kscans

Chapter 198 - A Mortar and Pestle's Tale 1. Not Quite a Mortar

Yuri was in high spirits after having the old warrior Amdal teach him the knack of using a curved sword, but what awaited him was...

"What? The core production isn't going well?"

"Yes. We just can't seem to improve the quality..."

It was a consultation from Adon. Compared to the pencil of Yuri's own make that he had been given as a sample, the quality of their cores was clearly inferior, and he said they felt scratchy when writing. For the debut at the market, they could make do with the pencils Yuri had made, but if Adon's side could not ensure a similar level of quality, it would be a problem.

"I see..."

Listening to Adon's explanation, Yuri guessed that the grinding of the raw materials, the charcoal and clay, was probably not fine enough. Or perhaps, even before that, the quality of the charcoal itself might be poor. Maybe it was not completely carbonized.

"No, while I wouldn't call it the highest grade, we are using charcoal of a reasonably high quality. There shouldn't be any issue with its quality."

Then the grinding must not be fine enough, Yuri thought, and examined the actual product.

"...Just as I thought. There are uncrushed fine particles in the core, and those are catching and making it feel scratchy."

"The craftsmen told me they ground it as much as they possibly could... How do you make it, Yuri-kun?"

"Me? When I'm in a hurry, I sometimes crush it with Earth Magic, but I often do it by hand. In fact, the ones I gave you were made by hand."

"Hmm..."

The two of them tilted their heads in unison, but they decided to re-examine Yuri's process for the time being.

"...That said, it's not like I do anything strange. I just put the materials in a mortar like this and..."

"...Wait a moment, Yuri-kun. ...What is that?"

"What do you mean...? It's a mortar and pestle... right?"

It seemed there was a fundamental misunderstanding.

"...Huh? You don't use them? A mortar and pestle?"

"Normally, we use a grinding bowl and a grinding stick. The craftsmen should be using the same thing."

A little explanation is probably needed here.

On the Earth where Yuri had spent his past life, the mortar and pestle were once widely used as tools for crushing and pulverizing solid samples. Amidst the use of mortars without any grooves on the inside, Bizen ware in Japan began to create "grinding bowls" with grooves (kushime) carved on the inner surface, which allowed for the smooth grinding of not only grains but also high-fat ingredients like walnuts, meat, and miso.

Now, turning to this world. Primitive mortars were used for grinding grain, just as on Earth, but eventually, the grinding of grain was taken over by large mills. Even after that, small mortars were still used for cooking and preparing medicine, but in this world, the "grinding bowl" with grooves appeared much earlier than on Earth, so the mortar gave way to the grinding bowl. Another factor was that the main purpose of grinding in pharmacology was to make it easier to extract essences from materials, not to pulverize them.

What spurred this on was the existence of magic and alchemy. Since pulverizing samples could be done in a short time using alchemy, the laborious process of pulverizing with a mortar never became popular. Incidentally, if the soil in the Magic Stone Tool production process were pulverized using alchemy, its affinity for magic would be practically nil, so it would be impossible to create anything that could be called a Magic Stone Tool. There was no choice but to doggedly grind it with magic.

While on the topic, the reason fine ceramics did not develop was due to the same cause, and a ceramic blade like the Magic Stone Tool Yuri made was something that had never even been imagined.

So, what about the other champion of grinding tools, the mill? Well, that had its own complicated circumstances and entanglements. The mills, recognized as tools for grinding wheat flour, were covered in a web of vested interests from lords and guilds, and even a great merchant like Adon was hesitant to use them without permission. This was similar to the situation in medieval Europe that Yuri was familiar with. It was not impossible to use one if you submitted an application and got permission, but for Adon, who wanted to keep the pencil production top secret, that was not desirable. Yuri did not know about this situation, but for his part, the idea of using a mill to powder charcoal had never occurred to him. So he had used a mortar as a matter of course and had conveyed that method to Adon.

In a word, when Yuri had explained with gestures, "I grind it like this...," the tool he had pictured in his mind was different from the one Adon had pictured. The price of being caught up in preconceived notions and failing to confirm had now come due.

Partly to save on labor costs, Adon had planned to have the raw materials pulverized by hand. Pulverization by alchemy was out of the question. So, without any doubt, he had instructed them to use a grinding bowl, but...

"...I think what probably happened is that the hard fine particles got stuck in the grooves and couldn't be completely ground down."

"So that's what it was..."

In any case, if that was the situation, the solution was simple. They just needed to prepare a mortar and pestle like the one Yuri used. However...

"What? They don't sell them?"

"No. ...Or rather, this is the first time I've ever seen one. They probably don't sell them just anywhere, and looking for one carelessly might arouse suspicion. ...Where did you get yours, Yuri-kun?"

"I made it with Earth Magic."

"I see..."

It was a question that did not even need to be asked. What other means could Yuri, who had been holed up in the Salt-Sour Mountain, possibly have had?

"...My apologies, Yuri-kun..."

"Yes. I'll whip one up right away."

Yuri also recognized that he was pushing all the trouble related to the pencils onto Adon. He could not, under any circumstances, allow that plan to fail here.

"...I'm sorry."