---
I woke up with a delightful smile plastered on my face. Nothing beats the joy of doing absolutely nothing—except maybe counting my gold.
The thought of teaching that invader a lesson? Long gone. Who has the energy for grudges when you're this rich?
I checked my resources. 41,375 mana crystals!
Oh my days... I wondered, Is Lucia so charismatic that even my people refuse to build walls on my orders? Should I hire more mexi—err, laborers?
Feeling too lazy to move, I sprawled back on my bed. Breakfast, lunch, dinner—it's all tasty, sure, but eat it every day and even gourmet food starts to feel bland.
I sighed, glancing at my pile of gold coins. Completely useless. I can't even use you to build walls anymore!
To distract myself, I sold another 375 mana crystals, then sent Lucia her daily 300K. A quick calculation showed that my mana crystal expenses had risen to 600 crystals a day. What a lavish life we lead.
Mid-stretch, a notification popped up—a friend request!
Oh my, new recruits?
I accepted it right away. The other party's name made me pause. Alchemist Association? How does someone even end up with a name like that?
---
Somewhere in a distant tower
"Quick, quick! The other party responded!"
A group of alchemists gathered around a glowing orb, their excitement palpable.
The initiator hurriedly wrote into the orb:
"Esteemed being, do you have more mana crystals? Are you still exchanging them?"
A minute passed. The room grew tense with silence, until blood-red text finally appeared:
"Yes."
The alchemists let out a collective breath of relief.
Shakily, the leader continued:
"Can you sell them to our association? We will pay a premium price of 900 gold per piece, and we would like to purchase everything you have."
The air was electric as they awaited the reply. The red text returned:
"500 mana crystals a day. I'll prepare for you."
Cheers erupted.
"Five hundred a day! Even if we scoured the entire country, we couldn't guarantee this supply!" one alchemist shouted.
Everyone nodded in agreement. They all knew the truth: this seller didn't understand the true value of his mana crystals.
---
Back in the laboratory
Barns was working tirelessly, overseeing the enchantment process for the 250,020 magic cores my lord had ordered.
The workload was staggering. 250K enchanted cores? What could he possibly be planning?
Last night, Lucia had taken 20 enchanted cores for the mines. That left exactly 250,000 cores for whatever grand plan my lord had in store.
Barns smirked. My lord must be a god to prepare at this scale.
The laboratory, now expanded to eight underground floors, recently added a mana crystal chamber. Walls made entirely of mana crystals shimmered with energy, a haven for alchemists on the verge of breakthroughs.
Not a single complaint was heard about the grueling task of enchanting so many cores. In fact, everyone seemed to enjoy it. The process itself was invigorating, almost sacred.
My lord is a god, Barns thought, brimming with anticipation.
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