“Lady Belinda! Finally, finally…!”

The one who burst open my office door with that shout was Vivian, with dark circles under her eyes reaching down to her chin.

Even before Vivian could speak, I could guess that she brought very good news.

Because her twin braids were tied higher than I had ever seen before.

Like someone holding a baby bird fallen from its nest, Vivian came before me preciously cradling something, and proudly extended both hands forward.

“I finally completed what you asked for!”

In Vivian’s hands was a red bottle the size of a palm.

I recognized it immediately without needing an explanation.

That Vivian had completed ‘The Elixir of Life.’

I examined the bottle from various angles.

At first glance, it looked like a crystal bottle, but when sunlight reflected on its surface, a strange red light flickered as if flames were contained inside.

The moment I carefully held the bottle in my hand.

[Item] The Elixir of Life

A masterpiece that concentrates the wishes and extreme technical skills of the magician Vivian.

Like a lizard’s severed tail growing back, it heals even lost body parts.]

I had finally obtained The Elixir of Life.

Although nothing could prove its effectiveness more clearly than the system window that appeared before my eyes, I deliberately pretended not to know and asked.

“Is this the completed healing potion I commissioned?”

“Yes! Lava stone was the answer. Oh, lava stone is a mineral called the heart of a volcano, which can only be obtained from active volcanoes just before eruption, so it’s difficult to acquire. But other materials don’t have good compatibility with the potion, so it was quite…”

“Vivian, keep it simple.”

Vivian, who had been rattling off information like an excited enthusiast, finally closed her mouth.

After pondering for a moment, she summarized the information more calmly and concisely.

“We need lava stone to keep the potion warm, but since it’s such a rare mineral, it might be difficult to obtain. According to Terry, there are only five available on the market right now.”

In other words, assuming we acquire all the lava stones available on the market, we could obtain five bottles of ‘The Elixir of Life.’

At Vivian’s words, I fell into thought for a moment.

‘Even in the cash shop of <Hirome>, only 5 could be purchased.’

It was strangely concerning for a coincidence.

“Let’s try to get as many lava stones as possible. Then we can make five potions, right?”

“Yes! The bottles can be reused, too. Oh, and of course, I plan to improve the potion itself later.”

Vivian, speaking like that, had eyes sparkling with conviction, just like when I first met her.

I had seen those eyes lose their light like dead fish, and I had seen them sharpened like blades when she couldn’t trust anyone.

To regain the color of that solid seed, as she had today, Vivian had never neglected her efforts for even a moment.

Knowing this, I willingly placed the bottle back in Vivian’s hands.

“The first completed product is yours. The remaining four will be enough for me.”

“…What?”

“Take it to the magic tower and prove that you made it.”

“…What?”

Vivian repeated the same word with a puzzled face.

I smiled faintly as I wrapped her hands around the Elixir of Life.

“You should reclaim what was taken from you by that so-called master of yours.”

Although Vivian was no longer a magician of the magic tower, the magicians there weren’t foolish enough to ignore her invention for that reason.

Rather, they would pour out all sorts of bribes to invite Vivian back to the magic tower.

That way, the honorable title of ‘Creator of All Things’ would find its rightful owner.

“But… I made this at Lady Belinda’s request… and with the magical items you provided…”

“You’re not going to repeat the same mistake, are you?”

Tears gradually welled up in Vivian’s eyes, which had been dazed until now.

Vivian’s hands holding the Elixir of Life tightened.

She roughly wiped her eyes and then nodded firmly.

“Though it’s an item you commissioned, Lady Belinda, if you allow me, I’d like to name this potion myself.”

“I gladly permit it.”

Knowing it would be named The Elixir of Life, I nodded without hesitation.

“Thank you. I’ll definitely include Lady Belinda’s name in this potion to let people know how greatly indebted I am to you.”

“…?”

Vivian, what did you just say?

“I’ll go right away!”

“Vivian, wait…!”

But before I could stop her, Vivian, with her twin braids fluttering, left the office faster than ever before.

As Vivian rushed out, Leo peeked his head into the office.

“Lady Belinda, are you very busy? I brought the carrier pigeon sent by Terry and several mail items.”

I couldn’t shout at Vivian to come back immediately with Leo in front of me.

I stood there like a scarecrow for a moment before letting in Leo, who had brought the mail in place of Terry, who was away on business.

Two days ago, the notary who had resigned from his position as the Blanche family’s lawyer and immediately disappeared after revealing the uncle’s will had been found by the rat.

Even for the rat who gathered all sorts of information, it took quite some time to find the notary who had left the royal capital.

This was because the rat was an organization operating in the royal capital, based in the slums.

The notary, whose whereabouts were finally discovered, was quietly hiding under a new name in a place called Barbet County.

Normally, I would have asked the rat to bring the notary, but one piece of information made Terry get involved in this matter.

“If it’s Barbet County… that’s the late Marchioness’s maternal family home.”

“Yes, very suspicious. That the notary chose to hide in the territory of Sybel Blanche’s mother’s maternal family. This smells fishy.”

I needed to investigate the late Marchioness anyway to learn about Sybel’s aide.

It was the late Marchioness who had taken in that man, a former wild dog and now Sybel’s aide.

Terry, sensing that the notary was hiding a secret, eventually prepared for a week-long business trip and left the mansion two days ago.

This created a vulnerability in our defenses, but fortunately, thanks to Cheshire’s help, we had avoided any major incidents so far.

“What did Terry write in the letter?”

Leo asked, resting his chin on the tall desk.

While stroking the child’s soft hair, I read through Terry’s letter, which continued leisurely as if she were on vacation.

“It says Barbet territory has warm temperatures, so spring arrives early.”

The letter, full of trivial small talk, ended with “I’ve made some claims for business expenses, please take care of them.”

Just in case, I had given Terry a blank check issued in my name.

Given the arduous schedule, business expenses were only natural.

However, my eyes soon darkened when I checked how the check had been used.

“Bar… gambling house… hotel… luxury boutique?”

Terry, this bastard?

The person who said they were going to catch the notary, why are they gambling and buying clothes and wigs at boutiques?

I immediately took out a quill pen and roughly wrote a reply.

[I didn’t know you had a gambling hobby, Terry. When you return, let’s play a dice game together.

A game with my entire fortune at stake.]

As a postscript, I added a few pieces of information obtained from Mary and neatly sealed the letter to attach to the carrier pigeon.

***

In spring, the Kingdom of Zenos holds various events hosted by the royal family.

Unlike the spring ball, which is exclusive to royalty and nobility, the royal horse racing competition is a popular sport loved by all citizens.

Therefore, around the time when the weather starts to warm up, the forests and meadows created in the western part of the royal capital were teeming with people for horseback riding.

Additionally, there were many riding clubs there, and the head of the Dukov family, whom I wanted to meet today, was a member of the most popular Violet Riding Club.

“If you’re looking for Count Dukov, he’s currently going around course 8. Once he goes out, he doesn’t return until evening. Will you wait?”

The executive of the riding club told me as I was looking for Count Dukov.

It couldn’t possibly take half a day to go around one course.

This was essentially a roundabout refusal.

But as they say, strike while the iron is hot.

I immediately requested from the executive.

“Would you rent me a docile and obedient horse? I need to look around course 8 as well.”

The executive, who had inadvertently revealed Count Dukov’s location, wiped cold sweat while rolling his eyes, and eventually provided me with a jet-black horse.