Chapter 656 – 656. The Researcher’s Sorrow
The result of waiting for the merchant ship and directly checking the ‘Tears of Cheonghae’ collected by Heilangdan.
The information turned out to be false.
The ‘Tears of the Blue Sea’ carried by the merchant ships anchored in Tiernis Territory were imitations.
After confirming the fact, the two immediately returned home without much harvest.
“I’m really sorry… Are you okay. Hyuna?”
“Well, I didn’t think it would be so easy to get.”
Eunhyun smiled bitterly and nodded her head.
Like the legendary ‘Philosopher’s Stone’, ‘tears of hearing’ is the highest level of magical material that wizards and alchemists turn on the light and dream.
I didn’t even think from the beginning that it would be easy to obtain.
“In the first place, the reason I stayed in the Territory of Tyrnis this time was to take some time to spare.”
As much as the main purpose was to enjoy relaxation while spending time with Erin, it was achieved.
“Did you like it?”
“Huh! It was great!”
Erin smiled and hugged Eunhyun tightly.
The hands of the two returning like that were full of the results of shopping.
Not only that, but the inventory was also full of gifts purchased from the Tyrnis Territory.
Curiously, the reason why there were no precious metals or expensive artifacts that women liked was that they were already widely available in the Duchy of Armitas.
Most of the medicines and food materials purchased for Illyana, a pregnant woman, were full of special products that could only be obtained in the Tyrnis Territory.
“Anyway, buying 20 servings of eel was a bit too much.”
“Uh, yes? I think Lily or Eleanor would really like it.”
“…”
Eunhyun smiled bitterly at her.
Yes it will
It is she who has to eat the eel, and it is she who has to satisfy her two wives.
The two of them returned home, having a chat like that.
“You are here.”
The first to greet Eunhyeon and Erin was Lily, who was cleaning the house.
“Sister! I’m back!”
Erin rushes into her arms, Lily, who noisily announces her visit.
“Huh. Come on. Did you have a good rest?”
Perhaps because she had heard beforehand that she would be staying for two nights in the territory of Tirnis, Lily’s face had a benevolent expression on her sister’s face.
“Huh! Have a good time! I also brought a present for her sister. Take a look!”
Before long, Erin took out her presents from her inventory and boasted to Lily.
“Oh my goodness.”
Lily admired a little.
Ingredients and medicines that all seemed expensive were expensive, but the quantity was by no means small.
And what led Lily’s curiosity was a large box that was kept frozen.
“What is this?”
“Hi-Hi. Eel! I bought this because I wanted to eat it for the first time in a while!”
Erin must have liked the eel she had tasted for the first time. Her eyes were already sparkling with anticipation.
Of course, it would not have brought a variety of seafood, including eels, just for taste.
All of them were excellent in restoring stamina, and their intentions were obvious.
“Whoops.”
Lily, who didn’t hate it, looked at Eunhyun with a small smile.
“You have to work hard for a while.”
“… I guess so.”
Eunhyun, who understood the meaning, smiled wryly and nodded her head.
“By the way, sister. Are you alone in the house right now?”
As for Erin’s mood, she could only feel Lily’s presence at the moment, so she put on a puzzled expression.
She was busy managing Eleanor’s camp, so it wasn’t uncommon for her to stay at the duke’s mansion rather than at home, but it was strange that she didn’t have Illyana.
She is currently full-term and does not know when she will give birth. She has to be looked after by Eleanor and Lily due to her limited mobility, but she has been able to live.
“Both of you will be living in the duke’s mansion for a while. It’s not just me there, there are many more servants to wait on Illyana-sama.”
“Ah.”
“Sure.”
Eunhyeon and Erin simultaneously showed an understanding reaction.
I never thought that taking care of Illyana could be a bit difficult with only Emilia and other dolls, Eleanor, and Lily.
All of them had anxiety about not being able to properly respond to unexpected emergencies because they had no experience in caring for pregnant women.
He said he had the experience of taking care of Theresia once, but that once was far too lacking.
So Eleanor invited her Illyana to stay at her ducal residence for the time being, and Illyana accepted.
“So while you two weren’t there, I was cleaning up the backlog.”
A car that was cleaning every nook and cranny of the house with the dolls.
“Can I help you? How many are left?”
“Are you okay. Because it’s almost over. Oh, can you put all these seafood and ingredients in the refrigerator? Set aside the dinner for Illyana.”
“Okay!”
Erin immediately grabbed the freezer box and ran to the kitchen where the refrigerator was.
“Have you eaten?”
“I want to eat slowly, but I think I should go to the dwarves first.”
As much as I rested, I was in a situation where I had to do things, so I couldn’t relax.
The reason why she stopped by the house with Erin first was to see Illyana’s face as soon as she entered the house, but it was a bit disappointing that she was in the duke’s mansion instead of her current house.
“You can’t do that. No matter how busy you are, you must eat a meal. I’ll pack a sandwich for you, so please eat it. You know?”
“Thank you.”
Strangely enough, the nagging of her wife, who always took care of her busy self, was pleasant rather than boring.
It didn’t take long for Lily to come back to her kitchen after she said to wait a minute.
In the basket she gave her, there were five or six large sandwiches.
It was a simple menu with fresh vegetables, cheese, and ham on a slice of bread, but it was enough to fill the stomach.
“You must eat it.”
“Okay. I will eat.”
She answered Lily’s words, which she emphasized again, and Eun-hyeon smiled bitterly.
What on earth does her own wife think of herself?
It feels like listening to her nagging a five-year-old child to make sure to eat her food.
“I’ll visit Illyana and Eleanor at the duke’s mansion in the evening.”
“All right. I’ll finish cleaning too and go straight to the mansion with Erin.”
Eun-hyeon left the house after briefly talking about her future schedule.
The place he headed was the Dwarves’ blacksmith shop in the Duchy of Armitas.
As soon as I entered the smithy, the sound of metal hitting the hammer hit my eardrums with a loud noise.
“Are you here!? Yajang!”
“You’re a farmer! Could you please take a look at this sword!?”
As soon as they found Eun-hyeon, many dwarves greeted him and ran to Eun-hyeon, eager to have their metallurgy evaluated.
He was accustomed to being harassed by dwarves with thick forearms full of sweat and short stature, but it was not easy either.
They are a race of tenacity who do not put down their hammers until they are satisfied with their pride and passion for their skills.
In other words, there was no letting go of Eun-hyeon until he got the answer and satisfaction he wanted.
After being harassed by the dwarves for about 2 hours, I headed to the laboratory above.
“Hello. Cecilia.”
“… Long time no see.”
Cecilia’s reaction to Eunhyeon was drier than expected.
Her thick dark circles down to the bottom of her eyes and her lifeless face showed how exhausted she was.
Besides, when you listen to her hushed voice, you can’t tell how much sleep she’s had.
“How is your research going?”
“How is it going?”
“Yes.”
“Whoop, whoop… Whoop whoop…”
Suddenly, Cecilia let out a laugh.
What does the low-spirited laughter that comes out with a calm voice mean?
She observed Cecilia’s expression as she wondered if she was still not making any progress.
However, her eyes were still alive, unlike her exhausted and weak appearance.
Eun-hyeon had a hunch.
‘Did it succeed?’
“Please look at this.”
Unsurprisingly, Cecilia’s sunken voice was strangely confident.
Before long, Cecilia opened the long box on her table.
What was in the box was a single metal ingot.
“Hoo.”
Eunhyun was amazed.
The metal ingot contained in the box was not ordinary iron, but a special metal containing magic power inside.
Just like a special metal called mithril that contains magic within iron.
The existence of this metal is literally a normal metal, but it is a special metal that has been artificially modified to have the same characteristics as Mithril.
In other words, they created a technology that can produce an alloy with the same characteristics as ‘mithril’ with human technology.
Cecilia, who created the starting point, was feeling proud and proud of her now.
There was a reason why she was so confident.
No matter how hard and tired she is, she can’t help but be proud that her efforts have paid off and she has produced such practical results.
“It is still in the prototype stage, so mass production is impossible. But… If we find a way, it will only be a matter of time before we can mass-produce this.”
Soon, Cecilia glanced at Eunhyun.
From procurement of materials to processing and production, now is the stage where we need to slowly improve those inconveniences.
Of course, the cost of this process will be more than twice what it has cost so far.
Since all the expenses were coming out of the pocket of Eun-hyeon, the sponsor of the project, it was natural to keep an eye on them.
Eunhyeon and the dwarves started it first, but now, as a researcher, Cecilia was full of aspirations to complete this research with her own hands.
Eunhyeon immediately grasped the meaning of what Cecilia was trying to say.
She then put the basket of sandwiches Lily had prepared on the table and took out a sandwich from the inside.
“That… ?”
“It’s a sandwich my wife packed. She took care of me by saying that she seems to be busy these days and not being able to eat well.”
“… Under.”
Cecilia unwittingly let out a sigh that drained her strength.
Now, someone is living day and night, strangling himself in research, but this nobleman in front of him is salting and boasting about the lunch box his wife prepared for him.
Naturally, Cecilia’s fists clenched tightly, and blood vessels sprouted from her forehead.
But she had to keep her smile on by keeping the corners of her mouth up.
Since Eun-hyeon was the only sponsor supporting this research, he was also a boss who could not go against planting.
“Oh, I’m sorry, but I won’t. Not even one.”
“Okay! I wasn’t going to eat it even if you suggested it!”
However, perhaps because she hadn’t slept for a long time, her Cecilia’s voice rose nervously.
Eun-hyeon, who had been playing a bit of a prank, smiled and took out her pocket from her inventory and put it in front of Cecilia.
“This… ? Something… Omg!?”
Cecilia, who was carefully checking the contents of her pocket, swallowed her breath and opened her eyes wide.
What was in her pocket was a platinum coin.
A huge amount of platinum coins, not dozens, but hundreds.
“This, what the hell is this money… ?”
“You use it for research.”
“…”
At this level, it is comparable to the operating budget of several months of the current ducal family.
Cecilia, who confirmed the amount, couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
“And sooner or later you will write a contract.”
“A contract? Ah…”
When Cecilia realized what she was contracting for, she let out a small sigh.
It’s probably a contract to gently give up the patent rights for this research.
It is common among researchers.
Only then can Eun-hyeon, who sponsored this research, touch the big money.
“I will pay Cecilia 3% of the profits from manufacturing and selling this metal.”
“… Yes?”
However, Cecilia was once again surprised by the content completely different from what she had thought.
“Are you short? Then 4%…”
“Oh no! I’m sure I’ll come up with something like giving up the patent on this research…”
“I don’t do things like that bullshit. Besides, money is not the purpose.”
If it’s money, it’s already full and overflowing enough to play and eat her whole life.
The reason why there is bound to be a difference in perception between Cecilia and Eunhyeon is that the goals the two are aiming for are different.
If Cecilia was only thinking about the completion of her research and the benefits that would result from it, what Eunhyeon was aiming for was the overall improvement and strengthening of the forces of the Kingdom of Pernias.
To Eun-hyeon, this research on ‘development of mass-produced mithril’ was an investment to strengthen the power of the kingdom, not to touch a large amount of money like a goose that lays golden eggs.
So, without hesitation, he distributed the profits properly to Cecilia and the dwarves who participated in the study.
Considering that the profit that goes to other dwarves is about 1-2%, it is only natural that the largest percentage will be distributed to Cecilia, who has made the most contributions in this research.
“…”
Numerous numbers ran through Cecilia’s head as she calculated the benefits she would receive in the future.
It was natural for me to think that if I could complete this research, I could make a lot of money in an instant.
When I thought so, naturally, motivation and greed began to well up.
Although she was also a descendant of a noble family in the Kingdom of Pernias, it was only because of her family’s wealth that her wealth was considerable, and the amount of money she could use for her personal use was not that great.
In other words, this was a great opportunity for her as well.
After completing her calculations in her head, Cecilia was exhausted, and her dark circle-filled eyes glowed with life.
“I will follow you for the rest of my life! President!”
That attitude was completely different from before, when she had been cursing inwardly about salting the lunch box her wife had prepared for her.
When she thought of the enormous amount of gold coins that would be distributed to her and her honor for completing her research, Ni Cecilia’s heart surged with her love for her life that had been crawling on the floor.
