Chapter 127: Reform or Chaos – 4

Chapter 127: Reform or Chaos – 4

“……Things have been hectic lately.”

“Tell me about it. Anyway, could I ask you a favor, Lily?”

“Of course, boss. What is it?”

“Could you handle sales for me instead?”

“…Huh?”

A day after Christie’s visit, the Empire officially guaranteed me all rights to my potions.

In short, they gave me a patent.

Because of this, some nobles seemed to be subtly trying to approach me.

Fortunately, Christie was cutting them off well, so they hadn’t broken into my house, but that couldn’t last forever.

“Anyway, nobles will come looking for me eventually, so I’m just saying I’ll sell before my personal information, like my house location, gets leaked.”

“Even with a perfectly good shop, you’d do that?”

“……I’ll probably be in the Holy Kingdom for a while.”

“The Holy Kingdom? Why that dangerous and gloomy place again?!”

…Normally, people would think of the Holy Kingdom as a very safe and holy place that serves God’s will, but Lily seemed to have a very different opinion.

Well, considering what almost happened to me, it wasn’t that strange for her to think that.

If I had known this, I would have told her earlier, not today, the day I decided to go to the Holy Kingdom.

“…Don’t go around saying that anywhere, okay?”

“Hmph, it’s the truth anyway. More importantly, why are you going?”

“Remember the guest who came when that useless Hero was here? That person is the Saintess.”

“……? Boss? Do you have any potions to fix hearing? I think my ears are acting up.

From what I heard, it sounds like the Hero and the Saintess both visited a normal house in the Imperial Capital?”

Yes, unfortunately, your hearing is normal, Lily.

The very next day, even the Knight Commander and the Chief Mage of the Knight Order came to visit.

The lineup is a bit strange, but just roll with it.

It’s only going to get more intense from now on, not less.

“You heard correctly, and the reason I’m going to the Holy Kingdom is… to pay back what happened last time, I guess?”

“…If it’s for that, then I understand.”

“……Then what reason did you think it was?”

“Well, I thought our kind-hearted boss was going to give those Holy Kingdom bastards some good potions again!”

“To bastards who would just freak out and call it heretical stuff even if I gave it to them? Me? Oh, I might give them potions that would make them sick if they drank them, though?”

I don’t know where this image of me being kind came from, but me giving potions to a Holy Kingdom figure, excluding the Saintess and the Hero? That’s a potion that absolutely shouldn’t be drunk.

By the way, was Lily worried about me showing mercy to the Holy Kingdom, rather than worrying about me facing danger there?

Isn’t her point of concern a bit off?

“But boss, you’ll always come back alive from any danger, just like always.”

“…What on earth do you think I am?”

“Someone who looks frail but is actually capable of surviving anywhere you throw them?”

“Yes, thank you very much for the wonderful assessment?”

Somehow, the conversation veered off into a very strange direction, but the important point was that I wouldn’t be able to open the shop for a while again.

At this point, I’m almost forgetting where the shop is, but I couldn’t help it.

What can I do when branches and incidents keep popping up?

Anyway, so my decision was to sell potions only to a few selected nobles through Lily, chosen by Christie.

“Anyway, the potions I’ll be selling from now on are mostly defensive potions like fire resistance, ice resistance, electrical resistance, poison resistance, etc., so there won’t be much danger.”

“……There aren’t any crazy potions that would fry someone if they touched them wrong, are there? Or potions that would make giant fireballs fall from the sky?”

“Why would I sell something like that and risk what? Those potions are all for self-defense. In the first place, the reason I started selling potions was the ‘Stamina Potion’ that heals people.”

At the same time, I thought it might be the potion I made the most and drank the most.

It used few ingredients, and its effects were so good that I made a lot of it.

……Unfortunately, it was used more as an all-nighter potion for clearing strange quests than for its original purpose of healing wounds—no, in fact, it was practically only used for that purpose, but anyway.

In addition, with the Holy Sword’s help, I am now largely unaffected by divine power.

It’s a penalty that I can’t receive divine support when fighting other enemies, but against the Holy Kingdom, there’s no cheat ability quite like this.

However, perhaps because the Holy Sword was the one who helped me gain this ability, despite being a mass of divine power, it could still communicate properly with me and provide various assists.

Potions, in the first place, were not divine power, but rather an imitation of divine power in potion form, so their effects remained the same.

Somehow, I seemed to have become someone who had better chemistry with the Holy Sword than the Hero, but anyway.

However, according to the Holy Sword, complete immunity is impossible, and I only receive minor effects from all divine power, so I’m not completely invincible.

Oh, and it also said that because I’m just less affected by divine power, it still hurts just as much if someone else strengthens themselves with divine power and hits me.

Of course, even with all that combined, I’ve still gained a cheating ability that nullifies most divine magic.

“But if you’re going to sell potions anyway, couldn’t you just sell them at the shop? Of course, I like the Knight Commander unnie, but wouldn’t it be too much trouble for her?”

“……If I stood alone in the shop, nobles and people would just politely buy potions. I can just hit them with a greatsword if they act up, but you can’t, can you?”

“True, there were a few bastards who deserved to be hit by your greatsword before.”

“And it would be good for Christie too, wouldn’t it? Ah, more accurately, it would be good for the ducal family?”

Though obscured by Christie becoming the Knight Commander, the ducal family and the Duke were once again swallowing up the Empire’s politics.

Slowly, one by one, they were making those in key official positions in the Empire their own people, so it was just not visible.

The reason I know this? Well, just by reading the newspaper, there were countless reports of the Duke having deep conversations with people in key official positions in the Empire.

The Duke was also flaunting it without any intention of hiding it.

In such a situation, if I were to sell my potions through the ducal family, it would further solidify their position.

Justification? There’s more than enough. In Christie’s case, she’s the Knight Commander who verified the effectiveness of ‘potions’, and publicly, I’m sponsored by the ducal family.

In other words, there would be absolutely no problem if I sold my potions through the ducal family and selected customers through Christie.

……Most importantly, if they were vetted by Christie, they wouldn’t harm Lily, who was out selling potions.

“Alright. Then I’ll tell the Knight Commander unnie as you said, boss.”

“Thanks. Then, I’ll prepare to go to the Holy Kingdom……”

“But didn’t the Knight Commander unnie say she was going to the Holy Kingdom too?”

“……Huh?”

Come to think of it, just yesterday, I had asked Christie, who said she was going to the Holy Kingdom soon, to stay there for about a week even after her business in the Holy Kingdom was done.

I kept looking for Christie first whenever there was something related to the Empire’s nobles, so I hadn’t even considered that Christie was only one person.

“…Then, well, I’ll have to ask the Duke.”

“W-Will that be okay? Rumor has it he’s a very scary person…”

“I’m much more comfortable with Christie, but… Christie hasn’t gone to the Holy Kingdom yet, so

Couldn’t I just explain the situation to Christie and ask her to convey it to the Duke?”

“Couldn’t you just ask the Duke directly, boss?”

That’s right. There’s justification, and it’s beneficial for the ducal family, so I could just go to the Duke first and ask.

The Duke, though not as much as Christie, still seemed to like me.

In the first place, I was his life-saver, so it would have been strange if he disliked me.

However… the thought of talking to the Duke again in that ducal family made me a little, well, intimidated.

It wasn’t an excuse or because I was lazy; the Duke genuinely had that unique oppressive aura.

And this time, I’d have to face him alone without Christie, which made it even more so.

In short, I was intimidated. That’s why I was trying to convey it to the Duke through Christie, even if it was a bit troublesome.

…But to tell Lily that directly, her eyes were shining too brightly with trust in me, so I desperately had to find an excuse.

“Hey, are you busy? I think it’s time to go to the Holy Kingdom soon.”

“…Not at all.”

……Until the Saintess suddenly popped out of the magic circle in the corner of the house.

It was the first time in my life I was so glad to see the Saintess.

……Of course, installing a magic circle in the house that could pop out like that without permission is a problem, but whatever.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll have time to speak to the Duke, Lily.”

“Tsk. Well… alright. Be careful on your trip.”

So, I stood with the Saintess again in the magic circle she came from.

Preparations? There weren’t any in particular.

In the first place, all my self-defense potions were made through the ‘Alchemist’s Treasury’ skill, and the Saintess would take care of my attire anyway.

……For some reason, I felt like I had forgotten something, but the fact that I forgot it probably meant it wasn’t that important.

Watching Lily wave her hand, the Saintess and I departed for the Holy Kingdom.

*’You idiot!! Take me with you!!’*

Ah. I forgot the Holy Sword.