After the long chat with Cornell, Evan was feeling tired and sleepy. He was tired more mentally than physically. He fought his urge to sleep right where he was sitting. He was not going to leave the library without getting some books. He searched through the books and luckily found the ones he wanted. There were many books on the rune magic. It was a large collection. He took them and returned to his room. He placed the books on the table and then hit the sack immediately.
Next morning he got up early since he had gone to bed quite early last night. He opened the window to let the fresh air in. The sun had yet to rise. When he got up the runic magic lights immediately lit up. Seeing the practical application of the rune magic in front of him was quite the motivation for him to study the runic magic. He sat down on the large sofa placed beside his bed.
He started studying the book
In the beginning, there were basic mana theories which he had already studied. He did not want to waste time on the basics again. He searched the index and jumped straight to the runic magic techniques.
-Yes, that's the stuff I want. Now let's see.
After one hour
-Oh man, why is this so hard, where is the explanation. There are these runic circuits pictures on every page
He was having difficulty understanding the construction of runic circuits. He studied for one and half hour, but still could not understand much about creating runic circuits. Seeing that he was getting nowhere he did not continue to waste his time. Rather he decided to have someone teach him.
While He was still lost in his thoughts the same beautiful maid came to his room.
"My lord here is the breakfast, " she said in her enchanting voice.
After seeing her, his mood got better.
She was gorgeous no matter how many times he looked at her.
Just like the last time, he was staring at her but realized it quicker this time.
-I can't help it, it's not my fault that she is so beautiful.
He tried finding an excuse.
"Should I say something?"
"Ahem," he cleared his thought.
"Thank you for the meal, " said Evan.
She had a puzzled expression on her face. She did not expect Evan to say thank you to her. She had never heard a nobility expressing thanks to a commoner before.
She placed the breakfast in its usual place.
As she was going to leave the room,
"Listen"
"Tell Cornell to come and meet me in my room," said Evan.
She acknowledged with a slight bow and left the room.
After she left, Evan brought his attention to the bandit situation. It was the very reason why he called for Cornell. Although he told Cornell to accept the demands, it was just to buy some time. There was no way he would fulfil the demands of the bandits. If he did that his people would starve to death during the upcoming winter. So, the war was the only option left to him. He had already decided. He was going to kill them.
To do that he needed a strong army. So, he had to strengthen and expand his army.
Time was the biggest constraint here. The harvest was about a month away So he had only that much time left to execute whatever plan he had in mind.
He wanted his soldiers to fight, but not with those useless swords and spears. He wanted them to fight with guns. He wanted to change the very definition of war in this world. He wanted to show this world what a real war was?
And he had the skills to back it up.
In his past life, he served two years in the army before started working work as a Weapon engineer in a Defense Research and Development Organization. So basically he was a weapons expert. He knew the ins and outs of all the handheld weapons like the back of his hand.
Even after all this, he knew that it was easier said than done. He had to start from scratch, from the very basics. He needed to work out the way to acquire the necessary materials required to build the weapons. So he decides to move step by step.
The first step was black powder. Without it, he knew he would not be able to move forward.
He had the memory that in this world an Alchemist was the one who dealt with chemicals and medicines. And a blacksmith was the one who dealt with the forging of weapons.
He needed alchemists to make gunpowder and blacksmiths to build the gun.
So he called Cornell to get some insights on these two professions.
Cornell entered the room and spoke in his usual manner.
"Good morning my lord, you called for me "
"Uncle Cornell good morning, please have a seat," said Evan with a smile.
Cornell sat down on the sofa.
"Uncle Cornell, are there any alchemists in our city?"
Evan surprised Cornell yet again. Cornell had yet to come in terms with the decision made by Evan regarding the bandits. He was expecting the discussion would be about the bandits' demands, but it was not. Still, Cornell decided to wait until the end of the meeting to ask Evan.
"My lord, there is one."
" There is the Alchemist guild affiliated to your family."
-Said, Cornell.
"Ah, there is" "That's great, "
Said Evan excitedly.
"How many Alchemists are there in the guild"
"Around 15" - said, Cornell.
"Why so less?" -asked Evan.
"There used to be over 100 alchemists at one point in the guild, but now they are down to 15, " said Cornell.
"Where did the rest go, " said Evan.
"Due to the war and insufficient opportunities in the city, the alchemists left the guild and migrated to other cities to join the guilds there." -said, Cornell.
"Hmm"
"Is there also a blacksmith guild?"
-Asked Evan.
"Yes, my lord, there is"
" What’s their number?" said Evan.
"Their situation is different from the alchemist guild's"
"Oh how is that"
Evan was curious.
"In blacksmith guild almost all the blacksmith are dwarves. Late Lord Charles offered the dwarves a place to live in the city half a century ago. Since then they had been living in the city. The dwarves swore their allegiance to the Shelton family and decided not to leave the city even during the war. The dwarves assisted the army during the war and providing them with the highest quality weapons."
There are about 50 blacksmiths in the guild”
Cornell explained.
"Is that so? That's wonderful, " Evan said with a smile.
Evan was happy since more blacksmith meant more guns.
First, he needed to meet the head of the alchemist to determine whether they had the required material to make black powder or not. Without it, the guns would be just empty shells.
"Cornell I need to have a meeting with the head of the alchemist guild?" said Evan.
"My lord, do you need medicine, I will get it for you if..." said Cornell with a worried face.
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"I am absolutely fine Cornell you need not worry "
"My purpose for meeting with the guild master is something else"
Said Evan with a soft smile.
"As you wish, my lord, I will straight away send for the guild master"
Cornell said promptly.
"No need to call him here, I will go visit myself"
"But my, lord..."
Cornell tried to say something, but Evan cut in.
"And we are going right now, prepare the carriage, I will go after finishing the breakfast "
Cornell did not speak further. He decided to wait for the right time.
After finishing his breakfast even left the room and headed to the palace gate where the carriage was ready to go.
Along with Cornell, he headed towards the alchemist guild. This also gave Evan the opportunity to have a look around the city. As the carriage paced towards the guild, the view of the city started unfolding in front of Evan.
In the beginning, it was the usual hustle bustle of the city, but as his carriage passed by the western part of the city Evan saw the gruesome condition. There were cracks all over the roads with weed growing through them. The houses were also in no better condition. People could be seen begging on the roadsides and their number was significant. Evan did not know that people were starving in his city.
Evan felt something was missing Since the last harvest was not so bad that these many people had to starve.
"Was the last harvest, so bad that these people have to beg on the road for food?" Evan asked Cornell.
Cornell answered with a helpless face.
"My lord, The harvest was not bad rather it was good. The problem is there are some money-minded people who do not sell their crops in the market after the harvest"
Evan narrowed his eyes.
"Then what do they do with those hoarded crops "
Evan was curious to know the reason.
"They sell the crops after the prices rise"
"There are some who sell the grains in the black market for large profits."
Evan did not know what to say anymore. It was obvious that these malpractices were there due to his incompetence. He was the sole decision-maker in the city.
Cornell could do nothing but made him aware of the situation.
-Well, better late than never.
"Cornell, we have wheat stock for the palace, don’t we?” said Evan.
"Yes my lord we have"
"Keep the required amount and distribute the rest to the starving people,” said Evan.
"As you wish, my lord" Cornell said with a smile.
Cornell saw the concern on Evan's face for these people. He was touched by Evan's decision. He did not know what had changed Evan so much.
"Also, uncle please do not use the honorifics when there are just two of us "
Cornell hesitated initially but then nodded.
Soon the carriage reached the alchemist guild. The guild building was bigger than what Evan expected.
Evan headed towards the entrance of the guild with his knights escorting him. When people on the street saw the emblem of the Shelton family on the knight's chest armour in no time they realized that the young man was the lord of the city. Some people stopped whatever they were doing and started gawking. The guards stationed outside the guild silently made the way.
Evan gave a quick look at his surroundings and then gestured all except one to stand guard at the entrance. He did not want to make a scene inside the guild.
As he entered, he was greeted by a pretty young lady.
----------------------------------------
Shelda had just recently joined the guild as a registrar. She was quite a charming young lady. Although she was not a mage, she was very good at finance.
As she was looking over some papers on her desk, she heard a commotion outside. She immediately went to see what it was all about. On the way to the entrance, she encountered a young man accompanied by two people. At first, she got confused but then shocked to see the emblem of the noble family. The young man was none other than the lord of the city.
She quickly got herself together and welcomed the lord with a beautiful smile.
"Welcome to the Alchemist guild, my lord"
"My name is Shelda "
"How may I help you"
----------------------------------------
Evan noticed the beautiful girl.
-Beautiful but still a far cry from my maid.
And Evan was somehow proud of it.
Cornell, who was standing beside Evan spoke
"Lord Evan wants to meet the Guild master Hendrik"
Guildmaster is not in the guild right now, but he will be returning soon"
"Would you mind waiting in the guest room, my lord"?
Shelda responded.
Evan did not have time to waste. So he just got straight to the point.
"Does the Guildmaster have a laboratory of some kind?"
Even asked Shelda.
"I am sorry my lord, I do not understand what a laboratory is. " Shelda had never heard of it.
"Ah... I mean the place the where the Guild master usually works "Evan clarified.
"Oh… you mean master's workshop " side said with a smile.
"Yes, yes the workshop, " said Evan.
" I want to have a look. So, will you lead the way? "
Evan did not even ask whether he was allowed to go to the workshop or not.
Before meeting the guild master, he wanted to see the workshop to get a better idea of this world's advancement in alchemy.
Shelda was dumbfounded after hearing Evan's request.
"My lord... No one except the mages is allowed to enter the workshop"
She said with an apologetic expression.
"Well then, have an apprentice accompany me to the workshop, problem solved?"
Evan said with a wicked smile. He knew it solved nothing.
Shelda was unable to understand Evan's stubbornness. And she was not the only one, Cornell was thinking the same. When she looked into Evan's eyes, she realized that there was no other way around it. She had to do what Evan wanted.
"My lord, please excuse me for a moment," she said.
After a few moments, she came back with a man.
"My lord, this is wizard Carl, he will accompany you to the workshop "
"My lord " Carl bowed respectfully
"Please follow me"
Evan and Cornell followed Carl to the workshop.
The workshop was in the guild. Soon they reached the workshop 's door. It was closed.
Carl opened it by activating the runes on the door using his mana. As they entered the runic lights activated and then evan finally saw the workshop.
The workshop did not look like a modern laboratory at all. There were a number of containers with runic circuits printed on them. It was kind of weird. He did not waste any more time gawking. He turned to the carl and said
"Carl, is there something like yellow powder in the workshop"
"Something in powdered form and yellow in colour"
Evan did not say sulphur since here it may be known by a different name. So, he just gave its physical description.
Carl was hesitant to tell Evan anything. He was against this idea of bringing Evan to the laboratory in the absence of Guild master in the first place, but he had no choice since Evan was the lord of the city.
Seeing Carl hesitating Evan repeated in a stern voice.
"Carl, I asked you something.."
"My lord, there is but it is light yellow "
Carl replied hesitantly.
"Just show me whatever it is " Evan was very impatient to find whether it was sulphur or not.
Carl brought a container with runic circuits printed on it. Carl channelled some mana into the runes and the container and opened it.
The moment Evan saw the yellow powder he knew it was sulphur.
Sulphur was not poisonous by itself, but only when it reacted with oxygen to make SO2 (Sulphur Dioxide).
SO2 was highly toxic to humans. That's why Evan thought his chances of finding sulphur were very low in this world.
Evan was very excited since now he needed just one component and that was Saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate) and Finding it was not hard.
He had a fuzzy memory of a white substance that was used by the farmers in this world to increase the fertility of the soil.
Coincidently Saltpetre was good for the fertility of the soil. So he just hoped that it would be Saltpetre.
"Carl...tell me one more thing, the white colour, substance that farmers use for their crops."
"You would not have here in the workshop, would you?"
-Please say yes.
" Yes, my lord... We do have it...We are the ones who create it in our workshops "
Yes yes yes...
"Show me that one too, " Evan said excitedly.
Carl complied.
With shaky hands, Evan touched the powdered substance.
No doubt It was Saltpetre.
Now black powder was within his reach.
To make black powder he needed three things.
Powdered Sulphur
Powdered Saltpetre (Potassium Nitrate)
Powdered Charcoal
He had two of them and making the third one was a cakewalk for him. He just needed to burn some wood and collect the residue as charcoal.
-Black powder… you are mine now
Evan laughed with a weird smirk.
He quickly explained the way to make charcoal to Carl and then started breaking down the powdered sugar and saltpetre into very very fine powder.
He did it because the particle size of the powder determines the quality of the black powder.
The finer the better.
This whole time Cornell was standing beside Evan dumbfounded. He had no idea what was going on. He had never seen Evan doing something so single-mindedly.
When Carl brought the charcoal Evan was also ready with the Sulphur and Saltpetre.
Evan carefully mixed the three components in a specific amount.
75% potassium nitrate
15% charcoal
10% sulfur
The mixing process was sped up by the runic circuits which Carl created. With the help of the runes, the process became much faster and simpler.
After doing all that the end result was a black and powdery substance. Evan carefully placed the black powder in a container.
Cornell and Carl were very curious to know what this thing was.
Evan could see the impatience on both of their faces.
Evan had no desire to hide the processing of powder from the Carl or any other alchemist of the guild. These mages had already proved their loyalty by sticking with the guild despite the bad condition of the city.
He too wanted to show them that he trusted the guild.
He was going to teach them the process since These alchemists would be making the black powder in future. So with the presence of Carl there now he had one less work to do.
He took a paper and put some black powder on it.
Carl lighted the paper and then they all took a few steps back.
As the fire reached the black powder, it ignited in a flash with blinding light. It was over in the blink of an eye.
Both of them were shell-shocked. It was something they had never seen before even in that magical world.
With gleaming eyes, Evan was enjoying their expressions.
-Ha-ha, this is just the start wait till you see the other things.
None of them noticed that a bald old man in white make robes skin was standing in the doorway with his mouth wide open.
Evan noticed the dazing Guild master and greeted him.
Well, actually it was not his first time meeting the guild-master.
The guild master Hendrik used to be his teacher.
"Evan what Sorcery was that and how can you use magic I thought you…"
Hendrik asked with a shocked expression.
"Master Hendrik, this is no magic, this is just simple alchemy"
He used the word alchemy instead of chemistry. When Evan explained the process, the old man was completely speechless. He did not know what to say.
"How in the world was one supposed to know that mixing those three substances in a defined amount would create something so different" Cornell pondered.
Hendrik always used the method of hit and trial and there was no way for him to predict resultant substance.
"How in the world did you predict the final substance’s properties, " asked Hendrik and then looked towards Cornell for answers.
But Cornell had no idea either, he was just as clueless as Hendrik.
"Well, why don't we sit and comfortably talk about this Master Hendrik" s
"I will surely explain this to you"
Evan said with a smile.
Evan and Hendrik went to Hendrik's office. Evan explained some about chemistry and as expected Hendrik was not convinced by his claims. So Evan jotted down a few simple reactions and gave it to Hendrik for the practical test in the workshop.
Evan told the Guild master to come and meet him after testing the reactions.
When Hendrik asked where did he get all this, Evan cleverly answered
"I have got my hands on ancient books of alchemy"
Of course, Hendrik did not buy it.
But he did not press for answers either.
Hendrik was happy since Evan had agreed to lend him those books.
Before leaving the guild Evan said with a grave tone
"Master Hendrik, except you and the other 14 mages nobody else is allowed to know about Substance"
“And I mean it “
Hendrik nodded sincerely.
----------------------------------------
Evan and Cornell returned to the palace. Evan had brought the black powder with him. As they were going upstairs, Evan saw the maid from the corner of his eye. He could not help but take a look.
-Come to think of it, I do not even know her name.
"Cornell. Who is that maid?"
"I mean... she has been bringing me breakfast for the past few days. I never saw her before that "
"I do not even know her name"
Evan said hesitantly.
Cornell noticed Evan's hesitation and chuckled. He found it funny that Evan did not even flinch while talking to the Archmage Hendrik but Now he hesitated while asking a girl's name.
Evan was trying so hard to justify why he wanted to know her name.
"Her name is Eliza Austin"
Cornell said with a smile.