Chapter 87: Work smarter not harder

The Ranger and her assistant had visited four small villages in four days. Each time they sold something, and tried to mingle with the locals.

They had even developed a routine. First, they go to a village, and then they look for someone to sell whatever they had. Sometimes it was meat, some times medical herbs, and others it was fur.

They scavenged and hunted the local woods, and after that, they sold what they didn't eat. They only sold things below Rank Zero. Normal people couldn't chew through the tough meat with their regular teeth. And a broken throat could be a serious problem for a village in such a remote area.

There were precious few doctors around, and even then, most had to walk for hours if not days to get to one. The people in the North were harsh, but that was because they lived in a harsh environment, and Diana couldn't help but pity them a little.

Even Ciaran's cold dead clinical heart was moved by their plight. He cared mostly because the people he interacted with were very similar in character to Rayon. They were honest and hard-working and despite their tough front, he found them too trusting of others.

"Is there a point in us going around all these villages, or are we just helping them out for winter. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind helping, but I would like to know if there is a greater purpose for our presence." He said the last part with a higher-pitched voice. Just because he promised not to mention her last name, didn't mean he wasn't going to tease her about it.

Diana was no fool, but after a few days with the boy, she found it less and less annoying. At this point, she found it cute, how much effort he put into messing with her. She disliked the association with the royals because of politics, and Ciaran gave negative fucks about any of that.

"Nailed it in one. Our job is to help these people, not by giving them supplies but by going around and scouting what they lack the most. We need to ensure the death quota stays low." She said, and he grumbled.

There was no point in annoying her if she wasn't annoyed anymore.

'Well, there goes that source of entertainment.'

"Ok, and what do we do? It's not like we can provide everyone with medical attention. I know a little first aid, and my Water can be used for healing, but nobody taught me how. There was no time for such luxuries." He said with a snort.

Diana just nodded and pointed with her chin at the forest in front of them.

"Protocol states that we can just hunt and give the villagers cheap and affordable materials. With enough food and medicine, they can last through winter. And with the extra leather and fur, they can reinforce their homes."

Ciaran frowned when he heard that, not because he didn't want to hunt, but because this method was inefficient. It relied on two people providing for tens of thousands. And they only had six months before the cold came, and people died.

"Why not treat the cause of their illness and not just the symptoms?" He asked.

Diana looked at him and sighed. She also wanted to do that but it was just not feasible.

"We can't give them magical heating Ciaran, that would require spending a fortune, and no one will approve of those expenses." She said sternly. She didn't believe Ciaran was a dreamer, nor did she think he would go out of his way to help the poor.

He just stopped and looked at her funny.

"I don't even know what that is Diana, I was talking about making their homes retain the heat. For example, installing foam on their walls and windows should keep it nice and warm."

The girl facepalmed.

"Do you think alchemists are cheap, or do you know how to make that stuff. In some cases, they would even charge us more than the Mages would." She said her tone getting more irritated.

She thought she would have trouble keeping the boy interested in helping out, not trying to convince him that the help they could provide was limited.

He said nothing and just gave her a smug smile.

She saw his posing and thought he was bluffing.

"How good are you?" She asked.

In response, he just gave her his hand, and once she grasped it, he showed her his little barbeque in the Library.

"You are mad. You are just mad, aren't you? Well, I can work with mad, used to it actually, can you help them?" She asked, her eyes shining with hope.

He scratched his head. To be honest, he wasn't sure. Yes, he could do something, but he had only read the theory behind it, as his access to a lab was cut off more than two years ago.

"It will depend on if I can find the right ingredients, and if you can help me learn to use Water better. Without better control of it or a proper lab, even the great me will be helpless." He said in jest, but she just nodded.

Alchemists were very respected individuals. Not all of them were mages, but every single one of them was valued as such. If the boy could do what he said he could, he might just prove to be more valuable to their mission than she was.

"First we need to search the woods for a type of insect, the bombardier beetle. They should live around this region, and I believe they are common. Then we need milk and lots of it. But before we start gathering, we have to first see if I can extract the necessary chemicals out of them." He said as he stood up.

They rushed their way to a new village and traded fur for money, then they bought a room in the local tavern, and diner with it two glasses of milk.

"Ok, I will try to apply a process called ultrafiltration, it should allow me to extract the lactose out of the milk." He said as he took out a few empty vials.

He made one of the glasses of milk float and had some of its contents stand on the tip of his fingers. Then by using his body as a catalyst he absorbed the milk, and allowed a few drops to drip down into one of the vials.

He had five vials, and he filled them one-tenth of the way each. Then he took out a very peculiar glass and looked at them.

At this point, Diana figured out he had a space-storing item, but in her head, all alchemists had one anyway, so she didn't find it weird. She acted rough but she was a princess by birth, and that allowed her to meet some of the fabled alchemists. Sadly for her, she didn't know she was comparing the boy to the best the Empire had to offer.

"Wrong, all wrong. There is a bit of protein in this one, fat in the other, and sugar in this one. I need to get it right so that the substance remains pure." He said, not paying the girl any attention.

For the next three hours, they experimented with milk, until he finally got it right.

"There! Step one is complete, now for the hard part. I will need to find the beatles and extract the isocyanates from them. Then we just have to find the right isocyanates that would match with the lactose. Then we need to produce enough of it, and then I have to mix it all together and hope it works. Oh, and we have to convince the people to use our products, and forget about selling it, no one will buy weird foam. Then we need to install it in their homes. And all that in six months, easy." He exploded with mad laughter.

The boy understood that it would be hard, but he also loved a challenge. Especially if it involved hunting or chemistry, and this one relies on both.

"Are you with me Diana? Because I am doing it, with or without you. There is no way I will spend six months of my life in gross inefficiency." He said, the madness spreading to his eyes.

Far from disturbed the girl was beyond happy. She knew that look, she wore it and so did her grandfather. She wasn't kidding when she said she said she was used to it, she just didn't want to admit she preferred it. They were people passionate about their craft, and passion led to results in most cases.

'Well, it also leads to some gruesome outcomes sometimes, but that's just being pedantic.'

"I am with you, in fact, I can ask Gramps to distribute your product in three months. We can't possibly get to all houses in that time frame, but we don't have to. Just do your thing, and I will handle the rest."

And just like that, Ciaran found his enabler.