The Golden Scale Trading Company.
Thaddeus's hand trembled as he signed the parchment.
He looked at the 500 bars of soap stacked in his warehouse. He had already sold ten bars to his clerks for 1 Gold Coin each. The profit margin was insane.
"250 Gold Coins," Thaddeus said, handing a heavy chest to Varg. "You are robbing me, Lord Rian. But... it is a pleasure doing business."
Rian didn't count the coins. He trusted Lara to do that.
"This is just the first batch, Thaddeus. Next month, I will bring 'Hard Soap' (scented). Have the money ready."
Rian walked out of the shop.
The air outside felt different. An hour ago, he was a broke exile. Now, he had enough money to buy a small castle.
Lara hugged the ledger to her chest, her eyes wide. "My Lord... 250 Gold. That is more than the annual tax of a Baron. We are rich."
"We are not rich," Rian corrected her, climbing onto the sled. "We just have 'Capital'. Money sitting in a box is useless. We need to convert this gold into Production Power."
He pulled out a new list.
"Lara, take 100 Gold. Go to the Livestock Market. Buy chickens. Lots of them. And cows. We need eggs and milk for the children."
"Varg, take 50 Gold. Go to the Slave Market. Don't buy laborers. Buy Masons (Stone workers) and Tailors. We have enough muscle; we need skill."
"And you, My Lord?" Lara asked.
Rian smiled mysteriously. "I am going to the Tanner's District. I need to find some... garbage."
The Tanner's District
The Tanner's District smelled of urine, rotting hide, and chemicals. It was where leather was processed. Most nobles wouldn't step foot here.
Rian walked through the mud, covering his nose with a scented cloth. He scanned the walls of the old stables and the manure pits.
He wasn't looking for leather. He was looking for White Crystals.
In a pre-industrial world, Saltpeter (Potassium Nitrate) wasn't mined in factories. It naturally formed on the walls of damp caves, stables, and dung heaps where urea decomposed.
[Ding! Daily Intelligence Report - Day 37 (Update)]
[1. Material Scan: Nitrates]
Target: The "White Mold" growing on the back wall of the old slaughterhouse.
Composition: 85% Potassium Nitrate.
Status: The locals scrape it off and throw it away as "Stone Salt".
Rian stopped at a rundown shack. An old man was scraping white, crusty powder off a stone wall and tossing it into a waste bucket.
"Old man," Rian called out.
The tanner looked up, surprised to see a noble. "My Lord? Careful, this is 'Wall Sweat'. It tastes bitter and ruins the meat."
"I have a use for it," Rian said, pointing to the bucket. "How much for all of it? And every bucket you can scrape from the stables nearby?"
The tanner blinked. "You want to buy... the wall scrapings? My Lord, it's trash. Take it for 1 Silver."
"I'll give you 5 Gold," Rian said.
The tanner dropped his scraper.
"But," Rian added, his voice serious. "You deliver it to my caravan in sealed barrels. And you tell no one what I bought. If anyone asks, say I'm buying 'Fertilizer'."
"For 5 Gold, I'll tell them it's dragon dust!" the tanner swore.
Rian watched the white powder being packed.
Saltpeter.
He already had Charcoal (from his furnace).
He could find Sulfur (from the volcanic vents near the mines).
Charcoal + Sulfur + Saltpeter = Gunpowder.
The Orcs were strong. The Empire had mages.
But Rian was about to introduce them to the God of Explosions.
The Shopping Spree
By sunset, the caravan had tripled in size.
Livestock: 200 Chickens clucked in cages. 10 Milk Cows mooed softly, tied to the sleds.
Agriculture: Sacks of Turnip and Cabbage seeds (hardy winter vegetables).
Personnel: 15 Skilled Slaves (5 Masons, 5 Tailors, 5 Carpenters). They looked confused but relieved when Rian told them they would be paid wages.
The Secret Cargo: 10 Barrels of "Wall Sweat" (Saltpeter).
Lara ran up to Rian, holding a bag of leftover coins.
"My Lord, we spent 200 Gold! We only have 50 left! Is it wise to spend so fast?"
Rian looked at the massive convoy.
"Lara, gold cannot lay eggs. Gold cannot build walls. Gold cannot blow up a mountain."
He climbed onto the lead sled.
"We are not saving for retirement. We are building a Kingdom. Let's go home."
The Return
The journey back was slow but triumphant.
When the caravan rolled into Fort Blackiron three days later, the entire population cheered.
Children ran to see the cows (animals they had only heard stories about).
The cooks cried when they saw the chickens. Eggs! Real eggs!
Grom walked out of his forge, wiping his hands. He saw the new Masons and Carpenters.
"Finally," Grom grunted, a rare smile on his face. "Now I can stop fixing doors and focus on the steel."
Rian didn't stop to celebrate. He ordered the barrels of Saltpeter to be taken to a secure, dry cave behind the castle, far from any fire.
"Elara!" Rian called the Alchemist.
"Yes, My Lord?" The old woman hobbled over.
"I have a new project for you," Rian whispered. "Forget the soap. I need you to purify these crystals. I need them white as snow."
"And then?"
"And then," Rian looked at the distant mountains where the Orcs lived. "We are going to make thunder."
[Ding! Technology Tree Updated]
[Path Unlocked: Black Powder Age]
[Current Progress: 33% (Charcoal: Yes, Saltpeter: Yes, Sulfur: Missing)]
Rian clenched his fist. The Sulfur was missing.
But he remembered Joran (the village head) talking about the "Rotten Egg Smell" in the sealed mine.
"Soon," Rian thought. "Very soon."
End of Chapter 28