Theus nearly lost his composure on the spot.
He vaguely remembered rejecting a proposal not long ago concerning internal combustion engine research. The idea of a fuel-powered internal combustion engine had been sound; the reason he sent it back was—its fuel was nitroglycerin.
And now Richard was telling him that Pollution could be used as fuel for explosives?
Could nitroglycerin really be added to an internal combustion engine as fuel?
Theus suddenly wondered if he had been relying too heavily on established thinking. Prejudice in one's heart was a mountain; perhaps nitroglycerin really could drive an engine. After all, the cylinders already relied on explosive combustion. Would changing that to an actual explosion really be such a problem?
Oh no, I've become the villain suppressing scientific research.
Theus secretly resolved to approve the project as soon as he returned. Wait, who had proposed that project again?
It seemed to be Nini.
Theus sucked in a sharp breath, vaguely sensing something was wrong. Unable to pinpoint the issue, he merely decided that Nini's laboratory absolutely had to be kept farther away from the church.
Well, perhaps he could also have Nini write fewer reports. Her articles were rather absurd, and sometimes even Theus could not help reading a few.
"After adding live Pollution to the nitroglycerin, I found that the properties of both became more active. That is normal, after all. Pollution has the characteristics of a living thing, so it is inherently highly active."
"So how did you solve it?"
Richard's expression turned solemn. "That was thanks to Monica's research, which gave me the idea."
Theus: "..."
Monica, your ideas alone could support more than half of Castel.
"Lady Monica used summoned Machine Souls attached to steam engines to suppress Pollution, so I thought—couldn't we summon a Machine Soul for