Soap to clean

The days passed, and the word of the young master's inventions quickly spread like wildfire amongst the workers in the Vanderbilt estate.

Some of the people who were out of town while Michael created the faucets were immediately greeted with the strange sight of maids spending an inordinate amount of their time in the kitchen house and the latrines.

From the butlers' perspective, the maids suddenly became addicted to washing themselves two times a day!

It wasn't until later that day that they finally learned the truth. 

It seemed that the young master had installed a working shower and toilets in all the maids' quarters, allowing them to have easy access to running water without having to rely on the mages each time.

As expected, the butlers were just as shocked as the maids had been when they first saw the faucets and toilets firsthand.

"The young master built this?"

A couple of the butlers were handymen as well and knew how complex it was to create the pipes and equipment needed to create this whole system. Creating such an entire water system from scratch would have been impossible without extensive manpower.

Some of the more magic 'savvy' butlers immediately noticed that the pipes looked like they had been manipulated using a spell.

It would make sense how the young master created such a perfect pipe with barely any imperfections.

But that in itself didn't make sense as well. Michael was only five years old. He was supposed to have barely started learning about magic, much less casting advanced ones.

Since they were just butlers, they couldn't question the young master himself.

But on the inside, they were slightly intimidated by how much of a monstrous genius the young master was for inventing this marvelous 'plumbing' system, as well as having the magic acuity to create them.

Michael, of course, noticed their lingering stares.

He knew that his 'secret' of being able to cast spells wouldn't remain hidden forever. The maids may not have questioned how he was able to create the pipes, but his mother and father certainly would.

But since they weren't here just yet, Michael's secret was still a secret—for now.

And to bribe the butlers for their silence, Michael went ahead and installed showers and toilets in their dormitory as well.

That seemed to have done the trick as they, too, got engrossed with the satisfying feeling of water flowing from the showers like they had their personal waterfalls. 

The maids were then no longer made fun of for their newfound bathing habits—because the butlers had picked them up, too.

Twice a day.

…

…

…

More than a week had passed since Michael installed the plumbing system, and the atmosphere in the mansion had completely transformed.

The maids walked with a little bit more pep in their step; butlers walked with a little bit more swagger, and overall, everyone was more than satisfied with the changes the young master had made for them.

On one particular day, while Michael strolled through the mansion, he happened upon one of the butlers carrying the carcass of a deer on his back.

When he asked them, it turned out that the reason the butlers and mages were out of the mansion a week ago was because they were hunting out in the wilderness.

"We're preparing for the winter, young master. We need to cure the meat now so that we will have enough food when the scarcity hits the nation."

Michael's gaze fell upon the freshly sliced-open body of the deer and noticed the thick yellowish-white part of the meat.

Fats…

Then, a thought suddenly struck him.

When taking a bath, what was the most important aspect of keeping oneself clean?

The answer was soap.

Now, this medieval world did have a very primitive version of the soap that he was used to. But in Michael's opinion, it wasn't up to his standards.

Hey ChatJK1, can you give me step-by-step instructions on making high-quality soap based on my previous world's standard?

[Certainly. To make soap that cleanses and improves the skin, you can start by…]

His AI assistant once again flooded his mind with information, giving him a simple yet comprehensive manual he could start immediately.

"Can I have some of the animal fats?" Michael asked the butler. 

Animal fat was an important part of creating soap, which Michael knew even before he asked ChatJK1 about it.

The butler looked at Michael, his expression curious as to why a five-year-old would need animal fat. But then again, this same five-year-old had somehow created something that not even the smartest inventors could create. So, after a moment, he relented.

With that secured, Michael went ahead and asked Beretta to procure the rest of the materials he needed for his next project.

"Young master, are you planning on creating something big again?" Beretta asked with a glint of excitement in her eyes after hearing about his request.

"It's nothing as big as the toilets," Michael assured her, placing a hand over his chest. "But I promise I won't destroy the house again."

Beretta sighed and looked over the list he gave her. 

"Alright, young master. We'll need to travel to the next town to buy these materials. We'll be back before sunset."

Beretta and a bunch of other young, eager maids quickly volunteered to accompany her for the journey.

After hearing that the young master wanted to buy some peculiar materials, a lot of the maids immediately offered their services to him. They were still grateful for the toilets and the showers, but inwardly, they were expecting another great invention from their genius young master. 

And they wanted to be the first ones to witness it.

Michael waved at them as they set off.

He inwardly rejoiced. Having rich parents perfectly enabled him to complete his projects with little to no obstacles. He couldn't imagine just how difficult this would have been if he didn't have money in this medieval world.

After waiting patiently until the evening, the maids finally returned with a rucksack full of materials he had asked for.

Michael immediately rummaged through the bag, pulling out vials of essential oils and, most importantly, lye.

Lye and animal fat were two of the main ingredients used for creating soap, so he had requested Beretta to procure a lot of them.

And she didn't disappoint.

Wasting no time, Michael immediately set off towards his Project Room near the mountain.

"Come back for dinner, young master!" Beretta called after him.

She was already used to the young master going off on his own, so she didn't make a big fuss out of it.

…

…

…

The next morning, Michael excitedly got out of bed and immediately rushed towards his Project Room.

Following ChatJK1's instruction, he combined Iye and animal fat and easily created a soap mixture. Last night, he poured this mixture into a mold and used a simple 1-star [Ember] spell to speed up the curing process.

And the next morning, it was finally ready. 

He had made soap!