Lucas wanted nothing more than to get started on his next set of experiments; after all, he still had plenty of lard and Ash-Water left, but today wasn't a rest day, so he had to head out with Anna to the Town Lord's Manor for his usual lessons.
With a strong sense of responsibility pushing him forward, and feeling guilty about oversleeping and missing his morning exercise routine, Lucas somehow set aside his own desires and focused on his scheduled tasks for the day.
Time seemed to fly by as Lucas did his best to ignore his spinning thoughts and concentrate on teaching the Unarmed Foundations Art. Fortunately, perhaps due to it being such a natural habit, Lucas was soon able to get into a kind of rhythm and the lessons went by smoothly.
Afterwards, while Charles and his mother went out to take care of some business, Lucas had a sparring match with his big sister using wooden swords.
The young boy's technique and combat instincts had improved dramatically after his accident, allowing him to win the first few rounds against Eris, but ultimately, his strength and stamina were much lower than hers as she was a couple years older and had reached the Fifth Step Body Tempering Realm.
It was a perfect example of how skill could overwhelm a stronger opponent in the short term, but in the long run, strength was what truly mattered.
If it had been a real fight to the death, where a single defeat meant the end, things might have been different, but since it was just sparring, Lucas eventually tired and slowed while Eris remained full of energy.
What's more, after losing several matches, Eris was slightly annoyed and very eager to win back her pride as the older of the two.
Of course, Eris would never intentionally hurt her precious little brother, but smacking his head and knocking him on his butt once or twice … or 10 times wasn't considered going overboard, right?
When the sparring matches finally ended, Lucas was sprawled out on the floor, breathing heavily, aching all over.
Quite to the contrary, Eris was sweating a bit but still looked refreshed and eager to continue.
Seeing his big sister's smug, triumphant look, Lucas could only smile wryly and shake his head to himself. Eris had always been energetic and competitive, so this was nothing new. If anything, Lucas was just grateful that he could now use some of his enhanced combat instincts to win a few rounds. This was already much better compared to being little more than a moving target for Eris like he was before the accident.
Picking himself up off the ground, Lucas thought about it for a moment before turning to his aunt, who had been supervising the sparring match, and asked, "Aunty Sasha, can I get a bucket of hot water please?"
During the summer months, after a hard workout, using cold water from a well or directly from the river to wash was perfectly normal, but with the end of autumn fast approaching, hot water was definitely preferable. It didn't matter how much of a sweat someone worked up, once the weather turned cold, shivers would set in soon after they stopped moving around.
"Of course, Lucas," Sasha replied with a smile and nod.
Ever since his accident, Lucas had become quite particular about keeping clean, something everyone around him had noticed. As such, Sasha had made preparations in advance, having the kitchen heat up a big pot of water for both the children to use once they were done with their training, and it wasn't long before Helen arrived with it.
Getting to his feet, Lucas politely thanked Helen before lightly trotting over to his bag, pulling out a small wooden case, and opening it to reveal a round beige puck.
"What's that?" Eris asked curiously, wondering what her little brother was up to.
"Oh, this?" Lucas turned around, a big, proud smile forming on his face, "It's a kind of solid Bathing Cream I managed to create!"
With a gasp, Eris hurried over to take a closer look, excitedly saying, "I knew you could do it!"
Next to Lucas, Eris was probably the one most anticipating the young boy's successful development of Bathing Cream as she too had quite liked that clean, refreshed feeling she got when washing herself with it.
Even Sasha couldn't help brightening up a bit when she heard what her little nephew said.
Having grown up in a Marquess household, Sasha had frequently used Bathing Cream in her youth. After leaving home and becoming an adventurer, she had gradually gotten used to a more rugged, rustic lifestyle, but just because she could tolerate not having certain luxuries didn't mean she didn't yearn for them.
"Can I take a look, Lucas?" Sasha asked gently as she walked over.
More than happy to show off his creation, Lucas passed the wooden box lined with a piece of waterproof leather in it, something his father had put together for him, to his aunt.
Picking up the somewhat oddly shaped disk, Sasha examined it closely for a moment but didn't notice anything odd or special about it. Figuring it would be best to just test the product for herself, she beckoned to the others in the room to follow her outside.
Sasha quickly made her way to one of the manor's wells and drew up a big bucket of water while Helen brought over a large washbasin normally used for doing laundry. Pouring both the cold and hot water into the basin, steam soon started to rise, and after a few more buckets from the well, it wasn't long before a large batch of warm water was ready.
Grabbing a washcloth, Sasha soaked it first before picking up the puck of solid Bathing Cream and scrubbing it.
Once again, it took a while for a thin foam to develop, but once it did, she noticed that it indeed had a similar feel to regular Bathing Cream.
Setting the cloth down, Sasha scrubbed her hands for a moment before rinsing them off and nodding in approval, "It's not quite the same as the real thing, but it's close."
Nodding along, Lucas chimed in confidently, "En! I have a few ideas on how to improve it, but it shouldn't take long until I have something that works just as well!"
Laughing lightly, Sasha dried her hands on a towel Helen handed to her before patting Lucas' head, "Well then, when you have a product you're happy with, be sure to sell some to me!"
Hearing this, Lucas frantically waved his hands and protested, "There's no need for Aunty Sasha and Big Sister Eris to pay for this. Once it's ready, you can have as much as you want!"
"Really?!" Eris exclaimed, clapping her hands happily at the thought she could soon have more Bathing Cream to wash up with.
Gently knocking her daughter's head, Sasha shook her own head lightly and declared, "Don't say that, Lucas. If it was just a one-time gift, that would be alright, but we'll likely need a lot of this solid Bathing Cream of yours for many years to come, so it's only right we pay for it. After all, there are surely costs associated with producing a product like this. It wouldn't be appropriate for us to just keep receiving it for free from you."
Pursing his lips, Lucas found it hard to refute his aunt's logic. He also knew that she was a stickler when it came to what she considered 'proper' behaviour, one of the reasons his Big Sister Eris got into trouble so much. There was no way he could convince his aunt to just take it for free, despite not thinking it was a big deal.
At first, Lucas felt like he could just charge his aunt a small amount for this solid Bathing Cream, enough to cover the cost to make it and nothing more, but then, a better idea came to him.
Smiling brightly, Lucas agreed, "You're right, Aunty Sasha. It does cost a little bit to produce this solid Bathing Cream, and if I ever want to produce enough of it to start selling it, it will surely be quite expensive at first."
Sasha was about to nod in approval, when Lucas suddenly sprang a surprise on her, "That's why, I'd like Aunty Sasha to lend me some money to help me get started!"
Shocked, Sasha's mind went black for a moment before she took a long hard look at her little nephew, wondering just what Lucas was thinking. However, she soon thought of a possibility and tentatively asked, "You mean, you want me to invest in helping you start a business?"
"Aunty Sasha is so smart! That's exactly what I meant!" Lucas praised.
"Pft! Hahaha!" Sasha burst into laughter, nearly doubling over at this sudden proposal. It wasn't until quite a while later that the Town Lady collected herself, flashing a wide grin that wouldn't be out of place on a clever merchant and saying, "I'd be happy to invest in your little business, Lucas."
"Great!" Lucas cheered, "It might take a while, but once we start making money, we can split the profits evenly!"
Ruffling the boy's hair, Sasha shook her head wryly again. With her noble upbringing and experience managing Redwood Town's finances, Sasha could easily tell just how profitable this venture would be if done right, but she wasn't about to take advantage of her best friend's son and thus chided him, "Don't be so impulsive, Lucas. You just work on perfecting your solid Bathing Cream for now. Once you have the process and recipe perfected, we can draw up a formal contract."
Lucas wanted to object as he had complete trust in his aunt, but Sasha silenced him with a wave of her hand and a firm declaration, "It's decided."
To the side, Eris tilted her head to the side in confusion and asked, "What are you talking about, Lucas? Mom?"
Turning to her daughter, Sasha smiled warmly and simply explained, "Your little brother and I just made a deal to produce and sell his solid Bathing Cream together."
Scrunching her brow, Eris mulled over this explanation for a moment before her face brightened and she ventured a guess, "So, we can have all the Bathing Cream we want cause we're the ones making it?"
Her expression cramping, Sasha rubbed her temples and sighed lightly, wondering where she had gone wrong with her daughter's education and muttered, "Well, something like that."
Eris, oblivious to her mother's worries, simply cheered happily and then ran up and hugged Lucas tightly.
While this mix of family and business discussions was happening, Helen was studying the washcloth and noticed it appeared much cleaner after it was scrubbed down and rinsed with this innovative product.
Seeing an opportunity to make life easier for herself and every other woman who had ever scrubbed clothes before, she soon spoke up, "Lady Sasha, could this also be used to remove stains and dirt from the laundry?"
"Don't be silly, how could…" Sasha immediately wanted to say no, as it would be a huge waste to use Bathing Cream to clean dirty clothes when plain water would do; however, she quickly stopped herself. What Lucas created wasn't the pricy alchemical Euphoric Body Cleansing Bathing Cream made by the Dalton Earl Family, but a completely different product that didn't seem to be nearly as expensive.
Mulling it over, Sasha wasn't sure either way, so she decided to just ask, "Lucas, do you have an estimate of how much this solid Bathing Cream costs to make?"
Freeing himself from his big sister's grip somehow, Lucas thought it over for a moment before replying, "I'm not certain, but a block the size of an adult's fist probably wouldn't cost more than 20 Coppers."
"That's it?!" Sasha shouted, immediately feeling incredulous. Given how much a bottle of Bathing Cream sold for, she had estimated it cost 2 or 3 Silvers to make. At such a price, after accounting for taxes and merchant fees, the Dalton Family could still make a 100% profit on it, which was a huge windfall.
Now though, hearing from Lucas just how cheap his alternative was to make, Sasha realized she had most likely greatly underestimated how black-hearted the Daltons were.
Forget a 100% profit margin, the Dalton Family was likely making at least twice that much, maybe even 3 or 4 times that, in fact!
At the same time, Sasha realized that this 'little' business venture she had casually agreed to join might become a massive source of income for not just her, but all of Redwood Town.
"Helen," Sasha suddenly called out in a solemn tone, drawing the young woman's attention, "Don't tell anyone what you've heard here today."
"Don't worry, Lady Sasha. My lips are sealed," Helen smiled and nodded, understanding that the fewer people who knew what was discussed in this small gathering, the better.
Nodding, Sasha continued, "If it really is as cheap as Lucas says, then forget about just getting stubborn stains out, regular laundry, dishes in the kitchen, and even just washing hands on a regular basis wouldn't be out of the question."