“Why did you specifically choose Chang’an? A merchant wouldn’t rely on something as flimsy as intuition, right?”
It seems I’ve somehow been pegged as a rich young miss.
I understood the source of her wariness.
After all, my earlier explanation probably only convinced someone as pure-hearted as Moon Chang’an. I hadn’t expected to fool everyone, so I came up with a half-true, half-made-up excuse.
“Because of big sister Chang’an’s background.”
“Background?”
“She’s from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, right?” I gave a slight smile, casually spinning a reason.
“I can tell, you know—the temperament and aura cultivated from years of working with herbs.”
In my past life, Moon Chang’an, hailing from a family of traditional Chinese medicine practitioners, had dealt with herbs for years due to her frail health, becoming intimately familiar with their properties and effects.
She brought this expertise into the game.
When it came to understanding herbs, few could match her. That’s why she could craft perfect potions and even uncover hidden properties in recipes.
Her current lower-than-average potion-crafting success rate was simply due to the differences between the game’s materials and real-world herbs.
I was confident that once she got the hang of it, the renowned alchemist of the Alwyn Empire from my memories would soon return.
My reason for doing this was to recruit some of the exceptional talents from my past life.
At the very least, when the bright and dark factions clashed, I wouldn’t be caught off guard by hidden threats.
Perhaps finding no flaws in my innocent demeanor, Falling Snow Maple Leaf stared at me for a moment before retracting her gaze.
“Chang’an is indeed from a family of Chinese medicine practitioners. You’ve got a sharp eye.”
She glanced back at the alchemy room. “No wonder you found this hidden quest. Though, it’s not quite what I expected.”
“How so?” My curiosity piqued, but her next words made my expression freeze.
“I thought it was the quest that directly promotes you to Apprentice Alchemist. I heard it’s also received from a Master Alchemist.”
“…Oh, so you know about that quest too, big sister.”
“It’s easy to find out with a little digging.” Falling Snow Maple Leaf’s tone shifted, carrying a hint of coldness.
“If it weren’t for that quest, those guys wouldn’t have been bold enough to kick Chang’an out of the guild.”
I felt a wave of guilt listening to her.
I’d been wondering why this happened so much earlier than in my past life. Moon Chang’an’s departure from Blue Shadow was supposed to occur much later.
Now I realized it was indirectly my fault.
If she found out I was the culprit, would I die a horrible death?
The thought made me even more nervous.
“You don’t look so good.”
Falling Snow Maple Leaf’s calm voice suddenly rang out, startling me so much I stiffened. “…Uh, well, maybe I’m just tired from staying up all night.”
“Staying up all night?” She seemed unable to fathom why a loli would need to pull an all-nighter, at least outside of some inappropriate doujinshi scenarios.
The truth was, I’d nearly lost my virtue to another mischievous loli, but there was no way I’d admit that. As a good kid, I had to come up with a proper excuse.
“Because I was working on the problem sets my teacher assigned.”
Falling Snow Maple Leaf gave me a meaningful look. “Not staying up to copy homework?”
…How do you know me so well?!
“Alright, don’t look so nervous.” She stretched, her impressive curves faintly visible even through her armor. “What’s next?”
“?”
Maybe my blank expression wasn’t cute enough, or perhaps Falling Snow Maple Leaf had no interest in appreciating a loli’s charm.
Realizing I genuinely didn’t understand her, she sighed softly. “Since you’ve arranged things for Chang’an, what are you going to do with me next?”
“Oh, that’s what you meant…”
“What else?”
“Isn’t big sister just a bonus?”
The words slipped out before I could stop them, and by the time I realized, it was too late.
A pair of mischievous hands immediately assaulted my cheeks.
“Who’re you calling a bonus?”
“I w-w-wong!” (I was wrong!)
“So Chang’an was your only target?” Falling Snow Maple Leaf wasn’t a fool and could piece together most of it. “Tch, I should’ve seen it sooner.”
She was still grappling with the fact that she was just a “bonus” when a cold voice suddenly cut through from nearby.
“What are you doing to Her Highness?”
I noticed Syl descending from the staircase, step by step, approaching us. “Take your hands off Her Highness.”
An intense pressure I’d never felt before hit me. Falling Snow Maple Leaf, who had initially treated Syl as just an ordinary maid, narrowed her eyes and responded expressionlessly, “Oh? Why should I listen to you?”
What is this, a clash of Antarctic icebergs?
The tension between them seemed ready to erupt. Sensing the danger, I quickly wriggled free from Falling Snow Maple Leaf’s loosened grip, playing the role of a peace dove. “Wait, Syl! Big sister Maple Leaf was just joking with me.”
Syl gave Falling Snow Maple Leaf a cold glance before silently stepping behind me. “Your Highness, Miss Triss is waiting for you upstairs.”
Before I could respond, Falling Snow Maple Leaf’s cool, steady voice sounded beside me. “Since you’re busy, I won’t disturb you. If you need help, feel free to contact me.”
“Uh, okay…”
Looks like these two don’t get along.
As her figure disappeared down the alchemy workshop’s staircase, I rubbed my cheeks, not dwelling on it too much, and followed Syl to Triss’s private room on the fourth floor.
The moment I pushed open the door, a petite figure pounced toward me.
“Your Majesty, how was my acting earlier?” Triss’s green curls hung slightly messily, and her sparkling eyes gleamed with anticipation, like a puppy eagerly awaiting praise.
“Pretty good.”
Before Triss could bask in the compliment, my next words turned her expression awkward.
“Completely like a ‘fifty-something-year-old who hasn’t improved one bit and still looks like an underdeveloped loli trying desperately to grow up.’”
“So many descriptors, that’s too much…” Triss protested.
“Loli?”
“I’m not that small!” Apparently, she wasn’t talking about age.
“Old lady?”
“…I’m an underdeveloped loli, okay?”
It seemed that, compared to development issues, girls preferred to play youthful—or rather, acting youthful could mask their lack of combat prowess.
But I had no intention of diving into a discussion about adolescent health and development. “Alright, have you finished what I asked you to do?”
“It’s all here.” Noticing the fist I seemed to casually reveal, Triss hurriedly dragged over a chest brimming with gold coins.
Though I was prepared, the sight of all that glittering gold still left me slightly stunned, especially when Syl added from the side,
“The quest rewards total 796 gold coins. After deducting a quarter for the costs of issuing the quests, 597 gold coins remain.”
Nearly six hundred gold coins—what kind of concept was that?
The top ten players on each class leaderboard had equipment worth about thirty to forty silver coins combined.
A chief alchemist in a major guild could use maybe five silver coins a week.
A large guild’s entire wealth might only amount to a hundred gold coins.
With this, I could easily train hundreds of top-tier players or rival the financial power of several major guilds.
Most crucially, I could use these gold coins freely, and I already had a good idea of where to invest this fortune.
It was a pity, though, that the market for Triss’s crafted potions was nearing saturation, and Macaven’s hidden quest had been discovered by others.
To avoid unnecessary suspicion, I ended the quests Syl issued before they were exposed. Otherwise, I could’ve earned even more gold.
Snapping back to reality, I looked at the petite figure beside me.
“Triss, you know Faerns best. Take these gold coins and buy up the land in these areas. Aim to acquire as many plots as possible.”
The areas I marked were the most coveted golden plots in Faerns from my past life. Back then, those lands were worth their weight in gold, impossible to secure without hundreds of thousands.
Now, these plots were being sold to players at dirt-cheap prices. Though still exorbitant for most players, they weren’t out of reach for me.
“O-Okay…” Triss was momentarily stunned at the thought of handling such a massive sum, having never dealt with so much money before.
My next words left her even more dumbfounded.
“Oh, and you’ve worked hard lately. Take eighty gold coins as your reward. Make sure to buy this alchemy workshop first, and feel free to use the rest.”
“W-W-What?! Is this for real?!”
Triss felt enveloped by overwhelming happiness.
Even buying the workshop wouldn’t cost more than thirty gold coins, meaning she’d have fifty gold coins to herself?
That was several months’ worth of her usual income.
“I’m not a demon, you know. So, I’m leaving this to you. I’m heading out.”
“Don’t worry, Your Majesty! I’ll get it done!” Fueled by the fifty gold coins, Triss was brimming with enthusiasm.
I took a dozen gold coins from the chest as a reserve and turned to leave the room.
“His Majesty is so generous~”
Syl glanced at Triss, who was clutching the money pouch with a blissful expression, and left a faint remark before closing the door.
“Don’t get too excited. That’s Miss Triss’s salary for a year.”
…
…
“That’s outrageous! It’s outright exploitation!”
On the sunlit streets outside the alchemy workshop, it seemed many heard the wailing cry of a certain small creature.