Over the next month, the abandoned distillery in the Slums was transformed. To the neighbors, it looked like a derelict building, but inside, it was a temple of cold, hard logic. Following Leo's blueprints, Fredrick had hired blacksmiths to forge the Steam-Jacketed Boiler. Without magical heating stones, the workers had to use coal—a substance most mages considered "dirty" and "useless".
Leo, appearing as the Shadow Scholar, stood atop a metal catwalk. He wasn't using a wand; he was monitoring a series of pressure gauges he had designed himself.
"Pressure at two atmospheres, Fredrick. If the gauge hits the red line, vent the steam. We are extracting nitrogen. If we fail, it's an explosion. If we succeed, we can turn a barren field into a golden harvest in half the time"
Fredrick wiped sweat from his brow, his eyes wide with terror and awe.
"My Lord, the men... they call you the 'Iron Alchemist.' They've never seen fire tamed like this"
"Let them call me what they wish. Just ensure they are paid double the rate of a guild laborer. Loyalty is the best lubricant for machinery"
Leo watched the piston churn.
"This is only the beginning, In my old world, the Global Confederation kept power by monopolizing resources. Here, I will do the opposite. I will make resources so abundant that the nobility loses its grip on the common man"
One year has passed, and the agriculture become efficient, the food supply increased so much that the people are not worrying about starvation but where to put the grain and granary full and there is still more grain to store.
While Leo's secret empire grew, the Connor Family—the masters of the Alchemists' Guild—began to feel the sting. In the Connor estate, Viscount Johathan Connor slammed a report onto a mahogany table.
"Our sales of 'Green-Leaf' growth potions have plummeted by 40%. Some nameless merchant is selling a 'powder' that makes wheat grow three inches in a week. And it costs a fraction of our mana-infused salts!"
"Father, could it be the Blackberrys? Or perhaps a rogue alchemist from the North?"
"No. My spies checked. There is no mana in this powder. It's just... rocks and non-magical substances, as for source, it is still unknown, as none of the nobles and high ranking alchemists makes them"
"But how is that possible, I mean sure alchemy need no mana as anyone, mage or not can make them with proper procedure, but they still had to use rune magic in enchanting and potion making process, as rune magic is only magic practiced by anyone, and is essential for alchemy, without it, one cannot enchant and potion made will be rotten and poisonous stew even if right ingredients are used"
"I thought so too, but those things they called fertilizers while non-magical really works!"
Both were shocked to see the non-magical substance improving the agricultural yield, they are confused, wondering the source of the substance.
Back in the palace, Leo was "busy" playing a game of marbles by himself in the garden when his half-brother, Prince David, approached him.
David was a talented alchemist who always looked down on Leo for not becoming a knight or alchemist, as these were the path that allow one without mana to rise in status. David was clearly disapointed on Leo for becoming good for nothing instead of overcoming the lack of mana, just like what alchemists and knights do.
"Still playing with stones, Leo? Our brothers are preparing for the Autumn Hunt. Father expects every prince to bring back a magical beast. What will you bring? A very shiny pebble?"
Leo looked up, putting on his best dim-witted smile.
"Actually, David, I was thinking of bringing a very large butterfly. They're much easier to catch and they don't bite. Hunting sounds... sweaty"
David is disappointed on Leo for his answer. Unlike his mother who viewed Olivia as a rival, David admired his stepmother Olivia, who is not only great magic user but also a great alchemist, which is why he hated Leo, whom he considered a stain on person he admired, even thinking, why it is Leo and not him that born as her son. He glared at Leo whom he see as his idol's embarassment.
"How could you even do these useless things, don't you want to make your mother proud, sure, you have no magic and so do I, but couldn't you atleast become a knight, just in a case if alchemy is too difficult for you"
"Not interested"
"(Fuming with anger) Useless baggage. I don't know why Mother Olivia bothers with you"
Leo watched him go, his smile fading into a cold, clinical stare.
"Go ahead, David"
Leo thought, his mind already returning to the chemical formulas for high-grade gunpowder.
"Focus on your hunt. While you're chasing beasts in the woods, I'm building a world where your family's expensive potions are nothing more than overpriced perfumes. The age of the 'Alchemists' is coming to an end"
Meanwhile, I David's room.
"Useless baggage, I wonder if heaven had son grudge against Mother OLivia that he gave her a useless son, while he made me born as son of a woman who saw her own son as a pawn, to raise her own status, I wish I were Mother Olivia's son, not that woman's"
David took out a map from desk.
"Forget it, I have to raise my merit first, so that, I become the next emperor, to finally free myself from connors, I heard there's an Iron Alchemist, he managed to do miracles with rune magic, to me this is the ultimate form of alchemy, the nobles are thinking, the person who made fertilisers is a noble or high ranking alchemist, they overlooked the commoners, they even forgot that Mother Olivia is also a commoner yet she achieved so much in magic and alchemy, this Iron Alchemist is no different, if I learn from him I can increase my merit and become the emperor, and finally I can free myself from connors"
David with map in hand went to the factory of Iron Blacksmith, not knowing that Iron Alchemist is the person he hates the most.
