"I'll cost it out and send you and the Crown a proposed budget. At least we can pick kids from distant countries with weaker wizard academies, if we're looking for mathematical talents in general and not girls from Taldor."
"It's not as bad as I've been making out to Keltham, but even in realCheliax the Crown treasury will be less sad about this sort of request if the Project can start refining spellsilver soon. Or at least producing high-purity oil of vitriol."
Maillol doesn't ask the Chosen how they're doing on that; he reads the reports on it every day. The better half of the researchers are constantly getting better at Prestidigitating in the weird ways Keltham demands, and Keltham seems to think they're tantalizingly close to completing a full acid production cycle, but they're not actually there yet.