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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 39
Chapter Title: A New Rival
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* * *
A letter from June, who had begun selling the potions, arrived for Lute without delay.
Lute smiled in satisfaction at the impeccably organized sales report.
“She’s found her footing.”
Within ten days of the launch, all five hundred sample vials had sold out.
It was only natural they were met with such enthusiasm; they were far cheaper than the Great Sea God’s potions and more effective than alchemical potions of a similar price.
Moreover, the timing was perfect.
The price of alchemical potions had been rising frequently, and public dissatisfaction was high.
Thanks to this well-timed entry, word would spread quickly.
“Our dear Saintess must be running her potion factory with glee.”
He could just picture Ordel screaming with joy after seeing the sales report from June.
‘But I wonder... Where is she spending all that money?’
He himself had already poured thousands of gold into the Grand Temple.
But Ordel didn't use the money for luxuries.
Most would start by decorating the reception room, where they receive the most visitors, but it remained unchanged. Her attire was just as plain—the same simple saintess’s robes.
There was no rule that a saintess had to wear only her robes. Yet she never wore a fancy dress, not even a simple ring or a pair of earrings.
For a moment, he recalled the Saintess of the Great Sea God, who reveled in lavish attire, but Lute quickly shook his head.
No need to dwell on useless thoughts.
‘It doesn’t seem like she’s investing it all in rebuilding the Grand Temple.’
If that were the case, she would have extorted the money openly, but she’d taken it without the High Priest’s knowledge.
If she wasn't interested in luxury and wasn't using it for the restoration, where on earth was she spending all that money? His curiosity was suddenly piqued.
After all, this was Ordel he was talking about.
The odds of her doing something incredibly entertaining were high.
“I have yet another reason to keep visiting the Saintess.”
Lute smiled, recalling how Ordel had been subtly worried about him even as she lost her temper.
Unfortunately, his situation didn't allow him to visit her right away.
“I wonder how they'll react.”
Lute glanced at June's sales report again.
It had become popular so quickly that reservation inquiries flooded in the moment it sold out. The alchemists would surely learn of this soon.
How would they react to having their market share split?
He couldn't be sure, but it was bound to cause a massive uproar.
* * *
Lute's prediction was spot on.
The alchemists, on the verge of losing their business overnight, were furious.
“Damn it! Why is the Sun God getting involved now?!”
Louis Martin, representative of the alchemical potion sellers.
He was enraged to hear that the Grand Temple of the Sun God had entered the potion business.
What angered him most was that they were targeting commoners, just like them, instead of the nobility.
“To think these bastards were still around!”
Unable to contain his fury, he slammed his fist on the desk.
The Sun God—a name that had all but vanished.
He was one of the few who still remembered that god.
How could he not? They had once held the entire continent in their sway with their highly effective potions. And it was the alchemists who had filled the void they left behind.
To be precise, the Great Sea God had claimed the lion’s share, and they had merely squeezed into what was left.
“I was sure they’d all gone under. I was relieved... Damn it all to hell!”
How many years had it been since the Sun God’s name began to fade from memory?
With no news from them for so long, he had assumed they were finished. It was only recently he’d felt secure, certain those bastards would never threaten his business again.
But to think they’d reappear now, of all times!
“And what’s this about the Lumen Guild? Why the hell are they involved?!”
Right, that was the biggest problem!
The Lumen Guild.
One of the three great merchant guilds of the empire, run by Duke Ciel himself—a man even the imperial family couldn’t trifle with!
If it had been any ordinary guild, the Sun God’s potions would have been swept aside before they even became known, let alone sold.
After all, few people even remembered the name of the Sun God, who had become a god in name only, despite being one of the Three Main Gods.
Besides, the alchemists would have interfered themselves.
But the Lumen Guild? Lumen was getting involved in this?
This was a complete disruption of the ecosystem!
“Hah, and here I was, thinking it was a blessing the Great Sea God’s temple had no interest in the commoners’ potion market...”
Just when we’d established a complete monopoly and were about to start raising prices, this damn thing happens...!
“...No, wait. The Great Sea God’s followers won’t be happy about this either, will they?”
The Sun God’s potions were starting with the commoners.
But that wouldn’t last forever.
Those with healing powers stronger than the Great Sea God’s wouldn’t be satisfied with just that.
Eventually, they were bound to infiltrate the nobility, and even the imperial court.
With Duke Ciel’s guild on their side, it wasn’t impossible.
Would the Grand Temple of the Great Sea God simply stand by and watch?
And one more thing.
The Grand Temple of the Great Sea God was greedy.
Whether it was the nature of the Great Sea God himself, he didn’t know, but the temple that served him was filled with people who were only satisfied when they were on top.
Would people like that truly welcome the Sun God’s resurgence?
At the very least, the current Saintess and Saint of the Great Sea God’s Grand Temple certainly wouldn’t.
“Right. I don’t need to get involved. I just have to pit the two Grand Temples against each other.”
The alchemists couldn’t fight the Lumen Guild with Ciel backing it.
But the Grand Temple of the Great Sea God was different.
They might not be superior to the Ciels, but they wouldn’t be pushed around so easily!
Convinced of his own perfect plan, Louis Martin immediately wrote a letter, his face alight with excitement.
The recipients: the Saintess and Saint of the Grand Temple of the Great Sea God.
The pair, who would only grant an audience for a hefty sum of gold, didn’t accept just any letter.
But he was the head of the entire alchemical potion business.
If he stated that the letter concerned the potion business, they were bound to read it.
And his prediction was correct.
The Grand Temple of the Great Sea God.
The letter was delivered directly to the Saintess, who was relaxing in a bedroom filled with splendid and beautiful furnishings.
“Louis Martin sent a letter regarding the potion business?”
Each time the woman sitting on the plush, luxurious sofa spoke, her sky-blue hair, the color of a flowing stream, swayed.
Her long lashes fluttered, revealing brilliant blue eyes, like jewels set in a cool, elegant gaze.
She was a beauty who exuded an imperious aura, making onlookers shrink back even when she was merely sitting still.
She was Carmen Aria, the Saintess of the Grand Temple of the Great Sea God, currently the most influential figure on the continent.
“You are in charge of the potion business. Why should I have to discuss it directly with an alchemist? Do I have to concern myself with every little thing?”
Carmen’s beautiful face twisted as she glared at the priest in charge of business affairs who had brought her the letter.
Faced with her sharp demeanor, the high-ranking priest who oversaw the Grand Temple’s potion business hastily bowed.
“I took the liberty of reviewing its contents first. I believe it is a matter the Saintess must be aware of, which is why I have brought it to you.”
As the priest answered, sweating profusely, Carmen’s fierce demeanor softened slightly.
“...This had better be important.”
For a high-ranking priest who knew her temperament well to bring her a letter meant its contents were truly important.
Carmen asked no more questions and immediately began to read.
“...What is this?”
A moment later, her hands began to tremble. Her blue eyes blazed with fury.
The long letter could be summarized in a single point.
“The Grand Temple of the Sun God? Those bastards from the Sun God’s temple are starting a potion business?”
It sounded utterly insane.
“Those bastards... they haven’t gone under? They’re still clinging to life...?”
Carmen shot up from her seat.
The handmaidens styling her hair quickly withdrew their hands and stepped back.
“And what is this?”
Carmen’s blue eyes scanned the letter again.
There was another piece of news just as shocking as the fact that those Sun God bastards were still clinging to life like leeches.
“Why is the Lumen Guild helping those Sun God bastards?!”
Unable to contain her surging rage, Carmen threw the letter to the floor.
“When the hell did Duke Ciel get involved with those Sun God bastards?!”
Lute Ciel.
She had welcomed him with a personal blessing, thinking he would become a follower, only for that arrogant man to scoff and turn his back on her!
And now, the news that this very man—the one she coveted so much—had joined forces with none other than those Sun God bastards sent her into a proper rage.
