Chapter 25: Looks can be deceiving

Kassia, who held Max's hand, firmly sighed and rested her head on Max's pecs as he hugged her.

"Max, how did you know that if I stared, vertigo would subside."

Max gave Kassia a kiss on the forehead and looked into her eyes. "As you know, my wife died of cancer, but in the treatments for her to be cured many times, they caused dizziness or vertigo.

So I learned how to treat those symptoms and many more. "

Kassia gave Max a smile and closed her eyes as she tried to get some sleep, as the constant vomiting made her completely tired.

Seeing that Kassia was falling asleep, Max picked her up and carried her to the bed where he set her up.

Once he put her on the bed, he set about cleaning the dirt off the floor.

To do this, he took an egg from the cupboard and walked to a large clay pot, which was covered, very carefully removed the lid, and placed the egg in the grayish liquid that was there.

The egg floated in the liquid without any problem, so a smile formed on Max's face. "I'm glad the ash water already has a sufficient concentration of bleach.

Now I just need to boil and strain some seal grease, and I can make soap. "

After saying those words, Max took the egg from the water and walked to the fireplace in the house where, using flint and some dry leaves, he lit a fire.

With the fire on, Max put an iron pot inside and placed a little yellow fat inside; using a wooden spoon, he began to stir the fat until it began to melt.

The aroma of fat began to awaken Max's hunger, so from the cupboard, he took out a piece of smoked seal meat from the day before, which he broke into small pieces and mixed it with two eggs.

He put the pan on the fire while in another pot, he boiled a little water to which he put a little whole wheat and salt.

While Max cooked, Kassia, lying down, frowned because the smell of seal fat made her hungry.

In a short time, she could not maintain sleep due to hunger, so she opened her eyes and was surprised to see Max in front of her.

In her hand, she could see that she had a plate of hot wheat porridge and a wooden spoon. "I assumed that the aroma of fat would make you hungry, so I prepared you a wheat porridge, salt, and water.

I would like to give you the seal meat that I prepared, but it would not be an excellent idea since your stomach is sore because you vomited. "

Kassia nodded and let Max feed her.

When Kassia finished eating, she looked at Max with some doubt. "Are you making your soap, or why are you heating fat in a pot, Max."

Max, with a clean cloth over Kassia's face, "I'm going to make soap, that's why I'm preparing the grease."

Kassia looked at the large clay jug in the corner of the house. "I guess the ash and water just released the alkaline thing you told me true."

"That's right, now I just need to calculate the amount of bleach and the amount of fat.

When I finish, I will write down the steps for my father to put some slaves to make the soap."

Max turned to look at the stove while holding his chin. "I will talk to the Think so that the soap is something free for our people, on the condition that all hunters and fishermen give up at least half the fat of anything they catch.

Of course, hunters and fishermen will be able to obtain more soaps than other villagers.

Also, only our family will sell the soap to foreign merchants, so the soap formula will have to be kept secret. "

Kassia heard what Max said, so she rested her head on her pillow. "It's a good idea since it will reduce the number of sick in our tribe, but how are you going to calculate the amount of fat and bleach."

Max stroked Kassia's cheek. "I will use the most straightforward technique of all, which is to test the created substance with my tongue.

If it stings a lot, I have to add more animal fat; if it doesn't sting at all, I have to add more bleach.

What I want is for the mixture to sting a bit, then I'll know it's ready, so I'll use a little bit to carve the stone floor and clean it completely.

Kassia just laughed a little and held Max's hand. "I'm a bit selfish, but you could stay by my side while I fall asleep, Max."

Max intertwined his hand with Kassia's. "I planned to do it anyway."

While this was happening on the outskirts of the village, Helmi was walking with Felipa and Gerd.

"The weapon that you have built, Gerd is surprising; as a doctor, I am sure that if one of those bolts goes through any part of the body, it can be very dangerous.

Because of the power, it has it is very easy for the bolt to break any bone in its path. "

Gerd smacked his chest proudly while holding a leather bag. "It is not my achievement completely as Einar was the one who created it; only Ibssen and I follow his lead.

Although now I'm curious about what he wants to use this copper tube for, even though I tried to do it as requested, I could only give it one turn as if I tried to bend it further; the tube would just break. "

Felipa looked at the copper tube's strange shape and closed her eyes for a moment as she remembered the way the Alcohol condensed.

"I think Einar will use it to condense steam from beer or mead for the production of Alcohol.

But I can also be wrong. "

Gerd scratched his beard. "Then, I can assume that this other piece will also have to do with Alcohol production."

He took out a small piece of copper from his leather bag that had two small tube-shaped protrusions. "According to Einar's drawing, its name is Airlock type S.

Whatever that means. "

Felipa shook her head. "I have no idea what it could be for, and you Helmi have an idea."

Helmi only scratched her white hair and, with a sad smile, shook her head. "I know a lot about Einar, but I never heard about the Airlock; Kassia may know something else about it."

Felipa put her hand on Helmi's shoulder. "What's wrong, Helmi? I feel a bit sad about you."

Helmi looked at Felipa and sighed as the two walked a little faster, preventing Gerd from overhearing their conversation. "It's just that even though your mother and I are so close to him, Einar seems very distant from us.

It is as if he had his thoughts in another place; sometimes, I hear him speak a strange language to only identify Erika's name.

Tears often even run down his face, but as much as your mother or I try to get close to him, we can barely touch his heart.

What makes me sadder is that even though he always shows a smile on the inside, I'm sure he's suffering, I don't know what kind of things he lived with Odin, but he must have suffered a lot.

I even dare to say that if your mother and I are not with him, it is very likely that he wants to commit suicide."

Felipa somewhat surprised Helmi because she had been with Einar and never saw anything strange in his behavior.

Kassia, who was lying down, just looked sideways with some helplessness to Einar, sitting in front of the stove with a rather lost look as if loneliness overwhelmed him.