With Elvys's promise, everyone immediately got to work. Some began to calculate the volume of the white fog, some calculated the conversion ratio between the black fog and the magic crystal, while others researched the charging solution to see if there was room for improvement, hoping to reduce the consumption of Luminous Ore.
The first thing Ina and Elvys had to do was to purchase as many blank magic crystals as possible. Although blank magic crystals are devoid of energy, they are not worthless. Crushed blank magic crystals are occasionally used as magic materials. Moreover, large pieces of blank magic crystals also have collection value. They once had a high price and could possibly regain their value if you find a willing high-level mage to charge them.
In Elvys's warehouse, there is a storeroom full of blank magic crystals, which were consumed in the wars at the beginning of the empire. These magic crystals have been selected for size and quality, just enough to fit into the power box of a magic cannon, and are considered military supplies.
There might not be many magic crystals of this specification found in the increasingly scarce magic crystals on the continent. Once war breaks out again, these blank magic crystals would once again shine in the hands of the high-level mages Elvys summoned.
Nobody knows how much magic power the sky-covering fog contains, so, given enough charging solution, the more blank magic crystals they manage to acquire, the better.
The two quickly defined their goals. Elvys was responsible for contacting the large merchants in the Silver Empire, while Ina went to check Silver Leaf Forest, Flemington where Vilanthe was, and the Duchy of Doman where Thunder Fort Farm was.
The professors preliminarily calculated that the magic power contained in the fog above the Midnight Marsh could fill about 700 to 1000 tons of blank magic crystals. The amount of charging solution needed is currently impossible to estimate, as each magic crystal is different in size and therefore the amount of charging solution consumed when forming a coating on the surface can't be generalized. But it is certain that the larger the magic crystal, the less charging solution it consumes.
From a cost and profit perspective, Ina would definitely prioritize larger magic crystals. On the market, for the same kilogram of magic crystal, if it's one whole piece, the price would exceed ten times the price of a bunch of small pieces that together weigh one kilogram, not to mention that a whole piece requires the least amount of charging solution.
But considering these now is of no use. The current situation is that even if all the blank magic crystals of all sizes are collected, they still don't reach 700 tons.
There are about 50 tons of blank magic crystals stored in the empire's military warehouse. These magic crystals are of high quality and large in size and have the highest priority. As time is pressing, the professors have already started preparing the magic circle to charge these crystals.
Next is the inventory of various chambers of commerce, which together contribute the largest quantity of magic crystals. Approximately 120 tons of blank magic crystals are stored in the Silver Capital and nearby areas. At the same time, the Chambers of commerce have also promised that they can mobilize about 250 tons from various parts of the empire. However, due to the different storage locations, they can't guarantee the final arrival deadline of the magic crystals.
"For the ones close to Neranka, send them to Neranka. For those close to the capital, send them to the capital, and I'll pick them up there," Ina was very worried that this batch of magic crystals would not arrive as scheduled. Ever since Professor Derick suggested infusing the magic power in the fog into the magic crystals, Ina's eyes became even more passionate when she looked at the fog.
These were no longer explosive fuels, but pieces of gold. It was as if gold was about to fall from the sky, but she didn't have enough pockets to hold these pieces of gold. How could this not cause Ina distress?
The rest were Elvys's personal collection and a small amount of magic crystals he obtained through other means, totaling nearly 20 tons.
That's a total of 440 tons, which is all the magic crystals Elvys managed to gather. However, whether over 200 tons of them could be transported before Austin woke up remained a question.
"What kind of price are you paying per ton for the blank magic crystals you buy from the chamber of commerce?" Ina wanted to find out if her offer was too high.
"Excellent quality ones go for 3000 gold coins per ton, ordinary ones for 1000 gold coins per ton. Those of too low quality and too small size are not within my consideration. We probably don't have that much charging solution to waste on these subpar products. In addition, the price per ton for those that need urgent transportation rises by 500 gold coins."
After a comparison, Ina felt that the price she paid was a bit higher, but it was understandable. Elvys and the Chambers of commerce have a relationship, and this relationship has a long history. From the beginning of the establishment of the Silver Empire, the chambers of commerce provided tremendous support to the Empire's finances. And she was not familiar with the chamber of commerce in the Duchy of Doman.
"What's the total amount, and how much deposit have you paid?"
"On credit." Elvys smiled slightly.
Damn it! Ina gave him an annoyed look and started to talk about her own gains: "The Duchy of Doman is a small duchy, but wars occur frequently, so a lot of magic crystals are consumed. I talked to the interim ruler of the Duchy of Doman and got about 50 tons of blank magic crystals."
Just as Ina was ready to pay the market price, Vilanthe suddenly smiled cunningly. "Miss Ina, can I ask you a question? Is the use of these magic crystals very important?"
Ina looked at her in confusion and countered, "How do you mean?"
"If these magic crystals are crucial to you, I won't ask for a penny. But if it's not that important, I'd like to discuss a business deal with you."
Ina looked surprised at Vilanthe, who seemed more and more like a true lord. She nonchalantly pulled out a piece of paper. Seeing her movements, Vilanthe asked nervously, "You're not angry, are you?"
"Of course not, I'm preparing to negotiate a deal with the Lord of Flemington," Ina answered with a smile.
The two sat down to discuss the specifics of the trade agreement. "What do you need? I can offer some mithril ore or magic crystals. If you need magic machinery, you can also commission me to place an order, and I will find the most experienced maker."
"May I presume to ask, you need such a large number of blank magic crystals, is it because you have developed some kind of invention using blank magic crystals as the raw material, or are you planning to infuse these magic crystals with magic?" Vilanthe quickly guessed the use of these blank magic crystals.
"The latter," Ina answered concisely.
"I want magic crystals infused with magic."
"Very well, then let's discuss the ratio. The price ratio of ordinary magic crystals to blank magic crystals is roughly 100:1. But the ratio I offer you is 200:1."
Vilanthe offered 50 tons of blank magic crystals, which means that according to the ratio proposed by Ina, she could receive 250 kilograms of magic-infused crystals. This amount of magic crystals might be priceless to ordinary people, but it's not a lot for a territory. In fact, if buying a large number of magic crystals, a strategic material, wouldn't attract the attention of the Church, Vilanthe could buy the same weight of magic crystals from any chamber of commerce.
Just as Vilanthe was about to speak, Ina preempted her, "This is an absolutely reasonable price. If it weren't for our relationship, I wouldn't offer this ratio."
"What I deliver to you is not ordinary magic crystals, but gold-streaked magic crystals that have been modified by a special method. Once the magic power of these gold-streaked magic crystals is exhausted, even a mage apprentice can infuse them with magic." When a magic crystal is soaked in a charging solution, its shell will have a faint gold transparent substance, which is the formed film.
"300 kilograms."
"Deal. If you can get more blank magic crystals, we can continue our transaction."
Although Ina despised the act of not paying a deposit and taking full credit, this time she had no choice but to do so. Ina took all the blank magic crystals that Flemington could muster, leaving only a sample of the gold-streaked magic crystal for Vilanthe.
Ina's next stop was the Silverleaf Forest. The elves were richer than she had imagined, as evidenced by the mithril ore they had accumulated. She was there to ask if the elves had any blank magic crystals to sell to her.
Ina went directly to the high priest of the elves, Lofir.
Things went surprisingly smoothly, and Lofir agreed readily, "How much do you need?"
"As much as you have."
Lofir raised an eyebrow at this response, "I estimate there will be more than 20 tons, do you really want it all?"
"Of course, I can take as much as you can give. What do you want in return? Magic materials? Gold? Or something else?"
Lofir showed a subtle smile, "None of those. But you have something that we really need."
Ina could not think of what goods she had that could attract the elves. "You first."
"Gryphon ."
Eight gryphon eggs had hatched under the care of a diverse group of animal mothers. The newborn gryphons had large heads and sparse feathers that did not hide the flesh color of their wings, making them look particularly ugly. Ina didn't know how to care for the gryphon chicks, and she didn't have time during this critical period, so she simply entrusted them to the elf Savi, who had a hundred years of experience in caring for cubs.
This made Savi even busier, but the moon wolf cubs were recently engrossed in watching Animal Planet, and they could learn hunting skills from the videos of fierce animals, so he didn't have to worry too much.
"With the gryphons, our patrols in the forest will be more convenient. If there is a forest fire somewhere, we can discover it earlier than before."
Ina didn't have to worry about the elves abusing the gryphons. Her gryphon nest produced new gryphon eggs every month. From the beginning, Ina never planned to keep all the young gryphons by her side, perhaps leaving them to the elves was a good idea.
"Four for you," Ina made the decision immediately.
She was so straightforward that Lofir was a bit embarrassed, "But you can't take the magic crystals away right away, we need some time."
It was later that Ina learned that the reason Lofir was a day late in delivering the promised quantity of magic crystals was that the elves had built a magnificent tower with blank magic crystals. When the sunlight passed through the magic crystals, it refracted a rainbow of colors, even more, dazzling than the stained glass windows in human churches.
With the allure of the gryphons, the elves took only a day to dismantle the tower, returning the walls, roof, and windows to their original state before they were used as building materials.
Ina collected a total of 120 tons of blank magic crystals. Combined with the 440 tons that Elvys managed to get, it was a total of 560 tons. This was still far from the minimum of 700 tons, and moreover, the professors predicted that 700 tons would almost certainly not absorb all the fog.
But time waits for no one, and in the end, the professors pulled out their own stock and managed to gather 10 tons with the help of friends. Their action reminded Elvys, who had the headmaster of Star Academy, Helena, dig out the academy's inventory, gaining another twenty or so tons.
The infusion work for the magic crystals had long since begun, right outside the Dragon Flame Restaurant. A large area had been cleared here, and apart from the professors, Ina, and Elvys, no one else was allowed near.
A simple cluster spell array drew the white fog from the sky to the ground, passed through the Breath of Vistan floating in the air, turned into black fog, and was introduced into the energy-gathering spell array on the ground, which was fully covered with a layer of gold-streaked magic crystals.
From a distance, it looked as if there was a huge hourglass between heaven and earth, with the upper half white and the lower half the complete opposite, pure black. The white fog was constantly being sucked into the hourglass, transforming into pure black gas and pouring into the gold-streaked magic crystals placed underneath the spell array.
Because the black fog contains energy and is very active, a small spell could set off these energies, so there must be someone guarding each spell array at all times.
The professors, who were standing guard, used Mage's Hand to push the filled gold-streaked magic crystals away from the array and replaced them with a new batch. Unlike the nearly transparent color of blank magic crystals, the energy-filled magic crystals were a deep ink blue, with a surface that resembled the luster of obsidian, so it was easy to distinguish which magic crystals were full of energy.
On the other side, they were producing energy solutions on-site. The dazzling luminous ores were crushed into a fine powder, still shimmering like gold dust even when shattered. Adding the other ingredients needed for the energy solution, the resulting liquid was also light golden.
The luminous daisies that Ina had obtained through draw or exchange had lost their purpose, as Mist Town was about to have sunshine, rainwater, and clouds like a normal village. She threw these luminous daisies into the crusher as well. It was time to say goodbye to the fog.
The residents of Mist Town were advised to stay away from the spell array for a few days and preferably not use open fire. Ina provided them with a lot of the convenient boiling stones that she used to sell to the elf Cicely. Simply pouring water into a box containing boiling stones can heat up a pot of soup.
The town's residents have always been very friendly and trust Ina immensely. They knew that Ina's actions this time might remove the thick fog that has shrouded over the fog for hundreds of years. They were looking forward to it, yet also very apprehensive.
"It's all thanks to Lillith!" Ina told everyone while distributing the boiling stones, "Her invention played a crucial role in our solution to the fog."
The townspeople were pleasantly surprised upon hearing this: "Oh my, Lillith always said she would come back to the town and bring the sunlight with her. I didn't expect she would actually do it!"
"Yes," Ina echoed, "She really is an outstanding child. To fulfill this promise, Lillith has been working hard."
"By the way," another townsperson stopped Ina, "These boiling stones you brought are very convenient. Can we purchase them?"
Upon hearing this, Ina nodded immediately: "Of course, in fact, I have opened several grocery stores elsewhere, and boiling stones are one of the best-selling items." Boiling stones were widely welcomed by the elves because they no longer needed to cook with fire, reducing the frequency of open fire use and providing significant help in preventing fires. Even Elvys bought a lot of boiling stones, even listing them as essential supplies for the Imperial Knights. For knights often camping in the wilderness, a small boiling stone could save the effort of gathering firewood and making fire.
"Could Mist Town also have such a grocery store?"
"That sounds like a good idea." Ina smiled and nodded.
βββ
"What about the shortage of magic crystals? " Ina asked Elvys somewhat worriedly.
"Do you know about that silver dragon? Are you sure it won't get angry when it discovers the plan has failed? The remaining fog is enough to e blow up the mist Town sky-high." Elvys retorted.
"Where do we get the magic crystals we're short of?" Austin would wake up before long, and Ina felt the time pressing.
"If we can't buy the missing blank magic crystals, how about creating some?" Elvys suggested.
What he meant was to use up the magic power of the golden magic crystals that have been filled, and then bring them back to Mist Town for secondary charging. This method might not completely solve the problem, as it's challenging to use up so much magic crystal in such a short period, but it could alleviate some of the issues. Even more so because these magic crystals have already turned into gold magic crystals, as compared to buying blank magic crystals elsewhere and then treating them with energy-imbuing solutions, it could save some solutions.
So, let's start!