Chapter 670: Compass
Jin inquired about Christoph’s strategy for boarding and disembarking.
“Well, my initial thought was to use a ladder.”
Christoph responded.
Jin anticipated this. However, he considered that employing a ladder would complicate the process of loading and unloading cargo.
“I believe it would be more practical to have a gangway prepared.”
Jin proposed.
“A gangway?”
“Yeah, a gangway is…”
And Jin explained what a gangway was.
“I see. For managing cargo at the port, we should have a robust one for placing on the ship. Additionally, we can prepare a foldable one for the crew’s convenience.”
Christoph quickly approved the suggestion.
Regarding loading onto the ship, it would be addressed during the final outfitting inspection.
The lingering concern was navigation.
Jin decided to discuss this with Christoph as well.
“Hmm, so we need to find a way of determining our current position…”
Christoph said.
In the vast sea with no landmarks, figuring out where they were posed a challenge. Christoph could imagine the difficulty.
“…It’s complicated.”
He admitted.
For now, Christoph mentioned that their plan didn’t involve venturing far offshore where land wasn’t visible. In essence, they intended to keep the coastline within sight at all times and navigate along it.
“That sounds good, but what if we get carried away by currents, encounter fog, or it becomes night, and we can’t see the land anymore?”
Jin inquired.
“Hmm…”
Christoph was deep in thought, finding himself stuck at Jin’s question.
“Alright, let’s have a meeting this afternoon first.”
Christoph decided.
With the ship’s work anticipated to be mostly completed in the morning, there should be time available in the afternoon, he explained.
Jin agreed to gather his thoughts by then and left the scene.
“Now, the prototype of the compass…”
Jin opted for the simplest experiment and instructed Laojun to make the necessary preparations.
＊ ＊ ＊
As planned, the ship’s work progressed about 90%, and after finishing lunch, everyone was called to the meeting room for the afternoon session.
There, Christoph explained the proposals Jin had made in the morning.
“I see, a gangway…”
“It’s necessary to install it at the port. But it would be convenient to have one on the ship as well.”
Everyone quickly recognized the need for it, and it was unanimously agreed to incorporate it.
The concern now shifted to navigation.
“…First, consider what to do if everything around is the sea, and you don’t know where to go.”
Jin proposed, encouraging them to use their imagination.
“Hmm…”
“During the day, we can see the sun…”
Before the Magi Engineer Generos could finish his sentence, Clea interrupted.
“Nonsense. What if it’s cloudy or foggy?”
“Ugh…”
“Looking at the stars at night, could that be a solution?”
Clea made a sharp suggestion.
“I’ve heard that in the northern sky, there’s a star that doesn’t change its position all night, called the North Star.”
She added.
Even in this world, there were those interested in stars, evidently discovering the North Star.
“If we can identify that, it could serve as a reference for direction. If we’re moving along the south coast, heading north would lead us to land.”
Christoph explained, and everyone nodded in agreement.
“But even at night, if it’s cloudy, we won’t be able to see the stars. What do we do then?”
Clea questioned.
“Indeed. …Isn’t there some magical device that can always indicate direction, anywhere, anytime?”
Generos was deep in thought.
Upon hearing this, Jin responded promptly.
“There is.”
“Huh?”
Everyone, except Elsa and Reinhardt, stared at Jin simultaneously.
“It’s called a compass.”
“A compass? What’s that?”
“A magnet? The thing that sticks to iron?”
Clea, Rodrigo, and Kubalt seemed unfamiliar with the concept of a compass. On the other hand, Christoph and Generos appeared to be aware of its existence.
“It’s a stone that naturally sticks only to iron.”
Christoph explained, he was referring to magnetite, a type of iron ore that occurs naturally as a magnetic stone.
“That’s right. Here, I have a powerful magnet.”
Jin pulled out a rod-shaped magnet he made on Hourai Island from his pocket. It was crafted from a material similar to MK magnet steel, with iron, nickel, aluminum, and copper additives.
Jin only knew about this type of magnet steel and didn’t know of Alnico magnets or rare earth magnets, but this one was powerful enough.
“With this, if you rub the steel needle and stick it into a leaf, then let it float on the water…”
It was an experiment often done in elementary school with magnets. Usually, a sewing needle is inserted into a piece of paper and allowed to float on water, but since there was no paper, Jin used a dry leaf.
“Hmm… oh!”
The floating needle came to a halt, aligning itself north and south. Even when the direction was altered, it consistently pointed north and south.
“There are such properties in a magnet… Jin, how did you know about this?”
Christoph asked with a surprised expression.
It seemed that Christoph hadn’t received much scientific education from Führer. Likely due to being more occupied with practical matters.
“This is ‘science.’ I learned it from my mentor. Please keep that a secret.”
To prevent potential complications, Jin added a word of caution.
“Hmm, if we use this, we can always know our direction, anywhere, anytime!”
Christoph’s face lit up with joy. He realized that this could be useful not only at sea but also on land.
“However, as you know, it’s attracted to iron, so it won’t be accurate if there’s iron nearby.”
“Yes, indeed. But we haven’t used iron parts in this new ship, so we should be fine.”
Christoph assured.
To prevent rust, they heavily used bronze and light silver in this construction. Of course, Jin had hinted at this through Reinhardt on the first day.
“If you float it in oil instead of water, the needle won’t rust.”
“Seal it in transparent crystals, and even if the ship rocks, the oil won’t spill.”
“It would be fantastic if we could make it larger and easy to see.”
Various opinions were expressed, and as a result, Reinhardt and Elsa would take care of the gangway, while Jin would be in charge of making the compass. With the meeting wrapped up and some time remaining, everyone except Jin, Reinhardt, and Elsa went to work on completing the ship.
“Reiko, can you give me a hand?”
“Yes, Father.”
Elsa noticed Reiko looking at Jin with a somewhat longing expression and happily following him out of the room.
“…”
Seeing Elsa looking a bit downcast, Reinhardt comforted her.
“Elsa, don’t be jealous of Reiko.”
“I-I’m not… not at all.”
Elsa hastily placed her hand on her cheek.
“Denying it with a red face isn’t very convincing.”
“Uh, well…”
Reinhardt smiled fondly at Elsa and offered words of comfort.
“For Jin, given the circumstances, he might be burying himself in work because expressing affection isn’t possible. Besides, he probably refrains from such things in public, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Elsa blushed even more.
“Ha ha, my bad. What I meant is that Jin is probably feeling lonely too. He can only have a proper conversation with you during dinner. And, you know, Jin isn’t the type to do those things in public.”
“…Yeah, you’re right.”
“I understand the urgency to finish the ship and be free. I haven’t seen Berthie for quite a while either.”
“…Rein, brother, you just ruined the mood at the end.”