Magus Tech

Chapter 9: Edward Anglee (2)

The hall had an area of over 200 square meters. Though extremely wide, it was crowded. There were dozens of tables on the floor of the hall and various kinds of instruments and equipments spread out on the tables. In front of each table was a busy maid, either big or thin, tall or short, black or white –– they all operated on the instruments nervously.

On the table near the entrance stood a simple set of distillation utensils, the core of which was a glass tube heated in boiling water; the mouth of the beak was sealed with only a leather tube leading to the outside and was connected to a strangely shaped iron pipe.

The middle of the iron pipe was soaked in water, with the edge of the end high and one end low. The high end of the pipe was connected to a leather tube, and the lower end connected to a glass funnel that looked like a horn, dripping colorless liquid into a porcelain glass.

Because of problems in the connection of the equipment, a flow of constant white mist sprayed out. As the surrounding air emitted a slightly pungent scent of alcohol, the speed of colorless dripping liquid into the porcelain glass grew slower and slower.

Tick… tick… drip… drip…

The maid who had her hair tied up to a bun looked at the equipment at a loss. Her eyes were wide open, unsure of what to do.

Richard frowned and walked toward her. The maid immediately sensed his presence and froze. “Your… Your Highness…”

“I asked you to distill high concentrations of alcohol. How’s it working out?”

“I… I…” The maid’s voice trembled. Wanting to avoid a scolding, she bravely replied, “I… do it… do it… well…”

“Hmm?” Richard blinked. He pointed to the pungent white mist where the equipment was connected and asked, “Is this what you’re talking about? What about its airtightness? The steam of alcohol is missing. So, how do you collect high concentrations of alcohol solution?”

“I…”

Richard reached into the water basin soaked with the iron pipe and felt the temperature. “How long has it been since the water had been changed? It’s hot. Do you think it’ll condense? You think this’ll allow the high temperature of alcohol vapor to turn into droplets, then have it be collected into the porcelain glass by the horned tube? Yesterday I spoke to you and the others, telling the main points of distillation. What are you doing?”

“Your Highness… I… I…” The maid quivered, her voice trembling. “Your Highness… I was wrong. I… I’m too stupid to remember. Your Highness… please give me another chance… this time…”

“No, no, no,” Richard said faintly, “As I’ve said before, I can tolerate a maid in my palace even if she’d made a mistake… even if she’d previously committed murder. But there is one thing that I ask: to comprehend what I’ve said. Ah, forget it. It’s not that you’re stupid, but that your comprehensive learning ability is too poor. And the last thing I need is a person with poor learning ability. I don’t have the time and energy to popularize science and train everyone to the point of enlightenment. So, do yourself a favor and don’t come here again. Pack your things and leave. Don’t make me repeat my words.”

The maid’s face was pale and horrid. Once driven out the palace, she’d have a difficult time finding a job that would earn her 5 silvers a month. Her poor living conditions was unable to sustain her family needs. It’d be a disaster.

“Your Highness…! Your Highness…!” The maid shouted. “Please, give me another chance. I… my father owes a lot of money. If I leave and I’m unable to pay his debts, he’ll be beaten to death… please… Your Highness…”

Richard tuned himself out to the maid’s words and walked towards the depth of the palace.

The maid’s countenance grew desperate.

Edward’s eyes flashed looking at the beautifully desperate maid. He caught up with Richard. “Your Highness, just now, that maid name Eve is a good person. She might be a little lacking right now and her family’s living in difficult times… She’ll redouble her efforts, surely…”

Richard stopped and looked at Edward, his eyes calm.

Edward, on the other hand, shook his body with fear. “Your… Your Highness… I… I…”