Chapter 174: New Venture (1)

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Carl, who had thwarted the black mages’ scheme, spent the next few days recuperating at the mansion.

He used the time to study the divine power of The Cult of Earth that had entered his body, as well as Lancelot’s demonic energy, and before long, he was able to get back on his feet.

“Hm.”

The wounds inflicted by Lancelot had completely healed.

The demonic energy that had burrowed inside had been entirely absorbed through the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, eliminating any lingering sense of foreignness.

‘Even demonic energy seems to harmonize well with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.’

It was the first time he had attempted to absorb a demon’s energy using the Heavenly Demon Divine Art.

Although the names sounded similar, the energies stemmed from entirely different sanctums.

However, having reached the Master level, he had experienced a certain revelation, and began to see demonic or demon-kind energy as just another branch within the Primordial Unity Divine Art.

Of course, directly absorbing demonic energy would have contaminated either the body or the mind, so he had employed the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, which shared a similar temperament.

It was producing better synergy than he had expected.

“Carl, are you sure you don’t need more rest? I imagine your wounds haven’t completely healed yet.”

“I’m fine. Thanks to the priest from The Cult of Earth, all the demonic energy has been cleansed. Only the scars remain.”

Carl shook his head with a smile in response to his father’s concern during breakfast.

It had been a week since he returned to Leipzig.

From today onward, he planned to travel for a while, as external engagements had been scheduled.

“If he says he’s fine, then I suppose there’s no issue.”

“Carius, have you finished preparing for your departure?”

“I plan to leave right after breakfast. Things got delayed more than expected, so I’ll need to hurry.”

Carius nodded calmly.

Because of the sudden attack by magical beasts on the territory, he had postponed his return to the Raging Flame Knights for a while.

The Raging Flame Knights had understood the situation in the territory and extended Carius’ leave accordingly.

But now that most of the beasts had been subdued and the remaining ones had fled deep into the Forest of Nore, there was no longer a reason to stay.

“Carl, when are you leaving?”

“I also plan to depart right after breakfast.”

“You’re heading to the capital, right? Then let’s go together.”

“Understood.”

Carl gave a calm nod.

Before meeting the other cadets from Bayern, he had matters to take care of in NOX, in the capital.

This could be considered the most significant task of his summer break.

It was an issue that would serve as a foundation for NOX’s future growth.

After finishing breakfast, Carl left the mansion, receiving farewells from his parents and the vassals of the family.

“Yaaawn.”

Darius, who had trained until late at night and fallen asleep afterward, joined the carriage to see his two brothers off.

But judging from the constant yawning, it looked like he could fall asleep at any moment if he let his guard down.

“If you’re that sleepy, you don’t have to come all the way to the gate.”

“No way. It’s not just one, but both of you leaving. I should at least see you off to the gate.”

“Still, unlike me, Carl’s planning to return before the end of the break.”

“I won’t be here then. I plan to head off for training elsewhere in a week.”

“Training? Where to?”

“I haven’t decided exactly yet, but I’m planning to stay there for a while until the new term starts.”

“Then at least show your face before you leave. Mother and Father will miss you.”

“Miss me, yeah right.”

Darius crossed his arms and smirked.

While the three brothers chatted cheerfully, the carriage soon arrived at the Teleport Gate.

As rulers of Leipzig, they didn’t have to wait in line, so they stood directly at the gate and prepared to depart, receiving Darius’ farewell.

“Well then, see you later.”

“Stop worrying about things here and just focus on your own path, Brother. You might get chewed out by your seniors if you get distracted.”

“You’re a hundred years too early to be advising me.”

Carl let out a small chuckle at the sight of his brothers bickering to the end, then gave a polite bow toward them.

“Then, I’ll see you later.”

“Right. Take care of yourself, Carl.”

“If anything happens, write to us.”

With those light farewells, Carl instantly arrived in the imperial capital, Polfoardel.

“……”

As he stepped out of the gate, a population density on a different scale from Leipzig greeted him.

The warm smile that had lingered on his lips a moment ago vanished in an instant as Carl exited the gate with steady steps.

“Master.”

Someone emerged from the dense crowd and stood in front of Carl.

It was Nine, disguised as an unremarkable woman.

She bowed slightly to Carl and matched his stride, walking beside him.

“Is everything ready?”

“It’s all set. However, Seven has collapsed. It seems the frequent overtime has taken a toll on his body.”

“Typical of Seven.”

Carl let out a soft chuckle.

Rather than out of duty to fulfill the mission, it was more likely that he had become so engrossed in the research itself that he forgot to rest.

Seven was a wizard and researcher with eccentric tendencies.

“Let’s go.”

Carl began walking alongside Nine.

This time, however, their destination wasn’t NOX, but a building belonging to the Madeira Trading House.

The Madeira Trading House had its origins in a foreign country and had grown by using Leipzig as a foothold before eventually expanding into the capital.

During that process, it had built a backstory involving Carl Leipzig, a scion of the Leipzig Family, and Galak Madeira, the third successor of the trading house, with whom Carl had supposedly formed a close relationship.

In truth, Galak Madeira was another secret identity of Carl.

Here, Carl’s position was that of an initial investor, partner, and guarantor of the Madeira Trading House.

For a foreign trading house to operate within the Empire, it needed the guarantee of an Imperial noble.

The Count of Leipzig willingly lent the family’s name for Carl’s sake, and Madeira used that as a stepping stone to expand its influence, eventually succeeding in entering the capital.

Click.

As they approached the trading house, the doors opened on their own, revealing the interior.

Employees lined up in an orderly fashion on either side, welcoming Carl’s visit to the trading house.

“It’s been a while, everyone.”

Not all internal staff were affiliated with NOX.

Some were informants from the outside, so Carl remained faithful to his role as a member of the Leipzig bloodline and greeted them accordingly.

“You’ve arrived earlier than expected.”

At that moment, someone descended the stairs leading to the upper floor.

Her fiery red hair flowed over a black dress, leaving a powerful impression.

She was Branch Director Jane, currently in charge of the Polfoardel branch of the Madeira Trading House and regarded as the most likely successor within the organization.

To Galak—one of Carl’s other identities—she played the role of an older sister by a few years, but in truth, she was one of NOX’s Black Label operatives.

Black Label members didn’t need to rely solely on combat prowess.

As long as they had outstanding abilities in areas like commerce, scholarship, magic, or other fields of study, they could rise to the position.

Jane had become a Black Label thanks to her exceptional commercial talents, taking charge of one of NOX’s core pillars.

“Branch Director Jane, it’s been a while.”

“It’s only been a few weeks, really. No need for formalities here. Let’s head upstairs. I’ve already prepared the new business item. You can judge for yourself.”

Jane spoke with a confident expression, full of pride.

Of course, this was a deliberate display meant to spread rumors through other informants hidden among the staff.

“I’ve been looking forward to it.”

Carl nodded and followed Jane upstairs.

They reached the top floor of the trading house and entered the branch director’s office, where Carl naturally took the head seat and crossed his legs.

This was the only interior Carl had personally designed within the trading house, built to prevent any outside intrusion or eavesdropping.

After all, was there anyone who could deceive Carl’s senses and spy on what was said here?

“Is everything ready?”

“This is it.”

Click.

Jane immediately adopted a respectful demeanor, took out a prepared box, opened the lid, and presented it to Carl.

Inside was a small pill, about the size of a thumbnail, wrapped in fine paper.

“Hm.”

Carl twisted his lips into an unreadable expression, picked up one of the pills, and popped it into his mouth.

Despite only chewing a few times, it quickly melted into liquid and slid smoothly down his throat.

At the same time, a considerable amount of internal energy settled into his lower abdomen, making its presence vividly felt.

Carl savored the sensation with his eyes closed for a moment, then nodded with a satisfied expression.

“Excellent.”

“…Ah!”

Jane’s face lit up with pure joy.

This was the ambitious product of the Madeira Trading House, responsible for consolidating NOX’s finances.

It was none other than a kind of elixir from the Central Plains.

‘I remember struggling over what we should distribute at first.’

Every leading trading house on the continent had its own dominant product.

But simple distribution alone wouldn’t elevate them to the top ranks of the continent’s trading world.

A defining specialty was essential—something to become their trademark, something irreplaceable.

As a latecomer, Madeira had risen this far thanks to Carl’s experience and the management strategies of talented prodigies, but something extraordinary was still needed to reach greater heights.

‘At first, we thought about selling cultural goods or food styles from the Central Plains.’

But those would merely become passing trends.

They were also easy for others to copy or mimic.

After much consideration, they settled on the elixir business.

Although Artenia had its own elixirs and similar items, they weren’t very common and weren’t widely known.

At most, one might find mana stones used by wizards.

One only had to look at how the Crystal of Frost, which had effects similar to Ice Crystals, was being treated as a mere luxury ornament to see the truth.

‘That just means valuable items are scattered all over the place.’

So Carl decided to manufacture elixirs using ingredients from Artenia.

Of course, it took much trial and error.

He had to compare ingredients from the Central Plains and Artenia, and find suitable replacements.

But if he succeeded, he could instantly carve out a new market and become the leading supplier.

Other trading houses wouldn’t be able to imitate them and would be forced to distribute only what Madeira provided.

“We’ve started with three models. A Boosting Pill to aid in training, an Emergency Pill to quickly restore internal energy, and a Vitality Pill to rejuvenate the body when ill.”

“You left some reserve capacity, as I instructed?”

“Yes. All products currently circulating in the market are first-and-a-half generation versions. The elixirs to be used within NOX have already reached the third generation.”

From the beginning, they had no intention of releasing high-quality elixirs to the market.

Carl was targeting lower-ranked adventurers and mercenaries.

He aimed to gradually dominate the market by reinforcing the idea that these consumables were essential companions to potions.

However, to maximize profit, it was necessary to streamline the mass production process.

Therefore, the latest elixirs would be used within NOX, while degraded versions would be released at cheap prices, with improved versions gradually introduced over time.

“While dominating the general market, we must also spread influence among the nobles. There are plenty who would swallow poison if they believed it was good for their health.”

The wealthy, whose money was rotting away.

In the Empire, they were everywhere.

If they could target just two things—health and virility—they wouldn’t just succeed, they’d explode.

“Mana Beads. This will become our trading house’s flagship product from now on.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep