Chapter 44 — Expanding the Inventory
Chapter 44 — Expanding the Inventory
Translation: Godtl
Just then. As if answering what Lelia had said internally, the alchemy tool floated a new speech bubble.
[Master! You're having difficulty clearing the recipe!(๑•́₋•̩̥̀๑)]
"…So you do know?"
Sometimes this happened. When she asked something internally, the alchemy tool would float a speech bubble like an answer.
It seemed to have gained self-awareness when crossing over to this world. Because of that, recently, the alchemy tool's speech bubbles popped up before the system window.
[Then would you like to unlock ingredients with Crystals?(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧]
Lelia narrowed her eyes.
This game originally had such a system.
Either wait naturally while spending time until ingredients could be found, or use Crystals, real currency, to unlock ingredients. It was one of the two.
Actually, once unlocked, gathering from then on was quick, so the more money spent, the more advantageous it was.
However, there were special ingredients that couldn't be helped even with payment, and to obtain those, there was nothing but repetitive labor.
Either solve residents 'requests and raise' Relationship Affinity 'to receive as a reward, or achieve sales accomplishments at the Alchemy Lottery shop to receive them.
However, currently, missions like residents' affinity or sales accomplishments were blocked.
'Besides, the method to obtain these ingredients isn't even shown.'
She wondered how on earth she was supposed to get these special ingredients.
'But that's not all….'
Lelia looked at the part where the gold value was written on the game screen. The Crystals Lelia possessed were 0.
'I don't have Crystals….'
The reason she had 0 Crystals was because she had used all the remaining Crystals before dying in her past life.
She wasn't someone who frequently paid real money, but she didn't never do it either.
In her past life, there were quite a few times she unlocked ingredients she couldn't find with Crystals.
"…Is there a way to charge Crystals?"
At Lelia's muttering, the alchemy tool floated a speech bubble as if it had been waiting.
[You can charge Crystals with this world's currency! The required Crystals may differ by recipe difficulty! ( •̀∀•́ )✧]
"Are you trying to coax me into paying right now...?"
[◔ ̯◔…]
"……."
I'm speechless….
"But special ingredients can't be obtained even with payment. Which of these ingredients can be solved with payment?"
['Ash of Flames' is a regular ingredient, not a special ingredient. Regular ingredients can be unlocked with Crystals! ( •͈ᴗ-)ᓂ-ෆ ]
"Hmm…."
Not a bad method. Moreover, that ingredient required a whopping 9999.
Recipes requiring that many ingredients were rare.
Then it would be better to unlock it quickly so it could be gathered automatically.
"Then I need to earn money…."
Lelia pressed the inventory.
'If I sell these, it would become money.'
Honestly speaking, if alchemy wasn't illegal, she could establish a company enough to dominate the five empires.
'But I can't get rid of the Temple.'
There was only one method.
'Sell alchemy potions without getting caught by the Temple.'
That wasn't that difficult.
'I just need to tell Grandfather.'
As the head of a great noble family like the Superion family, he would be able to arrange ways to distribute alchemy potions.
'Moreover, the Temple generally doesn't touch great noble families.'
It was a story she heard recently from Grandfather.
One of the great nobles of the Ascard Empire was caught selling alchemy potions, but suffered no damage at all.
The priest in charge of that matter was said to have been dispatched from the central Temple and lived in that region for a long time.
'He probably received money and hushed up the incident.'
Anyway, there was a way to earn money safely.
For that, she first needed Grandfather's help, but she also needed many items to sell.
Even though the ingredients gathered in her past life were quite substantial, there were also lacking ingredients.
Wait, before that….
'…I need to expand the inventory.'
Lelia furrowed her brows.
The inventory was almost full, so every time she found new ingredients, she had to organize the inventory.
In her past life, it was expanded to the maximum, but now it became possible to expand further.
[Shall I expand the inventory?(•̀ ▽ •́ )φ]
'I don't have Crystals.'
[Shall I charge Crystals?( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑]
"……."
First, she needed 500 Crystals to expand the inventory by 10 more spaces and unlock Ash of Flames. Lelia pressed the Crystal charging screen.
On the screen, a sparkling illustrated Crystal was floating.
'Shilling 'was the currency unit of this world, and 1 Shilling had the same value as 1 Won.
Then she needed 500,000 Shillings right now. In terms of past life currency, that meant about 500,000 won.
"…Why is it so expensive?"
[◔ ̯◔…]
"……."
Lelia first took out about 20 stamina recovery potions she had made with existing ingredients.
'I should sell each for 25,000 Shillings.'
And she found the basket she used when going on picnics with the maids and put them inside.
'First, let's sell these. I should sell them to people in the castle.'
And if that's not enough….
'It can't be helped. I'll have to run errands and get allowance.'
Grandfather might give her plenty of allowance.
Lelia picked up the basket like that and came out of her room with energy.
And as soon as she opened the door, she ran into Becky who was coming this way.
"Oh my, Miss! You're coming out at just the right time! It's meal time. I'll guide you to the dining hall."
"…Okay."
Lelia went back into the room, put down the basket, and followed Becky.
She couldn't skip meal time no matter what.
'I should eat and then start business.'
She needed to eat a lot and gain strength.
Lelia entered the dining hall with determination.
"The Lord and his wife have gone out for a moment. They said they'll have dinner together, so don't worry."
Even at Becky's kind words, Lelia's brows furrowed slightly.
It was because of the person already seated in the dining hall.
Karius, who was sitting at the main seat, also distorted his expression as soon as he saw Lelia, as if he was displeased.
Not wanting to lose the contest of wills, Lelia walked proudly and sat down diagonally across from Karius.
"……."
It was the closest seat to where Karius was sitting. He glared at Lelia.
The two looked at each other with expressions saying 'I'll ruin your meal time.'
Though she had spent the last few months here, this was the first time the two had a meal together.
It was because Karius had never attended the banquets where Lelia was with the Duke and his wife.
At the same time, the meal began to be served.
"For today's lunch, we prepared the food Miss likes best. Oh, come to think of it, Lord Karius also likes this food the most, doesn't he?"
The chef who brought the food personally smiled pleasantly.
At those words, Karius's eyebrows crumpled fiercely.
The servants served the food the chef brought onto Karius's and Lelia's plates in good portions to eat.
"You like this food?"
Karius asked with a snort.
"Yes."
Lelia answered with an expression saying 'So what?'
"……."
This food was hard to find in the capital.
The key was wine made using grapes with a special fragrance produced only in the Superion territory.
It was a method of steaming beef aged in that wine together with fragrant mushrooms.
It was food anyone could eat without resistance, but Karius's way of eating was a bit different.
He preferred to eat it with special spices imported from across the sea.
Karius reached for the tongs to the glass dish containing the spices. And then he sprinkled a lot of the spice that looked like dried grass on top of the steak.
As he put down the tongs, Lelia also reached out and began sprinkling lots of spices.
"Ha…!"
Karius looked at Lelia as if dumbfounded.
This spice had a bitter taste along with a unique scent. It made the mouth feel clean, but ordinary people didn't really like the scent.
But a child eats with this spice?
Karius looked at Lelia with furrowed brows.
Honestly, during the past few months, Karius's suspicion toward Lelia had faded a bit.
There were several times when he felt a sense of déjà vu that this girl might really be his sister's daughter.
But Karius rationalized to himself that it absolutely wasn't.
Perhaps he instinctively didn't let go of the suspicion because the guilt that would follow was too heavy to bear.
"……."
Karius narrowed his eyes and looked at Lelia.
He wondered if this child was really tasting it properly, or if she was being stubborn and copying him.
Honestly, this spice was a flavor that ordinary people, especially children, would find hard to eat deliciously.
To the extent that Karius was the only one in Superion Castle who ate this spice.
Even his parents, the Duke and Duchess, didn't like this spice.
Lelia cut the meat large, put plenty of spice on it, and put it in her mouth.
"Hmm…."
With her head buried in her plate, she chewed vigorously and then swallowed with an ecstatic expression.
Karius's expression hardened as he watched that sight.
It was the first time he saw a child eating that spice so deliciously, so ecstatically.
He wondered if she was faking it, but Lelia started eating diligently again, not caring about Karius at all.
Moreover, Lelia went a step further and sprinkled the spice even on the soup and salad.
"……."
Karius lowered his head and looked down at his own plate.
Suddenly, tears almost welled up.
It was because he suddenly thought of his childhood.
In the Superion ducal castle, only Elizabeth and Karius liked this spice.
The two liked this spice so much that they would sprinkle it not only on main dishes but also on salad and soup, which everyone else said was bitter.
The reason this spice was brought into the ducal castle was solely because of the two siblings' peculiar palates.
As a child, Karius had considered the fact that he and his sister had this commonality, just the two of them, to be very special.
"……."
Karius barely composed his emotions and raised his head again.
Lelia was not paying any attention to Karius and was almost finishing her meal.
The glass dish that had been filled with spices was now completely empty.
Karius gazed at Lelia with trembling pupils.
The similarities with his sister that he had discovered in this child over the past few months passed through his mind one by one.
If those things had been just one or two, he could have simply passed it off as 'It's all faked.'
But there were too many. An absurdly large amount.
Beyond simple déjà vu, there were several times when he felt his heart drop, thump, thump.
Today was the same.
As one more thing was added today to those accumulated commonalities, he reached an unbearable level.
As if small dots gathered one by one and finally completed a huge circle.
The things his head acknowledged but his heart couldn't acknowledge came crumbling down.
"……."
Lelia, who finished her meal, only then glanced at Karius.
'What, he didn't eat anything at all?'
The food placed in front of Karius was left untouched as if new.
'Does he hate eating with me that much…?'
Honestly, she was flustered. She didn't know he disliked her this much.
'Hating to even eat together means he hates it more than dying.'
It was a bit extreme, but one of the most important values to Lelia was meals.
Moreover, Karius's pupils were moistly wet. Meaning he cried.
'If a full-grown adult cries… he dislikes me that much.'
Lelia touched her hair awkwardly and looked at the empty glass dish.
'Or maybe he's sulking because I ate all the spices….'
Is he a surprisingly frail and sensitive person?
Lelia rose from her seat with a sour feeling.
And just as she was about to leave the dining hall holding a maid's hand.
"Wait."
Karius stopped Lelia.
"……."
When Lelia turned to look at him, Karius hesitated for a moment then spoke.
"Have you ever eaten Maclia?"
"……."
What's Maclia?
Lelia turned her head to look at Becky.
"No, Miss hasn't tried Maclia before."
"……."
Before long, Karius removed the napkin he had placed on his knees and stood up from his seat.
He motioned with his chin for Lelia to follow him.