In the world she came from, some cultural practices might be called outdated, yet certain people still embraced them wholeheartedly. Take the drinking culture at business dinners, for example—a custom most young people disliked.

In reality, only a handful of people could actually hold their liquor. Most couldn’t. So how did you survive one of those terrifying drinking parties? There were plenty of tricks. You could make a show of downing your drink, while letting it run out of the corner of your mouth. Or you could keep a tissue in your palm, cover your glass whenever you weren’t drinking, and quietly soak up the alcohol. Or you could pretend to take a sip, then bow your head to eat and spit it out—

There were all kinds of tricks. Tori hated them, but as a construction worker, she’d been through situations like this plenty of times. So before she’d even started drinking tea, she already had a tissue in her hand. If she didn’t have one, she planned to spit the tea onto her clothes instead.

Fortunately, she’d absorbed some of the tea into the tissue while pretending to drink it, making Mi Luosha think she’d taken a sip. Even though Tori knew how clever she was, Mi Luosha must’ve been in for a bit of a shock.

“Young Master Ethan, I advise you to stay calm. This is the Witch Church. If you do anything to me, even you might not be able to bear the consequences!”

Ethan laughed. “You mean the Witch Church would offend me over a nun from a town church? Do you want to keep living in Dais City or not? There are plenty of nuns! There are fewer than ten sons and daughters in the lord’s family altogether. Do you understand?”

He held a sword in his hand. “I may not be favored, and my father may not like me, but I’m still his son. Do you not get it?”

Tori cut in. “Exactly! Young Master Ethan! This woman has no idea how parents and children are connected. You should make her have your child so she can experience that bond for herself.”

Mi Luosha stared at Ethan in horror. Though she was already tied up, she still struggled to kick away from him.

Ethan’s face darkened. He gave Tori a displeased look.

Tori covered her mouth, signaling that she’d stop talking. She’d let an inappropriate thought slip. A tied-up nun was the sort of setup that invited a tasteless joke.

“Listen carefully, Sister Mi Luosha. I know you’re proud. You were transferred to Blackwater Town as a nun at a young age, and since the town has no bishop, you’re effectively the one in charge. You might even become the bishop of Dais City before you turn thirty. In a sense, you have a bright future ahead of you. If you were the bishop of Dais City, even my father would have to show you some respect. But isn’t it a little too soon for that?”

Ethan tapped Sister Mi Luosha’s face with the back of his sword. She didn’t dare move, afraid that even the slightest motion would make the blade slice her flawless skin. Nuns often had to appear in public, after all, and her looks had drawn plenty of townspeople to her. If her face were cut… the consequences would be unthinkable.

“Yes, yes, Young Master Ethan. You’re right.” She bobbed her head and bent over backward to please him. “I really was in the wrong this time. Greed got the better of me, and I wanted to monopolize the business in Blackwater Town.”

Ethan pointed the tip of his sword at Mi Luosha. “Still lying at a time like this? With the Church’s Potion supply, you call that monopolizing the business? Hm? You should know that the Church’s taxes are ten percent lower.”

This young master wasn’t anything like the rumors. Wasn’t he supposed to be useless? How was there anything useless about him?

Mi Luosha screamed inwardly. Two drops of cold sweat appeared at her temple.

Ethan shook his head. “Tori, step outside. What happens next isn’t suitable for a kid like you to watch.” He put a hand on his belt, as if preparing for what came next.

“!” Was something really going to happen?!

Tori’s eyes lit up.

But the young master’s butler, Old Yabu, had already picked Tori up by the waist and carried her outside. She struggled as hard as she could, but it was no use.

Damn it!

She knew enough to understand what was going on, but this was a fantasy world! A world of magic! They might even be able to add some magical special effects…

…

“Miss Mi Luosha, if you refuse to tell the truth, I’ll have to do as Tori suggested and make you mine. Don’t worry. Once it’s done, I’ll use my name to petition the Church to take you as my concubine. What do you think?”

“A concubine!” Fear and anger flared in Mi Luosha’s mind.

What did he mean, a concubine? No matter who she married, she should be the lawful wife!

She despised men like him—the spoiled young masters who were born with silver spoons in their mouths and bullied ordinary people whenever they pleased.

“Why are you so angry? Didn’t you just say you’d hand my capable assistant, my acting shop manager Miss Tori, over to my fiancée’s brother? And all you offered was money. I’m offering you the status of a concubine. No matter how you look at it, my offer’s much better, isn’t it?”

Mi Luosha fell silent.

“You should know my shop manager is smarter and more capable than you. So tell me, isn’t it a tremendous honor for me to offer you the status of a concubine? Hm?”

Mi Luosha stared blankly at Ethan, then suddenly regained her composure.

“Young Master Ethan, what is it you actually want? Threatening me like this is pointless. I know you wouldn’t really do it.” Ethan had had his hand on his belt for ages, but still hadn’t undone it. If a man really intended to do something like that, he’d have started already. Any conversation would come afterward.

Ethan smiled and began searching Mi Luosha.

“You! You can’t!”

In the end, he pulled a Magic Contract from Mi Luosha.

“Look at this Magic Contract. What a rare thing—it sells for thirty gold coins and works on Extraordinary individuals and anyone below them. Quite the remarkable item. Perhaps we should make a few changes to it. What do you think, Miss Mi Luosha?”

Ten minutes later, Ethan came out of the room with Mi Luosha, now fully dressed. The church looked rather lovely at night. The Glimmer of the magic lamps shone on its stained-glass windows, casting colored light across Mi Luosha’s face and making it hard to tell what her expression was.

“That fast? No, I suppose it wasn’t that fast. Even without any buildup, it was already longer than average. After subtracting the time it took to get dressed and undressed, it must’ve been about seven minutes…”

Tori suddenly had an idea. A new kind of Potion might be popular in any world… She wondered if this world had anything similar. If not, perhaps there was room for a whole new line of Potions.

Tori gave a wicked little laugh.

Ethan could tell from her expression that she was up to no good. Then there was what she’d just been muttering to herself.

A karate chop!

“Eek!”

The girl clutched her head and cried out, “What was that for, Ethan?! You’re abusing me! Abusing your own employee! I’m going to sue you!”

“You’re one of my people. Who are you going to sue?”

“…” Fine. You’re the lord’s son. You’re so powerful, and I can’t fight back. Tori could only endure the ache in her head in silence, her feelings a mess.

Ethan clapped his hands. “All right, the problem’s solved. We’re all partners now. Business as usual. Tori, have you made the Healing Potion yet?”

“No!” Tori answered, sounding a little resentful.

“Really? You haven’t?”

“...At least, not the best version. I want to make the best one I can manage. But I can make a small batch for you to sell first and add another product to the lineup.”

In the end, money won Tori over. She didn’t get a share of the Miniature Meditation Potion profits, but she would get a cut of the Miniature Healing Potion sales.

She remembered what she’d been thinking before she passed out. “By the way, have you ever heard of a stamina Potion? Or an energy Potion?”

“A stamina Potion?”

“A Potion that restores your stamina and energy.”

Ethan frowned. “Magic power does improve a person’s body, making them stronger and stronger. Even a Magic Swordsman would run out of stamina before running out of magic power. So would a Potion that restores stamina actually be useful?”

“Hm. You have a point.”

So, had no one really made a Potion that restored stamina before? There might be something in that.

Tori kept that thought to herself. She wasn’t from this world and didn’t rely on magic power as much as the people here did. She thought a stamina Potion was essential. The Witch was the Ruler of the Demon Realm—did she have some kind of authority over magic power? Tori didn’t mind imagining that other people were operating on a much higher level.

She could make a stamina Potion herself. There was no need to ask Ethan for funding. After all, if Healing Potions were for sale, she’d get a cut.

She thought it over. “Still, Young Master Ethan, your goal would be much easier to achieve if you got the Church’s help. The Church has a lot of influence, doesn’t it?”

“It does.”

Mi Luosha spoke up. “I don’t remember agreeing to anything like that. It isn’t in our contract, Young Master Ethan!”

Now she sounded perfectly self-assured.

Tori leaned closer to her, looking curious. “There’s something I’ve always wanted to ask, but never felt comfortable asking before…”

Mi Luosha froze.

Tori had always been curious. Her wife in her previous life had dated several men before they married, after all. They’d met through a matchmaker, so there wasn’t much to say about it…

“I mean, I’ve always wondered about something. But never mind.”

A faint blush crept from Mi Luosha’s neck to her face. She glared at Tori. “If you’re so curious, why don’t you find out for yourself?!”

“Come on, I’m only eight! And I’m not planning to marry anyone! Money’s the only partner I need, got it?” She pulled out a silver coin, rubbed it twice, and kissed it.

“Disgusting,” Mi Luosha said.