Release That Witch

Roland called Barov, the City Hall Director, to his office the second day after the relocation of the witches from Sleeping Island.     

"I need you to issue a recruitment announcement." He pushed the drafts towards Barov. "10 people for one week's work. Preferably women."     

Barov picked up the paper, read it carefully, and asked, "Your Highness, may I ask, what is... starch?"     

"I suppose you know about wheat flour?"     

The director hesitated for a moment. "Which kind of flour do you mean, the coarse flour or the refined flour? The grains can be crushed before being baked into loaves of bread or wheat cakes, and yet the bread Your Highness eats is made from the refined flour that has been sifted to remove the bran. The yield of the refined flour is only 60% of the coarse flour and the corresponding bread is softer. It has a price so high that only great nobles can afford it."     

The thing that Roland liked most about the former treasurer was his good understanding of all the ordinary commodities. Due to the underdeveloped agriculture and deficient food supply, the same thing could be eaten in different ways according to the social class. Take the common wheat for an example. Civilians simply made porridge from the roughly-hulled wheat in order to make full use of the food. The disadvantage was that wheat hulls and sand remained in the porridge making it gritty to eat.     

By comparison, the low-class nobles cared more about daintiness. They would ask people to sift away the sand and pulverized the wheat into the coarse flour for baking bread and cake.     

As for the rich great nobles, food, which was viewed as a way to pursue an enjoyment of superb cuisine, was more meaningful than just something to fill their stomachs. After being sifted further, the coarse wheat flour would become the snow-white fine flour from which the beige bread was made, smooth and sweeter.     

"The starch is further refined and processed from the refined wheat flour," Roland explained, "after the workers are recruited, I'll send someone to tell them the procedure."     

"Fur-further processed?" Barov could not help but stare at Roland. "How much wheat will it take?"     

"Not too much, 300 or 400 kilograms..." Roland paused and changed his words. "A basket as big as my desk will be enough."     

Barov nodded and asked again, "Why would you prefer to recruit women?"     

"Because, they're more careful, and I want to see more women employed rather than them just staying at home." Roland suddenly remembered something and he continued, "At present, in Border Town, of all classes established by the universal education, the woman's class seems to be progressing more quickly, correct?"     

"That's indeed the case, with Lady Scroll mainly in charge of the Ministry of Education. Women in town, who barely had anything to do except taking care of children and completing housework, have been spending most of their time learning and reading."     

"In that case, I request that you recruit some female apprentices into City Hall after the next assessment and gradually increase the proportion of female jobs," Roland ordered.     

"Your Highness, this... is unheard-of." Barov frowned. "My apprentice is just as good as a woman when it comes to being careful."     

"Then make it heard-of," Roland said bluntly, "It's the easiest and quickest way to increase the workforce without growing the population. If all of the women can contribute to the construction of the town, I would have the double manpower. All you have to do is to guide the people in order to change their mindset—as long as the pay is attractive, I believe they'll apply, out one by one."     

After Barov took his leave, Nightingale laughed in the prince's ear. "What kind of goody are you going to make this time?"     

"The starch? No, it's not for eating," Roland drank some tea. "But, we can actually get some good ingredients during the process."     

Pour the refined wheat flour into the water, knead and scrub until the water has turned completely white, and then do it again with new water. At last, the remaining sticky substance is gluten, which can be used to fry or quick stir. Adding a bit of honey or spices will make it particularly delicious, especially with the flexible texture.     

But, what Roland wanted was greater than just something to eat.     

The starch, that settled in the milky white water that had been sifted, was what he really wanted. It was the main material of explosives.     

Since nitroglycerin had not yet begun its testing trial and neither had TNT, nitrostarch was relatively the simplest high explosive they were able to make, and the production process was exactly the same to nitrocotton. But, the sensitivity of the finished product was low so that it could not be ignited by an open flame. It could only be ignited by using a detonator. Nitrostarch, more powerful than TNT, was widely used as a substitute for TNT during WWI and WWII.     

With highly refined starch, those alchemical apprentices who had been extremely proficient in the production process of nitrocotton would presumably be capable of producing a batch of nitrostarch in a short period of time.     

After lunch, Roland had returned to his chamber, to take a nap. However, that was when he heard footsteps outside the door.     

His heart thumped a little wildly, guessing it was most likely Anna who would come for him at this time of the day. "Would she pick noon to come here, because she was too tired and fell asleep last time?"     

"Come in."     

Roland was a little surprised when he saw Evelyn standing outside the door.     

"Uh... It's a bit different from what I was expecting." He coughed a little, wore a genial smile on his face, and said, "What's the matter?"     

She walked over to the table and bowed her head. Despite looking a little nervous, she said, "Your Highness, I want to ask you a question."     

"Is it just another platitude like 'Why do you treat witches so well?'" Roland thought to himself, and yet in the spirit of treating the comrades like a warm spring wind, he smiled, "What do you want to ask?"     

"Why did you... pick me to come to Border Town?"     

The question shocked Roland for a moment, "Is she complaining about the bad wine?"     

"My ability is neither as good as Sylvie's nor as practical as Lotus's and Honey's," she said in a low voice, "and if you want someone to taste your wine for you, a gold royal per month is sufficient enough to hire a professional winemaker from the king's city."     

"What do you think of... the variety of wine?"     

"The alcohol burns at first but it mellows if you drink it slowly and get yourself used to it. And, the drink that's made of ice, fruit juice, and syrup is richer in taste. But, all of these are based on my personal preference," Evelyn replied cautiously, "My family-run tavern only sold cheap wines and watered-down ale, so I'm not very clear about which kind of wine the nobles would prefer."     

"So, it's not a problem with the wine." The prince was silently relieved. He rose to open his bookcase, took out a can of ale from the top shelf, and placed it in front of Evelyn. "Can you turn this ale into my brewed white liquor?"     

"I think... that's no problem." She reached out her hands and held the jar soon the dingy wine began to change. While bubbling, the ale was gaining clarity and then finally became as transparent as boiled water, which was marvelous to Roland who could already smell the strong bouquet of the transparent liquid. He could not wait to dip his finger into the liquid and have a taste. He felt the bitter and burning sensation, which was the exact taste of high-proof alcohol.     

Roland could not help but laugh. "This is what you're chosen for."     

Looking at the puzzled look on Evelyn's face, he clapped his hands and said, "I'm going to set up an alcohol factory... No, it's a brewery. Would you like to be my chief winemaker?"