A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 175 The Leader of Glass Town

Rorschach was a man with a spirit of sharing. He worked hard to create stained glass, but instead of trying to monopolize it, he just wanted to make it available to everyone as soon as possible. Even when it was paid for, people would say: "Rorschach, you're such a kind person."

In this era, especially with the still powerful Bain guild, the true meaning of "knowledge is priceless" is that you can't buy it even if you have money.

However, Rorschach's spirit of sharing terrified the guild leader. The three largest workshops in the guild relied on their monopoly on the production of forest glass and cobalt blue glass to sell flat glass to churches in the south at high prices, allowing them to take turns being elected by the guild leader.

These three families can be traced back to the three apprentices of the same master. After completing their apprenticeship, the apprentices of the empire would become guild-certified artisans, and then leave to travel and work in other workshops. After further refining their skills, they would return to the guild or open shops elsewhere.

This "mobile apprenticeship system" promoted technical exchange and progress, but for Rorschach, it was a familiar formula! Ultimately, a magic guild is still a guild. But Byrne is different elsewhere, making it particularly stubborn here.

At Rorschach's request, the Bain Glass Guild held an emergency meeting. Some glass workshops were not located in the town, so at the guild master's request, Rorschach and Pierre waited for two days. Mr. Hassai and the representatives of Baldorom also arrived.

The guild leader might be up to something behind the scenes during this time, but Rorschach didn't care.

Mr. Pierre: "Master Rorschach, the guild master has summoned all the workshop owners."

"Okay, tell them to wait a bit, I'll come as soon as I finish what I'm doing." In two days, Rorschach made another trip to the Tower of Arcane Arts to produce more materials for stained glass. He also gathered a few apprentices who were slightly interested in alchemy to test and record the process of refining by-product minerals.

Now, Rorschach is slightly obsessed with making small glass crafts. With the tactile feedback of the "magic hand" and the "sculpting technique," making small models is easier than sculpting clay. After mastering the "reflection" method of glass, he can achieve what he wants.

"What is this? A magic warrior?" Mr. Pierre carefully picked up a glass doll. He could make out a head, body, and limbs, but he had never seen armor like that before, nor the things it held in its hands. A pistol? A magical weapon?

"Ah, yes, yes." Actually, Zagurosa had forgotten to put it away. At this moment, facing the merchant uncle from another world, he felt a strange sense of shame, as if his little hobby had been disturbed by a visiting relative.

"Alright. Let's go, let's meet with these industry experts."

Rorschach had been staying at the resident mage's tower for the past few days. He was a student of Ouyene and was happy to host him. The guild's temporary meeting was to be held at the town hall, the two buildings not far apart. As soon as the mage entered the meeting room, the guild master, the mayor, and Mr. Hassai all stood up. Now everyone else couldn't stay seated either and stood up to greet him.

Am I the one in charge? Luo Xia was both amused and exasperated. He walked to the head seat and sat down, gesturing with his hands to indicate that everyone didn't need to stand. "Sorry I'm late."

"Not late, not late, we're early." You're quite the lackey, guild leader, keep an eye on you.

The other workshop owners suppressed their surprise. This was a small town supported by the glass industry. It could do without a town hall, but it couldn't do without a guild. Therefore, even the town mayor wouldn't receive such respect from the guild leader.

Rorschach first gifted each person a small glass craft they had made themselves. Although it was a case of "showing off one's skills before an expert," Rorschach wielded a magic axe, leaving those who received it in awe—many details could not be made using traditional techniques such as blowing, pressing, lifting, and pulling.

Under his control, more than twenty small items slowly floated in front of each person, and the workshop owners carefully examined them after receiving them.

He now knows that the landlady who sold Rorschach the white horse is named Jane Fenneck. Although she is sitting at the lower end of the round table, she has obtained the "Staff Mage" skill, which has caught the attention of the guild leader.

"I'm sorry, Master, we can't make something like this." One workshop owner thought he was holding a sample. He was holding an amber-colored glass dragon. He couldn't imagine how they could make a palm-sized dragon with such detailed scales and sharp teeth.

A buzzing sound filled the conference room.

Rorschach raised his hand again, and the noise immediately disappeared. If only students were this obedient. "You've misunderstood. I said I'd give you gifts, and this is just a gift. What we really need you to do is this."

Rorschach took out his "designed" bottle, its waist tapering to a beautiful, perfectly proportioned curve for easy grip. Mr. Pierre's eyes lit up the moment he picked it up. Since the Coca-Cola Company's intellectual property rights couldn't reach another world, Rorschach naturally opted for a blatant replication of the classic design.

"Of course we can handle these orders, but why gather everyone together?" a bearded workshop owner said bluntly.

"First, we require guild members not to supply glass bottles of this shape to other liquor merchants; second, our initial production volume is 15,000 bottles per month."

The sample was being passed around among the workshop owners, and upon hearing the number, the person holding it almost dropped it.

This figure was derived by the two businessmen, Pierre and Monsieur Hassel. Taking advantage of the booming economy in Valois, sales of "Hercules" soda reached 25,000 bottles per month, and that was in large bottles, not the small bottles "designed" by Rorschach.

Bain's tourism and commerce are thriving. While it may not have the purchasing power of the Valuwanas, Hassa conservatively estimates that the entire Duma Alliance could consume that much, perhaps even rivaling the Holy Kingdom. Given Bart's influence, if "Energy Potions" were distributed as military supplies to the Imperial Southern Army...

In short, the market is huge. Rorschach has only given a conservative figure, but for these craftsmen, it's an astronomical number: "Mr. Impossible! Even if we cancel other orders, we still can't complete it!"

"I know you can't finish it. The rest of the time is up to Mr. Pierre."

In fact, the bottle-making and bottling plants already have existing Valois experience. As a board member, Rorschach also proposed the concept of an assembly line. However, the core plant raw material extraction production line is not in a hurry to be built. Based on the advanced experience of the soft drink industry leader in the previous life, the concentrated raw material is shipped from the Valois main factory, and after local blending, bottling, aeration, and capping, the sales network is handed over to the Baldorom Chamber of Commerce to coordinate with the logistics guild.

But there are always obstacles to putting experience into practice. Rorschach cleared the first stumbling block, and now it's Mr. Pierre's turn to shine.

Mr. Pierre announced the idea of ​​establishing the company. The initial investment funds were provided by "Hercules" and "Bardorom". The two companies together held 51% of the company's shares, 29% of the shares were subscribed by workshops within the guild, and 20% of the shares belonged to the employee stock ownership committee, which would be awarded to employees or open to them for subscription. The stock ownership committee would repurchase the shares of departing employees.

"So what we need to do is..."

The guild leader coughed and said, "Guild members can subscribe to shares themselves; participation is up to you. Even if you don't want the 29% stake, I'll buy the rest!"

The guild leader's words caused unrest among the members.

"For the new company, we can contribute technology and personnel and also receive shares. We don't need highly skilled master craftsmen; apprentices are enough!" All processes follow the Valois model. Bottle production is theoretically standardized using the mold blowing method, requiring only skilled workers. By recruiting more workers, experienced workers can mentor new ones and quickly increase production.

"Everyone has heard what Mr. Pierre said. Who agrees and who disagrees?"

(End of this chapter)