By the time Rorschach left Wertzburg, he had only met with the newly-married Bart once. Sporting dark circles under his eyes, Bart reminded the main culprit not to forget how the Mage Tower had collapsed.

Rorschach also saw a radiant Amelia and wondered why she didn’t have dark circles. In response to his friend’s resentful glare, he could only promise one last favor. "I was forced to tear down the tower to protect you! Alright, alright. Before I return to the Holy Kingdom, I’ll come back one more time and help you design the Defense Array for your Mage Tower."

"You have a deal." Of course, Bart wasn’t trying to get Rorschach to pay him back; he was just waiting for those words. He had already witnessed Rorschach’s skill in creating Scrolls, and the Blue Light Barrier had left a deep impression on him.

Looking drained, Bart shook Rorschach’s hand in farewell and arranged for a carriage from the chamber of commerce to take the young man to Lanshite.

If he went straight to the Tower of Secret Techniques, Rorschach could have hitched a ride with one of the Mages or Apprentices there. But he didn’t want to leave the Tower empty-handed, which meant he couldn’t arrive empty-handed either. He would first stop by the factory in Lanshite to pick up his goods.

What could he offer the Mages of the Tower of Secret Techniques that they couldn’t possibly refuse? This was the question Rorschach pondered along the way.

At the very least, he could prepare the bargaining chips he had available, such as more Dulled Transmuting Dust. He wondered if the Mages had managed to thoroughly research those little blue crystals yet.

During the rush to prepare for the wedding celebration, the Fanta factory had imported and installed two Steam Engines. They didn’t just dramatically increase bottling efficiency; they were also used to generate electricity, which was then converted into Ether and channeled into the Transmutation Dust Collector.

This secret setup was maintained by the Apprentices from the Research and Development Department. Rorschach wasn’t worried about any secrets being stolen. The Topological Array was far too complex for an ordinary Apprentice to comprehend, and besides, the Magic Circuits were all etched inside the machinery. As long as the machines kept running, the Apprentices couldn’t pry into their inner workings.

The only thing giving Rorschach a headache was that, due to the Tower of Secret Techniques’ disdain for Alchemy, it was proving quite difficult to assign the people he had recruited to beverage development.

’I can’t be expected to write a textbook to teach them the fundamentals of transport phenomena and reaction engineering, can I?’ The mere thought made the former chemical engineer shudder, his hair standing on end. And to add to his headaches, he had only intended to grab the latest output from the Collector, but was immediately accosted the moment he set foot in the factory.

"Lord Rorschach, you’ve finally returned!" Upon hearing the gatekeeper’s report, Pierre came jogging down from his office to greet him, his potbelly jiggling all the way. Some of the master craftsmen, whom Rorschach had personally recruited, heard the voice and turned to size up one of their ridiculously young "bosses."

"Mr. Pierre, please don’t call me ’Lord.’ How about this: within the factory, let’s all address each other by our titles."

Rorschach always found it a bit amusing to hear titles like "Master" or "Lord" applied to himself, especially from a middle-aged man like Pierre. He used to call him "Mage" or "Sir," but at some point, he had switched exclusively to "Lord."

"Of course, Lord Rorschach..." Pierre Nixingen agreed, then paused. "Er... what title would you like to hold?"

’A position where I get paid for doing nothing...’ he thought. Strictly speaking, he was an independent director of Hercules, but as Fanta was an extension of his Mage Tower, Rorschach had been determined to maintain tight control from the start. "Let’s discuss it with Mr. Hasse."

After Mr. Hasse unexpectedly landed a huge deal from the Holy Kingdom, Bart’s father promoted him to senior partner in the Balderom Chamber of Commerce. He was now specifically in charge of the beverage sales network, a joint venture operated with Hercules. If Pierre were to return to the Holy Kingdom, Hasse would be Fanta’s temporary helmsman.

In this day and age, there weren’t so many distinct roles like CEO, CIO, CFO, or COO. The dominant model was still the family business plus partnership. Hercules was a pioneer in becoming a multinational group, but its personnel structure was a bit of a mess.

Rorschach didn’t understand much about this, nor did he care to. He believed that, for now at least, Mr. Hasse was a trustworthy partner. After all, he had just saved the man’s life, and their interests were perfectly aligned.

His own power was a guarantee as well. Pierre and Hasse surely understood that the benefits of cooperating with Rorschach far outweighed the "benefits" of kicking him out—which would then require hiring a Great Mage as a bodyguard just to ensure their own safety.

And so, a meeting was convened to decide Rorschach’s position—a meeting where Rorschach would also set the future direction of the company. Rorschach was appointed as a consultant for Fanta, which meant that on top of his dividends, he would now have an additional, long-term source of income.

This fully respected Rorschach’s wish to get paid for just running his mouth.

Now that he was a consultant, it was time to do some consulting. Rorschach announced the company’s next objectives. "First, for our short-term goal, we need to build on our purple soda and develop other, lower-cost flavors. They don’t need to have an energizing effect; the focus should be purely on great taste."

Hasse, familiar with the produce of his homeland, offered his analysis. "Most of Bayern’s grape production is bought up by the Brewing Guild. Apples and thick-skinned citrus are mainly eaten fresh right now, so we could consider acquiring them to make beverages."

Pierre, a veteran merchant of liquors and Potions, immediately jumped in. "With apples, we could buy them to make cider?" In Valois and the lands to its south, they used pears or apples to brew a sparkling fruit wine called "cider" in the Jabber Language.

"No, no alcohol. We have no need to provoke the Brewing Guild any further," Rorschach said, shaking his head. "We can extract the juice to create new sodas. It would be best to add coloring too, so people immediately associate it with a fruit flavor. That would also play to the strengths of our glass bottles."

This was just a short-term goal. What Rorschach said next was the main point. "But the key development project will be food."

"Food?" The two merchants didn’t grasp Rorschach’s intention. The bulk commodities handled by the Logistics Guild were only ever conceptualized as "grain."

The concept of processed food hadn’t taken hold yet. Valuva was dotted with bakeries, but even something as easy to transport and store as candy could only be purchased at tea houses and pastry shops. Despite being the largest consumer of sugar, Valuva didn’t have a single dedicated candy factory.

"We are going to develop standardized food that can be stored and transported long-term." Canned goods and convenience foods were low-hanging fruit on the technology tree. Perhaps the principles of Pasteur’s experiment from his past life had already been discovered by the Natural Mages of this world, but from what Rorschach had observed, their knowledge of microorganisms was never applied to mass production.

Rorschach brought the two men to the Research and Development Department and, along with the Apprentices, explained the principles behind Pasteur’s experiment. However, even when you know the theory, turning it into a mature, stable manufacturing process requires a great deal of design and iteration.

"We have sufficient glass production capacity. Once the soda production line is stable, we can start developing canned foods. All you have to do is put boiled food into a glass jar, then seal it airtight with a cork and wax. That’s how you make the most basic canned goods. We can worry about the process for tin cans later. Currently, only the alchemy technology of Istani and the Northern Dwarves is advanced enough. Here in Bayern, metal cans are still far too costly."

"But even if we develop it, who’s going to buy it?" asked Pierre. As a discerning merchant from Valois, he already predicted the food wouldn’t be very palatable. "The people who would tolerate the taste can’t afford it, and the people who can afford it will just eat at a restaurant. Even if there’s a market, I imagine customers would only buy it out of novelty."

This was where the difference in military spirit between the Holy Kingdom and the Empire showed. Coupled with Hasse’s background as a logistics merchant, he only needed a moment’s thought to identify Rorschach’s true target demographic. "The military!"

"Exactly. To maintain combat effectiveness, an army needs a steady intake of meat, eggs, dairy, and even fruits and vegetables." Rorschach was very pleased that Mr. Hasse could keep up with him.

The clever people of this world already vaguely understood the link between diet and conditions like scurvy. Every kingdom knew that maintaining combat readiness required more than just weapons and training—keeping soldiers well-fed and clothed was also a must.

Rorschach continued to explain, "These types of supplies spoil easily during transport. Therefore, as long as our products have a long shelf life, the military will be happy to accept them, even at a slightly higher cost."

However, a worried look appeared on Mr. Hasse’s face.