Chapter 242: A Very Satisfied Delilah
"You flatter me!"
Duane hadn’t expected Lady Delilah to praise him so highly right from the start, and he was a bit taken aback.
Delilah shook her head slightly. "I’m not intentionally praising you. Sometimes, it’s precisely because people fail to open their minds and remain trapped in conventional thinking that many wonderful things are never realized."
"Just like the ’Magic Dryer’ you mentioned to Natalia—it’s a way of applying magic to daily life."
Count Kais cleared his throat. "Your idea is quite good. If it could actually be realized, it would absolutely skyrocket the efficiency of fabric processing, allowing us to capture more market share and earn greater profits!"
The moment he heard about it from his daughter, his mind had immediately gone in that direction.
At the same time, he couldn’t help but admire Duane for coming up with one money-making idea after another.
"Magic research and making money aren’t mutually exclusive."
Delilah’s voice was soft and slow, carrying a sense of poise. "However, today I’m more interested in discussing the applications of magic with the Baron."
Kais shrugged, gesturing for them to go ahead and talk.
Duane gave the two a strange look. ’Why do I get the feeling the Count is a little afraid of his wife?’
’But while Lady Delilah seems serious, she doesn’t come across as overbearing in conversation.’
He pushed aside these complicated thoughts and replied earnestly, "Please, go on."
Duane was quite respectful of Delilah. ’After all, if things work out between Natalia and me, she’ll be my mother-in-law.’
"You have unique ideas about the application of magic. I was wondering, are you a Mage yourself?"
Count Kais said with a smile, "He has considerable talent as a Warrior. As for magic..."
He shook his head.
Duane was inwardly amused. "The Count isn’t entirely correct. Besides having some talent as a Warrior, I also have a bit of skill in magic."
The moment he said this, all three of them were stunned.
"Duane, you’re a Mage?"
Natalia was the first to ask, "How come you’ve never mentioned it?"
Count Kais wore a strange expression.
He had investigated Duane thoroughly and knew that he used to be sickly and frail.
How, in such a short period, had Duane become both a powerful Warrior and a Mage?
Delilah, however, asked, "May I ask what Level you are?"
Duane pondered for a moment, then held up five fingers.
But after a moment’s thought, he put two of them back down.
"Level 3. I’m currently a Level 3 Mage, and I’m about to break through."
In reality, thanks to the five-point increase in his Spirit Attribute from breaking through to the Silver Moon Level, combined with his remaining attribute points, his Mage Level had already reached Level 5.
Even now, he still had 0.8 attribute points left unused on his attribute panel.
Considering Delilah was a Level 5 Mage and Natalia was a Level 3 Mage, Duane decided to say he was Level 3.
"Heavens!"
Natalia’s eyes glimmered, her face a mask of disbelief.
She was hailed as the Silent Shore’s youngest magical genius, yet she was only around the Level 3 Mid-Tier herself.
"Is that true, Duane? Are you really a Level 3 Mage?"
Kais muttered, "He’s got to be lying, right?"
Delilah’s eyes flashed with interest. "Could you cast a spell for us to see?"
"Of course!"
Duane agreed without hesitation and began to channel his Spiritual Power and Magic Power, forming the Spell Model for Multiple Arcane Missiles between his palms.
"It’s Arcane Magic—Multiple Arcane Missiles!"
Natalia was now completely convinced. She had only recently mastered this spell herself, but it was clear that Duane’s casting was smoother than hers.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Three Arcane Missiles shot out from Duane’s palm in succession, flying through the main doors of the drawing room and dissipating into the air outside.
Their speed and the sound of them cutting through the air highlighted their power.
"You have Skilled control over the magic, and your casting speed is very fast."
Delilah gave him extremely high praise. "In terms of magical talent, you are stronger than Natalia!"
"Incredible!"
Count Kais looked Duane up and down with an expression of utter disbelief.
"No wonder you’re so confident about the upcoming tournament! A Level 3 Mage, combined with your strength as a Celestial Tier Warrior... it will be very difficult for anyone to defeat you!"
He had previously guessed Duane was at the Peak of the Earth Tier, but now he corrected himself.
After all, ’The strongest he could possibly be is Celestial Tier, right?’
Still, Count Kais found it absurd. The young Baron before him had only just turned seventeen, hadn’t he?
Natalia’s lovely eyes shimmered. She hadn’t expected Duane to be so far ahead of her.
"Do you see now?"
Delilah looked at her daughter. "When I was testing your magic yesterday, you thought I was making things difficult for you. Do you see the difference now?"
Natalia lowered her head. Being chided in front of Duane made her fair cheeks flush red.
Duane quickly chimed in, "Natalia is already exceptionally talented. Among all the girls her age I’ve met, she’s absolutely number one!"
Natalia felt a little shy and stole a glance at Duane.
Delilah sighed. "She’s gotten a bit rebellious lately, thinking her talent is good enough. Meeting you this year is the perfect thing to give her a reality check."
Natalia protested under her breath, "Mother, I’m not being rebellious..."
She had just wanted to finish early yesterday so she could go back to the Time Closet.
Delilah didn’t press the criticism further. After all, she had to let her daughter save some face in front of a guest.
She turned the topic back to the Magic Dryer.
"To have such strength at your young age, it’s no wonder you have such insight!"
Delilah said, "I’ve thought about it for a day. Your idea is feasible. The key is to control the temperature and range of the flames."
"As it happens, the Kennedy Magic Research Institute already has achievements in this area. With just a few modifications, it can be put to use."
Duane was very surprised. He hadn’t expected the Kennedy Clan to have already completed research in this area.
At that point, Delilah added, "However, this drying method was designed based on the concept of a Magic Array, so it takes up a rather large amount of space."
As she spoke, she took out a piece of paper on which a simple layout was drawn:
A Magic Array of about ten square meters was laid out on the room’s floor, marked with a string of numbers that were likely its specifications.
This Magic Array could emit enough heat to dry the fabric suspended above it.
"This method can indeed work for drying, but the concept is still similar to drying with a fire. The only difference is that the flames and temperature from the Magic Array are controllable."
’To be honest, achieving controllable temperature was already quite impressive.’
"Exactly!"
Delilah hadn’t expected Duane to see her intention at a glance. "I wonder, do you have any ideas for improvement?"
"This method has two drawbacks."
Duane said, taking a pen and pointing to the drawing of the suspended fabric:
"With this fabric, the bottom will always dry first, and the top last. Once the bottom is dry, it continues to be directly heated, which is a waste of energy."
Delilah listened intently, nodding repeatedly. "So, it would be best if we manually flipped the fabric over?"
"Then why not make the fabric move on its own?" Duane countered.
Delilah frowned, crossing her arms as she thought. "Move on its own?"
"Yes!"
To help facilitate an alliance with the Kennedy Clan, Duane didn’t mind sharing some of his knowledge.
He picked up the pen and began to sketch.
"First, we need to shrink the size of the Magic Array. Then, we treat the room like an oven, using fire-resistant bricks to build a high-temperature tunnel."
Duane spoke quickly, but he drew even faster, looking as if his pen were guided by a divine hand, which made Natalia’s heart race.
Even Delilah, who had been the director of the Magic Research Institute for many years, felt as if she were a student again.
As for Count Kais, he was craning his neck from the side, listening intently.
Although he couldn’t quite understand, he could already tell that what Duane was describing was incredibly profound.
"We need to create a heat-resistant metal mesh conveyor belt. The fabric would be laid flat on this belt, and people would pull the belt to move the fabric slowly through the high-temperature tunnel."
"As the fabric passes through, hot air will blast from the top, bottom, and sides of the tunnel, achieving the drying effect."
Duane drew out the scene, adding, "The jets of hot air might involve the use of the Clear Wind Technique. And the manually pulled conveyor belt could also be modified to be driven by Magic Power."
The Power System on his attribute panel could solve the problem of turning the conveyor belt.
Unfortunately, Duane had asked Natalia to inquire, and there were no Rune Coils or Magic Net Energy Field Reaction Runes here.
So, for now, it seemed the conveyor belt would have to be turned manually.
"This is truly..."
Delilah’s eyes shone brightly. She found herself looking at Duane with the fondness of a mother-in-law for a son-in-law—the more she looked, the more she liked what she saw.
"How did you come up with this?"
Duane smiled. "Life on Black Forest Island is very boring. I just think about random things when I have nothing better to do."
"Your ideas are so unique! You’ve completely opened my mind!"
She picked up the paper from the table to study it carefully. "Kais, Natalia, you two entertain Duane. I need to think this over."
With that, she left the drawing room.
’Just as you’d expect from a woman who rarely comes home and practically lives at the Magic Research Institute. She’s incredibly interested in new things.’
"Well now, Baron Duane!"
Count Kais’s eyes held a mixture of reproach for Duane hiding his true strength and genuine admiration.
"So tell me, what other things have you been working on?"
Duane spread his hands and said with a smile, "That’s all!"