Royal Capital, Arcane Way.
On this street, hailed as the heart of the kingdom, even the air carried the scent of Gold Suns and magic.
Beneath the ever-burning magical streetlamps, mages' robes and nobles' silks rustled softly, while mercenaries' scabbards and merchants' coin purses knocked together in crisp rhythms.
Today was one of Lilia's rare days off. Veylin had deliberately waited until this day to accompany her around the famous magical shopping street.
"Look, brother!" Lilia tugged at Veylin's sleeve and pointed at a shop window.
Inside, a miniature elemental creature imprisoned in a crystal sphere furiously rammed against its inner wall, each impact sending out a ring of ripples.
"If you like it, buy it," Veylin said calmly.
Lilia looked delighted at first, then hesitated. "But... everything here is so expensive."
"Money is meant to be spent," Veylin said lightly. "Besides, the Gold Suns haven't disappeared. They're just staying with us in a different form."
He was hardly short of money now.
Sales of the "Last" potion had already exceeded ten thousand Gold Suns.
Under their prior agreement, the Klein family, which had borne the greatest political risk and provided the sales channels, took forty percent. The remaining sixty percent went to the Origin Society.
Veylin had not pocketed all of that money himself. After all, from the initial screening of raw materials to the subsequent cultivation and planting, the Golden Sail Merchant Guild had provided all the labor and resources.
Even after deducting those costs, nearly four thousand Gold Suns-a substantial fortune-had ended up in Veylin's own pocket.
Veylin knew perfectly well that the money had been well spent.
Without Count Lyman's reputation and influence among the Royal Capital's highest-ranking nobles, or Caroline's efficient commercial machine, he would have struggled to withstand even the Church's first assault on