The Path to Lordship Begins in the North

Chapter 13 Rune Mark Alchemy Meeting

The market trade was more developed than Lind had imagined. All he had to do was negotiate with the merchants who sold materials and alchemy equipment, pay a deposit, and they would deliver the goods to Lind's territory.

With the Champagne nobles acting as guarantors, there's basically no need to worry about these merchants running off with the money, unless they no longer want to live in the North.

This is somewhat ironic, because these nobles who control the Northern Markets may have even greater control over the North than the current Lars family.

As for the procurement of materials for making gunpowder and cement, it went much more smoothly than Linde had imagined. In his previous life, Linde had seen the witchcraft market in Africa, where the materials were all kinds of strange and wonderful, including some that could actually be used in the chemical industry.

The markets in this world are the same, and because magic truly exists, the trade in materials is even more developed.

For example, the ingredients needed to make gunpowder—one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, and three parts charcoal—are actually very common alchemical materials, so purchasing them in large quantities is not unusual.

You can even make some demands on these materials, such as having all the charcoal dry-distilled before it is delivered to the territory.

This made Linde even more curious about the alchemy of this world. To be honest, Linde would rather bring those alchemists back than the alchemical materials.

"Thank you for your patronage. The total is 247 silver leaf coins. Let me round it down to 240."

The shop owner was a woman in her early thirties, wearing a magic robe with loose sleeves but a tight fit in the middle, and holding a pipe inlaid with gold wire. She still looked quite charming.

The proprietress spoke in a somewhat languid tone, but her words were very polite.

Although Linde bought a large amount of materials, to be honest, it wasn't very expensive, about the same as Lena's weekly allowance. Linde also paid the deposit very readily.

These materials included not only those needed to make gunpowder, but also a large quantity of chemical materials that Lin De could recognize, as well as some alchemical equipment, somewhat like training for the alchemists in the territory.

Of course, the main reason it wasn't expensive was because Linde didn't buy those abstract materials. If it were those very abstract magical materials, the price would probably be several times higher.

For example, there's a pile of slocut powder made from unknown animal bones, possibly including human bones; bloodless internal organs; shriveled snake specimens; and highly suspicious dragon dung that looks like cow dung, etc.

"Sir, would you like to hire an alchemist?"

After puffing on her cigarette, the proprietress looked at Lin De.

"Yes, I've heard that a qualified noble cannot be without a personal alchemist. Do you offer such services? I only require that the alchemist be proficient in both runes and magic array systems."

Lind had already learned a basic understanding of the world's magic system from Lena. Although Lena's explanation was full of pronouns like "this" and "that," Lind still understood it.

The most profitable magic is alchemy, and the most promising way to directly increase productivity is through rune magic circles that can be cast semi-automatically.

There are indeed magical artisans in the territory who can use runes, but Lind still needs to undergo systematic learning to understand what runes are all about in this world.

Seeing that Lin De had waved away the smoke in front of her, the proprietress tactfully tapped her pipe and extinguished her pipe.

"Of course, our Shining Gold Merchant Alliance sells everything, including people."

After saying that, the proprietress took out a document from her chest and handed the still-warm document to Lin De.

Ignoring the landlady's 4D chest, Lin De took the documents and examined them carefully.

The academic system in this world is very chaotic. There are dozens of schools of thought, large and small, in the field of alchemy alone, not to mention those schools that are hidden underground and cannot be seen by the public.

These alchemists are also considered professionals. Anyone who can use and manipulate magic is called a professional, only their professions differ.

Alchemists are also different from alchemists of the Renaissance period in the previous life. They cannot produce results by simply stirring materials in a large pot. Instead, they need to use a kind of alchemical magic to blend the materials.

It's worth mentioning that the knights, who specialize in melee combat, are also professionals and can use and manipulate magic.

Hundreds of years ago, these magical powers were called "battle aura" by knights. However, some scholars have discovered that the so-called battle aura is just another form of magic. This research has ended the age-old question of "who is stronger, a knight or a mage" from ancient times to modern times—it turns out that knights are just another form of melee mage.

Although magic exists in this world, it is surprisingly materialistic in some aspects. For example, the human body is made up of water, protein, fat, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins. Therefore, the limits of physical strength are limited. There is no way to train your body to the point where you can withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees and break the sound barrier.

Mages release their concentrated magic power to construct various spell models in order to cast different spells, while knights essentially use magic power to encase themselves in a permanent powered armor, enabling them to accomplish things that are impossible for the human body.

As for those knights who only cultivate their bodies and not their minds, they have long been eliminated by history.

After searching for a while, Linde finally found the alchemical school that best met his requirements—the Rune Mark Alchemy Society, or Rune Mark Society for short.

This group was initially formed by alchemists who specialized in studying runes, and later included mages who studied scrolls and monks who studied stigmata.

This group believes that different runes and images can bring different powers, and pursues the perfect rune arrangement and exquisite spell model construction.

Are you interested in the Rune Mark Alchemy Society?

Although the proprietress was fiddling with her pipe, she noticed Lin De's gaze lingering on the document.

Before Linde could answer, the proprietress continued, "Although the Rune Saint Society seems to meet your requirements very well, I still have to remind you that most alchemists also have some knowledge of runes, and some alchemists' rune level is even higher than that of this Rune Saint Alchemy Society."

Lin De understood what the proprietress meant, looked at the information in his hand with a puzzled expression, and asked, "Is there something wrong with this Fu Sheng Hui?"

"They've recently run into some internal problems. The former president just passed away, and the association went bankrupt because of its unorthodox research topics. As a result, the association's research is not profitable, and most members have left the association. Only a few alchemists with mediocre skills are left, eager to take over the association's legacy."

Generally speaking, alchemy is the most profitable form of magic, and alchemists usually have no worries about food and drink. Even though alchemy is very expensive, as long as they can get sponsorship from nobles, their income will immediately exceed that of other professionals of the same level.

What kind of subject could bankrupt an alchemist's association and cause most of its members to give up?

Seemingly noticing the confusion in Lind's eyes, the proprietress explained, "They want ordinary people who can't sense magic to be able to use magic, so no nobles are willing to sponsor them."

Lin De almost spat out his tea. Isn't this something a transmigrator should be doing? Are the natives of this other world all so advanced in their thinking?

Did they succeed?

"As far as I know, there has been absolutely no progress."

Seeing that Lin De was interested, the proprietress began to introduce the Alchemist Association.

This association was supposedly founded by the former president to pay for his daughter's medical treatment, but after his death, his family chose someone else to inherit the title, causing the association to lose its most important source of income and now it has fallen apart.

After all, which nobleman would be willing to allow a commoner with no magical talent to use magic? Even nobles without any magical talent would not sponsor the Holy Symbol Society, because sponsoring it would be tantamount to admitting that they are useless people who cannot use magic.

With that money, it would be better to have more children, or adopt two talented children from the vast aristocratic network.

Therefore, the Rune Mark Alchemy Association not only received no sponsorship, but also encountered obstacles everywhere and was even targeted.

Even an organization like the Shining Gold Merchant Alliance, which only cares about money, is unwilling to recommend Rune Mark Alchemy to customers because they feel it's unlikely to generate future profits.

After listening to the introduction, Lin De couldn't help but sigh. Being one step ahead of the times makes one a genius, but being two steps ahead makes one a madman. Although the original intention of the Fu Sheng Society may not have been advanced, the content of their research was far ahead of its time, to the point that no one understood it, and those who did understand it were hostile to them.

But that's precisely why Linde became interested in this alchemy association.

"My territory just happens to need some people who can teach basic alchemy and rune knowledge, so let's make this association."

After saying that, Lin De took out three times the deposit and placed the exquisite silver coins on top of the information about the Sacred Symbol Society.

“The price of hiring from the Sacred Talisman Society is quite cheap; it doesn’t require that many silver coins.”

The proprietress pushed the silver coins back, but Lin De stopped her with his hand.

"No, I'm not hiring them, I'm buying them."

Upon hearing this, the proprietress seemed to realize that someone was offering to help clean up the company's liabilities. She immediately put on a business smile, pulled out a contract from her chest, and said, "What a wise decision! The Rune Saint Mark Alchemy Society is indeed very suitable for teaching beginners. You have excellent judgment. The talent you need will be sent to your territory in a few days."

After signing a contract that satisfied both parties, Lin De walked out of the Shuojin Business Alliance chain store with a sense of contentment.

As soon as Linde stepped out of the store, he saw Lena squatting at the door waiting for him, completely lacking any aristocratic demeanor.

"Finished talking, brothers?"

Linde nodded, noticing that Lena looked somewhat disappointed. Out of concern for his sugar daddy, Linde asked with concern, "What happened? Miss Lars, you don't seem very happy."

"It's nothing, it's just that the market doesn't feel quite the same as I expected."

Lin De had seen this expression on the face of a female colleague who went to Paris on a business trip in his previous life. At that time, she repeatedly told other teachers in the office how smelly Paris was, and that there was more human excrement on the streets than dog excrement. During that period, everyone had to avoid her when they went out to eat.

There's a specific term called the Paris Syndrome, which describes this kind of building collapse phenomenon.

It seems that this champagne market was not quite the same as what the young lady had seen in chivalric novels, which led to her shattered dream.

"Let's go. Don't you still have things to discuss with Jefferson? Let's go back quickly after we're done. I miss my job."

Lena composed herself, sat up, dusted off her skirt, and put on her usual smile.