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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 37
Chapter Title: The First Batch
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“Now, all we need is mass production, and we can start selling right away. I'm counting on you for distribution.”
“I'll take care of sourcing the materials for mass production immediately. And of course, I'll handle the distribution well.”
This is why I like people with a head for business.
Having finished our necessary discussion in a flash, we shook hands in satisfaction.
“Ah! And this is this month's donation and charging fee.”
Just then, Lute placed two pouches on the table.
I took a sharp breath and immediately reached for the pouch filled with money.
My hand went to the charging fee for my offerings before the donation for the Grand Temple's funds. It was instinct.
【500 Gold.】
This crazy—no, wonderful—man, offering 500 gold as a charging fee.
“You know I'll always love you, right?”
“My money, you mean. I worry that the day my funds run dry, the Saintess's love will grow cold as well.”
As I rubbed my cheek against the pouch in bliss, Lute grumbled nonsense.
“There's no way the Duke's funds will ever dry up.”
Maybe if your fate followed the original story, but since I've twisted it, that will never happen.
“So my love won't grow cold either.”
The stronger my divine power becomes, the stronger my blessings will be, and naturally, the potion's effects will improve.
And that, in turn, will become money that comes right back to me.
For this perfect cycle to continue, Lute is absolutely necessary, so I intended to protect him thoroughly to ensure nothing happened to him.
“Those are sweet words indeed.”
But what's this? Why is he suddenly smiling like that? It's almost as if he's displeased...
Nah, it must be my imagination. There's no reason for it.
* * *
After Lute left, I immediately summoned Airic and Seth to the drawing room.
Both of them had clearly heard the news of the potion team's successful prototype, as their excitement was palpable.
“It's so much better than the first sample, it's not even comparable. I also personally like that it contains hyacinth flowers.”
The hyacinth is the flower that symbolizes the Grand Temple of the Sun God.
It was the perfect ingredient for the potions that will become our main business.
Airic also expressed his agreement.
“That's right. Besides, since the hyacinths grow naturally only in the Grand Temple, other potion makers will never be able to replicate it.”
“And since the hyacinths will never disappear, that's even better.”
Seth also smiled happily.
Just as he said, even when all the other flowers in the garden had died, only the hyacinths survived.
Unlike other flowers, hyacinths only need sunlight and the Sun God's divine power.
Of course, with the number of priests having dwindled, the amount of divine power has also decreased, so they no longer cover the entire garden as they once did. But this is only temporary.
Soon, beautiful flowers will once again magnificently cover the Grand Temple.
I looked forward to that day.
“However, there's one problem. Its efficacy is still slightly lower than that of alchemical potions.”
Letting Airic and Seth rejoice to their hearts' content, I slowly began to lay the groundwork.
The real reason I called them here was for this.
“So, I was thinking, what if we imbued the potions with the power of our holy or divine relics?”
This was the excuse I'd come up with to hide the fact that I was using my blessing.
“The power of a holy or divine relic...? Do we really need to go that far?”
Unlike Seth, who was lost in thought, Airic immediately showed his reluctance.
“We have to. If we don't build momentum from the very beginning, we'll be in trouble.”
This wasn't an excuse, but a fact.
“These are potions from the Grand Temple of the Sun God, renowned for having the greatest healing power of all. But what if they're not as good as expected? What will everyone think?”
They'll say, ‘I heard the Grand Temple of the Sun God was going downhill, and it must be true. It looks like they're really about to collapse.’
Everyone will whisper like that and turn their backs on us completely.
“Absolutely not. From the start, we must elicit a reaction like, 'Ah, as expected, the Grand Temple of the Sun God is in a class of its own!' First impressions are a crucial element in business.”
Do you understand? You pure souls who have no sense for this business.
“Of course, I'm not saying we'll use it forever. Once the potion team develops a better potion, we'll stop.”
Even holy or divine relics don't have infinite power.
Holy relics, in particular, have a much shorter lifespan.
So I had to make it clear that we would set a limit.
Though in reality, we'd never actually use it.
“...I understand. Let's proceed with that, then.”
Fortunately, my persuasion seemed to work, as Airic, after a long moment of thought, agreed without major opposition.
Seth, who had even less business sense than Airic, gave up on voicing his opinion, so it was as good as a unanimous agreement.
With the decision made, we put our heads together and selected a holy relic to use.
As it happened, there was a perfect one.
After that, things proceeded swiftly.
Airic did briefly say something absurd about how he would be the one to bestow the blessing with the holy relic...
...but since he had the important duty of being a healing power shuttle, I was able to secure the job for myself.
And so, with Lute supplying the materials and the potion team, along with the healing power shuttle team, grinding away for several days...
The first batch of 500 prototype bottles for initial sale was finally complete.
“Wow, what a magnificent sight.”
Standing before 500 bottles filled with a deep orange liquid, I felt a strange sense of pressure.
The blessing has to work as planned. I wonder if it will be a success.
Alone in the room, I took a slow, deep breath and extended my hand toward the potions.
【Activating skill 'Blessing'.】
Golden divine power slowly seeped into the potions.
My relief at seeing all 500 bottles emit light at once was short-lived.
An unexpected side effect soon followed.
“Cough!”
With a coppery scent, I coughed up blood.
“I hope it didn't get on anything.”
Horrified by the blood trickling down my hand, I quickly pulled back my clothes.
It would be a disaster if Monica or Victoria were to see the blood.
【Skill 'Blessing' has been overused. A heavy strain is being placed on the user's body.】
A sigh escaped me as I read the system message flashing before my eyes.
To think I'd cough up blood just from imbuing a few hundred potions with a blessing.
I'll have to do this many more times in the future. This is a problem.
“What kind of strain, exactly? Is my lifespan shortening or something?”
【The user's physical fatigue will increase. The body will be temporarily weakened. However, there is no effect on lifespan, and the side effects will lessen as divine power grows stronger.】
Ah, well, that's not so bad.
All I do at the Grand Temple anyway is my morning exercises, lazing around, and occasionally casting a blessing.
My body getting a little weaker won't be a problem.
Dismissing the system message, I gazed fondly at the potion bottles, now dyed a beautiful flame color.
...Maybe it's because I coughed up blood, but the reddish glow somehow looks like my own blood. Let's just ignore such trivial things.
I washed my blood-stained hands in the bathroom and meticulously checked to see if any had gotten on my clothes.
Only after opening a window to air out the room did I call for Monica and Victoria, who were waiting outside the door.
“Wow! The color changed! It's so pretty. This is the effect of the holy relic, right?”
In response to Monica's awe, I nodded and showed her the holy relic I was holding.
The 'Gleaming Gold,' a holy relic in the shape of a golden censer.
It was perfect, as its inherent ability was to further enhance attributes.
Unfortunately, it wasn't as effective as a blessing cast directly by me, the Saintess of the Sun God.
If it had been even close, I would have used the holy relic instead of my blessing, but since its effect is significantly weaker, I'll just have to keep using it as an excuse.
“It looks so mystical and special. I think it will sell well, Saintess!”
“Right? So hurry up and move them. We need to move quickly if we want to sell them quickly.”
“Yes!”
Monica exclaimed energetically and began placing the potions on a pre-prepared trolley.
But for some reason, Victoria wasn't moving; she was looking around the room.
“Sir Victoria? What's wrong?”
“It's just... I think I smell blood.”
Her incredibly sharp remark almost made me bite my tongue.
I even aired the room out. What a terrifying sense of smell...
Thanks to my life as a detective, I'm quite perceptive myself, but I was no match for the knights who endure monstrous training.
“Really? I don't smell anything.”
“I don't either. There's no reason for it to smell like blood.”
Fortunately, Monica, who only had strong divine power but the senses of a normal person, helped me out.
I quickly piggybacked on her comment and pretended to know nothing.
“...Is that so.”
Thanks to that, Victoria soon gave up and started helping Monica move the potion bottles.
Still, seeing her continue to glance around, it seemed her suspicions hadn't completely vanished.
Next time, I'll have to air the room out thoroughly before calling them in. If this happens again, I might really get caught.
After loading all several hundred potion bottles onto the trolley, we went to the entrance of the Grand Temple.
Airic, who was talking with a woman I'd never seen before, greeted us.
“Is the work finished?”
“Yes, it was a success.”
I showed him a potion, its color noticeably changed.
The one who let out an even bigger gasp of admiration than Airic was the woman with him.
“Oh, is this it? Wow, look at that color. I've seen countless potions, but never one with such a brilliant and mystical hue. It looks like it could even pique the interest of someone completely uninterested!”
The woman, who had been lavishing praise, gave a hearty laugh.
With her sturdy build, violet hair, and turquoise eyes, she was a conspicuous person in many ways.
No matter how I looked at her, she didn't seem like an ordinary person... Strange.
Did someone like her appear in the original story?
