"We can start selling as soon as we move into mass production. Please handle distribution well."
"I'll secure the materials for mass production right away. And of course, I'll make sure distribution goes smoothly."
This is why it's always best to work with someone who has a good head for business.
Having wrapped up the important matters in no time, we exchanged a satisfied handshake.
"Oh! And here's this month's donation and offering fee."
At that moment, Lute set down two pouches.
I took a deep breath and immediately reached for the pouch with the money.
The fact that I instinctively went for the offering fee rather than the donation meant for the Great Temple's funds—well, that's just who I am.
[500 gold.]
This crazy—no, amazing person actually handed over 50 million won as an offering fee.
"You know I always love you, right?"
"You love my money, you mean. I worry that the day my money runs out, the Saintess's love will run cold too."
As I rubbed my cheek against the pouch with delight, Lute grumbled something absurd.
"There's no way the Duke's money would ever run dry."
Unless his fate follows the original plot, which it won't—since I've already derailed it—there's absolutely no chance of that happening.
"So my love won't run dry either."
As my divine power increases, the blessings will become stronger, and naturally, the potions will become more effective.
And that effectiveness will turn into money, which will flow back to me.
To keep this perfect cycle going, I absolutely need Lute, so I was determined to protect him thoroughly, no matter what.
"Now that's a sweet line."
But what's this? Why is he suddenly smiling like that? As if he's displeased about something...
Nah, I'm probably just imagining things. There's no reason for him to feel that way.
After Lute left, I immediately called Iric and Seth to the parlor.
Both of them seemed visibly excited, likely having heard the good news about the potion development team successfully completing the prototype.
"It's far superior to the sample we received earlier. Personally, I also really like that it includes the Hias flower."
The Hias flower is the symbol of the Sun God's Great Temple.
It was the perfect ingredient for what would become our main product line of potions.
Iric agreed with me.
"Exactly. And since the Hias flower only grows in the Great Temple, no other potion company can replicate it."
"And it's even better knowing the Hias flower won't disappear."
Seth also smiled happily.
Just as he said, even when every other flower in the garden had died, the Hias flower alone survived.
Unlike the others, the Hias flower only needs sunlight and the divine power of the Sun God.
Of course, with fewer priests, the total divine power had decreased, so it no longer filled the entire garden like before—but that was only temporary.
Soon, the beautiful flowers would once again cover the Great Temple in splendor.
I looked forward to that day.
"There's just one problem. The effectiveness still falls a bit short of alchemical potions."
I let them revel in their joy for a while before gently laying the groundwork.
The real reason I called them here was for this.
"So I've been thinking—what if we infused our potions with the power of sacred relics or divine artifacts?"
This was the excuse I came up with to hide the fact that I was actually using blessings.
"The power of sacred relics or divine artifacts…? Is that really necessary?"
Unlike Seth, who fell into thought, Iric immediately showed reluctance.
"It is necessary. If we don't seize momentum from the start, we'll lose our chance."
And that wasn't an excuse—it was the truth.
"These are potions from none other than the Great Temple of the Sun God, renowned for its healing power. But what if they're underwhelming? What do you think people will say?"
They'll say, "Looks like the Sun God's temple really has gone downhill. Maybe it's finally collapsing for real."
And just like that, they'll turn their backs on us completely.
"That can't happen. From the very beginning, we need people to react with, 'Ah, as expected of the Sun God's Great Temple—this is something else!' First impressions are everything in business."
You get that, right? You pure-hearted folks who have no instinct for business.
"Of course, I'm not saying we'll keep using them forever. Once the potion development team creates something better, we'll stop."
Sacred relics and divine artifacts don't have infinite power.
Especially relics—they have particularly short lifespans.
So I had to make it clear we'd be limiting their use.
Not that I actually planned to use them, anyway.
"...Understood. Then let's go with that."
Fortunately, it seemed my persuasion worked, as Iric, after much contemplation, agreed without major objection.
Seth, who had even less business sense than Iric, gave up on voicing his own opinion altogether, so it was essentially unanimous.
With the decision made, we put our heads together to choose a sacred relic to use.
And, conveniently enough, there was a perfect one available.
From there, everything proceeded like clockwork.
Iric did momentarily say something ridiculous about wanting to personally bless the potions with the relic himself…
But since he had the important job of being a "healing-power shuttle," I managed to safely claim the task for myself.
With Lute supplying the ingredients, and the potion production team and healing-power shuttle team grinding away for several days…
We finally completed 500 bottles of the initial batch for sale.
"Wow, what a sight."
Standing in front of 500 bottles filled with deep orange liquid, I couldn't help but feel a bit overwhelmed.
The blessings had to work as planned—would it all go smoothly?
Alone in the room, I took a slow, deep breath, then reached out toward the potions.
[Activating skill: Blessing.]
Golden divine power slowly seeped into the potions.
I felt relief seeing all 500 bottles begin to glow at once—but it didn't last long.
Soon, an unexpected side effect hit me.
"Cough!"
With a sharp, metallic smell, I coughed up blood.
"Did it get on anything?!"
Panicking at the blood dripping down my hands, I quickly pulled up my clothes to check.
If Monica or Victoria saw even a drop of blood, it would be a disaster.
[Skill 'Blessing' has been overused. The strain on the user's body is severe.]
A sigh escaped me as I saw the system message flashing before my eyes.
Coughing up blood over something as minor as blessing a few hundred bottles?
I'll have to do this several more times—this is bad.
"What exactly is the strain? Am I, like, losing life span or something?"
[The user's physical fatigue increases. The body is temporarily weakened. However, lifespan is unaffected, and side effects will diminish as divine power grows stronger.]
Ah, if it's just that, it's fine.
I mean, all I do at the temple these days is morning workouts, idle chatting, and the occasional blessing.
A bit of physical weakness won't cause any real problems.
Clearing away the system message, I looked fondly at the potion bottles now glowing in beautiful fiery hues.
…Maybe because I just coughed up blood, but that reddish glow kind of looks like my blood. Let's just ignore that little detail.
I washed my bloody hands in the bathroom and carefully checked my clothes to make sure nothing had stained.
After ventilating the room thoroughly, I finally called Monica and Victoria, who had been waiting outside the door.
"Wow! The color changed! It's really beautiful. Is this the effect of the sacred relic?"
At Monica's amazed reaction, I nodded and showed her the relic I had in hand.
A golden censer-shaped sacred relic called Lightgold.
It boosted inherent abilities, making it the perfect prop.
Unfortunately, it didn't match the actual power of the blessing cast directly by me, the Saintess of the Sun God.
If it had even come close, I would've used the relic instead of my blessing, but the effect was so weak that it would remain a mere cover story.
"It looks so mystical and special. I think it'll sell really well, Saintess!"
"Right? So let's get moving. The sooner we move, the sooner we can start selling."
"Yes!"
Monica answered energetically and began loading the potions onto the trolley that had been prepared in advance.
But for some reason, Victoria wasn't moving. Instead, she was looking around the room.
"Lady Victoria? What's wrong?"
"It's just… I thought I smelled blood."
That dangerously sharp comment almost made me bite my tongue.
I even aired out the room—what a terrifying sense of smell...
Even though I was once a detective and fairly sensitive myself, there was no comparing me to knights who went through monstrous levels of training.
"Really? I don't smell anything."
"Me neither. And there's no reason there would be any blood."
Thankfully, Monica, whose divine power was strong but whose senses were perfectly normal, backed me up.
I quickly went along with her and pretended to know nothing.
"...I see."
Thanks to that, Victoria quickly gave up and joined Monica in moving the potion bottles.
Though the way she kept glancing around suggested she wasn't completely convinced.
Next time, I really need to make sure the room is thoroughly ventilated. If this happens again, I might actually get caught.
Once all the potion bottles were loaded onto the trolley, we headed to the entrance of the temple.
Iric, who had been chatting with a woman I'd never seen before, welcomed us.
"All finished with the work?"
"Yes, it was a success."
I showed off the noticeably changed color of the potion.
But it wasn't Iric who gasped with awe—it was the woman standing next to him.
"Oh, this is it? Wow, look at that color! I've seen countless potions in my time, but never one with such a brilliant and mystical hue. Even people with no interest would stop for a second look!"
The woman lavished praise with a bold laugh.
With her solid build, violet hair, and teal eyes, she was striking in every way.
No matter how you looked at her, she didn't seem like an ordinary person… Strange.
Was she ever in the original story?