Chapter 132 Ten thousand votes, it tastes wrong
"Wanpiao, it tastes wrong!"

Jeshka spat out the remaining potion along with his saliva, his expression extremely distorted.

Horn immediately turned his gaze to the young pharmacist Ceci.

The middle-aged pharmacist next to Ceci couldn't help but reveal a hint of ridicule at the corner of his mouth.

At this moment, standing in the wooden house were Jeshka, Hakuto, Casti, and the two pharmacists brought by Casti.

The window panels were propped up with wooden sticks, and the morning breeze carried a faint scent of flowers, which made Horn sneeze uncontrollably.

The two pharmacists in front of him were found by Casti for Horn.

The middle-aged pharmacist is called Targa and the young pharmacist is called Ceci.

The former was sentenced by the Guild Court to a ten-year ban on preparing potions other than those for low-disease purposes because of "malicious dumping".

The latter had his pharmacist qualifications revoked by the Pharmacists Guild because he sold "fake medicine" and could only sell potions secretly in rural areas or slums.

Apart from them, no other pharmacists were willing to go to Black Snake Bay.

However, since Horn could only take 30 people, he decided to hire only one.

After all, pharmacists also have assistants and apprentices, so they will probably take up two or three places.

So he specially called in two veterans, Jeshka and Hakuto, to test it. They were both experienced medicine experts and were very familiar with potions.

"Cessi, how dare you make fake medicine in this situation?" Casti asked with a frown.

"What did you put in this hot blood potion?" Jieshka wiped his tongue with a handkerchief. "Not only does it taste bad, but the potency seems to be a little weak."

"It's blue safflower. I added blue safflower." Ceci explained quickly, "Although it will reduce the efficacy of the medicine a little, the price will be much cheaper, so ordinary people can afford it."

Targa laughed sarcastically and said, "Humph, it's still fake medicine."

"It's not a fake medicine. It's effective and less harmful to the human body..."

"The formula cannot be changed randomly. If you change it, who knows what problems will arise?" Targa shouted angrily, "Whoever dares to change the ancestral formula will be disqualified!"

It's interesting to see a pharmacist who knows how to change the formula.

Horn looked at Cece thoughtfully.

Regardless of Talga's scolding, Horn rested his elbows on his thighs and leaned forward: "Cessi, right? I want to ask you, how much will this reduce the efficacy of the drug?"

"I can't give an exact number, but based on user feedback, it's probably down 20 to 30 percent."

"What about the cost?"

"The cost of growing blue-red grass is relatively low. If we grow blue-red grass on a normal small scale, the cost can be reduced by about 40%." Ceci thought for a moment and continued, "If we grow blue-red grass on a large scale, the cost can be reduced by another 10%."

"Okay, I understand." Horn stood up and walked back and forth for a while in silence and gaze.

"Targa, you go back and wait for notification. Ceci, I have something to ask you." Horn calmed down and looked at the two of them and said.

Targa was stunned at first. He looked at Ceci in disbelief, then at Horn on the other side: "You want to choose him?"

"Mr. Targa, I think you should go back." Horn did not answer his question directly.

"Sir, do you really want to choose him? Didn't you see what he did? This is simply..."

"Talga!" Casti interrupted him directly, "Didn't you hear what Lord Horn said? You can leave now!"

Being frozen in place by Casti's angry shout, Targa laughed twice in anger. He turned around and left without any hesitation.

Such short-sighted nobles deserved to flee to Black Snake Bay. If there was no other choice, Targa would not have endured this humiliation.

The wooden door was shut heavily by Targa, and Ceci stood there nervously: "Sir, am I hired?"

“Cesi, I have one last question for you. In Black Snake Bay, the Apothecary Guild has very little influence.

Are you willing to teach your craft to others so that more people can cure their diseases through potions?"

After a long, suffocating silence, Cece said, "I want to bring one of my apprentices with me. Is that okay?"

"Okay." "Well, I'm willing to do that, as long as they don't use the potion to harm others."

Ceci left the cabin and had three days to pack his bags and say goodbye to his friends nearby.

Three days later, he will bring his apprentices to gather here.

In his notes, Horn wrote Ceci's name after the word pharmacist.

"Lord Casti is quite fast. No wonder the Duke hired you as the chief courtier."

"Thank you for the compliment." Early in the morning, Casti smelled faintly of alcohol.

However, in the Frank culture, the smell of alcohol is a man's perfume, so even though Mircella advised them to drink less, they still drank at three meals a day, never missing a day.

"Next, shall we visit the stonemason?"

"Yes." Casti rubbed his temple with a headache, "You know, the stonemason we are going to visit didn't want any of his apprentices to leave.

It was only because he owed the Duke a favor that he had to provide an apprentice.

There is one small problem, he is a stubborn and proud man, so he wants to sign a contract with you.

Ten years later, if the stonemason wants to come back, you must not stop him. Do you accept this?"

"Of course." Horn just needed a starting talent.

Ten years from now, he will probably be a high priest. That means even if you don't want to do it, there are plenty of people who will do it.

If he wanted a stonemason, Horn couldn't stay at home. When the stonemason came, he took a few guards, got on Casti's carriage, and drove towards Jeanne d'Arc.

As the carriage moved forward, more and more houses appeared on both sides of the road, and there were small vendors and vegetable farmers selling fresh agricultural and sideline products and vegetables under wooden sheds.

White steam billowed out of the leather workshop, and the leather was hung on wooden racks on all four sides and hung in the shade.

Opposite the leather workshop is a butcher shop, where a burly butcher is hanging a bloody pig thigh on an iron hook.

When we got here, the carriage slowed down. The road was full of farmers leading cows and peasant women carrying wooden buckets.

Similar to other places, the farmers here are also pale and thin.

They carried pitchforks with manure still stuck to the tips and pulled hay on carts as they headed toward the fields.

Sticking his head out of the carriage, Horn looked toward the Jeanne d'Arc Castle on the high platform in the distance. Below the castle, a sparkling river meandered by.

There are two large rivers in the Thousand River Valley. The Nauan River flows westwards to the Golden Plains downstream and merges into the Emerald Sea, while the Ibe River flows southwards through the Black Snake Bay and merges into the Westland Sea.

Fort Jeanne d'Arc is located in the upper reaches of the Ibe River, and the canal built during the Aiel Empire passes through the town.

This was not originally the seat of the Duke of Kush. It was only after the nearby port developed into a town that the previous generations of the Duke of Kush were forced to come here because they had lost a large amount of territory.

Then I will enjoy myself here and not miss home anymore.

By the time of Darnay's father's generation, they simply returned to the old capital by changing its name - the Canal Town was renamed Jeanne d'Arc.

Joan of Arc is divided into the inner city and the outer city. The inner city is actually the real Joan of Arc Castle, where the Duke lives, and is located on an earthen platform two feet high.

The outer city is where citizens live, with pointed-roof houses and towers everywhere. A tall bell tower stands in a corner of the city. Next to the bell tower are the town hall and the church.

The town hall was managed jointly by scholars elected by the citizens and the Duke's courtiers.

Most of the time, the Duke does not directly interfere in the politics and laws here.

The price was that citizens and merchants had to pay a hefty city redemption tax, but for the sake of freedom, citizens still paid the money on time every year.

The areas near the canal are home to a large number of guild buildings, taverns, technical academies, warehouses and various workshops.

When Horn's carriage arrived here, he could still see craftsmen from the dye workshop pouring steaming black-gray wastewater into the canal.

After getting off the carriage, Horn immediately smelled a pungent smell of dye coming towards him, and he couldn't help but cover his mouth and nose.

Following Casti, we twisted and turned in the alley and finally arrived at the stonemason's workshop.

(End of this chapter)