Fifteen percent sulfur powder, fifteen percent charcoal powder, fifty percent saltpeter powder, ten percent fire crystal powder, five percent rosin powder, five percent starch, plus egg white to bind it all together. Mix it evenly, press it into a mold, and once you turn it out and let it dry, you get the cylindrical propellant charge for a dwarf firearm.
Interestingly, after Professor Bob had finished deciphering the secret formula, he proclaimed that during his research, he had discovered the performance of dwarf gunpowder still had enormous room for improvement. Unfortunately, he had no saltpeter mine at his disposal, so he couldn't conduct the experiments.
The Morant Daily's reporter had gone out of his way to interview the dwarves, who had opened their shop less than a month prior. The dwarves declared that this propellant formula had been passed down through their ancestors' painstaking trial and error over the course of a thousand years. It was the most perfect formula, and needed no alterations whatsoever. As for Professor Bob's claims about improving the gunpowder's performance, the dwarves saw it for what it was — a ploy to get his hands on saltpeter ore that didn't exist in the human world so he could run his own experiments. To such intentions, the dwarves had only one word in reply: Scram!
Lorist felt a twinge of embarrassment. He had been planning to keep gunpowder a secret, only to discover he had been working in complete isolation. Morant City, with all its academies and learned professors, had long since cracked the gunpowder secret wide open. What was fortunate was that the saltpeter ore the dwarves used came from underground deposits, and those professors had never realized that the nitre solution used for tanning leather could serve as a substitute for raw saltpeter ore.
In his previous life, it had taken Chinese alchemists hundreds of years of experimentation to discover the formula for gunpowder. Yet the scholars of Galeante hadn't even recognized that the scattered white crystalline formations of mirabilite growing in the corners near latrines and walls were actually one of the key ingredients. All they knew was that collecting the stuff produced a bitterly salty water that could replace brine for tanning leather. This was perhaps Lorist's stroke of luck — it would allow him to produce a black powder far superior to what the dwarves were using.
"Shrade, starting tomorrow, bring two literate guards here to the library. Go through the newspapers and academic articles from the past few years. If you find anything of value, make a record and hand it to me. What the family will be focusing on going forward is navigation and territory development — pay attention to anything related to those fields," Lorist said to his student.
"Very well, Teacher. I'll keep my eyes open," Shrade replied, clearly pleased. He had always enjoyed reading.
With the gunpowder formula business settled, Lorist returned to the Red Crow Tavern in high spirits. It was time to get down to real business.
Josk brought four guards to stay at the Red Crow Tavern, standing watch over the hundred thousand gold Forde.
Al was getting dead drunk every day, treated to drink after drink by his old society brothers.
Dolles ran off to Dawn Academy to show off to the old students there, and came back dead drunk every day as well.
Lorist thought about it and figured he should go visit some of his old friends too.
Over the next few days, Lorist was busy, heading out early and returning late with two guards in tow. He focused on visiting the professors and instructors he knew at Dawn Academy, as well as Dean Levins and Great Swordmaster Krude and his wife. Seven years had passed, and Dawn Academy had that feeling of things being both familiar and changed. Some of the instructors Lorist had known had already left the academy. The bronze commemorative statue of Lorist — the one commemorating his three thousand victories over silver-ranked experts while at the black iron rank, standing right in front of the academy's Swordsmanship Society — was still as imposing as ever, and had even become a legend of Dawn Academy.
Dean Levins had aged considerably. The gift Lorist brought him was a intact magical tiger pelt, which would be very beneficial for the old dean's legs, afflicted as they were with rheumatic paralysis. As for Great Swordmaster Krude, he took a massive blow to his confidence. Brimming with self-assurance, Krude had insisted on giving Lorist some pointers on swordsmanship, and then he couldn't last a hundred moves under Lorist's blade…
Dolles brought Lorist some news: some of the old students at Dawn Academy were envious of his experience, and hoped to throw in their lot with the
Lorist considered it. Recruit them, yes — but first he needed to lay out the risks. The family needed talent, and these old Dawn Academy students were people he knew inside and out, making them the ideal foundation. Since they were willing, how could he refuse?
With Lorist's approval, Dolles cheerfully picked up his shovel and began poaching Dawn Academy's talent left and right. After seven years, the old students who had known Lorist and the others back in the day and were still at Dawn Academy had become the backbone of the instructor corps. If they defected to Lorist, Dean Levins would have quite the headache dealing with an instructor shortage.
Lorist also went to visit Mr. Tim. The Terboli Viscount couple lived in a four-story Gothic-style building not far from the academy district. The Peterson Trading Company had been of great help when they purchased the house, allowing them to acquire a building worth four or five thousand for just over three thousand gold Forde.
The Terboli Viscount couple were overjoyed at Lorist's arrival. Both were deeply grateful to him — one had been rescued from the clutches of Count Coby, escaping a terrible fate, while the other had been supported by Lorist to become the legitimate heir to the Terboli Viscount title. He had even arranged for them to become husband and wife. From the looks of things, they were living very happily now — truly a case of sweetness after suffering.
"They are truly such hypocritical creatures."
Lorist burst into laughter, thoroughly amused by Mr. Tim. During their chat, Tim let slip a rather important piece of information: the Forde Commercial Alliance was very likely to restore the baronet system. However, their titles would be conferred in the name of the parliament, unlike Lorist and the other territorial nobles who received their titles through royal decree.
Lorist also informed Tim of his and the Peterson Trading Company's decision to designate the Terboli Viscount territory as the site for their future transactions, assuring him that all applicable taxes and fees would be paid in full. Tim expressed his willingness and even his pleasure at being able to help Lorist, saying he would instruct Old Knight Cermes, who was managing the Terboli Viscount estate castle, to provide full assistance.
Upon returning to the Red Crow Tavern, Lorist found El and his brother Ledos waiting for him. After El had left home to become Lorist's Family Knight, Ledos had taken over as the head of their gang. He proved far more dependable than El — in just seven years, Ledos's organization had grown into the largest gang in Morant City, quietly controlling half of the city's districts with nearly four thousand people under his command.
Ledos presented Lorist with over fifty gold certificates, each worth a hundred gold Forde. Lorist eyed him suspiciously, unsure what this was about. El explained from the side that this was the rental income from the building Lorist had purchased on Rose Boulevard over the past seven years. Before leaving, El had entrusted the building to Ledos's labor company for management, with a seventy-thirty split on the profits. These five thousand-plus gold Forde were his share of the rent.
Lorist finally remembered that he had once purchased a building, which he had later mortgaged to El for five thousand gold Forde when he ran short of funds during his northern expedition. However, that debt had long been repaid along the way. Back then, the building had cost him five thousand four hundred gold Forde, and he never expected to recoup the full cost in just seven years.
Ledos explained with a smile that it was mainly due to the soaring property prices in Morant City in recent years, which had driven rents up several times over, resulting in such substantial rental income. But his visit this time wasn't merely about delivering rent — he wanted to take over the business of selling Lorist's smoked monster meat jerky, salted whale meat, and snow salt.
Ledos said helplessly that he had no choice — too many people depended on him for their livelihood, and he had to think of every possible way to make money. His organization had already opened small grocery stores throughout the half of the city's districts under their control, so Lorist's merchandise would sell perfectly well in his shops.
Lorist readily agreed to Ledos's request, but he also asked Ledos for two favors. First, he wanted him to look into Professor Bob from Dawnstar Academy. Lorist was very eager to recruit this professor who had deciphered the dwarven gunpowder formula, to conduct gunpowder formulation experiments for him. Second, he asked Ledos's organization to keep an eye out for talented but unrecognized individuals living in destitution. Lorist had come to realize that the family currently needed talent in every area, and the more, the better.
After reaching an agreement with Ledos, Lorist prepared to visit the Trinber Kingdom, which was famous for its glass production. Fatty's father had opened a consignment dealership for glass there, and Lorist planned to entrust all the glass the family needed to Fatty's father for procurement. After all, he was practically one of his own, and besides, Lorist still had a letter from Fatty to deliver to his father.
Fatty's father was a successful businessman. It was said that even the Trinber royal family held shares in his dealership, so he had received considerable preferential treatment in the glass consignment business. When Lorist and his party arrived, he was extremely enthusiastic in his welcome. Just as Fatty himself had said, his father dreamed of becoming a landed noble one day, so his attitude toward actual landed nobility was exceptionally respectful.
"Uncle, there's no need to be so courteous, truly. Shrade may be a Family Knight of mine, but he is also my good friend and companion. You are his father, and likewise an elder to me. For little matters like this, a word to the servants would suffice — you don't need to attend to things personally. You must understand, this puts me in a very awkward position…" Lorist didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
After reading Fatty's letter and learning that Lorist was not only a true landed noble but also his son's liege lord, Fatty's father became even more meticulous in his hospitality toward Lorist and his party. Particularly when Lorist spoke of Fatty and firmly assured him that in another three years, once Fatty had served the family for a full decade, his contributions would be sufficient to merit a Baron's title and a parcel of land — Fatty's father's eyes filled with tears, overcome with gratitude.
From that day on, Lorist noticed that his treatment had been elevated yet again. Even such trivial tasks as serving tea were personally attended to by Fatty's father himself, rather than the usual servants and attendants. This left Lorist both flattered and deeply uncomfortable, and he resolved to finish his business quickly and depart.
As for the various glass products needed for the family's territory, Fatty's father thumped his chest and guaranteed everything would be provided — they would have it all, and there would be absolutely no delays. He even insisted that Lorist need not put down a single copper coin as a deposit. However, Lorist declined this generous offer. Although Fatty's father was a successful and wealthy businessman, a transaction worth twenty thousand gold Forde coins was no small sum. If anything went wrong, it would bring trouble upon Fatty's family. So Lorist believed in keeping business and personal matters separate — they would handle the transaction through the normal procedures as they should.
the raw materials were top secret.
However, Fatty's father recommended a certain person to Lorist — a technician who had worked at the glass production facility for thirty-two years. This technician, named Mancheni, had entered the glass production facility at the age of fourteen, following in his father's footsteps. He had risen from a general laborer to a fully capable technician who could hold his own, and he was estimated to be thoroughly familiar with every stage of glass production. Fatty's father had come to know him through the glass consignment business, and the two had developed a friendship.
Fatty's father had once overheard Technician Mancheni complaining to his colleagues, grumbling that the managers at the glass production facility were all blockheads who only knew how to maintain the status quo and had no sense of innovation. So, out of the keen instinct of a businessman, Fatty's father had begun to take notice of this Mancheni.
This Technician Mancheni had not been having an easy time of it lately. He and his wife had only one daughter, whom they had always doted on deeply. Now that their daughter had grown up, they had to worry about finding her a good husband. Tragically, on the thirty-sixth of September this year — the day of the Harvest Festival — he and his wife had taken their daughter out shopping in the streets, when they happened to encounter the Lord Viscount Silva.
Viscount Silva was famously well-known in Fayece, the royal capital of the Trinb Kingdom — though the fame was anything but flattering. He was the queen's nephew, fat as a pig yet utterly lecherous. He had once made headlines in the capital for abducting a common girl, which had sparked a public riot. After the queen had dressed him down soundly, he had reined in his behavior to some degree.
This Viscount Silva had taken a fancy to Technician Mancheni's daughter. He no longer dared to snatch girls off the streets outright, but he had taken to following and harassing her, loudly proclaiming that he intended to marry Technician Mancheni's daughter as his twenty-sixth concubine.
The Manchenis doted on their daughter more than any treasure in the world — how could they possibly push her into the pit of fire? They flatly refused Viscount Silva, but fearing he would act recklessly, they took their daughter and fled into the dormitories of the glass production facility, thinking that at least there they would be safe from the viscount's filthy hands.
Viscount Silva indeed could not extend his reach into the heavily guarded glass production facility, but he could use gold coins to bribe the higher-ups — all they had to do was drive the Mancheni family out. It was a trifling favor that would also earn them the goodwill of the viscount. Was there even a choice? The higher-ups happily pocketed Viscount Silva's gold, and Technician Mancheni's family was in trouble.
Before long, Technician Mancheni received an ultimatum from the heads of the glass production facility. Since his wife and daughter were not employees of the facility, their staying in the dormitories was technically unauthorized. However, out of consideration for Technician Mancheni's thirty-two years of diligent service, they were given a three-day deadline to vacate the premises — otherwise, they would be charged with violations of the confidentiality regulations, and so on.
Technician Mancheni was profoundly disheartened. He had practically devoted his entire life to the glass production facility, and he never imagined he would be driven to a dead end by his own people. What was especially laughable was that, as the facility's chief technician — the man who held every secret of glass production — Technician Mancheni had always been assigned two Silver Swordsmen at his side. Unfortunately, those two Silver Swordsmen existed to monitor whether Technician Mancheni was leaking secrets, not to serve as his bodyguards. When it came to the Mancheni family's plight, not only did they stand by and do nothing, they actually watched the spectacle with great relish…
Fatty's father said that Technician Mancheni's family had just been expelled from the glass production facility, and Viscount Silva had already decided to forcibly take his daughter as a wife in three days. Now the Mancheni family had nowhere to turn. If Lorist extended a helping hand at this moment, Technician Mancheni would undoubtedly pledge his unwavering loyalty, and the family would be sure to gain mastery over the secrets of glass production.
It was a decent plan. Lorist stroked his chin and pondered…
…(To be continued.)