Release That Witch

Until Roland returned to his office, these words continued to reverberate in his mind.     

He closed his eyes and flipped through his memory carefully, but could not think of anything related. His understanding of the Church was mediocre among the nobility - while living in the palace, he had spent little time and effort acquiring knowledge, therefore, things like occultism were largely lost on him. But, if what Tilly said was right, the Church's propaganda strategy actually wouldn't make sense.     

Taking the religious lore of the old world as an example, it was common knowledge that the deity originated at the beginning of the world, and instead it was recognised that it was more important to spread the idea that the deity created the world. For example, the Seven Days of Creation, karmic reincarnation, etc., every religion has its own set of lore that describes the powers of its deities.     

In comparison to other religions, the Church seems rather... insubstantial.     

However, Roland did not have any more clues for him to investigate further, and so, shaking his head, he decided to put these thoughts to the back of his mind.     

Perhaps, after the exploration of the ancient ruins of the Mist Forest, there'll be answers to all of these questions.     

Roland walked up to the window and looked out towards the huge coating that laid flat in the middle of the garden - amidst the vast expanse of white snow, its green surface was particularly eye-catching.     

Soraya was presently preparing a larger airbag, which would allow the new hot air balloon to have a larger capacity and therefore accommodate more people. This was in consideration of the possibility that during the exploration of the ruins, should it be impossible to free the entrapped lady, it would be easier for Anna to shatter the Frozen Coffin and transport the lady together with a portion of the transparent crystal back to Border Town.     

The time of departure was set for two days later.     

Personnel arrangements were already made. Participating witches from Sleeping Island would include Tilly, Silvio, Shavi, Ashes and Anderlia. The Witch Union would send Anna, Wendy, Nightingale, Nana, Lightning and Maggie. This lineup could be said to be unprecedentedly strong, whether it be in offense, defense or situational awareness. As long as the demons did not use the God's Stone of Retaliation, it would be difficult for them to even get near to the witches.     

"Your Highness, Chief Alchemist Kyle Sichi would like to meet you," a guard said from outside Roland's office.     

"Let him in."     

On this visit, instead of coming alone, Kyle brought a companion in Chavez. "Your Highness, we're closing in on a method to mass produce nitric acid, as you requested."     

"Is that true?" Roland replied. He seemed to be dazed for a brief moment, before bursting into joy. This was perhaps the best piece of news he had heard in recent days. He leapt off his seat and poured two cups of tea for the chemists, before saying, "Tell me more about your method."     

"This was entirely Chavez's work," Kyle said, stroking his beard. "Let him explain it to you."     

"Your Highness," the young man said with some restraint, and bowed before he continued speaking. "Your alchemy workshop... no, I mean chemistry lab... produces nitric acid by using distilled saltpeter to obtain dilute nitric acid before purifying it with concentrated sulfuric acid. Hence I tried combining the two processes by directly placing saltpeter in concentrated sulfuric acid and heating them. I successfully obtained a nitric acid solution, of which the purity was very high. I could even observe the smoking phenomenon recorded in "Elementary Chemistry".     

"Heated together? But the two are not the same." Roland said, questioningly. "The temperature of distillation is much higher than that of heating them together, and furthermore, the gas obtained from distillation should be nitrogen oxide, which then forms nitric acid when added to water. The purification of concentrated sulfuric acid simply makes use of the principles of high boiling point and strong water absorption to reduce the water content of nitric acid, and does not involve any chemical reaction."     

"I'm not sure how I managed to do it either, but Mr. Shichel conducted a few experiments later, and reckoned that my discovery was a coincidence."     

"Coincidence?" Roland looked at the Chief Alchemist.     

"Indeed." Kyle confirmed. "Although the process is different, the result is the same." Deducing from a chemical formula, I guess certain components of the saltpetre reacted with the sulfuric acid to form nitric acid, which then turned into vapor when heat was added. And according to inverse deduction, it appears to be a sort of... nitrate."     

In his mind, Roland suddenly remembered that a chemistry textbook did mention that prior to the invention of synthetic ammonia, people reacted sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate with concentrated sulfuric acid to produce nitric acid. This was the oldest industrial method used. As the main components of saltpetre were the two aforementioned nitrates, it was convenient and easy to obtain, and extraction was relatively easy, therefore, as long as the temperature was properly controlled, a steady flow of evaporated nitric acid could be gathered.     

However, because this production method expended too much sulfuric acid, and the necessary equipment was prone to corrosion, it was later quickly phased out by more advanced techniques.     

These two problems did not concern Roland greatly; there wasn't a chemical fertilizer or pesticide industry within his territory, and hence all produced sulfuric acid were intended solely to purify nitric acid. As for the nitric acid vapor's tendency to cause corrosion, he could hand it to Soraya to enhance the equipment with her coating ability.     

"Not bad." Roland happily patted Chavez on the shoulder. "You actually managed to come up with this method with a bit of luck."     

"Your Highness, you may not have heard, but Chavez had already displayed his excellent luck while working in an alchemy workshop in Redwater City." Kyle said, raising his eyebrows. "He did not have an education in chemistry, and alchemy itself has always been a form of exploration which requires luck. Yet, this fella, while only in his early twenties, was able to discover a method for producing dioic acid, and also became the workshop's youngest alchemist, which made a group of apprentices in their thirties and forties all jealous. You should know that most of them will probably end up remaining apprentices for life."     

"No matter how you put it, this is good news for the entire town." Roland said in compliment. "Try to produce a set of production equipment for now, and I will get some witches to aid you. And if possible, try to further expand the scale of production."     

"As you wish."     

"By the way, I have another task for you," Roland's facial expression and tone of voice turned solemn. "Now that there's a reliable source of nitric acid, I'll need you to try producing a similarly dangerous chemical - nitroglycerol."     

"How dangerous is it?" Kyle asked.     

"Its materials are very simple, which is reacting concentrated nitric acid with glycerol, using concentrated sulfuric acid as a catalyst. However, during the reaction process, the temperature must be strictly controlled, and ventilation must be maintained. As the nitrification will produce a large amount of heat, you can place the container in ice water during the experiment. But remember, temperature fluctuation, vibration, impact and friction may all cause it to explode." Roland was not sure if his layman knowledge was reliable, but the components were unquestioningly correct. Despite the risks involved, it was necessary to give it a try. "And, use only a small amount of acid during the experiment. This way, even if there's an accident, Miss Nana will still be able to rescue you."     

"This..." Chavez opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Kyle interrupted. "I understand it now, but how does its power compare with that of snow powder?"     

"They are heaven and hell apart."     

"Sounds like an interesting experiment." The Chief Alchemist chuckled.     

"It is indeed true to say that nine out of ten chemists has a hidden artistic affection for explosions..." Roland silently thought to himself.     

Nitroglycerol is highly unstable; Nobel's dynamites were made by adding diatomite to cause ester inactivation, which although increased its safety, reduced its explosive power. Naturally, Roland would not choose to use such an obsolete method. He intended to add nitrocellulose or nitrostarch to the nitroglycerol, as these two compounds not only had stabilizing effects but also further increased the explosive power. The former was an excellent smokeless propellant, while the latter would make a powerful high explosive. As can be told from their names, the key for Blackfire explosive to evolve into a chemical explosive was a large amount of nitric acid.     

And now, Roland possessed this key.