End of the Magic Era
chapter-44

'Now I should prepare to advance to the Great Mage rank…' Lin Yun composed himself and drank the bottle of Mana Baptism that he had just prepared. He felt the scalding liquid pour down his throat as he remained aware of every change happening throughout his body.

Lin Yun estimated that the change would continue for three days.

Over the course of these three days, the Mana Baptism would gradually improve his body and the problem of lacking mana sustenance would slowly disappear. When this was over, this body's potential for magic wouldn't be inferior to that of any contemporary genius.

At that time, advancing to become a Great Mage wouldn't be an issue.

Because of the effect of the Mana Baptism, Lin Yun couldn't use too much magic for these three days. He would even have to stop his daily meditation. Thus, after Lin Yun left the laboratory, he didn't directly return home for the meditation, but rather, he went to take a look at the Gilded Rose.

At the moment, the business of the Gilded Rose was still in the hands of the old butler. Besides occasionally compounding a few potions, Lin Yun almost never got involved in the business operations of the Gilded Rose.

The old butler actually didn't complain about this because he knew that the young master had always been determined to become a mage ever since he was little. After fainting, he lost himself in the magic world, and thus, the old man had always been very careful to not disturb him. If he met any troubles, he would figure out a way to solve them on his own.

The Gilded Rose reaching its present state was at least 80% due to the contributions of the old butler.

Lin Yun couldn't help thinking that the old butler truly was very skilled when it came to business. When the Gilded Rose restarted its operations, all their assets only added up to a few tens of thousands, but in only three months, the Gilded Rose had earned over three hundred thousand gold. And that wasn't including the stored goods. If those items were sold immediately, they would add another hundred thousand gold.

The most important product was the downgraded version of the Mana Baptism. It was dubbed as the Hope Potion by the old butler and was the biggest undisclosed trump card. If the Hope Potion was brought out, it would inevitably create a stir in Thousand Sails City, and every Magic Apprentice would go crazy. A potion that allowed a Magic Apprentice to easily reach 9th Rank… It was quite obvious that the price of such potions would be frightening.

Back at that time, Locke Merlin had been unable to purchase this kind of potion. It was evident from this how expensive such a potion would be.

But the Gilded Rose was different...

Now, the Gilded Rose had a total of over thirty Hope Potions, and each bottle could create a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice. With such a large stock, if they wanted to sell all of it, they wouldn't be able to sell them at too high of a price. The old butler estimated that the most suitable price was two hundred thousand gold per bottle.

Ordinary Magic Apprentices definitely wouldn't be able to afford the Hope Potion, and thus, the true customers were the children of the most influential people in Thousand Sails City.

Many of them were the same as the original Mafa, ambitious with regards to magic, but without the necessary talent. Although a Hope Potion couldn't make them become Mages, becoming a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice was a huge temptation. After saving the time that would normally be needed to reach the 9th Rank, they could slowly take their time or try to think of another way to bridge the final gap.

With this kind of potential customer, the price definitely couldn't be too low. If the price was marked at ten or twenty thousand gold per bottle, people might think that there was an issue with the potion.

But too high a price wouldn't work either. There weren't many people who would spend several hundred thousands or even a million to cultivate a 9th Rank Magic Apprentice. In the end, perhaps only three or four customers would make a purchase. So three or four bottles would sell in that case, but what about the remaining ones? Would they be left for the old butler to drink?

Thus, the old butler thought for a long time before setting the temporary price at two hundred thousand gold.

Lin Yun didn't express any opinion on this. On one hand, the old butler had always been in charge of the Gilded Rose, so he had a greater understanding of the market than anyone else. On the other hand, Lin Yun didn't pay much attention to the thirty bottles of Hope Potions.

Because the Gilded Rose had just started, Lin Yun had to personally compound potions for sale, but once the Gilded Rose was on a good track, he would definitely not spend time on that anymore. A Mage's time was too valuable, he couldn't waste it.

Lin Yun thought of this as he entered the Gilded Rose. Today was the first day of the month, the day that the mercenary guild provided missions, and also the best day for the Gilded Rose. When the mercenaries got new quests, they would naturally make preparations, and although the Gilded Rose in the Victorious Return Main Street wasn't the best such store yet, it still was one of the best.

Under the management of the old butler, the Gilded Rose had already slowly recovered its splendor. Among the numerous stores of Thousand Sails City, it should be among the top ten, and it had the superior advantage of being located in the Victorious Return street. After choosing their new missions, most of the mercenaries would choose to go to the Gilded Rose, which was only a street away from the Mercenary Guild.

But today, after Lin Yun came to the Gilded Rose, he felt something wrong. The business was good, there were many people, and the clerks were busy, but Lin Yun felt that something wasn't quite right. After thinking about it for a moment, he noticed that old butler wasn't there.

That wouldn't be strange on any other day, but it was currently the first day of the month, the best day for the Gilded Rose. Lin Yun clearly remembered that every month, the old butler would definitely oversee the Gilded Rose on this day, even back when Locke Merlin was around. Why wasn't he here today?

The more Lin Yun thought about it, the stranger he felt the situation was. 'Could a problem have come up?'

"Remy, come here." As he thought of it, Lin Yun couldn't refrain from checking on the matter, so he beckoned Remy over.

"Boss! How come you came?" When Remy saw Lin Yun, he hurriedly handed all of his workload to another clerk and ran over.

"I came to take a look. Oh, by the way, Remy, do you know where Uncle Pave went?"

"I heard that Boss Pave went out early in the morning to retrieve a batch of magic materials."

"Went out early in the morning?" Lin Yun frowned when he heard this. There had always been someone appointed to retrieve the Gilded Rose's materials. Even if they had their hands full and Old Pave went to retrieve them instead, it still shouldn't take that long. Enough time had passed for him to make a few trips, so how could he still not be back yet?

"Where did he go to retrieve the materials?"

"It seems…" Remy thought about it, before saying with a bit of uncertainty, "It seems to be at the Frost Wolf Mercenary Group…"

"The Frost Wolf Mercenary Group?" Lin Yun nodded and lowered his head.

The Frost Wolf Mercenary Group wasn't that big. It only had twenty people, and their fame and strength were far inferior compared to the colossal Silver Moon. But they had been cooperating well with the Gilded Rose these past few months. The materials they harvested were mostly sold to the Gilded Rose, and the price was relatively fair. The old butler had boasted about the arrangement a few times.

At first, Lin Yun was worried when he heard that the old butler had personally gone to pick up materials, but since it was the Frost Wolf Mercenary Group, it was unlikely that there were any problems.

Thus, Lin Yun didn't ask again and only looked around the store a bit more. The business was really good and everyone was lively. Lin Yun thought that since he couldn't undergo his usual meditation, he would simply help the Alchemists who were at work.

After the Gilded Rose re-opened for business, they recruited four Alchemists. They all had pretty decent abilities, and because the alchemy laboratory had been occupied by Lin Yun, the old butler opened up the 2nd floor for them. Now, these four Alchemists, as well as the several dozens of Apprentice Alchemists acting as helpers, were working hard in this new alchemy laboratory.

Lin Yun had never shown his alchemy abilities in front of these four Alchemists, but some occasional exchanges made them aware that this young boss wasn't ignorant in the field of alchemy. Thus, they actually welcomed Lin Yun's help, but they didn't dare to give the most important work to him. They only gave him some simple work such as enchanting.

Lin Yun wasn't disappointed, as he was only there to pass time anyways...

Noon quickly passed, and when evening arrived, the lively Gilded Rose slowly emptied out. The mercenaries took their supplies and left the Gilded Rose while the clerks started cleaning and tidying up everything as they got ready to end the day. The Alchemists completed their work for the day, and after greeting Lin Yun, they were getting ready to return home.

Lin Yun chatted with a few of the Alchemists while walking down the stairs. At that time, he caught sight of an anxious butler walking over.

"Young Master, you came?" The old butler was clearly surprised at Lin Yun's appearance.

"I was staying at home with nothing to do, so I thought that I might as well come and take a look. Oh, right, I heard from Remy that you went to the Frost Wolf Mercenaries to get a batch of ingredients, did everything go smoothly?"

"This…" At the mention of this topic, the old butler's expression suddenly seemed rather bitter. "Young Master, I think we might be in trouble…"

"Eh?"

"We had already arranged to buy that batch of materials, but I went at dawn today and they told me that it had already been sold to others. I was a bit suspicious then, but afterwards, I went to several groups that had pretty good business relations with us, and after walking all day, almost all the groups told me that their materials had already been sold to others…"

"They all said that?"

"Yes, they all said that…"