Burning Salt

"Hmm, why can't white salt be bought from the Barony of Quinte?" Black Rock Territory was the second neighbor, located a day and a night's journey from Storm Territory. Nalant was still unaware of what had transpired in the Quinte territory and was curious why the serfs would go to such lengths to avoid the closer option; even with a triple tax, pickled fish shouldn't cost that much in salt.

"My Lord, it can't be bought anymore. Baron Quinte..." Kenbi Cowdung then carefully recounted the events of yesterday.

"Refused to sell white salt to Storm Territory? And even doubled the trade tax?" Upon hearing this, Nalant, who had been calm and collected, was suddenly overcome with anger. This was bullying them too far.

"That bastard! Sooner or later, I'll make him realize why flowers are so red!" Under normal circumstances, noble neighbors would maintain a good relationship.

After all, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. In the event of any danger, nobles could form an offensive and defensive alliance. Now that Storm Territory had a lord, Quinte actually wanted to fleece them; he clearly didn't take him, the lord, seriously at all.

"My Lord, please calm your anger!" Just then, Thomas brought over a cup of tea brewed with tulip powder. "My Lord, I once heard the noble lords discussing this at a ball in Tulip Castle. They said this Baron Quinte is notoriously stingy and mean! He isn't just petty toward serfs; he's the same way toward other nobles!"

"Last time, Baron Delin of the Tulip Territory went there to buy white salt, only to discover after the purchase that it was mixed with a lot of sand!"

As a servant of Tulip Castle, Thomas had heard many interesting anecdotes discussed by the nobles and now shared them with Nalant.

"Hmm? If he's so petty and mean, why do other nobles still go there to buy white salt?" If a noble engaged in fraud during trade, once the reputation spread, surely no other noble would trade with him.

"My Lord, there's no other way. Baron Quinte has three sprites that have opened up salt mines, so nobles in the vicinity who lack salt mines have no choice but to buy white salt from him. After all, salt mine sprites are quite rare!"

"My Lord, rumor has it that Baron Quinte is the illegitimate son of Earl Blackiron. Although his fief is located in a remote area, those three salt mine sprites were given to him by the Earl himself, so this Baron Quinte is actually wealthier than the average Viscount."

"An Earl's illegitimate son? Salt mine sprites!" Suddenly, it dawned on Nalant that the underground of this world seemed to lack naturally occurring mineral deposits; whether it was iron or gold, everything was birthed by yellow sprites.

"Then have you ever heard of anyone making salt from seawater?" Nalant suddenly asked the group.

The few men looked at each other in confusion. Thomas also paused for a moment before replying, "My Lord, white salt is considered a mineral deposit, also transformed by yellow sprites! Although seawater is salty, it doesn't seem like it can turn into salt!"

Thomas reminded him as quietly as possible, trying to avoid damaging his lord's dignity.

This time, it was Nalant's turn to look bewildered. In his previous life, sea salt accounted for the largest portion of the salt people consumed.

Yet, this world also had an endless ocean, and people relied solely on salt mine sprites to extract well salt for consumption.

"Thomas, what is the market price for white salt per jin?"

"In reply to my Lord, white salt is very precious. It isn't sold by the jin, but in small packets, each equivalent to one hundred grams! And each packet costs ten copper coins. Unless you go directly to a territory with salt mines like the Barony of Quinte, it is usually five copper coins per packet, but that price is only for merchant caravans sent by nobles; commoners cannot buy it at that low price," Thomas answered immediately.

"Ten copper coins for one hundred grams? That expensive?" Nalant found it incredible.

The next moment, Nalant slapped the armrest of his chair and stood up abruptly. "Thomas, go move a large pot onto the carriage, the bigger the better. Also, bring a tablecloth and a few wooden basins!"

Although the mineral deposits in this world were transformed by sprites, Nalant felt that since seawater was salty, it should contain salt content.

Therefore, he wanted to give it a try. If it were truly like his previous life, where salt could be extracted from seawater, he would make that Quinte cry and sing for mercy.

"Yes, my Lord!" Although he didn't know what his lord intended to do, Thomas went to carry out the orders obediently.

Soon, two carriages departed from the Baron's castle toward Misfortune Village.

"Kenbi Cowdung, go find a few strong serfs!" At the entrance of Misfortune Village, Nalant ordered Kenbi.

Soon, Kenbi brought several serfs to the seaside.

In his previous life, there were two methods for making sea salt in ancient times. The first was to boil seawater with firewood to obtain sea salt.

The second was to use salt pans to sun-dry the sea salt.

Nalant clearly had no way to do the second method now; after all, the beach was entirely occupied by Mermen, so he could only choose to boil it with firewood.

Fortunately, this world lacked many things, but it did not lack green hills and clear waters; vast stretches of forest had yet to be cleared.

Ordering the serfs to build a simple stove, gather firewood, and scoop up seawater, Nalant's salt-boiling in this different world officially began.

"My Lord, are you preparing to cook something? Should this little one go back to the village and get two pieces of fish?" Kenbi Cowdung looked at the empty pot containing only seawater, fawning obsequiously.

Smack!

Quick backhanded Kenbi Cowdung with a flick to the forehead. Their lord was doing something important, yet the short-sighted Cowdung only knew how to eat.

Although Quick didn't know what great task the lord was undertaking, it certainly wasn't for food.

After being flicked on the forehead, Kenbi Cowdung became well-behaved, watching as the seawater in the large pot gradually decreased.

"Hmm, you lot, hold this cloth steady and filter the water in the iron pot into the wooden basin!" Seeing that a quarter of the seawater had boiled away, Nalant commanded the group.

Soon, they nimbly began filtering the seawater through the tablecloth.

Although the tablecloth wasn't silk, it was an exquisite linen that only nobles could afford, so the filtering effect was quite good; soon, a layer of brown, murky residue was filtered out.

"Hmm, pour it back in and keep boiling!"

The filtered seawater went back onto the stove, and this time, the boiling took much longer.

When the seawater had boiled down to the consistency of thick porridge, red and white crystals had already appeared around the edges of the iron pot.

"That's enough! Pour out all the water left in the pot!" At this point, the thick water in the pot was what was commonly known as bittern, which could be used to curdle tofu, but unfortunately, Nalant didn't need it at the moment.

When the bittern was poured out, Kenbi Cowdung and the guards looked curiously at the red and white crystals stuck to the pot.

"My Lord, what is this stuff? Why would there be these things after boiling such clear seawater?" Quick felt it was truly magical.

"This is salt!" Nalant smiled, unable to hide his delight.

He couldn't be blamed for being so happy; when crystals began to appear at the bottom of the pot, Nalant knew that the seawater in this world could indeed produce salt.

"What? This is salt?" Everyone's expressions were strange. Although they didn't usually eat the snow-white salt that the nobles did, at least the color wasn't this outrageous—it was almost red.

"If you don't believe me, taste it yourselves!"

"Ah! Ptooey, ptooey!" Quick, Kenbi, and the others actually raised their hands to dab a bit of the sea salt and put it into their mouths.

But the very next moment, they were all frantically spitting it out.

"My Lord, it really is salty, but it's far too bitter!" Quick and the others grimaced, speaking with clear disdain.

"It's bitter because this is only crude salt; it still requires refining!" Nalant looked at them with a smile.