Chapter 68: If She's not Here for a Date, Then Don't Bother with Her.
Viktor sat quietly in the Study, and heard the sound of a knock at the door.
A gentle breeze swept past, and the Study door swung open on its own.
Heni stood at the doorway, stepping carefully into the Study.
She walked up before Viktor with her head bowed—like a child who had done sothing wrong, unable to face him directly.
She could only steal a glance at him from ti to ti by lifting her gaze.
Viktor's eyes swept freely over Heni.
The black robe covering her body concealed her figure—and concealed the allure that ca with being a Succubus.
Who would have thought that this girl, who never stood out in everyday life, was so generously built?
Heni was probably the most endowed Viktor had ever seen up to this point.
Viktor shook his head, shifted his gaze away from Heni, and spoke.
"What is it?"
Heni kept her head down and reported to him in a quiet voice:
"So families want to work with you."
"Work with ?"
Viktor was puzzled—he wasn't quite sure what Heni was getting at.
Seeing his expression, Heni explained:
"Last night, a number of nobles sent ssages to your Mage Item Shop. Most of them want to discuss a partnership with you regarding the Magic Potions."
Viktor tapped a finger against the desk. Sure enough—people had already started paying attention to this.
Although Magic Potions were priced quite steeply, their effects were equally remarkable. Mages who genuinely needed them were largely not short of money to purchase such powerful items.
So so people were looking to take a cut?
Viktor had never kept close track of the Mage Item Shop's affairs—that had always been Leah's domain.
As for Heni……
Viktor recalled that after she had woken up, she had kept telling Leah how embarrassed she was to be looked after so well, saying she wanted to pull her weight around the house and lend a hand.
After that, Leah had apparently brought Heni on as a temporary personal assistant.
Heni's role at the Academy was already Teaching Assistant, so filling in as an assistant wasn't a stretch.
As it happened, yesterday the 2 of them had gone to attend a banquet, so Heni had spent the whole day at the Mage Item Shop.
But things turned out a little differently from what Viktor had imagined. Heni continued beside him:
"They want to ask—whether you have any more stock of the Magic Potions."
"Oh?"
Viktor was curious, and signaled Heni to go on:
"They said they hope you would allow them to purchase the Magic Potions in bulk. They would pay 100 Geo above cost price per unit."
"They would then carry the Magic Potions you've made in their own family shops and stores in other cities, splitting the margin above cost price with you at 30–70—70% to you."
Viktor turned it over in his mind.
These families—had they suddenly developed a taste for charity?
Well, after running the numbers, it wasn't quite charity.
Even with only 100 Geo in margin, they'd still be turning a profit.
But that didn't account for overhead like shop managent and transport costs.
For Viktor, who knew the truth, these people were simply walking over to hand him money.
They had heard from sowhere—he wasn't sure where—that the actual cost of these Magic Potions was only 300 Geo.
Viktor suspected Leah had deliberately let that piece of information circulate.
And the real cost? Nothing more than a handful of Tree Fruits worth re coins.
Even if Leah sold to them at what they believed was cost price, then had other shops retail at the standard price of 1,000 Geo, the 700 Geo margin would already be a tidy sum.
70% of that 700 Geo would go to Viktor.
And since they were buying in bulk at above cost price—their own margin shrank even further.
On the surface it sounded attractive, but.
Viktor narrowed his eyes.
Having dealt with players extensively, Viktor had always known one thing.
In any transaction, always assu the other party harbors hidden intentions.
Because you never know whether the sweetener soone offers you is hiding a trap underneath.
Certainly—so of them might simply be trying to curry favor with Viktor. After all, he was now the Princess's instructor, had been elevated in rank, and even the Second Prince had gone out of his way to flatter him.
He was clearly at the peak of his influence.
But……
If the transaction terms Heni described were accurate, once they received the goods, they only needed to hand over 70% of sales profits to Viktor.
They could simply stockpile the goods and never sell a single bottle.
So long as nothing was sold, they owed Viktor nothing.
In that case, these people would essentially be bulk-purchasing what was originally a 1,000 Geo Magic Potion at what they believed was cost price—then sitting on the stock, or consuming it themselves rather than selling it.
Not only would that break the potion's market price—it would also break the Clavena Family's own sales rule.
1 person, 2 bottles maximum per day.
Viktor wasn't the type to refuse money—he was quite short of it, after all—but a trap this obvious was not one he'd walk into.
These old foxes were only pulling this stunt because Heni didn't know any better.
Viktor glanced at Heni.
The little Succubus was genuinely remarkable when it ca to magical knowledge, but in matters of comrce she was clearly completely clueless.
"Set this aside for now. Wait until Leah returns before handling it."
Leave professional matters to the professionals.
He was confident that if these people truly intended to dig a hole under the Clavena Family's business—
Leah would carve a layer of flesh off every last one of them.
"As for you."
Viktor stood up and walked straight toward Heni. Heni assud she'd done sothing wrong, quickly bowed her head, bit her lip, and looked as though she could barely keep her footing.
"Mm."
Viktor reached out a hand and patted Heni on the head. Heni froze, a wave of happiness surging up inside her—she raised her head and stared blankly at Viktor.
Viktor's expression remained neutral as he said plainly:
"Head to the Mage Item Shop to work in a little while. You just need to focus on selling—that's all."
"Don't let it fall behind your progress in learning Magic."
Heni nodded quickly, listening to Viktor's reminders with a warmth that left her brimming with happiness.
A wave of warmth rose in her chest once more, rushing all the way up to the top of her head.
"I will definitely catch up to you, Professor! When that day cos, I will definitely! Definitely……"
Toward the end of her sentence, Heni seed to think of sothing—her face flushed scarlet like a steam engine on the verge of bursting, and she couldn't squeeze out another word.
No one knew what was going on inside the head of this bashful little Succubus.
Viktor withdrew his hand and walked toward the door. Weija flapped its wings and flew up to his shoulder.
As he departed, Viktor spoke to Heni, who was still standing there flushed and dazed.
"Rember to close the door."
By the ti Heni snapped back to her senses, Viktor had already left the Manor.
She felt a faint pang of emptiness—yet for what seed like the first ti, she felt her life had a direction.
Heni placed her palm over her chest and murmured quietly.
"I have to—get stronger!"
***
Viktor sat aboard a swiftly moving Carriage, kicking up dust along a dirt path, heading straight for a grand estate—
The Delin Manor.
Viktor stepped down from the Carriage. The servant at the Manor gate spotted Viktor and gave a slight bow:
"Mr. Viktor, please wait a mont—I'll go inform Miss Gwen right away."
With the demon battle concluded, Gwen had been spending the past few days at ho on holiday, resting and recovering.
Viktor gave a nod and leaned against the Carriage to wait.
Creak—
As the gate swung open, a woman stepped out.
Her long purple hair was the first thing to catch Viktor's eye. As his gaze moved to her face, Viktor's brow furrowed slightly.
It wasn't Gwen—it was her older sister.
Kavra.
"Yoo-hoo~ if it isn't Viktor."
Kavra narrowed her eyes and smiled lightly, raising one hand and curling it into a claw-shape, swiping it through the air.
A rather peculiar way of saying hello.
In that mont, watching this lively Kavra greeting him, Viktor felt a brief wave of unreality wash over him.
After all, this was a character who had never appeared in the ga—and she had survived.
If players truly arrived in the future, then Gwen's eldest sister—in what capacity would she enter the Storyline?
Viktor didn't know. He hadn't considered it before now.
His first priority was still to survive.
To survive, Viktor had to grow stronger, and stronger still.
If death still couldn't be avoided in the end—then he would grow powerful enough.
Powerful enough to disregard everyone.
His montary daze was taken by Kavra as a snub. Kavra blinked, a note of irritation creeping into her voice.
"What? Your big sister-in-law cos out to greet you, and you don't even want that? You need Gwen herself to co and welco you in person, is that it?"
Coming back to himself, Viktor gave a single nod, without showing Kavra the slightest courtesy.
"That's right."
Kavra: "……"
She shrugged, thoroughly exasperated.
Faced with this expressionless stone-face of a brother-in-law, she really had nothing to say.
Fine, she wasn't going to get upset—he had, after all, saved her life.
Even if she had paid for it.
But in Kavra's heart, life would always matter more than money.
When she had been on the brink of death, if Viktor hadn't brought those few bottles of Recovery Potions—potions whose worth could not be asured in Geo—she might not have been standing here talking to him at all.
That alone was enough to shift how she saw Viktor.
Kavra exhaled, settled her mood, and folded her arms across her chest.
"So then? What are you looking for little Gwen for?"
"I'll say it upfront—if it's not a date, then don't bother her. She's busy."
Gwen, who at that mont was stepping out through the gate wiping sweat from her forehead with a towel and carrying a Knight's longsword, looked over in confusion.
"Sis? Who are you talking to……Viktor!?"
Viktor glanced down at Kavra, a flicker of dry amusent in his eyes.
"This is what you call busy?"
Kavra raised one hand to cover her face, wanting nothing to do with Viktor.
At this mont, the last person she wanted to look at was her own dim-witted little sister, who had just slapped her in the face.
The instant Gwen arrived at the gate and caught sight of Viktor, her tone shifted to sothing faintly displeased:
"What are you doing here?"
Hearing her tone, Viktor rested his chin in his hand and thought back over his recent actions, trying to figure out if he had sohow managed to offend her—but no matter how he turned it over, he couldn't work it out.
So Viktor decided to skip straight to the point.
He looked at the silver Knight's sword in Gwen's hand, thought for a mont, and spoke in a tone Gwen found very familiar.
"……Spar?"
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