"Hah… Finally done…"
It was noon. After a busy morning, Isaac finally let out a long sigh of relief. With his hands on his hips, he gazed at the three bottles of crimson Magic Potion on the table beside the Crucible, his heart swelling with a sense of accomplishment.
The market price for a single bottle of Blood Essence Potion was 100 Gold Coins, while the cost of ingredients was only 30. The extra Silver Moon Grass he'd added was negligible, which meant he could make a net profit of 70 Gold Coins on every bottle!
Getting rich was right around the corner!
GROWL~
"Tsk." Hearing his stomach grumble, Isaac shook his head. He picked up a bottle of the Magic Potion and headed out. 'First, food.'
"Is lunch ready?" Stepping out of the room, Isaac asked Smith, who was standing guard outside the door.
"It's ready, Young Master. For lunch today, I've prepared your favorite roast chicken and one of Falon's exquisite cakes."
"You went into town? Oh, right, to hire a Goblin Slayer." Isaac had a moment of realization, then asked, "Did the recruitment go smoothly?"
Smith sighed softly. "Extremely smoothly. After I paid him, William told me to just come back and wait. He said the Goblin Slayer would arrive tomorrow."
Isaac's brow furrowed at his words. William was the administrator of Fisher, the town closest to the manor. As one of only two towns in Solomon's Domain that grew ingredients for Magic Potions, there was no way he was short on funds. Forget a mere five Gold Coins; he could have easily spent fifty to hire an entire team of Goblin Slayers.
Normally, William should have been able to resolve this without Isaac even needing to get involved, let alone pay for it.
"William… I remember he's close to my second brother, isn't he?" Isaac paused, looking back at Smith with a puzzled expression.
Smith sighed and said resignedly, "Yes. William was once a Knight serving the second young master."
Isaac shook his head. 'That explains it.' Although he still didn't know what his second brother was planning, it was undoubtedly related to the struggle for power and inheritance. As the second son, he had a claim.
In Isaac's view, however, it was a slim chance at best. His older brother was brilliant—exceptionally so!
At only thirty-three years old, he was already a peak Great Knight, just one step shy of becoming a High-level Knight!
After all, in all of Solomon's Domain, Viscount Solomon was the only High-level Knight!
'And not only was he a powerful warrior, but he was also a highly capable administrator. How could anyone compete with a man like that? What could they possibly use to challenge him?'
'But clearly, his second brother hadn't given up. He was preparing to make one last push, and now Isaac was caught in the crossfire…'
'Or perhaps, he was dragged into it intentionally.'
'Who knows?'
"Forget it. They're just a few goblins. With a Goblin Slayer helping us hunt them down, they shouldn't be able to stir up much trouble. Whatever my second brother is scheming is none of my concern. Smith, please go get Barton. I have something for him."
"Yes." Smith gave a slight nod and turned to leave, leaving Isaac to head to the dining room alone.
"Sigh… What a mess." Isaac sighed again and shook his head. 'To think I'd still be unable to escape all this nonsense, even after hiding all the way out here…'
'Still, the impact wasn't too significant. This was an Extraordinary World, after all. Personal strength was the ultimate deciding factor. That was why he was so confident in his older brother's position, and the same principle applied to him.'
'Now that he had embarked on the Path of the Wizard, his future was bright. He was no longer the sickly, frail young master of the Solomon family, utterly devoid of strength!'
Tossing the bottle of Magic Potion lightly in his hand, Isaac walked toward the dining room with a spring in his step.
When Isaac arrived at the dining room, Smith and Barton were already there waiting. Isaac wasn't surprised in the slightest. One was an Official Knight and the other a Quasi-Knight. Neither of them were ordinary men, so it was only natural they'd be faster than him.
After sitting down, Isaac casually slid the bottle of Blood Essence Potion across the table. It stopped in front of Barton. "Barton, you've been stuck at the Quasi-Knight stage for many years, haven't you?" he said nonchalantly. "This is a Blood Essence Potion. Drink it. See if it's enough for you to break through. If not, I can get you more. We need all the strength we can get right now."
With that said, Isaac began to nonchalantly devour the roast chicken. 'This stuff isn't easy to come by. A single roast chicken costs over ten Silver Coins. Given my current finances, I really can't afford it often.'
The other two, however, were not nearly as composed. Smith and Barton stared, wide-eyed and motionless, at the crimson Magic Potion on the table. This was especially true for Barton. He was already in his late thirties, nearly forty. His body was in serious decline, and he'd long given up any hope of advancing further. If he hadn't, he wouldn't have come to serve Isaac.
But with a bottle of Blood Essence Potion…
'...he might just have a fighting chance!'
A fervent heat rose in Barton's heart at the thought!
Smith was even more stunned than his son, Barton. As Isaac's head steward, he knew for a fact that the young master hadn't purchased any Magic Potions before arriving here. He had only bought three sets of ingredients for Blood Essence Potions. This meant the potion had to have been made right here. But how was that possible?!
'He only just became a Wizard yesterday!'
"Young Master, this… Did you make this yourself?" Smith asked, his voice full of caution.
"Yes. So drink up. In this whole manor, you and Barton are the ones I'm closest to. It's only natural I'd give something this good to you first." With that, Isaac went back to wolfing down his roast chicken.
'After this, I need to make a trip to the Cabin in the Woods and see what's going on there. I'd originally planned to go after learning the three basic Arcane Arts, but plans never survive contact with reality. Now these goblins have popped up out of nowhere…'
'The manor's defenses should be sufficient, but what if they aren't?'
'Even though I'm an Official Wizard now and have awakened my Talent Witchcraft, my actual combat ability is pretty average. Hopefully, the Cabin in the Woods has some good news for me.'
"Young Master Isaac, this is too precious! I can't accept it!" On the other side of the table, Barton pushed the Blood Essence Potion away, his face a mask of conflict as he refused Isaac's offer.
He wanted it desperately, but he also understood Young Master Isaac's situation. 'It would be far better to give it to someone younger and more talented than an old wash-up like him with no prospects. That would be the most effective use of it.'
"Come on, we've known each other for years. There's no need for such ceremony between us," Isaac said, looking at Barton with a sigh of resignation. "Just take it. It's only a single bottle of Magic Potion."
'Did he not realize giving it to Barton wasn't the most efficient choice?'
'The problem was, Barton was the only one he *could* give it to. He had brought a total of twelve people with him from home, and the only ones he truly trusted were Smith and his son. Smith was older and already a Knight, so the potion would have little effect on him. As for the others, he couldn't trust them in the slightest.'
'Loyalty isn't built in a day.'
'So, by comparison, the fiercely loyal Smith and his son were far more worthy of investment. It was just a few bottles of Magic Potions, after all—a trivial price for him to pay.'
"Th-this… Thank you, Young Master Isaac!" Barton looked at Isaac, his eyes filled with emotion. Overcome, he dropped to one knee, placing his right hand over his heart, too choked with emotion to speak.
This was the Knight's oath of fealty.
Isaac shook his head, swallowed the last bite of cake, then stood up and left the dining room without looking back.
"Smith, I have to go out for a bit. You look after Barton. No need to follow me."