Lee Han, completely unaware that Rowena was looking at him as if he were some kind of lunatic, called out to Nillia.

“Nillia. Could you ask the spirits if the fire energy is insufficient?”

“Got it.”

Nillia nodded and politely addressed the spirits. She was asking them to check the flame essence inside the cauldron.

The spirits accepted the request, trudged over, inspected the heat inside the cauldron—

Then fled in terror.

“...They didn’t run away because of me, right? It was because of the cauldron’s energy, right?”

“That really doesn’t seem like the important thing right now...!”

Rowena was flustered by Lee Han’s obsession with such a completely irrelevant detail.

“They say it wasn’t because of you. ...Right? Really? You’re not just saying no because you’re scared, are you? Mm. They retreated because /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ the fire energy was stronger than expected.”

“I see.”

Weak energy would have been a problem, but strong energy could hardly be bad. Still, just to be certain, Lee Han called Adenart over.

“Imperial Princess. Could you ask another spirit?”

Adenart nodded quietly, as if she understood.

After briefly communing with a spirit, she spoke.

“...I’m sorry, Wardanaz. The spirit is afraid to go near it.”

“...”

Lee Han realized that summoned spirits becoming too friendly with one another was not necessarily a good thing.

To think they had already shared information in that tiny span of time.

“Ah. Then I’ll summon my Flame Sparrow Spirit.”

“No. I’ll try coaxing it.”

Nillia gently persuaded the spirit Adenart had summoned, then made the request again.

The hesitant spirit finally scurried up to the cauldron and checked the heat.

“There’s nothing wrong, aside from the fire energy being extremely strong?”

“I see...”

Lee Han sounded slightly disappointed.

Rowena wondered silently why he sounded disappointed when the matter had been resolved perfectly well.

***

Arien, who had been checking the quality of newly imported tea leaves and examining silk embroidery with the staff, widened her eyes when the students came out.

“What happened to all of you?”

“Arien. We restored the discarded flamewood roots. Please accept them.”

“What? Those can be restored?”

Arien was even more surprised to hear that they had restored reagents discarded after a transportation mishap.

She had traveled all over for the trading company, but she had never heard of anyone restoring discarded reagents like that.

‘Is this a secret technique passed down only within Einroguard?’

Though surprised, Arien could at least accept it.

This was Einroguard, after all. It would not be strange if the school had special magic known only to its students.

“I can’t take them back. Above all, I gave them to you because they were discarded reagents. You may do whatever you want with them... Ah!”

Arien flinched when she opened the lid of the wooden box containing the roots.

The flamewood roots looked completely different from what she had expected.

Their color had deepened several times over into a vivid crimson, and the fire energy was so fierce that sparks crackled in the air around them.

‘...Were these grown in lava while being bathed in a Red Dragon’s breath?’

Flustered by the reagent’s energy, which was several times stronger than what she knew, Arien asked.

“Is this truly flamewood root?”

“What? Of course it is. Look at the shape, color, energy, and properties. They all match.”

‘The color and energy seem different, though...’

Arien had a staff member bring over a small magnifying artifact and examined it carefully.

To her surprise, it really was flamewood root.

It simply held far more power than ordinary flamewood root.

“Young Master of House Wardanaz. I knew your magic was excellent, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent. To enhance discarded reagents like this... I cannot even guess what kind of secret technique this is.”

“It wasn’t that difficult. I condensed flames as far as the alchemical equipment could withstand, then steeped the flamewood roots in them.”

At Lee Han’s words, Arien smiled brightly.

Unlike the other members of House Wardanaz, this boy seemed to enjoy pleasant jokes.

He had so elegantly deflected the question because he could not reveal Einroguard’s secrets.

“Of course. In any case, I cannot accept these. Why don’t you students try selling them yourselves?”

“What?”

At the unexpected suggestion, Lee Han and his friends murmured among themselves. Arien pointed at the tea leaves and silk behind her.

“Those were also sold by Einroguard students.”

The embroidered pictures and patterns, stitched in gold and silver thread over jet-black silk, were made from Azirmo, one of the finest fabrics in the Empire.

Lee Han was surprised to hear that upperclassmen had made them.

“You mean the upperclassmen made that highest-quality silk?”

“It isn’t highest-quality silk, though.”

“!”

At those words, Lee Han belatedly realized something was off.

“That’s right...! I don’t feel that distinctive energy expensive luxury goods have!”

“...Th-there’s such a thing?”

Nillia asked the others in confusion. Her friends shook their heads.

Even Adenart, who had encountered the most expensive luxury goods among them, had never felt such energy.

“Then what is this?”

“It’s cheap silk that was dyed, with imitation gold and silver thread used instead. You could call it a counterfeit, but it still fetches quite a price.”

Einroguard students did not have the luxury of selling expensive materials at high prices.

Einroguard students were the sort of people who used magic to sell cheap materials at high prices.

“Don’t tell me those tea leaves too...?”

“Those are real tea leaves. Though I heard the students grew them rapidly in greenhouses.”

The second-years were beginning to feel it too, but by third year, the amount of reagents and items required increased explosively.

There was a reason upperclassmen squeezed commissions into their already packed schedules. Einroguard students were always pressed for both time and Imperial gold.

Signing contracts with outside merchants, supplying goods, and receiving payment was relatively easy, so quite a few students did it.

But Lee Han and his friends were currently outside and had fairly broad connections.

Since there were no restrictions, selling directly would bring the greatest profit.

“I see. Thank you for the advice.”

Lee Han nodded at her reasonable suggestion.

Certainly, if they could maximize their profit, there was no reason to refuse.

“Wait a moment!”

“?”

Arien called after Lee Han’s group just as they were turning away.

She spoke with a slightly embarrassed expression.

“Could I buy just one box of flamewood root now? There isn’t much stock in the city...”

Now that she thought about it, she needed a box of flamewood root for the upcoming city alchemists’ gathering.

She had tried to consider the other party elegantly and end the conversation gracefully, but Arien was a merchant.

If there was a chance to obtain quality goods, she would never miss it.

***

“This should be enough, right?”

The students finished repackaging the roots into boxes. During the process, Salko voiced an opinion.

“Wait. We need to be careful. If we say Einroguard students are selling these right now, someone might trace them back to us.”

“That’s true. Hmm. We’ll need aliases.”

Aside from disguises, they also needed a different name.

After thinking briefly, Lee Han wrote <House Nago> on the box.

“What’s House Nago?”

“A fictional house I created. The identity I used when rescuing you last time belonged to that house. Oh, right. You all need to memorize it too.”

“?”

Angrago blinked, wondering what exactly he was supposed to memorize.

“Now. Stedal of House Nago is a noble who was captured by pirates in the southern part of the Empire and later rescued by Ragesa, daughter of Torgerd, who leads a privateer fleet...”

“...”

Thirty minutes later.

Angrago nodded with unfocused, dazed eyes.

“I-I think I’ve memorized it now.”

“Good. Well done. Preparation must always be thorough.”

‘But why did I need to memorize the part about accumulating wealth during the fighting tournament?’

Angrago was curious, but he held himself back. If he asked now, he would probably be subjected to another hour-long lecture on the identity’s background.

“Ah. Right. I left something out of the treasure-map fortune story.”

‘No!’

“Wait, Lee Han.”

Angrago, who had been screaming internally, let out a sigh of relief when Yonair interrupted.

‘Thank you, Meikin!’

“The house name is fine, but you need a coat of arms too. Just writing the name without an emblem might look suspicious.”

“Oh... you’re right.”

After hearing the point, Lee Han thought for about ten seconds.

He considered what sort of emblem would suit the house.

There was no need to think longer than that. It was only an alias anyway.

Scratch, scratch, scratch—

“How about this?”

“...Is that an upside-down hanging skeleton?”

“That’s right.”

“It seems a little provocative... No, never mind. If we get caught, we’ll be sent to the punishment cells either way. So we’re going with this?”

Yonair wondered if there was really any need to provoke the Skull Principal, but decided Lee Han would probably handle it somehow.

Perhaps it was even an expression of respect from disciple to teacher.

“House name done, emblem done... We can say it came from House Nago and deliver it. Ah. Yonair. What about Master Yoanen’s workshop?”

Lee Han brought up the first alchemy workshop that came to mind.

Since Yoanen was an outstanding alchemist, she would surely recognize the value of these flamewood roots.

“That won’t work.”

“Why not?”

Lee Han was somewhat surprised by the unexpected answer.

He had not expected Yonair to reject the idea.

Had something happened with Master Yoanen?

“Sister Yoanen is extremely sharp when it comes to pointing out flaws, and very frugal when buying reagents. If you want to sell them for a high price, somewhere else would be better.”

“I see...!”

Lee Han looked at Yonair with respect for such thoroughness, even toward a blood relative.

With such a wise friend beside him, he felt confident they could make a great profit.

“Everyone. We can do this. We’re going to become the greatest merchants in Granden City!”

“That... that far?”

***

“If Master Meikin comes, tell her I’m not here!”

An alchemist rushed into the workshop shouting.

However, to his surprise, there was already no one in the workshop. The alchemist panicked and stepped back, only to bump into something.

Thud.

“Wh-what? Who’s there? Who drank an invisibility potion?”

“Shh. Be quiet.”

“Pahusuk?! What are you doing?”

“Waiting to tell Master Meikin I’m not here when she arrives.”

“...”

The alchemists who arrived late finally realized that their colleagues had all drunk invisibility potions and were hiding throughout the workshop.

Their colleagues had been one step ahead.

“Did everyone fail to get flamewood root? How? It isn’t even that rare a reagent!”

“The Richmond Family’s transport ship happened to sink... We’ll have to wait at least another month for the next shipment.”

“A month? In one month, Master Meikin could dry us all to death and still have twenty-nine days left!”

The reason the alchemists were acting this way was simple.

They had failed to obtain the reagents required for the workshop’s work.

All of them had failed.

Yoanen of House Meikin was not a violent person, but she was a mage overflowing with madness. If the necessary reagents remained unavailable, the workshop’s alchemists might be forced to work twenty-five hours a day.

Click.

At the sound of the door opening, the panicked alchemist threw an invisibility potion over himself.

The workshop’s owner, Yoanen Meikin, entered, wearing amethyst glasses.

Thud!

Yoanen pulled a small stone fragment from her pocket and tossed it. All the invisibility effects in the workshop were absorbed at once.

The alchemists hiding on the ceiling, inside wardrobes, and even inside cauldrons silently emerged without a word.

“Master Meikin. If you give us just a little more time, we will definitely obtain the reagents. Please calm down.”

“Ah. The situation has changed slightly.”

Yoanen took out a small reagent pouch with an intensely interested expression.

Then she skillfully untied the string with gloved fingers and removed the reagent inside.

‘Flamewood root? No. The energy is too strong. Is it a special reagent made from flamewood root?’

“I received this flamewood root from an alchemist I know.”

“This is flamewood root?!”

“That’s right. Interesting, isn’t it? And what’s even more interesting is that the alchemist also received it as a gift from a merchant, who said this flamewood root would soon be released in the city.”

“...”

“...”

“If we fail to find and purchase this, we are willing to work twenty-six hours a day!”

The alchemists spoke with eyes blazing hotter than the heat radiating from the flamewood roots.