mesbooks #132 - 10,000 votes, the taste is wrong
#132 - 10,000 votes, the taste is wrong
"Ten thousand doses, the taste is off!"
Jeshka spat out the remaining potion along with his saliva, his face twisted in disgust.
Horn immediately turned his gaze to the young apothecary, Cesi.
The middle-aged apothecary beside Cesi couldn't help but reveal a mocking smile.
At that moment, Jeshka, Hakuto, Casti, and the two apothecaries Casti had brought were standing in the wooden house.
The window panel was propped up with a wooden stick, and the morning breeze carried a faint floral fragrance, causing Horn to sneeze.
The two apothecaries before him were found by Casti for Horn.
The middle-aged apothecary was called Targa, and the young apothecary was called Cesi.
The former was sentenced by the guild court to not prepare any potions other than those for minor ailments for ten years due to "malicious dumping."
The latter had his apothecary qualification revoked by the Apothecaries' Guild for selling "fake medicine" and could only secretly sell potions in rural areas or slums.
Besides them, no other apothecaries were willing to go to Black Serpent Bay.
However, since Horn could only take 30 people, he decided to hire only one.
After all, apothecaries also have assistants and apprentices, which would probably take up two or three slots.
So, he specially called Jeshka and Hakuto, two old soldiers, to test them. They were both old medicine addicts and were extremely familiar with potions.
"Cesi, you dare to make fake medicine in this situation?" Casti asked with a frown.
"What did you add to this Bloodboil Potion?" Jeshka wiped his tongue with a handkerchief. "It's not only unpleasant to drink, but the effect feels weaker."
"It's blue-red flower, I added blue-red flower," Cesi quickly explained. "Although it will reduce the medicinal effect slightly, the price will be much cheaper, so ordinary people can afford it."
Targa sneered, "Hmph, isn't that still fake medicine?"
"It's not fake medicine, it has an effect, and it's less harmful to the human body..."
"The formula cannot be changed randomly. If you change it, who knows what problems will arise?" Targa angrily scolded. "Anyone who dares to change the ancestral formula will have their qualification revoked!"
An apothecary who knows how to change the formula, that's interesting.
Horn looked at Cesi thoughtfully.
Ignoring Targa's scolding, Horn rested his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward: "Cesi, right? I'm asking you, how much does this reduce the medicinal effect?"
"I cannot give an exact number, but based on the feedback from users, it's reduced by about 20 to 30 percent."
"What about the cost?"
"The planting cost of blue-red grass is relatively low. If blue-red grass is cultivated on a small scale, the cost can be reduced by about 40 percent." Cesi thought for a moment and continued, "If blue-red grass is planted on a large scale, the cost can be reduced by another 10 percent."
"Alright, I understand." Horn stood up and paced back and forth in silence and under scrutiny.
"Targa, you can go back and wait for notification. Cesi, I have something to ask you." Resuming his steps, Horn looked at the two and said.
Targa was stunned at first. He looked at Cesi in disbelief, then at Horn on the other side: "You want to choose him?"
"Mr. Targa, I think you should go back," Horn did not directly answer his question.
"Your Excellency, do you really want to choose him? Didn't you see what he did? This is simply an affront to..."
"Targa!" Casti directly interrupted him. "Didn't you hear what Lord Horn said? You can leave!"
Stopped in place by Casti's angry shout, Targa laughed in anger twice. He turned around and left without hesitation.
Short-sighted nobles, they deserve to flee to Black Serpent Bay. If it wasn't absolutely necessary, Targa wouldn't have put up with this.
The wooden door was slammed shut by Targa, and Cesi stood there nervously: "Your Excellency, have I been hired?"
"Cesi, I'll ask you one last question. In Black Serpent Bay, the power of the Apothecaries' Guild is very small.
Are you willing to teach your skills to others so that more people can treat their illnesses with potions?"
After a silence that stretched to suffocation, Cesi said, "Can I bring one of my apprentices over?"
"Yes."
"Then, I am willing, as long as they don't use the potions to harm people."
Cesi left the wooden house. He had three days to pack his luggage and say goodbye to his friends nearby.
Three days later, he would bring his apprentice to gather here.
In his notebook, Horn wrote Cesi's name after the word apothecary.
"Lord Casti is quite fast, no wonder the Duke hired you as his chief courtier."
"You flatter me." Early in the morning, Casti had a faint smell of alcohol on him.
However, in the Frankish culture, the smell of alcohol is a man's perfume, so although Misella advised him to drink less, they still drank it with every meal, never missing one.
"Next, are we going to visit the stonemason?"
"Yes." Casti rubbed his temples with a headache. "You know, the stonemason we are going to visit originally didn't want any of his apprentices to leave.
It's just because he owed the Duke a favor that he had to provide an apprentice.
There's also a small problem, he's a stubborn and arrogant person, so he wants to sign a contract with you.
The most ⊥ new ⊥ small ⊥ say ⊥ in ⊥ six ⊥ 9 ⊥⊥ book ⊥⊥ bar ⊥⊥ first ⊥ hair!
Ten years later, if that stonemason still wants to come back, you must not stop him, do you accept this?"
"Of course." Horn only needed a starting talent.
Ten years later, he would probably be a high priest, so if you didn't want to do it, there would be plenty of people who would.
If he wanted a stonemason, Horn couldn't stay at home and wait for people to come. He took a few guards, got into Casti's carriage, and headed towards Jeanne d'Arc Castle.
As the carriage moved forward, the houses on both sides of the road gradually increased, and there were also small vendors and vegetable farmers selling fresh agricultural products and vegetables under wooden sheds.
The leather workshop emitted billowing white steam, and the hides held by the wooden frames were drying in the shade.
Opposite the leather workshop was a butcher shop, where a burly butcher was hanging a bloody pig's leg on an iron hook.
When they got here, the speed of the carriage slowed down, and the road was full of farmers leading cows and peasant women carrying wooden buckets.
Like elsewhere, the farmers here were also sallow and thin.
They carried pitchforks, the tines still covered in manure, and dragged dry grass on carts towards the fields.
Sticking his head out of the carriage, Horn looked towards Jeanne d'Arc Castle on the distant high platform. Below the castle, a sparkling river meandered by.
Thousand River Valley has two large rivers, the Nauan River flowing west to the Golden Plain downstream and merging into the Emerald Sea, and the Yibei River flowing south through Black Serpent Bay and merging into the Zealand Sea.
Jeanne d'Arc Castle is located on the upper reaches of the Yibei River, and the canal built during the El Empire period runs through the town.
This was originally not the territory of Duke Cush, but after the nearby port developed into a town, the previous generations of Duke Cush had no choice but to come here due to the loss of large areas of territory.
Then they enjoyed themselves here and forgot about home.
By the time of Danner's father, they simply changed the name to return to the old capital—renaming Canal Town as Jeanne d'Arc Castle.
Jeanne d'Arc Castle is divided into the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is actually the real Jeanne d'Arc Castle, the residence of the Duke, located on a two-fathom-high earthen platform.
The outer city is the residential area of the citizens, full of pointed-roof houses and towers. A towering bell tower stands at one corner of the city, and next to the bell tower are the city hall and the church.
The city hall is jointly managed by scholars elected by the citizens and the Duke's courtiers.
Most of the time, the Duke does not directly interfere in the politics and laws here.
The price is that citizens and merchants need to pay a considerable city redemption tax, but for the sake of freedom, citizens still pay this money on time every year.
The area near the canal is full of guild buildings, taverns, brothels, warehouses, and various workshops.
When Horn's carriage arrived here, he could still see the craftsmen of the dye workshop pouring steaming black and gray wastewater into the canal.
Getting out of the carriage, Horn immediately felt a pungent smell of dye coming towards him, and he couldn't help but cover his nose and mouth.
Following behind Casti, they twisted and turned through the alleys and finally arrived at the stonemason's workshop.