It has been two days since Celia began managing the Terrilif trees in earnest.
The results were placed before me in bottles.
The green liquid within the bottle was a mana potion brewed from Terrilif leaves.
As I opened the cap, a strong mana aura rose.
‘Amazing. Truly top-tier quality?’
With an excited heart, I took a sip of the test potion I had made.
At that moment, a sigh of admiration escaped me as mana surged through my body.
‘Is it because the ingredients are so good?’
It was a huge success.
This was an experimental potion made without proper equipment.
I couldn’t imagine what would happen if it were made properly.
‘I could sell this right away!’
In fact, potions containing Terrilif leaves were already being sold at high prices.
However, they were so rare that they were difficult to obtain even with money.
If I were to sell potions in this situation, this general store would be overflowing with customers.
‘Azmo’s success is my gain as well.’
What if Azmo were to dominate the potion market after dominating the dungeon business?
A significant portion of those profits would undoubtedly flow to me.
‘They are truly loyal.’
Didn’t they offer me all their items and potions when I first visited the general store?
Now, the items and potions had been replenished, which showed how capable Azmo and Betta were.
Celia offered me sacrifices, while Azmo and Betta offered items and potions.
As I was deep in thought, Betta approached me.
“Master, I think we can start production in earnest now.”
As Betta said, all preparations for potion production were complete.
With Betta adding four more saplings to the original six, a total of ten Terrilif trees now filled the garden.
And under Celia’s devoted care, the Terrilif trees were growing rapidly day by day.
This alone meant I didn’t have to worry about supply.
‘It would be even better if propagation were successful…’
However, I shook my head.
It would be great to increase the number of trees by grafting or planting seeds, but there was no need to think that far ahead for now.
After all, I could already make a considerable profit with the current number.
However, it was time to consider the practical issues.
When potions made from Terrilif trees were released, a lot of attention would be drawn at first.
But what if such rare potions were continuously released, not just once or twice?
‘They’ll try to get information.’
They would question how Terrilif potions were continuously produced and, furthermore, investigate to find out.
Eventually, if the tail is too long, it will be stepped on.
There was a chance that the general store, Azmo’s dungeon, and even the existence of elves might be revealed to the public.
If it were just an investigation, the possibility of it ending there seemed incredibly low.
‘That absolutely cannot happen.’
In short, this place was no different than a dungeon I had to protect.
No matter how powerful the monsters guarding the dungeon were, if hunters continued to flock, they would eventually be exhausted and fall.
In this situation, I had two options: Should I hide until I possessed overwhelming power, or should I find another way to distribute the potions?
Betta also shared my concerns.
“You are right, Master. However, you don’t need to worry too much. We will handle the sales and distribution without any problems.”
Confidence shone in Betta’s eyes.
Come to think of it, weren’t Azmo and Betta thoroughly researching and operating the general store business?
“Yes, I trust you.”
Even if I don’t worry, they will handle everything from potion production to distribution and sales.
Now I had only one concern left.
‘What about Celia?’
It was about Celia’s living situation.
For two days, she lived at home as usual. Celia commuted to and from here with Maru.
It was only natural.
It was more beneficial for an elf to manage Terrilif trees than to do household chores.
But she couldn’t keep commuting to manage the trees forever.
‘If there’s a problem with the trees, it’s difficult to take immediate action.’
The best solution would be for Celia to stay here.
But what if Celia’s elven identity was discovered by others if she did?
At least I could rest assured because there were gargoyles at home, but there was nothing to protect Celia here.
Azmo and Betta were at most 4-star monsters.
‘It’s also awkward to bring the gargoyles.’
Then my home would be empty when Maru and I were away.
‘Should I just live here too?’
No good solution came to mind.
The best I could do was bring the monsters on the El Dorado Continent to where I was.
‘I’ll think about that later.’
In fact, even if I worried about it now, it wouldn’t be solved.
It seemed best to maintain the current situation for the time being.
Most importantly, I had a more important task ahead of me.
‘Minotaurus Dungeon.’
It was the dungeon raid.
The elite team was assigned two dungeons.
Among them, the Stone Golem Dungeon was cleared using the Death Knight.
And the last remaining dungeon was the Minotaurus Dungeon.
The problem was that the dungeon’s rank was A, and the dungeon’s owner was a Minotaurus Chieftain of the same rank.
It was a difficult dungeon for the elite team to clear, as they lacked A-Rank hunters.
However, Yerin Jeong estimated the dungeon’s rank to be B due to a lack of information.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter much.’
In the end, Maru and I were scheduled to participate together.
Moreover, I planned to dispatch one more monster for the dungeon, so I was confident in clearing the dungeon regardless of how it turned out.
‘Still, let me prepare a bit more.’
I immediately instructed Betta.
“Betta, please make about 5 potions.”
“I will follow your command, Master.”
Even 5 potions would be quite expensive, but it didn’t matter to me.
After all, I could continue to produce them.
And in case of an emergency, it was a small price to pay for my life.
Dungeons always have many variables.
If I ran out of mana at a crucial moment and couldn’t use skills, it would lead to immediate damage.
To prevent such a situation, I planned to bring not only regular potions but also potions made from Terrilif leaves.
Even if I didn’t use them, if the team members were to receive my help, my importance would only increase, which was not a bad situation.
Upon my command, Betta immediately headed to the garden behind the building.
Maru and I continued to examine the items inside the shop.
Just then, a customer arrived.
“Welcome.”
The incubus employees immediately came out to greet the customer.
“Is there anything you need?”
I quietly watched the incubuses.
I was curious about how they treated customers.
And in their actions, I was able to break a stereotype about incubuses.
‘I thought incubuses were only friendly to women…’
The customer who visited this time was a man, and I thought the incubuses would dislike him.
However, contrary to my expectations, the incubuses greeted the customer with friendly smiles.
“Haha, if you purchase over a certain amount, we will provide you with a pleasant service.”
‘Service too?’
I didn’t know what kind of service it was, but they seemed to have grasped the customers’ needs well.
‘Service is always a good thing.’
I definitely misjudged incubuses.
The ones now were not incubus monsters but employees passionately dedicated to their work.
‘Of course, if they treated customers discriminatorily like that, Azmo wouldn’t have hired them as employees.’
After confirming their behavior, Maru and I headed to the back of the building.
Celia’s shift was ending soon.
* * *
While Betta was working hard on the production and distribution of mana potions, the dungeon raid date approached.
Fortunately, I received 5 Terrilif potions as scheduled.
After entrusting Celia to Betta and returning, I saw a familiar figure waiting in front of my house.
“Greetings! I will safely escort Master Kanghyeon Lee today as well!”
As before, Assistant Manager Seoyoon Park came to pick up Maru and me.
The atmosphere had become softer compared to our first meeting, probably because I gave him alcohol last time.
“This time, we will head directly to the site, not through the Fire Bird Guild.”
The vehicle headed towards the location of the Minotaurus Dungeon.
While traveling, I heard various stories from Seoyoon Park.
“The Team Leader is already preparing at the site.”
In other words, everyone except me had already arrived at the site in preparation for the dungeon raid.
This was considerate of me.
Seoyoon Park’s story didn’t end there.
“Also, the Team Leader wanted to ask you for a favor.”
“A favor?”
“Yes, the Team Leader wishes for you, Master, to play a support role in this Minotaurus Dungeon raid.”
The support role meant exactly that.
It meant waiting outside and preparing for any contingency, rather than entering the dungeon directly.
“Ah, please don’t misunderstand. It’s not that Master Kanghyeon Lee’s skills are lacking; rather, they are too outstanding.”
In other words, my mission in this dungeon raid was to wait idly.
From Yerin Jeong’s perspective, she likely judged that measuring my skills further was meaningless since I had cleared the Stone Golem Dungeon alone.
And after all, I was a consultant to the team, not an official guild member.
It was likely more beneficial to gain experience for the team members rather than to increase my role in the dungeon raid.
As I listened to these various stories, the vehicle had already arrived at the site.
“Ah! Kanghyeon, was your journey here comfortable?”
Upon arriving at the site, Yerin Jeong greeted me with a smile.
“Thanks to you, I came comfortably.”
Yerin Jeong and the team members were already armed.
Yoon Taekyoung’s appearance was also visible among them; as soon as he saw me, he turned his back.
“As Seoyoon probably told you, Kanghyeon, you can just wait outside today. Of course, the settlement will be properly distributed, so don’t worry about that.”
Although waiting idly was fine, there was one issue that bothered me.
It was the fact that the dungeon Yerin Jeong was about to enter was an A-Rank dungeon, not a B-Rank.
However, it was awkward to openly mention it here.
Even if I said this dungeon was actually an A-Rank dungeon, I didn’t know if they would believe me, and even if they did, it would obviously be troublesome.
Starting with questions about how I knew, various things would bother me.
It was right to follow Yerin Jeong’s orders here and have my own insurance.
“Yes, I understand. However, I will send my familiar along. If there’s a judgment of danger, it will intervene on its own.”
I decided to assign Maru as Yerin Jeong’s escort.
“That should be fine. Thank you for your concern.”
Yerin Jeong smiled at me.
Then, they began preparing to enter the dungeon.
Watching her, I touched the screen.
– You have selected the dungeon ‘Wandering Maze’ from [Dungeon Support & Dispatch].
– Please select the monster to dispatch to dungeon ‘Wandering Maze’.
At first, I thought about dispatching the Death Knight.
However, this dungeon was to be conquered by Yerin Jeong and her team, excluding me.
It would be bad for me if any unnecessary incident occurred just by seeing the Death Knight.
‘Hmm.’
The owner of this dungeon is an A-Rank monster.
In the end, I needed a being of 5-star rank or higher that also resembled a human as much as possible.
If they looked human, unnecessary conflicts could be avoided.
‘Would Celia be better?’
Celia suddenly came to mind as a candidate, but I didn’t choose her.
Of course, Celia was an excellent being.
However, she was currently entrusted with the important task of managing the dungeon.
There was no need to take her away just to conquer the Minotaurus Dungeon for a short while.
‘In the end, it has to be him.’
Next, I looked at Baalcherit.
Baalcherit was a vampire and had a human-like appearance.
‘Will Baalcherit be okay?’
Even if she didn’t listen to me and caused trouble, it wouldn’t matter.
‘Maru is here, so he’ll handle it properly.’
After all, Maru was participating in this raid.
If Baalcherit tried to do anything strange, Maru would immediately subdue her.
It was right to be cautious, as she had refused my offer at first.
“Alright, you’re chosen for this dispatch.”
– Dispatching Baalcherit to dungeon ‘Wandering Maze’.
* * *
Baalcherit, working hard today as well.
A voice echoed in the air to her.
“Conquer the dungeon.”
Along with the voice, the air warped, and a gap opened.
It was clearly a dimensional portal that could lead to another place.
“N-no way…”
Baalcherit was shocked.
She was surprised not because of the dimensional portal, but because the voice she heard was familiar.
“To me… you have returned!”
The offer she had rejected once.
How much she regretted that choice.
‘If only I had accepted the offer then…’
She wouldn’t have had her dungeon taken away by the Underworld Merchant Guild.
But regretting past events was useless.
Still, Baalcherit resolved to change. This was that moment.
Baalcherit decided to accept the voice’s offer.
‘Conquer the dungeon?’
She was confident in that.
Baalcherit stepped through the dimensional portal.
