Chapter 72
Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: Soap
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Isolating the patients,
Using folk remedies for the mild cases,
Diluted potions for the severe ones,
Distributing boiled food on top of that,
And ramping up soap usage,
All the infectious disease patients spreading through the refugee camps had fully recovered.
"Waaaaah!!"
"Waaaaah!!!"
The Second Refugee Camp.
The place hit hardest by the epidemic.
I stepped up onto the makeshift platform.
"Waaaaah!!!"
"Long live the Heir!!!"
Was it because we'd overcome the crisis?
The cheers directed at me were deafening.
"A dire crisis known as the epidemic had befallen us. Many fell ill, and even more endured hard times. But we prevailed."
It had been a grueling period.
To beat back the epidemic, I'd been running around nonstop.
And I'd poured a fortune into it.
"For your sakes, I stayed up nights, throwing myself into soap production..."
How tough had it been making that soap?
There'd been crisis after crisis,
And I'd overcome them all.
The end result was that fragrant soap.
A precious invention born of my effort, time, and money.
But...
"Long live the Earth Goddess!!!"
"Thank you, O God!!!"
The moment I mentioned soap,
The crowd started invoking the Earth Goddess.
"Waaaaah!!!"
"O God!!!"
"Earth Goddess!!!"
A little time passed,
And the cheers began to die down.
"Ahem. So anyway. I drew up the designs for the fragrant soap and..."
"Goddess!! Thank you for revealing the soap-making method!!"
"You bestowed the recipe upon the Heir!!"
That recipe I'd sketched myself.
After dozens of failed attempts.
My creation.
"So!! I made that soap!! And brought it to you all..."
"You granted us soap through the Heir!!!"
"All glory to the Earth Goddess!!"
"Thank you, Goddess!!"
I'd tried to redirect the narrative,
But it was no use.
They were already convinced the soap was a gift from the goddess.
I quietly stepped down from the platform.
Even as I did, the people kept praising the divine without pause.
"Leaving already?"
"Come on. Whether I'm here or not, they'll just keep calling for the goddess anyway."
A few days after the epidemic had run its course,
Russell came to see me.
"My lord!"
"Russell!"
"You made the fragrant soap, my lord!?"
"That's right, I developed it!!"
Finally, someone who recognized me.
I grabbed Russell's hand
And sat him down in a chair in my office.
I took a seat beside him and launched into a detailed account of just how arduous the soap-making process had been.
"...Getting the vegetable oil wasn't easy at all, you know. ..."
As I explained, I watched Russell's reactions.
He was listening intently.
As expected of Russell.
"...I was agonizing over how to make it when I ended up at the red-light district one night."
"You went to the red-light district, my lord?"
"No, no, I just happened to pass by. Anyway, that's not the point. I saw a lantern, and get this..."
I recounted how I'd discovered the black tree oil.
"...Once I had all the ingredients ready, turns out the aging process takes six months? So I went to the Gray Mage Tower and..."
I went on at length about all the hardships I'd endured to produce the soap.
It had been such a struggle, yet all the credit had gone to the Earth Goddess.
Still, having at least one person like Russell acknowledge me was a relief.
Even if it was just one guy who appreciated my hard work.
But...
"So, what's the unit cost?"
"Huh?"
"Nobles and commoners alike keep inquiring about buying soap."
Great news.
Really great, but first, about my efforts...
"My lord, can we mass-produce it? How much time and cost?"
"Russell, hold on..."
"No time to waste. Everyone's treating soap as a gift from the goddess. While public opinion is this favorable, we need to aggressively expand into the market."
"No..."
"My lord."
"Sigh... Fine, we should seize the opportunity while it's here..."
I'd worked my butt off, but no one gave me credit.
But... so what?
Thanks to the Earth Goddess, soap's image had improved.
Not just a little—tremendously. Insanely so.
I'd gotten massive free publicity.
'Who cares if it's credited to the goddess? The money'll end up in my pocket anyway.'
I shifted to a positive mindset.
"You're right. It's a gift from the goddess. Current costs are..."
The main ingredients: black tree oil and lye costs.
Mixing and drying expenses.
Plus mage fees for the aging process.
I laid out all the costs.
"We'll set the price with a modest markup on top of that."
"From here?"
The biggest expense, mage labor, would vanish after six months.
Yet he wanted to add profit margin to the current costs.
"Think it'll sell?"
"Of course. They'll buy for sure. They'll snap up every bar we make."
The scent of money was thick in the air.
Now I knew why Russell was obsessed with soap.
"I can actually make even better soap than this..."
"Better soap, my lord?"
The black tree soap had a perfection rating of 68.
But mixing in other vegetable oils could push it higher.
Like olive and laurel extracts, for example.
Blended in the right ratios, perfection hit 87.
"That's right. Sell premium soap to nobles, regular to commoners. We'll rake in even more cash, right?"
Russell's lips curved into a grin.
"Naturally, my lord."
I handed over five design sheets for soaps rated over 80 perfection.
"My lord, why five?"
"Make them all. Pick the best one. Especially ones women will love. Like ones that moisturize skin or something."
Would the 87 perfection always outsell the 81?
Not necessarily.
I wanted soaps with features that appealed to noblewomen.
Even if the perfection score was a bit lower.
Russell's smile deepened.
He seemed to grasp my intent.
"I'll make the soap business a roaring success, my lord."
He carefully tucked away the five design sheets and left the office.
"Money... money... Yeah, money's the best. Who needs invisible honors no one sees?"
I muttered quietly to console myself.
.
.
A few days after Russell left,
"Summon everyone with artistic talent for drawing!"
Plain City.
The government office meeting room.
I'd gathered everyone in the city with a knack for drawing.
"We're going to create a logo that suits the Island!"
"Logo?"
"What's a logo?"
Murmurs.
Murmurs.
Murmurs.
Murmurs.
The word "logo" stirred up quite the buzz.
Logo.
A visual design or symbol used by companies, groups, or individuals to promote their goods.
The term still felt awkward to them.
"In other words, draw images to stamp on Island Merchant Group products, Island Farms, Island Workshops, Island Soap!"
At that moment, one man raised his hand.
"Speak."
"Why not just use the Frontier crest?"
The Frontier crest.
Our family had used it for generations.
But,
This felt different.
The Frontier itself was inherited,
But the Island Farm, Merchant Group, and such were my own creations.
Maybe that's why.
I wanted my own logo.
Especially for mass-use items like soap—if we stamped a logo on them?
It'd be killer branding for Island products.
'Stamping a logo on soap isn't hard anyway.'
I'd seen the production process;
At the end, you spread the aged mixture thin on the floor to dry.
Once partially dried,
You cut it into bars.
Press a logo-stamped mold here, and done.
The soap hardens with the logo imprinted.
The logos people drew were wildly varied.
The most common were animals.
Everything from beasts to monsters.
Next came symbols of Frontier territory.
And the one that caught my eye most was...
"Huh? What's this?"
The artist picked up his drawing and began explaining.
"It's a symbol for the organizations you oversee, Heir."
He pointed to the sickle.
"This represents the Island Mega-Farm."
Then the hammer.
"This stands for the Iron Mega-Workshop. Weapons, armor, ballistae, even soap—all production sites."
His drawing showed a sickle crossed with a hammer.
'If the background were red...'
"Pass."
"Yes!? Heir, this drawing is..."
"No. Pass. Too on-the-nose."
"Heir, what do you mean? On-the-nose?"
"Anyway, pass. Next one."
The next had wheat drawn on it.
Great for an Island Mega-Farm logo,
But lacking for merchants or workshops.
Then.
"Ooh..."
"What a fine symbol."
Suddenly the artists burst into cheers.
Even Isaac, assisting beside me, let out an exclamation.
"My lord, that's the one. No symbol captures Island better."
"This?"
"Yes. Don't you feel the goddess's warmth in it?"
Come to think of it, it resembled the Earth Church's symbol for their goddess.
"Sure, I like it. But for merchants or workshops..."
"Soap came from the goddess too, right? Farming and crafting both owe her. Perfect fit."
"Exactly."
"Right, Heir!"
"O God!"
"Thanks be to the Earth Goddess!"
"May Plain overflow with divine blessings!"
Starting with Isaac,
Everyone gathered began praising the drawing.
Then they turned to me with expectant eyes.
Eyes full of certainty we'd adopt it.
'...Do I even have a choice here??'