I Don't Know the Original, I'm Too Busy Trying to Make a Living-Chapter 180

Penelope managed to calm her startled heart. From the moment she stepped into the Tower of Magic, she had felt it—this wasn’t going to be ordinary.

A short while later, Rub and Katherin entered, carrying bundles of soaked clothing. Soon after, dwarves and other mages followed suit, each holding similar bundles. Water dripped from the drenched garments onto the floor, forming small puddles.

Lecter frowned deeply.

“There’s way too much laundry. Do you all not understand the concept of moderation?”

“Let’s just see if it works first.”

Rub promptly stuffed the wet clothing he was holding into the spinner. Katherin piled another load on top, and when the dwarves joined in, the spinner looked like it was about to burst.

Penelope realized she needed to intervene.

“If you overload the spinner, it won’t work properly. Only put in enough for it to function correctly.”

“But we don’t know how much is the right amount. How about we fill it to the brim and take things out little by little if it doesn’t work?”

Rub’s suggestion was met with unanimous nods from the other mages. Penelope shook her head instinctively.

‘Typical mage logic.’

It was such a classic scientific mindset that Penelope, who had a humanities background, couldn’t help but roll up her sleeves. She began removing the soaked clothes, handing them back to Rub. Caught off guard, he accepted the bundle. She then stacked another pile onto Katherin’s arms without hesitation.

“You can run that experiment later when you have time. For now, let’s put in just enough to see if it works properly.”

“How are we supposed to know what ‘just enough’ means?” Rub asked.

“‘Just enough’ means just enough,” she replied firmly.

“...?”

Rub looked thoroughly perplexed.

Penelope meticulously closed the inner cover and then the main lid of the spinner before turning to Professor Orlan.

Orlan’s eyes gleamed with curiosity as he pressed the start button. The spinner began to turn.

Thud, thud, thunk, thunk.

The sound of the spinner bumping against its casing echoed, indicating an imbalance.

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“Please turn it off °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° for now,” Penelope instructed.

Orlan pressed the button with a crestfallen expression, and the spinner gradually came to a stop. The mages and dwarves, who had been watching expectantly, also wore disappointed expressions.

“It doesn’t seem to be working. Maybe we should just consider this a failed prototype and start over from scratch...”

“Let’s give it a few more tries.”

It was too early to give up. Penelope recalled from her past life that spin dryers often malfunctioned when the load was unevenly distributed.

‘Is there still too much laundry?’

After some deliberation, she opened the lid and began removing all the soaked clothing. She handed the clothes to Lecter, who ended up holding an armful. Professor Orlan then took half of Lecter’s load.

“Just hold onto it for a moment.”

Penelope carefully took each piece of wet clothing, spread it out evenly, and stacked it neatly into the spinner. When the load reached about halfway, she closed the inner cover, then the main lid.

“Is this the start button?”

“That’s correct,” Orlan confirmed.

With her lips pressed tightly together, Penelope pressed the button.

Thump, thump, thunk-thunk...

The noise was much quieter this time. The mages’ eyes flickered with hope. The spinner was clearly running more smoothly.

And then, finally—

Thump, thunk-thunk, whoooosh...!

The sound of water draining came from the spinner. Soon, water flowed out through the hose connected to the machine, disappearing into the drain they had prepared in advance.

“...!”

“Wow!”

“Incredible!”

“It’s actually working?!”

The mages were struck with astonishment. Penelope herself was stunned. It really worked?

‘Did they seriously develop a functioning spin dryer in just a week? Did they make a deal with the devil or something?’

In her understanding, it seemed impossible to achieve this level of magical engineering so quickly without selling one’s soul.

‘Then again, if magic can conjure water out of thin air, maybe such miracles are achievable in magical engineering too.’

Penelope waited until the water flowing through the hose slowed to a stop, then pressed the button to turn off the machine. The spinner gradually came to a halt until it finally stopped moving altogether.

"Did it actually work?"

"Well, the water drained from the hose."

"But getting water out doesn’t mean the clothes are perfectly dry. They could still be half-wet," Rub and Katherin muttered, their comments dampening the mood.

Professor Orlan handed the bundle of clothes he was holding over to Rub and opened the lid of the spinner.

Gulp.

Orlan swallowed nervously as he lifted the inner cover and took out a piece of clothing from the spinner.

"...!"

The garment was significantly shrunken and damp-free, indicating it had been spun dry effectively.

Orlan's eyes quivered with disbelief.

"This is... incredible..."

"It seems the clothes were spun quite well," Penelope said, pulling out another piece and shaking it vigorously with both hands. Tiny droplets scattered into the air.

"Ah!" Ahwin, who was standing next to her, flinched as the droplets hit him unexpectedly.

"Oh, I’m sorry! It was a habit. I didn’t mean to," Penelope apologized hurriedly.

"Enough with the habit of airing laundry in strange ways. You’ve picked up a peculiar quirk," Ahwin grumbled, but he still took the clothes from her hands. Penelope barely suppressed a smile. There was no way she could explain that it was a carryover from her past life.

"Wow! This is perfect. Now all we need is to define what ‘just enough’ means."

"That can probably be figured out through experiments," Rub and Katherin suggested in turn.

Lecter, holding another armful of clothes, passed the pile to Katherin all at once. Caught off guard, Katherin staggered under the weight. Ignoring her struggle, Lecter turned to Penelope with curiosity.

"You spread out the wet clothes evenly. Was that to balance the load?"

"Exactly. When the spinner rotates, centrifugal force causes the clothes to clump together and lose balance. Laying them out evenly from the start helps avoid that," Penelope explained.

"...I see! That makes perfect sense," Lecter exclaimed with admiration. Professor Orlan also lit up, his gaze shining with newfound respect for Penelope.

"Have you considered enrolling at the Academy? With my authority, I can admit you directly as a university student, skipping the undergraduate phase entirely."

"I’m much too busy for that, haha," Penelope replied, forcing a smile.

‘A university student? That’s practically a euphemism for slave labor based on my past life standards.’

From her perspective, academia in this world didn’t seem all that different. A cold sweat ran down her back as she noticed Orlan’s hungry gaze, like that of a predator eyeing its prey. He reminded her of a lion licking its lips in anticipation of a meal.

Just then, Ahwin stepped forward, furrowing his brow and shielding Penelope from Orlan’s intense stare. Clearly, Ahwin found the professor’s gaze unpleasant.

"Why do you keep pestering someone who’s already said no?"

"My apologies. Seeing such a prodigy before me brought out my greed," Orlan admitted, bowing slightly. "I’ll refrain in the future."

"Penelope is busy for the foreseeable future. Keep that in mind," Ahwin declared firmly.

"Understood," Orlan replied with a wry smile. He seemed to find Ahwin amusing, his expression softening as though observing a cute little animal.

Penelope cleared her throat and spoke up. "So now we just need to focus on the iron, correct?"

"Ah, about that," Orlan hesitated, cutting himself off. Just as Penelope felt her patience fraying, Lecter pulled out a box from the disorganized pile of blueprints.

"What’s that?" Penelope asked, watching Lecter curiously as he opened the lid. Her eyes widened as the contents came into view.

‘No way...’

"You’ve already finished making the iron?!"

Did they really sell their souls to a demon or something?

Penelope couldn’t hide her astonishment. Orlan, however, humbly redirected the credit.

"The dwarves were a tremendous help."

"No matter how skilled they are..."

"We’d already developed a soldering iron. The basic principles are the same—it was just a matter of adjusting the shape, so it wasn’t particularly challenging."

That explanation didn’t sit right with her.

‘The shape is completely different, though?’

Penelope kept her question to herself, calming her startled heart. Orlan chuckled lightly before continuing.

"However, we haven’t yet developed an iron that can produce steam by adding water. Since the spinner works now, we’ll tackle that during the remaining production period."

"..." Penelope said nothing, too overwhelmed by the sheer speed of their progress.