SWNOVELXO Chapter 38
“You’re quite out there, in a good way, aren’t you…”
With a thud, I placed the potion, a slightly bluish-purple liquid, on the table in front of Saioji. This potion was incredibly valuable—worth hundreds of thousands of gold pieces on the black market—but it was still a consumable item. Unlike weapons or armor that could be used for years, potions had an expiration date, and that clock was already ticking away the moment they were made.
That’s why I thought it would be wasteful to let this newly made purple potion go unused, so I decided to consult Saioji about what to do.
“Let me make it clear: you can’t just throw this out onto the market. But at the same time, the chances of us actually needing to use this potion are slim…”
“Even so, wouldn’t it be wasteful not to sell it? How about offloading it through the Guild at least?”
Technically speaking, the term “black market” wasn’t entirely accurate. The kingdom’s laws didn’t actually prohibit selling items without going through the Guild, as long as the required taxes were paid. The only ones likely to be upset if this purple potion ended up on the black market were the Adventurer’s Guild itself.
Since the Akatsuki Brigade intended to maintain good relations with the Guild, doing something as questionable as selling to the black market wasn’t ideal.
“The opposite, actually. If you were to sell something like this through the Guild, it could harm your reputation. And the Guild wouldn’t even feel particularly indebted to you for it.”
Saioji flicked the glass bottle with her finger, producing a sharp “ping.”
“Reputation?” I asked.
“Yes. If word gets out that you couldn’t negotiate properly and had to resort to the Guild, it could be seen as a weakness. People will look down on you, and that includes the Guild staff themselves.”
The black market in the capital often saw goods being traded for many times the prices set by the Guild or the kingdom. But it was a world rife with scheming, where underhanded deals were commonplace.
Without the intervention of the government or Guild, there were no laws protecting you from being cheated, swindled, or sold counterfeit goods. It was a lawless place, and only those well-versed in its workings could avoid falling prey to scams.
“That’s… troublesome.”
“If you rely solely on the Guild to sell, the merchants in the capital will see you as someone who can’t handle negotiations on your own. They’ll think you’re a pushover, and that’ll harm your reputation. The Guild employees you’re dealing with will probably feel the same way too.”
If you sold through the Guild, the price would be determined by their standard price list. While there would be no outrageous demands like in the black market, it wouldn’t earn you the trust of your fellow merchants or adventurers. Being seen as someone who couldn’t sell anywhere else but the Guild would be damaging to my ambitions of one day becoming a successful merchant.
In this line of work, being an honest person would likely lead to being taken advantage of.
“You see? That’s why just wasting an item worth hundreds of thousands would be even more foolish. Take this as a learning opportunity—head to the black market yourself.”
“But…”
“You don’t need to hide the fact that you’re part of the Brigade. If something this small could cause trouble, you wouldn’t be able to operate effectively.”
Saioji preempted my hesitation, almost as if she could read my mind.
…Wait, Saioji, you’re still just a high school girl, right?
Sure, I might have more real-world experience, but without the whole “otherworld transfer” thing, she’s still just a student. Yet, she seemed to handle these situations with a wisdom beyond her years. I couldn’t help but be impressed as I received her orders.
“Oh, and one more thing—don’t let the other Brigade members know about this, alright? Also, take Aina with you.”
“Eh?! Me too?!”
After giving her closing remarks, Saioji added, almost as if she had forgotten, that Aina, who had been sitting next to me the whole time, would also be accompanying me. Aina, who had been treating this conversation as someone else’s problem, widened her eyes in surprise.
“Of course. Even though you have dual roles, you’re still the Brigade’s quartermaster. We’re talking about a deal worth around 500,000 gold pieces. How can you not be there as the person in charge?”
As Saioji spoke so matter-of-factly, Aina was still in shock, while I simply nodded in understanding.
…Oh, I forgot to ask Saioji what to do with the other five potion batches.
—
(I can’t believe this could fetch 500,000…)
My room in the Brigade’s house was mainly used as a hub for moving between Japan and Asphial, so it was furnished with only the bare essentials. It looked like the minimalist abode of someone who lived a sparse, simple life.
But on the desk that came with the room, there was a bubbling potion, heated by an alcohol lamp. The setup looked like a scene straight out of a middle school science experiment. And, honestly, what I was doing wasn’t much different.
The reason I was brewing potions myself was simple: I couldn’t let anyone know about the existence of the magic rose, *Magic Rose.*
The only ones aware of it were myself, Saioji as the Brigade leader, and Aina, my superior. Even Mei, who had brewed the purple potion, wasn’t told that the Magic Rose was an artificially created herb. While she knew about the purple potion, she had no idea about the full story.
On the other hand, Tsukamoto, who had inadvertently contributed to the creation of the Magic Rose, wasn’t told either. Saioji had expressly forbidden it.
So, with Mei not being fully in the loop, I couldn’t very well ask her to brew another purple potion, which meant I had to make it myself.
(I hope dumping everything in there doesn’t backfire…)
I had all the equipment I needed in Japan, but to save time, I threw all 50 remaining Magic Rose flowers into the extraction machine at once.
I used a standard hand press to extract the raw potion, then filtered and heated the liquid to purify it.
After a lot of trial and error…
“…Huh? Red?”
I had used all 50 Magic Rose flowers at once, and after tinkering around with the mixture, I ended up with just a few drops of extremely concentrated potion. At first, I thought I had failed, but when I reached out to touch the liquid, I felt a slight prickle in the air, like a tingling sensation.
It seemed that the extracted potion, made from 50 Magic Rose flowers, was filled with an immense amount of magical energy. The few drops of liquid were an intensely dark color, almost black, well beyond purple.
Curious, I placed a drop of the liquid on a glass slide and held it up to the light. To my surprise, it appeared to have a faint reddish hue…