Chapter 293 ·The Situation at the Trading Post

The Situation at the Trading Post

"!!!"

I've been discovered?! When did that happen? I was sure my disguise was flawless!

"Not admitting it, are you? Well then, little slime, if you don't change back, I'm going to pour this slick, sticky, and unbearably smelly liquid all over you."

She produced some Dwarf Clan spirits, and the moment the scent of the liquor wafted out, Pelam immediately detached herself from Serea.

"Stay away from me!"

Pelam decisively bolted. She definitely never wanted to taste that stuff a second time.

But as she ran, Pelam's transforming mask came off, and Serea was dumbfounded on the spot.

"You... You actually noticed..."

Still tangled in the fact that she'd been exposed, Serea did not notice Lilith was grinning mischievously as she stood and struck a rather embarrassing pose, one hand shaped like a gun aimed at Serea.

"Love you all, biu!"

That move!!

"Ah! Stop it! Just stop!"

Having her black history of selling out her dignity for Faith Crystals dragged out into the open, Serea was so ashamed and flustered that her face turned scarlet. Unable to face it, she buried her face in her hands and rolled back and forth on the bed.

"Hahaha, usually you're so full of dignity, Serea. It's rare to see my cute little sister like this."

Laughing, lilith suddenly pinned down the squirming Serea and forced her to look her in the eyes.

"I'm leaving tomorrow. After I return to the church, it'll probably take some time before I can get back."

"Tomorrow?!"

"Don't worry. If I ride a griffin, it'll only take about a day to get there. But if I resign from being the Holy Maiden, they probably won't let me ride one back. That could waste quite a bit of time, but I'll return as soon as possible."

"..."

"So, as a temporary parting gift..."

Lilith poured the Dwarf Clan spirits she had threatened Pelam with into Serea's mouth.

"Ha~"

The alcohol stung Serea's nerves. Truly worthy of Dwarf Clan liquor—even just one sip left her visibly tipsy.

Then, lilith's hand crept towards the ties on Serea's clothes...

...

Beneath the tranquil night, some not-so-peaceful things were happening quietly.

At the Trading Post, inside the Supreme Church's missionary outpost—which, since the early days of the Trading Post, had managed to elbow out the Holy See and other religions to seize the dominant faith—few knew that the supposed "Supreme" was little more than a name...

"Are you sure that Tuck and the others have been discovered?"

"Yes, preacher Oran. They triggered their mana runes and self-destructed. And before that, they reported that 'that woman' was suspicious, so I suspect the one who made a move was the mysterious figure in charge at the Trading Post."

"So since they took their own lives, can I assume the enemy got nothing from them?"

"The Xiyun Merchant Guild hasn't made any moves, so it seems our cover's still intact. Besides, tuck and his partner didn't know much."

"But to be cautious, suspend all plans for now. We don't want to alert them."

"I understand. There's one more matter: here is the second batch of our Divine Medicine, which has already been delivered."

The Supreme Church member handed over a wooden box containing four black pills. Oran picked one up and sniffed it at his nose.

"Hmm, not bad. The purity of this batch is even higher."

"It's all thanks to your selfless dedication, preacher Oran. You invested all the 'church funds' into 'Divine Grace', and so attained this medicine to bring relief to all beings."

"Heh. In that case, to gain more funds for Divine Grace, our Divine Medicine must be even more 'worthy'."

"Of course. I'll see to it at once."

The follower withdrew, and Oran, sitting in the preacher's chair, opened his palm. In the center, a faint 'black sun' magic pattern shimmered.

...

By noon the next day, Serea awoke.

"Where am I...?"

Her head still hurt a bit, but an anti-hangover tea was handed over.

"Drink this. It'll help."

It was Celia who spoke. Serea took a sip and immediately felt her mind clear a little—and then she noticed something was missing.

"Where's Lilith?"

"She said she was afraid you'd show that reluctant expression again, so she came by to say goodbye last night and left for the church in the middle of the night."

"She drank and then flew?!"

"What?"

"Nothing... never mind."

Feeling a bit empty inside, Serea flipped over, intending to get out of bed, and spotted a carefully wrapped gift box sitting on the dresser.

She opened it...

"Your birthday is coming up soon, Serea. I was afraid I wouldn't make it in time, so here's your present in advance."

Within the box, a hairpin. Serea's heart warmed.

"I even have a birthday...?"

She'd forgotten about it herself. After getting dressed with Lola's help, Lola announced:

"Your Majesty, someone calling themselves 'Silver' is requesting an audience outside."

"Silver?"

After a moment's thought, Serea realized this could only be the Silver Shuttle assassination team Lilith had entrusted to her.

Ever since saving Ina last time, they'd lain low at the Trading Post, using it as their base to develop an intelligence network and gather information on various countries.

"Let them in."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Soon after, a handsome man led two people dressed as adventurers inside.

Appraise!

Silver! Level 38! Dragonblood Warrior! Epic!

A dragon?

Combined with the power of the Silver Shuttle Token, Serea had a vague idea.

The three entered without a word, until Serea produced the Silver Shuttle Token.

"My lady."

"Did Lilith send you?"

"Precisely. We've already gathered intelligence on various nations and have come to report."

At last! Information—exactly what Serea most needed.

Her identity had been leaked for some time. Although details weren't certain, she'd expected more of a response from the countries. Maybe Silver's intelligence would clear her doubts.

"Since the Silver Shuttle just restarted, this is all the intelligence we have so far."

He handed over a scroll. Serea opened and read it.

At the first moment her identity was leaked, the Holy Dragon Empire's envoy flew by dragon to the Ailera Empire. Meanwhile, the Otto Empire decided to send an envoy to verify, namely "First Prince Aurela."

Beyond that, there was no response from any other kingdoms.

Reading this, Serea sensed there was something hidden here, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

She put the scroll away.

"You all did very well."

"All for our master."

"Continue gathering intelligence. I'll notify you if I need anything. Likewise, come find me here if you need help. I won't be leaving for a while."

"Understood."

With that, silver and his team turned to leave, but Serea called out.

"Wait."

The three stopped.

"Keep an eye out for anything involving 'Black Sun Preachers'. If you spot anything, report to me immediately."

"Understood."

They left. Serea mulled over the mysteries hidden within the intelligence. At that moment—

"Serea!"

A head poked in through the door. It was—

"Tethys?!"

"And Nora."

"ooo!"

Tethys and Nora entered, with Little Mo waving a tentacle from atop Nora's head in greeting.

"What brings you—"

"Tada! Your accomp—"

Before "accompaniment" was finished, Serea rushed over and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"Wait here, I need to handle something personal."

Dragging Tethys into the corridor, she released her only when they were far from the room.

"Phew, almost gave it away..."

"Sorry, sorry. I forgot about 'Candice'."

Tethys quickly apologized, while Serea had naïvely thought only Lilith had figured her out.

"About the accompaniment you talked about..."

"The accompaniment for your new song! We've finished it, and all of us have learned it. What do you say, want to go perform in the human world? It's a good opportunity!"

Tethys held out an audio-recording crystal, and the thought of performing made her quite excited, but...

"Forget singing in public. I'd die of embarrassment..."

Taking the audio crystal from Tethys, Serea led her back inside.

"Your Majesty?"

Lola and the others looked on, full of "???", but Serea simply brushed it off.

"It's nothing. I just wanted Tethys to sew a few outfits for me."

"I see."

Lola and the others accepted this explanation. Then Vina came in.

"Miss Avril asked me to inform Your Majesty that if you're ready, she can take you to tour the Trading Post."

"Let's go, then."

Fastening her mask and donning her cloak, Serea—together with her entourage—prepared themselves in a similar fashion. In the Trading Post, this sort of attire clearly marked them as non-human, but no one would guess their true identities.

Ready, they met Avril and under her lead, set out for the business street.

As they walked, avril introduced the area.

"That over there is the Darkmoon clan's specialty store for equipment, enchanted goods, and alchemy supplies."

Looking where Avril pointed, Serea saw several luxurious three-story buildings. Each bore the distinctive Darkmoon clan emblem, and the interior decor even surpassed what Serea remembered from the Xiyun Merchant Guild in Jones City.

Many adventurers and mercenaries bustled inside, making it a packed—and clearly thriving—business.

All thanks to vampire technology and people like Wilic and the many magic tomes. The vampire tech vocational trainees they trained were simply in a league of their own. Compared to the handful of patrons at other stores, the Darkmoon clan's specialty shop clearly dominated.

"Currently, all products at camp are sold here. Excess stock is sent to Sedis City, manes City, and other nearby towns."

Serea was very satisfied with the shops, but the industries weren't mature yet. What she was most interested in was the potion store.

"What about the potion shop?"

"It's right over there."

Looking over, Serea saw a shop with unimpressive sales. Only a few people milled about inside—a stark contrast to the lively other stores.

Why?

"Let's go take a look."

With Avril leading the way, everyone entered.

"Welcome."

A handmaiden of the fox tribe greeted them warmly. After exchanging pleasantries, they walked inside.

The three-story building, over 400 square meters. The first floor specialized in basic potions, the second in special potions. But...

Looking along the rows of shelves and cabinets, whether basic or special potions, only a few gaps remained. Clearly, sales were modest.

And Avril seemed to have guessed Serea's confusion.

"This is just a storefront. The main sales channel for potions is to major towns like Sedis. There, potions endorsed by a master are impossible to keep in stock."

Avril wasn't lying—Serea herself had seen the camp's potion output. But...

"Why are potion sales at the Trading Post so low? Isn't this where so many adventurers gather?"

"For that, Your Majesty, please follow me. We can also check out the future chapel site."

Avril kept the answer to herself, and Serea continued after her along the street. Soon, they reached a chapel construction site.

"This is it."

"They've already started building?"

"This was initiated by a small 'Nature Church' branch. But halfway through, the director abruptly abandoned the chapel. Per the contract, our Xiyun Merchant Guild purchased the unfinished public facility. If it doesn't meet your standards, feel free to knock it down and rebuild."

On hearing this, Serea attempted to unlock the "Evil God Chapel". The compatibility of the unfinished building reached 44, meaning that as soon as it was completed, she could unlock the "Evil God Chapel".

"No worries. Just finish the building. That'll save a lot of time."

"I'll give the order to the craftsmen."

"Thank you, miss Avril."

Having settled the location of the chapel, Serea suddenly realized she hadn't yet been given an explanation for the drop in potion sales. Just as she was about to ask, something odd caught her eye.

A massive crowd of adventurers and mercenaries had gathered before a two-story building, with people packed layer upon layer around it. By the look of it, they were snatching at something ferociously.

"Divine Medicine! Give me the Divine Medicine!"

"Move it! I've been queuing here all morning, don't you dare cut in line!"

Noticing Serea's gaze, avril explained.

"That's the Supreme Church's missionary station."

"Supreme Church?"

"Yes. Remember ten days ago when I bought huge quantities of Spring of Life from you?"

"I remember."

"Back then, when the Undead plague spread to the Trading Post, I planned to use the Spring of Life to stem the outbreak. But someone beat me to it."

"The Supreme Church?"

"Exactly. Using their 'Divine Medicine', they solved the Undead plague and won over a massive following. Their so-called 'Divine Medicine' also rapidly heals wounds—far beyond any regular potion. And since it also purges plagues, nearly every adventurer who ventures into the Corrupted Jungle chooses to bring some along."

"So everyone chooses Divine Medicine instead, abandoning regular healing potions."

"Yes. Except for spirit-recovery or status potions, all other potion categories have been impacted. With demand outstripping supply for Divine Medicine, the fact that your shop can still run shows real strength. Many smaller shops have already ceased selling healing or purification potions. The Supreme Church has nearly cornered the entire healing potion market."

(To be continued...)