18 – Alchemist of Nothing (1)

Hearing that, I inadvertently took Helmut’s hand with both hands and said,

“Yes, Helmut, you worked hard! You did very well!”

Perhaps it was because I was so happy, Helmut replied with a dumbfounded expression.

“Yes, yes thank you. Lord.”

I must have liked it too much, Helmut would be embarrassed if I showed him this.

However, I tried to wipe my mouth as if nothing had happened before speaking.

“Guide me asap.”

“all right.”

“Oh, and… just bring you and a few trustworthy people. Because it’s important.”

Helmut tilted his head and said after hearing what I said he didn’t understand.

“all right. But do you have to go this far to run a factory like this?”

As the saying goes, if you want to produce something, it’s cheap and convenient to install it in a place where everyone can see it for security.

Especially in this world where there is no proper land transportation other than a cart.

So I smiled and replied.

“Yes, you are right. But I’m going to make something very important, so just follow me.”

Helmut couldn’t bear to say that, ‘What nonsense are you talking about?’ He looked like he wanted to ask again, but I tried to ignore his notice and hurried my steps.

Because I wanted to make the secret item I thought of as quickly as possible, even for an hour or even a second.

**

In the place where the tree in the forest that I said I didn’t like was cut down, a factory was built before I knew it.

Even if it’s a factory, it’s built next to a fairly large river, so it uses the power of flowing water instead of fossil fuel.

So, in order to use a lot of waterwheels, it was built in a long form horizontally along the waterside.

Inside, there was a space for washing radishes in running water, a revolving knife for easily slicing radishes into the desired size, a huge pot, and a brazier.

Looking at it this way, it looks like a huge kitchen rather than a factory.

Entering the gigantic kitchen, or rather, the factory, Helmut looked around the place with Balt and had a puzzled look on his face.

“No, Sir Balt. Why did the lord bother to clear the forest and build such a big kitchen? Maybe the lord… secretly wants to learn to cook here…”

Balt looked around the inside of the factory, which looked like a kitchen, and answered in a slightly creeping voice.

“Be quiet, Helmut. No matter how much you are a mercenary. Even if he sometimes acts strangely, he is a nobleman.”

“But, why don’t nobles sometimes do strange things by building houses or factories deep in the forest like this? Some of the people I served in the past built a factory in a place like this, and every night their lover…”

“There’s no way our boy would do that.. No, he’s 17 years old this year and hasn’t gotten married yet, so it could be..”

Suddenly, the two nodded their heads with a look of understanding.

I hit Balt on the back with the palm of my hand and said in a serious voice.

“Stop talking nonsense, Balt. Are all the serfs called outside trustworthy?”

“Yes, Bocchan. Of the second and third bestowed upon you by His Excellency the Count of Nantes, only those with nowhere else to go were selected.”

“What about the numbers?”

“About 20 people.”

“Let it in.”

**

Soon after, 20 serfs entered.

When they saw me and other tall people like Balt inside the facility, they quickly knelt down and looked up at us.

Despite this, there seemed to be no objection to the facility itself, perhaps because it was a facility they had created.

Rather, it was because they were looking around the various machines, as if curious about how the facility they had created was being used.

After all, it seems that everyone wants to know whether or not what they made works well.

I shouted out loud to get their attention.

“Everyone pay attention!!”

At the sudden loud noise, the serfs stopped looking around and began to pay attention to my words.

“From now on, you will work in this factory without farming from now on. I’m going to show you what this factory makes, so just do it. First of all, sleep there.”

The nominated serf answered with a startled voice.

“You mean that?”

“If you look to the left of this building, there will be a warehouse. Go to the warehouse and get that radish.”

“all right.”

And after some time, the serf brought a wagon full of soil-covered radishes into the factory.

The cart is full of radishes, so it must contain about 150 kilos.

“You worked hard, from now on move as I command.”

“Yes, lord…”

And after giving the serfs exact instructions on how to move, I left the sweltering factory for a while to get some fresh air.

Since I’m going to boil the peeled radish for several hours, I only need to go in the middle and indicate if the boiling temperature is right and when to add the lime.

“I thought I was going to live… I thought I was going to die of fat…”

“That’s right. It’s hotter than walking around in plate mail in the summer!”

“It was hotter than the Bigos Desert.”

The three of us complained that we thought we were dying from the heat, and then drank water from a cup that was flowing near the factory.

The glass of water he drank after escaping from the factory, which was like a steamer, was too sweet.

“Ha… I thought I was going to die. young master.”

“Me too. Balt.. I thought it was chicken steamed in a real steamer.”

“Ah, hahahaha… Master, in that sense, how about asking Ella to steam some chicken for you when you finish today’s work?”

Steamed chicken, although it doesn’t have soy sauce, it doesn’t taste like the one I had in Korea, but there are various seasonings here too, so it’s delicious to dip it in.

No, even if you just eat it with salt in that state…

Ha, since you said that, I want to eat chicken, I haven’t eaten even once since I reincarnated here…

Ah, no matter how delicious steamed chicken is, it’s a little lacking compared to chicken, so if you eat steamed chicken, you’ll only be eager to think about chicken.

“No, let’s eat a pig today. How about gathering all the mercenaries and roasting a whole pig?”

At those words, Balt and Helmut’s attention was focused.

“In normal times, they said they had to save money and ate only grilled chicken, but today, why is it suddenly…”

“Thank you, Bocchan. I’m going to oil the kids in a little while.”

“Don’t you guys eat a chicken once a week too? But what’s the matter?”

Then Helmut gave an unusual and strange answer.

“Brother, the chicken has little oil, so it is not oiled. I can grease it only when it is a pig or a cow.”

“… Catch a big one. Let’s salt the rest.”

“Long live the young boy!!”

**

After several hours, the result was finally created.

A hardened liquid about the size of a large gourd made by using a cart.

The tired serfs, and Helmut and Balt, were also looking at the solid, the color of corn tea, with dazed faces.

After hours of hard work, it must be shocking to have a radish that I have grown so hard to make into this shape.

But this is exactly the result I was looking forward to.

So Balt made up his mind and put on his gun and asked me.

“Bocchan… well…”

I cut off Balt’s words and spoke firmly.

“Balt, get the hammer and wedges.”

“…. young master?”

“Bring it quickly.”

Hearing that, Balt grumbled and brought a wedge and hammer that had been rolling around in the corner of the workshop.

As soon as I received it, I put a wedge on the solid and hit it with a hammer again and again.

Every time I hit it, the powder flew, and sometimes it even splashed on my face…

I didn’t care about that and kept hitting it.

After hitting it for about 5 minutes in a state of trance, it suddenly turned into small lumps and powder.

Of the small chunks, I put a bite-sized chunk into the mouth of the serf closest to me.

The serf suddenly went into a fit of fuss when I put a strange lump in his mouth.

But after a while, the serf chewed the lump a few times and said with a look of ecstasy and amazement:

“Bocchan, it’s sweet. It’s as sweet as honey.”

Then I quickly put the lump in my mouth and chewed it.

It was so hard that it felt like chewing on a rock with your teeth, but you could definitely feel the sweetness of the sugar.

It was the sweetness I hadn’t felt in a while, so I quickly chewed and ate the candy-like lump of sugar to savor the sweetness to the end.

And it was only after I had finished eating the lump of sugar that I realized that they were paying attention to me.

I looked at them and said with a more serious expression than ever before.

“What we made is sugar. Everyone, try it.”

At that, everyone started eating the sugar I crushed.

Enjoying the pure sweetness, they could not hide their smiles while putting sugar in their mouths.

Some even went from ear to ear.

It’s understandable, sugar is not produced at all in the Elain Empire, so it is a high-quality product that must be imported from Spain, where you have to travel by ship for one, two months or four months by wagon, so it is a valuable item that even nobles save.

Therefore, no matter how well you try, Balt, a country knight, Helmut, who leads about 30 mercenaries, and furthermore, the lowest serfs, excluding slaves in the manor, are ‘luxuries’ that are difficult to taste.

To put it mildly, 1 kilo of sugar is equivalent to two and a half silver coins.

Since one silver coin is enough for a serf for 10 days of food, it is roughly enough money for a serf to live for 25 days.

If you dare to convert it to Korean values, the real value is about 300,000 won.

Because of that, sugar will come with a more special meaning to them.

I applauded to get their attention.

Then, people immersed in the afterglow of sugar immediately turned to me.

“You have to make this. And never leak.”

Then I turned to them, put a knife to the throat of one of the serfs in front of me, and said:

A small amount of blood flowed from the serf’s neck where the knife touched, and the serf’s trousers began to get slightly damp as if he had peed.

With no regard for that, I solemnly declared.

“Ciel von Kreutel swears by the holy Deus and says: Those who reveal will be put to death on the wheel, and their families will also be put to death.”

At that, the serfs began to look at me in horror.

“In return, I will guarantee you who work in this factory a level of food, clothing and shelter worthy of an engineer. Just wait until I stake this. Soft cotton clothes, once a week, no, once every three days, your family will eat chicken, and sometimes I’ll let you grill beef. I will pay you a salary for that.”

At this, the serfs put on a puzzled expression.

It must be that serfs cannot imagine a luxurious life that only knights can enjoy.

But soon, they couldn’t hide their smiles as if they were looking forward to their future to enjoy an unimaginable luxurious life.

“Then I’ll be gone, you guys are workers in this factory from now on. Also, in order to keep my promise, I will make sure to eat pork and various dishes to my heart’s content. Balt, I’ll pay you later, so prepare more than enough food for them to eat.”

“all right.”

**

When I came out of the factory, Balt looked at me and asked in a voice that I couldn’t understand.

“Boss, no matter how much they are working people who produce sugar, why do you guarantee them the same amount of food, clothing and shelter as the knights? Aren’t you just a technician?”

I replied with a smile at those words.

“Only, the technician… does it really look like that?”

“Well.. but isn’t it a very special skill? In a nutshell, I moved quickly according to the instructions of the young master who had never held a carving knife before, and in a matter of hours the sugar was…”

Then Balt’s expression hardened.

I guess I knew how great my work was.

So I laughed nonchalantly and looked at Balt and Helmut alternately.

“Bald, about 150 kilos of sugar beets go into one cart. If you sell that in the market, it’s about 2 pieces of silver. But if you process it the way I said, you get 10 kilos of sugar, and if you sell it, you get 25 silver coins. It’s even easy to make. In other words, if the technology is leaked, dogs and cows will follow suit. To prevent that, you have to treat them well after all and keep them hidden as much as possible.”

Hearing that, Helmut asked with a serious expression.

“Your lord, did you really intend to… eliminate us?”

I said with a smile as if it was nothing.

“No, don’t you just want to commission me? Only workers are treated like knights, but what about you? At least I’ll treat you to the extent of killing and eating chickens every day. Aren’t you tired of wandering?”

Hearing that, Helmut pondered for several minutes before getting down on one knee.

It seems that he wanted to make himself a knight as well.

However, for my goal, I need a mercenary to act as a ‘training instructor’…

In order to get through the war in the future, we need examples of being recognized as ‘nobles’ for our abilities and achievements in this way.

I pulled out my sword and placed it on Helmut’s left shoulder.

“I appoint you, Helmut, as a knight on the basis of my rightful right as Ciel von Kreutel.”

“Yes, lord.”

“Master, just call me the young master.”

“Yes, Bocchan.”

**

And after a few weeks, after I had accumulated some sugar, I moved to sell sugar.

After entrusting the territory to another knight, he disguised himself as a merchant along with Helmut’s mercenary army.

Beyond the city where the Count of Nantes is staying, to the city of Hamburg, a huge free city.