In a dilapidated abandoned hut, near the periphery of the town—Orin was preparing to finally start to experiment and make soap. He had all the key ingredients which were laid right before him.
He had animal fat, which he had gotten for free from a butcher, wood ash, herbs, a small bucket of water and necessary utensils. First of all, he needed to convert wood ash into lye to trigger the saponification process—he put the wood ash into a pot and put hot water into it. After straining it, he got lye water. Lye water is very caustic so he had to be very careful when handling it.
"I wonder what raw fat tastes like," Orin mused, shaking his head to dismiss the odd thought as he focused on his work.
He then cut the fat into small blocks and melted it. He then strained it to remove impurities like skin, meat bits to get clean liquid fat. After warming the fat till its liquid and not boiling, he carefully put the lye and started the mixing process. After mixing it for about 30 minutes, the mixture thickened, signifying that the mixing was a success.
"Wow, the process is so straining. I'm already exhausted." Orin admitted to himself. However, he had to continue, because he couldn't let the mixture dry before he added the herbs, otherwise he would have to melt it again.
"Now I need to add the herbs." He had collected about a dozen or so chickweeds and wild mint from the forest. He wanted to farm the herbs himself but he only knew how to collect and not how to farm, but he promised himself to learn how to farm these herbs by himself if he made the soap successfully.
Using two stones as a makeshift mortar, Orin crushed the herbs into a paste before pouring them into the mixture. He then transferred everything into a handmade wooden mold, smoothing the surface with a stick.
"Now all I need to do is wait and hope for the best." Orin prayed.
After 48 hours the mixture dried, which he then cut into 10 blocks. He now had to let the soap cure for 2-4 weeks before it could be actually tested. He hoped nothing would go wrong but boy was he wrong.
While waiting for the soap to fully dry and harden, he helped his father in his work and occasionally went to the forest again to collect herbs. According to the townsmen, he heard that the beast he encountered was apparently a semi-magical beast that had run away while the adventurers were hunting. Fortunately, before the beast could run rampant in the town, the mages from the temple hunted it down using their magical abilities.
He longed to wield magic, but unfortunately nobody in the town except the mages from the temple knew how to wield magic. They were as esoteric as deities to the natives of the town. There was this myth that circulated in the slums—that the world they live in is built like a pyramid and if you can climb higher, you can learn magic. Nobody from the slums knew if this was true or not. However, one thing was certain that the mages that were stationed here were not the native of the town but people who came down from the upper area for some unknown reason. There was this huge wall-like mountain at the end of the forest. Few people had tried to climb it, but they either ended up dead while some never returned or went missing.
Few weeks passed by and the soap was finally prepared, but things didn't go as planned. When he was checking the quality of the soap, he found mold growing on the soap."What could be the reason for this?" Orin pondered," I don't think it's because of the ventilation, this hut is already pretty open. Did it get contaminated by the utensils? Hmmm..I had cleaned it thoroughly . I don't think that was the reason."
"Maybe it is because of the excessive moisture? Should I have dried the herbs instead of putting it fresh?" Orin was determined to make the soap, so he tried again by drying the herbs before putting it in the mixture. After a few weeks, he again checked the new batch of soap and luckily they didn't grow mold.
He tried it on himself and it didn't disappoint. He felt his hand become softer and fairer. It also gave off a refreshing scent with a hint of earthiness. If the herbs he used had similar properties to those on Earth. The medicinal value would also be very great.
"With this I'll be the richest man in the town." Orin grinned foolishly. He was tired of his poor life and wanted to enjoy riches. He was already sick of not being able to use his smartphone and doom scroll on ingsta all day, so even if he didn't have those technologies here, he at least wanted to enjoy the best this world could offer, including magic.
The demarcation of the poor and the rich was really apparent here. Poor people were treated like dirt and were targets for the rich and the middle class to exploit upon. His father had been made to work like a dog just to earn pennies. They didn't even have enough money to eat 2 times a day. It was usually one meal and rarely two meals a day.
He had the product in his hand, but now he had to solve another problem. How to sell and market it to people. He was a good student with good grades in his past life, but he was neither a salesperson, nor a good negotiator. He had little to no idea about how to run a business let alone start one.
He racked up his brain for a few minutes before he finally had an idea. "All I have to do is now trap the young ladies." Orin smiled and rubbed his hand together. He was excited to see what the future lay for him.