Chapter 169: Flower Town Specialty Flower Soap

Liszt watched for a moment.

Without saying a word, he left Glanny's workshop—he couldn't understand what Glanny was doing at all.

"Take good care of your teacher. Pay special attention to the bottles and jars simmering on those stoves. Make sure they don't explode. Personal safety is far more important than work." Before leaving, he specifically instructed Charlie.

He was really afraid that Glanny might suddenly cause an explosion.

In magical research accidents, nine out of ten times, it was an explosion—explosions included, but were not limited to, various kinds of violent magic mishaps.

Why were there so few mages in this world?

One reason was that mage traditions were secretive and did not take on many apprentices. Another reason was that many died during magical experiments. No matter how much knights messed with their aura, they could only harm themselves, but when a mage had an explosive accident, both the teacher and apprentice might die.

If a mage was blown up, it wasn't a pity.

But if his Sea Calming Pearl was destroyed, that would be a huge loss.

This Sea Calming Pearl was intended for the *Flower*. As the *Flower* was about to embark on its first long voyage to explore Black Horse Island, it needed this pearl.

He also had another basketball-sized black pearl and a basin-sized black pearl, which were reserved for future new ships.

Especially the basin-sized black pearl.

When he went to sea in the future, this large black pearl would be his standard companion.

An ordinary small black pearl could disperse wind within five meters; according to Glanny's estimates, a Sea Calming Pearl could disperse wind within one hundred fifty meters.

However, even though the wind was dispersed, the waves would continue, and the ship would still be in danger, albeit much less.

A basin-sized black pearl, made into a Sea Calming Pearl, might be able to disperse wind within three hundred meters. This way, even if the waves were huge, without the wind to fuel them, their impact would be greatly reduced, significantly decreasing the threat to the ship.

Leaving Glanny's workshop, Liszt rode to the Workshop Area of the town to inspect the newly built workshops.

In the soap-making workshop,

Bounie was producing soap while also teaching several apprentices—the apprenticeship system was something Liszt had enforced, prohibiting serfs from hoarding their skills. Simultaneously, successfully training a qualified apprentice would earn a reward from the castle. With this system in place, artisans and workers took teaching apprentices much more seriously.

Previously, he had purchased the old blacksmith's forge in town.

He gave the old blacksmith several gold coins, more than he could earn in a lifetime, hoping the old man would train a batch of qualified blacksmith apprentices. However, after using up thousands of pounds of iron, not a single apprentice learned the blacksmithing craft.

This infuriated Liszt.

The blacksmith was a free citizen, essentially only required to pay taxes and not bound by the lord. But Liszt still found an opportunity to give him a thorough dressing-down. The memory of the delicious taste of whipped meat was deeply ingrained, and now the old blacksmith was diligently teaching his apprentices, eager to impart all his knowledge.

Therefore,

Carrots must be given, but so must the stick.

Only with carrots and sticks can the lord's will be well-implemented.

"The production of scented soap is stable, but the production of regular soap is limited by the availability of pig pancreases and the waste from experimental formulas," Bounie reported to Liszt during his visit.

"Hmm, keep researching. The current regular soap is almost as comfortable to use as scented soap."

Scented soap was made from soapnut pods mixed with flowers, with average cleaning effects but very expensive production costs, especially on Coral Island where soapnut trees were scarce. Only nobles could afford scented soap.

Regular soap (made from pig pancreases) used wood ash and pig pancreases, possibly other animal pancreases as well, with relatively low production costs and excellent cleaning effects.

However, the regular soap Bounie had developed still needed improvement.

Thus, the current scented soap workshop was operating at a loss, with production limited to supplying the castle and some officials and their families.

At this moment, Bounie suddenly said, "My Lord, while researching the formula for regular soap, I had an idea. I wanted to mix scented soap and regular soap to see if it would make a better soap. So I tried it, and found that the mixed soap formed quickly and felt very smooth when used, but I don't know if this is the kind of soap you want."

Mixed scented and regular soap?

Liszt thought this idea was quite clever: "Really? Bring me the mixed soap you've made and a basin of water."

"Yes, My Lord." Bounie quickly dispatched an apprentice to bring out a tray of light pink mixed soap. The soap was shaped into flat ovals, with three pieces, looking a bit rough.

Another apprentice brought over a basin of water.

Liszt dipped his hand in the water, then rubbed the mixed soap, immediately creating a lot of foam. The mixed soap felt very smooth and seemed to have excellent cleaning power. After washing, his hands felt very clean and had a faint fragrance.

Although this was not the soap he remembered, its effect was close to that of Safeguard.

"What is the production cost of this mixed soap? What is the ratio of scented soap to regular soap?" Liszt asked.

"Approximately one scented soap can be mixed with three regular soaps to produce four mixed soaps. However, I think grinding soapnut pods directly into powder might save more, reducing the cost of one mixed soap to forty copper coins."

"The cost of scented soap is one silver coin, right?"

"More than one silver coin. The bought soap powder is too expensive."

The cheapest scented soap cost two silver coins, or two hundred copper coins, with the soap powder alone costing one silver coin, making the total cost at least one hundred ten copper coins. If the cost of mixed soap could be reduced to forty copper coins, it could be sold at two silver coins, undercutting the market price of scented soap.

Even without using soap powder,

buying scented soap and making mixed soap would increase the cost to one silver coin, but it would still be profitable.

"Bounie, you've done well. The mixed soap is better than I expected. Continue researching regular soap, but start producing mixed soap immediately... we need a good name for it. Do you have any suggestions?" Liszt was confident in the mixed soap. Its feel during washing and cleaning power were superior to scented soap.

Even someone as picky as he thought it was good, and other nobles would surely be impressed. Nobles were willing to spend money on items that improved their quality of life.

"My Lord, under your guidance, I was able to develop the mixed soap. It should be named by you," Bounie respectfully said.

As one grows older, their words gradually become more artful.

Liszt was very pleased with Bounie's reaction: "Then let's call it Flower Soap. I will designate it as a specialty of Flower Town. Bounie, and your apprentices, you must keep the recipe for Flower Soap strictly confidential."

"Please rest assured, Lord!"

"Do a good job. I offer rewards for any invention that brings profit. Although soap hasn't been developed yet, Flower Soap is barely acceptable. Bounie, I reward you with ten silver coins, and each of your apprentices will receive twenty copper coins."

"Thank you, my lord!"

Bounie and his apprentices thanked him happily.

Liszt was also very pleased. While he couldn't say that Flower Soap would bring in profits comparable to the seafood business, he was confident it could dominate the current soap market and even be exported to other islands.

Most importantly, the transition of Flower Town from agriculture to manufacturing was beginning to show results.