kscans

Chapter 141 - Chapter 11: Part One - The Purification, Extraction, and Cooking Chapter

"So, this is the colony we're going with. You called it IG-1, I believe."

Fulsy said, looking at a greenish Erlenmeyer flask. It looked like an algae-filled swamp, not a pretty sight at all.

"Yes. IG-1."

The I stands for Inhibitor, and the G for Green. Incidentally, if we ever find a magically active substance from the red soil, I'm thinking of calling them 'Magic Catalysts' as a general term.

Among the colonies that produced the magic-inhibiting substance, the one we ultimately chose for bulk culture was the greenish colony that secreted the inhibitor into its surroundings.

After cultivating several types of colonies with strong magic-inhibiting effects, including IG-1, on petri dishes, we transferred them to glass and did a rough analysis of the target substance's properties. In other words, we exposed it to heat, acid, and alkali, then performed the magic inhibition test again.

The results showed that IG-1's magic-inhibiting activity barely diminished when exposed to heat or acid. This meant the substance it produced was remarkably stable.

"So, what is the next step?"

"It's not that different from our previous inhibitors. The purification of the target substance."

That black pigment is apparently extracted from shellfish in the river flowing from the Red Forest. They say it's expensive because you can only get a tiny amount, which makes me wonder if it's like the purple dyes of old. Or perhaps that black pigment, much like a shellfish toxin, is a substance secreted by the Red Forest's bacteria that gets absorbed by the shellfish.

With that in mind, it was finally time for purification. Since IG-1's magic-inhibiting effect works even through the colony itself, in extreme terms, simply drying the culture medium would probably increase its potency. However, for the applications I have in mind, higher purity is better.

"By the way, Noel, I wanted to ask you something."

"...I think it's still too soon for your next crazy idea."

The corner of Noel's eye twitched. It's not that crazy of an idea.

"No, it's just a small question. Is there a substance that conducts magic, even if not as well as Sorcery Gold?"

"...There is. We call it Sorcery Silver, but even though we say gold and silver, the difference in value is closer to that between gold and copper. It barely conducts magic, so it has no real use."

"And is it something I could get my hands on?"

"It's terrifying how your questions don't seem related at all... If I rummage through the warehouse, probably. ............Do you need it?"

"No, I was just asking."

"I hope you're aware that you're advancing the history of magic by decades right now."

"I'm certainly aware that thanks to your pipette, our experiments are several times faster and cost a tenth of what they used to."

"...Y, you don't need to mention that."

◇◇

"So, what can I do to help?"

Vinaldira asked, looking at the Erlenmeyer flask on the table. She was holding a stack of white cloths.

"You probably shouldn't get too close until we're done heating it..."

"It's a little late for that. But with this, my debt for you helping Natalie is repaid. She wanted to help too, you know."

"...I get it. But your part comes a little later in the process. Until then... right, I need you to handle that over there."

I pointed to a basket in the corner of the lab. It was piled high with eggs I had sourced from Rilka. All the eggs in one basket. Not a good situation, economically speaking. I needed to crack them open soon.

"D, don't tell me you're going to eat all of those."

Noel and Vinaldira shuddered.

"Of course not. Although, the process is apparently similar."

In my old world, I'd heard that skill in the kitchen was proportional to skill in the lab.

"As an old man with little time left, I'll be sure to watch this up close." Fulsy declared, sounding like he'd sell his remaining lifespan to a demon for knowledge.

"Your help is essential, Director."

Purifying a substance is fundamentally about separating the target substance from everything else by exploiting differences in their physicochemical properties. It's a basic principle of chemistry in my former world. Distillation, filtration, sublimation, they all boil down to that. The green color of IG-1 might be an indicator, but there's a chance the green substance itself isn't the magic inhibitor.

Needless to say, it's hardly a simple task. Especially when you're dealing with an unknown substance. What's more, when working with microorganisms, you're not only dealing with things you can't see, but you also have to isolate your target from the most diverse array of chemical substances in this world.

That was precisely why I needed Fulsy to measure the presence of the target substance at every single step of the experiment. The difference between having that data and not would, at a conservative estimate, result in dozens of times the cost and effort.

However, the answer to the first step was already clear. We needed to remove the bacteria from the culture medium. I wanted to just heat it up and kill them off, but doing so would release their internal contents into the liquid. That would negate the advantage of the substance being secreted into the medium in the first place.

"First, we'll remove the largest impurity, the mucus. We'll use that."

I pointed to a machine delivered to the lab from the Vinder Company. To put it simply, it was a drum with a handle like a bucket's, attached to an axle. The axle's bearings had been replaced with ones made by Bertold. It was a device originally created for beekeeping to extract honey from the comb, a centrifuge.

For the honey, we used a water wheel, but this one was obviously modified to be operated by hand. With a windmill, we'd be in trouble if the wind stopped midway. For the shaking culture, we used a windmill because even a little agitation of the medium at night was better than nothing.

And so, I started turning a crank-like handle over and over. This was one job I couldn't ask Fulsy to help with. I wish Dalgan or Plural were here. No, what I really want is a water wheel.

Of course, the rotation speed wasn't enough to cause the bacteria to precipitate out completely. But if you tried to just strain it through a cloth from the start, the cloth would clog almost instantly. That was the result of numerous tests using bacterial solutions cultured from the soil in the academy garden.

I placed the Erlenmeyer flask in the centrifuge and waited a while.

After confirming a sediment had formed at the bottom of the flask, I transferred the culture medium into a beaker covered with a filter cloth. The slightest jolt would mix the bacteria back into the liquid. Well, I'd have to rely on the cloth for that. It was the highest quality fabric Vinaldira had prepared for me.

I immediately tossed the bacteria and the used cloth into the incinerator. Of course, some IG-1 remained inside the bacteria, but increasing the purity was the priority. I had Fulsy test the culture medium for magic-inhibiting activity. Since this was a pure culture of only the IG-1 producing bacteria, it was already casting a distinct shadow on his antenna at this stage.

At this point, the solution was still quite cloudy. It contained not only the medium's components but also a large number of dead bacteria and other debris.

I checked the fire in the stove.

Right on cue, Vinaldira brought over the egg whites. I mixed them into the medium, stirred well, and then placed the medium over the fire. This was to remove impurities with the egg whites, which form a much finer mesh than any human-woven cloth. The process is the same as making consommé soup, so I guess I'll call it the consommé method. Come to think of it, the culture medium is somewhat similar to consommé.

Incidentally, I got the recipe for consommé from the Grand Duchess's head chef. I never would have thought of it if I didn't live in an environment where such luxurious dishes were served.

Once the egg whites solidified, I strained the solids out with a cloth. The mix of the medium's amber color and the bacteria's secreted green wasn't exactly beautiful, but it was considerably clearer than before. I took a sample from the beaker and handed it to Fulsy, who immediately measured the liquid's magic-inhibiting effect.

"No problems here. I checked the egg whites as well, but the liquid is far stronger."

"I see..."

That was a little different from what I expected. I thought a fair amount of it would get trapped in the egg whites. Well, perhaps it's because unlike consommé, the medium contains almost no fat.

"What about the activity itself?"

"It has hardly dropped at all."

This was as I'd predicted. It seemed to be highly resistant to heat. This was about the limit of what we could remove through physical means. Next, we would separate things using chemical properties. I looked at Vinaldira.

"Did you bring the things I asked for?"

"Yes, I gathered as many different kinds as I could find."

Vinaldira took out several glass bottles, the same kind I had used when collecting soil from the Red Forest. Inside each, a slightly viscous liquid sloshed gently.