My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Lelia looked at the child-like Alchemy tool and wiggling dragons. 

[Do you want me to make the Philosopher’s Stone or not?]

[No matter what the end content is, isn’t this too much?]

As Lelia answered her own question, the alchemy tool floated a new speech bubble. 

• Master! You’re having trouble clearing the recipe!

“You don’t say?”

As was often the case, the alchemy tool would float a speech bubble to answer a question she asked herself.

Ever since it was activated it seemed to have a personality all its own. Perhaps that’s why the alchemy tool’s speech bubble popped out before the system window.

• [Then would you like to open the material with a crystal?]

(๑•̀ㅂ•́)و✧

Lelia squinted her eyes.

The original game was like this.

Take your time to find the material naturally, or open up the material using a crystal from the cash shop. It was one, or the other.

Once unlocked, it made collecting easier and saved time. The more money spent, the more advantageous it was.

There were special materials that could not be unlocked with money, and the only option was repetitive actions to obtain them. It was possible to receive them as compensation for solving a resident’s request. Raising ‘fateful relationships’ or completing sales achievements for the Alchemy Lottery store. But missions for ‘fateful relationships’ and sales achievements for residents were blocked.

‘There are no instructions on how to obtain these materials.’

Lelia was pondering how to get special materials.

She couldn’t think of any ways to find these ingredients.

[That’s the same thing, but….]

Lelia looked at the game screen where her assets were written. She had zero crystals.

[Absolutely none….]

The reason she had zero crystals was because she had used them all up before she died in her previous life. 

She didn’t use crystals often, but it wasn’t unheard.

In her previous life, materials that were nearly impossible for her to find she opened with crystals.

“Is there a way to recharge the crystals…?”

At Lelia’s murmur, the alchemy tool floated a speech balloon as if it had been waiting.

[Crystal can be charged with the currency from this world!]  – speech bubble

[The crystals you need may vary depending on the difficulty level of the recipe! (•̀∀•́)✧]  – speech bubble

“Are you trying to coerce me to pay now…?”

• [◔ ̯◔…] 

[T/N: OMG, SO CUTE!]

“…”

Lelia was stunned.

“Special ingredients can’t be charged. Which of these ingredients can I pay for?”

• ‘Flame Ash’ is a regular material, not a special material
• Regular materials can be opened with crystals! ( • ᴗ – ) – ) —

“Well….”

It wasn’t a bad idea considering that material requires a whopping 99,999 pieces.

It’s rare to find a recipe with so many ingredients.

It would be better to open it up quickly so it can be collected automatically.

“Then I’ll have to make money….”

Lelia clicked her inventory tab and checked her items.

[If I sell these, and make some money.]

If it weren’t illegal, she could have set up an alchemy company that could dominate the five empires.

[You can’t get rid of the temple.]

Then there is only one way.

[How to sell alchemy pills without being detected by the temple authorities.]

It wasn’t that difficult.

[I can talk to Grandfather.]

As the head of the great Superion family, there will be plenty of ways to distribute alchemy.

“The temples do not touch the aristocrats.”

She had heard this from her grandfather recently.

One of the great nobles of the Ascard Empire was found to have sold alchemy pills, but no charges  were filed. The central temple priest in charge of the case ended up living in comfort nearby for a long time.

[They took money to cover it up.]

So it was a safe way to make money. In order to do this, she had to get help from her grandfather first, and she had to sell a lot. She had quite a few ingredients collected from her previous life, but there were some that were lacking in quantity.

Wait a minute. Before that…

[I need to increase my inventory size.]

Lelia wrinkled her brows.

The inventory was almost full, and every time she found new materials, she had to shuffle things around. In her previous life it had been full, but now it’s possible to expand it.

• Do you want to expand your inventory?(•̀ ▽ •́ )φ

[No crystals.]

• Shall we charge the crystals?( •̀ᴗ•́ )و ̑̑

“…”

Once she expanded the inventory by ten more spaces, and opened the Flame ash, she would need 500 crystals. Lelia tapped the crystal charging screen.

Sparkling crystals floated on the screen.

A ‘shilling’ is the world’s monetary unit, and one shilling is equivalent to one won.

That’s 500,000 shillings right away. It was said that based on the currency of his previous life, that about 500,000 won was needed.

[Editor: This is about $439 USD]

“Why is it so expensive…”

• [◔ ̯◔… ]

“…”

Lelia took out about 20 stamina recovery potions made from the materials she already had.

[They should sell 25,000 shillings each.]

She then found the basket she used to go on picnics with the maids and put them in it.

[Let’s sell these first. I should sell it to the people in the city.]

If it’s not enough… 

[It can‘t be helped. I have to earn some pocket money from running errands.]

If it was her grandfather, he might give her plenty of pocket money.

Lelia walked out of her room with the basket on her arm.

As soon as she opened the door she ran into Becky, who was walking this way.

“Oh, my lady! You’re here! It’s meal time. I’ll take you to the dining room.”

“Okay…”

Lelia went back into the room, put down her basket and followed Becky.

She couldn’t miss her mealtime.

[I need to eat then start a business.]

She needed to eat a lot and grow up strong.

Lelia entered the dining room with determination.

“The lord and his wife have gone out. He said not to worry about eating together.”

Even with Becky’s kind words, Lelia’s forehead wrinkled a little. It was because she was the last person to sit at the table. 

Sitting at the head of the table was Carius, whose expression distorted as soon as he saw Lelia enter the room.

Lelia walked proudly to keep up with her momentum and sat diagonally from Carius.

“…”

It was the closest seat to where Carius was currently sitting. He scowled at Lelia.

The two glared at each other with a look that said, ‘I’ll spoil your meal time.’

After spending the last few months here, it was the first time the two of them had eaten together.

This was because Carius never ate dinners with the Duke and Duchess when Lelia attended.

The food began to come out.

“Today’s lunch was prepared with the lady’s favorite foods in mind. Oh! Come to think of it, Carius likes most of these, right?”

The chef said with a soft smile as he brought the food out.

Carius frowned at those words.

The servants served the food the chef had brought to Carius and Lelia. 

“You like this food?”

Carius asked with a snort.

“Yeah.”

“…”

This food was rare in the capital.

The key ingredient was wine made with special grapes that are produced only in the Superion Territory.

It was a dish of steamed beef aged in wine, and sautéed mushrooms, which gave off a pleasant aroma.

[Editor’s Note: If the readers would like I can put a note under won or shillings to say the equivalent in USD or another denomination.]

***

Please consider supporting the author by purchasing their works.

If you like this novel, it would be really appreciated if you can leave a review for this novel on NovelUpdates. This would help others to have a look at the novel.