***

"Ria was eavesdropping on us, wasn't she?"

Sylvia gazed at the door for while before slowly nodding her head with a frown.

"Haaah...", I sighed. "Good thing I put up a soundproof barrier when I talked about the Wyvern egg"

We stared at each other in silence for a few seconds before Sylvia broke eye contact and moved closer to me. "Let me heal you"

I nodded.

As the water serpents were coiling around my body, I reached my hand out and accessed [Alternate storage].

"Not good...", I muttered as I saw the severe lack of swords in the storage.

I had ran out of weapons as I had destroyed most of them in the dungeon.

...And my remaining funds were a measly 5 Golds now.

'How the fuck did I even spend 2 Platinums in just a few months?'

It should be noted that 1 Platinum coin was the equivalence of 100 Gold coins. So unless I was literally buying a small sized mansion in the inner parts of the Capital, I shouldn't have ran out of money this quickly.

'...Swords are that expensive I guess'

I briefly considered asking Sylvia for money. You know, since she was a noble, and a duke's daughter at that. However, it would have been very shameless of me to do so.

Furthermore—

'I'd better not ask for anything more from her. She could snap at any moment'

—I had to manage my relationship with Sylvia like I would an unexploded bomb.

Sighing, I looked for the Wyvern egg and took it out.

'Might as well have her do it now I guess...'

"S- So this is the egg?", Sylvia asked as she ran her hand on its smooth surface.

"Yes. See if you're comfortable with giving it your mana"

As if waiting for my confirmation, Sylvia's hand instantly glowed blue. And soon after, the egg was also similarly glowing.

Feigning ignorance to the fact that Sylvia's eyes sparkled as she looked very intensely at the egg, I fell into thoughts.

And, after thinking for a good 5 minutes, the only thing that came out of my mouth was—

"Fucking Marcos! Why do you have to make my life hard even from beyond the grave?"

—Curses directed at my transmigrator ex-grandfather.

"Huh? Did you say something?", Sylvia woke up from her trance and titled her head at me in confusion.

Realizing my mistake, I gestured for her to keep doing what she was doing.

Shrugging her shoulder, she continued staring at the egg. "...Shiny"

'Now that she mentions it...'

GULP—!

The egg did look pretty shiny.

SLAP—!

Slapping my own cheeks and ignoring Sylvia who was looking confusedly at me, I once again focused on what's important.

'Dervit chain restaurant, Dervit food firm, Dervit cafe, Dervit entertainments, Dervit research lab...'

Those were just some of the businesses under Marcos Dervit's name.

'Fucking hell! He stole all of my opportunity at making money'

Be it knowledge from 'Earth' or knowledge from the novel that didn't affect the plotline significantly, Marcos used everything to make money.

At this point, I was sure that he was more wealthy than even some of the biggest merchant guilds.

However, that raised a big question.

'Why didn't I get any of his inheritances?... Ah that's right... mother...'

My mother had basically ran away from Marcos, so of course we didn't get any money when he died.

Though, I'd much prefer not having money to having my body taken over by Marcos.

'Fine then, I'll think of something else'

After a while, I came up with an idea.

'If I'm not wrong... Marcos had a so-called 'PhD' in Chemistry and Physics...'

Running through his past life's memories again, I immediately widened my eyes and took out a piece of paper and a pen from [Alternate storage].

"Let's see... use methanol to modify phenylalanine, then..."

Tapping the pen on my chins for a bit, I continued writing. "Combine it with modified aspartic... hah! Done!"

I puffed my chest in pride. "Can't believe it's this simple!"

Waking me up from my self-praising session, however, was Sylvia's concerned voice. "D- Do you always talk to yourself like this?"

Still smiling, I turned to Sylvia and pretended to not have heard what she was saying. "I'm sufficiently healed, let's get out of this room, shall we?"

"...And pay a certain dwarf a visit", I mumbled to myself.

Staring at me, Sylvia sighed. "You did it again..."

I was about to retort to her very obvious observations when suddenly—

CLANK—!

—The door to the infirmary was swung open.

Instantly, Sylvia scrambled to hide the egg.

Also realizing the severity of the situation, I quickly threw my blanket over Sylvia. Though, it was pretty obvious that Sylvia was under the blanket, as her tail were sticking out of it.

"Brother! You're already healed?"

"Oh...", I sighed in relief. "...It's just you Krista... and Alicia too?"

The blonde-haired girl and the pink-haired kid which had just closed the door at briefly me, before directing their gaze to Sylvia, who was in the blanket, in confusion.

Seeing this, I grabbed the blanket and removed it.

"Ah!"

Sylvia was hugging the egg like it was the most precious thing to her. And she looked as if she would do anything to hide it from everyone.

"You don't need to hide it anymore", I sighed.

Still obscuring the egg from Krista and Alicia's view, Sylvia spoke with a shaken voice. "B- But you'll be expelled if words got out!"

Shrugging my shoulders, I replied. "It's fine. I trust them"

"I don't know what you're hiding but thanks for trusting me, brother!", Krista interjected.

Alicia looked absolutely bored, but I knew for a fact that she was also interested in what we were supposedly hiding.

Hearing this, Sylvia slowly turned around to reveal the egg.

Alicia looked fairly surprised, but she quickly returned to her bored look since she had seen me with the egg before.

Krista, however—

"W- What!? T- This can't be..."

—She was shaking uncontrollably. Her hands trembled as she gently touched the egg as if it was the most precious thing ever.

"Hic... hic...", tears flowed down her cheeks as she sobbed.

"Uh... why are you crying?", I asked confusedly.

Seemingly ignoring my question, Krista looked up at Sylvia, met with her gaze, and nodded her head approvingly.

She then walked towards Alicia and hugged her, much to Alicia's, no, everyone's confusion.

Eventually, she stopped crying and turned to me with a beaming smile.

"I know this day would come, brother"

She then pulled out a ball-shaped artifact from her Space pouch, one that I immediately identified to be the [Soundproof sphere], which creates a... soundproof barrier.

How surprising.

Just as I was about to question her weird actions, Krista suddenly hugged Alicia even tighter and shouted on the top of her lungs.

"KYAAAAAAA! I'M GOING TO BE AN AUNT!", she then turned towards Alicia with the same smile. "AND YOU'RE GOING TO BE A SISTER!"

Not letting Me, Sylvia, or even Alicia to process what had just happened, she grabbed the sphere and ran out of the room, with Alicia still in her embrace.

Although I couldn't hear what she was saying thanks to the artifact, I was 100% sure that she was still shouting the same thing over and over again.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Eventually, both Sylvia and I realized what she meant.

""Oh...""

Although dragons do indeed lay eggs, they only do that if they're in their dragon form.

'W- Wait! I'd have to do the deed with Sylvia with her [S - Polymorph] undone if that's the case!'

Such things had absolutely never happened, as I had never laid hands on any women, let alone a giant lizard.

Thinking more about it just served to make me shudder more in disgust and fright. So for the sake of my mental health, I erased such imaginative thoughts from my mind.

I then turned towards Sylvia' whose face was red as a tomato.

"S- Shouldn't we resolve the misunderstanding?", she shyly asked.

"Nah, Krista's just playing her usual prank..."

Despite having said that, however, I couldn't help but to remember back to Krista's earlier expression, which was full of genuine happiness and bliss.

"...probably"

Shaking my head, I prayed to God Vihar that it was the case.

'And even if Krista was serious about it, I'm sure Alicia would take her precious time to resolve it for us... maybe...'

She would almost definitely not.

Sighing, I decided to do it myself some other day.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Breaking the awkward silence, Sylvia spoke up. "S- So... when are we going to finish the rest of the deal?"

'I almost forgot about that...'

Thinking for a while, I answered. "Whenever you want, I guess"

Sylvia nodded.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Awkward silence enveloped the room again.

Not wanting to stay in this situation any further, I grabbed the egg from Sylvia's hands and put it in [Alternate storage].

"...No...", Sylvia muttered under her breath as she watched the egg being taken away. Her eyes were filled with longing and sadness.

Eventually, she accepted the fact that the egg was going to be separated from her for today whether she liked it or not, albeit with slight reluctance.

"You're going to stay with it for hours tomorrow anyways", I sighed.

Hearing this, Sylvia's tail perked up, and her expressions brightened again.
...

After a while, we left the infirmary room and walked back to the dorms.

-Hey... is that...

-Shhhhhh! He can hear you!

-Why are you so afraid of that guy? He's just a filthy Halfling!

-Wait what? That guy's a Halfling?

-Yea, the only 1000s ranker in 1-1

Hushed whispers and sneers could be heard as students were pointing fingers in my direction.

Hearing them, I couldn't help but to be confused. 

'I'm pretty sure I got my eyes covered...'

After all, I was wearing the sunglasses that Alicia threw at me right before she got dragged away by Krista.

Thinking more about it for literally a fraction of a second, I finally figured out what was going on.

"Max! You dipshit!"

He was the only one that could have done it.

It couldn't have been Sylvia, as she would have just beaten the shit out of me instead of relying on tricks like this if she wanted me to suffer.

And Ria... it couldn't have been her either, since it really wasn't in her character for her to go back on her words.

'At least there's no one talking about Sylvia...'

That was the only silver lining on this situation. After all, my head would surely instantly roll on the ground if even as much as a rumor of Sylvia being a Halfling was circulated.

And, if by some miracles, Sylvia decided to not kill me, her father definitely would.

'Wait... Noah would probably skin my alive before the duke could... what a scary family...'

Shuddering, I looked at Sylvia with a frightened gaze. Though, such emotions only lasted for a split second, as Sylvia whispered to me.

"...S- Sorry... It's my fault..."

This time, I was sure what she was referring to.

"Don't worry", I reassured her. "It's not your fault"

"B- But it's me that—"

"It's inevitable that my sunglasses broke in a duel that intense anyways. And it was also my decision to continue with the fight after all"

Well, it wasn't really my decision, as my amplified anger basically controlled me at that time. But—

'She doesn't need to know about that'

—Saying what Sylvia probably wanted me to say here was of utmost importance, as I didn't want to provoke her any further.

Unaware of my thoughts, Sylvia smiled at me with gratefulness. "Thanks..."
...

Arriving at a particular section of Avaron main building, I turned towards Sylvia and waved. "Let us part way here"

"Huh?", she lets out a confused sound. "Aren't you going back to the dorms?"

"No", I shook my head. "I'm meeting up with a 'friend' "

"In the... rain?", Sylvia said as she pointed to the outside, which was raining very heavily.

"No, I'm meeting him in building H. It's underground"

"Oh!"

"..."

"..."

"You didn't know?"

"...No"

"..."

"..."

"..."

"A -Anyways", she stuttered in embarrassment. "S- See you soon..."

"Yeah, you're going to meet me tomorrow anyways", I said as I rushed out into the rain and ran towards the building H's entrance as fast as possible.

'I should've brought an umbrella...'
...

'Alchemy and Chemistry are basically the same thing, right?'

That was the gist of my thoughts as I reached room H3-14.

I really hoped that was the case. I didn't want to make myself look like a fool after all.

Looking over the piece of paper again, I took a deep breath and opened the door.

CLANK—!

Instantly, the distinct smell of chemical and herbs being boiled assaulted my nose.

Tok—! Tok—! Tok—!...

I slowly walked into the room.

Clank—! Clank—! Tsssssssss—!...

Sounds of glass vials clanking, and chemicals sizzling grew louder the closer I got to the workshop.

-Hey, you're supposed to pour 1.213ml of Esteyhs! Fucking hell! Why the fuck did you pour 1.214?

-Oi fuck you! I'm not listening to the bastard who uses Icen herb and only being able to make a low-grade frostbite potion!

'How... unique', I thought as I watched a quarrel between 2 Alchemists.

In fact, everyone here were quarreling with each other like there's no tomorrow. It looked less like the Alchemy elective, and more like the Delinquent elective, which was approved as an actual elective somehow.

'I don't even want to think about it'

TSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS—!

-AHHHHH! JOHN! YOU FUCKER!

'...I take my words back, this is worse than the Delinquent elective', I thought as I watched an elf throw a vial full of burning acid towards a dragon.

Putting on a safety goggle and cowering for fear of my life, I carefully made my way towards a familiar dwarf.

"Hey Fovoth!"

"WHO THE FUC— oh, it's you!"

Fovoth, the senior I met in the Artificing elective, changed his attitude as soon as he saw me.

In fact, I was certain that he was now the only sane Alchemist in this room.

"What brings you here", he rubbed his hands together. "Perhaps you're bringing me another design of yours? You know, the carriage design you gave me the other day is excellent! It will revolutionize travels by carriage!"

Sighing at his exaggerations, I spoke. "I'm here to propose a business deal"

"A... business deal?", Fovoth narrowed his eyes.

Before he could even voice out his displeasure, I continued. "Yes, it involves one of the thing that I've created"

Instantly, Fovoth's mood improved again. "BAHAHAH! You should've told me that from the beginning! Come on, show me what you've got"

Grinning, I gave him the piece of paper.

Scrutinizing it for quite a while, Fovoth raised his eyebrows at me. "The materials involved are quite cheap but... what is this?"

Still grinning, I gave him the answer I prepared beforehand. "This is the recipe for Artificial sweeteners"

"W- WHAT!?", Fovoth shouted in disbelief. Luckily, everyone else were too busy cussing at each other to pay attention to us.

"Are you serious?", his piercing gaze landed on me, looking for any signs of falsity.

"Yes", I sighed. "You heard me right. It's the recipe for Artificial sweeteners"

Its name was 'Aspartame' to be exact. However, that was useless information to all of us.

Squinting his eyes at me, Fovoth eventually sighed and turned to his table again. "Alright, let's see if you're telling the truth"
...

"..."

"So how is it?", I smirked.

"T- This...", Fovoth stuttered in disbelief and... joy as he stared at the vial in front of him. "It's really Artificial sugar..."

"...", I stayed silent for him to have his moment.

"HEAHAHAHAHA! <ESKATH ENTERPRISE> WILL FUCKING HANG ME FOR THIS! HEHAHAHAHAH! BUT WHO CARES!?"

In fact, sugar was kind of a rarity, even in the Empire. As such, the existence of Artificial sweetening will cause trading firms like <Eskath enterprise> a lot of loss.

I meant it. Immense loss. It wouldn't be surprising if every merchant guilds out there sent top-class assassins to go after our heads.

However, I hadn't gone insane yet. As such, I knew better than to provoke those guilds.

"Anyways. What do you think of my deal, senior Fovoth?"

Grabbing my hand almost instantly, Fovoth's eyes lit up. "You have a deal!"

"...But I haven't told you what it is yet"

Ignoring my reasonable statement, Fovoth scoffed. "Every Alchemists would sell their soul if it meant that they can work with something as revolutionary as this!"

"Alright then...", I sighed. "We're making sweet Recovery potions. 90 me, 10 you"

The reason why I decided to work with potions was simple. The market was basically free, as there weren't any monopolies like with sugar and spices.

In fact, there were hardly any potion-making firms, as most potions in circulation were produced locally by Alchemists who just wanted funds for their research.

Although mixing natural sugar into potions would and had definitely worked, doing so was unnecessary expensive. As such, everyone who tried doing that gave up soon after.

That's why I decided to be the first mass producer of sweet-flavored potions.

Pausing my thoughts there, I turned towards Fovoth, who was narrowing his eyes at me.

"Are you sure? Potions lose up to 5% of their effectiveness if you mix things like this sweeteners in them you know?"

Although it doesn't sound like much, 5% could be the difference between life and death in a battle. However—

"You don't need to worry. I'll be selling it to mostly nobles anyways"

—Nobles were a weird bunch. They had spent money on much more nonsensical things. Well, more nonsensical than less-effective potions at the very least.

"Ah, I see what you mean", Fovoth nodded in understanding.

Truly, Fovoth was a kindred spirit.

"Alright then", I dodged a stray acid vial and turned to the entrance, wanting to leave this shithole as soon as possible. "You manage the manufacturing and selling, and I'll handle the advertising"

"How are you going to advertise?", Fovoth asked with curiosity. "Your reputation isn't the greatest right now, especially when the rumor of you being a Halfling is going around"

"So it had even spread here huh?", I sighed.

Well, even with that information going around, Fovoth still didn't treat me any differently from he would normally.

'Though, I think it's because I'm basically an idea-dispenser for him'

Stopping my thoughts there, I pulled out my Holographic phone and grinned.

"Don't worry, I know just the perfect person for this"
***

<<Dorm room F1 - 2>>

Eleanor was on her phone, looking for anything interesting to do, when she came across a peculiar advertisement on Avaron social network, or ASN for short.

"What's this?", she muttered with a frown.

Unable to resist her own curiosity, she clicked on the ad.

===

Tired of bitter potions? Well you're in luck! We're selling the new and revolutionary Sweet-potions!

For more information, click on the video below!

--Disclaimer: Our products may be less effective than conventional potions--

PREORDER NOW!!!!!

===

"Hahaha! How interesting! The disclaimer is written in a small font, and its color is close to the background color. Whoever made this is the embodiment of evil!", Eleanor laughed.

She then, out of curiosity, clicked on the video.
...

"Pfffffft! HAHAHAHAH! Whoever made this really know how to do business!"

After all, the person being shown in the video was... Arthur Kilvillain.

He was holding two potions in his hand while smiling dazzlingly.

-Preorder the potions now, and you'll get your order 3 months before the official release!

"Pffffffffft!"

Eleanor couldn't hold in her laughter anymore.

"AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!"

Who could blame her? After all, Arthur was acting very badly, and his lines were extremely stiff.

Wiping the tear in the corner of her eyes, Eleanor muttered. "Though, I'm sure that most girls don't care about that... they'd definitely buy whatever Arthur tries to sell"

GULP—!

'Whoever made this advertisement is a scary person... in business'

And with that thought, she decided to not care about the advertisement anymore. After all, she had already satiated her curiosity.

'And I'm not that insane to buy those potions anyways'

After all, only nobles with too much money to spare or Arthur's fangirls would buy those kind of things.

"..."

"..."

"..."

Bzzzzzzz—! Click—!

-"Yes, your highness?"

"Kasumi", Eleanor spoke into the phone with a small whisper. "Order 3 boxes of the Sweet potions"