Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 127: Nitrocellulose
As soon as he heard he could work for the lord, Rona worried that such a good opportunity might be snatched away by someone else, so he quickly agreed.
He even patted his chest, claiming that he had many years of cattle-rearing experience and was one of the veteran breeders in Bianshu Town, making him perfectly suited for the task.
Extra income was naturally a good thing, especially since the lord offered a generous salary.
So, Rona handed over all the family’s cattle to his wife and son to manage—the son would also help out after school—and he himself cheerfully followed the people Owen had sent to report for duty.
In a small breeding shed in the corner of the castle courtyard, Rona came face-to-face with the two strong acid slimes he was to raise. He froze in shock.
He had assumed the lord wanted someone with breeding experience to raise livestock, but he never expected it would be monsters, and specifically, slimes, such low-level monsters at that.
He had no idea why the lord wanted slimes raised.
Not knowing the purpose wasn’t the main problem—the real issue was that Rona had no clue how to raise them! What if he accidentally killed them?
These were rare slimes procured from the Flame Star Kingdom at the lord’s behest through the guild. He absolutely could not afford to mess them up.
Thinking this, Rona began to have second thoughts.
“Don’t worry…”
Owen said, seeing Rona’s concern.
“I’ve already summarized a complete set of breeding knowledge, and I’ll teach it to you in full.”
Since he didn’t have to figure out slime breeding on his own, Rona felt slightly relieved.
But then, thinking more carefully, he suddenly realized something and exclaimed in shock,
“Lord, are you planning to teach me personally?”
“Yes,”
Owen nodded.
“In all of Bianshu Town, I’m the only one with this kind of experience.”
Hearing this, Rona replied with both awe and nervousness.
“Lord, please rest assured—I will dedicate myself completely to learning and will raise the slimes properly!”
Anyone could see that the lord attached great importance to slime breeding, so Rona knew he had to work doubly hard.
Next, Owen carefully explained Rona’s daily duties.
- When to feed the slimes
- How to acquire acid after establishing a good relationship with them
- How many times to collect acid each day
- And other details
Rona frantically tried to memorize everything.
Since the construction of the dedicated slime breeding facility had just been agreed upon with Viru, Rona needed to come and go in the castle courtyard daily.
Owen would inform the guards in advance so that Rona could be granted easy access.
After all, there were only two strong acid slimes at the moment, and the courtyard shed could handle them.
Once Owen finished explaining the tasks, Rona kept quietly repeating the instructions to himself, afraid of forgetting anything important.
Seeing this, Owen handed Rona a stack of papers.
Rona looked at it in confusion.
“Lord, what’s this?”
“It’s the breeding guide and the daily work schedule I’ve summarized for you.”
“But…”
Rona awkwardly scratched the back of his head.
“Lord… I can’t read.”
“Oh? In that case, you’ll need to attend the night literacy classes I’ve prepared for adults,” Owen said.
“Ah?!”
Rona’s mouth dropped open in shock. After a moment, he mechanically nodded.
“Understood… I’ll attend the classes.”
“Don’t worry,”
Owen continued.
“Before the slimes accept you, I’ll be there every day to teach you what to do. You’ll definitely remember the tasks.”
“But why…?”
Before Rona could finish, Owen interrupted.
“You’re learning to read to prepare for the future.”
“Oh, I understand.”
Since the lord had said so, Rona didn’t argue further.
He would learn—though he never imagined that at his age, he’d still have to learn to read, having assumed he’d never need it in his life.
Owen’s requirement made sense: in the future, when Rona managed the slime breeding farm, he would need to record the amount of acid collected daily and write periodic reports on the farm’s status.
While handing over the slime-breeding task to Rona, Owen was also preparing for another project: the production of nitrocellulose.
Previously, it was mentioned that Owen intended to manufacture breech-loading rifled guns, gradually replacing the current muzzle-loading smoothbore guns.
Jita had already crafted two experimental breech-loading rifles, one of which Owen, by agreement, gifted to Viscount Jarvis.
The machines for making corresponding cartridge cases and bullets were also ready.
Copper, being relatively soft and ductile, was easy to shape into cartridge cases and bullets.
The only problem was the primer for the bullets—there was no suitable material yet, which is why Owen had not instructed Gita and the team to start large-scale production of breech-loading rifles.
Viscount Jarvis had tried using paper cartridges for shooting, but because the breech gun’s barrel wasn’t sealed at the end, it couldn’t contain the powder gases properly. As a result, the lead bullets were fired at lower speeds with reduced impact, and the performance was unsatisfactory.
Seeing this, Viscount Jarvis was very disappointed and had to wait until metal-cased cartridges with proper primers were produced before conducting test shots.
This is where nitrocellulose (nitro cotton) came in to solve the primer problem. It is even more sensitive to sparks than black powder, ensuring reliable ignition of the bullet.
Of course, there are materials even better suited for primers, such as mercury fulminate.
However, producing mercury fulminate is far more complex than making nitrocellulose, and the raw materials are hard to obtain, making mass production impractical.
Even if produced, it would require a secure storage warehouse. Mercury fulminate is extremely unstable—any slight shock could trigger an explosion. Improper storage could result in catastrophic consequences.
In contrast, nitrocellulose is easier to manufacture and store.
Additionally, nitrocellulose, or nitrated fiber, is a key component of smokeless powder.
In the future, when Owen planned to replace black powder entirely with smokeless powder, large-scale production of nitrocellulose would be necessary. This was a form of preparation in advance.
In short, it was a matter of taking things step by step. No need to rush—once conditions were met, full-scale upgrades could be implemented.
Because Owen intended to use nitrocellulose as a primer, the rifles Gita was making were flintlock breech-loading guns.
The production of nitrocellulose required degreased cotton, concentrated sulfuric acid, and concentrated nitric acid.
But in this world, there was no ready-made degreased cotton! Owen had no choice but to make it himself.
With the necessary materials prepared, he went through the nitrocellulose production process in his temporary laboratory.
First, the cotton needed to be degassed.
Owen produced sodium hydroxide using the electrolysis of saturated saltwater. The cotton was soaked in the sodium hydroxide solution, heated and boiled for a period, then cooled, rinsed, and dried to obtain degassed cotton.
Next, he mixed concentrated sulfuric acid and concentrated nitric acid (obtained from the strong acid slime) in the correct proportion, and fully submerged the degassed cotton for a sufficient amount of time—this process is called nitration.
Afterward, the cotton was removed, repeatedly rinsed, and boiled in a dilute sodium hydroxide solution to neutralize any excess acid.
Finally, the wet product was dried in the sun, yielding nitrocellulose.
All these steps were carried out by Owen under Winston’s instructions, step by step, and the final product was expected to be reliable.