Chapter 341: Chapter 338: Manufacturing Life and Death

Otto paused the meeting with Rorschach on the pretext of consulting his royal father. Meanwhile, Rorschach, completely confident, enjoyed the scenery and drank tea in the manor.

The Prince also took a small sample. Rorschach advised him not to carry it personally. Even though the nitrocellulose had been treated with paraffin wax for Dulling, there was no guarantee what kind of "surprises" a laboratory product like this might bring.

While they waited, Mr. Hasse asked Rorschach worriedly, "If the Royal Family really provides such a large sum of money, what about the new factory’s ownership structure...?"

"It’s all mine. Whether it’s twenty thousand or more, it can only be considered a deposit from the Kingdom," Rorschach said, making an outrageous statement as he sipped his tea.

"Huh?" Hasse was shocked. ’Who does business like this?’

Rorschach was slightly displeased with his manager’s attitude. "Mr. Hasse, is such a great invention of alchemy worthless? You should see Istani. I’ve been there myself, and I can tell you, their level of intellectual property protection is on another plane entirely..."

Hasse could only nod in agreement.

Horn also wanted to say something to Rorschach but couldn’t find an opportunity. Just then, he saw Prince Otto reappear, carrying a stack of blank documents and a bank draft.

"By order of His Majesty Albert, Rorschach Mage, you will receive ample funding. However, you will initially only receive an investment of six thousand Golden Eagle Coins from the Ludwig Clan, along with a charter for the land. Subsequently, the Kingdom will issue a special bond, a portion of which will be used for the factory’s construction.

"The creditors have the right to supervise how the funds are used. Therefore, the Royal Family and the creditors must be kept informed on all matters, including the factory’s construction progress, procurement, and personnel."

The Prince pushed the documents in front of Rorschach. "Sign them."

"Your Highness, I find two fallacies in what you just said." Rorschach shook his head. "The factory belongs to Basif. Therefore, all contracts, agreements, and other documents must be signed by the company’s legal representative, Mr. Angerhorn.

"Secondly, you said the Kingdom will be issuing bonds. That means the Kingdom is responsible to the creditors, so why should we be held accountable? I require your absolute trust in us. You are not to interfere in any of the factory’s affairs. Otherwise..."

Rorschach put down his cup, his face devoid of expression. "I can’t guarantee in what form smokeless powder will next appear within Bayern’s borders. Prince, you wouldn’t want it to be in the barrels of your enemies’ guns, would you?"

’Mages are honorless bastards!’ The Prince desperately wanted to curse out loud, but he still agreed to Rorschach’s demands.

His Majesty Albert had only given him one bottom line: the technology could not be allowed to appear outside of Bayern. ’As for money,’ the Prince thought, ’the Ludwig Clan has always been a generous patron of the arts. And the art of war is still an art!’

’Artists get on their knees and shake their fists to beg the Royal Family for money. Rorschach holds a forty-meter-long blade to my neck and screams, "Gimme the money! Pay up, and I’ll sell you this priceless sword. Honest price for all!"’

’And I’d have to reply, "What a fair deal, my good sir! I’ll take it! I’ll pay in cash..."’

Rorschach wasn’t a professional negotiator. After setting the tone, he left the specifics to the businessmen and started chatting with an astonished Bart. "When do you think those watchmakers will be finished? If those gentlemen don’t deliver the goods, I’ll be forced to continue commandeering your bathtub."

Bart desperately wanted to roll his eyes at Rorschach in front of the Prince. "If you like it so much, you can just have the bathtub! It’s not like I’m living there right now, anyway."

The great cash grab concluded with Mr. Horn signing documents until his hand ached. He felt so dizzy by the end that he nearly lost his footing.

At Horn’s insistence, he finally got an opportunity to speak with Rorschach alone.

"What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Rorschach couldn’t have the manager of Basif falling ill at such a critical juncture.

"No! Ah, I should have told you sooner..." Horn looked completely dejected, as if he were back in those miserable days on the brink of bankruptcy. This only made Rorschach more curious. He listened as Horn stammered:

"It’s all my fault. I should have told you long ago, Rorschach Mage. As of last month, Istani is no longer exporting saltpeter to us! I’ve calculated that to equip two full battalions with the new gunpowder, we’ll need at least ten tons of saltpeter. Given the current situation, it’s an extremely scarce resource. I’m afraid we couldn’t find that much even if we scoured the entire market..."

Horn, after all, was a practical man. He had considered the raw material problem that others had overlooked. Nitric acid was currently produced by refining nitrates with oil of vitriol, a process with a low yield. Just refining and purifying the oil of vitriol and nitric acid for the demonstration had taken him all night.

From his perspective, mass-producing it on the same scale as black powder was simply impossible.

"Actually, that was just for the demonstration. I intend to bypass the old methods entirely and manufacture nitric acid using raw materials from the air itself."

Horn wanted to say it was impossible, but this was a Mage speaking, so he obediently kept his mouth shut and let Rorschach finish. "About twenty percent of the air is... the ’Flammable Element.’ Most of what’s left can be used as a raw material for producing nitric acid.

"The new factory will be able to liquefy air and extract the component I call ’nitrogen.’ Not only can it be used to make nitric acid, but it can also be used to synthesize ammonia and create synthetic fertilizers."

Horn was captivated. "If what you say is truly achievable, then you’re a saint who can conjure grain from thin air!" But he immediately recalled that the factory was being built to produce high-performance gunpowder and explosives, so he added, "But this technology will also bring more death, and more efficiently..."

Rorschach patted the merchant’s shoulder. "Life and death always go hand in hand." He was reminded of Hiram Maxim’s rationale for inventing the machine gun. ’If a weapon is so powerful that it makes the enemy fear war, might that not reduce casualties?’

’There’s logic like that?’ Horn was bewildered. "Huh? Really?"

Rorschach nodded firmly. "If it doesn’t, it just means the weapon isn’t powerful enough."

...

The Bayern Royal Family believed that good things should be enjoyed quietly, amongst themselves. Especially with their delicate relationship with the Empire, there was no need to inform the ever-busy and frail His Majesty the Emperor that they might be upgrading their arsenal. What if they gave the poor man an angina attack from the shock?

Rorschach really wanted to say, ’I happen to have a miracle cure for angina that also, incidentally, explodes...’

In any case, the factory construction was to be kept low-profile. At Rorschach’s request, the site remained in Lansite, so it was officially registered as the "Fanta Phase Two Project," with the stated purpose of producing a "more effervescent ’explosive carbonated beverage.’"

"The Dwarf engineering team you requested is on its way. Airship regulations are getting stricter, so their journey will be delayed a bit," Bart explained to Rorschach, who was in the bathtub.

He noticed his friend had been spending more and more time in the bathtub lately. Apart from arranging work for the factory and drawing diagrams Bart couldn’t comprehend, Rorschach spent all his time in the tub, either meditating or groaning and rubbing his head.

Furthermore, the Magic Power he was controlling seemed to be growing. As a Caster, Bart could feel the ambient Magic Power rushing toward the Mage Tower when he was still a block away. When he used [Arcane Vision] to check, he was startled: ethereal Magic Array circuits had appeared on the street’s cobblestones.

He didn’t have to guess to know it was Rorschach’s masterpiece. The Magic Power from half the city was being driven toward the core of the array.

And his own bathroom served as a nexus. In the two-square-meter area above the bathtub, the Magic Power was so dense that mystical crystals were forming and drifting down like snowflakes.

Draped in this "snow," Rorschach muttered, "If Mr. Boles doesn’t finish that calculation core soon, you’re going to lose a friend... I could just bash my head against the wall right now!"

Fragments of an Ancient Mage’s memories were invading his dreams and even his waking hours. Although he gained knowledge, such as new Casting Techniques, the pain more often robbed Rorschach of his ability to think and learn.

Today was the deadline he had set with the watchmakers. Rorschach felt he couldn’t hold on in his current state much longer. The Soul separation had to be performed as soon as possible.