Chapter 89: A "Chemistry Lab"?
"A big business deal?" Tyrion rubbed his short arms as if frozen to the bone, speaking while climbing the stairs at a brisk pace. "You mean the Wildfire inside? Sorry, but I'm afraid that won't work. The King only lets the Alchemists' Guild keep this building instead of reclaiming it for other uses because the Wildfire stored beneath is too dangerous. The experts who knew how to handle it all disappeared or died during the war, so the leftovers just sit here in cold storage. Strictly speaking, our transaction just now was illegal; it's just that Robert doesn't have the heart to care about such trifles. But if you're thinking of hauling all that Wildfire out and transporting it to the Wall for military use, that is absolutely impossible."
It was indeed impossible.
Egger suspected that Wildfire was likely a volatile oil mixed with white phosphorus or other phosphorus compounds, with an extremely low flash point, making it hyper-flammable and explosive. The longer it sat, the higher the concentration of phosphorus in the remaining liquid as the oils evaporated, making it even more volatile. Without sophisticated safety measures, long-distance transport was out of the question.
"Is that so?" the Chief Logistics Officer turned to ask the Wisdom.
"Indeed, it is..." Having received ten silver stags, the Pyromancer's attitude had turned noticeably friendlier. "The wise King Robert commanded us to guard the underground Wildfire forever, forbidding a single jar from leaving the cellar..."
"Forbidding a single jar, so leaving bottle by bottle is fine, is it?" Tyrion said with a snide tone.
"No, that's..."
"It doesn't matter. What I want isn't the Wildfire underground, but your methods for making it." Egger didn't join his friend in badgering the old man. "Can you show me the production process? Or are you only selling old stock and making no more?"
"That is impossible!" Hallyne suddenly looked solemn, his eyes widening. "The method for making Wildfire is the deepest secret of the Alchemists' Guild. No matter the price, it cannot be shared!"
No matter the price? Egger scoffed inwardly but didn't say much, merely shaking his head. "When I spoke of wanting your methods, I didn't mean for you to tell me the formula or the process. I meant I want you to work for me. Do you understand?"
"Work for you?"
"Now answer me: may I see the production process, or at least the place where it's made?"
"That... is possible." The old man hesitated for a moment before making a concession. He led Egger to the first floor above ground, where the warm air provided an instant, massive relief to the group. So far, Egger hadn't seen a single other Pyromancer; it seemed the Alchemists' Guild had declined so severely that the few remaining members likely only maintained a rotating shift.
When they first entered to buy Wildfire, Hallyne had led them straight to the basement from the nearest stairwell. Now, returning to the ground floor and being led toward the production area, Egger finally had the chance to observe the structure of the Guildhall. It was a vast labyrinth built entirely of black stone, with a layout much more complex than it appeared from the outside. After several turns through a dim corridor lined with black iron pillars, they stopped at another doorway. The Wisdom opened the door—this was a room with small windows, so they finally didn't have to rely on oil lamps to see.
Walking into the room, Egger knew with a single glance that he had come to the right place.
The room contained a row of long tables covered in various tools and equipment: bottles and jars of all sizes and heights. Two of them, Egger was certain, were designed for extraction and distillation.
This was a chemistry lab—at least a primitive one.
The Alchemists' Guild was, in fact, a chemical research institute!
Why had such a group, representing advanced productivity, been replaced and rendered obscure by the Maesters of the Citadel? With all this equipment, they absolutely could and should have birthed more chemical discoveries useful to society. How had they ended up only making Wildfire? Was this a distortion of human nature, or a loss of the thirst for knowledge?
"What do you see?" Tyrion asked, noticing his friend standing in a daze.
"I see the future," Egger murmured, turning to stare at Hallyne with burning eyes. "Do you know how to use everything in this room?"
"Mostly... I was trained, after all... it's just been so many years since I've touched them. If I were to start again, I'd likely need to spend some time remembering," Hallyne said with a lack of confidence. "Uh... we should probably head out. This room isn't safe either."
Egger nearly coughed up blood. "Not safe here either? Is there Wildfire that hasn't been moved to the basement? Does your Alchemists' Guild even have a safe spot!?"
"No..." Hallyne pointed to the ceiling. "There are mechanisms and magic up there. If an accident occurs and a fire starts in the room, the ceiling collapses, and a massive amount of sand stored in the compartment above will spill down to bury the room and extinguish the fire. Usually, there's no problem, but—it hasn't been maintained in over a decade, so I don't know if the trigger still works."
Egger looked up and saw that the center of the ceiling was indeed heavy and sagging, as if it might collapse at any moment. He abandoned the idea of going in to inspect the chemical instruments and quickly retreated from the room.
Before leaving, he didn't forget to remind the old man one last time: "Wisdom Hallyne, remember what I said. Come find me when you are free."
"What exactly do you want with that man?" Once outside the gates, Tyrion couldn't contain his curiosity. "That fellow isn't a truly experienced Pyromancer; he's likely just a skilled assistant. The Wildfire he makes would probably be of quite dubious quality."
"I don't want Wildfire. What I want is his knowledge and skill in using the equipment in that room." Egger climbed onto his horse and looked back at the dilapidated yet still-standing Alchemists' Guildhall. "You know, in my homeland, there is a substance similar to Wildfire, but more stable and with even greater explosive power. It's a solid, and it's called gunpowder."
"More stable, more powerful, and a solid?" Tyrion narrowed his eyes. He possessed no martial skill, and his knowledge of war came entirely from books, but that didn't stop him from instantly forming an impression of what Egger described. "That would completely change the mode of war and the face of the world!"
"Exactly." Egger gave an unreadable smile.
"You know how to make 'gunpowder'?" Tyrion's pupils dilated.
"I sort of know, and I sort of don't. That's why I need someone to help me make it." Egger pulled back his smile and nudged his horse with his heels. "What about you? How are you so familiar with the Wildfire trade?"
"Ah, that. In our good King's court, there's a mummery warrior from Myr named Thoros. He likes to use a flaming sword to frighten his opponent's men or horses to win tourneys... Once, I bought him a drink and asked how he did it. He told me he buys Wildfire here and coats his blade with it to pull off the 'flaming sword' trick."
"So that's how it is." Egger had previously thought the flaming swords in the stories were actual miracles from R'hllor, the Lord of Light. "Let's not speak of it further. Let's head back. We'll be busy for a while now; we must cherish every moment of rest."
"Fair enough. Let's go."
Marx said in his Economic Manuscripts: "Gunpowder, the compass, and the printing press—these were the three great inventions which ushered in bourgeois society. Gunpowder blasted the knightly class into pieces, the compass opened up the world market and established colonies, and the printing press became the instrument of Protestantism and the regeneration of science in general; the most powerful lever for creating the intellectual prerequisites."
Now, things were becoming more interesting by the moment.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!