Chapter 101: White Sugar and Malt Sugar
After settling the matters at the paper mill, Saelen finally found some free time and headed to the training grounds, where he resumed his relentless drills under the blazing sun.
By the time noon approached, he was drenched in sweat and breathing heavily. Only then did he sheath his sword and return to the castle baths for a quick wash before making his way back to the study.
Once seated, Saelen opened the system panel.
As expected, his Strength, Agility, and Endurance had each increased by 0.02 after completing today's training.
His Spirit had dropped from 30 to 25—the cost of remotely controlling the hawk to deliver the letter several days ago.
Saelen then opened the mana space.
The two hatchlings had grown noticeably over the past twenty days.
Sunflame's body length had reached 90 centimeters.
Bloodshadow had grown to 1.5 meters.
Both dragons had increased by another twenty centimeters.
Not bad.
Saelen had originally assumed that growth inside the mana space would be slower, but the hatchlings seemed completely unaffected.
He selected [Release].
A moment later, both young dragons appeared inside the study.
Sunflame and Bloodshadow awoke from dormancy. Having already experienced sudden environmental changes several times, they showed little panic. After briefly surveying their surroundings, both quickly locked onto Saelen.
The hatchlings let out dissatisfied chirps and flapped over to land on his shoulders.
Their increased size and weight immediately made themselves known. Their claws had already begun to sharpen into dangerous talons, digging painfully into Saelen's shoulders.
With a helpless sigh, he lifted the dragons down and placed them on the desk.
Picking up a chunk of fresh lamb, he tossed it into the air while issuing a command.
"Bloodshadow. Dragonfire."
"Skreee!"
Bloodshadow opened its jaws and spat out a stream of dragonfire, instantly roasting the meat before snapping it out of the air and swallowing it whole.
Saelen nodded in satisfaction.
He picked up another piece of lamb and tossed it toward Sunflame.
"Sunflame. Dragonfire."
Sunflame merely tilted its head curiously, staring at him without reacting.
Saelen wasn't discouraged.
He picked up another piece and repeated the process with Bloodshadow.
"Bloodshadow. Dragonfire."
"Skreee!"
Bloodshadow obediently unleashed another burst of flame before gulping down the roasted meat.
"Well done, Bloodshadow."
Saelen reached out and rubbed the dragon's head.
Bloodshadow immediately leaned into his palm, rubbing against it affectionately while letting out a low, pleased rumble.
Saelen then turned back toward Sunflame.
Holding a piece of fresh lamb in front of it, he waved it slowly. Sunflame stretched its neck forward, sniffed the meat, and let out a soft cry.
Saelen tossed the meat upward once more.
"Sunflame. Dragonfire."
"Skreee!"
Sunflame copied Bloodshadow's movements and spat out a burst of dragonfire, instantly roasting the lamb before swallowing it in one bite.
And so, Saelen continued feeding and training the two hatchlings at the same time.
This had become part of his daily routine lately, and the results were quite promising. The dragons were gradually beginning to understand and obey his commands.
After feeding them, Saelen allowed the two hatchlings to roam freely around the study.
He then turned his attention back to the system panel and opened the Construction Missions section.
The screen shifted:
[Completed Construction Missions]
[Uncompleted Construction Missions]
He selected [Uncompleted Construction Missions], and another entry appeared:
[Build Sugar Refinery (Incomplete)]
After clicking it, the interface changed once more:
[White Sugar Production Process & Equipment]
[Malt Sugar Core Production Process & Equipment]
Two options appeared—refined sugar and malt sugar.
Saelen selected the first.
Immediately, dense pages of manufacturing procedures and equipment specifications filled the screen, interspersed with detailed diagrams marked with exact measurements.
Saelen picked up a quill and began carefully copying everything onto parchment.
Two hours later, he finally completed transcribing both sugar-production methods and their equipment designs.
Letting out a long breath, he set the quill down and reviewed the pages once more.
There didn't seem to be any mistakes or omissions. The diagrams were admittedly rather ugly, but that hardly mattered as long as they remained readable.
By now, lunchtime had long passed.
Val had gone out alone early that morning to wander around the city. After assigning a guard to accompany her, Saelen had simply watched her ride away. As for where she had gone afterward, he had no idea.
Too lazy to worry about it, Saelen ordered lunch from the servants. After quickly finishing the meal, he gathered the diagrams and left the main keep.
Soon, he arrived at the paper mill and found Maester Rosmund, who was currently assisting Albert with experiments to improve paper quality.
Saelen spoke directly.
"Maester Rosmund, leave the paper improvements to Albert. I have another task for you."
Rosmund paused briefly before replying respectfully,
"What would you have me do, my lord? I am at your service."
Saelen turned toward Albert.
"You can handle the paper project alone?"
Albert reacted quickly and immediately bowed.
"My lord, rest assured. I will produce the improved paper as quickly as possible."
Satisfied, Saelen led Rosmund away from the paper mill before handing him the prepared diagrams.
"Take a look."
Then he added in a serious tone:
"You alone are allowed to read this. Do not show it to anyone else. And once you're finished, return the diagrams to me."
"Understood, my lord," Rosmund replied solemnly before lowering his head to examine them.
A moment later, he looked up in confusion.
"My lord… what is this?"
"These are methods for producing white sugar and malt sugar. The documents contain the core manufacturing processes and equipment designs. I need you to gather stonemasons, blacksmiths, and carpenters immediately and begin constructing the facilities and machinery."
Rosmund showed little surprise.
By now, he had long since grown accustomed to Saelen producing astonishing inventions out of nowhere. Though curious, he never pried into matters he shouldn't ask about. Instead, he simply carried out orders faithfully and efficiently.
That quiet reliability was one of the reasons Saelen trusted him with important matters.
Although Rosmund did not fully understand sugar production, after reading for a short while, he quickly discovered the key issue.
"My lord, while I cannot see any obvious flaws in the sugar-making process itself… where are we supposed to obtain the raw materials?"
He frowned thoughtfully.
"I know of sugar beets. I've eaten them before—they're merely vegetables with a slight sweetness. But I've never heard of extracting sugar from them."
Then he pointed at another term in the diagrams.
"And what exactly is sugarcane? I've never heard of such a thing."
"Oh? You've never heard of sugarcane?"
Saelen seemed slightly surprised and began describing its appearance.
Rosmund thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"No, my lord. But sugar beets are grown on some northern estates."
Then he looked at Saelen skeptically.
"But my lord… are you certain sugar can truly be extracted from them?"
"Well, we won't know until we try."
"If sugar beets fail, then we'll prioritize malt sugar production first."
Saelen didn't appear too disappointed.
The original novels had never mentioned sugarcane either. For now, sugar beets were his only available substitute.
And if that failed, then until sugarcane could be found, large-scale refined sugar production would have to be postponed. They would instead focus on building the malt sugar facilities first.
"Malt sugar…"
Rosmund picked up the second set of diagrams and studied them carefully. After a while, his eyes brightened.
"My lord, with our current conditions, producing this malt sugar should be entirely possible. The raw materials are merely barley and wheat."
Then he hesitated.
"However… winter is approaching in the North. Maintaining proper temperatures may prove difficult."
Saelen had already anticipated that problem.
"That won't be an issue. We can build a cellar and use it as a temperature-controlled germination chamber."
"Yes, my lord. I'll begin preparations immediately."
As for sugarcane…
It seemed he would need to send people south—to Dorne, the Reach, and perhaps even Sothoryos—to investigate whether such a crop existed in this world.
Then another idea struck him.
Rather than slowly dispatching his own men to search, why not let others do the work for him?
Merchants from the south and across the Narrow Sea frequently visited the porcelain factory to purchase ceramics. He could simply spread the word among them:
Anyone who provided useful information about sugarcane would receive priority access to future porcelain shipments.
That would save him enormous amounts of time and manpower.
Coincidentally, he had also been planning to inspect the porcelain factory.
After instructing Maester Rosmund to begin preparations, Saelen turned and headed toward the porcelain works.