Chapter 47: The Social Contract

Su Na slightly turned her head, gazing out the window at the bustling, crowded street. Her small hands absentmindedly stroked the teacup in her grasp: “What exactly is the Alchemy Association?”

She had pondered Margaret’s words from yesterday for an entire day, yet she still couldn’t figure out what this so-called Alchemy Association actually was.

It wasn’t that her comprehension skills were lacking, but rather that what this so-called association was doing was, bluntly put, completely hindering the development of alchemy—and even society as a whole. She even suspected that an enemy had infiltrated them from within; there had to be a limit to how abstract something could be, right?

That was why Su Na had thought to invite Caitlin out for a chat. Among the people she knew, this future Queen belonged to the highest echelon of society.

“The Alchemy Association?”

A faint trace of mockery appeared on Caitlin’s pretty face: “It’s merely a toy for a group of old men in the Towers.”

“Towers?”

“Aside from their inherent power, Saint-tier Archmages possess immense lifespans that afford them ample time to study the mysteries of magic. Therefore, a fully functional Mage Tower is an indispensable asset. It can be used for research, communication, and even war.”

“So, you can think of the ‘Towers’ as representing a group of powerful old fogeys. Although there is no explicitly named organization, there is no doubt that this group is the actual controlling faction behind the Mage Association.”

“Alchemy is a discipline with immense potential; you should be able to see that yourself. And strictly speaking, a Mage Tower is the ultimate creation of the alchemical discipline.”

Caitlin took a sip of tea: “And an Alchemy Association subordinate to the Mage Association just happens to satisfy the needs of a certain group of people. So, what do you think its value is?”

“Service?”

“Correct.”

Su Na nodded: “I see… that answer actually isn’t too surprising.”

To put it plainly, current alchemy was akin to the royal artisans of ancient times, serving a similar demographic. Why would the celestial dragons be willing to use the same things as you commoners? That was a state secret!

As for the alchemist community itself, in a secular sense, they lacked the subjective initiative to rebel. After all, they had people above protecting and feeding them, and they could sell garbage as gold to the people below to amass wealth. No matter how you looked at it, it was a good deal.

As for the future of alchemy, was serving the masses the only future? Didn’t they believe that the path they were currently walking was the future of alchemy?

“Nana, although I don’t know exactly what you are thinking, I can make a good guess.”

“I think highly of you. Don’t do anything foolish.”

Hearing this, Su Na smiled brightly: “How could I? I value my life more than anyone. I know what to do. In fact, I should thank them.”

Thank them for leaving the market wide open. If, when she first opened her eyes, alchemical creations had been everywhere on the streets, she would have truly been distressed.

Caitlin set down her teacup, a puzzled expression on her face: “Hmm?”

Su Na did not answer Caitlin’s confusion. Instead, she took a contract document from her pocket, placed it on the table, and slid it toward her: “Thank you for your answers today, Caitlin. This information is highly valuable to me. Please accept this small token of my gratitude.”

Caitlin looked down at the contents written on the contract. The more she read, the wider her beautiful eyes opened, and her tone lost all of its previous calm detachment: “This… this is for me?”

Su Na smiled and nodded. There wasn’t much written on it—merely granting Caitlin a twenty percent supply quota for paper, with a price set just a tiny bit lower than parchment. The wholesale price was one silver coin per sheet, which was equivalent to forty copper coins.

And it wasn’t the size of a notebook page. A standard A4 sheet is about 20 by 30 centimeters, while the paper she produced measured 200 by 300 centimeters per sheet. As for how others cut it up to sell, that was none of her business.

With the advent of steam-powered hammers and presses, the difficulty of manufacturing paper had become exceedingly low. After all, the requirement for papermaking was essentially just plant fiber pulp. Bamboo and eucalyptus bark were the most widely used, and Su Na utilized bamboo.

Bamboo strips were soaked in lime for fourteen days, then beaten into pulp using steam-powered hammers, mixed with wood ash, and boiled for ten hours. Impurities were removed using running water, the mixture was stirred evenly, and then molds were used to form the paper from the pulp.

The press was then used to squeeze out the water, and the sheet was peeled off and stuck to a heated wall until all moisture had evaporated. And there you had a piece of paper. If it wasn’t bright enough, it could be repeatedly boiled and bleached.

The most labor-intensive and resource-consuming aspects had already been replaced by steam power. Overall, the most time-consuming part that bottlenecked production was the two-week soaking period. However, in terms of cost, it had perfectly met the basic requirements for mass popularization.

Currently, the only difficulty was the rather time-consuming carving of blocks for movable type printing. This was because she required the molds to be carved from iron. Although this made the initial preparation difficult and prolonged the cycle, once completed, casting the type blocks using a metal with a low melting point like tin would be much simpler and faster.

They wouldn’t need constant repair and could be melted down and recast in batches, perfectly satisfying the demands of printing.

“Thank you, Nana. This gift is very important to me.”

Before leaving, Caitlin hugged Su Na, pressing her cheek against hers, and spoke with sincere gratitude.

“Mm. We will have many more opportunities to cooperate in the future.”

Giving Caitlin such a large quota wasn’t exactly giving it away for free; she still had to pay the wholesale price. Su Na was giving her a supply quota—meaning Caitlin would receive twenty percent of whatever was produced. This was also an expansion of her trade channels.

The western part of the kingdom had basically been entirely opened up, but Su Na couldn’t extend her reach into the core, essential region of the royal capital just yet. Therefore, there was no more suitable candidate than Princess Caitlin.

Moreover, paper was, in a sense, a strategic resource. As a hard currency, she didn’t have to worry about it not selling.

Handing the kingdom’s market over to Caitlin was also a form of political assistance. Whether she used these quotas to exchange for favors with other families or simply sold them for money, it was a guaranteed profit.

Su Na had no desire to be tied to a single sinking ship. As a qualified merchant, betting on both sides to achieve a win-win was the most basic principle. Going “all-in” was something only gamblers did.

This was also a statement to the Royalists. They only wanted everyone to make money together; thus, the Western Alliance they would form in the future would not easily become a thorn in anyone’s side.

Upon returning to the dormitory, Su Na handed a parchment-bound book to Levi and spoke in a solemn tone: “Tell them to carve a set of type molds based on this book, but do not print it. I will personally give the order when it is time to print.”

Although the information she learned today had dampened her mood somewhat, it didn’t change anything. She had never felt a sense of belonging to this society from the very beginning, so instead of being angry, she felt that this was exactly how things were supposed to be.

Therefore, she ought to make some little toys for those at the top to force them to get moving. Sitting so comfortably made her a bit displeased.

“Understood, Miss.”

Levi took the costly little booklet and carefully tucked it into her pocket. On the cover, five large words were clearly written with a quill:

The Social Contract.