Chapter 39 Proposal

At Countess Iris office room at night

Nicholas knocked on the door to her mother's office.

Nicholas: "Mom, I'm here," he said as he opened the door after knocking.

Countess: "Ohh, come sit here, my dear," she said since she was a bit surprised by Nicholas's appearance but still patted the couch beside her to signal him to join her.

Nicholas then obeyed her instruction and went to her side of the couch and set the numerous stacks of books and papers in his hands and arms to the table in front of them. These books and papers are about the business proposal that Nicholas was consulting her mother on. He wanted to share his idea with her mother, and then her mother shared it with his father if it was feasible or not.

Countess: "That's a lot of books and paper. Is this the new idea you were talking about?"

Nicholas: "It's a bit complicated, so I have prepared several documents that can clarify my statements."

Countess: "Oh, is that so?"

This idea of his came from a month after studying nature elements. He delved into several possibilities and applications of nature elemental skills. Naturally, nature elements aside from combat are most associated with agriculture.

Nicholas: "Yes, mom, I was reading about different books and documents on how to apply nature elements in agriculture."

He narrated his idea to change agriculture when he saw the difference in agricultural production when he was away in town. 

Nicholas: "Since, the main effect of nature elements in agriculture was the increase in quality of crops and plants applied with nature elemental skills. But that was not my goal with this idea."

Countess: "Then what is your goal?" She asked curiously.

Nicholas: "I want to revolutionize agriculture. Most advancement in agriculture relies on using nature's elemental skills, leaving it inaccessible to most people."

Nicholas: "Something that would benefit everyone, not just a select few and powerful but everyone. So, I read more about agriculture and studied it thoroughly for the past half a year.

I read and studied about books relating to agriculture and nature elements. I read experiments about testing different materials and minerals effects on the yield on crops. I read about the success of that experiment, which resulted in what we commonly used in our cultivation."

Countess: "Yes, that book really encapsulates the discoveries of ashes and minerals that would help in growing crops. Too bad that even success brings disaster."

The book of experiments that Nicholas and the Countess were both talking about had three positive results in increasing the yield of crops: ashes, some rocks, and carcasses. Two of which are commonly used today, while the carcasses had the best result but, on the other hand, had devastating after-side effects.

Nicholas: "Yes, the carcass of dead creatures, when used in experiments, brings successful results to grow plants and crops. But, when used in large quantity, it causes a plague."

Countess: "So you discovered a new material that would increase the growth rate and yield of crops?"

Nicholas: "Well, not exactly... I came across with documentation on the continuous experiments of awakeners trying to extract the essence of what made carcasses great for agriculture."

Nicholas proceeds to show his mother fake documentation of awakeners trying to extract the essence of what carcasses made so great in facilitating plant growth.

Nicholas: "Here, I found a document that might change the world."

Countess Iris didn't want to be a bad mother, so she decided to read the contents of the document but looked at it with a skeptical gaze since she often vetted the books Nicholas read and already knew about them, or if his son stumbled upon this, it might be famous already or might be just a hoax. 

She proceeded to turn page per page. She became more skeptical as she read the documents since the process was very shady and riddled with inconsistencies. She read the book until its end and came to a conclusion.

Countess: "Where did you get this? Well, that doesn't matter; it won't work. Even if the extraction of essence was proper and successful, the main liquid material that was needed for the experiment to succeed can be only found in extremely cold climates, such as the tundra in the north."

Nicholas: "Well, that was the thing. I gave up on this idea in the first place after seeing the rare materials needed to make it. However..."

Nicholas: "While I was training with Maria one day. She was practicing pushing her limits, and she used almost all her mana. She accidentally frozen a part of the training room. You remember that, right mom?"

Countess: "Yes, what of it."

Nicholas: "I saw it..."

Countess: "What did you see?" She asked in a confused way, not knowing what his son was talking about.

Nicholas: "I saw that material; I saw the transparent liquid material appear. Out of nowhere... Then it vanished after a few seconds."

Countess: "So... what you are saying is..." She realized what his son is saying.

Nicholas: "YES! After experimenting and testing for a lot of times this past few months, I finally be able to make that liquid to extract the essence in the carcasses."

Nicholas then explained to his mother how he experimented and discovered how to make that liquid substance. It was not that weird for his mother since it was true that even early on when he was a kid, he liked experimenting on stuff. So his mother didn't question him.

Countess: "THAT IS GREAT!" She hugged him as the countess was so proud of his son. She might have some questions about the process of 'extracting the essence of the carcasses,' but she was more overwhelmed by her emotions about her son being a genius.

Nicholas: *Success* He clenched his hands as she was being hugged by her mother, making the hardest part of his completed.

In truth, Nicholas's idea was not to 'extract the essence of carcasses' using magic but to use chemistry to make synthetic fertilizer by making a biogas farm. This plan is basically creating a synthetic fertilizer by harvesting methane from dead bodies of monsters and making nitrogen-based fertilizer using nitrogen, which he can harvest in abundance by freezing air. Believe it or not, nitrogen is the most abundant type of gas found in nature.

But before he could make a biogas farm, he had to convince her mother, who is a very bright person. He had to devise a plan to use her mother's weakness; it was the fact she sometimes gets overwhelmed with emotion when with his baby boy.

To accomplish his goal, first he had to convince his mother about this idea from a magical standpoint since science was not popular in this world. He had to carefully tell a story that would make her emotional while weaving in tidbits of misinformation like the documentation of awakeners making synthetic fertilizer using magic. This method does not exist in this world since it is a chemistry-based product in his previous world, so he has to fabricate some data and evidence. He also had to convince Maria to help him with some experiments to'synthesize' this weird, smoky liquid, making his lie even more believable.

Countess: "But how will you be able to start this business of yours? Don't you need dead bodies of animals for this?"

Nicholas: "Well actually..."

Nicholas shared his ideas of making use of useless monster parts from the dungeons; this would create a new market for salvaging useless monster parts in the dungeon.

Countess: "Wouldn't that cause another plague if monster parts accumulate?"

Nicholas: "Yes, I know that, mom. But I have a plan."

It was true that monster dead carcasses, like any carcasses, when they accumulate can cause a spread of disease. That is why it was a custom for adventurers and awakeners to leave useless parts of monsters and loot in dungeons. 

Nicholas: "Since monster carcasses can cause a plague, we should store them in a safe container that would be sealed and away from the population."

Nicholas began to explain how he plans to construct a site on the outskirts of Curtana so they can store the carcasses.

Countess: "That would not be a bad idea..." She thought about it some more.

Nicholas: "Don't worry, mom. The containers will be sealed and only be opened after the carcasses have been dried out and incinerated."

Countess: "Are you sure about this?"

Nicholas: "Yes, mom. I have provided a more detailed plan in this document; you can read it if you want. It was more detailed than the experiment on extracting the essence of carcasses. It is safe and guaranteed."

Countess: "Fine, I will read about the plan you've written later. But I still have some questions on this project of yours," she said to Nicholas.

So Nicholas freely answered most of her questions about the project. There were a lot of confusing parts in the plan since it was basically a different technology from another world. But Nicholas managed to make a parallel example in this world's more primitive technology so her mother could understand.

Countess: "How about the monster parts? How would you convince the awakeners to get the useless parts of the monster?"

Nicholas: "I think offering them a decent deal from being basically useless to profiting from it. I guess skilled and high-leveled awakeners wouldn't be our target but the awakeners and even brave scavengers. We will definitely get a satisfactory result since most of the lower-leveled awakeners always complain about not making enough money."

Countess: "How about the materials in producing the 'essence'? How will you procure it?"

Nicholas: "Well, I have studied all of the materials, and it is definitely commonly found except for the main ingredient and another part. But don't worry, mom, I also got a plan for that."

Countess: "Hmm... That's good and fine. But your discovery of this material will definitely attract large amounts of attention. I mean something that the Curtana might not even handle." She asked in a solemn tone.