Roland, as the lord of the Western Territory, naturally didn't need to do it himself. He only needed to draw a rough sketch on paper and explain it clearly to the recruited tailor.

Although he had never personally touched a bra, he had seen too many of them in various advertisements, TV shows, and movies. There were only a few styles, and he chose the most common shoulder strap back-closure type. The buckle was three sets of copper hooks, allowing for some adjustment of looseness.

Because this item needed to be worn close to the body to meet the bust-binding requirements, Roland also summoned the maids in the castle to have the tailor take measurements. The tailor, who had been cutting clothes for many years, was very experienced. After listening to Prince Roland's explanation, she immediately understood the function of the bra and divided the bra sizes into several grades based on the actual measurements, with further subdivisions for adjustment within each grade.

In fact, the prototype of the bra, the corset, had already appeared in this era. However, it was not designed to make women more comfortable, but to tighten the waist as much as possible and support the breasts to create an hourglass figure. The gorgeous noble dresses were also designed with a thin waistline in mind, and without the help of a corset, it would be difficult for ordinary women to fit into such extremely tight-waisted clothing. The excessive pressure on the waist resulted in an extremely uncomfortable experience, and in severe cases, could even affect blood circulation, leading to fainting.

In addition to supporting the breasts, the bra also served to fix them and reduce vibration, making women feel more relaxed in their daily wear.

In just two days, the old tailor had cut out twenty bras, using the silk and fine cotton cloth provided by Roland, which were both beautiful and breathable, and the workmanship was particularly exquisite.

However, before Roland could deliver this gift to the witches, a merchant caravan from King's City arrived in Border Town.

Compared to its punctual arrival last month, the fleet was not only late this time, but also much smaller than before. The sailing ships docked at the town's expanded pier, giving a sparse and scattered feeling.

"Your Highness, we meet again," Margie said with a smile.

"Welcome. Thank you for your hard work in transporting the refugees last time," Roland looked at the fleet by the river. "There seem to be fewer sailing ships this time?"

"Due to some... unexpected reasons," she wiped the sweat from her forehead. "If you don't mind, let's talk in the reception room. It's too hot here."

"I think so too," Hogg muttered. "I'm a true Graycastle native, and this damned weather is killing me. If it weren't for the first steam engine, I wouldn't want to leave my house."

Roland nodded and led the group back to the castle. As they entered the hall, a cool breeze rushed over them. Hogg let out a long breath. "Thank God we discovered such a wonderful thing... If I hadn't seen the production process of Icemist with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it came from sewage. Oh, and ice water! Your Highness, may I—"

"Of course," Roland gestured for him to help himself, then sat back in the main seat and asked the merchant, "So, what accident caused the sharp decline in this month's goods, mainly saltpeter?"

According to the contract, she should provide at least three ships of saltpeter to Border Town every month, but this time, there was only one ship carrying saltpeter.

"Because of the Royal City Alchemist Association, they've been buying saltpeter recently. The price isn't high, but they have the support of Duke Vikary, the First Prime Minister, so it's not a purely commercial transaction. Merchants have no choice but to sell," Margie said, spreading her hands. "I guess this is probably Tiffco's idea. After all, the Prime Minister is practically his mouthpiece."

"Tiffco?" Roland asked doubtfully, "Didn't he go to the Southern Territory?"

"Indeed," she nodded. "Tassaa must have told you the news. I heard that he took a lot of men and supplies with him before leaving the Royal City, and he's probably going to make trouble for Garcia again. The Alchemist Association's large-scale acquisition of saltpeter began shortly after he left."

Roland knew more about this matter. Arranging Tassaa to work in the Royal City was indeed effective. At first, he only received news of Tiffco gathering underground rats. In order to prevent him from suddenly invading, he specifically asked Pello to strengthen the defense of the fortress. However, the next secret letter from the guard relieved Roland slightly. Tiffco went straight to the Southern Territory, and it was clear that this recruitment was not aimed at him.

Roland's view of the purpose of these rats was basically the same as that of the guard, that is, they were not suitable for direct combat at all, and their discipline was even worse than that of civilians and serfs. Therefore, Tiffco's way of using this group of people must be the same as last time, first using drugs to addict them, and then forcing them to fight. This tactic of repeatedly consuming the enemy's strength with cannon fodder was a safe strategy for the new king, who owned two-thirds of the territory of Graycastle.

But why did the Alchemist Association suddenly want to acquire a large amount of saltpeter? Snow Powder was originally one of their flagship products, but the wrong ratio meant it could only be used for sounding ceremonial barrels. Now, have they discovered the correct formula for gunpowder and are planning to manufacture it in bulk, or are they on the road to determining the best combination ratio through a large number of experiments?

Roland shook his head and put aside the questions that popped up in his mind. Guessing these things was meaningless. It was the right way to complete the industrialized production of three acids and two alkalis as soon as possible and switch to more advanced chemical gunpowder.

"Then, can't you guarantee the supply of three ships of saltpeter next month either?"

"This... I don't know," Margie looked a little embarrassed, but still said bluntly, "This ship to the Western Territory was purchased from Silverlight City after a lot of effort. Now is the hottest time of summer, and the demand for saltpeter is very high, so I'm not sure how much I can buy. If it were another season, I could guarantee the supply of three ships."

"I understand," Roland took a sip of ice water. "Then try your best next month. If you don't have it, there's no need to force it. I have new goods here that I need you to purchase."

"Oh?" Margie seemed relieved. "What is it? More ore?"

"Washing stones for cleaning clothes," he replied. "They look like white, turbid flakes or pillars, and feel slippery when soaked in water. This stuff is not uncommon in the Royal City's inns."

"Sure enough... more ore," the merchant said with a helpless smile. "It's hard to understand that you have a large mine in your territory, but all the goods you purchase are minerals. Well, there's a lot of this stuff, and it's not expensive. What do you plan to use it for?"

"Naturally, to wash clothes more easily," Roland smiled.

Washing stone was something he found in the memory of the Fourth Prince. It is essentially a natural alkali, the main component is sodium bicarbonate, which has a strong decontamination effect, and is known as the ancient three major cleaning weapons along with plant ash and soapberry. In the absence of ion exchange membranes, electrolysis of saline to collect sodium hydroxide is not only extremely inefficient, but also salt is not a cheap thing. So he plans to directly buy natural alkali to produce caustic soda. With enough caustic soda, he can manufacture soap on a large scale... as well as a byproduct of soap, glycerin.