“New collaboration?” Ophelia’s interest was piqued.
Ever since she dreamt of Lilian, Ophelia knew that Lilian was actually a very knowledgeable person.
Had she discovered something else?
What new thing would she bring this time?
“Lia, do you know how many students there are in the Imperial Capital?”
Lilian got straight to the point.
How many students?
Ophelia thought back carefully, then replied, “I’m not sure about the exact number, but judging from the documents I’ve seen, there should be about sixty thousand or so.”
“How about scholars?”
“Forty to fifty thousand?”
“And mages?”
“Twenty to thirty thousand?”
“That’s wonderful!” Lilian was overjoyed upon hearing these numbers.
“Wonderful?” Ophelia was a little confused.
“Do you know how tough their daily lives are?”
How could it be so tough?
The Empire treats these people quite well, doesn’t it?
“Spicy Leaf Tea, you know about it, right?!”
Of course, Ophelia knew about Spicy Leaf Tea. Aside from the stimulant potions she usually used, it was the most common refreshment drink.
Lilian sounded rather indignant, “That stuff, and they actually dare to sell it for 1 Glo a bottle!”
“Isn’t that normal?”
“Normal? The taste is terrible, the effect is weak, and the price is outrageous—what’s normal about that?”
Oh.
Hearing Lilian’s words, Ophelia understood.
“So, you’ve got some thoughts about Spicy Leaf Tea?”
“But I don’t recommend you get into this business, Lilian. It’s a lot of effort for very little return…”
“No, no, no, Lia, you’ve got it wrong.” Lilian wagged her finger.
She took out a Glass Bottle from her pocket.
It was filled with a black liquid.
Lilian pulled out the wooden stopper, and instantly a pungent aroma mixed with burnt and sour notes wafted out.
“Cough, cough, cough…” Ophelia kept fanning the air in front of her nose. “What is this?”
“Coffee Extract, uh…” Lilian thought for a moment, “It’s like Acid Bean extract? A kind of medicinal material.”
In this world, there were Coffee Beans, but due to the prevalence of magic potions, many ordinary medicines hadn’t been widely developed.
So, in the books Lilian had read, Coffee Beans were listed as medicine for diuresis, headache, and diarrhea.
Ophelia didn’t really understand; her knowledge of medicines was limited.
“Uh, it’s hard to explain just by saying it. Do you have any boiling water?”
Ophelia was still fanning the air, but pointed towards the tea table with her finger.
Lilian walked over and picked up a cup, pouring some Coffee Extract into it.
She didn’t have much time last night, so she only managed to simply roast some Coffee Beans and then extract them herself to get Coffee Extract.
As for Coffee Powder, forget it. That stuff requires special tools, and she couldn’t make it on her own.
She poured in hot water and stirred with a spoon.
Two cups of simple coffee potion were ready.
Yes, a potion.
Because of their special nature, potions usually needed to take effect quickly, which required the use of a pharmaceutical sigil machine.
Attaching a Diffusion Insignia would ensure rapid effects.
Lilian sniffed it a bit and found the smell rather unappealing.
That was unavoidable, as Lilian hadn’t had much time.
Besides, Lilian’s understanding of coffee making was half-baked at best; as long as the taste was barely acceptable, it would do.
Lilian returned to the coffee table with the coffee.
“Want to try?”
She handed Ophelia a cup, and before Ophelia could drink, she took a sip herself.
Lilian raised an eyebrow.
As expected, the taste wasn’t as good as she’d hoped…
But it was still acceptable.
Perhaps because magic existed in this world, the invigorating effects of coffee were much stronger.
“How is it?” Ophelia asked curiously.
“It’s all right.”
When you don’t know what to say, “It’s all right” is always safe.
Ophelia hesitated, but eventually followed Lilian’s lead and took a small sip.
Immediately, a charred bitterness and sourness filled her mouth.
Ophelia’s features nearly scrunched together.
What is this stuff!
It really was like a medicinal decoction—absolutely awful.
Relying on this taste to stay awake?
How’s that any different from Spicy Leaf Tea?
No way, even if Lilian brought this up, there’s no business value in it.
She might have to play the bad guy.
“So bitter.” Ophelia didn’t hold back, frowning as she was about to voice her opinion.
Suddenly, a powerful refreshing effect surged through her.
Ophelia felt her mind clear at once.
Compared to Spicy Leaf Tea, its invigorating effect was on par with potions.
“This… what is this?”
“The taste definitely needs improvement,” Lilian admitted honestly. “But Lia, you can feel the effect, can’t you?”
“For it to work this quickly and so effectively, Lilian, you used potion-making methods, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That’s not going to work. Potion making is too labor-intensive for mass production.”
Ophelia immediately tried to argue from the cost perspective.
“Lia, I only did that to quickly demonstrate its effects. For a regular product, it would take about fifteen to thirty minutes to kick in.”
“And the effect would be the same?”
“The same.”
“Side effects?”
“Almost none. The only possible issue is insomnia, which can be avoided as long as you don’t drink it before sleeping.”
Ophelia was tempted.
If that’s the case, this product really does have a lot of potential.
But, unlike muscle recovery potions, which were essential military supplies, this was still a commodity.
A commodity comes with risks.
Heh, Lilian, even if your idea is good, I still need to teach you a lesson.
Ophelia’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Lilian.
She thought for a moment and leaned in closer.
Lilian tried to back away.
Ophelia noticed the little movement and curled her lips into a smile.
She didn’t stop; instead, she deliberately sat even closer.
She finally stopped when she got close enough that Lilian was just a bit uncomfortable, but not enough to outright reject her.
“Interesting idea. But Lilian, you have three questions to answer for me.”
Ophelia held up three fingers.
“First, raw materials. What’s the yield of these ‘Acid Beans’? You said they’re medicinal materials—so can the capital’s supply meet our initial production needs?”
“Second, flavor. How do you plan to make this ‘medicine soup’ acceptable to most people? If it always tastes this bad, how much of an audience will it really have?”
“Third, technology. Is there a lot of technical know-how involved in this product? How can we make sure the production method won’t be copied by others?”
With that, Ophelia smiled.
“Lilian, if you can’t give me a satisfactory answer, I won’t accept a collaboration with such unknown risks and rewards.”
Truthfully, Ophelia was a bit confused. Lilian was obviously doing all this to pay back those 300 gold coins.
But if she just agreed to her request and let her pay back the debt for her, wouldn’t it be so much easier?
Why go through all this trouble?
She really didn’t get it.
But it didn’t matter—after all, she was Lilian~
Listening to Ophelia’s string of questions, Lilian responded with a confident smile…
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