Chapter 152: The Mystery of Yeast...kinda.

Chapter 152: The Mystery of Yeast...kinda.

We need to prepare several things before you leave, my dear. Protective equipment and catalysts function over form, especially. I must also commission some mana robes for you and enchant them. Oh! Madam Saori, I remember you made that lightning cloth for my husband, correct? Would you consider some work?

My Lady, Miss Saori has already finished a brilliant dress out of mana threads for the young lady. The quality is of no concern.

Fabulous, Manuela. Josine, set it out for me to see it later.

Of course, Madam.

Mother why must you say all of this in front of Lady Hestia

Welp, parents embarrassing their children is universal, huh?

After Ellaines spar with her brother Jonathan, their mother Marianne guided us into her workplace, a room equipped for Marianne to perform her work as an enchanter and artificer. Jonathan left us to get a shower after Marianne gave us a tour through the room. She was now in the process of repairing Tasiannas catalyst, the orb Kiiro once resided in.

Ignoring Ellaines flustered face, Saori responded to Mariannes offer, Of course I will. Since Lady Ellaine will be joining us, preparing appropriate equipment for everybody is essential.

Fantastic. Let us do this once everybody arrives in Griffonpeak, since Ellaine must focus on her preparation to return to the academy. I do not know what excuse I will give the academys administration to grant Ellaine leave from her studies yet, but I will think of something. Foremost, she must return to school before she may join you, Marianne stated.

Despite recruiting Ellaine to Aurora, she couldnt join us on our journey just yet, as she had a responsibility to at least show up at the academy and announce her departure. Just imagine what rumors would end up starting if Ellaine were to suddenly disappear? I mean, the stigma of giving up your succession rights without a fight was already causing her trouble, the last thing I wanted to do was to cause people to think she was also an academy dropout.

So, it was decided that Ellaine would go to Griffonpeak with her brother before officially joining Aurora. As we didnt have any more plans in Firwood, outside of saying our goodbyes to Lorena, Zeather, and the dwarven blacksmiths, it was also time for us to leave Firwood, too. Ellaine had a ton to catch-up on, and the engine of my EXP carry bus is ready to roll.

Alright, this will take a while. Manuela. Josine. My daughter requires a bath after playing outside, so please be so kind and help her clean herself up. Marianne was right that Ellaine sweated quite a bit during the spar, and she hadnt changed out of her gambeson yet. She was quickly escorted back to her room.

As they were about to leave, Tasianna and Svena returned from the kitchen with a cart full of snacks and tea, much to Ellaines dismay. Her forlorn gaze, as she watched all the snacks and tea move away from her, was a sad sight, but I quickly recovered once I caught a whiff of the assortment of snacks, causing the glutton inside me to be awakened.

Lady Hestia, we have returned. Which tea would you like to drink today? Svena asked me as she opened the tea box. After I chose mine, Svena served Marianne, in the meantime, Tasianna placed some snacks on a table beside Mariannes workstation.

Oh, what a treat! Lady Hestia, have I already mentioned how much I loved the pastry you presented to us during our first meeting? Absolutely scrumptious, Marianne sang praises for the snacks laid before her, before taking a bite of some cake. Mhmm, this is just enticing me to eat more! Thank you, Lady Hestia, and compliments to the pastry chefs for this creation. I would like to continue enjoying this, but I should get back to work.

Marianne then took out a monocle from her drawer, which looked similar to the one the High Bishop had, and put it on. She then picked up Tasiannas orb and began analyzing it, inspecting the crack in detail and the overall form. Since making catalysts and other magic tools was a specialty for alchemists, I didnt expect Marianne to offer to help, since I Ellaine said her mother wasnt an alchemist.

My elder sister is my family's [Alchemy] specialist, and I managed to learn how to repair catalysts from her, since having an alchemist repair anything would be expensive. Andre was elated to hear that when I told him, since none of his relatives are alchemists. Speaking of, I heard that Miss Tasianna began working on creating potions just recently. How was your experience, Miss Fairy? Marianne asked while her eyes were glued on the catalyst.

Hard work, she replied immediately before elaborating on it. Grinding ingredients, making sure the flame is at an appropriate temperature and also having the correct alcohol for the tonic. It also takes patience until the mixture finishes brewing, similar to cooking or tea making, but failure during alchemy can result in an explosion, or so Ive heard.

That is right. My sister described alchemy similarly. Marianne then placed the blue catalyst down and directed us to her enchanting table. Meanwhile, enchanting requires less labor. Inscribing enchanting formulae and then implanting them onto mana clothing with mana is less arduous. Due to the hard work, alchemy, runesmithing, and manatech creation are less popular amongst us nobles. Even amongst Morgiana and Myrddin nobles, enchanting and custom spell creation is considered the fairer practice.

Elves practice alchemy a lot, Tasianna remarked.

Marianne nodded with a wide smile, holding back a chuckle with skill. What irony, correct? We wish to be similar to elves, but our culture still developed differently despite bordering Saelariel. Alchemy is a commoner practice, is sadly a common attitude among the lazy and the martial nobles. Thank goodness I became an artificer like my father and learned some alchemy, otherwise the expenses for manatech and catalyst repairs would give Andre a headache.

I can kinda imagine Marianne putting on a technicians outfit and just going around the mansion repairing stuff, he he.

Alright, let us begin, Marianne then pulled out an alembic and a pot before she began grinding some white rock in a mortar. The composition of a catalyst requires some fairnite to prevent mana from escaping the orb outside of the mages control. We then mix in arcanuit, the most essential mineral component of a mana battery to store the mana. Most arcane ores can absorb mana, but they cannot store it for a prolonged time or in large quantities since they would just explode. Even eoriant, the dwarven alloy between steel and euorinium, isnt suitable for a mana battery, but its a better material for weapons and armor since it far exceeds arcanuit in toughness.

How tough? I asked.

If you crack a mana battery, the escaping mana alone causes the alloy to shatter and explode. Thats how fragile arcanuit is, unfortunately. But they have such a long shelf-life that prevents them from degrading like eoriant when they store mana. If the dwarves could prevent mana batteries from exploding from just a crack, then it would be revolutionary, Marianne lectured us while she was diligently grinding all the materials which included monster and plant materials needed to repair the orb. Oh my, oh my. Goddess Zephira has blessed this orb. This is such an honor for somebody like me to repair it. I should make sure this doesnt break.

She then placed the ground materials into the alembic, added some potion-making alcohol into it, gave it a good shake, and lit up the bunsen burner. Alright, the gel requires some time to make, so in the meantime Lady Hestia, the payment, please~

Regardless if I was royalty or not, good work deserves payment, especially when it required Marianne to use up her alchemical ingredients. Thankfully, it was a pretty easy deal to fulfill for me.

I took off my white mage robe and activated [Humanization]. Instead of transforming back into a dragon or my minor form, I simply brought out my wings. Glistening crimson red, it was good to see my wings healthy and strong despite not using them as often as I wanted.

Oh my, they are quite large! Marianne exclaimed, worried I would knock something over with the sudden appearance of my wings. Still, she stopped worrying the moment she inspected the scales on my wings. So this is [Humanization]. I heard that the strength and durability of a dragons scales were a testament to their strength and age. Logical, since Vitality and Wisdom exists, but its also because of their tremendous mana.

My body was literally a tank full of concentrated mana that was strong enough to affect plant growth and also produced strong potions through my blood. It really wouldnt surprise me if my scales were drenched in mana, especially since most monster parts retained mana after harvesting them off a monster corpse.

Speaking of my wings, I should also ask Marianne about it, even if she couldnt do it. Lady Marianne, would it be possible for you to repair my mana paths?

Unfortunately, she shook her head. Sadly, I do not have the credentials of a surgeon, neither do I have the tools to begin such an operation. I do remember from your ID copy that the mana paths around your wings were injured? If you wish, I can ask Lady Duchess Morgiana to heal you. She might not consider herself as talented as the elves, but she is still a capable mana surgeon.

Really?! That would be fantastic! Another reason to go to Griffonpeak on top of all the other reasons. In a good mood, I pulled out some of my shedded scales from my storage and handed them over to Marianne. Here you go, Lady Marianne. They are younger scales, but they are mine nonetheless.

The payment for Tasiannas catalyst repair was some of my scales. I shed them a while ago and basically treated them like fallen hair, so I didnt really care about them.

Thank you very much, Lady Hestia. They arent enough for scale mail or a weapon, but I bet they will be good enough for alchemical stones, Marianne commented, noting that she wanted to present them to her children as presents. One for Jonathans graduation and the other for Ellaines departure. Oooh, they grow up too fast. Haaaaaaaaaaa... It was a deep sigh.

We then spent some time enjoying some tea and pastries while we waited for the alchemical mixture to finish. Once it was done, Marianne poured the content into a beaker, then added the catalyst. She asked Tasianna to pour her mana into the beaker, mentioning that since the orb was made with faefolk mana initially, the magic of a strong fae like Tasianna could further strengthen the catalysts durability.

Tasianna frowned for a second, probably remembering how Davison placed Kiiro inside this orb while it was still an onnikai. Was that why the description of the orb mentioned it was drenched in the mana of a rage-filled onnikai? It would make sense. Regardless, Tasianna didnt let that thought stop her as she pressed her hand on the beaker, pouring some of her mana into the gel covering her catalyst.

The gel suddenly began glowing blue. Marianne assured us this was the correct reaction and asked us to continue having patience. That reminds me, Andre asked me to buy the yeast recipe from you, Lady Hestia.

Hmm? Your husband, Lord Helvas? And I instantly frowned as I remembered Andres Helvas, Ellaines father. His first impression wasnt good.

Lady Hestia, Svena nudged me, reminding me that I was inside his house and living here for the moment.

Ohoho, there is no need to worry, Svena. I can agree that my husbands behavior was a bit rough for Lady Hestia during our first meeting. He truly only had the mind of a merchant when he saw poor Miss Tasianna. Even forgetting how thorny our relationship is with the elves and fairies. He only had eyes on your yeast, Marianne excused her husbands behavior during the dinner a few months ago. Nevertheless, I would ask you to forgive him for the moment, if you would please. This deal would benefit House Helvas as a whole, since yeast is desired by all nobles and wealthy merchants to be a scarce luxury until we can re-establish our relationship with the elves. Even then, Artorias wishes to be able to produce yeast independently if possible.

Yeah, I understand. I reflected on that day, and I really have to say that Lord Helvas was greedy. Considering he wanted Tasianna so much, even to the point of risking angering me, a dragonewt noble, the value of yeast must be immense. I still couldnt understand how Artorias had to rely on the elves for yeast since it was right in front of their noses.

Yes, as an otherworlder, your knowledge is unique. A value cannot be placed on you or Madam Saori purely for this reason. Please, I ask you to sell us your information on yeast.

I nodded and pointed at Saori. It was time for her to do her thing. Lady Marianne, if I may ask, how valuable are enchantments? If there was something to gain from this deal, then Saori would know it better than me.

Do you mean the cost? Quite a bit, since enchantments are more flexible than armor. It can be worn without armor, prioritizing appearances, or it can further improve defenses and apply stat increasing effects while you are wearing armor. Since enchanting requires training and its more exclusive than blacksmithing, enchanters can demand higher prices, Marianne explained. Hmm, can I assume you are interested in enchanting your clothing, Madam Saori?

Yes, we require it for all three of us. Lady Hestia also requires a catalyst.

Hmm, that is acceptable. I can do that for you, yes. Also, if you require enchantments so much, I believe it would be best if I accelerated Ellaines enchanter and artificer training before she leaves. At least to the point that shes competent and reliable. She can improve on her own if her base is solid.

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Friday, April 16, 2021 3:08:53 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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