Chapter 40
Chapter 40
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: Palace Windows and Potion Profits
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"The window between the two reception rooms in the Crown Prince's Palace...?"
Wait a second! Could that be the window where Emperor Benburo and Empress Onjameri supposedly had their sweet, lovey-dovey romance?
The warm wooden window that could open both inward and outward, but always opened first from the First Reception Room where Benburo was... It seemed to match!
Though it was much longer horizontally than I'd imagined.
As Crown Prince, Benburo would lean his elbows on the windowsill every day, standing there to watch Onjameri as she sat in the adjacent Second Reception Room, reading her book.
Every time the pages fluttered, Benburo's heart would ache. The book stealing her gaze seemed utterly vile to him.
Unlike him, Onjameri's personality was far too cool. Whether the Crown Prince watched her or not, she paid it no mind and did exactly as she pleased.
"...You don't even have me in your sights, do you?"
Anyway, perhaps inheriting that romantic sub-lineage is why Bandahen's "five-minute limit" coping method was so endearing.
Bandahen would seat Flomang in the reception room and chat with her for five minutes. When time was up, he'd run a lap around the room and return. Then chat another five minutes.
"Lady Ezlet, seeing us meet so often like this, it must mean some grand fate is about to begin! Don't you think?"
Even Flomang, who had always rejected him, finally burst into laughter upon seeing Prince Bandahen grinning brightly despite his heavy breathing.
An irreverent thought for a prince, but he seemed like a big dog in human form.
Does the late Emperor know? That the bizarre imperial law he created had instead skyrocketed the romanticism of the Orelot bloodline.
I was starting to feel happy even without the aerial botanical garden.
Once I realized it, this place was surrounded by tourist spots on all sides.
"Up we go."
I rose from the sofa. Quietly approached the window.
Imagining Onjameri turning the page, I pulled back the cloth with a pounding heart.
"That's the rumored Friedelric Antier, huh. Heh, truly a gift from the gods..."
"To me, it just looks like a murder weapon."
"See? I told you they already knew each other. Everyone's eyes are blinded. Kids these days have no discernment."
"Nah, from what I saw, the Count's been walking around without fixing it on purpose. He's leaving room for her."
"Makes sense, with his sister getting annoying... Requests pouring in from everywhere, gifts arriving on schedule... Whew, exhausting."
"I sent a gift to the Rudelriz Family too... It came back with 'Wishing peace upon your household.' Heh heh."
"Ahem... Truth be told, I sent one as well. Tried playing a little coy."
"The recommender list is a whopping thirty names— Whoa, even Marquis Elnika's a secret, huh."
"What is it? Why stop midway?"
"It's a secret. Secret."
The noise was as loud as a marketplace, making my ears hurt, but I wished my eyesight would drop by just 0.2 for a moment instead.
It was agony seeing the protagonist faction and villain faction so clearly...!
The 'Purge the sinners! Build a new world!' faction and the 'But the Crown Prince is Bamper, there must be a reason' faction explained it well enough.
It wasn't as if I remembered the faces and outfits of every single side character, of course.
Even their real names, as they called each other, left me uncertain.
But hearing the chick-like followers around them—three or four per person—address them by titles like "Minister of Finance," "Knight Commander," "Chief Court Mage," I could identify these elderly figures.
The problem was that I suddenly recalled who sided with whom and who killed whom in vivid detail.
I knew they wouldn't draw staves or swords and brawl like dogs as in the original story, but my heart still pounded like it would burst.
I hoped they wouldn't tell me their positions. So your identities wouldn't pop out of my jack-in-the-box...
"Oh dear, I didn't realize there was someone across the way."
The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, who had just been admiring my hair tie, smiled warmly.
The people around him, who seemed affiliated with his ministry, quickly chimed in.
"I had no idea."
"Never even imagined."
I had no clue why they were huddled together in Reception Room 2 of Bamper Palace, but they were all remarkable figures without exception.
Even among side characters, they were leagues above me. The young ones clinging like chicks were the same. These were the true elite of the Orelot Empire's elites.
When Mayches and his friends turned dark and the world crumbled, these were the talents who greatly contributed to reviving the collapsing Ilenaias alongside Bandahen and Flomang. Except for a few in the 'But the Crown Prince is Bamper' faction.
"Sorry for the disturbance..."
I tried to defuse the awkward situation with a polite smile.
I wanted to drop the cloth, return to the sofa, and just breathe quietly.
But the people across the window, who had been staring at me like I was on TV, suddenly spoke to me amiably.
"It's lunchtime, and everyone's taking a break."
They shared their daily lives casually, like elders on a promenade I'd never met.
"Then we spotted this carriage with a strange painting on it."
Doria!
The Chief Court Mage even pressed right up to the window, resting both elbows on the sill.
"Chief, mind your dignity a bit."
Even the imperial mages saying that followed behind him like chicks after a hen.
The Chief ignored them and casually addressed me.
"If I'm being nosy asking how much Count Rudelriz made from Panraia? The Minister of Finance won't tell me even if I ask. It'd all come out in the tax calculations anyway."
Nosy? He asked everything with the nonchalance of age.
I managed an ambiguous smile for now.
Not wanting to disappoint the Chief Court Mage, I racked my brain as much as possible, but no matter how hard I thought, I had no idea what he meant. So I cautiously asked.
"What's... Panraia?"
"......!!!"
A short while later.
After the confusion and shock from 'What's Panraia?' swept through the opposite reception room, I learned what Panraia was from the elders' kind explanations.
With trembling eyes, I asked to confirm my understanding.
"My brother... is selling medicine?"
The Minister of Finance slammed the table laughing.
"Kuhahaha! Yes, Lady's brother is a medicine peddler!"
"Watch your words. Don't be so flippant to Ilenaias's future..."
Realizing my own phrasing sounded off, I corrected myself.
"So, my brother started a pharmaceutical company? And made a fortune from it?"
The Minister ended up collapsing over the table in laughter. He was practically sobbing.
His ministry subordinates kept their mouths shut, citing personal information, but suddenly one mage next to the Chief's eyes lit up fiercely.
He stepped forward and began explaining passionately to me.
"The Count sold Panraia for a mere 5 gold."
"Does he have no greed for money? I'd have charged 50 gold."
"Haha, it means he's not toying with people's lives. What a true man."
So, a medicine that eliminates Ilenaias's chronic illness for life... for 5 gold? How much is 5 gold?
From the hens clucking away, it didn't seem outrageously expensive.
What a relief! He didn't scam the common folk to amass wealth.
Phew. That alone put me at ease. I lost interest after that, but the explaining mage was just getting started.
"But look. Ilenaias has a population of 6 billion. Not a single Ilenaias citizen doesn't need Panraia. Even the poor buy it. Every country budgets welfare funds to subsidize Panraia purchases, even if they lack money."
"Yes......"
"We all must take Panraia, right? And what is Panraia? Exclusive sale by Count Rudelriz. That's 30 billion gold pre-tax straight to the Rudelriz vaults."
"Huh? No monopoly regulations?"
"Others can make and sell it too. Several institutions tried researching the Count's Panraia to produce copycats. Never mind freeloading off a mage's blood and sweat without a single development fund; magic potions like Panraia fundamentally require the producer's magic skill. A once-in-a-millennium genius like Count Rudelriz can handle it solo, but for others, labor costs add up. To sell without losses, they'd need at least 72 gold. Understand so far, Lady?"
Pretending to be intrigued, I nodded.
"Now, look. No more chronic worries means birth rates rise too, right? Newborn rates have jumped 140% in the last two years. A new baby is born? They need Panraia again."
"I see......"
"Not just current assets—future value skyrockets too. And that's all for future value? No. If Count Rudelriz releases so much as a cold remedy, people will buy only that, trusting his name!"
The hens chimed in seamlessly.
"All the current drug peddlers are going bust."
"The Jedkaizer Alliance Knights already use only Rudelriz ointment, right? Knight Commander, is it true? Do they give out Rudelriz salve there?"
"Mm. The effect is miraculous."
"Can't buy it since it's not for sale... That's my regret. Dang, release some to market."
The mage who explained to me stood there breathing raggedly, his fervor not yet faded. Once calmed, he quietly returned behind the Chief Court Mage.
"Whew. Not even my money, but I got too excited. Thinking how the Count earned nation-scale wealth with magic in just three years—it's thrilling. He's my role model. ...Ah, no, of course the one I respect most is the Chief Court Mage—"
"That's enough."
At that moment, the knight who had been peeking out the door of Reception Room 2 shouted urgently.
"He's coming!"
The people across the window yelled "No more extra work!" and scrambled to their seats.
The window they'd opened toward Reception Room 2 closed silently.
At the same moment, click—the door to my First Reception Room opened.
I dropped the cloth and turned around.
Mayches entered with heavy steps, his face unusually pallid.
"Brother?"
"Aiel......"
Spotting me, Mayches rushed over in an instant and enveloped me in a tight hug. Ah, he must be utterly exhausted.