"Hmm, so white salt can't be bought in the Barony of Quinte?" Black Rock Territory was Storm Territory's second-nearest neighbor, a day and a night's journey away. Nalant still didn't know what had happened in Quinte Territory, so he was curious why the serfs were going out of their way to buy salt. Even with the taxes tripled, pickling fish didn't take that much salt.
"My lord, it can't be bought anymore. Baron Quinte..." Kenbi Cowdung carefully recounted what had happened yesterday.
"He refused to sell white salt to Storm Territory? And raised the trade tax by another two times?" After hearing this, Nalant, who had been sitting there calmly, immediately flared with anger. This was going too far!
"That bastard! Sooner or later, I'll show him what's what!" Under ordinary circumstances, neighboring nobles maintained good relations.
After all, a distant relative was less useful than a nearby neighbor. If danger ever came, nobles could form an alliance to defend one another. Now that Storm Territory had a lord, Quinte still wanted to fleece them. It was as if he didn't take Nalant, the lord, seriously at all.
"My lord, please calm down!" Just then, Thomas brought over a cup of tea brewed with Tulip powder. "My lord, when I was at a ball in Tulip Castle, I heard the noble lords talking about Baron Quinte. They said he was famous for being miserly and mean. He wasn't just stingy with the serfs; he treated nobles the same way!"
"Last time, Baron Delin of Tulip Territory went there to buy white salt. Only after he'd brought it back did he discover that it was mixed with a lot of sand!"
As a servant at Tulip Castle, Thomas had heard plenty of amusing stories about the nobles. He told Nalant what he knew.
"Hm? He's so spiteful and mean, yet nobles still go to buy white salt from him?" If he cheated nobles in their dealings, then once word got around, surely no noble would trade with him.
"My lord, they don't have much choice. Three of the little sprites in Quinte Territory have each produced a salt mine, so nobles nearby without salt mines can only buy white salt from him. After all, Salt Mine Sprites are quite rare!"
"My lord, there are rumors that Baron Quinte is Earl Blackiron's illegitimate son. Although he was granted a fief in a rather remote location, the three Salt Mine Sprites were a gift from Earl Blackiron. So Baron Quinte is actually richer than most viscounts."
"An earl's illegitimate son? Salt Mine Sprites!" Nalant suddenly realized that, in this world, there didn't seem to be any naturally formed mineral deposits underground. Whether iron or gold, they were all produced by Yellow Sprites.
"Have any of you ever heard of making salt from seawater?" Nalant suddenly asked.
The others exchanged glances. Thomas was taken aback, too, before he answered, "My lord, white salt is also considered a mineral deposit, and it's produced by Yellow Sprites! Although seawater is salty, it seems it can't turn into salt!"
Thomas tried to remind him as quietly as possible, so as not to undermine his lord's dignity.
Now it was Nalant's turn to look strange. In his previous life, sea salt made up the largest share of the salt people ate.
Yet although this world had vast oceans too, people relied solely on Salt Mine Sprites to obtain rock salt from mines.
"Thomas, what's the market price for white salt per pound?"
"My lord, white salt is very precious. It isn't sold by the pound, but in small packets, each weighing about a hundred grams. One packet costs ten Copper Coins. If you buy directly from a territory with a salt mine, like Baron Quinte's, it usually costs five Copper Coins per packet. But that price is only available to merchant caravans sent by nobles. Commoners can't buy it cheaply." Thomas answered at once.
"Ten coins for a hundred grams? That expensive?" Nalant couldn't believe it.
The next moment, Nalant slapped the armrest of his chair and sprang to his feet. "Thomas, get a big iron pot and put it on a carriage. The bigger the better. Also bring a tablecloth and a few wooden basins!"
Although minerals in this world were all produced by little sprites, Nalant figured that if seawater was salty, then it ought to contain salt.
So he wanted to give it a try. If seawater could yield salt just as it had in his previous life, then he'd make Quinte cry as he begged for mercy.
"Yes, my lord!" Thomas had no idea what his lord was planning, but he dutifully went to carry out the orders.
Soon, two carriages set off from the baron's castle for Misfortune Village.
"Kenbi Cowdung, go find a few strong serfs!" Nalant called out to Kenbi at the entrance to Misfortune Village.
Before long, Kenbi had brought several serfs to the seaside.
In ancient times, there had been two ways to make sea salt. The first was to boil seawater over a wood fire.
The second was to make salt in salt pans by letting the seawater evaporate in the sun.
Nalant clearly couldn't use the second method right now. The fishmen had occupied the entire beach, so he had no choice but to boil the seawater over a wood fire.
Fortunately, this world lacked nothing so much as it lacked nothing green and lush. Vast stretches of woodland were still undeveloped.
After ordering the serfs to put together a simple stove, gather firewood, and ladle seawater into the pot, Nalant began making salt in this other world.
"My lord, are you planning to cook something? Would you like me to go back to the village and fetch a couple of pieces of fish?" Kenbi Cowdung peered timidly at the empty pot, which held nothing but seawater, and fawned over him.
Smack!
Quick flicked Kenbi Cowdung on the forehead with the back of his hand. Their lord was in the middle of doing something important, and yet this short-sighted Cowdung could think only about eating.
Quick had no idea what important thing his lord was doing, either, but he was sure it wasn't for the sake of food.
After getting flicked on the forehead, Kenbi Cowdung quieted down. He watched as the seawater in the pot boiled away little by little.
"Now, you three, hold this cloth and filter the water in the iron pot into the wooden basins!" When about a quarter of the seawater had boiled away, Nalant gave the serfs their instructions.
The men quickly got to work filtering the seawater through the tablecloth.
The tablecloth wasn't silk, but it was fine linen, the sort only nobles could afford. It worked well enough, and soon it had filtered out a layer of murky brown sediment.
"Good. Pour it back in and keep boiling!"
The filtered seawater went back into the pot, and this time it took much longer to boil.
When the seawater had boiled down to something like thick, runny porridge, reddish-white crystals had formed around the sides of the iron pot.
"That's enough! Pour all the liquid out of the pot this time!" The liquid left in the pot was what people commonly called brine, which could be used to make tofu. Unfortunately, Nalant didn't need it right now.
Once the brine had been poured out, Kenbi Cowdung and the guards stared curiously at the reddish-white crystals stuck to the pot.
"My lord, what is this? Why did all this stuff appear after the crystal-clear seawater was boiled?" Quick found it incredibly fascinating.
"This is salt!" Nalant grinned, unable to hide his delight.
It was no wonder he was so happy. The moment crystals began appearing at the bottom of the pot, Nalant knew that seawater in this world could produce salt, too.
"What? This is salt?" Everyone looked doubtful. The salt they usually ate wasn't snow-white like the kind nobles had, but at least it wasn't this outrageous color. It was practically red.
"If you don't believe me, try some!"
"Ah! Ptooey, ptooey!" Quick, Kenbi, and the others really did dip their fingers into the sea salt and put a little in their mouths.
But the next moment, they hurriedly spat it out.
"My lord, it really is salty, but it's so bitter!" Quick and the others grimaced in disgust.
"Of course it's bitter. This is only coarse salt; it still needs to be refined!" Nalant smiled at them.