89. The Saint's Blessing (1)

“Business partner!! Take a look at this!!”

A dark blue-green pill. Yujin took the round one he’d been handed and checked its information.

The performance came in a touch below what Yujin remembered. Even so, for a mere 3rd Rank like Shin Junseok to have nailed the blending ratio perfectly without any skill correction was a feat that bordered on the miraculous.

‘Even 20% is enormous.’

In combat, an outcome could split on a single second’s difference. If simply swallowing the pill sped up rearrangement by a full twenty percent, that alone could throw all sorts of variables into a fight.

“Well made.”
“Heh heh. I am rather impressive, aren’t I.”
“Stack up more proficiency and you’ll be able to push the rearrangement speed as high as 27%.”
“…”

No.
I mean, I know you’re impressive and all, but you can’t just rest on your laurels there.
A man needs his carrot and his stick.

“By the way, why’s the name left blank?”
“The name you suggested was a bit cri— ah, no, it didn’t grab me, so I wanted to put a different name on it.”

Oh, brother.
That cringey name.
You do realize you’re its original author?

Watching Shin Junseok spit on his own face without the faintest idea he was doing it, Yujin let a snort of laughter slip out.

“Then you should’ve decided on one yourself.”
“Hah, haha. My naming sense isn’t great, you see. So why don’t you decide, Master Yujin.”
“Didn’t you just say you didn’t like the one I gave you?”
“Well, give it some good thought and settle on one.”

So this too was a butterfly effect of the regression. Trivial, but a little amusing.

Yujin fiddled with his chin, mulling over a name for the dark blue-green pill.

“The Saint’s Blessing.”
“Isn’t that a bit grandiose?”
“It’s a drug made on a Saint’s advice. A little grandiose is fine.”

Shin Junseok stared blankly at Yujin.

“Ah. Right. You were a Saint, weren’t you, partner.”
“What’s with that reaction?”
“Watching the way you carry on, you’re so far removed from anything like faith. I’d believe it if someone told me you were an atheist.”
“Talking like an atheist in an age when Constellations hand down blessings.”

Yujin cackled.

Shin Junseok worked his lips, the pill clutched in his grip.

The System’s messages, audible to Shin Junseok alone. His eyes lit up, bright and shining, as he seized Yujin’s hand tight.

“P-partner!!!”
“System tell you that you’d accomplished a great feat?”
“How did you know?”
“Because the Heart-Streng— no, the Saint’s Blessing is a drug that’s never been made before.”

Only natural. Before the regression, the first person ever to make that drug had been the Grand Alchemist Shin Junseok himself.

‘He won’t go asking where it came from, will he?’

Even as Yujin squirmed inwardly, casting about for some way to explain himself, Shin Junseok bent violently at the waist.

“To share the recipe for a drug like that with me without holding anything back!!! I’ll stay loyal to you from here on out too!!”
“Y-yeah. You do that.”

Not a trace of suspicion in him; he bowed his head low enough to plant his nose in the dirt if no one stopped him. And it made sense. The strange feats Yujin had pulled off by now were already too many to count, so rather than wonder where the knowledge came from, Shin Junseok was too busy lapping up every perk that came his way whenever they worked together.

‘Knew I made the right call sticking with my partner!’

With no way of knowing what was in Shin Junseok’s heart, Yujin nodded with a sour look.

The second product out of Shin Junseok’s workshop, this so-called Saint’s Blessing. The question now was which channel to run it through.

“Using the Arahan Guild like before is… out of the question.”
“Doing anything that’d lend those bastards strength is a bit much, yeah.”
“How about Phoenix?”
“Rejected. This is a different situation from the mid-grade potions.”

The mass-produced mid-grade potions had good effect for their production cost, but they were replaceable. The genuine article was a mid-grade potion made with Troll blood, and even without it, moving in a team meant a Priest-class member was essential.

“Potions are mainly used in emergencies, after all.”

The Saint’s Blessing was different. It was a pill that conferred a mana-rearrangement-speed reduction and the Moving Cast trait both. Sure, it fell short of the genuine Moving Cast, but for a magic-line Hunter with no way to handle a crisis, where else would you find a drug this good?

“You’re saying there’s no substitute for it.”
“Which is exactly why we need to set up a trading partner with care.”

Just how much impact the Saint’s Blessing would have once it hit the market, even Yujin couldn’t easily guess. The product had stirred up a tremendous response even before the regression, and since this pill came a full ten years ahead of its original history, the reaction would only land fiercer than back then, not milder.

“What about Seongcheon Enterprise.”
“Oh. That could work.”
“You don’t mean to distribute it yourself? You’ll have to cut them a commission.”
“Partner. Even I can feel out whether I can stomach something or not.”

Shaking his head, Shin Junseok shuddered all over.

“I can’t take this on alone. My workshop’s weight class is too small.”

A realistic judgment. He went soft and gooey the moment anyone praised him, a man whose eyes spun whenever the talk turned to alchemy. But that cool-headed side of him was the true face of the Grand Alchemist.

“Even so, I’ll just bring in a distributor. I won’t hand over the recipe; I’ll be the one making it.”
“Goes without saying.”

Shin Junseok’s alchemy workshop would shoulder one wing of the Black Company. Down the road they’d need to launch their own brand, and the things they had to do together piled up into mountains. A precious source of income, that.

“Then let’s head back.”

He called the whole party together. Each of them seemed to have made their own gains over the week, and Im Jaebaek still had to take over the handover of the Red Spider’s business operations.

“Representative Cheon. Is this how you hunt as a rule?”
“With the kids, I’d have taken it nice and easy. Guess it didn’t measure up in your eyes, Director Im.”
“Two rounds of ‘nice and easy’ and I think it’d kill a man.”

Im Jaebaek looked revolted. He said as much, but inwardly he’d been startled to learn the Scraps team had climbed to 3rd Rank. Yujin had piled up plenty of experience facing down enemies who exceeded their Stellar Rank, but the Scraps team hadn’t.

‘These guys, really.’

It wasn’t hard to guess that they were pushing themselves to keep the oath they’d sworn to follow at his back.

The party returned to Ground Zero.

“Looks like everyone made it back safe and sound.”
“For the Madam of the Galaxy Pub to come out in her stocking feet to greet us. I’m honored.”
“Hoho. I’m here to show you to your lodgings.”
“What lodgings?”
“You frequent Ground Zero often, don’t you. You ought to have somewhere to stay.”

There was the management of the Red Spider’s businesses to think of, too. Now that the borderlands had become their stage of operations, occasions to drop in and out of Ground Zero would only grow more frequent.

Yujin gave a light nod at the consideration.

“And — you’re Director Im, yes. They’re waiting for you over at the black market.”

Im Jaebaek slipped off to the side and gave his greeting.

“Then I’ll see you later.”
“At least take a shower before you go. Director Im is as good as the face of the Black Company.”

The Black Company hadn’t yet surfaced above the waterline. Its outward-facing activities were the management of Shin Junseok’s workshop and the Red Spider’s businesses. The workshop was only just starting to make a name, and no one knew it sat under the Black Company’s umbrella. In practical terms, the only thing exposed was the Ground Zero side, where they’d swallowed the Red Spider’s operations whole.

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

His expression turning solemn, Im Jaebaek headed into the lodgings the Madam had provided.

Uh.
It’s hardly something to steel yourself over that hard.
Maybe he’s actually got a thing about getting himself clean.

‘What a thing to butt in on, my lord Constellation.’

“Madam. Is Chairman Jin busy these days?”
“He’s always got a lot of work on. Still, for you, Representative Cheon, I’d imagine he’d carve out the time.”
“Then that works out.”
“If you mean to see Chairman Jin, I’ll look at the schedule for you.”
“I’ve got his contact info too, you know?”
“You’d skip over all the pleasantries and just cut to the point, wouldn’t you.”

How had she figured that out? When Yujin blinked, the Madam let out a low sigh.

“You were thinking ‘how did she figure that out,’ weren’t you?”
“Didn’t know you’d learned mind-reading too.”
“It’s, well… no. I can plainly see the sort of thing you’re thinking, at least.”

Madam.
To read my thoughts when I’d barely said a few words — a fearsome person, as expected.

Why.
What.

Shoving aside the thoughts of a guffawing Kronos, he watched the Madam set up the schedule.

“Tomorrow at 11. Does that time work for you?”
“I’ll be bringing my business partner.”
“If it’s Alchemist Shin, the Chairman would be glad to have him too.”

The Madam laughed lightly, a hand over her mouth.

The next day, Seongcheon Group sent an armored vehicle around to the front of the lodgings.

“We’re here to escort you.”

A fully armed bodyguard opened the door, and Shin Junseok blinked.

“Well, now. Being treated as an honored guest is all well and good, but the mood’s a bit much.”
“Since you’re staying in Ground Zero, we prepared thoroughly.”

At the guard’s razor-sharp reply, Shin Junseok scratched his head, looking like he couldn’t make sense of it.

I really can’t tell if this is the same man who, just two weeks ago, would throw a fit at the mere word ‘Ground Zero.’

“The Chairman’ll be waiting. Let’s get going.”

Yujin breezily clapped Shin Junseok on the shoulder, then climbed into the armored vehicle.

The vehicle left Ground Zero and made straight for Seongcheon Enterprise’s head office, and he was able to meet Chairman Jin Seonghyeon right away.

“Thank you for reaching out first. Saint, and Alchemist Shin.”
“Is your daughter doing all right?”
“She’s recovered to the point of strolling the yard now.”

Though they were meeting after a month apart, Jin Seonghyeon kept up the same deferential address he’d used during the treatment.

“She’ll be sensitive to mana. With a bit of luck, she might perceive it and become a Hunter.”
“Ha ha. If it comes to that, I suppose I’ll have to teach her magic, at least.”

The System judged perception by mana aptitude. Patients who had been through Mummification Disease, like Jin Seryeong, stood a high chance of awakening into Hunters. With a 7th-Rank mage for a father and her own mana sensitivity all but sharpened by the disease, the odds of her growing into a capable Hunter looked good.

Enough with the niceties.

“To get to the point, the reason I asked to see you is that I’d like to distribute a drug.”
“By a drug, you mean… Alchemist Shin’s work, I take it.”
“Well, that’s right.”
“The mid-grade potions alone caused a great stir in the market. I have high expectations.”

So he already knew about the mass-produced mid-grade potions. This would go quickly, then.

When Yujin shot him a sidelong glance, Shin Junseok, as if he’d been waiting for it, slid the pill out in front of Jin Seonghyeon.

“This is it, Chairman.”
“Hm. Excuse me a moment.”

Jin Seonghyeon set the dark blue-green pill on his palm and examined it in earnest, while Shin Junseok watched the room with a tense expression.

What was he trembling over so much? One look at the status window and he’d know it was no ordinary drug.

“Th-this?!”

Chairman Jin Seonghyeon’s eyes went wide. Astonishment and admiration churned in his trembling pupils.

“Remarkable. I’d say this is a drug capable of leaving its mark on the Hunter market.”
“I’d like Seongcheon Group to distribute this pill.”
“Is it because of the Arahan Guild?”
“Well, that’s part of it. But I don’t have the capacity to handle distribution, sales, and promotion all at once.”

A pill made by dredging up memories from before the regression. Once the Saint’s Blessing went into distribution, Shin Junseok’s name value would shoot sky-high, and once that value was raised, he could assemble the organization step by step.

“Ha ha. If anything, it seems I should be the one begging you to grant my company distribution rights.”
“Time can be bought with money. This is no different.”
“My, my. The Saint’s generosity and vision are truly vast.”

Jin Seonghyeon let out a short hum, then parted his lips again.

“May I make one proposal?”
“Go ahead.”
“The truth is, I have acquaintances with family members suffering from Mummification Disease.”

He’d been building treatment equipment from the knowledge Yujin had recited to him, but it was still at the testing stage, hard to deploy in the field right away. He’d just been of a mind to put in a commission when Yujin reached out to him first, or so he said.

“I think it’d be better to distribute the pill through that friend than through my company.”
“What’s that friend’s name?”
“A friend named Jeong Sunim, who works as the representative of Daehan Pharmaceutical.”

Daehan Pharmaceutical. The number one name in the country for pharmaceuticals, a firm ranked higher in the business world than even Seongcheon Enterprise.

To be brokered a meeting with the representative of Daehan Pharmaceutical in the middle of a conversation about distributing the Saint’s Blessing… Before he knew it, Yujin licked his lips.