C348: Stargazing

Whenever Junior gets peevish, we usually take him outside.
We’ve found that getting him to stop crying when he’s outside is easier because many things attract his attention.

Like that one night when he started to get restless before bedtime, we went outside to pacify him.
I’m glad he didn’t do it after he fell asleep.
But it’s starting to get cold, so we shouldn’t stay out for too long.

Junior was immediately intrigued by the scenery outside and stopped crying.
He was charmed by the starry sky.

The clear night sky is full of twinkling stars, and it’s as bright as midday.

“…Goo.”

Still in my arms, Junior stretches out his hands toward the sky as much as he can and clenches them tightly.
He continues to extend his hands and grasps the air over and over.

This odd repetition of movements confused me, but I gradually began to understand what my child was trying to do.

He’s trying to grab the stars.

He mistakenly believes that the star shining in the night sky are within his reach—a very child-like misconception.
It was both cute and romantic.

“Everyone yearns for the starry sky, huh?”

Feels a little like St*r Wars.

That’s when I thought, Junior would grow up and become interested in many things, including the countless stars in the night sky.

Stars are romantic.
Their romance will stimulate a child’s rich senses and play a role in their character development.

The stars are essential in helping my Junior become a spiritually-rich adult!

So, here we are, making an astronomical telescope.

When you say stars, it’s just got to be stargazing!
And when you say stargazing, it’s just got to be telescopes!

When Junior grows up and becomes smart enough to understand how nature works, we’ll look through the telescope together and strengthen our parent-and-child bond!

“Look, Junior, that’s the M45 Pleiades star cluster.”
“Wow, Dad, you know everything!”

Something like that!
My fatherly dignity will soar!

That’s why we’re building an astronomical telescope!
I hear a voice in me that says, “But an astronomical telescope gives off signs of modernization, is it even possible to make it?” Worry not!
It’s not that complicated structurally, plus we’ve made many things in the past.
If we make use of that knowledge, it should be possible.

So, let’s try our hand at making an astronomical telescope!

As an amateur astronomer, I have my own preconceived notions, but it seems there are two important elements in making an astronomical telescope: the body and the lens.

The lens, well, it won’t be a telescope without it in the first place.

I’ll have to request this from the elves.
Lenses are made of glass, and Poel’s glassworks team has a lot of experience in making them since they helped make the microscope in the past.

Garra Rufa’s passion for researching bacteria that led to perfecting the microscope is being put to good use today!
It’s… probably another nightmare for Poel’s team, though.

Enough about the lens; the next important thing is the body. I’m specifically referring to the tube-like part to which the lens is attached.
I decided to make it out of paper. I heard telescopes were made from paper in the past.

The thing is, our farm also produces paper using high-quality wood from the dungeon orchard.

Then again, it’s only ever used as a small notepad, so when I was about to cancel the production, Mr. Shax clung to me in tears, saying, “Please let our firm sell this article!”
So we’re still making some paper to wholesale it.

The goblins also seem to enjoy making paper, so I have no complaints.

I borrowed some of that paper and rolled it up like a poster to make a tube.
After carefully adjusting the thickness, I coated it with lacquer to harden it.

The telescope’s main body is now complete.

Edward and Aileron were arguing about decorating the tube’s surface with gold leaf or keeping the lacquer’s natural texture, but I ignored them.

After attaching the lens that Poel and her team had completed after many tears, our otherworldly astronomical telescope is complete!

“It’s not food. Boo.”

With that, Veil lost interest and left the scene.
But a bigger crowd curiously surrounds the completed telescope.

“What can you do with this tube-like…thing?”
“Apparently, you can see faraway things with it.”
“Like clairvoyant magic?”

Everyone is keenly interested.

The telescope is already mounted on a wooden base, pointing upward at an angle to see far into the sky.

“Look, Platy! When Junior is older, we’ll go stargazing with this!”
“Huh.”

My wife’s face clearly doesn’t understand a man’s romance.
It’s okay! Staring at the night sky is meant for just the two of us, father and son!

That’s why I should check the telescope’s performance now.
I don’t want to find out it has a defect later on when Junior is older.

Also, I remembered during its construction that this is a different world.

There’s no way the celestial structure is the same as my world.
Why didn’t I notice this at the very beginning?

The stars twinkling in the night sky may be the same, but their positions and brightness are entirely different.
And while this is impossible to compare, the total number of stars is probably also different.

So, there is no way I can gain respect by showing off my knowledge of celestial objects from my world.
This world probably has no Orion, Winter Triangle, or Summer Triangle.
Checking with my naked eye, the North Star is also nowhere to be found.

And since there’s no Big Dipper, there’s no Death Star, either.

“I’m going to stargaze a lot while Junior is still a baby and accumulate astronomical knowledge!”

I should also create a star map and make up constellation names too.

“Hey, that tool is for looking at the stars at night, right?” indifferently asks Platy, taking Junior. “But isn’t it daytime right now?”

Yes, because this happened to be completed at midday.

We have to wait until the sun sets before we can do any serious stargazing.

Though I can at least test its performance, so I take a look through the lens.

“…Oh, I can see things.”

I look at the mountain in the distance and see the detailed shapes of the trees that cover the surface.

This otherworldly telescope is a success!
It’s the result of the technical prowess of Poel and her elven teammates.

Next, let’s take a look at the sky.
I know it’s still daytime, but if we’re lucky, we might see something like Venus!
I take another peek, careful not to look directly at the sun.

“…Huh?”

I see something unexpected and strange: a cloud.
The telescope points skyward, so it’s only natural that I’d see clouds floating…
But what I find strange isn’t the cloud itself; it’s the person standing on top of it.

A person on a cloud?
What going on?

He looks like those gods in old TV shows.
Wait, god?
I was puzzled, but I didn’t stop looking.

The person doesn’t seem to notice that he’s being watched from afar.
He’s a dashing young man, that’s for sure.

But suddenly…

“A… POLLO!!!” he shouts.

Very perplexing.
It’s also weird I can hear his voice when I’m looking through the telescope, but eh.

“A… POLLO! A… POLLO! A… POLLO!!! Aaa…………….. POLLO!!!”

He repeats his mysterious shouting.
I continue to witness this surreal scene through the telescope.
Eventually, the dashing young man shouts in frustration.

“Ugh! The pause between A and Pollo is far from satisfactory! If I fail to discover the ultimate pause, my jest shall never reach the heavens in laughter!”

The young man resumes his weird skit, and I take my eyes off the telescope.
I can’t see him with my naked eye, just white clouds floating in the sky.

“…Hey.”

I ask the person closest to me who seems knowledgeable.

“Is there a celestial god named Apollo?”
“Huh? Yes, there is. Apollo, the god of art, is most loved by his father Zeus, along with Athena, the goddess of war!”

I knew it.
But wait, is comedy considered art?
At any rate, I stored the telescope because it was a serious invasion of the celestial gods’ privacy.

My dream of looking at the sky with Junior, gone!
Curse you, gods!!!