Edited by: KenChi死

Did I mention about small plaza inside the Merchant district? Alley of the faithful? No? Well, probably because I never thought I would have a need of visiting this place. I just wanted to have this part done.

The Alley of the faithful… that as I already said was a plaza and not an alley… was built with the scheme for donuts. On its farthest ends the small temples for Luxia and Heira were located, inside of which was smaller shrines for lesser deities were placed. In the center of the plaza there was a small… park? That was separating both temples. Just to avoid tensions. So where is the temple of Aira? Or shrine?... or stall? Anything? I heard that she doesn’t have many worshipers as she rarely intervenes into the affairs of mortals… But isn’t it a bit… sad? Like very sad? If not depressing? My favorite goddess? Oh come on! Do you have no shame? How could you treat my poor Aira like that!? There, there little one, somehow we will do it. But first things first…

I headed into direction of Heira’s temple. She was the most stubborn one, the most crazy one, and the one that directly told me that she wants me to pray to her. Eh.

The insides were dim. It looked a bit like the insides of a gothic church. Very small. Micro gothic church. One could have asked how do you even imagine a small gothic churches, if the very idea of gothic culture was … BUILDING EVERYTHING FUCKING HUGE?!

Don’t ask me. Here I was in a gothic church on a micro scale. Very few people were sitting inside. Maybe because she was “The Lady of the Night”? probably.

I sat in one of first benches in front of the altar. The symbol of Luxia was a sun with curved rays. And Heira’s looked like an “O” with a horns.

Someone sat next to me

“A new face? We are always happy to see new worshipers. What brought you hear? Your desires?”

How much can I mind fuck her?

“She just told me to came here.” “Like every single one of us. We all heard her call…” The priestess smiled.

… No, I think you don’t understand…

“Actually, I never did this whole… praying stuff. Do you know some easy to remember, short one chant… or something?” “My inpatient child. Your haste in doing instead of talking is already a form of prayer…” …Marvelous… can I go now? “… actions are, and always were, the best way to worship your ideals. But… if you could make a donation…”

… so here we are… it is always about moneys.

“… I am sure that goddess would appreciate generosity… and if your pledge would be sufficient, I could even pray for your luck. You know, we priestesses have strong connections with the goddess.” “You really would do so? I have to tell, that it would help me greatly. As you noticed I am short on time.”

She chuckled. Yet she stopped as I pushed a coin in her direction.

“You can tell her: Thanks for everything you did for me… Even if you were mostly making fun of me and enjoying your time. Please, keep taking good care of me…” I stopped for a second “… could you also, in some nice words, ask her to stop acting like a bitch?”

I raised and started walking back to the doors. She didn’t stop me. I think she was still thinking who with sanity intact would leave just like that a gold coin.

… Now I am wondering, for how long would she keep the goddess “away”… hey! I am not ungrateful! I just hate being toyed with! And don’t you even dare telling me that she does those thing cuz’ she cares for me! I can beat, that she is simply bored! And she torments me for nothing but fun, and then she would just toss me a nice shiny trinket so I wouldn’t complain!

Now. Another location. Temple of Luxia , just so she won’t be jealous. I pretty much repeated actions. But this time I approached the priestess by herself and informed her that I am willing to make a donation if she would pray in my intentions.

“Helping the community is a wonderful act of generosity and mercy for those who are poor. Even if I am limited in my skills, I will do everything to help those who are helping us!”

Or so she said. While having her arms held closely to her chest.

Bit sweet of her, don’t you think? I almost replied with “Do your best” or “I am counting on you”

But I once again left a coin and left.

Yes, in less than 10 minutes I wasted enough money that would allow someone to survive many years (if he/she would waste money only on eating any sleeping).

Why did I do that? One: to have some personal space – “goddess free personal space”. And because I still has a few more coins in my ring stored. I am an alchemist with my own underground organization. If I have learned anything during economy classes is that keeping moneys to yourself is equal to wasting it. Coin has to rotate. You need to invest, even if investments could bring out a loss… and I already have everything I need to keep livi…

Something caught my attention. As if I heard a very quiet voice. I was still in the plaza, but this time I faced the direction of the neglected park. I walked in, moving through thorny bushes and barely visible path, covered in dust and ashes.

And I found it. A very small, wooden shrine. Ha! Even lesser deities within the temples got bigger and far more beautiful shrines.

My poor, poor Aira… how are they treating you here!?

I sat on the ground in front of small shrine.

“Hello, lil sister…” I said quietly “… ages passed since I talked to you last time, huh? Well, my bad, I have nothing to use as an excuse. You said that you would be everywhere, where I could find but a smallest blade of grass… I miss ya a little, you know? I wonder how good at cooking you have become. I just can’t wait to taste it, and fool around with you… My poor Aira! How could they let to such conditions come to your little shrine?! It’s absolutely barbaric, just because you don’t toss your blessings left and right?! Those greedy bastards… wait a little, it’s not much, but I hope it will help this place to shine with its true beauty…”

I began to cast lesser spell. Slowly, peacefully. Tsh, normally I could cast them left and right without noticing that I am even using mana, but because of this bloody Mana Fever, even those smallest tasks are almost agonizing.

But I have time. Lots of time. So did Aira.

Small vines appeared from the from the ground around this little cabin-like shrine. They walked past walls, embracing it little by little. As soon as the shire was almost completely covered in vines, I forced them to bloom.

The damages done by time and weather were no longer visible. Only a small cabin, looking like it was made only of flowers.

“Take care, little one. I will try to visit you from time to time.”

I ran with my head over the grass, almost as if it was Aira hair, got up and moved to the Noble district.

I knocked on the door – showing that I also can act like a civilized man, but then I opened it without waiting for a response – to show that in the very end I don’t give a damn about their opinion.

“How is my favorite patient doing?” I asked from that very door.

Inside of the room I saw: ol’ Archibald the butler (I still called him Sebastian in my thoughts), two maids, young Blackwood, old Blackwood and sick Blackwood. In the nearest future I will have to start calling “sick Blackwood” as “Lady Blackwood”, but it’s not this day!

“I see… my husband described you well, indeed you can’t be mistaken with anyone else… I must beg your pardon for showing myself in such inelegant form, it’s truly a shame, that I can’t welcome you as the guest of this house in proper way.”

… Holy crap. Now, I hate nobility. I truly do. But now she showed the class of a level that was unknown to me.

“I wish to thank you for all your efforts. I truly owe you my life.” “Please don’t say it like that. I can’t accept words of such high gratitude. You owe me nothing. Even if it’s completely improper to say it, I was paid for taking care of you. There is no benevolence in my acts.” “I heard about that.” Such a pure, kind, mother-like smile “I heard, that you asked for knowledge. You could have asked for the whole wealth of our family, to use us in political plays, my beloved, but foolish husband would do as you asked without thinking for a second. You are a much better person then you would like to admit.”

It’s getting awkward. Please stop it right here.

“Anyway… How do you feel?” I asked, just because staring at her in silence while I browsed her status could made me look like a weirdo. And now, as she was talking I could pretend that I am listening her.

Well, the Swan sickness was still there. But [Fatal] attached to it names turned to [medium]

“I am still a bit weak, sometimes it is hard to even open my eyes, my throat easily get sore, but after drinking a glass of water I can talk without much difficulties. The rash is mostly gone… That’s embarrassing…” “Not at all. Don’t mind me. I will prepare another few doses of medicines…. I don’t see those healers that were here last time.”

This time Richard’s father answered

“They said, that thanks to your elixir Cecilia’s condition is getting better, so they don’t have to rip us of our gold. Instead they are visiting twice a day to monitoring any changes and deal with the lesser symptoms.” “I have to admit… That they are good people… I had a really low opinion about them, but they are not taking advantage of your situation… that’s… good… I think…”

The old man chuckled. Cecilia only smiled weakly

“You must have really low opinion on humanity, I can do nothing but wonder, what horrifying things you experienced up until now.”

Hm? Ah, no. I was just kicked by them to the forest after weeks of taking care of them, then I was hunted, just so at the very end to be judged by them. If not for Daralon I would have been cut into pieces for research purposes. And even then they wanted to use me by forcing me into working at the guilds as a slave. It doesn’t matter that each of them belongs to different organization. Humans are humans. Greedy, acting without any moral inhibitions. Even their “honor code” is used probably because they want to be viewed as better than the others. “I have honor, so my word means more than yours…” that’s how I see it

Trust humans? No, thank you.

“Mr. Zariel?” Aaaand I got lost in thoughts. “Ah, yes, yes. I am sorry. I will get back to work immediately. I think that in a month you should be healthy. But those are only my presumptions. It may take a week more or less… and even then, you were sick for a long time. I can’t guarantee that you haven’t suffered any permanent damage. And it can’t be said for sure until the main treatment is done… By the way…” I said looking back at the head of the house “Is there anything known about possible perpetrators?” “No, I am afraid that this is very delicate matter and we can’t act in haste. We can’t risk a scandal with false accusation, that could undermine our house…” Sick Blackwood began “Or so my wife says. If it were be up to me, I would already raid them and cut them to the last member of there family, burn their houses and hired dark mages to curse their family up to the 10th generation…” *Cecilia death glare* “… but as my wife does the thinking in this house…”

Now I was the one to chuckle. Maybe they are not as terrible as I thought?... well, I am still going to torment their son…

“I think I will be going… May I ask that someone show me the way to where you put all my laboratory equipment? I see that you have moved it…” “I will allow myself to show Master Zariel the way.” Archibald raised as if he was waiting for this moment. “We are glad to hear that, Archibald.” Sick Blackwood lightly nodded

By saying our best regards over and over again we finally left the room, and once again I was led through the maze of corridors.

“Pardon my boldness, but may I ask, why you are interested in knowing who poisoned Madam Blackwood?”

The air got bit tense. Let’s check this old butler, just to be sure

Archibald StarcutterTitles[Elegant]

[Sword Master]

[Blade Tempest]

[Former Adventurer]Level29Hp[418/420]Sp[640/680]SkillsSword Usage Mastery - Grand Master [Passive/Active] [Level 18]

Agile Body [Passive] [Level 7]

Strong Body [Passive] [Level 6]

Dual Wielding Mastery - Master [Passive/Active] [Level 22]

… my, my.

“Well, as I interrupted someone’s scheming I may be targeted to. Not that I am afraid, but I would love to know from which side I should expect the blow to come…” “Indeed, the family simply can’t allow itself to put into danger those, who help it so greatly. But nothing is sure yet. We can’t even say that we have presumptive evidences… Nothing but conjectures. But… it is more than that those who would benefit mostly would be other grand houses… Especially silvers and reds… it’s unfortunate that we can’t be sure.”

I see. Not that I know anyone from those families, but I surly will be cautious if someone from them would cross my path.

The laboratory was pretty big, way bigger than the one in the slums… maybe I could convince them to “lend” me a few of those… without notifying anyone else about it, that is. So… some more work awaits me now? Not that I complain. I can sink into the abyss of repetitive labor. Actually, it’s quite relaxing, you know? Like preparing a diner… But I already said it, didn’t I? Whatever. First I will need some alcohol for the core…

[Medium potion creation] has leveled up[Medium potion creation] is now level 4- Time needed for potion preparation is slightly shorter

- Effects of potion is slightly stronger

- Failure chance while creation of Medium rank potions and lower is slightly smaller

Aaaand once again half of the day has gone missing. The good part was that ol’ Blackwood didn’t even want to hear about me leaving just like that. So I could use almost royal-like baths, then dine with them… and it has to be said, even if I like the Guild, even if food there is really good… It is impossible to not notice the difference in quality of those meals.

So, plan for today :

- deal with goddesses? It is done!

- check on Sick Blackwood? I have also dealt with this..

So next thing I have to do…

Pov change [inside the guild]

The adventurers, with the help of master Jericho, managed to calm down a certain Dragoness. The process of calming down contained two phases:

First – restricting movements of said Dragoness by pinning her down to the floor with a mass of bodies

Second – persuading Dragoness by Marika and Jericho to calm down. Well, mostly Jericho over and over again was repeating “Control your rage, or rage will control you” like a mantra, while Marika was describing the poor condition of the dragon.

It worked. It took over an hour, but it worked!

Yet even a weakened necrotic dragon still was a dragon. It was quite a feat, especially for rookie adventurers, it was more than sure that new star of the guild branch was rising, and just like the previous one, it also was “caught” by Jericho.

Gisele the Dragoness was once again sitting in the corner of the inn section of the guild, a bit more devastated than before, rubbing her fingers over the table. What kind of person is he? She ] wondered…

The old man told her that he was still pretty weak, maybe B or B+. Haha, yes indeed, normally B+ rank was viewed as extraordinary strong… but not by those people. Not by the A+ Dragoness nor by the former S+ Jericho… but those beasts were in a rank of their own.

Her fingers were itching. She wanted to grab the sword and spar! Right here! Right now! Jericho offered himself as her sparring partner, but today, for the first day ever, she rejected his generous offer. She needed to be in her best condition. Just to show the difference of their skills. No, she didn’t want him to act like some kind of underling, nor to bully anyone. She really got into her not yet existing role of older apprentice that would help in study of martial arts. She needed to clearly judge his abilities to help him rise as fast as possible. Who knows? Maybe he is truly some kind of prodigy and in years or even month he would became her peer? And then she would receive a rival! Her heart was truly, truly on fire. (ED: dat pun thou)

Why, you ask? Why she desire someone who could threaten her position? Because she lived by the sword, she spent every single day mastering her skills. And she was afraid that she was reaching her bottleneck. Having someone to once again train basics could help her.

And then door opened again. She almost jumped from her seat.

“Someone call the kitchen! Supplies have come!”

… FOR FUCK SAKE!... or that’s what she thought.

“Oh, by the way, not so long ago we met some white haired kid, someone from you?”

Her ears twitched, she already know the description of her new targe… I mean possible rival.

“Oh, yes. We are actually waiting for him. Where did you see him?” “Five minutes or so ago in front of the guild. I have no idea why I noticed him. Because of his weird appearance, or because he walked from the Noble district toward Slums…”

He was here… and didn’t even bother t… that little UNGRATEFUL FUCK!

Once again table was send flying

“CALL JERICHO! DRAGON’S DEN! I REPEAT DRAGON’S DEEEEN!”

And so it once again has begun.

Pov – back to MC

I walked quickly through the warehouse that was rebuilt into our little underground laboratory. Just a quick checkup. I don’t want to waste more time than needed. Clarice was walking behind me reporting what happened for past few days.

“We have successfully finished two batches of potions, 20 vials each… but…” “I am not sure if I should be happy or sad. With both human resources and raw materials you should create two times that… not that I am complaining, it is still a great feat as for someone who just started both alchemy and management… the time consumption should be reduced as you can gather experience…” “S…sir… we didn’t waste out time… somehow… the purity of the potions dropped…”

… Now. It means that somewhere someone fucked up. Very hard.

“Some specific workplaces?” “P…pardon me?” “I have asked… if the impure potions came from one specific workplace? Did you control the purity of raw materials, then materials on each level of processing, and then just measure final quality or…” “N…no. We only checked the final batches…”

…My fault. It is all my fault. I forced them into mass production without specifying how production process should be done not about quality control. Fuck.

“You see… if you would check every part of production, we could easily tell where the problem occurred…” “We beg for you forgiveness! We didn’t think about it…” “Shush. My bad. That’s what happen when you do things half assed… no, not you! I do. Listen now. By using a dropper take samples of each potion and check how many of them can be sold, and how many shall finish with a flush…. Then once again make 5 control potion on each workplace and let them follow normal production procedure. Control every single phase, by doing so you will know where the mistake was done… If the mistake is but a minor thing… just deal with it and resume your job. If not, call me.” “But if we would find where the mistake is but had no idea what it would be…” “Call me.” “… but sir… we wanted to report it back three days ago, but we were told you were outside the town…” “We have five workplaces that can create potions simultaneously, do we? If the problem is only in one of them, just stop working on that one line, doing so we would still have four running. And I would deal with it as soon as I would get back. All clear?” “Technically… yes, but…”

But. There is. Always. A fucking. BUT

“…We have been experimenting a little trying to create something new…”

I stopped her here by giving her light chop in the head.

“Thanks the goddess the laboratory is still in one place… Girls! What got into you? Have you lost your minds?” “We thought you would be happy…” “I AM OVERJOYED! By your initiative and hunger for knowledge! But don’t, just don’t do anything on your own!? Do you know how violently some materials react while combing to each others? You could create a bomb, sure! But also a vaporizing liquid that would unleash toxic gas or acid that would literally jump from the vial right on to your pretty faces! If you have ideas note them! We would check them, all of them, as soon as I would get back!” “… I am sorry. We didn’t thi…” “It’s okay pet. I know, that up until now you had it all the hard way, and now as you are working here you see possibility to earn a coin and have a better life. But don’t overdo it! This job is dangerous, not only because of the materials we are working with. If Alchemist Guild would hear about us they would do everything to eliminate us. If in the slums a roof of some warehouse would be sent flying in an explosion, I ensure you, they would be the first one to investigate. Now.. that’s all for today, is it?” “Sir, yes, sir!” “Very well. I will be back tomorrow. Either at the morning or afternoon. We will check those recipes of yours.”

And dealing with that, I left. To my home, sweet-sweet home.

I entered the guild and moved to the reception. Mike was behind the counter. He just sat there, as certain catgirl was taking her leave

“Mike! Thanks the goddess you are the one greeting me here! Thank the goddess it is you, and not that other bitch that tends to sit he… oh you are here too… well, hello… once again, what was your name?”

An angry hiss answered me at first. But then in her eyes a small flames of vengeance appeared as she yelled loudly.

“Oh, Zariel! You surly made us all wait!” “The hell are you yelling?”

But as soon as she finished a sentence I could easily hear some rumbling from the inn section, as if heavy cavalry began its charge.

“Anyway, Mike I hope that Marika and the others reported back…” “Surly, just let me check it… the note about your reward should be somewhere in here… ah here it is…”

You have finished the quest [Dungeon Purification]You have successfully eradicated the threat of the monsters. You will be rewarded according to your deedsRewards- 00g31s00c

- 2200 exp

You have leveled up

… I did what? Ah yes… level up… it happens… when was the last time it happened?! Ha…hahaha… I AM ONCE AGAIN STRONGER! HAHAHAHA! TREMBEL ALL OF YOU WHO WISH TO OPPOSE ME FOR I WILL PULVERIZE YOU BACK TO THE GROUN….

The door’s from the inn section opened as someone was walking past it. All I saw was partly covered in a scaled body, wearing a strange partly leather partly chain armored and with a bastard sword by her side. She was strong. I didn’t need to use appraisal for that. She simply had an aura of a walking war machine. Taller than me by almost a head, she looked down almost bowing to make her eyes meet with mine. She stood there for a few god damned seconds doing nothing.

What could I do. I titled my head to the side and said.

“Um… h…hello? Do you perhaps have some business w…” “I demand a duel. Now.”

… nice welcoming party I have here…