“Master, master! Good news! Good news!”
Marches stumbled into the hall in an excited mess. He quickly straightened his disordered robes before continuing towards Louie
Louie eyed the panting mage curiously, “Why the excitement, Marches?”
Mages were traditionally quite level-headed. And even when Louie had caught him filling his pockets with valuables, the old sorcerer had managed to come up with a suitable response on the spot, preserving his own life.
Marches hurriedly walked up to his lord while keeping his gaze towards the ground. He began “Master, I have finished refining ‘Louie’s Essence’ and have obtained the magic origin element inside.”
Saying so, he pulled out a small crystal vial.
At this, Louie was shown another instance of the heavy expenses associated with magecraft. For just a simple magic potion they would need to use expensive crystal bottles. He thought about it briefly, but could not come up with any reason why the container needed to be crystal. Was it its transparency? Or perhaps it was its ability to contain volatile substances? If it was the former then he might have another leg up over the inhabitants of San Soliel.
The inhabitants of San Soliel had invented glass long ago. However, the finished product was often very cloudy and couldn’t match the clarity of modern glassware. Its use was often restricted to crafting stained glass windows.
Louie looked at the crystal bottle in Marches’ hands. It was small, about as large as a small perfume bottle. Within it lay a dark green-colored liquid reminiscent of wasabi.
If it was actually wasabi flavored, it would be very difficult to drink.
“Is this the magic origin element?” Louie asked in a deep voice.
“Yes, master! This is the magic origin element that I extracted from the plant you provided. Save those with innate racial magic abilities and freak geniuses, most people need to drink this potion to be able to use magic. Until one reaches the fourth rank and fully adapts to magic, they will need to drink this on occasion.”
Marches was ecstatic, “The experiment was a success. The refining process is not difficult. As long as there is a large number of raw materials, I can produce it at a constant pace.”
Louie gazed at the small crystal bottle. He knew that the liquid inside was also the so-called ‘mage’s currency’. It was much more expensive than gold and was something that mages would need to use throughout their lives.
“Is refining the magic potion the good news that you are talking about?”
“No, great master. Other than successfully refining the medicine, I have also performed some large magical experiments on ‘Louie’s Essence’. Praise the great and supreme dragon. Those plants… those plants can’t be grown on the main continent at all!”
Marches’ next sentences were a little incoherent, but his enthusiasm was clear for all to see.
Louie was also excited and unconsciously revealed a touch of joy.
This was indeed good news. If wasabi could not grow in this world, Louie would not have to worry about it propagating across the world.
Perhaps because of special energy fluctuations, some of Earth plants could not grow in San Soliel. By and large earth’s botanical composition was radically different from this world’s.
But no matter what the reason was, this was amazingly good news for Louie.
The obvious benefit to him was that he would have a complete monopoly on the magic origin element. With Earth’s abundant resources, he would be able to gain a steady supply of it to raise a large number of mages. His dream was slowly inching towards reality.
With enough magic users, his city would transform significantly.
‘When I return to Earth, I should bring back more wasabi!’
“Well done, Marches!”
Louie raised his head and complimented the old mage.
Marches suppressed the excitement and joy in his heart and tried to act humble by saying, “This is all due to master’s grace! It has nothing to do with me.”
“Hahaha!!! I am a just lord. Since you have made a contribution, I will naturally reward you.”
“Marches!!!”
“Yes, my great master!”
“Next, I will provide you with a large number of raw materials. You need to turn them into magic potions. A portion of it would be yours to keep. Then I want you to use the magic potions to train enough mages so that they can become your assistants. Have them assist you in manufacturing magic potions. Of course, you can still enjoy a portion of their labor. Do you understand?”
This was equivalent to him opening a company. Louie would become the largest stockholder and the main financier, while Marches, who would own a smaller portion, would be in charge of day-to-day operations and management.
As long as Louie provided enough raw materials, he could stay completely hands-off. He was the only one who could procure the raw materials, and he could just leave everything else to others.
Marches was not stupid. With just a bit of thinking, he could tell that this would bring great benefits to him in the future. Although he would be tired at first from manufacturing potions and training mages, as long as he finished training the first batch of mages, he could just let them do all the work later while he supervised the line. He would then be able to obtain the magic element without doing much.
With wealth, Marches would be able to exchange a large number of magical materials for his own needs. With such a large amount of money, Marches felt that even pigs could become mages, let alone a talented person like him. Moreover, the path to reaching legendary rank would no longer be a dead end, but a spacious road!
“O great and supreme lord, I, Marches, swear that I would be your eternal humble servant. Let me be in your service forever!”
Although he had already signed a master-slave contract, he still swore an oath to display his loyalty. Marches kneeled on the ground and prostrated in admiration. He was so excited that he almost shed tears as though his very body and soul were subservient.
Louie nodded with satisfaction.
He was now the founder of the exploiting class. Later, he would become a capitalist who would squeeze every drop that he could from others while lying down on his gold mountain and watching his wealth grow!
Just then, a female elf guarding the palace came running. She called out urgently in Elvish, “Lord, there is an emergency!”
Louie looked at the female ranger and his expression sank, “Speak!”
His words were brief and concise.
“Lord, a group of beastmen have suddenly appeared outside Dragon City. They are currently being confronted by the elven guards!”
“Beastmen?”
Louie’s first thought was that some beastmen had come to attack the city.