Winning Over The Old Witch!

I went to the slave trader.

On a back street of the royal capital stood a large manor, tucked away in silence.

When I went inside, I was shown down a thickly carpeted hallway into a spacious parlor.

I sat down on a plush sofa arranged around a table.

Sitting across from me was a sharp-eyed middle-aged man, the slave merchant, who opened his mouth.

“Welcome. What can I do for you today?”

“I’ve got some questions for the old witch. I’ll pay. And I want the cheapest unconditional slave you’ve got in this place. I don’t care if they’re half-dead.”

As expected, I wanted an unconditional slave to mind the shop.

Right now, there were just too many secrets I didn’t want exposed.

On top of that, I had the petite elixirs, and Liricia could fully heal people, so I figured even someone injured or sick wouldn’t be a problem.

But the slave merchant grimaced in pain.

“Madam Cordelia’s fee depends on negotiations with her directly, so I’ll have her called. However, as for unconditional slaves, at the moment…”

“What’s wrong?”

“They’ve all been sold. There is a certain customer who buys them regularly…”

“But isn’t it strange to buy them on a regular basis? What do they even do with that many slaves…?”

Liricia, sitting beside me, frowned as she asked.

The slave merchant spoke in a heavy tone.

“They say things like they’re sending them to a villa, or as gifts to other countries… We did have people look into it, and it seems they are in fact doing those things, so from our side there is little we can…”

“Is there any way you can tell me that person’s name?”

“I’m terribly sorry. I cannot disclose personal information.”

“Yeah, figured as much. I wanted one I could negotiate for directly… but fine. Get the old lady—Cordelia—for me.”

“Yes, at once.”

The slave merchant stood and walked over to the elderly butler waiting by the wall.

He whispered something to him, and the butler quickly left the parlor.

The slave merchant didn’t return to the table but instead went over to stand by the entrance.

I sipped my tea and waited for a while.

Then the double doors opened, and the witch Cordelia came in.

Green hair streaked with silver, the brim of her hat swaying as she walked.

She sat down across the table and grinned.

“Good of you to come, Alec. Looks like you’ve found yourself a way to make money, eh? Heh heh heh.”

“More or less. I want to talk about the rejuvenation potion. How much will it cost?”

“Just the potion? You don’t want to ask about that sword? …Well, since it’s you asking, Alec, I’ll say a hundred thousand golt. Kukku.”

“Sword?”

“You’re not having any trouble with it?”

She tilted her head, as if she’d just asked something strange.

Liricia used her finger-monocle skill and looked at the sword hanging at my waist.

“Oh—Master! It says ‘Demon God Sword Rune Greed.’”

“So you know it, do you? It’s a greedy demon god that turned into a sword after death and keeps sucking up mana… Though it seems to have met a truly outrageous master, poor thing. Heh heh heh.”

“So that’s what it was. Well, consider this your consultation fee—here.”

I took out a large gold coin from my pouch and handed it over.

Cordelia picked it up with fingers like dried twigs and slipped it into her robe.

“So, what did you want to ask?”

“First off, can you tell me the ingredients for the rejuvenation potion? If we gathered them ourselves, it’d bring the cost down, right?”

“Pffft! You think I’d just reveal a secret art that earns that much money? If you want me to tell you, bring me five thousand trillion golt! Hyah hyah hyah!”

Cordelia snorted, then laughed high and loud, as if mocking me.

…Yeah, that was exactly the answer I’d expected.

I kept my voice calm as I spoke.

“I figured as much. I just wanted to confirm it before we got to the real question.”

“Oh?”

Cordelia stopped laughing and stared straight at me.

I leaned forward and said,

“Is there any item you don’t have that would let you make the rejuvenation potion more cheaply if you did have it? If there is, tell me, and I’ll go get it.”

Cordelia’s cloudy eyes widened in surprise, then she began chuckling.

“As expected of the man I set my sights on! You’re already looking that far ahead!”

“Yeah. I’ll pay you, and I’ll use your services as many times as it takes. But I want it to be profitable for both of us.”

“Very well… However, what I speak of is a legendary item—even I don’t know if it still exists. You’re all right with that?”

“I am. As long as there’s a chance.”

At my reply, Cordelia gave a deep nod. The brim of her hat shook.

“In truth, there are three things I’ve never managed to get my hands on. The first is the pinnacle of alchemy and the ultimate item of darkness, the ‘Philosopher’s Stone.’”

“I’ve heard of that. They say all alchemists devote their lives to searching for the Philosopher’s Stone.”

“Exactly. But no one has obtained it yet. They all exhaust themselves midway through their research or run out of lifespan.”

“I see… If someone did get it, they’d have to be someone who lived an awfully long time.”

I thought that “long-lived” might be one clue.

Though honestly, it was barely a clue at all.

Cordelia nodded and went on.

“The second is a legendary item said to have sealed away the light of the world’s creation, handed down among the dragonfolk: the ‘Gem of Light.’”

“Oh, that one sounds straightforward. Can’t you just go around asking dragons?”

“I tried that ages ago, of course. I still couldn’t find it, and that’s the problem.”

“Makes sense. So what’s the last one?”

“The third is the ‘Idol of the Evil God,’ a symbol of cursecraft said to give birth to all curses.”

“An evil god… Liricia, ever heard of it?”

I asked Liricia beside me.

She was an angel, so I figured she might know more about things related to gods.

But Liricia lowered her brows sadly.

“I’m sorry, Master. There are multiple beings called evil gods, and there are nameless evil gods who never even enter the records. I can’t say right away which one this refers to.”

“I see… so even you don’t know.”

This was going to be tough.

As expected of legendary items.

Cordelia smiled faintly and spoke.

“I wasn’t really expecting you to bring them, mind.”

“If I brought you all three, how much would the potion cost?”

“Right now I’m using shoddy substitutes, so the material costs are high. If I had all three, let’s see… including my fee, one-tenth: twenty-five million.”

“Twenty-five million golt, huh… That’s at least within reach if I push myself.”

I already had about 6.7 million golt on hand. On top of that, I had the petite elixirs.

And since I’d be with the ageless Liricia forever, I’d need to use the potion more than once.

So cheaper was definitely better.

Then Cordelia curled her lips in a wicked grin.

“If you hand them over to me, I’ll throw in five uses for free for each one.”

If I brought all three, that would be fifteen free doses.

Two hundred twenty-five years’ worth. At the original price, that was worth three billion seven hundred fifty million golt.

In other words, that was how valuable those things were.

I shook my head.

“Sorry, but I’m not planning to sell them. My apologies.”

“Well, I figured as much. I’d do the same… Anything else?”

At that, I took out an industrial-size bottle of petite elixir from my pouch.

“I can make this and supply it in bulk. Would that get you to lower the price a bit?”

“What is this huge bottle?”

Cordelia’s wrinkled face twisted even further as she picked up the bottle.

She peered inside, eyes going wide, then dipped a finger in and tasted a drop.

Immediately, she coughed violently.

“Gah! A potion infused with holy-wave energy! …Hmm. I see.”

“I’m planning to sell it under the name ‘petite elixir’… What’s wrong?”

“You said you could supply it in bulk. How much are we talking?”

“As many liters as you want. Tons, if you like.”

“Heh heh. I see how it is… Very well. This will have its uses… If you give me one ton, I’ll lower the price by ten million golt for the first time only.”

“So it’ll be fifteen million. That helps. I was thinking of selling a hundred cc for ten thousand.”

“That’s too cheap. You could get thirty to fifty thousand for that. And just so you know, the only reason my discount’s that steep is because I subtracted the cost of building storage for a ton of this stuff.”

“I get it. As shrewd as ever, old lady. You don’t miss a thing.”

I shrugged in exasperation.

…Still, this should have created a regular business link between us.

There was now a real chance we could deal directly, without going through the slave trader who took a fee.

Which meant I could expect even further discounts.

Cordelia chuckled darkly as she spoke.

“Anything else?”

“No, that’s about it for now. As for the petite elixir, just contact me through this shop. …All right then, thanks.”

I handed her a note with a map to the store and stood up.

Just then, Cordelia suddenly spoke.

“Oh, that’s right. I forgot a message.”

“What is it?”

“Someone asked that you stop by the back door on your way out.”

“The back door? Who?”

“An elf girl.”

She said it as if she already knew.

Which meant it had to be either the beautiful elf or the elf girl I’d met before.

“…Got it. I’ll swing by.”

I had nothing urgent today. We could handle the gathering quests just fine around our forest mansion.

I didn’t know which elf it would be, but I could at least hear her out.

If it was a hassle, I could just turn her down.

After leaving the slave trader’s manor, I walked around to the back.

There, with the back door cracked open, an elf was peeking out at the empty back alley.

It was the slender beauty Sheryl.

When I approached, she spoke to me in a grave voice.

“I’m sorry to trouble you, Hero.”

“Former Hero. What’s wrong?”

“I know it’s wrong to ask this of someone who has already retired as Hero, but… Teti—ah, Teti is the elf girl who used to be an unconditional slave here…”

“What about her?”

“She was bought the day before yesterday, and I’ve heard she’s being treated terribly.”

“She brought it on herself, didn’t she? Besides, violence is supposed to be forbidden.”

“It sounds like she’s suffering it anyway…”

“What?”

Sheryl lowered her well-shaped face, forcing out the words.

“It’s true she did something bad. But don’t you think she must have had some reason?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because the spirits haven’t abandoned her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Elves are born in the forest and live alongside the spirits. If we do wrong, the spirits turn their backs on us, and we lose all our power as elves. But Teti hasn’t lost hers…”

“Now that you mention it, she did use spirit telepathy… Do you know where she is?”

“I tried searching with the spirits, but she seems to be hidden. For some reason, even my spirit telepathy with her no longer reaches. It feels like they moved her to some secret place… I’m sorry I’m no help.”

“I understand. I’ll look into it when I have time… though it’ll be rough.”

“Thank you. Then… excuse me.”

She bowed deeply, her blond hair swaying, then closed the door.

Left in the nearly deserted back alley, I shrugged my shoulders.

“There’s a lot we don’t know—starting with where she even is.”

“Even so, it bothers me. Putting a slave through that kind of torment is just wrong…”

“Yeah. I want to treat Liricia kindly too. Honestly, I’d rather end the slave contract and stand as equals.”

“That makes me happy… but there is the contract. I believe it was for about sixteen years.”

“I’d take sixteen hundred years, or a hundred sixty million years. I want us to be together for as long as possible.”

“Yes…!”

Liricia blushed happily and looked down.

But she gripped my hand firmly.

Fingers entwined in a lover’s grip, Liricia and I walked back to our shop.