Chapter 143 : Chapter 143

Chapter 143 - A Windfall of Money

The First Son's alliance proposal.

I had expected it, but it was much more impulsive and aggressive than I thought.

It was the leisure and confidence that only those with nothing to bother them could have.

The First Son was giving the youngest of the family a chance.

But that was from the youngest's perspective.

The player was a being who moved towards the ending.

In that ending, the First Son could not be an equal.

Even if we were to fight for the position of Family Head later, I did not prefer a 1-on-1 scenario.

"I am not as strong as you, Older Brother."

I began.

At those words, the First Son tilted his head.

"You just made me unconsciously use my Family Sorcery a moment ago, and now you say you're not strong?"

"If it were my second-oldest brother or my sisters, you would have used your Family Sorcery from the beginning, Older Brother, but I had to use a demon curse."

"What are you trying to say?"

"That it's not advantageous for me."

"..."

This time, even the First Son hesitated.

Did he not expect me to be so direct?

I was just saying what I wanted to say since he told me to.

Even Elder Shina was startled and just stared at my pale face.

In the room filled with silence, I added a supplementary explanation.

"I have not survived through force until now. As you can see from the fact that I delved into the potion business."

The Chief Secretary behind the First Son nodded inwardly.

The Youngest Son's change had begun with his meeting with Jubel Maxman.

"I have good ears. As you said, I heard the footsteps of giants, and my martial prowess is only to the extent of imitating such footsteps."

Though I had become much stronger than before, the sky was still high.

And the Youngest Son was mostly under such a sky.

"I imitated the footsteps of giants to draw the attention of other giants, and I used trickery to make them fight."

It was something the First Son had probably never done in his entire life.

The Youngest Son did such things without hesitation.

"I am not the kind of youngest brother who was born with unparalleled talent as you think, Older Brother. You won't like the way I play."

"If you refuse the alliance, does that mean you will make me fight other giants to your advantage?"

"If things go as I think they will."

"Do you think I will move as you think I will?"

"Many have said so before, just like you, Older Brother. Among the subsequent results... ah. There would be your subordinate who was at the citadel."

Citadel Councilor Hinek.

The man who had introduced himself as the prospective Chairman.

He was an omnipotent authority within the citadel, but he was ultimately broken by the Youngest Son.

And at that time, I was even weaker and smaller than now.

My body was getting bigger, but the class of the enemies I had to face had also risen significantly.

But I couldn't be afraid of First Son Hiler, having come out of the Pantheon to become the Family Head, and having killed his subordinate.

"This is my intention. But this is just my intention, and I will not use the family business for the succession competition."

"I don't care. Neither about Hinek nor the Dark Elixir business."

He stood up from his seat cleanly.

"It's a pity. I wanted to cross swords with you, little brother, on a wide plain like today. But."

Just before turning around, the First Son continued.

"It is also true that my thinking was short."

"...!"

The Chief Secretary's pupils dilated. Elder Shina was not much different.

He had killed his subordinate whom he had raised and crumpled up the alliance proposal like this, yet he offered an apology instead. And it was the First Son.

Only the Youngest Son listened to his words calmly.

"I was drawn to your talent and strength and said I wanted to fight, yet I eliminated the very reason for that strength."

"Thank you for understanding."

"There are countless powerful monsters in the Ash Mountains, but there are also countless reasons why they became strong. You must be the same."

The Youngest Son opened the ceiling with a gesture.

The First Son, who had mounted his Bone Wyvern, said as if in passing.

"It doesn't matter that you killed Hinek, but I don't think I can give you Dusk Citadel."

"I didn't think there would be no competitors either."

"Jamie will follow too, so Dusk Citadel will be a stage that suits your taste, little brother."

"That sounds fun."

"Yes. It will be fun."

The brothers looked at each other and smiled.

Since he had no qualms about revealing his inner thoughts, he had no qualms about seeing others' inner thoughts either.

Perhaps he was the most comfortable person among the siblings.

Of course, this was only possible because he was deep within his line of sight and range of interest.

To the Daughters or the Fourth Son, who were in his line of sight but not deeply so, the First Son was no different from a disaster.

Flap—

The Bone Wyvern spread its wings.

They were wings with a different charm from the Griffin's.

Seeing those wings, I remembered something I wanted to ask.

"How was the highest peak of the Ash Mountains?"

"That place..."

My bloodshot eyes caught the very slight tremor of the First Son's shoulder.

"It was not a very pleasant place. Don't even think about going there. At your current level, it would be difficult to even reach the peak."

The Bone Wyvern flew away.

As the presence that had completely filled the room disappeared, Elder Shina also let out a long sigh.

"I didn't have a chance to show you my skills. We worried for nothing."

"No. It was because you were here that I was able to start a conversation."

"I'm grateful that you say so. Then I will go back to the hell of books."

"Before you go, this."

I took out the bottle containing the Soul Powder.

Shina smiled faintly and shook her head.

"I'll give it to you as a memento to remember me by. Without me, it's just simple Soul Powder, so it's not very useful."

"I won't refuse."

I quickly put my hand back in.

The hand I had extended, in case she had more to say, quickly found its place again.

This was because there was another way to use this.

I changed the subject before the owner of the powder found it strange.

"When you go back, tell Graham he worked hard. And that his suffering will end soon."

"Just hearing that makes me feel relieved. I hope your business prospers. Well, it seems like it will anyway."

Shina bowed politely and turned around and disappeared.

***

A month passed.

The First Son had returned, but he remained in his residence without making any particular movements.

But under the surface, he and all the other kinsmen were busy gathering cash.

A treasury filled to the brim, as if inhaling breath.

That sturdy door opened simultaneously on a certain day, disgorging all the gold it had accumulated.

It had only been a week since the Potion Development Department facility was installed in the Pantheon. But that place was already so crowded there was no room to stand.

This was because not only outside the development department, but also inside, was filled with proxy buyers sent by the direct-line kinsmen.

Everyone here had come for one thing only. They had come with only one command.

─Buy as much Dark Elixir as possible.

As it was a family business, a system was in place where only one box could be purchased per person for fairness.

That was solved by pouring in people like water.

But the inventory was a different problem.

"Today's supply of Dark Elixir is all sold out! Please come back tomorrow!"

People clamored.

"We waited for 5 hours outside! Please at least renew the waiting tickets so we can get them a little earlier tomorrow!"

"Hey! I was here first! Get in the back!"

"Hey! Don't you dare sneakily switch places over there!"

The consumers' desire to buy was not just certain, it was burning.

The crowd gathered in front of the development department showed no signs of leaving even as time passed.

Even if the kinsmen considered sanctions and delayed their proxy purchases, the family's sorcerers had also heard the rumors.

"Hahahaha!! I bought it!! I bought it!! I finally got a box!!"

"H-Hey! Can't you please just sell me one bottle?"

"Me! Sell it to me! I'll buy it for double the price per bottle!"

But no matter how much they offered, the sorcerers who had succeeded in purchasing didn't even glance at them.

"Dream on. Would you be satisfied with that? You all rushed here because one bottle is not nearly enough. Isn't that right?"

He was right.

One bottle could be obtained through some route, but that was just the beginning with Dark Elixir.

The surprise of witnessing one's next stage. The ecstasy.

But that time was not eternal, and a great emptiness rushed in.

The sorcerers of Millesdusk, for whom coveting power was fundamental, could not endure that emptiness and paid in gold coins.

30 gold coins per bottle. 900 gold coins per box.

It wasn't a cheap price, but if you thought of it as research expenses, it wasn't that regrettable.

If only you could buy it at the regular price.

"Did you hear? They say Dark Elixir is being sold on the black market."

"R-Really? Ahem... How much did they say it was...?"

"Don't even ask. The price per bottle is double, double. And they say there are even scammers who sell fakes that just have a strange color."

At a glance, one might say it's just double.

But it had only been a week since the facility was installed.

In other words, the more its utility spread,

It was a self-evident truth that demand would also explode, and its value would skyrocket.

"The Execution Department should flay those guys alive. Are there really such madmen?"

In the first place, obtaining Dark Elixir on the black market was a life-threatening affair.

The sorcerers grumbled and demanded an increase in supply, but there was nothing they could do.

The Potion Development Department could only sell what Jubel brought in, and the Youngest Son, of course, had no intention of increasing the supply.

As soon as the first week of releasing Dark Elixir passed, Jubel flew in like the wind.

"Youngest Son-nim! Youngest Son-nim! Look at this! The sales are insane!"

"Yes. You sent it to me first with a Messenger Ghoul. You didn't have to come in person."

"I'm sorry. I was too excited, and since I didn't get a reply soon, I was worried something might have happened to you."

"I have nothing to say about that. The Butler is still clumsy at handling Messenger Ghouls and keeps making them explode."

Jubel's voice became solemn at the same time.

"...I heard the news. That the Head Maid has stepped down."

Her presence in the Dark Moon Grand Castle was so great that even the family's greatest merchant used honorifics.

Everyone felt her absence, and it would be the same for Lubosch, who would soon be ordered to return.

The Youngest Son was no different, but he shook his head and looked at the matter at hand.

"The income is much higher than expected. Is it because of my older brother's participation?"

"Yes. The initial supply ran out long ago, and the Forest Witch-nim and the Hexa employees are working through the night."

"Reduce the supply as time goes on. We need to maintain this craze until the second processing stage."

"Of course. Then, may I ask when you expect that second processing stage to be?"

I wanted to answer, but it was still too early.

Just as with the first processing, there were several things to prepare for the second.

Among them, Dusk Citadel was essential.

"Not long ago, the Chairman of Dusk Citadel told me this. That he's thinking of passing on his position to someone soon."

"...Did Chairman Chapman convey his opinion to you directly, Youngest Son-nim?"

"Yes. I'm not sure if it was just to me, but for now, that's the case. It means it's time to start getting greedy."

"For that stubborn old man to even give a hint. That's something. Then, are you thinking of taking over the citadel?"

The Youngest Son nodded.

"I must have gained a lot of experience as an Associate Councilor until now. It's about time I gave 'D' a new title."

"The funds that will go to you, Youngest Son-nim, are as per that settlement statement. I don't know for sure, but right now, the wealthiest among the direct-line kinsmen is you, Youngest Son-nim."

Force, power, and wealth.

Of the three powers that determined a person's position, wealth had become my greatest strength.

And in politics, there was nothing as important as wealth. The same was true even in the politics of sorcerers.

"I will be on my way now. When I come next time, I'll bring the gold wagons."

"Bring them with both hands full."

"Don't worry, I'll bring enough to need Mariella to carry it."

Jubel laughed heartily and left.

"It's about time I went to see D."

I should get out my shabby clothes for the first time in a while.

"Head Maid. My clothes... Never mind."

I realized it after I said it and ended up cutting myself off.

[If you were going to be like that, you should have held on to her.]

I didn't reply to the magic sword's words and opened the outer wall.

So there stood the Butler, who was about to knock.

"Did something urgent happen?"

"Th-That! The porter found the Head Maid-nim outside Eclipse!"

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