Chapter 49 — A Fortune in Alchemy
Chapter 49 — A Fortune in Alchemy
Translation: Godtl
Thanks to her grandfather's support, she was able to start selling alchemy materials and save money diligently.
Duke Superion initially asked Lelia, who wanted to sell alchemy potions:
"Little one, are you doing this because you need pocket money? Then ask this grandfather anytime. How much do you need?"
"...."
Ten million won, Grandfather....
Of course, the Superion family was very wealthy, so if she asked for ten million shillings as pocket money, he would readily give it.
However, Lelia didn't want to do that.
It was too much money for a child to receive as pocket money.
If asked what she would use it for, she had no answer.
'How do I explain that I'm spending it on a game... Explaining it would be even harder.'
So Lelia made an excuse with effort.
"I... want to become a cool person who does big business later. So I'm trying business in advance."
Hearing that, her grandfather said she was admirable and promised to spare no support.
It took quite a long time to establish a sales channel. This was because selling safely without getting caught by the temple was important.
The first alchemy potion Lelia released to the market was a stamina recovery potion.
The response was hot enough that she would have been tracked immediately if all eyes of the temple hadn't been focused on the battle with the Mad Dragons.
This was because the effects were definitely good.
Lelia felt dazed by the response but rejoiced looking at the first settlement she received a few months ago.
And thanks to that, she was finally able to unlock all recipes.
[Unlocking all recipes. ٩(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و]
[System: Optimization in progress--]
After waiting a moment, messages appeared in succession.
[All alchemy recipes unlocked! 'Resident Bond Affinity' and 'Business System' are reactivated! o(*ﾟ∇ﾟ)ﾉ]
['Special Affinity ' and' Special Recipe 'systems ready! (੭•̀ᴗ•̀)੭]
[Now you can expand the dragon nest, Master! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ Shall we raise more new dragons?]
'Oh....'
Lelia stuck out her tongue looking at the numerous newly added recipes.
'When will I make all of these once? And there are so many new materials too....'
But to create the 'Philosopher's Stone,' she needed to make every recipe at least once.
First, Lelia started with what was most urgent. That was starting business within the game.
As soon as it unlocked, the cute animal residents and elves she hadn't seen in a while came with various requests.
'The dragons are going to get incredibly busy now.'
She had to sell alchemy potions in reality and sell potions to residents in the game as well.
So naturally, the dragons procuring materials would become busy.
Still, seeing that the nest was added, it seemed she could raise a few more.
Lelia went to the screen where she managed the dragons bringing in materials.
Currently, the baby dragons Lelia had were a Gold Dragon, Red Dragon, and White Dragon—three in total.
And next to them, a volcano-shaped illustration had been added in gray. A new nest.
When she pressed it, the alchemy tool's speech bubble popped up again.
[Would you like to expand the dragon nest? (•̀ ▽ •́ )φ]
'Wait. Don't tell me again...'
[Nest expansion requires 500 crystals! Would you like to charge crystals? ( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑]
"...."
Somehow she felt angry, but since she had earned money for this, it was ambiguous to get angry.
Lelia charged more crystals with a sour expression.
[Dragon nest expansion complete! If you leave food out, dragons will appear! Would you like to purchase food? ╰(*°▽°*)╯]
"Ugh! I'm so mad!"
Lelia clenched her fists. She almost threw her precious mother's necklace.
"Hoo...."
After taking a deep breath, she saw that the food to lure new dragons cost 100 crystals. Lelia pressed the purchase button while trembling.
'...Since it's come to this, I hope a rare one appears.'
Lelia suppressed her anger and checked the newly added systems.
'By the way, what is special affinity?'
[Special affinity is conducted through hidden quests! It appears when you reach maximum affinity with all residents! (୨୧ ❛ᴗ❛)✧]
'Ugh, so annoying....'
Since it wasn't immediately necessary, Lelia just closed the screen.
It wasn't that Lelia spent every day busily only playing games.
She looked after her grandmother and grandfather's health, acted spoiled with her uncle and aunt who had become closer than before, and got to know the servants of the estate.
Just as children of that age grow through various experiences, Lelia spent such time as well.
Thus, the happy times flowed very quickly, and before she knew it, Lelia's nineteenth birthday arrived.
And some time later, the good news that the war with the Mad Dragons had ended spread throughout the world. It was a slightly earlier period than in the original work.
03. The Nineteen-Year-Old Friends Again
Lelia, who had quietly closed her eyes, enjoyed the maid's touch as she combed her hair.
"Miss, it's done."
At Becky's words, when she opened her eyes, she saw herself in the mirror with her hair neatly tied up.
"Our miss, when Master Karius returns, he won't recognize you at all."
"...Is that so?"
Lelia awkwardly touched her hair.
Well, that seemed likely.
When Uncle Karius left, Lelia was thirteen years old. And now six years had passed, and she was nineteen.
Unlike then, her outer appearance was perfectly that of an adult. Though some traces of youth still remained.
"Now you must change your clothes quickly."
"...Yes."
Lelia looked at her matured self in the mirror and then changed her clothes at Becky's urging.
Becky dressed Lelia in a silver-gray dress and her eyes sparkled.
Over the past nine years, this lovely young miss she had served had changed noticeably.
When they first met, she was a girl unusually small and thin for her age... now she had become a dazzlingly beautiful young lady.
Her silver hair was as brilliant as if moonlight had been scattered and sprinkled, and her pure white, transparent skin was soft as if touching silk.
Moreover, her beautiful figure with elegant curves attracted attention enough to captivate anyone, regardless of gender.
Becky felt fulfilled in her chest like a mother who had raised the world's most wonderful daughter.
For the past nine years, Becky had taken care of everything—bathing, feeding, putting to sleep—so it was natural for her to feel parental emotions.
Perhaps that was why Becky was having the same worries that ordinary parents would have.
Becky carefully fastened the buttons on Lelia's dress and asked:
"Miss, but why did you refuse the coming-of-age ceremony that the Duke offered to hold for you? If he just opens the banquet... surely fine gentlemen will send you piles of marriage proposals."
"Hmm...."
That was exactly why she refused.
Ordinarily, nobles in this other world were legally treated as adults when they turned nineteen.
And women who turned nineteen held a coming-of-age ceremony to commemorate it. Though it was called a celebration banquet, it was essentially no different from a matchmaking event.
Opening that banquet meant 'I'm now an adult, so go ahead and propose to me.'
Duke Superion also worried about whether he should hold that banquet that all noble women went through.
So he asked Lelia, 'Little one, shall I hold a coming-of-age ceremony for you?'
However, the grandfather asking the question looked like someone who didn't have even a speck of thought about marrying Lelia off.
When Lelia refused, her grandfather openly let out a sigh of relief.
Anyway, even if he had tried to hold a banquet, the process wouldn't have been easy.
'Because Superion's vassals don't acknowledge me.'
Only Superion's immediate family knew that Lelia was Elizabeth's daughter.
The cadet branches and vassal families viewed Lelia's existence unfavorably.
Naturally so. She lived in the main estate and enjoyed every status just because she resembled Elizabeth in appearance, so there was no way they would view her kindly.
The vassals wanted to remove Lelia from that position and push their own daughters in instead.
However, the nominal reason for bringing Lelia in was because of the Duchess.
The Duchess would call Lelia 'Elizabeth' whenever she saw her and cherish her, so the vassals had no choice.
Moreover, as Lelia grew older year by year, she increasingly grew to look exactly like Elizabeth.
Now not only the Duchess with dementia, but even Duke Superion and Elizabeth's siblings, Zenon and Atias, acknowledged it.
Additionally, the older vassals would also be startled whenever they encountered Lelia.
Lelia also consciously and happily accepted the fact that she was increasingly resembling her mother as she looked at her mother's portrait and the mirror.
Even to her own eyes, she and her mother resembled each other greatly. So sometimes Lelia would endlessly gaze at the mirror.
"Becky... does Becky want me to get married?"
"Of course! I want you to meet someone who cherishes you more than anyone and live happily loved."
Becky said with her hands clasped together as if dreaming. Lelia sighed deeply.
"I'm sorry to crush your dreams, but... I have no intention of marrying for the time being."
"Oh my... why, Miss? Are the gentlemen in the territory not to your liking? Then you can go to the capital!"
"Hmm...."
She would go to the capital, but not for marriage.
The most important moment in Lelia's life plan was starting right now.
The past nine years had been nothing more than a period of preparing everything for the future that was now approaching.
That was because there were so, so many things to do.
First, she had to complete the Alzheimer's treatment for her grandmother.
'There's one ingredient left.'
She had succeeded in gathering all the special materials, but one was missing.
It was an ingredient called 'Crystal of Memories.'
That ingredient alone couldn't be found no matter what she did.
Fortunately, her grandmother's condition hadn't worsened. It was repeating cycles of improvement and deterioration.
'Crystal of Memories.'
There was one place she somehow suspected where to find that ingredient.