Chapter 48 — Gathering Special Materials
Chapter 48 — Gathering Special Materials
Translation: Godtl
"Emperor Perseus is completely devoted to his adopted daughter. He seemed ready to hand over the very throne."
"Pathetic fool... I shouldn't have sent Elizabeth to him in the first place!"
Anger and resentment settled in the old Duke's eyes. Karius likewise gritted his teeth hard enough to make his jaw jut out.
"You're right, Father. Emperor Perseus is unfit to be a father! Not only did he fail to recognize Lelia, but he even drove her away...."
"That's exactly what I'm saying!"
"Do you know what that child went through in the imperial palace?"
"...Did Lelia tell you about it?"
The Duke's brow furrowed. He knew.
He knew why Lelia wouldn't confide in him about the wounds she had suffered all this time.
She must have been worried that the old man would be heartbroken and harm his health over it.
For a mere ten-year-old child, she was remarkably deep-hearted.
That was why it hurt. Because she had matured too quickly, unnecessarily fast. Because she had come to understand the world.
"Yes. She told me everything. But she won't tell you, Father."
"...What?"
The Duke's expression grew even more distorted. Karius lifted his chin smugly and spoke.
"Lelia told me not to tell you. She said you'd be heartbroken."
"Then why bring it up in the first place? Are you mocking me right now?"
"Just letting you know. Lelia seems to know too. That I was the family member her mother liked most."
"No, this brat..."
After thoroughly teasing his father, Karius resumed speaking in a serious tone.
"That's not what's important right now. Father, did you know that Lelia has a talent for alchemy?"
"...Alchemy?"
The Duke's expression turned serious.
While alchemy was perceived as a heretical practice, not everyone thought so.
Those without deep faith in the Kreuz Church.
In other words, people who didn't believe in the gods evaluated alchemy differently.
The Duke, who had researched alchemy to cure his wife, was no exception.
He hadn't been able to cure his wife with alchemy, but his perception of it wasn't negative. Rather, it leaned toward the positive.
The two men began discussing the matter with serious expressions.
If Lelia wanted it, they intended to let her do whatever she wished to her heart's content.
However, for the child's safety, they must not be discovered by the Temple.
While they were discussing alchemy at length.
Karius suddenly slammed his fist on the table with a bang!
The things Lelia had suffered suddenly came to mind again.
"The more I think about it, the more furious I get! Emperor Perseus is one thing, but... Cedric, Damian, those bastards...."
As Karius ground his teeth, the Duke narrowed his eyes and spoke.
"Why! Did those bastards perhaps torment Lelia?"
"...."
"No, no. They certainly would have done more than enough tormenting...."
The Duke felt like a fool for not having thought of that sooner.
Karius spoke after some deliberation.
"That's not all. Those bastards are just like their father. They became completely infatuated with their newly gained younger sister... all three, father and sons, made a complete mess of things as if they'd all lost their minds."
"...."
The two men heaved deep sighs. It was a deplorable situation.
If they were to reveal the truth saying " Lelia is actually your daughter" because they couldn't stand watching that spectacle, Emperor Perseus wouldn't just sit idly by.
If he learned that Elizabeth's daughter was alive....
He would do whatever it took to bring Lelia back to the imperial palace.
"We absolutely cannot send Lelia back to the imperial palace."
"I agree."
"We cannot inform Cedric and Damian either. If those bastards say they're coming to the territory to visit, Father, you must absolutely stop them."
"...Very well."
Cedric and Damian were very precious to the two men. They were the sons Elizabeth had left behind.
That was why Karius felt even more frustrated.
He resented those bastards who couldn't recognize their real sister, Lelia, and had even tormented her.
'If they were right in front of me, I'd at least beat some sense into them....'
It was then.
Thwack!
Suddenly, Duke Superion flicked Karius hard on the forehead. Karius clutched his forehead at the unexpected pain.
"Ah! Why would you do that, Father!"
"Now that I look at you... you treated Lelia exactly the same way, and now you're acting like this!"
"Ah! Stop hitting me! What kind of disgraceful behavior is this at your age!"
"You brat!"
Meanwhile, after Karius had left.
Lelia immediately brought up the alchemy lottery screen and pressed the crystal charge button.
'How long has it been since I last spent real money...'
Originally, she was one of those people who believed that the true flower of gaming was grinding.
However, spending real money was also an indispensable charm of gaming.
As she pressed the charge button, the alchemy tool immediately displayed a speech bubble.
[Would you like to charge crystals? ( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑]
"Oh!"
[How much would you like to charge? (*°▽°*)]
Just in case, Lelia set aside one gold coin, 100,000 shillings, as emergency funds and placed the rest on the table.
"All of this."
[Kya! Proceeding with the charge! ✧*｡٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و✧*｡]
Lelia narrowed her eyes. The alchemy tool seemed particularly excited... was it just her imagination?
After a moment, the alchemy tool's speech bubble and system window appeared in succession.
[Master! 4,000 crystals charged successfully! ୧(๑•̀⌄•́๑)૭ 400 bonus crystals have been added!]
[System: 4,400 crystals charged successfully!]
At the same time, the gold coins placed on the table vanished like mist. Lelia watched the scene without even blinking.
"...."
Somehow it felt unfair and wasteful, but what mattered was gathering materials.
Though she regretted the money, seeing her plumped-up crystals gave her peace of mind.
'Alright... I need to earn much more than the amount I invested.'
Lelia burned with determination and first expanded her inventory. Then, she unlocked the common materials.
In particular, she activated the materials for the magic potion that could cure her grandmother's dementia—Flame Ash—first.
With a cheerful sound effect, a gold dragon appeared and began flying around. It had started gathering materials.
'Good. Starting today, I'll clear recipes like crazy and gather materials.'
Perhaps because Karius had finally set aside his suspicions about her, and even comforted her past wounds, she felt more energized than before.
After expanding the inventory and unlocking materials, the crystals were nearly depleted.
'What should I make to earn back the investment...?'
Fortunately, she could create items and bring them into reality. That meant she could recoup the money spent here.
Lelia searched for items she could craft in abundance with the available materials and began making them.
After setting the crafting in motion, she examined every corner of the game screen.
Originally, the story of 'Alchemy Lottery' was about the protagonist running a lottery shop before changing their business to an alchemy potion shop.
In short, it was a business game where you sold alchemy potions and tools.
However, the business system was currently blocked.
The customers who traded in the game were villagers—animal residents, elves, humans, and various others.
Though they always gave quests like robbery attempts, the rewards from affinity were quite substantial.
But now, the affinity system with those residents was also blocked.
'The problem is the special materials...'
The ways to obtain special materials were through business achievement rewards and the affinity system.
'When will these open?'
Just then, a speech bubble appeared before her eyes without permission again.
[Master! Do you wish to reactivate the 'Business' system and 'Bond Affinity' system? If so, you must clear more than 50% of the newly added recipes! =͟͟͞͞(๑•̀д•́๑)]
"...."
Wait. What?
The newly added recipes in this other world seemed to be roughly 300. And among those, she had only cleared about 20 here and there....
Including the ones with gathered materials that hadn't been crafted yet, it would total about 30.
In that case....
"...But recipes keep getting added. Aren't new ones added every time we go to a new region?"
Then she would either never go to other regions, or never clear them forever.
She had to choose one.
[◔ ̯◔...]
"Are you joking right now? You're telling me to just gather materials forever! Then unlock all the recipes that might be added in the future right now at once!"
[Would you like to unlock all hidden recipes? Full recipe disclosure requires 10,000 crystals! (ง•̀ө•́)ง✧]
"Ten thousand crystals... that's ten million shillings... so ten million won? Hey, you scammer!"
[=͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪ ‧̣̥̇)]
"Ten million won, whose dog's name is that? This is really...!"
[If all recipes are revealed, the 'Special Affinity' and 'Special Recipe' systems will open without needing to clear more than 50%! ୧(๑•̀⌄•́๑)૭]
"Special affinity? Special recipe? What are those... You keep adding things that make me angry...."
She needed to think carefully.
First, for the final item, the Philosopher's Stone, unlocking all recipes was important.
Moreover, for special materials that couldn't be obtained even through cash purchases, she needed the residents' bond affinity and business achievements.
It was a situation where she absolutely had to unlock all recipes.
'Plus, since I don't have to make and clear everything once, it's actually a gain.'
If she didn't want that, she would have to travel around every corner of this other world personally.
Thinking about it that way, it didn't seem like an unreasonably expensive amount.
But one thing was certain: while the value of won and shillings was similar... the value of crystals had become higher than in her previous life.
[Would you like to charge crystals? ( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑]
"I have no money...."
For now, she needed to use up the materials she had saved to make items and sell them first.
'I should ask Grandfather for help with a sales channel....'
Lelia sighed deeply.
There was too much to do.
"...."
Suddenly, Lelia turned her head to look at the scenery outside the large window.
When she returned from the temple to the main estate, it had been winter. Now, somehow, it was spring.
'Right, let's cheer up and start by earning money.'
Lelia approached the window and observed the approaching spring scenery with joy.
Just having a place where she could live peacefully was something to be grateful for, and she had gained a family who cherished her.
Moreover, her wish from her previous life had somehow come true, so it couldn't be better.
'I need to work even harder from now on. Until I can meet my friends....'
The scenery outside the window flowed by swiftly.
Summer arrived, rain fell, leaves fell and snow swirled. During that time, Lelia welcomed the changing seasons busier than anyone else.
Thus, the flow of seasons repeated many times. Before she knew it, Lelia had turned thirteen.
Finally, the period when the battle against the Mad Dragons would begin in earnest had arrived.
She sent her uncle, with whom she had grown close, to the battlefield, and Lelia prayed for her friends, her uncle, and everyone else.
That everyone might return safely.
While many more seasons passed, the war with the Mad Dragons continued.
Lelia spent her time busy saving money and gathering materials like someone addicted to gaming.