Research (15)
Once I discovered the formula for the Red Attunement Agent, I asked Sister Mary to handle mass production.
"Understood!"
The moment she heard I was entrusting the work to her, Sister Mary's face lit up with pure delight, and she set to work at once.
I stared at the single-use portion of Red Attunement Agent I had on hand and weighed my options. Sister Mary would be making more anyway — why hold back?
"First, let's try combining the Attunement Agent with Foam Herb…"
If it failed, I could always add ash powder or oil and try again.
What ratio, though? One to one? One to two? I'd trust my instincts on this one.
I settled on two parts Attunement Agent to one part Foam Herb. Dropping the Foam Herb into the pot of Attunement Agent, I channeled Holy Power into the brazier, then drew out my alchemy stick and began stirring slowly, feeding Holy Power into the mixture as I went.
It didn't take long to know I'd succeeded. The ingredients were already melting into a thick, even blend.
"What is this?"
When I'd mixed Foam Herb with ash powder and water earlier, it had failed completely. The ingredients were the same — so why was this working when that hadn't?
The inscrutable mysteries of alchemy left me briefly seething.
I kept stirring, Holy Power flowing, and tried to reason it out. Elemental affinity, maybe?
Water was Water-aspected. Ash powder was almost certainly Fire-aspected. I still didn't know Foam Herb's affinity, but perhaps the Water medium and the Fire-aspected ash had produced some muddled elemental interference.
By contrast, this Red Attunement Agent was unmistakably pure Fire. A single Fire affinity interacting with Foam Herb's unknown element — that had to be it.
Yes. That seemed the most likely explanation.
I filed the conclusion away, intending to jot it down later. About twenty minutes passed before a rainbow light flooded the room, announcing a successful combination.
"Let's see!"
Everyone in the room rose at once, eager to check the pot's contents.
"Ah — ah! Sister Mary! Your combination!"
The problem was Sister Mary, still mid-process. Alchemy was a delicate craft; interrupt the flow of Holy Power halfway through and you didn't merely stop — you failed. And a failed combination produced something grotesque.
"Ah, yes!"
Snapping back to attention, Sister Mary refocused on her work, and disaster was averted.
Her materials were only ash powder and water, but time and Holy Power were still precious things to waste.
I carefully peered into my own pot.
Inside sat a green, oval object. The shape was familiar — strikingly similar to the soap I'd known in my previous life.
After confirming the form, I leaned in for a smell. Unfortunately, nothing particularly distinctive.
I reached out to examine it further, only for the Young Master to stop me.
"Isn't it dangerous to touch that carelessly?"
He had a point. Given that I'd used the hazardous Foam Herb, caution was warranted.
"Hmm…"
I'd just finished lecturing him about being careful, and now I was about to be reckless myself? He'd have every right to call me a hypocrite.
Annoyed but resigned, I pulled on a pair of gloves and carefully lifted the finished product. From every angle, it looked harmless enough.
If this really was soap… it should foam on contact with water, right?
I conjured a little water with magic, gently dampened the green object, and rubbed it lightly with my gloved hand.
Foam began to rise across its surface and my glove.
"I knew it!"
Just as I'd thought — it was soap.
I set the finished product down and peeled off the gloves. Time to test it bare-handed.
The moment I reached for the soap, the Young Master caught my wrist.
"Allow me to test it instead."
"What?"
Without giving me a chance to explain, he reached for the soap and grabbed it outright.
"Hey…"
I'd been about to check it myself — was he really just charging ahead like that?
"This is…"
"Rub it between your hands."
"E-excuse me?"
"You stopped me, so do as I say."
I snapped at him in irritation, and the Young Master flinched, his shoulders slumping.
He rubbed the soap bare-handed as instructed, and foam quickly coated his hands. Yet there was no sign of flesh melting or peeling away. He didn't seem to be in any pain either — just wore a thoroughly bewildered expression.
"Hmm. Looks safe after all."
I examined his foam-covered hands with care.
"So you've created soap?"
"Yes, it seems that way."
Soap made by an entirely different method… and the materials were absurdly cheap. Foam Herb you could find in any mountain or field, ash powder, water, and the Holy Power or mana needed for the combination.
If mass production succeeded, this would be a revolutionary product capable of transforming the world's hygiene.
"Set it down and rinse with water."
"Yes."
I held a basin beneath his hands and washed them clean.
"How does it feel?"
Once the foam was gone, I studied his hands closely.
Up close, the marks of training were plain — calluses, and tendons standing out across the backs of his hands. Well-honed hands… larger and harder than my own had been when I was a man.
"Th-that is…"
I kept turning his hands over, examining them.
Hmm… this really did feel properly cleaned…
"Young Master? Say something."
"Ah — it's nothing."
When I looked up, his face was flushed and thoroughly flustered.
What was that about?
"Ahem! It does feel rather similar to using soap."
"Does it?"
So it really was proper soap. I leaned closer to his hands, intending to check the scent. What would soap fragrance be like in this world…?
He yanked his hands away.
"Ah…!"
"Th-that's quite enough."
Enough of what, exactly…?
"Anyway, no problems, right?"
"Y-yes…"
Satisfied with his answer, I touched the soap myself. That slickness, that foam, that cleansing power! It felt almost identical to the soap of my previous life.
I'd tried the soap available in this world before, and this seemed superior in every way.
"Sis, do you have any laundry?"
"Yeah."
"Take this and try it."
"Use it?"
"Yeah. It's soap, so wash some clothes with it. I want to test how well it cleans."
"Got it."
This was a favor only my sister could handle.
She gathered up some clothes, collected a basin and the soap, and headed out.
"Hmm-hmm…"
I hummed to myself as I began taking notes. This had to be recorded! The recipe, what the finished product was, the fact that it was non-toxic… even a rough sketch of the underlying principle…
I finished my notes and waited for my sister to return.
"I never imagined you'd actually make soap…"
"Soap is expensive, after all."
If soap made this way performed well, I could sell it more cheaply and spread it far and wide. And make some money on the side while I was at it.
What would happen if I reported this to the Church…?
Sister Mary finished combining her Red Attunement Agent, set the completed batch aside, and came over.
"Congratulations."
"I couldn't have done it without you, Sister Mary."
She was the one who'd taught me how soap was made, which was how I'd learned the importance of ash powder.
I'd known from my previous life's knowledge that ash was necessary, but not the precise details. Having that foundation was what let me attempt this properly.
"Not at all. You already knew ash powder was important, Julian. You would have made it even without me."
Well, when she put it that way…
"Ordinarily, one would call this inefficient…"
What was the Young Master getting at?
Sister Mary and I both looked at him, and he cleared his throat before continuing.
"This alchemy ultimately requires mana, does it not? Meaning only mages or those of Knight Class who possess mana can produce it."
He had a point.
Tasking mages or Knight-Class warriors — rare and valuable assets — with manufacturing something like this would be wildly inefficient.
"But with the Church, the story changes entirely."
"It does."
If this had only been possible with mana, that would be one thing — but combination worked with Holy Power as well. And the number of priests and nuns who possessed Holy Power was vast. The Church's ability to mobilize as an institution was enormous, too.
"Opening distribution channels and running a merchant company, supplying enough product to the market — none of that is easy under ordinary circumstances."
But for a Church that already had all of that in place, it was no problem at all.
"If the Church put its full weight behind this, that soap would spread like wildfire."
The materials were cheap. Foam Herb could even be cultivated for a steady supply. It was a gold mine in every sense.
"Yes. If we inform the Church and convey your wishes, Julian, they will devote everything to spreading it."
"Haha…"
I had no intention of spreading it just yet.
"I'll need to think about that a little more."
Neither this recipe nor alchemy itself was a particularly difficult technique. If the information leaked, people would start trying it everywhere.
That made me cautious. From a hygiene standpoint, spreading the recipe and combination method quickly would matter more than containing a leak — but I wasn't quite there yet.
I wanted to establish a broader range of recipes first, then release them all at once.
"You mean releasing more recipes together…"
"Yes. If the Church suddenly starts a soap business, other parties will grow suspicious and try to dig up information, won't they?"
No matter how carefully the Church controlled information, it would eventually get out.
"So if we release several products at once, it creates more confusion."
That was my thinking, at least…
We talked as we continued combining Red Attunement Agent. We'd nearly used up the ash powder mass-producing it when my sister returned.
"All done with the laundry?"
"Yeah. It washed really well."
She held up the cleaned clothes for us to see. The problem was that among them were undergarments…
And she'd spread them out where the Young Master, who was right there in the room, could see them clearly.
And of all things — those undergarments were mine!
"Sis!!"
I was so flustered I used the male form of address for an older sister instead of the female one. I shot to my feet, ready to rush over to her — then glanced sideways. The Young Master's mouth was hanging open in pure shock.
"What are you looking at?!"
I reached out and forcibly turned his head away.
"I-I'm sorry!"
Only then did he squeeze his eyes shut, and I promptly banished him from the room.
"Si— I mean, sis! How could you just show that off?!"
I exploded at her, and she hung her head.
"Sorry…"
"Hah, fine. So the laundry came out well?"
"Yeah. The grime just poured out."
And she'd only used a little of the soap, she added.
"Hmm. Seems decent, then…"
"Yeah. Really good."
"That's a relief…"
My sister, apparently unbothered by what had just happened, gave the clothes a vigorous shake and started hanging them around the room.
"Haa…"
Showing off undergarments, of all things…
But he probably couldn't tell whose they were, right?
That was my only consolation.