Bab 107: It's time (1/2)
The next day, Rafael woke up to the sound of someone knocking on his door. Groggily, he got up from his makeshift bed on the ground and opened it. "What..."
It was Edmund, but before either of them could say anything, they both glanced down. A rat darted out from inside the small lab, scurrying between Rafael's feet and disappearing down the hallway.
"I need a new bed," Rafael muttered, rubbing his eyes.
"Oh, don't worry, sir. It's uncommon for them to bite people. They might gnaw on the bed and other things, but..." Edmund trailed off.
"Your new task is to buy a bed frame for me."
"What... Wait, it's not easy to find a bed frame ready to buy, and it may take two days for someone skilled to make one," Edmund replied, surprised by the request.
"I don't care. Make it happen by 10 p.m. tonight. To make it easier for you, here." Rafael pulled out ten copper coins from his pouch and handed them to the young man. Edmund looked at the coins in his hand, then back at Rafael with disbelief.
"This isn't enough! It barely buys lunch."
*sigh*
Rafael reluctantly added five more copper coins. Satisfied, Edmund walked away with a grin, already imagining the nice meal he could afford that day. Rafael decided to take a stroll through the city to clear his mind and gather his thoughts.
How's my situation right now? It's... okay, I guess. I think I'm safe for the moment. I have a place to sleep, food, and I'm free to conduct my research.
The city had two main walls surrounding it. The larger one encircled almost the entire city, while the smaller one enclosed the center of Fritsburg, where the castle, barracks, noble facilities, and even some wealthy merchants' mansions were located.
Less than one-fifth of the city's population lived within the inner wall, but it contained four-fifths of the wealth.
Rafael didn't have to walk far to reach the inner wall. "Hey, I'm going out for a walk," he informed the gatekeepers.
"State your name," one of the guards demanded.
"Rafael."
"You're the one who came from Calistoga?"
"Yep."
"You're forbidden from leaving the city. If you try to do that, things won't end well for you," the guard warned.
"Okay, okay."
"And you must be back before nightfall."
"What the hell? Do I look like a teenager?" Rafael scoffed. The guards exchanged puzzled looks, not understanding his remark.
"Tsk, forget it. Let me pass," he said, waving them off.
Inside the inner circle, the houses, buildings, and facilities were all of high quality and arranged in a neat, orderly fashion. In contrast, beyond the gate, the rest of the city was a chaotic sprawl of homes.
No road or street ran straight for more than a hundred meters. Almost all the houses and buildings were made from stone or wood, with only a few constructed from mud, surprisingly. The streets were not empty, but they weren't bustling either. Occasionally, a dog or cat would dart after a rat.
It's going to be hard to change these people's beliefs and teach them at least the basics of hygiene and other things, Rafael mused as he walked.
After a dozen minutes, he arrived at a wide open space filled with tents where people were buying and selling goods.
A market, huh? He observed people selling pottery, clothes, cloths, small utensils, daily objects, fruits, grains, and more. He stopped by one of the sellers and bought an orange, which cost him four copper coins.
Because of his "extravagant" clothes, people had been staring at him since he left the inner circle, and now, standing in the middle of the market, he was drawing even more attention. I better leave.
So, gunpowder... I have two out of three ingredients. Charcoal, sulfur, and... what's the last one? I have a feeling it's a white powder somehow, but I've tried a dozen different white substances, and none of them were right, he pondered as he walked back toward the gates of the inner circle.
Suddenly, he was stopped by two kids wearing dirty clothes and no shoes.
"Please, sir, our family doesn't have enough money for food. Our father works all day, but it's not enough to buy anything for us to eat," said the older one, who Rafael guessed was around ten years old. The younger, probably eight, added, "I'm hungry, sir."
This is inhumane. People probably start working as kids just to help put food on the table. If I ever get enough power, I'll try to change that. Rafael handed each boy three coppers. The kids started crying when they saw the money and hugged Rafael tightly.
"Thank you, kind sir!" They ran off, disappearing into the alleys. Rafael considered the encounter just another reminder of the harsh realities of this time period and thought nothing more of it.
The two boys ran through the streets and alleys for about a minute until they stopped in front of a door and knocked. It was opened by a middle-aged man who frowned as he saw them.
"What are you two pieces of trash doing here so early?! I don't care if you fell, got beaten, or are hungry; you won't have anything until you've done your job!" The man stepped outside and closed the door behind him. The older boy quickly pushed his younger brother behind him as the man approached them with a clear intent to beat them, just as he had done many times before.
"We got this!" The boy held up the parchment, just as the man raised his hand. "What?!" The man grabbed the parchment and opened it, finding words written on it. "Arrgh... Where did you get this?"
"From a man with a white robe and black pants! It was the first time I'd seen him around here," the boy explained.
"What else did you get?" the man demanded, still trying to decipher the writing on the parchment.
"That's all. As soon as I took it, we ran from him." Ignoring the kids, the thug went back inside, mumbling, "...If it's something important, maybe I'll get an extra from him..."
After a few more minutes of walking, Rafael returned inside the inner walls and quickly brushed his teeth with his recently made toothbrush. It's better than nothing.
What's the last ingredient to make gunpowder? Rafael sat at his table, staring at the bowls filled with different powders. Right in front of him were bowls of charcoal and sulfur. What is missing? he wondered as he prepared some test samples, varying the sulfur percentage in each.
The first two tests yielded unsatisfactory results, but then an idea struck him. He took the third test sample and, as he brought a flame near it, he began blowing air into the mixture. Controlling the force so as not to scatter the powder, he noticed the mixture burned differently from before.
Okay, next one.
After repeating the process with other samples, he noticed changes in how they burned. When he tested a mixture with 50% of each compound, Rafael observed that the more air he blew on it, the quicker and stronger it burned.
Is that it?! Is it oxygen that the mixture lacks? Hmm... It makes sense. If sulfur lowers the ignition temperature of the mixture, then what's missing is the oxidizer to allow the chemical reaction to happen!
But what has lots of oxygen molecules in its formula? Hmm... Oh my God, where's my damn book when I need it! I remember skimming through pages about different chemicals, their formulas, and how to produce them. I'm certain there must be something in there I can use.
Rafael knew what he had to do. He stood up, determination in his eyes. "It's time to get serious!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone