Chapter 68

Lulyu, who had been handed a paper with the method scribbled by Sora, made agar using the same method and was playing with the object that had an unknown texture.

The fact that she recognized the investigation of the hardness differences based on concentration as a form of play indicated that Lulyu's sensibilities were far from those of an ordinary person.

"Lulyu, you're playing too much."

"Shut up! Leave me alone!"

She, who had been engrossed, involuntarily shouted back at the voice from behind her and, after a moment, realized it was Sora and timidly turned around.

He stood in front of the door, covering his ears and smiling wryly. Next to him, Lazette was looking at Lulyu with the same expression.

"I can't just leave you alone. We don't have time."

"I'm sorry. I got carried away..."

Sora's wry smile deepened at Lulyu's sincere bow.

Being so engrossed in the experiment that she shouted at a noble was something that would not earn her sympathy from the people of this world.

Her master, Sora, of course, and the people of the Great Tree Hall had too many quirks.

"Here's a present for you, Lulyu, the experiment enthusiast."

Sora, who added in his mind, "It's also a toy," held a mineral called pyrite.

This mineral, also known as fool's gold, has a golden luster and looks very similar to gold. However, it is actually iron pyrite and is much lighter than gold.

It is a common mineral found in iron mines during iron extraction and has often been used to deceive people. Many people have fallen for it, but pyrite oxidizes over time and loses its luster, revealing the deception.

It was also used as a prop in a fraud that led to the Wooddora Trading Company being unable to continue its lottery in the capital.

Sora had ordered Cole to walk around the capital, and the fraudsters with pyrite were quickly found. Cole had been asked to come to him because he wanted sulfur, but it was so easy to get that Sora was taken aback.

Cole, realizing how easy it was to be deceived, had locked himself in his room. Later, he would have to teach him how to make agar jelly to make up for it.

Lulyu's eyes sparkled as she saw the pyrite.

"Is this the material for the next experiment?"

"It's the material for the first thing we're making."

Sora corrected Lulyu's words slightly and looked around the laboratory, checking the equipment.

The materials prepared were pyrite, water, and kelp.

"There's no problem. Just to be safe, open all the windows because toxic gas will be produced."

Lulyu went to the windows as instructed.

Sora attached a hose made of tree bark to the mouth of the flask containing the pyrite and connected it to another flask filled with water.

Lulyu, who had returned after opening the windows, looked curiously at the setup.

"Lazette, burn the kelp until it turns to ash."

Sora, having finished preparing the pyrite, gave instructions to Lazette and had Lulyu prepare a beaker.

While Lulyu and Lazette were transferring the ash from the burned kelp into the beaker, Sora wrote down the procedure on parchment. The chemical equations were also written, but only Sora and Lulyu could read them.

"Does burning kelp produce toxic gas?"

Lazette asked as she placed the kelp ash in front of Sora.

"Burning kelp doesn't produce it. It's when you burn pyrite. It has a very strong smell."

Lazette made a face of disgust, but Lulyu looked disappointed.

Sora laughed, seeing Lulyu's internal struggle between curiosity about the smell and the fear of the toxicity.

"The toxic gas is caused by sulfur, which has a smell like rotten eggs. Once you smell it, you'll never forget it just by hearing the word 'sulfur.'"

Sora explained, showing Lulyu the chemical equation.

He placed the flask containing the pyrite over a flame, knowing that the smell would be unavoidable once the experiment started.

Burning pyrite produces sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide.

These sulfur oxides travel through the hose to the adjacent flask and react with water to form dilute sulfuric acid.

However, the sulfur oxides that leak slightly are extremely smelly.

After a while, Lazette fled the laboratory.

As more time passed, members of the Flame Squad with sensitive noses rushed in, having detected the strange odor. Sora explained the situation and had them stand guard outside the laboratory.

By the time the angry Chaff arrived, Sora had finished refining the dilute sulfuric acid, but even Lulyu, who was usually so patient, could not tolerate the smell. She tried to call Sania to use magic to ventilate the room, but Sania, with her keen sense of smell, had already fled to the town at the foot of the hill.

In the end, the entire Great Tree Hall gathered to scold Sora in the hallway.

In the afternoon, Sora and Lulyu, undeterred, resumed the experiment, reacting the kelp ash with dilute sulfuric acid.

Dissolving the kelp ash in water and adding dilute sulfuric acid gradually changed the color of the solution to brown.

After observing the color change, Sora filtered the solution to remove the kelp ash and heated the filtrate.

A purple gas collected in the test tube.

"What's this?"

"It's iodine."

Sora, grinning, wrapped the bottle of iodine in animal skin and stored it in a dark place.

Seeing Lulyu's eager face, he handed her a parchment with the properties of iodine written on it.

Lulyu, hugging the bundle of parchment happily, thanked Sora.

Reading the properties of iodine written on the parchment, Lulyu turned to Sora with a smug look.

"Are we going to get starch in the capital?"

"That's right."

Sora replied with a composed face.

Lulyu, laughing softly, rolled up the parchment and put it away on the shelf.

"I'll keep it a secret from Lord Chaff."

"Thanks."

The two, with their mischievous smiles, couldn't help but laugh together.

January 30th, revised.