The servant led away their Rekis and began to stow the carriage as they arrived. The large garden surrounding the stone house was of a completely different scale to Corbin's much smaller mansion. Servants and grounds workers moved through the afternoon sun, tending the lawn. A wide paved path ringed with flowering bushes and neatly trimmed grass lead up to the ornate front door, flanked by twin sculpted columns.
What caught Cato's eye was the windows. There was actual glass windows, and every one of them was arranged in a glittering artistic pattern of shards in a thin iron framework, displaying one picture or other.
Chakim and Landar pulled ahead with Arthur, Cato stood there and frowned. Landar turned around to look then followed his gaze to the windows. That brought the others to a halt.
"Isn't it hard to see out of those windows?" Cato asked.
"Better than wood slats," Landar said, "unless you think you can make wood transparent?"
Cato shook his head, "I mean the windows. Why is the glass like that?"
"Like what?" Landar tilted her head, not understanding the question.
"It's not flat," Cato said, "and those frames must cost huge amounts of money to make. I don't even want to think of the repair cost if someone breaks a piece. "
Arthur bowed, "Chancellor Minmay has no lack of money. "
"He would have more money if he had flat windows," Cato pointed out, "or more windows. "
"Cato, you can't make flat glass," Landar said, "how would you blow a glass that was flat? Glass comes in globes, you know? "
They shared a look, then Cato's grin spread slowly onto Landar's face.
"I won't pretend to understand why you're smiling but please be invited to Minmay's household. The servants will show you to the guest rooms to wash and refresh yourselves. Feel free to partake of his hospitality. " Arthur waved them up to the front door, "if you wish, we can discuss more of glass when Minmay returns tonight. "
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They didn't bother to wait for Minmay of course. After a luxurious dinner that Cato tasted none of, Landar and Cato occupied the far section of the long dinner table, exchanging drawings and ideas as they always did when trying to work out the details of how Earth did something that Cato wasn't familiar with. There was no need to worry about someone stealing ideas, the chance that the anyone could understand all the parts was close to zero.
"Polishing always works, but it costs more than the windows themselves," Landar said.
"It can be left for the final stage," Cato said, "only if that level of precision is needed of course. But to my knowledge, glass is poured or drawn, in the same way that we did for iron. The question is how perfectly flat glass is made without excessive polishing. "
"Obviously the glass is made almost flat first," Landar observed.
"Use a mold," Cato said, "if you blow glass into a box shape, then each side is flat. Cut it out and make a window. "
Landar frowned, "still too small though, and only one side will be flat. And it's hard to get a mold flat enough. "
"You could pour it into a flat pan," Cato said.
"Perhaps," Landar said doubtfully, "we're not glassblowers and I think that idea must have been tried already. There's some reason why it doesn't work. "
"We should just try it," Cato laughed.
"That's an interesting way you work," a deep voice from the door made them look up.
The voice came a well-built man, solid but without excessive muscles or fat. The light yellow hair peeled backwards over his head and a clear pair of blue eyes highlighted a face that perhaps could be called handsome on a good day. And to look at the way he stood, the man radiated a sense of importance, as if his body was loudly proclaiming that he was the most important person in the room.
He even managed to make the formal fluttery lace around his neckline and cuffs look decent. While Cato wasn't sure the man's dignity could survive a full formal dress, but just this travel shirt was plenty ridiculous. Except when it was on the man.
"Chancellor," Arthur bowed from the side. That caused Landar and Chakim to bounce out of their seats and bow as well. Cato reacted too late and all he could do was climb out awkwardly and nod.
"You must be the alchemist I have been hearing about," the chancellor asked Landar, flicking out the creases in his sleeves with a practised shrug, "thank you for accepting my invitation. "
"It came at the right time," Landar said simply.
"Very well, let us discuss this after I have washed and eaten. It has been a long journey for me too," Minmay said, looking over the crowded table, "Arthur, bring dinner to my study, I will need to talk to you as well. "
The chancellor and his butler left the dining room, leaving only Landar and Cato among the servants.
And half a table full of sketches and ideas.
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"Tell me of them," Minmay said to Arthur, crunching down on a long stick of illon, "what happened in Corbin that you had to talk to me about?"
"The young man with the alchemist is named Cato. When I arrived in Corbin to deliver the invitation personally, their house was being attacked by multiple groups, at least one of which is the Iris man here. That man's name is Chakim. After questioning the pair on the behaviour of their attackers, I strongly believe that Corbin did target them to kill them and that Landar's statement for the arbitration request is largely correct.
Iris seems to think so as well, Chakim carries two summoning stones, Sword and Shield Wall. He claims that his purpose is to ensure Landar's safety and return her to Iris but I suspect that his instructions are less strict on the second point. Chakim clearly caved to Landar's well known disagreement with her clan and fell back to escorting her here.
There may be political issues with Cato. He unwisely voiced an accusation towards Corbin in front of a response party from the order of knights. "
Minmay nodded, drinking down a bowl of soup, "a good summary. But who is this man? I had not known that Landar was working with anyone. And from that discussion I overheard from outside, I think Landar is the weaker party. "
Arthur paused significantly, "I do not know, sir. I overheard them talking on the way here, when they believed me to be asleep. Cato claims to be from another world and Landar believes him. From what I heard, Cato believes in it too. "
That got Minmay to put down his spoon and pay close attention. "Really?" he asked. Arthur nodded.
The chancellor frowned and stood up to look directly at Arthur, "did he say that? Specifically say that he came from another world?"
Arthur nodded again, "he said that he came from a world called Earth. "
Minmay froze for a while then looked up at the ceiling. "Among us nobles, talk of a certain Hero has been all the rage of late. One that Queen Amarante of Inath had summoned from another world, claiming that he will find the Legendary Sword to win this war against the monsters," Minmay said slowly.
"If she could summon one person, she could bring more," Arthur said, "could Cato be one of them?"
"It is said that there is only one place a Summoning can be done, and that place is First Landing. I doubt any summoning there could be done without Inath knowing about it," Arthur said, "and Inath's queen would not keep quiet if she summoned a second Hero. "
He thought for a long while then nodded to himself, "Don't spread this too far. Cato has probably talked about it before so the secret is already out. But I'd rather not the Inath court find out about this too soon. "
Minmay sat back down to finish his dinner and waved for Arthur to continue, "tell me more about this Cato. "
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Minmay entered the dining room to find even more paper spread over the main table. It wasn't the disorganized mess that he had found when he first got here. There were three distinct groups of papers, multiple sheets stacked together into sub groups. It was all very organized and deliberate. Two servants were standing next to a half-filled box of paper that had obviously come from their luggage.
He looked up at the lanky young man who had sprung to his feet, faster this time.
"I was going to ask more about Corbin but I think you have something you want to say," Minmay indicated the papers.
"Indeed," Cato waved at the chair opposite, "if you would take a seat, I will give our side of the story. "
The alchemist and the man sat down in front of their papers, Minmay sat opposite them. They were clearly prepared now and Minmay prepared himself for a well-told account. If not outright lying, most people naturally distorted their version of the events.
What Minmay got nearly blew him out of his seat. The idea that this one man had been behind all of the recent inventions of the merchants in Corbin and Selabia was preposterous on its surface. He had not known politics for over three decades for nothing though, Minmay made sure none of his mounting surprise showed on his face.
And that was just the first pile of papers. Minmay also suppressed the desire to ask what the other two piles were for.
"So you claim this is how cast iron is made?" he asked the young man and got the expected nod. It was either an extremely elaborate lie or... or this Cato had somehow stumbled across this treasure trove of knowledge. Or knew it from his past world, if that man's statements could be trusted on the matter.
Minmay couldn't verify whether the things in the diagrams would do what Cato claimed they would, but the drawing of the blast furnace and tinning process had a solid attention to detail that made Minmay think it was real. Quacks tended to have more hot air and less down to earth specifications of materials. And besides, the cast iron and tinned food were real enough to touch.
"I am inclined to believe you," he said finally, after inspecting the small stack of paper Cato had given him. "It explains why Corbin would want an exclusive agreement with you. And try to kill you when you wouldn't agree," Minmay leaned back to digest the new perspective. It all hung together. "She was ever so ambitious for my place and it's a simple fact that Minmay is bigger than Corbin by far. Your inventions would benefit me more than her, if she could not monopolize you for herself. And I could believe that Corbin is crazy enough to try kidnapping you to work for her. "
"And will you do the same?" Cato asked.
His tone was light, but Minmay could see the tension in the Iris man standing behind Landar. The had been silent throughout the explanation but at Cato's deceptively light words, Chakim was suddenly exuding an aura of danger.
"With two Iris next to you?" Minmay smiled and waved a hand towards them. Even Landar was looking a little jumpy, "I'm not suicidal. But that brings me to my point. While I'm not about to threaten you into working for me, we are going to need an agreement if we want to work together. I won't stop you from going back to Corbin if you want. "
"That's still a threat," Cato pointed out.
Minmay merely shrugged. That was true of course, but one did not live in this business without using cards dealt so fortuitously.
"Here's what I think," Cato said, "I won't agree to exclusivity, but I am interested in making sure some of these inventions get implemented. So if you provide a good platform for me to spread them, then we won't need an exclusive agreement. "
"You do realize I'm not a merchant, right?" Minmay said, Cato had only dealt with merchants before and he didn't know that nobles like Minmay didn't usually have business enterprises. For some reason, noble owned enterprises were invariably loss-making. "So, you're asking me to subsidize these ideas," Minmay said, "how much are you asking for and what do I have to gain from that?"
"You gain by improving the amount of taxes you collect," Cato said instantly, "if every farmer who adopts new methods grows a third more food, then your collected taxes from them increase by a third as well. As for what it will cost you, not that much. "
Minmay watch him finally draw a few sheets from the second stack and took it from Cato. There were drawings of a few contraptions, one of which seemed to be for distributing seeds. Two of them though appeared completely abstract, with symbols for something written over them.
"To implement those will take time and money, perhaps a month to design and test. I don't think the cost will be high, ten Rimes could be more than enough for my experiments," Cato said, "what will cost you more is to find a carpenter or bronze worker who is good enough to make it. And convince them to do something they don't have experience with. "
Minmay snorted, "I'm the Chancellor. If I give a blacksmith money to make something, that he will do. If not for the Nurren Agreement, I might not have needed to pay at all. "
"Excellent," Cato said, "then simply, what I'm asking for is money and influence. "
"I shall want a special tax on what you earn," Minmay said, "half will do quite nicely. "
"One quarter," Cato replied, "and be warned that I won't earn the benefits for most of what I do. "
"In that case, I will take one third and no lower," Minmay said, "I have to get some benefit. "
"Most of the arrangements I have with the merchants in Corbin and Selabia were not negotiated with that in mind. I can't agree to that. "
"How about this, then? One third of all your earnings from contracts made during our agreement. Any contract that you negotiate with my influence and money, I get a third, and of course, once I publicize that I'm backing you, that will be all of them. Of course, I will have a representative to... help negotiate those contracts so you don't ask for too little, I'm sure you understand. "
"Reasonable," Cato admitted. He thought for a while, then asked, "You're really sure you're not even going to push for an exclusive agreement?"
"You wouldn't agree," Minmay said, feeling a smile on his face, "besides, Minmay really isn't the biggest place in the world, despite what Corbin thinks. And I've got myself covered, what with you paying me a third of everything you earn. If that's going to be everywhere in Ektal, why, I might even get to pay for Muller's bridge out of my own pocket. " Carefully now, Minmay suppressed a gulp of tension, hoping that the man would accept that he had been tricked. If mildly.
Cato grinned and then finally laughed. "Indeed, I didn't notice that you did say 'all of them'," Cato nodded, "I can still live with that. " Thank Selna for that, Minmay allowed his legs to fidget a little in relief. He knew the man would not keep the agreement once his name was sufficient to stand on its own but Minmay could benefit immensely from this in the meantime. Being the first person to have all these inventions might catapult Minmay into direct competition with the capital Ektal itself.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
"You see, you don't need an exclusive agreement," Minmay chuckled, "just apply a little creativity and you can get the benefits even if your client is helping other people. Corbin did always run a bit short in that department. "
A joke at the expense of an enemy always went down well and Cato chuckled together with him.
Time to get to the hard part. Minmay leaned forward, "so, just what are these inventions are we talking about for me to sponsor?"
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The talk dragged on and on. Long past sunset and into the depths of the night. Candle after candle was replaced as each burned down, water and other refreshments were brought by the servants to keep tongues wet and lips moving.
Throughout the time, Cato showed and explained page after page of notes. A diagram of a seed plow, a drawing of a water turbine or perhaps a bicycle. They were never the same, never repeated. And he mixed in the occasional off the wall idea from the third much smaller pile to keep things interesting.
"And you want me to sponsor an expedition to the Snow Wall up north to find what, buried magical crystals?" Minmay asked incredulously, "no one's ever found magical crystals in the ground. "
"You do not hear me wrong when I say this is perhaps the most important point," Cato said, "why I left it for last. "
"But magical crystals," Minmay shook his head wearily, then looked at Landar, "have you heard anything of what he's thinking?"
"Not that I know of," she replied.
"It's not just crystals," Cato said, "I admit, magic crystals is just an image I had, but I am looking for natural magic. Anything magical that happens without the presence or activity of people. "
"The monsters?" Chakim said, one of the rare times he spoke up.
"That's a different subject," Cato shook his head, "not them. "
"Why not? They are magic that happens without people," Landar said, "for that matter, we know a number of plants that do give magical phenomena. Dewdrop trees, for example. But those plants are not safe to be around either, they're like monsters that can't move. "
"How do you fancy trying to capture monsters?" Cato asked Minmay, "I would like a chance to study the monsters too, but I don't think keeping large numbers of them is very healthy. Nor is farming dangerous magical plants. "
"It's an odd request, for sure," Minmay frowned, "normally, adventurers get asked to find and kill them. Not bring them home. Why would you need large numbers anyway?"
"I don't," Cato clarified, "not to study them. Of course, the more samples the better, since we have no shortage of lethal test ideas. But the numbers I would need for this idea would be like building a small city of monsters. I don't like that idea and neither will anyone else. "
"What exactly are you trying to achieve here?" Landar asked, "you've been dancing around the main purpose of this search. What do you want magic crystals or natural magic for?"
Cato took his time to compose his reply, and when he did, his tone waxed didactic. Landar knew better than to interrupt him when he got this way, Minmay would just have to learn.
"Take your idea for improving the bowgun's power. Using the bowgun to generate a field of magical acceleration to make the bolt move faster and correct its path is a good one, I'll give you that Landar. The downside is that we need an expensive magical enchantment on the bowguns, which have to be made of iron or steel, and even so they'll run dry of magic within a few shots. Another example is the magical cart. Carts are big, but if you want them to keep moving, you need to use a lot of magic. They'll run dry inside an hour.
I didn't introduce these ideas not because they are hard to build. They're very easy to build actually, Landar can build and test a prototype in a few days. The problem is keeping the carts moving or the bowguns shooting, without a mage standing behind using their power to feed it. You might as well ask the mage to move the cart for you. And mages have limits to their power, Landar tells me that people regenerate their magic within a day or so, so the maximum sustainable magical consumption per hour is the mage's magical capacity divided by 15. Assuming six hours to rest. I doubt mages will be cheap to hire, nor will they appreciate ending every day completely drained of magic.
I've done some estimates, not even Landar can keep an upgraded bowgun firing continuously and she's an Iris. No one in Inath will be able to run a cart for more than a short time. So how long do you think it'll take to fill the cart with magic? Will you spend two days of magic to make a cart move for an hour? I don't think that makes much sense. "
Cato looked around and saw that both Landar and Minmay were frowning. Good, they got the point.
"We have problems with density and power. The main problem with using magic like this is that we cannot store magic with alchemy at a density enough to power them for a long time, and we simply don't have enough power to store. Magical materials can help with the first problem and I have my own ideas. But storage doesn't help if you can't generate the magic you need. We'd be stuck using magic in applications that don't require ongoing usage like Water chemistry and composite materials. And even there we'll be constrained by the number and cost of alchemists.
Landar gave me the clue the other day, when she told me that she could reshape existing enchantments and spells. While alchemists use this to recycle or repair old items, you could use it on items that other people had made. I know, asking other alchemists to make items full of power that do nothing just so you can drain it for your project is seen as a failure to be powerful enough. But the idea has more than one use.
The answer to our power problem, of course, is the natural magic. Find magical crystals or some form of magic that doesn't require people to make, then have alchemists refine that into magical power stored in an item. No need to pay for huge amounts of magic. Or better still, make an item that does the refining then have untrained recruits use it, then you don't even need to pay an alchemist!"
Landar stared at him with an open mouth. For that matter Chakim had that fish out of water look as well. Minmay didn't, he was staring at the sheets of paper spread over the table, no doubt thinking which inventions would get sudden new ideas on top.
"You see why I didn't want to use monsters as a source. Sure, they have magic and no one will complain if we farm monsters, not on ethical grounds anyway, but monsters are subject to the same limitations as people. You need to feed them and grow them and still only have about as much magic as mages do per monster. And it's not safe, that's also important. Only non-living sources, especially magical power that has been collecting for a long time, will have enough power for what I'm thinking of. If we're lucky and the source is big and renewable, that'll make all these other ideas look trivial. With enough magic, most problems become a matter of cost. "
"So why the Snow Wall?" Minmay asked finally.
"Actually, we need to look into the sea too," Cato said, "the reason is simple. Since no one has heard of any natural magic, outside of limited cases like the dewdrop tree, it clearly doesn't exist where people normally live. So you need to look where people don't live. Or look in ways that people don't normally do. "
Minmay nodded. Then he frowned. "What happens if we don't find any?" he asked.
Cato sighed, "then we either risk breeding monsters for magic or try this other idea I had. "
They gestured at him impatiently to explain.
"The main problem with using mages for power is that we don't have enough mages. That's why magic is expensive. Mages are trained to be good at magic, not just powerful. That training is expensive and personalized by masters for their apprentices," Cato turned to Landar, "remember our discussion about teaching large groups of people? You told me that they wouldn't learn enough to become full mages. But what if you didn't need fully trained mages or alchemists? What if you only want to teach them how to use one spell?"
Landar frowned, "if the spell is very simple and they were content with learning it much slower than any student. Maybe. "
"But you could do it, right?" Cato nodded at her, "if you had to teach thirty students how to channel mana and create a single spell, you might be able to do it in a month?"
"It would have to be a simple spell. They would be weak and wouldn't even be able to use it properly," Landar shot back, still frowning.
"That's all right, they'll get plenty of practice," Cato said, "the spell I'm thinking of has only one requirement, that the magic used in the spell does not degrade over time. At this time, we only have alchemical enchantments, can you turn an alchemy enchantment that does nothing into a spell and just teach that?"
Landar's frown deepened, "I don't like the idea that you want to turn alchemy into a rote thing that students do over and over again. Alchemy is more an art than the fixed formulas of battle magic. And battle magic isn't very fixed either. What you're asking me to do is to bastardize the entire process of learning magic into something... something flawed and useless. "
"But it can be done, yes?" Cato pressed her. She nodded reluctantly.
At this point, Minmay's eyes lit up and he leaned back into his chair with a quiet smile on his face. He knew where Cato was going with this already. Landar still couldn't see it though.
"Then this is certainly possible," Cato declared, then looked at Minmay, "Sir Chancellor, how many people are there in Minmay who cannot use magic?"
"There's perhaps a hundred thousand people in the Minmay region. Almost all of them cannot use magic," Minmay said, still smiling.
"Assuming all of them can channel enough magic as a third of a knight's power, and all of them use all their magic every day on an alchemical spell, and you collect half of everything produced as tax, how much magic would that be?" Cato said, acquiring a smile himself, "and with that much alchemical magic on the market waiting to be drained, I doubt the taboo will live very long. Nor the cost. Now imagine all of Ektal, nah, all of Inath was doing this. "
"A Mana Tax," Minmay nodded, stroking his chin, "I can see the merits. "
"It's not as good as a big source of natural magic," Cato warned, "in the end, it's still powered by people, but even if we set out to search for natural magic, we may not find it for a long time, if at all. A strong trade in stored magic will let us build up the infrastructure and skill to use a large windfall of magic efficiently, instead of letting it rot in a warehouse. Teaching shouldn't be a problem because your citizens will teach each other, they only need to know how to do one spell properly after all. "
Landar could only sigh. Minmay however smiled tiredly, "I listened to you expecting a better way to make steel and new farming ideas to try. I didn't expect you to also try to rewrite how our entire society will function. "
Cato raised an eyebrow. So he had seen that far ahead? Chancellor Minmay was yet another example of not to underestimate the intelligence of Inath people. Landar just looked confused, clearly economic consequences were not her forte.
"Imagine what happens if you teach a bastardized magic to everyone in Minmay and some of them decide to study further into say, battle magic?" Cato said, "Or that all the poor downtrodden peasants or unemployed beggars on the street learn how to use magic and can sell enchanted rocks to the alchemists for money? I don't think your peasants will stay peasants for very long. "
Landar and Chakim's jaws were almost hitting the floor. Landar's expression got more horrified the more she thought about it, muttering to herself, "and even if they only practice one spell, that's sort of a strength exercise. They will not be weak for long, even if they can only use one spell. And once someone solves the problem of how to make alchemical enchantments absorb other enchantments for power without an alchemist, you can make wands recharge! From peasants! And they'll have the money to buy fireball wands! The very thought of it!"
"That's an idea I never thought off, and it could make life rather complicated. On the bright side, it should solve the zombie problem quite nicely," Cato said, "You see, Sir Minmay, I did say I was saving best for last. "
Minmay shook his head and sighed, "I must say that you certainly aren't boring to be around. "
Cato smiled back, "I at least try to be mildly interesting. "
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NOTES:
If you were Minmay, which of these ideas / inventions would you focus on first?
Pick your top three, at least one from each of the two lists. Or if you think much slower progress is acceptable, you can pick more, but keep in mind that Minmay's funds are large but not unlimited. Note that I didn't list all the benefits or drawbacks of each, this is not a prediction, only what Cato has said in the long talk.
Farming - NPK fertilizers, soil pH, irrigation pump, seed plow
Steel - Bessmer Furnace, steel alloys, high/low pressure vessels
Re-inventing flat glass, printing press - telescopes, newspapers, consumer publishing
Machines - Water turbine, bicycle, re-inventing steam power (needs steel)
Magical Weapons - Improved bowgun, spellstaffs (multi-spell wands with central pool of power)
Capture a monster - ???
Standardized Process - interchangeable parts, quality control, SI units
Chemical and physics lab - basic electrical power (battery, wires, magnets), re-inventing gunpowder, Elemental Water chemistry
Microbiological lab - better alcoholic drinks, antiseptics, attempting to re-invent antibiotics (long), study of lifeforce
Investigation into types of elemental magic - ???
Investigation into Em magic - ???
Financial reform - limited company, fractional reserve banking, fiat currency (slow)
Compulsory education - Mana Tax
Derivation of mathematical constants - pi, e, the Normal distribution formulae (statistics)
Reminder of the Current Projects: (for you and me)
Tinned Food - searching for rubber (and other useful plants)
Paper Mill - water powered machinery, production line
Blast Furnace - new competition for Corbin branch Ironworkers
Iron Bricks - cement (synergy with Elemental Water composites), iron/steel rebar, iron/steel-framed construction
Expedition for Natural Magic