◈23. The Exclusive Sales of Legendary Potion
Their faces had turned so pale that I started to worry something had gone wrong.
Then, at last, one of the priests stammered,
“The Elixir… The Elixir has actually been created!!”
In an instant, the once-quiet apothecary turned into the scene of a grand celebration.
Some priests cheered and tossed expensive herbs into the air like confetti, while others wiped away tears.
Some broke into song, while others ran off to grab champagne.
…It was complete chaos.
I stepped back slightly, watching the madness unfold, then leaned toward Delsi and whispered,
“…Weren’t they supposed to be under the effects of your calming skill?”
[They got so excited that it broke the skill’s influence, quack— It makes sense, though. The lost Elixir formula has been rediscovered after 200 years. Of course, they’d be shocked, quack-quack—]
As if on cue, the overjoyed priests rushed toward me, their eyes brimming with tears.
“Your Holiness! This… This is truly a monumental event…!! If we monopolize the sale of Elixirs through the church, we could amass wealth beyond imagination!!”
“That’s right, Your Holiness! Soon, the church will surpass not just the noble houses… but even the imperial family in wealth and power!!”
“With this, with this, we could dominate not just the Empire, but the entire continent…! Huff… Huff!!”
…For religious officials, they sure sounded awfully greedy.
Then again, I couldn’t entirely blame them.
I had heard about how the church had been struggling financially for years.
They had probably been working non-stop, cranking out potions like machines just to stay afloat.
Now that I thought about it, that likely explained why, despite the vast supply of medicinal herbs, there had always been a shortage of potions within the church itself.
They must have been selling off every potion they produced to raise funds, leaving none for their own people.
But now, all those hardships are about to end.
Given that, their enthusiasm was understandable.
“Go ahead and celebrate as much as you want. We will be selling the Elixir exclusively.”
The priests’ faces lit up with joy.
But before they got too carried away, I continued.
“—For one year only.”
“…Pardon? Y-Your Holiness, wait… What do you mean, only one year…?”
Ronny, struggling to process my words, hesitantly asked for clarification.
I firmly reiterated,
“I mean that for one year, we’ll profit as much as we can. After that, we’ll distribute the Elixir formula to the public—for free.”
“F-Free… But why…?”
If we monopolized the formula and produced only a limited number of Elixirs, we could sell them at outrageous prices to desperate nobles on the brink of death.
It was a surefire way to amass immense wealth.
The priests weren’t wrong—this could make us richer than kings, an endless golden wellspring that would never dry up.
But even so, I had a solid reason for limiting this monopoly to just one year.
“Think about it. Why do you think the Elixir formula disappeared 200 years ago in the first place?”
“…!”
“Exactly. If we hoard the formula for ourselves, we’ll be repeating the same mistake as the fools who came before us.”
In the distant past, a handful of greedy nobles had monopolized the Elixir formula for their own benefit.
But when the last noble who had memorized the recipe perished in a war against a foreign nation, the knowledge was lost forever.
With a potion as miraculous as this, it was only right to share the knowledge and ensure that it never disappeared again.
That was my stance.
I didn’t bother explaining in excessive detail, but the priests seemed to understand.
“Your Holiness…”
They looked at me with a strange, almost dreamy expression.
That soft, sentimental voice—those bright, admiring eyes…
I knew this reaction all too well.
It was the same one people always had whenever the infamous scoundrel Pope did something unexpectedly noble.
And, sure enough, the priests immediately surrounded me and started pouring out all sorts of embarrassingly sentimental words.
“Your Holiness, your wisdom extends beyond the church—it encompasses all of humanity… I could never hope to comprehend or imitate such depth.”
“You are right, Your Holiness. If we used this knowledge solely for profit, we would be no different from those selfish nobles of the past.”
“I am truly astonished. Such profound insight… Thank you for your great teaching.”
I didn’t bother responding and just scratched the bridge of my nose.
‘They’re overreacting… This is kind of embarrassing. I was still planning to milk the profits for a full year.’
If I were truly selfless and virtuous, I would’ve released the Elixir formula to the public immediately.
But no—I was going to make as much money as possible for a year first.
And yet, these people were treating me like some saint.
‘Was Nikellus’ reputation so terrible that even a tiny act of generosity was enough to shock people?’
Apparently so.
Because their reaction was far more emotional than I had anticipated.
Then, suddenly—
[Delsi and multiple individuals' favorability toward you has significantly increased!]
[A surprise event has been triggered due to the increase in favorability!]
A favorability message appeared—just like when I had gained the approval of Luciana and Argelio.
But this time, since I had raised multiple people’s favorability at once, it seemed I had unlocked a special event.
‘…A surprise event?’
In Call of the Ruined Worlds <CRW>, unique achievements that deviated from standard gameplay often triggered special events like this.
For example, killing 100 monsters in a row—
Being the first player to enter a new dungeon—
Or, like now, raising multiple people’s favorability all at once.
Sometimes, these surprise events rewarded rare dungeon entry passes or valuable items.
‘Would I get something useful this time too?’
Curious, I carefully examined the event details.
▶ Surprise Event: I Guess We Misunderstood You◀
—You have earned favorability from those who once despised you.
—The public perception of you has changed.
—People will now recognize you as ‘Someone who they thought was bad but turned out to be deeply thoughtful.’
★ Rewards ★
—+150 Karma Points
—Stainless Resistant Divine White Boots (Part of a 3-piece set item)
Until now, I had always worn mostly white clothing, but my boots had remained black since white ones got dirty too easily.
But now, with these stain-resistant white boots, I could finally match my outfit perfectly.
…Not that the color of my boots really mattered.
What did matter was—
‘Oh, hell yeah—150 Karma Points! Things are looking up beautifully!’
It was an unexpected but very welcome bonus.
At this rate, my negative Karma Points would soon turn positive.
Once that happened, all my locked skills would be available again.
Feeling great, I turned to the priests and commanded them in an energized voice,
“Alright! Let’s start mass-producing these immediately. We’ve got a full year to sell as many as we can. And while you’re at it, make another one for me right now.”
“W-Well, about that…”
“Hm?”
“Even though the Elixir ingredients are more common than expected, they’re still not something we can obtain easily at any time.”
“…Oh. Really?”
“Yes… Actually, when we made the last batch, one of the key ingredients ran out. Ahem… We apologize, but large-scale production won’t be possible until next week.”
That response was a bit… disappointing.
Judging by their guilty expressions, they knew it too.
Still, there was no need to mope about it.
I immediately gave them new instructions.
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it. Then just give me two high-grade potions.”
“Understood, Your Holiness!”
The priests responded with renewed energy and immediately crafted five high-grade potions for me on the spot.
Considering how expensive these were if bought normally, they handed them over with zero hesitation.
Then again, with the Elixir about to flood the market and fill the church’s coffers with gold, a few high-grade potions were nothing to them anymore.
After that, I made sure Luciana’s documents were properly delivered and asked Delsi to inform the other High Priests about today’s Elixir discovery.
Once word got out that my body—previously on the verge of collapse—had been fully restored, no one would feel the need to keep monitoring me anymore.
And with that, my business in the apothecary was finally done.
As I was walking out, I turned to Delsi to offer my final thanks.
“Thanks for coming with me today. Everything went smoothly thanks to you. Now, I’m going to—”
[You’re heading to see the captured demons, aren’t you? Quack.]
“……?! How did you know?”
Did she have some kind of foresight ability?
Startled, I asked her, but Delsi simply smiled gently.
And then—
For the first time, her real voice—not the one transmitted through an item—flowed from her lips.
“Whenever you see injured children, you never just walk away. You always turn back to check on them—just like you did in the past.”
“…I did?”
“Yes. Just like when you first found me, Your Holiness.”
She was talking about the first time she had met the original Nikellus.
I tried to search my hazy memories, attempting to recall that moment.
‘A narrow, shadowed alley…’
‘A small, frail child curled up alone…’
‘Delsi…’
The details were faint, but something surfaced.
Delsi, however, seemed to remember it far more vividly than I did.
She spoke as if it had happened just yesterday.
“I had been curled up alone in that dark alley for five days, but no one saw me. No one except you, Your Holiness. You were the only one who stopped and turned back to look at me.”
Hearing that, my memory grew a little clearer.
Right.
That day, Nikellus had visited a slum with Luciana.
They had received a report about an Awakener with high-level mental abilities, the kind of threat only S-rank Awakeners could handle.
But even after searching every house in the slums, they found nothing.
In the end, the original Nikellus boarded his carriage to return to the cathedral—
—Or at least, he tried to.
Because right before stepping in, he suddenly stopped.
–“Your Holiness? Where are you going?”
Luciana had called out to him, but he didn’t even respond.
Without a word, the original Nikellus turned back toward the small alley he had just passed.
As if he had seen something there—something other than a stray cat or a wild dog.
And there—
‘…He found Delsi.’
The small, emaciated girl he had discovered in that alley was now standing before me as a High Priest.
The pain and exhaustion that had once shadowed her face had been replaced by a smile.
Delsi, still smiling, pointed at the high-grade potions in my hand.
They were the ones I had just received from the priests.
“Those potions may not be enough to heal them. The demons… They looked like they were in terrible shape. But still, I’m sure your intentions will reach them, quack.”
“…You’re sure?”
“Yes. And Your Holiness, your words had a knack for being right.”
Instead of replying through her usual means, Delsi simply smiled at me.
I returned her smile in kind.
And with that, we went our separate ways—
Delsi to inform the High Priests.
And me…
Just as she had predicted, I headed toward the captured seers—the ones known as the oldest seers.
‘After they were captured, they lost their minds and went berserk, so they were eventually imprisoned in the underground prison, right……?’
That was the last thing I had heard about them.
They had been losing control, thrashing wildly ever since they were captured.
In the end, they had been locked away underground.
The church’s underground prison was a place even S-rank Awakeners couldn’t escape from easily.
And on top of that, it ensured they wouldn’t be discovered by outsiders.
So naturally, it was the best option.
…Or so I had thought.
But as I descended into the underground prison—
“This is… the underground prison? You locked them up here?”
—I began regretting that decision.
I had never been down here before.
So, I hadn’t known.
I hadn’t realized.
The further I went down, the more suffocating the darkness became.
It was cold.
Damp.
If they had been thrown in here without proper medical treatment, there was no way they could recover.
If anything, their condition would only have worsened.
I turned to the warden who was leading me through the prison and asked,
“Is there a more suitable area we could move them to? Somewhere… less miserable? If they stay down here, their recovery will only slow.”
The warden let out a deep sigh before replying,
“Of course, this place is far from ideal for recovery. It’s dark, damp…”
He trailed off before shaking his head.
“But Your Holiness… Once you see their condition for yourself, you’ll understand. Even if we wanted to move them, we couldn’t.”
