He grabbed a napkin, hastily wiped the water from the corner of his mouth, and looked like he'd swallowed a fly: "Wait! Say that again!"

The young man repeated, "We steal the excrement used for nitrate production to make perfume..."

After asking him carefully, Todd finally understood the whole story.

This young man named Clifford was one of the first students to escape Tyrell. During his time in Twilight City, he had to attend classes at the academy, print books at the library, and cover his daily living expenses. Eventually, he became strapped for cash, often going hungry. So, he found work at the nitrate factory managed by old Aiden.

The young man was smart and hardworking. Others would avoid such a tough and tiring job as working in a manure fermentation tank, but he took the initiative to do it and did it in an organized and efficient manner.

Old Aiden observed this and took it to heart, gradually promoting Clifford to a supervisory position and granting him considerable authority. Unfortunately, not long after, a subordinate informed the old craftsman that Clifford, in collusion with the bookkeeper monk, had stolen raw materials from the nitrate factory…

Todd glanced at the young man kneeling on the ground and asked, "What's the matter with the perfume?"

Clifford glanced at his trembling 'accomplice' beside him and sighed. "Your Majesty, it's like this. Once, after the manure fermentation was complete, I accidentally spilled some while transporting the residue. I casually rinsed the ground a few times with hot water and didn't think much of it. The next day at noon, under the blazing sun, some pale yellow, scale-like crystals appeared on the washed ground. I squatted down and smelled them; it was a very strange smell. Not a foul odor, but rather like the smell of spices left out for a long time..."

Upon hearing this, Todd felt a wave of nausea wash over him, thinking to himself: "Smelling excrement like that, how could you possibly do something like that..."

"Later, on a whim, I purified these pale yellow crystals using a evaporation-filtration method and diluted them with ethanol at a ratio of 1:100. The resulting solution, besides the smell of impurities, actually had a faint floral fragrance." Clifford gestured with his hands as he spoke. "I went to the market and saw that a bottle of flower essential oil from the Southern Empire, the size of a thumb, could sell for 280 silver moons. And this perfume made from feces smells somewhat like flower essential oil, and the cost is even less than 3 copper stars, so I secretly made a few bottles, said they were perfume from the South, and sold them."

Todd's eyes grew brighter as he listened to Clifford's story.

Using feces to make perfume is an incredibly imaginative idea, but from a chemical and molecular chain perspective, it is perfectly reasonable.

In the Middle Ages, essential oils were derived from a substance called methyl dihydrojasmonate hedion. It is a colorless or pale yellow transparent liquid, a natural aromatic chemical substance primarily derived from large flowers like jasmine or plants like rosemary. Its extraction and refining were quite complicated, with a low conversion rate, making it very expensive. In medieval Europe, some royal families even passed down small bottles of essential oils as family heirlooms—a fact documented in history. Even in modern society, methyl dihydrojasmonate hedion is a common chemical in high-end perfumes, frequently used to formulate jasmine, lily of the valley, and jasmine fragrances, giving them an elegant and realistic natural floral scent.

Having discussed high-end goods, let's talk about the "manure perfume" thing.

Feces contain a chemical substance called skatole, or 3-methylindole. It's a white or slightly brownish crystalline solid, sensitive to light, and soluble in hot water (above 67°C), ethanol, benzene, chloroform, and ether. At high concentrations, it has a pungent, foul odor, but when fully diluted, it has a fresh, floral scent, making it an important ingredient in jasmine-scented flavorings. It can also generate derivatives such as indole and quinoline, which are used as flavorings in beverages, candies, and chewing gum. (Yes, you read that right—the drinks and chewing gum we consume contain this chemical substance from feces…)

What's most interesting is that if skatole is diluted to a certain extent and additives such as lemon, Bergamo pear, citrus, and lavender are added, the resulting product does indeed look very similar to flower essential oils. However, the production costs of the two differ by nearly ten thousand times.

Thinking of this, Todd looked at the young student in front of him, and something flashed through his mind.

Artificial perfumes, academic factions, financial crises, scientific research... Perhaps there is a way to connect these seemingly unrelated things and alleviate or even solve the series of problems currently facing the Kingdom of Muxi.

Todd gestured for the servants to bring chairs and asked the three men, including old Aiden, to sit down and talk.

Seeing their anxious expressions, Todd asked Clifford, "Tell me, are all the students at the academy as short of living expenses as you are? If I remember correctly, Muxi Academy should provide some subsidies to all teachers and students."

The young student said in a low voice, “Your Majesty, there are indeed some subsidies. But food and lodging in Muxi City are getting more and more expensive. In the past, ten copper stars could buy a pound of wheat flour, but now it can only buy a pound of bran. Most of us students who have no source of income share houses with others. With the demand from residents and the influx of immigrants, the rent for housing is getting higher and higher. Many people I know have had to leave their houses and sleep in the academy classrooms or even on park benches.”

This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content!