Chapter 35
Light novel: Episode 35
Manhwa: Chapter 15
I mean, I’ll give it to him, he is good-looking. But when did I ever say I liked it that much?
Don’t go making stuff up.
“If my money dries up or my looks fade, I might get tossed aside so I guess I’ll just have to take extra good care of both from now on.”
Oh, come on. I couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculousness.
Of course, I was the one who’d benefit from both, so instead of denying it, I chose to change the subject.
“You don’t seem to be in much pain, even with the blessing gone.”
Since he still had the energy to spout nonsense like this.
“Hmm, well, the rate at which the black stain flares up is clearly slower than before.”
I looked over the dark blotches swirling faintly around him.
They were more active now than when the blessing was in effect, but still far more subdued than when he didn’t have the divine relic on at all.
Back then, he’d looked like he was practically being crushed under the weight of those things.
And yet, aside from the occasional tremble in his hand, Lute didn’t show any signs of distress.
He really was a monster.
“Ah, it’s not too bad. It’s just that… I’ve already tasted what it’s like to live without pain. I can’t go back to the way I was before.”
Lute smiled prettily as he touched his neck where the divine relic was placed.
“Now I really can’t live without you, Saintess.”
“……”
Seriously. I trained my mental fortitude for years during my time as a detective, so I thought I was immune to temptations like this.
But I never imagined that in my second life, I’d nearly fall to something as cliché as a pretty face…
“…Enough with the nonsense. Hand over the necklace already. If it hurts, the first thing you should be thinking about is getting your blessing renewed.”
I deliberately looked away from Lute, who was smiling at me.
Not only Lute, but Airek and Seth… this world is full of good-looking people.
And somehow they’re all in my orbit.
If I want to survive this second life smoothly, I’ll need an unshakable mind that doesn’t falter at a pretty face. Is there no skill for that?
【AI system is verifying…】
【No major issues have been detected in the user’s mental state. Mental stability updates will be applied if problems arise. Please note.】
I breathed a deep sigh of relief at the AI’s assurance.
Looks like I can stop worrying about being seduced for now.
“Ah, I’d love to give it to you right now, but there’s a bit of a problem. People are coming this way.”
People? What people?
I tilted my head in confusion at Lute’s words.
Sure enough, after a short while, the sound of commotion echoed outside the door. The voices were familiar.
“Wait, the Saintess is currently with a guest—!”
“Saintess! Please, just a moment of your time! It’s urgent!”
Cutting through Victoria’s attempts to stop them was none other than Zenrick’s booming voice.
“The potion! I’ve finally completed a potion that’s ready to be sold!”
And with that came an astounding announcement.
“Right now—no, wait, just a moment.”
Startled by the unexpected news, I instinctively shot to my feet and ran toward the door, only to stop mid-step.
It was good news, but more important than that was giving Lute his blessing first.
“Ah, I’m fine.”
Noticing my hesitation, Lute waved his hand dismissively.
“I was actually hoping to see the potion myself. The pain is manageable, so don’t worry about me. Go meet with the others first.”
It’s true that as a partner in this business, Lute had every right to check the potion as well.
Still, I couldn’t help but be more concerned about the pain he was enduring.
“It’ll only take a moment to apply the blessing, so I’d rather do that for you first, Duke—”
“No. The potion first.”
But with him refusing so firmly, what else could I do?
“In that case, I apologize. Let’s take a look at the potion first.”
I opened the door.
The three members of the potion team stood outside, blocked by Victoria, who looked thoroughly worn out. One of them was crying loudly.
To be precise, it was only Zenrick who was crying.
“Come on in.”
I gave Victoria, who’d clearly had a hard time trying to stop them, a reassuring pat on the shoulder, then let the three of them inside.
They had strode in confidently, but the moment they spotted Lute lounging leisurely on the sofa, they all froze stiff.
Lana, realizing who he was, turned pale in an instant.
“I-I-I’m so sorry! I—I didn’t know the guest was the Duke! I sincerely apologize for the intrusion!”
She bowed her head repeatedly to both me and Lute, then shot a fierce glare at Zenrick and Wolfgang.
The two of them quickly brought their hands together and bowed low.
“We’re sorry!”
“Truly sorry!”
The hierarchy had been thoroughly established.
“This works out perfectly. Let me introduce him. This is Duke Lute Sieri, who will be handling the distribution of the potion you’ve developed.”
“H-Huh?! The Duke?!”
Lana looked as though she might faint at any second.
Ah… right. I guess I never explained that part. Looks like Airek didn’t tell them either.
Scratching my head, I turned my gaze toward Wolfgang, who seemed to be the most composed among them.
“Wolfgang, would you explain the new potion to us?”
“……”
What? Why isn’t he answering?
“Wolfgang? …Where are you even looking?”
Confused, I looked closer. He had passed out with his eyes wide open, all while maintaining a calm expression.
Seriously? Was meeting Lute that much of a shock? Wasn’t he recruited through Lute in the first place?
I had no idea why, but either way, he clearly wasn’t in any condition to explain. So I turned to Zenrick.
Come to think of it, he was the most composed of the three now, despite sobbing just moments ago.
“Zenrick, could you explain it to us?”
“Ah, yes! I’ve been dying to!”
Thankfully, Zenrick wiped away his tears and got straight to it.
He placed the potion bottle down on the table in front of the sofa where Lute and I were seated. It looked similar to the orange sample we’d seen before but the color was noticeably deeper, more saturated.
“I believe I mentioned it before, didn’t I? That if we combined the Amine flower and Lindal grass properly, we’d get not poison, but the best possible effect?”
“Those two plants?”
Lute, hearing this for the first time, raised a skeptical brow.
Apparently, he too was well aware that combining those two plants typically results in a dangerous toxin.
“Yes. It’s something I discovered through two years of research.”
“So you finally figured out the right blend ratio?”
I asked, leaning forward with interest. But Zenrick shook his head.
“No, unfortunately, I haven’t found that yet. But I did discover a new ingredient, one that harmonizes their properties and effects regardless of ratio!”
With renewed energy, he exclaimed this while pulling a small flower sprig from his coat.
“This right here!”
“Wait, isn’t that…?”
The cluster of tiny orange blossoms, each no larger than a thumbnail.
It was none other than the Hyas flower, which only grows inside the Sun God’s grand temple.
“Don’t tell me you used that?”
“Yes! And it worked incredibly well!”
To summarize Zenrick’s explanation:
While researching divine power during the potion development process, he discovered that the divine power of the Sun God has a naturally strong affinity for healing and, more importantly, shows little resistance when merging with other forms of energy. This harmony allowed for seamless integration with other ingredients.
So he tried adding the Hyas flower, which is imbued with the Sun God’s divine power.
Together with Lana and Wolfgang, they ran a barrage of frantic experiments, and just as expected, the divine properties of the Hyas flower neutralized the toxicity of the two otherwise dangerous herbs.
“Of course, we’ll continue refining the blend ratio. Once we pin that down, we’ll have created the ultimate potion, no exaggeration.”
Zenrick’s face beamed with absolute confidence and uncontainable excitement.
I felt like this was the first time I’d ever seen him smile so brightly.
“So this has Hias flower, Amine flower, and Lindal grass all mixed in, right? How effective is the potion?”
“It’s at least five times more effective than the sample I showed you last time. It’s definitely good enough to be sold as a prototype.”
Five times stronger? That’s seriously impressive.
And if I add my blessing on top of that?
The effect might be absolutely overwhelming.
I patted Zenrick on the shoulder with a happy expression.
“All three of you worked hard. Since you succeeded in developing a prototype, you’ll be getting a bonus.”
“Haah, Saintess, you really are the best.I’ll continue to serve you faithfully for the rest of my life.”
Zenrick, moved by the perfect financial reward, let tears stream down his face. Then he turned and patted Wolfgang, who still looked completely out of it, on the back.
“Did you hear that? We did it! Let’s keep up the all-nighters and push forward!”
Okay, I’m pretty sure people are supposed to sleep before they die, not after.
But seeing that even Lana, who had momentarily lost her senses, was now smiling quietly, I figured it was pointless to say anything. So I left them to it.
The three of them soon left the reception room after apologizing for the interruption.
“I was a bit worried at first since the two alchemists we recruited from your side and mine had completely different personalities, but they seem to get along very well.”
After seeing them off, I turned to Lute with a smile.
“Thank you for finding such good alchemists.”
“It wasn’t that difficult, really. Wolfgang Schmidt was someone we’d already been keeping an eye on.”
That was the first time I’d heard that, so it surprised me.
“Oh, really?”
“He’s such a genius that other alchemists were too jealous to let him into their circles. Well, him being stubborn and inflexible also played a part.”
“Then why didn’t you hire him?”
“The reason I was looking for an alchemist was because of my illness. After things fell apart with the Great Sea God’s side, my only hope left was alchemy.”
Apparently, he had tried every commercially available potion on the market, but none of them worked, which led him to seek out an unpopular alchemist like Wolfgang.
“But just before I hired Wolfgang Schmidt, I happened to come across an old book.”
“An old book?”
“Yes. An ancient text that described the Relic of Light.”
And with what Lute said next, my expression froze.
SoundlessWind21’s Notes:
If there are any errors, whether it be grammatical, spelling, translation, or website-related issues, feel free to let me know. (´◡`) Anyway, thank you for reading!