Now that I’ve succeeded in making glass panes, the construction of a greenhouse is on the horizon... but I don't know about building something too conspicuous, so starting with an inconspicuous thermostatic chamber is appropriate."

This was in no way "appropriate." Where did such ideas come from?

"Well, in any case, nothing can start without a thermostatic chamber, so I have no choice but to try building one."

For this vague reason, Yuri embarked on the construction of a small-scale heated experimental laboratory. ...Well, although it was small-scale, that was in comparison to the fermentation storeroom, and this laboratory was still about the size of a school classroom.