After upgrading his weapons, Norn continued to search for new business opportunities in the city of Veneto. Walking through the streets, he noticed that commoners mostly wore simple colors like black, gray, and white, while wealthy gentlemen and nobles preferred bright and vivid colors such as blue, green, and red.
Scratching his head, Norn made his way to the textile guild. Venice truly lived up to its reputation as one of the major trading hubs of the Liverpool continent. Whether it was silk from the East or Byzantium, velvet from the Frankish Kingdom, woolen cloth from Florence, or wool fabric from England, everything was available here.
Thanks to the Norman Kingdom's plundering of the Byzantine Empire, the Italian city-states had acquired their own silk manufacturing facilities. In the past few decades, the price of silk had started to decline, but it remained expensive.
The shop assistant who greeted Norn was extremely enthusiastic. He learned from him that undyed white silk was priced at 4 nomismata per meter, while the cost of dyed silk varied depending on the color. The most expensive, purple, was 10 nomismata per meter.
Recalling his knowledge from his previous life, Norn thought, "The raw materials are easy to get. This could be promising!"
He bought a piece of raw silk from the assistant, then rushed to a general store in the port area to purchase some madder root. After returning to the inn, he secretly bought some alum from the butcher's guild.
"Little Norn! What are you cooking up now?" William asked, hovering around Norn, who was boiling something in his iron pot.
"Do you want to try some?" Norn asked with a mischievous smile as he ladled up a spoonful.
William looked at the dark red liquid, brewed from some unknown plant, and smelled the sour odor.
"Haha, Uncle William has somewhere else to be. Bye!" He turned and left quickly.
"Phew! Always so eager to eat, but nowhere to be found when it's time to work," Norn thought bitterly.
Noticing that the hourglass beside him had stopped flowing, Norn quickly flipped it over.
"Ugh, it's such a hassle not having a watch. I have to rely on this thing," he muttered.
After estimating the time, he flipped the hourglass again and set the small iron pot aside on a low heat to keep warm. In another pot, he added a piece of white silk and a quarter of the fabric's weight in alum powder, continuing to heat and stir.
After flipping the hourglass three more times, Norn poured some of the liquid from the first pot into the second. He waited for another two hourglasses' worth of time.
When he took out the silk, the originally white fabric had turned into a bright red. Looking at the red cloth he had spent half the day working on, Norn felt like he could hear the satisfying clinking of gold nomismata flowing into his pocket.
Although red was no longer as prestigious as it had been in Roman times, second only to purple, its price remained high due to the scarcity of raw materials.
"But the local guilds definitely won't let me take their business," Norn thought, feeling a headache coming on.
"Should I sell the formula like I did with the cake? No way, this cash cow needs to lay a few more eggs first."
At that moment, Otto and DeMol returned to the inn, just in time to see Norn and his red cloth.
"Did... did you do this?"
"Yeah! I read about it in a book. I just tried it out and it worked!"
"So what's the problem?"
"The guilds here won't let me sell it!"
Otto was generally satisfied with his nephew, except for this money-grubbing aspect, which left him speechless.
"We're leaving by ship in ten days. First, we're heading to Constantinople, and then..."
"Wait! Where?!"
"Constantinople."
Norn's mind immediately conjured up words like economic hub, trade privileges, and wealthy elites. These merged into a single phrase: "Easy targets with deep pockets."
"Looks like I can make a killing again!"
At dusk, Norn called Otto and the three knights over to present his business plan.
"Using the methods I learned from books, we can easily dye silk. The price of these raw silks can almost double after being dyed," Norn said, waving the red silk in his hand like a fervent salesman.
"To avoid conflict with the local guilds and to get higher profits, we can sell the dyed silk in Constantinople, where Venetians have trade privileges. And we are good citizens of Venice, after all!"
The others stared at Norn blankly, like innocent souls caught in a pyramid scheme.
"This ten-day voyage will yield a 50% profit! Just imagine, in ten days, your ten gold nomismata can turn into fifteen! What are you waiting for?" Norn jumped onto a table, waving the red silk enthusiastically.
The ordinary piece of red silk seemed to have a strange magic, making everyone subconsciously envision gold coins falling into their treasure chests, causing their breathing to become heavy.
"We are all pilgrims on the road to the Holy Land now," Norn said, making the sign of the cross. "I believe the Lord will only approve of the fruits of our labor."
"Let's do it!" William pulled out his meager purse and took out a few gold nomismata from the hidden compartment in his chest, saying pitifully, "This is my life savings! Little Norn, you have to take good care of it!"
The old man really did have a stash of private money, Norn thought to himself, but he still smiled on the outside. "We have our first partner. Who else is tempted? If you hesitate, you'll just have to watch others make money."
The others couldn't sit still anymore. They all took out their wallets and joined in.
Now I have free labor! Norn thought with a sly grin.
In the days before boarding the ship, Norn spent everything except the necessary travel and tax money on raw materials.
With free labor at his disposal, Norn only needed to oversee the mixing ratios and dyeing times, leaving the rest to his unpaid workers.
To keep things secret, the group dyed the silk at night, hung it out to dry in the early morning, and collected it back by dawn.
After ten days, even though they were all tough knights, they all had big panda eyes. But as long as they thought about earning more money for every extra piece they made, they were full of energy.
Finally, before boarding the ship, the group packed all the dyed silk into crates and boarded the ship to Constantinople.
Norn, with panda eyes, stood at the bow of the ship, feeling a surge of ambition.
"Next stop, Constantinople!"
But as soon as the ship started moving, Norn felt a jolt and rushed to the railing.
"Ugh!" Norn felt like he was getting seasick.
After ten days of sailing and vomiting his guts out, Norn finally saw the domes of Constantinople.
From a distance, the massive city cluster sat on a small hill, with the Sea of Marmara to the south, the Golden Horn to the north, the entrance to the Dardanelles to the east, and an overlook of the Thracian Plain to the west. The entire urban area was like a giant holding up the sky, guarding all directions.
Most of the buildings in the city were of Roman style, ancient and majestic. Even from a distance, one could faintly see the dome of the Hagia Sophia and the Great Hippodrome.
"No matter how many times I come here, I always feel that this city is a treasure bestowed upon us by the Lord!" said the Venetian merchant traveling with Norn, standing beside him.
"The Lycus River ceaselessly pours fresh water and fish into the harbor. The constant depth and calm waters of the port make freight extremely convenient. The sails of the ships coming and going block out the sun. Furs from the north, spices from the east, woolen cloth from the west, and wheat from the south are all blown into this city of wealth by the wind. It is said that the port's tax revenue alone reaches 20,000 Byzantine silver coins per day."
"Twenty thousand?!!" Norn looked at the harbor in amazement, the flowing river seeming to turn into a stream of silver coins.
"Although slightly exaggerated, I don't think it's far off."
"Hello! I'm Norn Adler from Mecklenburg. I haven't had the pleasure of knowing your name, sir," Norn asked.
The middle-aged merchant bowed. "The owner of the Good Fortune, Venetian merchant Marco Patro, at your service!"
"Do you know this city well?"
"Of course. I've been sailing this route since I was 15. If it's your first time here, I suggest you visit the Hagia Sophia, and also check out the Great Hippodrome and the Grand Square."
Marco was extremely talkative, constantly introducing Norn to the customs and culture of Constantinople.
From the fashion trends of the imperial ladies to the blanket styles of Nicaea and the types of Turkish scimitars, all sorts of anecdotes seemed like things he had seen with his own eyes, leaving Norn stunned.
It seemed that as the ship was about to dock, Marco finally stopped talking and sighed, "If only this scene could last forever."
Noticing Norn's confusion, Marco replied, "During the reign of the late Emperor Manuel I, the empire won consecutive victories abroad and encouraged trade at home. The nation was strong. Although the emperor liked his splendid purple robes, grand banquets, and magnificent buildings, it was a rare blessing for us merchants."
"But now, the new emperor is only 12 years old, and Empress Maria is regent. Her favoring of Manuel I's nephew has caused discontent among the nobility. There are constant power struggles in the palace, and even our small merchants' businesses are suffering."
"This Marco seems like someone I could win over," Norn thought to himself.
"What kind of business are you in?"
"Clothing, weapons, grain—whatever makes money."
"I have a commission here. If you can help me get an introduction and close the deal, you'll get ten percent of the total price as a reward. How about that?"
Norn once again put on his "innocent and cute" smile.