Magic Tools Are Selling Too Well

The alchemy shop sells various magical tools created through alchemy.

These include various potions such as health and mana potions, stones and chemical products with different effects that can be used in battle, special magical tools that exert various powers, rarely elixirs that enhance abilities, and even enchanting tools that are considered essential for becoming a professor.

All items with magical effects that can be created using alchemy are collectively called magical tools.
And the Alchemy Department operates an alchemy shop to sell these magical tools for the convenience of everyone in the academy.

However, like other academies, it’s true that they fall short in terms of quantity and quality compared to private shops.
Famous alchemists usually set up their own workshops and sell their products.
Really rare magical tools were sometimes traded for hundreds of thousands of gold at auction houses.

“One intermediate mana potion, please.”

A girl who looked delicately raised spoke in front of the counter.

I let out a small sigh.
She’s a freshman.
With the added premium of being a noblewoman who doesn’t know the ways of the world.

“Which maker would you like?”
“Maker?”
“Yes. Potions have various types and manufacturing methods, so the makers are different, and the prices also vary.”

Nobles receive early education to become heroes from a very young age, how could she not know this?

She could not know.
Because when families educate their children, they don’t often teach useless things like ‘the price of potions varies depending on the maker’.

To begin with, the current mainstream studies for heroes are the three disciplines of swordsmanship, combat magic, and divine studies.
Alchemy, which is considered expensive and impractical, was one of the studies that parents hated the most.
In reality, it’s very practical and preferred by many students, though.

“Do you also sell potions made by professors?”
“Yes. For intermediate mana potions, we have just one left in stock made by Professor Eintz. Shall I give you this one?”
“Yes!”
“That’ll be 520 gold.”
“W-what?”

The work at the alchemy shop wasn’t too difficult.
Unless it was a special day, it wasn’t a place that many people visited.

It’s my fifth day working at the shop, but I’ve already gotten used to it and now it feels like an ordinary routine.
It was already the fourth time today that a customer came in and was surprised by the price, just like now.
It was also the fourth time they left empty-handed, saying they’d come back later with an embarrassed face.

“Hmm…”

The shop became quiet after the last customer left.

I put a palm-sized pipe in my mouth and took something out of my magic bag.
A small medicine bottle with red liquid swirling inside.
It was a [Low-grade Health Potion].

This was a kind of curiosity.
I had made countless magical tools with alchemy until now, but I never thought about selling them.
There wasn’t really an opportunity to sell, and even if I did, it was obvious I’d lose out in terms of name value.

While the magical tools sold in the academy’s alchemy shop are occasionally made by professors, in most cases they’re made by researchers from the institute, that is, seniors who have already graduated from the academy.
If asked to choose between a potion made by an undergraduate and one made by a researcher, it was clear that 100 out of 100 would choose the latter.

So selling my own magical tools was purely out of curiosity.
The performance is certain.
The time and skill I’ve poured into alchemy was by no means shallow.
I was just curious if it would sell in the market.

‘You can sell one potion. If you can make it.’

Professor Lafurie Melaine, who was in charge, unexpectedly gave permission easily.

The reason was that since she was a newly appointed professor this year, she didn’t have any assigned research assistants yet.
So it seemed that the sale of products in the academy’s alchemy shop was composed of allocations or applications from research assistants assigned to each professor.
Although I was a student assistant and didn’t fall under this category, I was lucky enough to be able to sell my own products.

Especially potion making is considered a very high-level field even among alchemy.
Since it was a magical tool that students start practicing in earnest from the third year, she didn’t seem to pay much attention even though she had given permission.
She probably thought I couldn’t make potions.

[Low-grade Health Potion]
-Type: Potion
-Maker: Sacher Philip
-A low-grade health potion that can heal wounds and internal injuries. The effect is very good.

This was the appraisal information of the potion I first displayed in the alchemy shop.

Appraisal magic is a very basic alchemy magic.
It’s a magic that can appraise magical tools or magically processed items, and when cast, information appears like this.
Even if not an alchemist, any hero who has learned appraisal can easily use it, and anyone who is a hero could check the information of appraised items.

Of course, since the same products are all the same, not many people bother to check all the appraisal information even in the academy’s alchemy shop.
Because if they find it’s defective after purchase, they can get a refund later.

The price was 10 gold.
It was a crazy price, 20 times my hourly wage, but this was how magical tools were priced originally.
It’s because the material costs are too high to make, and because it’s a non-mainstream study, there’s a lack of skilled technicians.
Moreover, due to the department’s guideline that the minimum price should be the same, I couldn’t sell it cheaper than other potions.

“Who would buy this……”

I sighed along with the tobacco smoke.

Even though it was the minimum price, it was still a crazy price.
If it’s the same crazy price, people’s psychology is to want to buy from the maker they’ve bought from before.
During the 7 hours I worked at the shop today, only one 3rd year student from the Swordsmanship Department bought my potion.

I calculated the profit and loss, though it didn’t mean much.
I made a total of 5, and the material cost alone was over 25 gold.
And I sold one for 10 gold, minus 10% commission, the net profit was 4 gold.
Rather, a loss of 16 gold.
Of course, excluding labor costs.

“Ah, shit…”

For a moment, I felt my head spinning.
What have I done?
15 gold could buy more than twenty meals at the school cafeteria.
My heart ached at the thought that twenty of life’s pleasures had disappeared.

Professor Melaine, you were right.
Your doubt was right.

But it wasn’t ‘if I could make it’, but ‘if I could sell it’…
The magical tools I made were rotting on the display shelf without even receiving proper attention.

I should never sell magical tools again after these 5 potions.
I definitely made that resolution.
…
…

And the next day, I was greeted by more than twenty seniors from the Swordsmanship Department.

The Swordsmanship Department of the academy often goes out for monster hunting practice when they become third-year students.
This is because from the third year, students start to have combat power that can be properly called heroes, and when the fourth year ends, students graduate and become heroes.

This monster hunting practice is sometimes done solely by the Swordsmanship Department, and sometimes in conjunction with other departments.
If it was a joint practice with the Divine Department, no special preparation was needed, but in other cases, most students prepare and bring potions separately.
This is because while major injuries are directly managed by the department, minor injuries and condition checks need to be managed by themselves.

The day my potion was first sold was also a day when the Swordsmanship Department had practice.
On practice days, many of the potions stocked in the store are sold out almost completely.
Of course, my first customer in life bought the potion I made reluctantly because other potions were sold out.

But the potion he bought suddenly caught the interest of his friends.
It was because the potion I made was particularly efficient compared to other potions.
My potion produced 30% to 50% additional output.
For example, if you use about half a potion to erase a scratch, my potion could complete the treatment with just about 1/3.
His friends who were practicing together were all curious about this potion, and soon they could easily find the reason.
It was the additional explanation in the appraisal information that said ‘The effect is very good.’
“One low-grade health potion please! Made by Sacher Philip.”
“I’ll take the same!”

Realizing that this sentence, which wasn’t present in other potions, made the difference in efficiency, they stormed in the next day to buy my potions.

“Uh……”

What’s happening?

The magical tools I had resolved never to sell again were all sold out in less than 3 minutes.
There were even people who couldn’t buy because there wasn’t enough stock.
They even made me promise to sell more tomorrow before leaving.

I felt dazed, but still with half excitement and half joy, I made 20 items the next day to ensure there wouldn’t be a shortage.

But word of mouth moved faster than I expected.
Perhaps because the seniors who bought the potions earlier had advertised on their own, about forty students came.
This time, there were quite a few students who weren’t from the Swordsmanship Department.
Realizing I had been naive, I made a big decision to bulk purchase materials and made 50 items for the next day.

And the next day.
I stood at the counter and blankly stared ahead.

More than 200 students were crowding inside and outside this small shop.

“How many potions are you selling today! Please tell us, Teacher Sacher!”
“Huh? Isn’t that Sacher potion totally overpriced? It’s just a low-grade potion at best.”
“Senior! I’m Morphine, a first-year in the Alchemy Department! I really left my wallet behind, so just once on credit…”
“Selling low-grade health potion made by Sacher Philip for 12 gold~ It’s a hot new product that just came out~”
“Let’s form a line, please form a line!”

Fuck.
Is this even possible?