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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: A New Business Venture
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All he had to do was send that one question. Why write a whole ten lines of useless drivel?
“So he’s trying to test me with this, is that it?”
That Gale fellow—or whatever his name was—must have told him that I planned to win Airic’s trust and bring benefits to the Count’s family.
The Count would decide whether to believe me or not based on my answer to this question.
I snorted and wrote a reply.
The Duke was said to have come looking for something very important, but the High Priest didn’t tell me, so I don’t know the specifics. However, based on the circumstances, it seemed like it might be a holy relic.
He also said he would visit the temple once a month from now on.
I mixed truth with a healthy dose of lies.
I had to mention the holy relic to make it believable that I didn't know the full story.
Since I didn’t know what Lute took anyway, the Count wouldn’t be able to find out any more than this.
“Monica, and Sir Victoria.”
After sealing the letter, I called the two of them.
“You two are my confidantes now, so I’ll tell you. Count Kiris is a piece of trash.”
“...What?”
“I knew it!”
Unlike the bewildered Victoria, Monica clenched her fists.
This reaction was quite refreshing.
“The reason I started repenting for my past was because I realized what a scumbag the Count is. It’s difficult to turn my back on him right now, but one day, I will leave the Count’s family for good. The Grand Temple will also break free from the Count’s patronage.”
Monica nodded vehemently, and Victoria, though confused, seemed to accept it for now.
“But we need money, so we're going to pretend to be subservient while squeezing money out of the Count's family. So if I feed the Count lies, just go along with it. Got it?”
“Yes, I understand!”
“I will follow your orders.”
Victoria didn’t object to this and immediately agreed.
A holy knight not refuting talk of extorting money from others. It seemed she had a lot of pent-up frustrations herself.
“Good. Then, Sir Victoria, could you go and send this letter for me? Monica, stay behind. I have something to ask you.”
“Yes, I’ll be back shortly.”
After Victoria left with the letter, I asked Monica.
“Monica, do you happen to know much about the Empire’s potion market?”
“The potion market?”
“Yes. You said you lived outside the temple until six months ago. So I thought you might know a thing or two.”
Though puzzled, Monica answered readily.
“Currently, the potion market is divided between potions from the Great Sea God and alchemical potions. Well, I say divided, but the Great Sea God’s side is overwhelmingly dominant.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. The presence or absence of divine power makes a huge difference. Thanks to that, they act like a bunch of thugs.”
Monica, who had been explaining calmly, suddenly twisted her lips into a sneer.
To think that lovely face could make such a sneer.
“They don't shy away from dirty tricks to monopolize the potion business. They've always been an underhanded bunch.”
It was an unexpectedly blunt answer.
In the original story, the Great Sea God’s followers were indeed a bunch of jerks, but was it okay to say that so openly…?
Then again, why not? This was the Sun God’s temple. The Sun God would take care of fighting the Great Sea God himself.
“Of course, that doesn't mean alchemical potions don't sell. Their efficacy is lower, but they're much cheaper, so commoners buy them often.”
Potions that could heal wounds just by drinking them weren’t sought after only by nobles.
In fact, commoners, who did more rough and dirty work than nobles, needed them more.
But the Great Sea God’s temple preferred wealthy nobles over poor commoners, so they only produced high-quality, expensive potions to sell to them.
As a result, alchemists naturally targeted the commoner market.
It was perfect timing, as the Sun God’s Grand Temple, whose healing power was once unrivaled, had seen its potion supply dry up.
“The Great Sea God’s temple couldn't care less about the plight of commoners, so no matter what garbage they pull, the alchemists’ potion business will never fail.”
Monica, I really liked it when you spoke so candidly.
“But why the sudden interest in the potion business? Gasp, Saintess, could it be…?”
Monica, who was setting down a cup of tea in front of me, widened her eyes.
Instead of answering, I just grinned.
That’s right. Now that I had funds, it was time to start a business.
I couldn’t live off of leeching from Lute and the Kiris family forever.
Above all, the potion business was the top priority for the Sun God’s Grand Temple.
When it came to healing power, no one could match the Sun God.
That’s why the potion business had been the main source of income for the Sun God’s Grand Temple.
But as the Sun God’s power wavered and the quality of the potions dropped, the Great Sea God’s side swooped in and snatched the business as if they’d been waiting for it.
It wasn’t illegal, and since the Grand Temples were originally competitors, the Sun God’s Grand Temple couldn’t protest.
But the reverse was also true.
If we reclaimed the potion market and put a dent in the Great Sea God’s coffers, they wouldn’t be able to say a word either.
“I’m thinking of restarting the potion business.”
Having gained confidence from Monica, I summoned Airic and Seth to the drawing room.
And without any preamble, I got straight to the point.
“Potions…”
As if he hadn’t even considered it, Airic’s eyes wavered.
I could see excitement and desire in his green eyes.
“…That would be difficult.”
But the moment he squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again, the desire was gone without a trace.
What remained was a resignation more familiar than hope.
“Thanks to Duke Ciel, our budget has eased up a bit, but it’s not enough to restart the potion business. Besides, we have a severe shortage of high-ranking priests who can wield powerful healing magic.”
The latter was a bigger problem than the former.
In the original story, the Sun God’s Grand Temple's potion business was able to see the light of day again all thanks to the powerful abilities of the heroine, Idella.
But now?
All we had was a novice Saintess with only 10% divine power.
What’s more, Airic didn’t even know I’d become a true Saintess, so of course he would object.
“How many priests do we have who can actually produce potions?”
“Probably not even ten. And among them, only three or four, including myself, can wield significant power.”
It was the perfect number for everyone to die from overwork if we started the business right away.
“How about we start after the Grand Temple has stabilized?”
“No. If we keep postponing it, we’ll never get it done. And I have no intention of fighting the Great Sea God’s side from the start. We’re going to target the commoners first and build from there.”
“But the alchemists have a hold on that market. What do you plan to do? With so many alchemists, it won’t be easy to break in.”
This time, Seth asked.
His voice was trembling, perhaps excited at the thought that the Grand Temple’s long-held wish might finally come true.
At this point, I played my trump card.
“How about we collaborate with alchemists?”
The Great Sea God’s temple was aggressive, and they were the type who weren’t satisfied unless they were on top, so we could never coexist with them.
But alchemists? There was no reason we couldn’t join hands with them, was there?
“There’s no law that says an alchemist can’t be a believer, right? If one of our believers wants to make potions with us, who’s going to say anything?”
The ones currently dominating the potion market weren’t individual alchemists, but large groups of them.
But surely there were individuals among them who desired to become mainstream, weren’t there?
“Let’s recruit the minority of alchemists who have been overshadowed by the larger alchemist groups and haven’t had a chance to shine.”
We could make up for our lack of priests, and the alchemists could overcome the limitations of alchemy, which fell short of divine power.
“On top of that, we’ll be able to research how to fuse divine power and alchemy. Isn’t that just the icing on the cake?”
It was a true win-win strategy.
“It seems like a good method to me.”
Seth voiced his opinion, glancing at Airic.
He still seemed to be mulling it over, so I added to my explanation.
“There are two main problems. Finding a skilled but non-mainstream alchemist who is also willing to become a follower of the Sun God. And distribution.”
“That’s right.”
As expected, that was what was bothering him, as Airic immediately nodded.
In that case, I’d have to shatter those worries.
“That’s why I plan to bring Duke Ciel into this business.”
“What? The Duke is joining us?”
“Did you discuss the potion business with the Duke when he visited last time?”
The surprised Airic and Seth asked one after another. What strange questions they were asking.
“No? The Duke doesn’t know about this.”
Things were already complicated enough with the holy and divine relics. When would I have had time to talk about business?
“But if we offer him a piece of the action, there’s no way the Duke would refuse.”
I declared confidently.
