CH 49

Once again, the war against the dragon continued throughout the year.

Lelia was busy saving money, looking for ingredients, like a game addict.

Thanks to her grandfather’s support, she was able to raise money from selling alchemy materials.

Duke Superion first asked Lelia, who was about to sell the pills, “Child, is it because you need pocket money? Feel free to tell this old man. How much do you want?”

“…”

[Ten million won, Grandpa…]

Of course, the Superions were a very wealthy family, so if she would ask for 10 million shillings in allowance, they would gladly hand it over.

But Lelia didn’t want to.

It was too much money for a child’s allowance.

If they asked her what she was going to use it for, she would have nothing to say.

[How could I say I’m going to charge crystals… It’s hard to explain in the first place.]

So Lelia struggled to find an excuse.

“I… want to be someone with a big business in the future. That’s why I’m working in advance.”

When she said that, her grandfather said, “I am proud of you,” adding, “I will give you all my support.”

It took quite a long time to set up a sales outlet. This was because it was quite important to sell safely without being caught by the temple authorities.

The first alchemy pill that Lelia released on the market was a recovery one.

If all the views of the temple had not been focused on the battle against the dragon, the reaction would have been so hot that she would be tracked down.

Because it certainly worked well.

Lelia was confused by the reaction, but she was happy to see the results she received a few months ago.

And thanks to that, she was finally able to open up all the recipes.

Open all recipes ٩(*•̀ᴗ•́*)و

System: Optimization in progress~

After a while, a series of messages came up.

All alchemy recipes are open! Resident Favourability and Business Systems will be reactivated! (*ﾟ∇ﾟ)ﾉ

“Special Favorability” and “Special Recipe” systems are ready! (੭•̀ᴗ•̀)੭

Now we can expand the Dragon Nest, Master! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧ Shall we raise more new dragons?

[Oh…]

Lelia was tongue-tied at the number of newly added recipes.

‘When will I get to make all this stuff? Besides, there are a lot of new ingredients….’

However, in order to make “The Philosopher’s Stone,” all the recipes had to be made once in a while.

For now, Lelia started the most important thing; In-game business.

As soon as it opened, cute animal residents and elves who saw the shop for the first time, came with various requests.

[Now the dragons are going to be very busy.]

In real life, she had to sell alchemy pills, and in game, she had to sell them to residents.

So it was natural for dragons to get busy procuring ingredients. Still, given the addition of a nest, it seemed possible to raise a few more.

Lelia moved on to the screen to manage the dragons, who were gathering the ingredients.

Currently, Lelia has three baby dragons: the Gold Dragon, the Red Dragon, and the White Dragon.

And next to it, a volcanic illustration appeared.

A new nest.

When she pressed there, a speech bubble popped out again.

Expand the Dragon Nest? (•̀ ▽ • ))

[Wait. Don’t tell me…!]

Nest expansion needs 500 Crystal! Do you want me to charge the crystal?

“…”

She was angry for some reason, but it was ambiguous to be angry because she made money for this.

Lelia charged the crystal more with a dazed look.

Dragon’s Nest Expansion Complete! If you get more food, the dragons will show up! Would you like to buy food?╰(*°▽°*)╯

“Argh, I’m pissed off!”

Lelia clenched her fist. She almost threw her precious necklace.

“Haa…”

She took a deep breath and saw that the food needed to lure the new dragons cost 100 crystals.

Lelia trembled as she pressed the buy button.

[…I hope it’s done by now.]

Lelia was furious and checked the added systems.

[By the way, what’s special favorability?]

Special favorability is a way of doing hidden quests! Appears when you reach the highest level of favorability for all residents!(୨୧ ❛ᴗ❛)✧

[Oh, that’s ridiculous…]

Since it wasn’t necessary right away, Lelia turned off the screen.

Lelia wasn’t just playing the game all day long.

She also took care of her grandmother and grandfather’s health, got spoiled by her uncle and aunt, and became close to the maids of the castle.

Like children of that age grew up going through a lot of things, Lelia spent that time.

Such a happy time flew by, and before I knew it, Lelia’s nineteenth birthday already.

After that, the good news spread throughout the world that the war against the Light Dragon was over. It was a little earlier than the original.

Nineteen years old.

Lelia closed her eyes, enjoying the sensation of the maid’s hand brushing her hair.

“My lady, it’s done.”

When she opened her eyes to Becky’s words, she saw herself in her mirror with her neatly braided hair.

“My lady, if Master Carius returns now, he wouldn’t recognize you at all.”

“…Is that so?”

Lelia awkwardly stroked her hair.

She replied with yes, she thought so.

At the time her Uncle Carius left her, she was thirteen years old Lelia. And now it has been six years since he left for the battle and now, she is nineteen years old.

Unlike back then, she looked like a perfect adult.

“You’d better change your clothes as soon as possible.”

“…Yes.”

Lelia looked at her mature figure in the mirror, but couldn’t follow Becky’s urge to change her clothes.

Becky’s eyes sparkled as she dressed Lelia in a silver-gray dress.

In her last nine years, this lovely lady had changed noticeably.

When she first met, she was a particularly small and skinny girl of her age… Now, she has become a dazzlingly beautiful lady.

Her silver hair was as splendid as a ray of moonlight, and her pure white, clear skin was as soft as silk.

In addition, her beautiful figure with elegant curves attracted the attention of everyone, regardless of their gender.

Becky felt as lucky as a mother who had brought up her daughter to be the best in the world.

For the past nine years, she had been responsible for washing, feeding, and putting her to sleep, and it was natural for her to feel like a parent.

Maybe that was why Becky was also worried like parents would normally be.

Becky asked, buttoning up Lelia’s dress carefully, “By the way, my lady, why did you refuse the coming-of-age banquet that the Duke offered you? All you have to do is throw a party. I’m sure there will be a lot of nice gentlemen proposing to you.”

“Yes…”

[That’s why I refused.]

Ordinarily, nobles in this world are considered as adults at the age of nineteen.

A nineteen-year-old woman held a coming-of-age banquet in commemoration of it, a celebratory banquet.

Holding the banquet meant, ‘Now that I’m an adult, propose to me’.

Duke Superion also wondered whether he should hold a banquet as it was held for all noble women.

So he asked Lelia, “My child, would you like a coming-of-age banquet?”

But her questioning grandfather seemed to have no intention of making Lelia get married. When Lelia refused, he breathed a sigh of relief. The process would not have been easy, even if the party was to be held.

[Because Superion’s family lords don’t recognize me.]

Only Superion’s immediate family knew that Lelia was Elizabeth’s daughter. The other family lords disliked Lelia’s existence.

Of course, it would not look good if she lived in this place and enjoyed all the riches just because she looked like Elizabeth Superion. The family lords would have removed Lelia from the spot to push their daughters in.

But in name, Lelia was brought in because of the Duchess.

When the Duchess saw Lelia, she called her “Elizabeth” and cared for her, so the family lords had no choice. Moreover, as she grew older and older, she resembled Elizabeth even more.

Now, not only the Duchess with dementia admitted this, but also Duke Superlion and Elizabeth’s siblings, Xenon and Atias.

The older family lords were also surprised when they encountered Lelia.

Lelia, too, looked in the mirror and at her mother’s portrait, and was conscious of the fact that she was becoming more and more like her. She was delighted to accept it.

Even to herself, she and her mother seemed very much alike.

“Becky… does Becky want me to get married?”

“Of course! I hope you can meet someone who cares about you more than anyone else and be loved.” Becky held Lelia’s hands together as if in a dream.

Lelia sighed deeply, “I’m sorry to trample on Becky’s dream, but… I don’t intend to get married for the time being.”

“Oh… why, my lady? Aren’t you happy with the gentlemen on the estate? Then you can go to the capital!”

“Well….”

[I’ll go to the capital, but not for marriage.]

The most important phase in Lelia’s life plan would begin now.

The past nine years was when everything had been prepared for the near future.

There was so much she had to do.

For now, she had to cure her grandmother’s Alzheimer’s.

[There’s only one ingredient left.]

She succeeded in collecting all the special ingredients, but lacked only one thing.

It was an ingredient called “Crystal of Memories”.

She couldn’t find it by any means.

Fortunately, her grandmother’s condition did not get worse. It was getting better rather than worse.

Crystal of memories.

There was a place where she could somehow procure it.