King
Chapter 837 - 837 72 Shipyard

837: Chapter 72, Shipyard 837: Chapter 72, Shipyard Compared to the impassioned scene at the Magical Beast Legion Training Base, the neighboring Apothecary Institute was an entirely different picture.

At first glance, Hudson thought he had gone to the wrong place and entered a slaughterhouse.

Everywhere there were the agonizing cries of animals, and it was hard to imagine that this place was meant for training pharmacists.

“Count, what brings you here?

This place is filthy, and given your esteemed status, you shouldn’t—”

Before the old pharmacist could finish his sentence, Hudson interrupted with a wave of his hand, “It’s alright, I just came to have a look.

Mr.

Sabote, what are you training on that the scene is so…?”

“Respected Count, the apprentices are practicing setting bones.

For safety reasons, they start by experimenting on animals.

Some of them are just not cut out for this, being too heavy-handed, and if I’ve alarmed you, my lord, I’ll punish them right away…”

Mr.

Sabote said, his voice trembling.

Clearly, the Clergy’s long-term suppression had already caused the pharmacists to lose confidence.

Even in a Kingdom like Alpha that doesn’t acknowledge the Clergy’s influence, pharmacists were still considered part of a lowly profession, barely scraping by at the bottom of society.

Having finally found a decent job, Mr.

Sabote didn’t want to lose his livelihood just for offending the Lord.

“Don’t be nervous, continue your training, I’m just here to have a look.

Bear in mind that your lord has come out of the battlefield, so such a small scene is nothing to worry about.

Continue with your planned lessons and train a batch of qualified pharmacists for me as soon as possible.

If you need anything, submit a request to the Government Affairs Department; they will take care of the arrangements.

Go on with your work, I’ll take a look around!”

Hudson said helplessly.

In a world with a rigid social hierarchy, the slightest show of emotion from those above can terrify their subordinates.

If Hudson didn’t explain himself, many apprentices might inadvertently suffer.

Looking at the current situation, it wasn’t hard to understand why pharmacists had fallen on such hard times.

Priests just need a single Divine Art to immediately heal the wounded, whereas pharmacists have to make such a big scene.

If that were all, considering that their Potions have fewer side effects than Divine Arts, it wouldn’t be unacceptable.

But then there are the “Magic Potioners” competing with them—both working with Potions, yet those two extra words made a world of difference in status and identity.

Although Magic Potions don’t work as instantaneously as Divine Arts, they are faster and more effective than ordinary Potions.

Many diseases that ordinary Potions can’t cure are immediately resolved with a dose of a Magic Potion.

Against this backdrop, Nobles naturally preferred the more effective Magic Potions.

As for the cost of medical care, that wasn’t something the high and mighty needed to worry about.

Without the support of the rulers and facing the Clergy’s suppression, pharmacists were struggling just to preserve their heritage, let alone vie for social status.

It was precisely because pharmacists had it so tough that Hudson was able to gather teaching staff so quickly after he issued the recruitment call.

Moreover, none of the applicants were of inferior quality—filling the ranks with incompetent personnel simply didn’t happen in the Continent of Aslante, where deceiving Nobles could cost a commoner their entire family.

Hudson was always lenient with talent.

Even if pharmacists held a low social status, the treatment they received in the Mountain Domain was still not shabby.

The results were clear: these pharmacy apprentices who had been studying for a while were now able to concoct the simplest Potions and treat some common diseases among the domain people.

Even the worst medical system was better than none.

Thanks to the efforts of these pharmacists, the mortality rate of infants in the domain had drastically decreased.

Seeing positive outcomes and proving that promoting Potion studies at the grassroots was the right move, it was natural to increase investment.

Hudson’s visit was really for the domain bureaucrats to see.

He demonstrated with his actions that the Lord took the training of pharmacists very seriously, and the corresponding work had to be done well.

If things developed well, a medical rescue team would also join the army in the not-too-distant future.

Purely in terms of efficiency, Priests are indeed more suitable for the army, but that costs lives!

Many veterans who had been healed by Priests aged quickly, having to leave the battlefield within a few years.

While Magic Potions were ideal, they remained prohibitively expensive, and it was difficult enough to satisfy the needs of officers.

Given a choice, Hudson still didn’t like to treat his soldiers as cannon fodder.

Even if the majority of the troops he commanded were considered disposable, he would do everything possible to minimize casualties.

Thanks to this philosophy, the casualties in the wars that Hudson took part in were always kept to a lower standard.

A third of his reputation as a great general was publicized by the Orcs, a third was the mutual adulation among the Nobility, and the other third came from the grassroots soldiers, his organic fans.

During the wars, he didn’t have as big a name as he does now; rather, it was after the war, through the promotion of numerous organic fans, that he cemented his “great general” label deep in people’s hearts.

…

As he journeyed on, surveying the lands he had conquered, Hudson couldn’t help but swell with pride.

Starting a business was hard, but to have established such an estate in just a few years, even he found it somewhat unbelievable upon reflection.

The once boundless swamp where his dream had begun was now turned into vast fields of fertile land, and it seemed that it wouldn’t be long before the marsh became a thing of the past.

Traveling downstream along the canal and seeing the smoke rising from houses on both banks, Hudson couldn’t help but smile.